brought along Wu San's wife and uncle, afraid they couldn't overpower them. They would have to add three or four more people, slowly get familiar with the work, and then get rid of those lazy ones."Up...Everyone walked for half the morning before stopping to rest, all ages were exhausted.
Uncle Zhao's face had improved slightly, but after eating some dry rations and drinking some water, he urged the group to continue their journey.
Fortunately, after walking for more than an hour, the crowd found a cave halfway up the mountain.
The cave was only the size of a single room, barely big enough to fit all ages.
Uncle Zhao looked around for a while, and decided to set up camp here.
Everyone was exhausted and slumped over, all relaxed.
Uncle Zhao, however, shouted to the men, "Don't put down your swords, and don't wander too far!"
Someone thought Zhao Shu was being too cautious and exclaimed, "Uncle, what are you afraid of It's been pretty quiet all the way!"
Uncle Zhao glared and shouted, "Do you know what Silence is what's frightening! In such a large forest, there are wild chickens, rabbits, birds, everything! It's normal to have some movement. If there's no movement, it means something is nearby. The little creatures are all hiding because they're scared."
Everyone thought about it carefully and realized that the words made sense. They immediately got up.
"Lao Si, bring more people. Just chop wood right here in front of us, the more the better. Tonight might be a rough one."
Uncle Zhao shouted loudly and called for the women.
"Dinner is just a bite to eat, keep an eye on the child, don't run around."
Everyone responded loudly and immediately began to act.
Soon, the men returned with firewood. There was no water source nearby, so the women cooked porridge with the remaining water they had. Once it was cooked, each person had a bowl for dinner.
The elderly were busy tidying up the cave. This cave didn't seem to have been inhabited by any wild beasts, there weren't many insects or snakes, but it had a fishy smell.
Though it's just swept clean, with a mat and bedding laid down, it's livable at least. It's much better than the old shack.
Little children, barefoot, giggled on the bedclothes.
Jiyin, the youngest, was afraid of being stepped on, so she climbed to the mouth of the cave and sat there.
Old Mrs. Li remembered her granddaughter was thirsty, and brought a bowl of water over. She saw the mouth of the cave.
Nearby the woods, a sudden scream pierced the air. The old woman was so startled that she dropped her bowl and rushed forward to embrace her granddaughter.
"There's a wolf!"
The campsite immediately erupted in chaos. The men grabbed their axes and charged forward.
Originally, the village head's donkey snuck to the edge of the forest to graze. At this moment, it had already been surrounded by four or five wolves.
The donkey's neck, hind legs, and belly had been ripped open, screaming in agony.
Everyone instinctively wanted to snatch the donkey back, but Zhao Shu desperately tried to stop them.
"Come back, come back, don't go! Be careful of the wolves charging the camp!"
The men woke up and retreated, gathering around the camp in a protective circle.
"Light the fires, more bonfires!"
Uncle Wei and Uncle Wang also stepped forward to help, shouting at the crowd to back away.
Soon, everyone retreated to the entrance of the cave.
The women, regardless of the heat, lifted the almost-cooked porridge and ran.
Men held axes and sickles in their hands, protecting women, the elderly, and children behind them.
Hundreds of people, this moment, the atmosphere dared not breathe.
A hundred or so pairs of eyes stared at the donkey in the village head's house, and gradually fell silent as it was dragged into the woods by several wolves.
The village head's wife was frail and usually spoke little. This time, she cried until she collapsed.
This donkey has lived in their house for five or six years. The elderly couple doesn't have any children, so they really treat it like family.
Now it's been eaten by the wolves!
Old Li embraced Jia Yin, leaning close and patting her shoulder, wanting to offer some comfort, but she was so scared that her lips were trembling too.
It turned out to be a good sound. Jia Yin secretly let out a sigh of relief, the hairs on the back of her neck that had been standing on end all day finally softened.
The fear of being threatened out of the blue is the most terrifying.
Now that it's known to be a pack of wolves trailing behind, things aren't so bad.
