Night Wolf and Choice

The wolf howls exploded at midnight.

Not one, but a pack.

The sounds came from the northern slope, piercing and hungry, cutting through the wind and snow straight into the ears of everyone in the dilapidated temple.

Li Xuan's eyes snapped open.

Silence fell over the temple, then erupted, the noise instantly drowning out everything else.

The refugees sat up in terror, their eyes wide as they nervously stared at the temple door.

"Fuck!"

Zhang the Cripple's curse came from a corner. He was already on his feet, moving with a speed that belied his limp.

He kicked awake a burly man sleeping soundly next to him: "Get up! Grab your weapons!"

Three burly men scrambled to grab clubs and sticks.

Zhang the Cripple had already peeked through the door crack twice. He turned back and roared:

"Everyone who can hold a stick, get to the door!"

The refugees scurried around like headless chickens. Only a few relatively strong men, trembling, grabbed anything usable from the ground – a wood axe, a rusty shovel, wooden sticks, even stones.

Li Xuan only had time to grab a wooden stick with a sharpened stone tied to it before being pushed to the front of the crowd.

Zhang the Cripple didn't even look at how they were positioned.

He stared at the door crack, quickly giving instructions: "If the door breaks, beat them to death. Anyone who dares to back down..." He turned back, his eyes like a man-eating wolf, "...I'll kill them first."

A dozen green lights appeared outside the door, flickering in the darkness.

The first impact on the door. The temple door shook violently.

"Hold the line!"

Zhang the Cripple himself didn't brace the door. He stepped back two paces, letting two burly men take his place.

The third burly man stood guard at his side, his eyes constantly scanning the darkness.

Several more impacts, and the wooden bolt groaned under the strain.

"Wolf on the left!" someone screamed.

Li Xuan turned his head. The earthen wall on the left was shaking. A wolf was frantically digging and scratching, dirt falling in clumps.

Zhang the Cripple saw it too.

He roared: "Those closest, use fire to drive it away!"

A few refugees closest to the wall hastily lit firewood and brought it near the wall.

The firelight flared, and the wolf outside flinched but didn't leave, continuing to scratch.

The gap continued to widen.

Then, the worst happened.

In the corner on the right, a woman holding a child flinched backward, knocking over a pile of firewood.

With a crash, a small, broken hole in the wall, previously hidden by firewood, was revealed.

A grey shadow shot through!

"A wolf is inside!"

Chaos erupted in the temple.

People desperately pushed backward, shoving those in front even further forward.

The moment the wolf landed, its green eyes swept around and it lunged at the nearest target – the woman who had knocked over the firewood.

Clutching her child, she was frozen with fear.

Li Xuan was only three steps away from her.

Save her, or not?

He stared into the child's terrified eyes and cursed under his breath, "Fuck!"

Then, he steadied himself, gathered all his strength in his arms, raised his wooden stick, and thrust it towards the wolf's path of attack!

This thrust used all his might.

The wooden stick shot out like a javelin—

Squelch!

The sharpened stone pierced the wolf's side. The wolf howled in pain and turned, abandoning the woman to lunge at Li Xuan instead.

Li Xuan pulled the stick back and retreated, but the wolf was too fast.

He could only dodge sideways, using his left arm to protect his vital areas—

Riiip!

The wolf's claws tore through his ragged clothes, leaving three bloody gashes.

The wolf's pounce missed, its old strength spent.

Seizing the opportunity, Li Xuan didn't retreat but advanced, gripping his staff with both hands. He poured all his strength into it, aiming for the wolf's throat—

The sharp stone struck the throat bone heavily.

A muffled crack echoed.

The wolf's howl caught in its throat, and it collapsed, twitching on the ground.

Li Xuan panted, stepping forward, raising his staff, and striking the wolf's head again. After three heavy blows, the wolf stopped moving.

Only then did he dare to glance at his status panel.

[Potential: 0.15].

Three times that of the Snow Fox!

But there was no time to think.

The gap on the left had widened enough for a wolf to squeeze through, and the howling outside grew more urgent.

Zhang the Cripple finally moved.

He didn't go to the gap, but instead grabbed the two refugees who had cowered earlier and shoved them forward: "Block it!"

The two were pushed to the edge of the gap. Facing the wolf trying to squeeze through, they could only grit their teeth and swing their staffs wildly.

Zhang the Cripple then picked up a wood-chopping knife. Seeing an opening, he brought it down—

The blade flashed, and the wolf, which had just poked its head in, had half its head cleaved open.

Clean and efficient, no wasted movement.

Li Xuan's pupils contracted.

After killing the wolf, Zhang the Cripple didn't look at the two terrified refugees but turned his gaze towards Li Xuan.

His eyes lingered on Li Xuan for a moment before shifting to the dead wolf on the ground.

"Block up the hole," he said to the Burly Man, then retreated to his original position.

The wolf pack outside seemed to realize they wouldn't gain an advantage, their howls fading into the distance, their green eyes disappearing into the darkness.

The crisis was temporarily averted.

The temple was a mess, with injured people constantly groaning in pain, mixed with sobs and wails.

Zhang the Cripple walked over to the wolf killed by Li Xuan and squatted down to examine it.

He looked at the wound on the wolf's throat bone, then at the marks from the follow-up strikes, and pressed the wound on the wolf's side.

Then he stood up, saying nothing.

But Li Xuan noticed Zhang the Cripple give a meaningful glance to the Burly Man who had been keeping count.

Late at night, everyone settled down again.

Li Xuan retreated to a corner, finally having time to think carefully.

He felt his body; the high fever was gone, and his leg injury had healed about eighty percent, not hindering his movement.

His stamina was largely depleted, leaving him somewhat weak.

A moment later, he made a decision, adding 0.1 potential to his Stamina to prevent infection.

[Stamina: 0.78] flickered and changed to [Stamina: 0.88].

A warmth much stronger than before surged through his body.

The burning pain in his left arm quickly subsided, turning into a tingling sensation. Li Xuan knew his wound was healing rapidly.

The feeling of weakness faded, and his stamina recovered quickly.

"Add 0.03 to Strength, 0.02 to Agility."

[Strength: 0.6] → [Strength: 0.63]

[Agility: 0.55] → [Agility: 0.57]

He had now basically moved out of the range of injury and illness and entered the healthy zone.

Although his Strength and Agility were still below average for a normal person, he at least had a little capital for self-preservation.

Before dawn, the Burly Man who had been keeping count earlier walked over and threw him half a piece of dry biscuit.

Li Xuan looked up.

"Eat it."

Half a dry biscuit, not much, but it was given extra.

Perhaps it was Zhang the Cripple's reward for him?

Li Xuan slowly finished the dry biscuit; it tasted much better than the gruel.

He looked at the brightening sky outside the temple gate.

He needed to figure something out for the selection two days from now.

And yet...

Although the wolf pack had retreated, howls from the northern hillside could still occasionally be heard on the wind.

Clearly, they hadn't gone far and were even preparing for their next attack.

Li Xuan knew that in this chaotic world, danger never truly went away.

The only thing he could do was seize every opportunity, grow stronger, and survive.

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