Outside the mud house, a sudden, rapid, and chaotic banging of gongs and drums shattered the silence of the snowy night.
Zhang Cheng's brows furrowed instantly, and his ears twitched as he caught the distant commotion.
It wasn't an argument, it was more like... an alarm?
He instinctively gripped the military knife hidden in his sleeve; it was a gift from Li Yaohui's father, and it was exceptionally sharp. He also adjusted the machete at his waist to the most comfortable position.
He hurried to the front yard, and in the dim light of the snow, he saw Old Zhang and his elder brother Zhang An, their necks hunched, running in panic toward the direction from which the gong sounded.
"Something's happened!" Zhang Cheng's heart sank.
Following the sound, they soon spotted the core of the crowd—Zhang Da Naotou.
At this moment, Zhang Da Tou's face no longer held his usual playful smile; only terror and overwhelming anger remained.
He pounded the large bronze gong in his hand with a deafening roar, his voice hoarse as he roared, "Wolves have broken into the village! The Hammer family... the Hammer family has been robbed!!"
Wolf? !
Zhang Cheng's pupils suddenly contracted!
He didn't bother asking for details. Upon hearing the words "Hammer's House," he immediately changed direction and rushed over like an arrow.
A few minutes later, the area in front of Hammer's house was packed with people, a sea of black.
The air was thick with the stench of blood and an atmosphere of despair.
The murmurs of the crowd rushed into Zhang Cheng's ears like a cold tide.
"My God! Hammer's entire family of four... are all gone... they were all bitten to death by wolves!"
"Beasts! These damned beasts!"
"Damn it! Men, grab your weapons! Let's go into the mountains and slaughter these wolf cubs!"
"Yes! We can't let Hammer die in vain! I'll go with you!"
Among the enraged crowd, many men, their eyes red, turned and ran back to their homes, clearly to grab weapons and prepare to fight to the death.
Zhang Cheng's face was icy cold. He used brute force to push through the crowd and force his way into the house.
The scene inside the room made even this special forces soldier, who was used to seeing life and death, feel a chill run down his spine.
Four mutilated corpses lay side by side on the ground, their flesh mangled and barely recognizable as human. They were Hammer and his entire family.
The old blind man (an elderly man in the village) was speaking to the pale-faced village chief, his lips trembling.
When the old village chief saw Zhang Cheng enter, his voice was filled with suppressed grief: "Er Gouzi, you..."
He originally intended to have Zhang Cheng retrieve the ancestral hall key so that he could settle the poor family there.
But Zhang Cheng ignored them, his gaze fixed on the four corpses, his sharp eyes sweeping over every fatal wound.
"I'm talking to you!" The old village chief's tone became more forceful when he saw that the man didn't move.
Zhang Cheng suddenly raised his head, his eyes as cold as knives, and stared directly at the old village chief: "Uncle, now is not the time to collect the corpse!"
"Immediately! Right now! Gather all the survivors in the ancestral hall! Quickly!"
The old village chief was taken aback: "What are you going to do?"
"Wolves! It's the wolf pack's revenge!" Zhang Cheng spoke rapidly, his voice carrying an undeniable determination. "A few days ago, I killed the wolf king, and Big Head and the others killed seven more! Wolves are cunning and vengeful beasts! Their massacre of the Hammer family was definitely not just for revenge!"
"I suspect... the remaining wolves are very likely still hiding in the village!"
"What?!" The old village chief's face changed drastically, and he exclaimed in shock, "How is this possible?!"
But when he looked into Zhang Cheng's frighteningly calm eyes, and then thought of the villagers who had died tragically, a chill instantly ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
If the wolf pack is still in the village...
At that moment, the young and strong men in the village were filled with rage, shouting that they wanted to rush out of the village to take revenge!
Once they leave, won't the elderly, women, and children left in the village become lambs to the slaughter?!
The consequences would be unimaginable!
"We can't let them leave the village!" Zhang Cheng said decisively. "The situation is urgent, I'm going back first!"
Without saying another word, he turned and rushed out of the house like a cheetah.
Behind them, the old village chief, realizing what was happening, stumbled out and roared at the top of his lungs, "Folks! Listen up! The wolf cub might still be in the village! Don't run around! And don't go home alone! Quick! Everyone to the ancestral hall! Gather at the ancestral hall!!"
Wolf!
An extremely sensitive sense of smell!
Extremely vengeful!
Zhang Cheng's heart pounded. He remembered that his gloves and face towel, made from the wolf king's skin, were still in the mud house!
That intense wolf king scent was like a beacon in the darkness for the other wolves!
If the wolves follow the scent to their door... Shi Yangyang!
Thinking of the woman curled up in the blankets, her eyes dazed yet dependent on him, Zhang Cheng's speed increased again, almost leaving a trail of afterimages in the snow.
A pack of wolves attacked the village!
Such a tragedy has not happened in Zhangjia Village for many years, but it is not without precedent.
The tragic situation in the neighboring village more than a decade ago is still vivid in my mind.
Ordinary villagers are almost powerless against the hungry and ferocious snow wolves.
Especially on a pitch-black night, a wolf attack is like a deadly scythe!
"Faster! Faster!"
He ran wildly all the way and finally rushed back to his dilapidated courtyard.
Pushing open the door of the mud house, Zhang Cheng saw Shi Yangyang wrapped tightly in the quilt, only her bewildered eyes staring at the doorway. His heart, which had been hanging in suspense, suddenly settled down, and he breathed a long sigh of relief.
He immediately slammed the door shut and quickly moved a sturdy beam he had prepared earlier from the corner of the wall, using it to brace the door.
He then ran to the only small window and used a few mud bricks he had picked up to block it up completely.
After doing all this, he quickly walked to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and picked up the two hunting rifles leaning against the corner of the wall.
"Snap!"
"Snap!"
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