Fierce Battle with the Wolf Pack

Though the wolves were agile, there were wolves everywhere below. Even shooting blind, Zhou Ye could land quite a few arrows.

After more than a dozen arrows, one wolf fell into a pool of blood. The others were injured to varying degrees, limping away into the distance.

With a howl from the alpha wolf behind them, all the wolves ran back to its side. The alpha wolf cast Zhou Ye a hate-filled look, then led the pack slinking away into the mountain forest...

The battle was over! At last, it was time to happily collect the spoils!

Zhou Ye found a long bamboo pole and tied an iron hook to its tip. He climbed onto the stone wall again, hooked the two wolves one by one, and dragged them over the wooden stakes into his yard.

The same wolf-skinning, the same chopping them into pieces, the same storing the wolf meat in the snowbank.

This kind of hunting was still easier—just stay home and wait for rabbits to run into the stump?

And never open the door, no matter what. He would make this pack of stupid wolves die of rage.

Over the next few days, another heavy snowstorm fell.

Zhou Ye stopped wandering outside. He barely left the house. Even when he moved around near home, he made sure to arm himself to the teeth. He brought his bow and arrows, throwing spears, even all the ones coated in snake venom. He even carried that round shield, which at least made him feel a little safer.

That day, Zhou Ye sat in his warm home, happily eating a plate of roasted venison ribs.

At that moment, he was somewhat troubled. He had caught far too many birds and fish before, and now that trade with the town had been cut off, there was no way he could finish all the food at home.

After eating two large roasted venison ribs, Zhou Ye drank a bowl of steaming tofu pudding. It was seasoned with chili, dried shrimp, chopped scallions, and minced garlic. It was incredibly delicious—far tastier than sweet tofu pudding.

With nothing to do these past few days, and since he had soybeans, a stone mill, salt, and everything else, he had used brine to make tofu and tofu pudding. He had just gotten a little carried away and made too much. There were still several boards of frozen tofu outside.

At that moment, Zhou Ye suddenly wondered whether he should sprout some bean sprouts in a few days.

Zhou Ye could not help laughing. As expected of a citizen of the great foodie empire, he seemed to be pursuing comfort and enjoyment more and more.

That day, Zhou Ye went to the two mu of farmland. He dug away the snow covering it and found tender green wheat shoots already sprouting from the soil. The snow's insulation really was excellent; the wheat shoots were growing very well.

He then went to the creek and discovered that its water had frozen solid. It truly was a bitterly cold winter day.

But the moment he turned around, Zhou Ye's pupils contracted.

Silently, those wolves emerged from the mountain forest. Led by the alpha wolf, the four wolves had faintly formed a semicircle around him, blocking his way home.

Zhou Ye cursed furiously in his heart. Was there really such deep hatred between them? More than ten days had passed, yet the wolf pack had still been lying in ambush nearby.

But at this point, there was no room for the slightest retreat. When narrow paths met, the brave would win!

He pulled an iron throwing spear from his back and took the initiative to meet them. The two sides steadily closed in, soon entering within thirty paces of each other.

Aiming at the alpha wolf, Zhou Ye hurled it fiercely. "Whoosh—!" The alpha wolf nimbly rolled to the side, dodging the deadly throw.

Zhou Ye had already drawn a second iron throwing spear. He aimed it at the alpha wolf and made another throwing motion.

The alpha wolf hurriedly leaped aside, its agile body leaving an afterimage.

But this time, the target had changed to a wolf beside it. Completely unprepared, that wolf was pierced straight through by the throwing spear, its entire body blasted into the air.

Realizing that it had lost another wolf, the alpha wolf was enraged. It threw back its head and howled, and the remaining three wolves moved together, pouncing fiercely from three directions.

Since he had used up his iron throwing spears, he switched to a wooden one. But this wooden spear had been coated in snake venom.

Zhou Ye hastily threw it at one wolf. With two other wolves still coming at him, he was rushed this time, and the spear only lodged in the wolf's front leg.

He ignored the injured wolf. Zhou Ye drew his waist saber and took the round shield from his back.

His body flashed aside, evading the alpha wolf's frontal charge. Then, with several nimble sliding steps, he used the round shield in his left hand to block one wolf's pounce while his waist saber in his right hand stabbed straight into another wolf's throat.

He had taken down two wolves in an instant, but Zhou Ye's situation had worsened instead.

When he had blocked with the round shield just now, Zhou Ye had already felt that although his strength had recovered to the normal level of an ordinary person, he was still somewhat weaker than a wolf in raw power.

Thus, under the impact, Zhou Ye could not keep his footing and staggered back several steps.

At this moment, Zhou Ye was being entangled by the injured wolf, while the alpha wolf also came pouncing at high speed.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Zhou Ye blocked repeatedly with the round shield, trying to catch his breath. As long as he got even a brief moment to recover, he could use his high agility to open up enough distance.

But heaven did not grant people their wishes. Those wolves surely had extensive combat experience. How could they fail to seize Zhou Ye's moment of weakness?

This time, it was the alpha wolf. When its paw struck the round shield, Zhou Ye felt an immense force crash into him. He could no longer hold on and was slapped to the ground.

Damn! This beast's strength is definitely +3 or +4, far greater than the other wolves'.

Seeing its "prey" fall, the two wolves pressed on relentlessly, pouncing toward Zhou Ye on the ground again. Their blood-filled maws gaped open as they tried to bite his vital points.

Come to think of it, it was fortunate that wolves instinctively prioritized biting and tearing rather than using their sharp claws.

Though he rolled on the ground, Zhou Ye still had high agility and sufficient reaction speed. He blocked the two wolf heads again and again, batting them away each time.

Having fallen into such a dangerous situation, Zhou Ye had been rather panicked at first.

But as he kept blocking, Zhou Ye gradually calmed down. To his surprise, he discovered that the two wolves could not break through the round shield's defense at all. They did not seem all that formidable... did they?

Zhou Ye even began to counterattack, occasionally slashing out with a cold blade. He did not seek to injure them, only to force the wolves back and disrupt their attacks.

To be honest, after fighting this long, Zhou Ye's confidence had been stirred.

While blocking left and right, Zhou Ye even slowly climbed to his feet, kneeling on one knee as he continued to defend.

Just like that, after fighting for more than a quarter of an hour, Zhou Ye was surprised to feel that the wolves' pressure seemed... to be getting lighter and lighter?

A glance from the corner of his eye showed the alpha wolf panting white vapor, apparently exhausted. The injured wolf was already lying in the snow. At some point, its poison had taken effect, and it had collapsed.

In nature, other beasts might be ferocious, and their greatest strength was their explosive power. But the reason terrifying upright apes were terrifying was their endurance. It could be said without exaggeration that in a battle of endurance, terrifying upright apes were utterly unmatched.

Moreover, terrifying upright apes could use weapons, making up for their shortcomings as much as possible. Beasts could only rely on their own flesh and blood, which put them at a disadvantage in this regard as well.