Chapter 34 Fighting Wolves
Sniper rifles have significant recoil; if the firing posture is incorrect, the butt can shatter a person's shoulder blade. The sniper rifle Guan Shao used had manageable recoil, but someone lacking strength would definitely be thrown to the ground by it. However, after firing the first shot, Guan Shao only shuddered slightly due to the recoil.
The human eye cannot perceive the speed of a bullet, but a scope can clearly show the result. After a gunshot, a bright flash appeared above the head of the wolf standing on the mountain in the scope. It was the image of warm blood splattering in the thermal image; the wolf fell straight down the instant the blood splattered.
Almost the instant the wolf fell, Guan Shao had already aimed his scope at another wolf. With a crisp "thud," the other wolf tumbled down the hillside.
In the blink of an eye, the two wolves were dead at Guan Shao's hands, but unfortunately, no one noticed this except for him. Jiang Rong and Chu Qiang beside him also pulled the trigger.
They weren't as good as Guan Shao; they couldn't aim at crucial positions like the head. But they could shoot at the wolf's body. The mutated wolf's body was like a calf's, making it easy for it to be locked onto by a scope. Once locked on, what awaited them was a cold bullet.
In the night vision goggles, wolves fell one after another. Before the pack even reached the courtyard wall, more than a dozen wolves were already lying on the ground. The wolves that weren't killed with a single shot howled in pain, which threw the remaining wolves into disarray. Some even stopped in their tracks, unsure of which direction to go.
The wolves, stunned by the attack, began to scatter in all directions. Jiang Rong and his group had already set up traps around them; the thorn wall instantly grew to four or five meters high, with electrified barbed wire embedded within. Even if a wolf, unafraid of the sharp thorns, tried to climb over, it would be instantly electrocuted by the powerful current.
Seeing the stunned wolf, Chu Qiang fired a burst of bullets: "Hey, that was awesome!" He'd only ever played shooting games before; he never imagined he'd experience real shooting in his lifetime. His face flushed with excitement, his adrenaline surging.
Compared to Chu Qiang, Jiang Rong was a complete novice. He had never even played a shooting game before, and was now pulling the trigger solely based on the knowledge he had crammed in the past two days. The wolves were fast, making aiming difficult, and his shoulder went numb from the recoil of the gun butt when he pulled the trigger. Even with ear protectors on, his ears were still ringing from the "pop pop" sounds.
As an ordinary person who grew up in peacetime, Jiang Rong now deeply understands how fortunate he was before. Although anyone can take up arms and go to the battlefield when pushed to the limit, not everyone can handle a gun.
However, Jiang Rong has a strong learning ability. After a short period of adaptation, his aiming and shooting speed increased significantly, and his accuracy also improved.
In less than two minutes, only ten of the thirty-odd wolves remained, and the three men on the rooftop appeared to have won an overwhelming victory.
At this moment, one of the wolves in the pack let out a long howl. The wolves, which had been scattered and running around in all directions, seemed to have suddenly found their leader, and they actually ran quickly towards the courtyard wall.
Fearing the wolves might slip into a corner and become unreachable, Jiang Rong had already laid out thorns and an electric fence outside the courtyard wall. The remaining wolves rushed over quickly, and just as they were about to crash into the trap, two wolves from the pack swiftly stepped forward, leaping up and landing heavily in the middle of the sloping trap.
The sharp thorns and electric shocks caused the two wolves to howl in agony, but no matter how much pain they were in, they did not struggle. Their companions seized the opportunity and leaped up, landing precisely on the wolves' backs. Using their companions' bodies as a springboard, they stomped hard and soared into the air again, heading towards the courtyard wall.
Two wolves howled in pain, supporting the weight of their companions. With their help, the remaining eight wolves flew over the courtyard wall as if they had grown wings.
Seeing this, Chu Qiang's hair stood on end: "Holy crap!" He only knew that humans would use their own bodies to clear a path for their companions, but he never expected that mutated wolves could do the same.
In the blink of an eye, the mutated wolves had rushed into the yard. Once inside, they immediately scattered along the base of the wall. This caused trouble for Jiang Rong and her companions; no matter how hard Jiang Rong tried, the thorns couldn't grow as fast as the wolves could run.
His parapet wasn't high, but it was quite wide. To kill the wolves lurking close to the house, one had to stand on the parapet. However, he and Chu Qiang weren't yet skilled at handling firearms, so standing on it would only increase the danger.
