The frenzied wolf pack

He returned home and confirmed the bad news. Eva looked at Allen anxiously. "Sweetheart, whatever you do, don't go out for a while. Stay home and behave yourself. If anything happens, remember to hide in the cellar and don't come out." Just as he was about to say something, his father, Jason, returned. "Eva, Allen, you're both here. Thank goodness. I was worried you wouldn't be home. All right, Allen, stay with your mother. Remember not to go out for a while. If anything happens, remember to hide in the cellar and don't come out."

His father repeated the same words as his mother, and at last it was his turn. "What I'm thinking is, wolves have very keen noses. Wherever we hide, it won't do any good. As long as we're nearby, those beasts will dig three feet into the ground to get us out."

Eva thought about it and felt he was right, then looked helplessly at her husband. Jason paused before saying, "Then we'll go to Shante City. Whatever happens, those beasts can't possibly get into Shante City. Besides, the lord will surely protect us." Allen sighed. "I don't know whether Lord Andre will protect us. But I think those beasts will kill us before we even reach Shante City. Besides, our village is no longer part of Lord Andre's territory." In fact, their village really was outside Andre's territory, and it did not belong to any other noble's territory either. Their situation was uncommon in the surrounding area. This was mainly because the villagers were all people who had fled here to escape the wars. The nobles above them had yet to learn of their existence, which was why those nobles had not tormented them to the point where they could no longer survive.

But now, going to Shante City for help would probably only make things worse. After all, no one knew whether Andre was a merciful lord. That day, he went with his father to attend the meeting, on the grounds that he was no longer little and was a man with strength.

That afternoon, a great many people came. Almost every man in the village was there. Old Jack explained the situation to the villagers and asked the men present, "What does everyone think we should do?" One middle-aged man said, "Perhaps we could ask Shante City for help." The middle-aged man was the village carpenter and was usually rather timid, so it was no surprise that he would say something like that.

Before Old Jack could speak, Pakin, a hunter standing nearby, cut in. "Hmph. I think Andre would rather hang tax-dodging scum like us at the city gates, to teach those lowborn wretches what nobility means." After Pakin finished, the crowd fell silent again.

Seeing that the time was right, Old Jack said, "We can't pin all our hopes on the mercy of lords. Besides, who knows whether there's even enough time? We must take up our weapons and kill every last one of those beasts. We must never let them hurt our women and children. Fight to protect our homes!" Old Jack truly was someone who had ventured beyond the village. His words were deeply stirring.

The villagers were all encouraged by him. Next, Old Jack assigned their tasks. First, he had the hunter Parson gather all the men, then divided them into three teams, led by Old Jack, Parson, and Allen respectively.

At first, the villagers were surprised to hear Allen's name, and some even refused to accept him. But Allen showed off his "muscles," knocking the man who objected to the ground, and no one said anything more. Of the three teams, two would guard the village's only entrance, while the other would mainly protect the elderly and children inside. It was a very reasonable arrangement.

They had to finish setting traps before the wolves arrived, so Old Jack mobilized everyone, including the elderly and children, to make traps. That day, everyone in the village was put to work.

After several consecutive days of preparations, the wolves finally killed all the animals in the mountains, then charged toward the village. Everyone was extremely nervous at first, even causing a considerable commotion. Fortunately, Old Jack was there. When the people saw him lead the charge, they stopped being afraid and followed him toward the wolves.

Old Jack had originally assigned Allen to protect the old and weak inside the village, but Allen was still worried about the fighting at the front. He handed command to another hunter and ran to the village entrance. The people there were locked in battle with the wolves, attacking them in groups of two or three while guarding one another's backs.

Old Jack had charged too quickly and was surrounded by several wolves at once. He was fending off attacks from all sides, and his situation was precarious. Fortunately, the traps set over the past few days had killed quite a few wolves. But Old Jack was old, after all, and did not have much stamina. Just as he was about to falter, Allen rushed forward and stabbed that cunning old wolf to death with his sword. "Grandpa Jack, are you all right?" "Hahaha! It's been so long since I last fought, I'm getting rusty." Seeing that Old Jack could still laugh so loudly, he felt reassured.

Another hour passed. Under the villagers' combined attacks, the lead wolf, which was more than a size larger than an ordinary wolf, was finally killed. Without its leadership, the pack immediately fell into disorder, and the rest of the battle ended easily. The exhausted villagers cheered in victory, then lay down on the ground. The women and children inside the village soon came out and carried the wounded inside.

After resting briefly, Old Jack went inside to take a head count and discovered that three people were missing. Their families were weeping beside their bodies. Old Jack comforted them and promised that they would receive compensation, and that he would do his best to have the villagers look after them.

By the time all the work was finished, it was well past midnight. He had never used his full strength during the battle, mainly to guard against being ambushed by a wolf when exhausted, so he still had some strength left. He volunteered to carry the wolves' bodies into the village. Just as he lifted the lead wolf, he discovered that it was much heavier than the others, practically twice the weight of an ordinary wolf. As he struggled to move it, something like a stone suddenly slipped out of its belly. He picked it up curiously and was immediately astonished. He could actually sense what was inside the stone. His intuition told him this was no ordinary object.

So he immediately put it away, then continued working as though nothing had happened. The families of the three who had died that night seemed truly grief-stricken. Their crying could still be heard at midnight. When his parents saw him return, they carefully examined his body and only relaxed after confirming that he was unhurt.

After Allen returned home, he helped his father apply medicine to the wounds he had suffered fighting the wolves. Fortunately, they were nothing serious. Once the medicine had been applied, Jason sent him back to his room to get some proper rest.

Back in his room, he did not sleep at all, but took out the stone instead. After carefully washing it, he discovered that it was blue-green all over and a little larger than a glass marble. The stone also faintly emitted a peculiar fluctuation, which he could actually sense. He carefully ran his fingers over it. Rather than feeling rough like stone, it felt smooth and fine like jade. He searched his memories for anything related to it, but had absolutely no idea what it was. So he gave up.

The next day, he went to Old Jack's house. Old Jack had been dealing with the aftermath of the previous day's events and had not slept all night. He had only just gone to bed, and now Allen had woken him again, but he did not mind at all. Opening the door, he pulled Allen inside. "Oh, it's you, Allen. What's the matter?" Seeing the bags under his eyes and his very poor complexion, Allen asked in surprise, "Grandpa Jack, don't tell me you were up all night?"

Old Jack yawned and replied, "You know, there were so many things waiting for me to deal with yesterday. How could I possibly have had time to sleep?"

"In that case, I'd better come back tomorrow. I won't disturb your rest, Grandpa." "Enough, you little rascal. Tell me what you need. It's only one night without sleep." As he spoke, Old Jack pulled him into the house. "Allen, you did absolutely splendidly yesterday. You even saved me."

"Grandpa Jack, how could I possibly not save you in a situation like that? By the way, how bad were the village's losses?" Allen asked. Old Jack sat down. "Fortunately, despite everything, our losses weren't great. It's just a shame that Faran and the other two never came back." Old Jack looked somewhat sad. "Allen, look after their families. It's the only thing we can do." After that, Old Jack explained his thoughts. He wanted to skin the wolves and sell their pelts in Shante City, then divide the money into three shares: one for the families of the dead, one for those who had fought the wolves, and the last for those who had stayed behind.

But Old Jack worried that the villagers would object to his distribution. In fact, he had no need to worry. Given his position as village chief and his courageous performance the day before, even if he took all the money himself, no one would object on the spot. At most, they would grumble a little afterward.