Studying the items drawn on the paper carefully, Luo Yi shook his head.
"My lords, this humble one has never seen this thing."
Hearing Luo Yi's answer, the two men weren't surprised. They waved him through.
After entering Yunling the Mountain and learning that the government officers were only looking for something, not that they had discovered Luo Wei and the others' bodies, Luo Yi breathed a sigh of relief.
He thought of the brutal punishments from his predecessor's memories of Great Qi: the saw, the stone mill, the wooden horse, disembowelment, and more.
Even beheading counted as a release. He couldn't help shivering.
Following the markers, he came to the waterhole. As he looked at it, a strange feeling stirred in his heart.
Six or seven days had passed since he first found the waterhole. It hadn't rained recently, and so many small animals came here to drink every day, yet the water looked exactly as it had when he first saw it. There was no change at all. It made no sense.
Worried there might be danger beneath the water, Luo Yi didn't dare investigate rashly.
He sat on a rock beside the waterhole and kept watch for nearly an hour, but no animals came to drink.
Giving up on waiting, he headed deeper into Yunling the Mountain.
He saw the two hunters who had ambushed him yesterday, along with Luo Wei and the others, reduced to nothing but white, gleaming skeletons, devoured by the beasts in the Mountain.
Luo Yi remembered a famous saying from his previous life: murderers liked to return to the scene of the crime.
Once he was sure no one would discover what he had done, Luo Yi decided to explore deeper into the forest and see if he could find some larger beasts.
As he continued farther into the Outer Area of Yunling the Mountain, he suddenly heard a wild wolf howl from not far to his front right.
Hearing the howl, he remembered that Wolf Packs usually appeared in groups; lone wolves were rare.
Thinking of how terrifying a Wolf Pack could be, Luo Yi turned and ran for the edge of the forest. He had only covered a short distance when—
"Captain Wang, don't worry about us! Run first! If you take us with you, we'll all die here today!"
The voice sounded familiar to Luo Yi.
He stopped and listened carefully. It was Chen Liu's voice.
Could it be the Hunting Team? Had they run into a wolf pack while hunting in the Mountain?
He quickly climbed the sturdiest nearby tree and began watching their movements.
As usual, Wang Meng had organized the Hunting Team to go hunting in the Mountain. Since the Autumn Tax was due at the end of the month, an especially large number of members had joined the hunt that day.
Looking at how nearly everyone had shown up, Wang Meng considered that they had chosen to hunt in the Mountain because they couldn't afford to pay the Autumn Tax.
If they hunted only small prey in the Outer Area of Yunling the Mountain, each man's share would be too little to cover the tax at the end of the month.
But if they entered the Inner Area, even bringing down just one or two large beasts would earn each man one or two taels of silver.
Worried his brothers wouldn't have enough to pay the Autumn Tax, yet also worried they'd run into danger in the Inner Area, Wang Meng was caught between a rock and a hard place.
Seeing Wang Meng's troubled expression, one team member suggested, "Captain Wang, there are so many of us today, and lots of the brothers have never been to the Inner Area. How about taking us to the Inner Area of Yunling the Mountain to broaden our horizons?"
Hearing the suggestion and thinking of the price large beasts fetched, the other team members nodded eagerly in agreement. "Captain Wang, nearly the whole Hunting Team is here today. Even if we run into a large beast, we can protect ourselves by sticking together. If we manage to bring one down, we can solve the problem of the brothers not having enough money for the Autumn Tax at the end of the month."
Seeing that everyone wanted to enter the Inner Area, Wang Meng said, "The Inner Area of Yunling the Mountain is full of danger. If we run into trouble, I might not be able to protect you all. I hope you'll think it over."
The Hunting Team members had already been swept up in thoughts of the rewards they'd earn from bringing down a large beast. In unison, they said, "Captain Wang, once we enter the Mountain, we'll accept whatever fate has in store. None of us will blame you."
Hearing them say that, Wang Meng knew that with so many people there, everyone was feeling bold. Before they encountered danger, it would be hard to talk them out of it.
He told Chen Liu, who often hunted with him, to lead the group from the front, then walked to the middle of the formation, ready to deal with any danger that might appear.
With so many people in the group, the small animals they encountered along the way didn't dare come near. They entered the Inner Area of Yunling the Mountain without incident.
Not long after entering the Inner Area, they spotted a fox feeding some distance away. Thinking of how an intact fox pelt could fetch at least dozens of taels of silver in the county seat, everyone's eyes lit up.
Seeing how excited they were, Wang Meng felt a flicker of worry.
Thinking of what the fox was worth, several hunters took out their bows and shot at it.
The fox, still feeding, saw the arrows coming and fled deeper into the forest.
When the men saw they'd missed, they chased after it into the woods.
Seeing them chase the fox into the forest, Wang Meng was about to lead the others after them.
Then a heart-rending scream rang out from the woods.
His heart sank. He had just told Chen Liu to lead the other hunters back to the Outer Area and find somewhere safe to hide—
when he saw a Wolf Pack closing in from the depths of the forest.
Cursing their bad luck, he shouted to the Hunting Team members, who had been so frightened by the wolves that they stood rooted to the spot. "Run! What are you standing there for?"
At Wang Meng's voice, everyone came to their senses and scattered in all directions like headless flies.
Watching them flee in every direction, Wang Meng felt a headache coming on.
"Don't run around! Follow me!" he shouted, then led the charge toward the Outer Area of Yunling the Mountain.
From his perch in the tree, Luo Yi watched the Hunting Team members surrounded by the Wolf Pack.
Of the men still alive, all had bites from the wolves to varying degrees. A short distance away, several bodies lay on the ground with their throats torn open.
The Wolf Pack that had surrounded the Hunting Team had also suffered heavy losses. Three Wild Wolves had been shot and lay on the ground, barely breathing. Two more had their bellies slashed open by hunting knives, their intestines spilling out; they were drawing more breath in than they could breathe out. Several others had been struck by arrows or had their legs hacked through by hunting knives, leaving them limping.
Looking at Chen Liu and Wang Meng trapped among them,
he thought of how Chen Liu had carried his predecessor's body down the Mountain, and how Wang Meng had pressed money into his hands a few days earlier and stood up for him at the entrance to Dongsheng Town.
He couldn't go against his conscience and leave the two men to die.
He climbed to the tree's widest vantage point and began looking for a chance to act.
As the Wolf Pack launched another attack, the survivors hurriedly shouted, "Captain Wang, run! These beasts are trying to wear us down. If you run now, you might still get away!"
Wang Meng hacked away a Wild Wolf charging at the front, then drew his knife to block another wolf snapping at his chest.
He cursed, "What the hell are you talking about? There are only a few of the brothers who followed me into the Mountain today left! If I abandon you and run, how am I supposed to face your parents for the rest of my life?"
Seeing that attacking Wang Meng wasn't working, the Wolf Pack changed targets and went after the others.
A scream rang out. Wang Meng had rushed to save a Hunting Team member and been bitten on the thigh by a Wild Wolf, which tore away a huge chunk of flesh.
Luo Yi, hiding in the tree, knew that if he didn't act now, all of them would die here. He looked at the Wolf King standing at the front, directing the pack's movements.
Summoning all his strength, he drew the three-stone Hunting Bow in his hands until it curved like a full moon.
Boom! The arrow shot forth with a crack like thunder.
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