Chapter Forty-Two
It took Wu Jing and her companion nearly half an hour to finish all the prepared ingredients, and they even drank all the soup. Only then did the sky begin to darken slightly. The two rested against the cave entrance, feeling quite full. Leaning against the cave door, they chatted idly, dreaming about the future. Unbeknownst to them, a group of predators had already arrived in the nearby woods, watching their camp.
Soon, darkness fell completely, with only the flickering light of the campfire. The two inside the camp were still chatting. Outside, the predators—a pack of hyenas—had silently approached the fence. Having emerged from the jungle, Wu Jing and Zhang Shengnan hadn't noticed; the hyenas approached the fence, but they still hadn't. Then, whether it was an impatient hyena or one sent out by the leader to scout, it pounced straight at the fence. Hearing the noise, Wu Jing and Zhang Shengnan turned around and saw a group of hyenas outside the fence. Three hyenas were already climbing the fence, and one was almost over. Wu Jing shouted, "Quick, back to the cave! Close the door!" He immediately got up to close the wooden door next to him. Zhang Shengnan, hearing this, also got up to close her door, but the door was too heavy. Usually, two people would lift it to close, but now one person couldn't manage. However, whether it was a sudden burst of human potential or some other reason, by the time Wu Jing closed his door, Zhang Shengnan's door was already half closed. Wu Jing quickly went to help, glancing at the hyenas on the fence. One hyena had already jumped down and was leaping towards the cave. Wu Jing picked up a spear and handed it to Zhang Shengnan, shouting, "You watch the hyenas outside. I'll close the door. Stab them when they come." Zhang Shengnan took the spear, crouching slightly, the tip pointing directly at the charging hyena. Wu Jing was currently slamming the wooden door shut. The hyena was getting closer and closer. Three meters away, Wu Jing hadn't even closed the door yet, and the spear in Zhang Shengnan's hand was already trembling slightly. Two meters away, the door was still a little short, and the spear tip was less than a meter from the hyena. Zhang Shengnan was fully prepared, her eyes fixed only on the charging hyena. At one meter, Zhang Shengnan thrust her spear. Although the wooden spear wasn't very sharp, Zhang Shengnan used all her strength, making it pierce the air. The hyena was quite agile; seeing the spear coming, it sidestepped and dodged. However, Zhang Shengnan had anticipated this. Seeing that she had missed, she immediately changed her move, switching from a thrust to a sweep, and swept the spear horizontally towards the hyena. But the spear didn't hit the hyena; instead, it struck the wooden door that Wu Jing was closing. It turned out that when Zhang Shengnan thrust the spear, Wu Jing had used all her strength to close the door, leaving only twenty or thirty centimeters between the two. By the time Zhang Shengnan switched from a thrust to a sweep, there was less than twenty centimeters left, which wasn't enough distance to fully execute the sweeping move. However, Zhang Shengnan didn't notice. Instead, she used all her strength, changing her thrust into a sweeping motion. The spear struck the wooden door, and the force transmitted to Wu Jing through the door momentarily paused. At the same time, the wooden spear broke at the point of impact. One end was still tightly held by Zhang Shengnan, while the other end flew horizontally due to inertia. This time, the hyena couldn't escape the spear. It was hit squarely by the broken upper half of the spear, flying a meter or two, and the spear fell to the ground. With the sound of the spear hitting the ground, the hyena being knocked to the ground, and the sound of the two doors slamming together, the cave doors were now completely closed, and the crisis of the hyena attack was basically resolved.
Just then, the other two hyenas charged forward, crashing into the wooden door before they could reach it. The door shook violently, and Wu Jing quickly braced herself against one door, shouting, "What are you standing there for? Come and brace the door!" Startled by Wu Jing's shout, Zhang Shengnan rushed forward to brace the door, but the two of them were only bracing one. Wu Jing yelled, "You brace the other door!" Zhang Shengnan then went to brace the other door. The two hyenas outside were also badly hurt. The impact, combined with the heavy wooden door, left them dizzy and disoriented. When they got up, their legs were still weak, and they had to try two or three times before they could stand. The two hyenas shook their heads and then growled. The other hyenas outside quickly climbed over the fence. Soon, all the hyenas came in. A careful count revealed that there were twelve hyenas in the group: three in the lead and nine behind.
The twelve hyenas circled the cave entrance several times, howling incessantly. Inside the cave, Wu Jing and Zhang Shengnan, armed with wooden spears, remained vigilant, constantly watching the hyenas outside. Through the cracks in the wooden door, they could see the hyenas' drool dripping from their mouths, but this scene didn't amuse them; instead, it filled them with fear. Besides the antelope they had hunted that morning, only the two of them remained in the cave. The antelope meat was unlikely to be enough for the hyenas, but the two of them would be more than enough for a hearty meal. Consequently, the two of them gripped their wooden spears even tighter.
The two sides faced off for a while. Hyenas barked and paced outside the cave's wooden door; inside, the two men gripped their spears tightly, remaining vigilant against the hyena pack outside. Not far away, a rescue team from the organizers was on standby, ready to rush to their aid should the hyenas charge the door and endanger their lives. Viewers in the live stream watched the scene intently, holding their breath for the two men.
Suddenly, a pheasant cawed from the coop, shattering the standoff. Three hyenas charged out and headed straight for the coop. The largest hyena outside the wooden door roared, and the hyenas scattered, leaving only the hyena leader and two others standing at the cave entrance. The two men inside the cave, seeing the hyenas' movement, assumed they were preparing to storm the cave entrance and braced themselves for a desperate fight. But when the hyenas scattered, they breathed a sigh of relief, exchanging a glance filled with both doubt and relief. Meanwhile, the rescue team in the distance, seeing the hyenas' movement and preparing to advance, also relaxed when the hyenas scattered. They were experienced in this; based on this situation, it was likely that the hyena leader had decided they couldn't breach the wooden door and had abandoned their prey inside the cave.
Outside the cave, three hyenas headed straight for the chicken coop, three for the rabbit burrow, and three were breaking down the fence. Soon, a section of the fence was breached, enough for the hyena pack to pass through. Several pheasants were killed by the hyenas and carried to their leader. Several rabbits had also been placed in front of the leader; the chicken coop was relatively sturdy and had briefly blocked the hyenas, while the rabbit burrow only had a small shelter, allowing the hyenas to easily enter and catch the rabbits. When the hyenas that had broken down the fence returned, the leader roared and began eating a rabbit, while the other hyenas tore at the remaining pheasants and rabbits. Soon, the hyena pack finished eating at the cave entrance. Then, the leader roared, and the pack began to retreat from the camp.
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