Faced with the attack of several wild dogs, I adopted a desperate stance, brandishing my short knife and killing two of them in an instant.
In the midst of the melee, I grabbed the fur around the neck of a wild dog with one hand, preparing to draw my knife to retaliate, when my wrist holding the knife was bitten. I had no choice but to release my left hand and punch it.
As soon as I let go, the stray dog on my left turned around and bit my arm.
Although I fought with all my might, there were more and more stray dogs around me, and my arms were getting heavier and heavier.
In a daze, I saw a stray dog lunge at my neck. I struggled to pull my arm back and grabbed its upper and lower jaws.
The interlocking canine teeth pierced the skin, sending a sharp, unbearable pain through me.
With both hands restrained by this stray dog, I naturally couldn't defend myself against other attacks.
I don't know if it was my imagination or what, but I felt like I was being torn apart by wild dogs all over my body, and it even felt like my skin and flesh were being ripped off.
Just when I was about to lose my grip, I suddenly felt the pressure ease.
The stray dogs around me scattered instantly, as if they had encountered some kind of threat.
In my haste, I didn't have time to see who had saved me. I grabbed the knife next to me and forcefully stabbed the heart of the stray dog that was pinning me down.
After I dealt with the stray dog, I pushed its carcass aside and then frowned.
No one came to help me.
Not only did the stray dogs around me run away, but the stray dogs that attacked other people also fled into the woods.
Just when I thought Xu Le and his group had used some kind of trick, the mournful howls of wild dogs suddenly came from the woods.
The scream was like a death knell for the other stray dogs, causing them to abandon their attack on us and speed up their escape.
In just a few seconds, the stray dogs vanished without a trace, leaving only corpses and bloodstains on the ground, telling the story of how horrific the scene had just unfolded.
I looked around and saw the monkey and a member of the Wei family lying not far from me, both covered in blood. The Wei family member's face was bitten open, so I guessed my condition was similar to theirs.
Old Bear was also in a sorry state, but he showed no relief at the fleeing wild dogs. Instead, he said warily, "The wild dogs in the forest were barking strangely just now. Everyone gathered around. It's very likely that their natural enemy has arrived!"
As Old Bear shouted, I also used the firelight to check my own body.
The situation is better than I expected.
I have many teeth marks on my body, but not all of them were bitten through.
Wild dogs' fangs are much smaller than those of wolves, and their bite force is relatively weaker.
Apart from a wound on his arm where the skin was turned inside out, most of the other wounds were bloody holes caused by teeth. On areas where the clothing was slightly thicker, there were only swollen teeth marks from being bitten.
After confirming that I hadn't suffered any fatal injuries, I limped and helped the monkey up: "How are you? Did it swell up to your vitals?"
The monkey waved his blood-soaked hand: "Luckily I reacted quickly, otherwise that wild dog would have almost ripped my crotch open! If that bite had landed, I would have had no hope for the rest of my life!"
Seeing that the monkey seemed alright, I pulled him up and shouted, "Everyone, gather around! Monkey, get the rabies vaccine out and give everyone the injections!"
"Splash!"
Old Xiong reloaded his shotgun, pointed it forward, and said, "You all hide behind me. Our bloody smell has probably attracted something!"
I endured the pain and asked Old Bear, "What kind of animal could scare away so many wild dogs at once?"
"It's probably a tiger. The scent of a tiger is intimidating to most animals. Ordinary hunting dogs would not dare to go any further in the mountains if they smelled tiger urine."
Blood dripped from the wound on the old bear's arm: "Wild dogs are very smart. They know that there are a lot of animal traps near human settlements, so they rarely move around in this area. I don't know what happened this time. First it was bats, and now it's wild dogs!"
But things are alright now. The bats can't fly into the forest, and the wild dogs are in packs. If it were a tiger, we would be in a better position, since I have a gun and tigers are solitary animals!
Most importantly, tigers don't attack passersby like wild dogs do, unless they have a need for food or face any threat. The barking of wild dogs just came from the forest; hopefully, the tigers nearby have already caught prey and left.
While the old bear kept watch, the monkey took out a syringe and rabies vaccine from his backpack and injected everyone one by one.
After the fight ended, the effects of adrenaline gradually wore off, and a gust of wind made the dog bite wounds on my body particularly painful.
Because of the attack by stray dogs, we were all on edge. Although everyone was injured, we only received a rabies vaccine and didn't dare to be distracted by bandaging our wounds.
We waited on edge for about five minutes. When Old Bear saw that there was no unusual movement in the woods ahead, he said, "It looks like the thing in the woods ahead has left. We need to leave as soon as possible. Stay close to me!"
When I heard that we could finally leave this forest, I asked the old bear, "Many of us are injured. Could you please treat our wounds?"
"No, those stray dogs could come back anytime soon, we can't waste time."
Seeing our disheveled state, Old Xiong said, "Hang in there, everyone. Once we get to the abandoned station, we can take a short rest."
Hearing what Old Xiong said, no one said anything more and continued to follow behind.
In the battle just now, we lost our torches and other supplies, so everyone is now heading back with flashlights in hand.
Upon entering the woods, I could clearly smell a fishy, foul odor in the air ahead.
At first, I thought the smell of blood was coming from me, but after walking a distance, I found several dead wild dogs on the ground ahead.
To be precise, there were several piles.
None of the wild dogs' carcasses were intact; they were all torn apart, with their intestines, stomachs, hearts, livers, lungs, and other internal organs scattered all over the ground.
Seeing this bloody scene, the monkey opened its eyes wide and asked, "Uncle Bear, look at the marks on these corpses, do they look like they were made by a tiger?"
"No way! Even a black bear wouldn't do this to its prey!"
Old Xiong, holding his hunting rifle, originally intended to examine the corpses, but stopped after taking only two steps and shone his flashlight on the ground ahead: "There are footprints here, human footprints!"
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