At the critical moment, Guan Shao took the gun from Jiang Rong's hand and jumped onto the parapet: "They're coming up, be careful."
As soon as he finished speaking, a wolf leaped from beyond the parapet, baring its teeth and lunging at Chu Qiang. Chu Qiang exclaimed in surprise, "Have they grown wings?"
The traps outside the courtyard wall were at least five meters long; if the two wolves hadn't willingly sacrificed themselves, the wolf pack wouldn't have been able to enter the yard at all. Jiang Rong's house, including the parapet, is over five meters high. How did the wolves get up there? Could they fly?
Just as the wolf was about to bite Chu Qiang, a long, slender leg suddenly swept across and kicked the wolf hard in the chest and abdomen. Chu Qiang looked up and saw Jiang Rong with his fists clenched in front of his chest, his left foot on the parapet, and his right foot quickly retracting.
The wolf, suspended in mid-air, howled in pain and plummeted heavily to the ground. Chu Qiang was speechless with shock. Was this really his childhood friend? His Xiao Jiang was incredible; he'd become so powerful now?
Jiang Rong lost his balance after a flying kick and nearly fell off the parapet. Luckily, Chu Qiang reached out and pulled him back at the last moment: "Watch out!"
Because of the large movement, Jiang Rong flung his head-mounted night vision goggles away, and for a moment everything went black before his eyes: "Damn it, the night vision goggles fell down."
Guan Shao ran two steps toward Jiang Rong, "Behind me."
Several gunshots rang out in the darkness, followed by the rumbling, heavy breathing of wolves. The sudden loss of sight threw Jiang Rong into a panic; he couldn't help but feel annoyed that he had failed at such a crucial moment.
Although he is blind, Jiang Rong can see the situation in the courtyard from another angle. Any plant or tree that has been imbued with his supernatural power can become his eyes, but the perspective of each plant or tree is different, and looking at too many of them can be dazzling.
Jiang Rong tried his best to channel his supernatural power into the brambles. If he couldn't kill the wolves, he could at least trap them to create an opportunity for Chu Qiang and the others. However, the wolves were too fast. There wasn't even a pot of soil in his yard, and the brambles had nowhere to land. After trying for a while, he couldn't trap a single wolf.
The remaining wolves were leaping up through his window, and because of the unfavorable shooting angle and field of vision, Chu Qiang missed several shots.
The giant wolf didn't give Chu Qiang a chance to continue shooting; another wolf attacked him from the side. In a flash, Chu Qiang threw his beloved gun aside, turned around, and began wrestling with the wolf.
Jiang Rong tried to go help Chu Qiang, but Chu Qiang held the wolf down tightly, gripping its neck with both hands and shouting, "Don't come any closer! You can't see me, don't come any closer! I can handle this!"
Long brambles climbed up the wall, becoming Jiang Rongxin's new eyes. He realized the battle was nearing its end; five wolf carcasses lay on the ground, and the pack had three wolves left.
Of the remaining three, one is currently locked in combat with Chu Qiang. So... where did the other two go?
Suddenly, Jiang Rong felt a chill run down his spine, every cell in his body sending out alarms, as if something terrifying was behind him. He stiffly turned his head and met a pair of emerald green wolf eyes.
The wolf was incredibly clever. It climbed up from the north window, slipped past everyone's eyes, and lurked under the solar panels, waiting to deliver a fatal blow. If Jiang Rong hadn't sensed something was wrong, the wolf would have torn four bloody holes in his neck.
Just as the wolf pounced on Jiang Rong, a bullet pierced its neck. The wolf's body fell heavily, crashing down at Jiang Rong's feet. The dying wolf convulsed, bright red blood seeping from its wound, staining the cement beneath it.
Without even turning around, it was clear that no one but Guan Shao possessed such excellent marksmanship. Guan Shao glanced around: "Two left, it's almost over."
Just then, Chu Qiang shouted, "Ah!" The sound of bones breaking rang out, and the wolf fighting with Chu Qiang slumped down. Chu Qiang turned his head, spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, and cursed. Luckily, he was a superhuman; otherwise, he would have been the one with the broken neck.
There was only one wolf left, but where was it? The three of them searched the yard thoroughly, but found nothing.
