Chapter 28: The Old Woods, a place for gangsters

This short discussion ended with my silence, but Wu Laogui was gnashing his teeth and clenching his fists, as if he was going to go up and fight to the death.

Faced with a beast that is more vigorous than a human, has an unopened mind, and whose soul is in a state of chaos, Wu Laogui really can’t help at all, and he can only make this fierce gesture to cheer us on.

The demon wolf did not advance, but the wolf cubs gathered quickly in front of the demon wolf, snarling lowly. The demon wolf occasionally barked, and I don’t know what they were communicating about. It looked like the wolf cubs were having a meeting.

This situation is strange enough, but in fact it didn’t last long. In less than two minutes, the wolf cubs ran towards us, and it looked like they were really going to trap us in the tree.

“These kids!” Old Zhang cursed, raised his single-barrel shotgun and was about to shoot. I knew that before Old Zhang set off, Big Brother had helped him load 50 bullets. According to the current number of wolf cubs, if Old Zhang could kill one with one shot, the bullets would be enough.

However, this is only an idealized calculation method. In addition, along the way, Old Zhang told us many interesting stories about the old forest, but he also talked about many rules. One of the rules is that you must not kill the last family member. When collecting medicine, you must leave roots. When hunting animals, you must not kill those with young. You must not kill in groups, either, because that would anger the mountain god.

So, even if Old Zhang could kill a wolf cub with one shot, he wouldn’t dare kill all of them. He was the son of the mountain, and he was afraid of breaking taboos. The main reason he shot was just to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys. If he could kill one or two, it would be good to scare off the wolf cubs.

We all understand Zhang’s thinking. He is also afraid that if we shoot, it will be a fatal move. After all, the sentence “it will cause evil” from Brother Chengxin scared him… Therefore, Zhang’s first shot is like a tacit agreement we made in secret, to see if we can scare off the wolves at the lowest cost.

The sound of the gunshot was muffled, but it was clear that the wolf cub that was almost at the front of the pack had stumbled and fallen.

Since we had been discovered anyway, we simply turned on our flashlights to check the details. I found that Lao Zhang had shot the wolf cub right in the eye, and the iron sand had blown apart almost half of the wolf cub’s head.

In such a dark night, under such a stressful situation, Lao Zhang still had such a good marksmanship, which was really admirable. I couldn’t help but give Lao Zhang a thumbs up, but Lao Zhang didn’t seem to care much, as if it was just as normal as eating and drinking.

He was tied to the branch next to me, and I could clearly see that he was nervously staring at the reaction of the wolves. Because he was too concerned, even his hand that continued to press the bullet was trembling.

In fact, the gunshots and the sudden fall of the wolf pups really made the wolves hesitate. They began to growl lowly, and although they did not seem to be retreating, they were also unable to move forward.

This situation made Lao Zhang look happy. He licked his dry lips from nervousness, excitedly raised his gun and aimed, saying, “These wolf cubs are afraid. If a few more come, they might really retreat.”

It was probably the first time that Lao Zhang had encountered such a situation, or perhaps he was so distracted by his concern that he forgot to calculate one situation, which was the existence of the leader wolf (the demon wolf).

Sure enough, the hesitation of the wolves caused the demon wolf to become dissatisfied. At this time, it let out a few long howls, and suddenly the situation took a big turn. The wolves, who had been hesitant, suddenly sped up as if they had been provoked, and rushed towards the tree like a tide.

In this situation, Lao Zhang didn’t care about this. He fired seven or eight shots in a row, killing three more wolf cubs. Unfortunately, this time there was no effect at all. The wolves didn’t care about their dead companions and continued to sprint towards this side.

Old Zhang was a little agitated and wanted to reload, but I stopped him and said, “Old Zhang, if you don’t kill the demon wolf, you won’t be able to drive the wolves away. Save some bullets. We’re going to be in the forest for a while.”

