Chapter 57

As night fell, the moonlight draped a silver gossamer over the mountains and forests. Dazhuang lit three campfires to block the only gap, the fires would help to drive away any passing wild beasts.

As for the night watch, Lin Xiao took the second half of the night, while Dazhuang took the first half. After the arrangement, everyone crawled into their tents. The energy expended from hunting was greater than they had imagined, and by a little after eight in the evening, they were all fast asleep, entering a sweet dreamland.

The night was quiet, except for the crackling of the campfires and the occasional snoring from inside the tents. Dazhuang watched vigilantly, constantly adding wood to the fires.

Time passed quickly, and Lin Xiao woke up to relieve Dazhuang for the second half of the night. The latter part of the night arrived unnoticed.

However, soon Lin Xiao's brows furrowed, as if he had discovered something. It seemed that the night would not be peaceful.

"Ahh!" Lao Si's scream woke everyone up. Lin Xiao was also helpless; he had intended to deal with it alone, but Lao Si had ruined his plan.

Li Shu was sleeping soundly, but a sudden urge to urinate woke him from his dream. He groggily got up, opened his tent, and ran to the river to relieve himself. After finishing, he shook himself comfortably and half-opened his eyes as he hurried back to his tent.

Halfway there, he felt something was wrong. Why were there so many ghostly green lights? This wasn't a graveyard. Ignoring it, he continued toward his tent. After a few steps, he felt uneasy. His hair stood on end as he turned to look at the green lights again. Finally, Li Shu saw clearly that the green lights were the eyes of wolves, a pair of eyes staring at the camp from outside the campfires. Without thinking, Lao Si instinctively let out a scream.

The scream was so terrifying that everyone was jolted awake. Dazhuang was the first to rush out of his tent, knife in hand.

One by one, everyone emerged from their tents, and at the sight of the pack of wolves outside the campfires, they all drew a sharp breath.

Dazhuang was also stunned. He hadn't encountered such a pack of wolves in years. Wolves usually stayed deep in the mountains. Why would they appear on the outskirts this time?

For Lin Xiao, dealing with the pack of wolves was easy, but doing so would be too shocking. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he didn't want to reveal himself, so he remained the calmest.

Dazhuang quickly regained his composure and immediately turned to say, "Don't worry, wolf packs usually disperse by dawn. As long as we maintain the fires, the wolves won't dare to come closer."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at Dazhuang's explanation, but no one felt like sleeping until the wolves dispersed. They all sat down and chatted, keeping an eye on the wolves. It would have been better with some wine, but who would go up to the sky? Spit, who would go up to the sky?

The standoff ended as Dazhuang had said. As long as the fires were maintained until dawn, the wolf pack would naturally disperse. As the sky grew lighter, the wolves gradually left. However, everyone was still uneasy and waited until it was fully light before packing up their tents and belongings.

They had survived the encounter with the wolves, but everyone was exhausted. Keeping a close watch on the wolves for half the night had drained their energy. Each person looked weary.

The only ones who were still energetic were the three women. They had also screamed in terror when the wolves appeared, their voices so piercing that even the wolves had taken a few steps back.

But they couldn't hold out and went back to sleep. Now, besides Lin Xiao, they were the only ones who were still energetic.

However, this hunting trip might have to end early. After such an incident, Dazhuang was no longer comfortable taking them hunting. He also needed to report the incident to the village to prevent others from getting into trouble, so he hurried back to the village.

On the way, Dazhuang led the group cautiously, originally intending to return as quickly as possible. But some sudden sounds made him proceed more carefully.

Not long after they set off, they heard a tiger's roar, which slowed their pace. Dazhuang's brows furrowed; it seemed that even the tigers had come out of the deep mountains. Something must have happened inside, and they needed to inform the village quickly.

The journey was uneventful, but halfway through, a venomous five-step snake suddenly appeared and lunged at Lao Da. Lin Xiao, who had noticed it first, raised his crossbow and shot the arrow, which hit the snake with perfect accuracy. The force of the arrow pierced the snake's venom and pinned it to a tree.

Lao Da, regaining his composure, was filled with fear. If not for Lin Xiao's arrow, he might have met his end. He looked at Lin Xiao with gratitude, but there was no need for words between brothers. Seeing Lin Xiao nod, he knew he understood and smiled, continuing on their way.

After Lao Da's incident, Dazhuang was even more cautious, carefully checking to ensure nothing could threaten the group behind him.

Finally, they emerged from the mountains. For everyone except Lin Xiao, it had been a heart-stopping journey.

Ye Ding was full of excitement, feeling he had more to brag about. Being surrounded by a wolf pack and hearing a tiger's roar was something even experienced hunters rarely encountered.

Now that they were safe, their cautious expressions turned to joy. However, Lin Xiao still felt a bit guilty that the three-day, two-night hunting trip had been disrupted by the wolves.

Seeing everyone's weary expressions, Lin Xiao said, "Lao Da, Lao Si, Brother Ye, and Brother He, why don't you come to my place to rest? Driving back now could be dangerous."

Everyone agreed with Lin Xiao's suggestion. Dazhuang, having emerged from the mountains, said he would return to the village first.

Dazhuang rushed home and recounted the events on the mountain to Wang Guoqiang. Wang Guoqiang's face changed, and he immediately ran to the village's broadcasting station, which was just a few large speakers.

"Villagers, this is Wang Guoqiang. Something serious has happened in the mountains. Everyone at home, please gather at the threshing ground. I have important news to share." Wang Guoqiang repeated this several times.

Dazhuang accompanied Wang Guoqiang to the threshing ground, where many people were already waiting. Everyone relied on the mountains for their livelihood, so when they heard there was a problem, they dropped what they were doing and came.

Wang Guoqiang asked Dazhuang to recount the events. The villagers were shocked to hear that the wolf pack and the tiger had come out of the deep mountains. Some of the older villagers knew the power of these threats and the sacrifices made to drive them back into the mountains.

After hearing Dazhuang's account, the villagers were in an uproar, their faces showing a mix of emotions.

PS: New author seeking favorites and recommendations. If you have them, please give them to me.

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