Chu Qiang asked, "Is it possible they escaped in the chaos?" After all, their battle line was in the northeast corner, and Jiang Rong's courtyard wall was so large that there must be places they couldn't see. With such powerful thermal imaging capabilities, it was impossible for anything alive to escape their sight.
After thinking for a while, Guan Shao agreed with this view: "It's possible."
Jiang Rong peered through the brambles once more, surveying the entire courtyard, both inside and out, and the rooftops. Confirming he saw no living creature, he suggested, "It might have escaped. Let's go down." The situation was hopeless; what trouble could a wolf possibly cause? If that wolf were smart, it would have fled far away and never returned.
To facilitate the replacement of solar panels, Jiang Rong installed a retractable staircase in the southwest corner of the house. After pushing the wolf carcass off the roof, the three men carried their guns and headed towards the staircase.
Chu Qiang was overjoyed: "Today's battle was really exciting. Who would have thought that we could take down such a big pack of wolves in less than half an hour? Thanks to Guan Tou'er for providing the equipment. Without you, I don't know how we would have fought this battle."
Guan Shao, carrying a gun on his back, stepped down the stairs: "It's your first time handling real guns, and you've actually done a pretty good job. Not bad."
Jiang Rong followed Guan Shao down the stairs. He said embarrassedly, "Chu Qiang was alright, but I didn't hit many." He was just there to make up the numbers and provide support; the real work was done by Guan Shao and Chu Qiang.
Chu Qiang flattered, "No, that's not true. You didn't see it just now, but my Xiao Jiang's kick was so cool! Xiao Jiang, when did you start learning martial arts? You're pretty good."
Guan Shao said softly, "I saw it, he's practicing very well."
Just as the three were climbing down the folding stairs, the fairy suddenly moved, her entire body bristling with sharp spikes.
"ah--"
The fairy, who had been silent for most of the night, suddenly screamed, so loudly that the three of them almost tumbled down the stairs.
Countless sharp spikes shot out from the little fairy, all heading towards a spot below the stairs. Some spikes bounced and rolled to the ground after hitting the concrete, while many more hovered in mid-air, seemingly having struck something.
Gradually, bright red blood appeared on the spikes. Where the spikes gathered, a giant wolf with blood-red eyes gradually emerged.
It staggered forward two steps, then tilted its head back and let out a final howl: "Awooo—Awooo—"
That howl contained resentment, reluctance, and other indescribable emotions.
In the darkness, the wolf's howl carried far. Then, from the distant mountains came a childlike, innocent reply: "Woo—"
Bright red blood dripped down the sharp spikes, and the giant wolf, panting heavily, glared venomously at the three. But before it could make a move, the little fairy launched her second attack: "Cartoon—"
The spikes shot out again, this time penetrating even deeper, with several thorns piercing through the wolf's body. The giant wolf was riddled with spikes, becoming like a hedgehog. After swaying a few times, it collapsed to the ground, twitched twice, and then lay lifeless.
Seeing the wolf lying on the ground, the three fell silent. That was close; they had almost been ambushed by this wolf. They hadn't expected it to have awakened the ability to become invisible—a terrifying ability, so difficult to defend against.
As they went down the stairs, they had their backs to the wolf. If the fairy hadn't noticed it, one of the three of them would probably have been seriously injured by now.
The little fairy hummed the Meow Team's theme song triumphantly, every quill on her body bristling with smugness. Who said it was a useless ball? It had finally figured out a way to pierce through the bad stuff.
A flower garland sprouted from the forehead of the fairy in an extremely good mood, with vibrant red flowers forming a beautiful wreath. If cacti had breasts, they would surely be proudly puffing out their chests right now.
Jiang Rong clapped her hands and praised her repeatedly, "Little fairy, you're amazing! You saved us, you're so great! You're the cutest cactus in the world~"
The little fairy laughed happily, shaking the flower on its head: "There's a problem! There's a problem!"
The fairy saved their lives and deserves a reward. Jiang Rong asked, "Fairy, what reward do you want?"
The little fairy leaned against the courtyard wall, her round little ball wobbling, her voice full of anticipation: "Cartoons~ Cartoons~"
Jiang Rong: ...
For a moment, I didn't know whether to congratulate my little fairy on learning a new word or worry about her excessive TV addiction. Speaking of which, when my little fairy shot out the spikes just now, wasn't that what she shouted?
Soon after, the upbeat theme song of an animated film appeared on the courtyard wall, and the little fairy swayed her thorns and hummed along.