Lao Zhang sighed, put down the shotgun and said, “I also know that if we don’t kill this wolf, the wolves won’t retreat at all. The wolves in this forest have disappeared for decades, and this is the first time I’ve seen them. If I can’t protect you, I…”

I patted Zhang on the shoulder, signaling him to stop talking. In this situation, human power is limited. Even if Zhang is a great marksman, he can only kill three wolf cubs with seven or eight shots at such a fast speed.

At this time, Ru Xue spoke up. She asked Cheng Xin, “Cheng Xin, you just said that your method is evil, and my method is not necessarily merciful. Why don’t you tell us your method, and we’ll see who will act first?”

As Ru Xue spoke, I felt the big tree we were standing on start to shake. I looked down with my flashlight and saw that the wolves were desperately trying to knock the tree down. It was amazing that they were so well-organized. One would knock, and the other would take over. Were they trying to knock the tree down?

Of course, such a thick tree cannot be knocked down by these wolf cubs, even if a man-bear comes, this kind of knocking method only makes us unable to stay on the tree. For example, if it weren’t for the rope tying me down, I would have fallen at least a few times, and Old Zhang couldn’t even hold his gun steady, let alone aim and shoot.

I heard many stories about the strange behavior of wolves when I traveled with Uncle Wang, and some people even said that they sometimes act like an army. I thought it was an exaggeration, but now that I have encountered them, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration at all.

In this situation, Chengxin said to Ruoxue in a very fast-paced manner: “Since ancient times, medicine and poison have been inseparable. Those who can save lives can also easily take lives according to their understanding of the properties of medicine. Since childhood, my master has taught me that if there is a fight, let the rough men of the Shan Zi school go. We are literati and cannot easily fight. If we do, the consequences will be more serious than if the men of the Shan Zi school fight a hundred battles! I’m going to use poison, but we’ll have the antidote in our mouths beforehand, so we’ll be fine. But once I make my move, I won’t know how many of these wolf cubs will die, and these wolf cubs must be buried deep, otherwise their meat will be eaten by other guys. I don’t know how many creatures in this old forest will die. Just thinking about it makes me scared. Ru Xue, Ru Xue, sister, you better get started!

Ru Xue made a sound of “uh” and said nothing more. Instead, she flipped her hand and a bamboo tube was in her hand. Originally, she didn’t need to explain much to us, but she had to explain to Old Zhang: “I have a tube of poisonous bees here. The ancestors of the village have been cultivated for generations, and are several times more poisonous than ordinary poisonous bees. A poisonous bee only stings people and things once, and then it dies. Their poison will make these wolf cubs go crazy and attack each other. I don’t know how many of them will survive! I also have a few ‘drone bees’ here, with even more potent venom. I’ll save them for the evil wolf.”

As she spoke, Ru Xue flipped her hand again, and this time, she held a small whistle in her mouth, made of a delicate leaf. She looked at Lao Zhang, who was still swaying back and forth, and said, “That’s great. That’s it. At least it’s not a plan to wipe out the family.”

Unfortunately, it is not very kind. I added in my heart, but what can we do? In a life-and-death situation, Taoists do not have the same high level of consciousness as Buddhists. We believe in the natural way, and the natural way is not wrong. It is the path of evolution.

Taoists only emphasize having a clear conscience and a bottom line, not actively sowing the seeds of karma, not the way of forbearance.

Therefore, while monks can be called masters, Taoists are often ignorant people, and are often called ox-nosed people, which is what it means!

With the permission of Lao Zhang, Ruoxue naturally had to act, but just as she was about to remove the plug from the bamboo tube, something strange happened.

At that moment, I just felt a gust of wind on my face. I just felt a little blackness in front of my eyes, and then I heard Ru Xue exclaim. When I looked again, I was speechless and angry. I couldn’t help but scold, “Buddy, why are you here to join the fun at this time? Haven’t you seen that someone is going to die?”

At this moment, I heard a cracking sound under the tree. I didn’t even bother to look, and I knew it was the wolf cubs gnawing on the tree while they were knocking it down.

The trees swayed unsteadily, and the threat of the gun was naturally lifted. I saw the demon wolf strutting out proudly, like a general about to win. Is this the rule of the forest? – Forming gangs!

Looking at the “brothers” in front of me, it’s hard not to think this way!