For quite some time, the forest remained eerily silent. A villager wiped the sweat from his brow and whispered,
"Uncle Zhao, have the wolves left"
Zhao Shu's face was pale and his expression grim. He shook his head and said, "They definitely didn't leave. Those wolves were just scouts. This pack must have at least thirty or so wolves. A donkey is barely enough for the wolf king and a few of the strongest wolves to eat; the rest would starve and wouldn't let us go."
Hearing this, the timid woman, holding her child, began to sob.
Deep in the forest, being hunted by a pack of wolves, it's almost certain death.
The village head, waving his pipe and scowling, barked at the crowd, "Snap out of it! The wolf pack hasn't arrived yet, and you're already trembling in fear. You might as well just offer yourselves up to be eaten!"
"That's right! With so many of us here, and we have axes and sickles. Lao Si and Liu Biatou are masters too. What do we have to fear facing just a few dozen wolves!"
Uncle Zhao also yelled, finally saying, “These wolves haven't moved. They probably want to wait until everyone falls asleep at night before attacking. We should eat and drink what we can, conserve our energy. Tonight is when things get serious!”
Li Lao Si and Liu Biaotou stepped forward, “Zhao Shu is right, the two of us can split it evenly – ten or eight each. There won't be much left over. Everyone just needs to take out their knives and deal with it!”
"The elderly and children are all in the cave, and they are not afraid of a wolf pack raid. We just need to guard the entrance."
“Yes, build a few more fires!”
"Sharpen the knife, tonight we'll kill a few, and in winter we can make wolfskin coats to wear."
They were all young and middle-aged, holding sharpened axes in their hands. Incited by the elders, and emboldened by the crowd's encouragement, their spirits lifted, and they responded with boisterous cheers.
The camp slowly began to bustle again, with people taking turns eating, guarding the entrance, tending the campfire, and adding fuel.
After dinner, Zhao Shu and the village head simply organized the young men into teams of seven or eight, rotating every hour to guard the entrance.
At the edge of the cave opening were women like Tao Yongying, each holding wooden sticks, and even spatulas.
Further in, were the teenagers, and at the very back, the safest place of all, were the elderly and the babies.
Jia Yin guessed that the wolf pack wouldn't attack at nightfall, so she snuggled in her grandmother's arms and fell asleep early.
Thinking about staying up half the night to help keep watch.
Although she was just a little girl, everyone thought she was useless and she really wasn't useful for anything, but she just wouldn't let go.
Finally having a new home and a family who loved her dearly, she didn't want any chance of losing that...
Unfortunately, she was exhausted from keeping herself busy during the day.
She slept deeply in that dream, she was still feeding the chickens and ducks in the courtyard, suddenly a big gray wolf jumped out and snatched away the chicks. She was furious and scolded him loudly.
The big bad wolf
She suddenly shivered and woke up, scrambling towards the entrance with her hands and feet.
The old woman was startled awake, reaching into her bosom to find it empty. She was also frightened.
She finally, by the faint light, discovered that her granddaughter had crawled away, so she chased after her. Just as she was about to pick up her granddaughter, she was startled by a pair of glowing green eyes outside the cave entrance.
"Wolf! Wolf! Come quickly, the wolf is here!"
The old woman shouted desperately, instantly waking everyone up.
Several men, including those with night shift jobs, were almost scared out of their wits!
All the men jumped up, grabbed their axes and hacked away, without even seeing where the wolf was.
The pack of wolves was enraged. They had thought they had found a good opportunity, but it was ruined by a little child and an old woman.
The alpha wolf let out a long howl, and the pack, upon receiving his command, opened their blood-filled jaws and charged madly!
The wolf's body is not large, it can't compare to tigers, black bears, and even its strength is not as good as that of wild boars.
But the wolf is the most intelligent wild animal, and when it comes to teamwork, it's surprisingly terrifying.now on, and I won't be a deaf and blind person anymore!""That's right!" Mrs. Liu was overjoyed and patted Tao Hongying heavily.She actually understood Tao Hongying too well. Even though she came from...