Guan Shao was both amused and exasperated: "This little fairy is so easy to coax." He had saved three lives, and in return, she could watch three episodes of an animated series. There was no more perfunctory reward in the world.
Jiang Rong disagreed: "Do you know this is advanced viewing? Xiao Heng hasn't even seen it."
The little fairy happily repeated Jiang Rong's words: "Jiang Gong~ Ahead of time~" She couldn't say the word "broadcast" at the end, but that didn't matter, the cartoon was about to start.
Chu Qiang finally came to his senses. He pointed at the little fairy with a trembling finger and said, "It...it...it spoke...Xiao Jiang, your cactus has become a spirit! It can talk! Can you hear it?"
Jiang Rong glanced at Chu Qiang: "Isn't this normal?"
Chu Qiang squatted down and scratched his hair: "How can this be normal? How can a cactus talk? Is there any hope for this world?"
Seeing his childhood friend fall into his foolish mode again, Jiang Rong sighed and squatted down in front of the giant wolf. The wolf died with its eyes wide open and pupils dilated in anger. Jiang Rong put himself in its shoes; if he were to die like that, he would also feel very unwilling.
The corpses of more than thirty giant wolves were neatly arranged in the yard, creating a powerful visual impact. Guan Shao pulled out a small knife and plunged it into the head of a giant wolf: "It seems that the wolf pack's reproductive ability has also increased after the mutation."
Summer isn't the breeding season for wolves, but I never expected them to have pups. Luckily, we killed the mother wolf today, otherwise this area wouldn't be under wolf control for long.
What should be done with the remaining wolf cubs? Wolves are very good at hiding their tracks. If left unattended, they may regroup and form packs again after a while.
However, without the protection of the adult wolf, the cubs would face a difficult survival, and whether they could grow up normally was uncertain. Jiang Rong decided to leave them alone; if they grew up and developed their own pack, he wouldn't mind fighting wolves again.
Chu Qiang picked up one of the wolves and weighed it in his hand: "It's so heavy, it's almost as heavy as a pig. What did they eat to grow up like that?"
Jiang Rong thought for a moment: "Eat live animals." Eat any animal they can catch, and of course, humans are one of the animals on their menu.
Seeing Guan Shao stabbing a wolf's head with a knife, Chu Qiang curiously stepped forward and asked, "Guan Shao, what are you doing?"
Jiang Rong and the others didn't intend to hide the crystal core from Chu Qiang. Seeing Chu Qiang ask, Guan Shao held out his palm. Lying in his palm was a pale yellow crystal core. Upon seeing this crystal core, Chu Qiang's eyes widened immediately: "This... what is this?"
After Chu Qiang understood the purpose of the crystal core, he stood there in the courtyard, stunned. It took him a long time to recover: "This world is truly fantastical."
Once other superhumans discover the secret of the crystal cores, competition will begin. The future world will be in the hands of high-level superhumans; whoever possesses the most crystal cores and the strongest abilities will be invincible.
Having figured this out, Chu Qiang immediately joined the ranks of those mining crystal cores. At this moment, he only wanted to thank Xiao Jiang for telling him this secret; otherwise, he didn't know when he would have discovered it on his own. Now that the great crisis had just begun, it was the perfect time to widen the gap between himself and other ability users.
With Chu Qiang's help, they quickly obtained more than twenty crystal cores. Most of these crystal cores were transparent, with only five or six having color.
The crystal core dug out of the last wolf's skull wasn't the largest, but it was the most beautiful in color. It was a pale purple with vertical stripes like those of a cat's eye stone.
Jiang Rong placed the cleaned crystal cores on the table and called to Chu Qiang and Guan Shao, "Choose one, see which one you like?"
Chu Qiang clearly possessed the instincts of a superhuman; he reached out and grasped a pale yellow crystal core in his hand: "I've wanted to hold this since the beginning." If he wasn't mistaken, this wolf had withstood two shots from Guan Shao before dying. It was very likely that, like Chu Qiang, it had awakened an enhancement-type superhuman ability.
Guan Shao's gaze was fixed on the pale purple crystal core: "I think I should be able to use it."
Jiang Rong picked out the bright purple crystal core and placed it in Guan Shao's hand. He asked curiously, "After absorbing this crystal core, will you be able to become invisible?"
