Encountering the Wolf Pack

Carefully examining the item drawn on the paper, Luo Yi shook his head.

"Honored sirs, this lowly one has never seen this thing before."

Hearing Luo Yi's reply, the two men weren't surprised and waved their hands, signaling the visitor to enter.

Entering Yunling Mountain and realizing the officials were only looking for something, not that they'd discovered Luo Wei and the others' bodies, Luo Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

Thinking back to his predecessor's memories—Great Qi's brutal penal system: sawing, grinding, wooden horses, disembowelment, and so on.

Beheading counted as a mercy, and he couldn't help but shudder.

Following the markers, he arrived at the water pit. Staring at the pool before him, Luo Yi felt a strange sensation.

It had been six or seven days since he first discovered the water pit. There'd been no rain recently, yet every day so many small animals came here to drink. The water level hadn't changed at all from the first time he saw it—completely defied logic.

Worried there might be danger underwater, Luo Yi didn't dare go down to investigate.

He sat on a rock by the pit, waiting nearly two hours, but no animals came to drink.

Giving up the stakeout, he headed deeper into Yunling Mountain.

Looking at the two hunters who'd ambushed him yesterday, and Luo Wei and the others' corpses—now reduced to bare white skeletons by the mountain beasts—

Luo Yi recalled a classic saying from his past life: murderers always return to the scene of the crime.

Certain no one would ever know what he'd done, Luo Yi decided to venture deeper into the forest, hoping to find some larger beasts.

As he pushed further into Yunling Mountain's Outer Area, he suddenly heard the howl of a wild wolf not far ahead to his right.

Hearing the wolf's cry, he remembered that wolves usually appeared in packs; lone wolves were rare.

Thinking of how terrifying a Wolf Pack could be, Luo Yi turned and bolted toward the mountain's edge. He'd barely run a short distance when—

From behind came: "Captain Wang, don't worry about us! You run first. If you stay with us, we'll all die here today!"

The voice sounded familiar to Luo Yi.

He stopped and listened carefully—it was Chen Liu.

Could it be the Hunting Team had run into a Wolf Pack while hunting in the mountains?

He quickly scrambled up the nearest sturdy tree and began observing their movements.

Wang Meng, as usual, had organized the Hunting Team members to go hunting. Because the Autumn Tax was due at the end of the month, an unusually large number of members had joined today's hunt.

Seeing almost everyone present, and knowing they'd come hunting because they couldn't afford the Autumn Tax, Wang Meng was torn.

If they only hunted small game in Yunling Mountain's Outer Area, each person's share would be too little to cover the tax.

If they entered the Inner Area, even bagging just one or two large beasts would net each person one or two taels of silver.

Worried his brothers wouldn't have enough for the Autumn Tax, yet also worried they'd face danger in the Inner Area, Wang Meng was caught in a dilemma.

One team member, seeing Wang Meng's troubled expression, suggested: "Captain Wang, with so many of us here today, and plenty who've never been to the Inner Area, why not lead us in for a look? Broaden our horizons?"

Hearing this proposal, the other members thought of the price large game could fetch and quickly nodded in agreement: "Captain Wang, almost the whole Hunting Team is here today. Even if we run into big beasts, together we can survive. And if we bag one, it'll solve the problem of not having enough for the Autumn Tax."

Seeing everyone wanted to enter the Inner Area, Wang Meng said to his brothers: "Yunling Mountain's Inner Area is full of dangers. If trouble comes, I might not be able to protect everyone. I hope you'll think it over."

The Hunting Team members, already intoxicated by the thought of the rewards from a large beast, replied in unison: "Captain Wang, once we're in the mountains, life and death are up to fate. None of us will blame you."

Hearing this, Wang Meng knew that with so many people today, their courage was high. Before they encountered real danger, it would be hard to talk them out of it.

He had Chen Liu, his usual hunting partner, take the lead at the front of the group, while he positioned himself in the middle to handle any sudden threats.

Because the group was large, the small animals they encountered along the way didn't dare approach, and the team entered Yunling Mountain's Inner Area without incident.

Not long after entering the Inner Area, they spotted a fox eating not far away. Thinking that an intact fox pelt in the county town could sell for at least dozens of taels of silver, the men grew excited.

Seeing their eager faces, Wang Meng felt a pang of worry.

Several hunters, thinking of the fox's value, nocked their arrows and shot directly at it.

The feeding fox, seeing the arrows flying toward it, fled deeper into the forest.

When the men saw they'd missed, they chased after it into the woods.

As they pursued the fox into the forest, Wang Meng was about to lead the others to follow—

When a heart-wrenching scream erupted from the woods.

His heart sank. He quickly told Chen Liu to take the other hunters back to the Outer Area and find a safe place to hide.

Then he saw the Wolf Pack closing in from deeper in the forest.

Cursing his bad luck, he shouted at the Hunting Team members, frozen in place by fear: "Run! What are you standing there for?"

Hearing Wang Meng's voice, the men snapped out of it and scattered like headless flies.

Watching them flee in all directions, Wang Meng felt a headache coming on.

"Don't scatter! Follow me!" he yelled, then charged toward Yunling Mountain's Outer Area.

Luo Yi, perched in the tree, watched the Hunting Team surrounded by the Wild Wolf pack.

The few still alive bore bite wounds from the wolves, and several corpses lay nearby with their throats torn out.

The Wolf Pack surrounding the hunters had also taken heavy losses. Three wolves lay on the ground, arrows in their bodies, barely breathing. Two wolves had their bellies slashed open by hunting knives, intestines spilling out—more breath out than in. Several others limped along, either hit by arrows or with legs severed by blades.

Watching Chen Liu and Wang Meng trapped, he thought: Chen Liu had carried his former self's body down the mountain, Wang Meng had shoved money into his hands a few days ago, and stood up for him at the entrance of Dongsheng Town.

He couldn't go against his conscience and leave them to die.

He climbed to the highest, most open spot on the tree and began looking for a chance to strike.

Watching the Wolf Pack attack again, the few survivors urgently shouted, "Captain Wang, you need to run! These beasts want to wear us down slowly. You still have a chance to escape now."

Wang Meng cleaved the Wild Wolf charging at the front, then parried another lunging for his chest.

He roared, "What the hell are you saying?! Of the brothers who followed me into the mountains today, only you few are left. If I abandoned you and ran alone, how could I face your parents for the rest of my life?"

Seeing their assault on Wang Meng was ineffective, the Wolf Pack adjusted their target and attacked the others.

A scream of agony rang out. Wang Meng saved a Hunting Team member but got his thigh bitten by a Wild Wolf, which tore off a chunk of flesh.

Luo Yi, hidden in the tree, knew that if he didn't act now, they'd all die here. He fixed his gaze on the Wolf King standing at the front, directing the pack.

With all his strength, he drew the three-stone Hunting Bow taut as a full moon.

"Boom!" The arrow shot forth, its sound like a thunderclap.