The howls of wolves exploded across midnight.
Not one wolf—a pack.
The sound came from the northern slope, shrill and ravenous, piercing through the wind and snow straight into the ears of everyone in the ruined temple.
Li Xuan's eyes flew open.
The temple was deathly silent at first, then erupted. Almost instantly, the entire place was drowned in a cacophony of noise.
The refugees sat up in terror, every one of them staring tensely toward the temple gate with wide eyes.
"Fuck!"
Zhang the Cripple's curse came from the corner. He was already on his feet, moving far too quickly for a cripple.
He kicked awake the burly man sleeping beside him. "Get up! Grab your weapons!"
The three burly men scrambled to seize their clubs.
Zhang the Cripple had already peered outside through the gap in the gate twice. He turned and bellowed:
"Everyone who can hold a club, get to the entrance!"
The refugees scattered like headless flies. Only a few of the stronger men tremblingly snatched up whatever they could use from the ground—woodcutting axes, rusty shovels, wooden clubs, even stones.
Li Xuan only had time to grab a wooden club bound with a sharp stone before he was shoved to the front of the crowd.
Zhang the Cripple did not even look at how they had formed up.
He stared through the gap in the gate and rapidly gave his orders. "When the gate breaks, beat them to death. Anyone who dares to shrink back..." He turned around, his eyes like those of a man-eating wolf. "I'll kill them first."
More than a dozen points of green light appeared outside, swaying in the darkness.
The first impact struck the gate. The temple doors shook violently.
"Hold it!"
Zhang the Cripple himself did not brace the gate. He stepped back two paces and let two burly men take his place.
The third burly man stood at his side, his eyes constantly sweeping through the darkness.
Several more impacts followed. The wooden crossbar let out an overwhelmed groan.
"There's a wolf on the left!" someone screamed.
Li Xuan turned to look. The earthen wall on the left was trembling. A wolf was frantically clawing at it, sending clumps of dirt pattering down.
Zhang the Cripple saw it too.
He roared, "The closest ones, use fire and drive it away!"
Several nearby refugees hurriedly lit firewood and approached the wall.
As soon as the flames flared, the wolf outside backed off for a moment, but it did not leave. It continued clawing.
The opening kept widening.
Then the worst happened.
At the right corner of the wall, a woman clutching a child shrank backward and knocked over the pile of firewood.
With a clatter, a small, dilapidated hole hidden behind the wood was exposed.
A gray shadow shot inside!
"A wolf got in!"
The temple instantly descended into chaos.
Everyone desperately shoved backward, pushing those in front even farther ahead.
The moment the wolf landed, its green eyes swept around before it pounced at the nearest target—none other than the woman who had knocked over the firewood.
She clutched her child, too terrified to move.
Li Xuan was only three steps away from her.
Should he save her or not?
He stared at the child's terrified eyes and cursed under his breath. "Fuck!"
Then he planted his feet, gathered strength in both arms, and thrust the wooden club at the wolf's pouncing path!
He put every ounce of strength he had into that strike.
The wooden club shot out like a thrown spear—
Thwack!
The sharp stone pierced the wolf's flank. The wolf howled in pain and turned, abandoning the woman to pounce at Li Xuan instead.
Li Xuan yanked back the club and retreated, but the wolf was too fast.
He could only twist aside and shield his vitals with his left arm—
Riiip!
The wolf's claws tore through his ragged clothes, leaving three bloody gashes.
The wolf's pounce missed, and its momentum was spent.
Seizing the opportunity, Li Xuan advanced instead of retreating. Gripping the club with both hands, he poured all his strength into a strike aimed at the wolf's throat—
The sharp stone slammed heavily into its windpipe.
A dull crack rang out.
The wolf's howl caught in its throat. It collapsed to the ground and convulsed.
Li Xuan panted heavily, stepped forward, raised his club, and brought it down on the wolf's head. After three heavy strikes, the wolf stopped moving.
Only then did he dare spare a glance at the panel.
[Potential: 0.15]
Three times Snow Fox's amount!
But there was no time to think about it.
The opening on the left had widened enough for a wolf to crawl through, and the howls outside had grown more frantic.
Only then did Zhang the Cripple move.
He did not go to the opening. Instead, he grabbed the two refugees who had shrunk back earlier and shoved them forward. "Block it!"
The two men were pushed to the edge of the opening. Facing the wolf that was about to crawl inside, they could only harden their nerves and swing their clubs wildly.
Only then did Zhang the Cripple snatch up a woodcutting axe. Finding his opportunity, he brought it down—
The blade flashed, cleaving half the head of the wolf that had just poked its head inside.
Clean and decisive, without a single unnecessary movement.
Li Xuan's pupils contracted.
After killing the wolf, Zhang the Cripple did not look at the two refugees who had collapsed in terror. Instead, he turned toward Li Xuan.
His gaze paused on Li Xuan for a moment before shifting to the dead wolf on the ground.
"Block the hole." He spoke to the burly men, then returned to his original position.
The pack outside seemed to realize that it could not gain anything. Its howls gradually faded into the distance, and the green lights vanished into the darkness.
The crisis was temporarily over.
The temple was a complete mess. Injured people groaned in pain, mixed with sobs and wails.
Zhang the Cripple walked over to the wolf Li Xuan had killed and crouched down to examine it.
He inspected the wound on the wolf's windpipe, then the marks from the follow-up strikes. He reached out and pressed the wound on its flank.
Then he stood up without saying a word.
But Li Xuan noticed Zhang the Cripple exchange a glance with the burly man who had been keeping count.
Late that night, everyone settled down again.
Li Xuan huddled back into the corner, finally having time to think things through carefully.
He felt his own body. The high fever had completely receded, and his leg injury had recovered by eighty percent, no longer affecting his movement.
He had used up most of his stamina and felt somewhat drained.
After a moment, he made his decision and added 0.1 Potential to Constitution to prevent infection.
[Con: 0.78] flickered before changing to [Con: 0.88].
A warm current far stronger than before surged through his entire body.
The burning pain in his left arm quickly eased, turning into a numb itch. Li Xuan knew that the wound was healing at an accelerated rate.
The feeling of exhaustion faded, and his stamina rapidly recovered.
"0.03 to Strength, 0.02 to Agility."
[Str: 0.6] → [Str: 0.63]
[Agi: 0.55] → [Agi: 0.57]
He had now essentially escaped the range of illness and injury and entered the healthy range.
His Strength and Agility were still slightly below average for an ordinary person, but at least he now had a sliver of capital for protecting himself.
Before dawn, the burly man who had previously been keeping count came over and tossed him half a dry biscuit.
Li Xuan looked up.
"Eat."
It was only half a dry biscuit—not much, but it had been given to him in addition to his regular portion.
Could it be Zhang the Cripple's reward?
Li Xuan slowly finished the biscuit. It tasted far better than the gruel.
He looked at the light gradually brightening beyond the temple gate.
He would have to think of a way to deal with the selection in two days.
And besides...
Although the wolf pack had retreated, the howls from the northern slope still occasionally drifted over on the wind.
Clearly, they had not gone far. They might even be preparing for their next attack.
And Li Xuan knew that in this chaotic age, danger would never stay away for long.
The only thing he could do was seize every opportunity, grow stronger, and survive.
Before you continue