Guan Shao did not give a definite answer: "I'm not sure about that. We'll have to wait until it's absorbed before we can say for sure."
Jiang Rong piled the remaining crystal cores on the table: "If we distribute them according to the number of wolves killed, Guan Shao should get the most crystal cores, followed by Qiang Zi, and I'll get the fewest. You guys go first."
Guan Shao glanced at Jiang Rong and pushed the crystal core toward her, saying, "You can have mine; I only need this one."
Chu Qiang didn't care at all: "Isn't that too formal? If it weren't for you, I would be dead. Why would you care about a few crystal cores?"
Although the two insisted that Jiang Rong accept the remaining crystal cores, he still divided them into three portions. He stuffed the crystal cores into their hands, saying, "This is what you deserve." Even close brothers should keep clear accounts; the better the relationship, the less ambiguous things should be on important matters.
After the crystal cores were distributed, it was time to discuss how to handle the wolf meat. The weather was too hot, and they didn't have enough space to store it; if the meat wasn't processed promptly, it would quickly spoil and rot.
Chu Qiang scratched his head, looking exasperated. "Wolf meat is delicious, but even if we eat with all our might, we can't possibly finish all that meat at once." He wished they had a spatial ability. He'd heard that some spatial ability users could store living things in their spaces, and that things would come out exactly the same way they were put in.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Rong suggested, "Sell it."
Chu Qiang's eyes widened in surprise: "Sell? Sell to whom? Don't tell me you're going to sell it to those few people in our village. Forget about it. You know how it is now, money is worthless, supplies are the real currency."
Those who had the means had already left home to seek a living elsewhere, leaving those who remained to suffer in misery. A few days ago, one family ran out of food and supplies, and the entire family had to go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables to eat in the early morning and late evening when it wasn't too hot.
If Jiang Rong offered to give them some wolf meat, Chu Qiang could understand. But to say she'd sell them wolf meat... how would they buy it?
Jiang Rong explained, "Selling is actually just bartering. People bring out their surplus items to exchange for what they need. I think as long as you are hardworking, you can find something to exchange even if you have to go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables."
After a major crisis, not supporting idlers and lazy people is not an option. While distributing the spoils might garner praise and followers from some, it's an act that consumes one's own time and energy and offers no benefit to Jiang Rong.
He wanted to build a base where everyone could live in peace. Although he didn't want it to become a hell on earth like the Peace Base, which relied on exploiting ordinary people to maintain its daily operations, he also didn't want to become a sucker who charged into battle on the front lines.
To build a base, you need people. His base won't accept people who want to reap the benefits without sowing; if you want something, you have to work for it.
Chu Qiang remained silent for a long time. Jiang Rong's words reminded him of his experience traveling with Lynx and his group at the beginning of the Great Crisis. Back then, he was overly kind and gave away his belongings to those people without asking for anything in return. What he received in return was resentment and betrayal. If he had another chance, he would go back and slap his past self: What kind of good person was he at a time like this?
After a long while, Chu Qiang nodded heavily: "Yes, you're right. No one gets what they don't work. They didn't contribute any money or labor, so they have to pay something if they want to eat meat."
But then another problem arose: Chu Qiang's village only had twenty or thirty households in total, and after the main force left, the remaining people, including Chu Qiang's family, numbered only a little over forty. They had more than thirty wolves, and their goods almost outnumbered their people.
Chu Qiang was somewhat troubled: "The oversupply is too troublesome. If we can't sell them, the wolf meat will still spoil." He really didn't want to waste the wolves he had worked so hard to hunt.
Jiang Rong smiled slightly at this: "That's easy. Just visit a few more villages and call more people." Although there are few people in the mountain valley where their two families live, there are several villages near Lingshan Reservoir. There must be people left in the villages, and he can check how many ordinary people and superhumans are still around.
Chu Qiang slapped his forehead: "Oh right, look at my brain. I almost forgot about this. Don't worry, leave it to me. I'll go run around and get it settled before dawn."
Jiang Rong replied, "Then I'll try to cool down the wolf carcass so it can stay there for a while longer."
Guan Shao leaned back in his chair, turning his head slightly to look at Jiang Rong, who was talking to Chu Qiang, a glint in his eyes.
Author's Note:
If we were to barter, what items would you have at home that you could exchange for other things?
The old cat goes first: cat litter.
I stocked up on tons of cat litter for my cat during Singles' Day, hehe~
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