12dz Chapter 442 Going down the mountain
Chapter 442 Going down the mountain
As time went by, the firewood in the campfire gradually burned out, and the fire began to weaken.
Li Xiangyang knew that once the fire was extinguished, they would face real danger.
"Wang Jianguo, can you stand up?" Li Xiangyang asked, his eyes still fixed on the wolf pack.
"Try...let's give it a try." Wang Jianguo gritted his teeth and tried to move, but gasped in pain.
“No, your leg injury is too severe,” Li Xiangyang quickly assessed. “We need to think of another way.”
Just then, the wolf king seemed to sense their predicament and pressed forward again. The other wolves followed closely behind, forming an even tighter encirclement.
Li Xiangyang knew that the moment of no return had arrived. He raised his hunting rifle, aimed at the wolf king's head, and decisively pulled the trigger.
With a loud bang, the wolf king fell to the ground. The other wolves were startled by the sudden gunshot and scattered, but they quickly gathered again and surrounded the fallen wolf king.
However, to Li Xiangyang's surprise, the wolf pack was not driven back as he had expected. On the contrary, the wolf pack, now leaderless, became even more chaotic and dangerous, with several wolves even charging at them.
"Damn it!" Li Xiangyang quickly loaded his gun and shot down the first wolf with another shot, but this time the other wolves did not retreat. Instead, they charged at them even more frantically.
In desperation, Li Xiangyang grabbed several torches and threw them at the charging wolves.
The torches traced arcs in the air before landing in the middle of the wolf pack, temporarily halting their attack.
"Wang Jianguo, hold on tight to my back!" Li Xiangyang quickly squatted down, his back to Wang Jianguo.
Without a second thought, Wang Jianguo quickly grabbed Li Xiangyang's shoulder. Li Xiangyang hoisted him onto his back, his other hand clutching the hunting rifle and the last torch.
"Hold on tight!" Li Xiangyang shouted, and suddenly charged toward the weakest point of the wolf pack.
The unexpected attack caught the wolves off guard. Li Xiangyang seized the opportunity to break free of the encirclement and ran desperately down the mountain.
But the mountain path was rugged and difficult to traverse in the darkness, and carrying an adult man on his back greatly slowed Li Xiangyang down. He could clearly hear the howling of wolves and the sounds of pursuit behind him.
"They're catching up!" Wang Jianguo shouted in alarm.
Li Xiangyang didn't dare to look back, but gritted his teeth and quickened his pace. However, the weight on his back and the rugged mountain path soon exhausted him, and he stumbled, almost falling.
The wolf pack behind him was getting closer and closer, and Li Xiangyang could feel their hot breaths almost right under his heels.
"There's a big tree ahead!" Wang Jianguo suddenly shouted.
Li Xiangyang looked up and saw a large, sturdy tree standing not far away. This was their only hope.
"Hold on tight!" Li Xiangyang used his last bit of strength to rush toward the big tree.
Upon reaching the tree, Li Xiangyang quickly put Wang Jianguo down and let him lean against the trunk.
"I'll lift you up, then you can grab the branches and climb up yourself!" Li Xiangyang commanded.
Despite his severe leg injury, Wang Jianguo displayed astonishing strength in this life-or-death moment. With Li Xiangyang's help, he grabbed a low-hanging branch and, enduring excruciating pain, climbed up.
Just as Li Xiangyang was about to follow, a wolf pounced on his back. Sharp claws tore his clothes, leaving several bloody scratches on his back.
"Ah!" Li Xiangyang cried out in pain, turned around and struck the wolf's head with his hunting rifle, driving it away.
More wolves had surrounded him. Li Xiangyang knew he didn't have time to climb the tree, so he could only lean against the trunk, raise his hunting rifle, and prepare for one last desperate attempt.
At this critical moment, he suddenly remembered the whistle Anna had taught him to soothe tigers. Although he wasn't sure if it would work on wolves, he had no other choice at the moment.
Li Xiangyang took a deep breath and blew that special whistle.
Miraculously, the wolves' attack rhythm was disrupted. They stopped, pricked up their ears in confusion, and were puzzled by the unfamiliar sound.
Taking advantage of the brief pause, Li Xiangyang quickly climbed the tree. Just as he reached a safe height, the wolves resumed their attack, but they were already out of reach.
“Brother Li, your back… is bleeding…” Wang Jianguo said worriedly.
Li Xiangyang then felt a sharp pain in his back: "It's nothing, just a superficial wound."
The wolves below the tree kept circling it, jumping up every now and then to try and reach them, but all their efforts were in vain.
"Looks like we'll have to spend the night in the tree," Li Xiangyang said with a wry smile, finding a relatively comfortable branch to sit on.
"Do you think... they'll just keep waiting down there?" Wang Jianguo asked worriedly.
Li Xiangyang glanced at the hungry wolves under the tree: "It won't be long; they'll leave after dawn. Wolves don't like to do things for nothing."
"So we'll... wait here in this tree until dawn?" Wang Jianguo asked, somewhat incredulous.
“Unless you have a better idea.” Li Xiangyang shrugged, pulled a dry biscuit from his pocket, broke it in half, and handed one half to Wang Jianguo. “Eat something to replenish your energy.”
Wang Jianguo took the cookies and looked at Li Xiangyang gratefully: "Brother Li, thank you so much today... if it weren't for you..."
"Don't think about it too much," Li Xiangyang interrupted him, "Help me clean my wound."
The two leaned against the tree trunk, trying to find a position where they wouldn't fall.
Wang Jianguo held the water bottle and carefully cleaned Li Xiangyang's wound.
The icy water seeped into the wound, and Li Xiangyang groaned in pain, his back muscles tensing like a bowstring. But he endured the pain without moving, his eyes warily fixed on the restless wolf pack under the tree. "After rinsing, wipe it several times. The wolves' paws are dirty; it would be troublesome if I got rabies."
After cleaning the wound, Wang Jianguo tore off a piece of his clothing and used it to bandage the wound. Moonlight filtered through the leaves and shone on the two of them, and the eyes of the wolves under the tree glowed with an eerie green light in the darkness, occasionally letting out low growls.
Li Xiangyang leaned against the tree trunk, placing his hunting rifle horizontally on his lap. "Take a nap. I'll keep watch until dawn."
As the night deepened and the cold wind howled, Li Xiangyang and Wang Jianguo wrapped themselves tightly in their clothes, but still could not resist the chill.
"Brother Li...do you think we can get back alive?" Wang Jianguo asked in a low voice, his voice filled with fear and despair.
Li Xiangyang looked at the distant sky and could already see a faint glimmer of light appearing in the east.
“Yes,” he said firmly. “It’s almost dawn, just hang in there a little longer.”
As dawn broke, the wolves under the tree grew increasingly restless.
As the first rays of sunlight pierced through the treetops and shone on the ground, the wolf pack finally gave up their wait and disappeared one by one into the morning mist.
Li Xiangyang waited for a while to make sure the wolf pack had really left before carefully climbing down the tree.
His back wound had scabbed over in the cold wind overnight, and the pain was excruciating as he moved, pulling at his skin and flesh, but he didn't show it.
"Let's go, we need to get down the mountain quickly while it's still light." Li Xiangyang carried Wang Jianguo on his back and continued downhill.
The mountain path was much clearer in the early morning than at night, and with the threat of wolves gone, the two were able to move much faster.