enjoyebooks Chapter 11 Encounter with a Pack of Wind Wolves
Chapter 11 Encounter with a Pack of Wind Wolves
Ye Feng and his four companions drove their pickup truck along the rugged dirt road, a journey that took nearly an hour.
The surrounding scenery is becoming increasingly desolate.
The roadside weeds had grown to waist height, and occasionally you could see some twisted, dead trees.
"We're almost there." Zhao Tieshan pointed ahead. "Do you see those ruins?"
Ye Feng looked in the direction he was pointing.
On the horizon, the outline of a vast complex of buildings began to emerge.
The skeletal framework of skyscrapers leans precariously against the sky, some buildings already mostly collapsed, exposing the steel bars and broken concrete inside.
He recognized it as a pre-apocalyptic human city.
It is said that at that time, the entire planet Earth belonged to humankind.
There are over a hundred cities like Jiangcheng, with a population of three million, throughout the entire Great Xia Dynasty.
There are also more than a dozen megacities with populations exceeding ten million.
"Is this a city from the old days?" Ye Feng asked.
"Yes." Ah Kun turned around from the passenger seat. "Seventy years ago, before the monster calamity broke out, millions of people lived here. Then the monster tide surged out of the rift valley, and the city was gone overnight."
He said this in a flat tone, as if he were stating something that had nothing to do with him.
But Ye Feng noticed that his fingers were trembling slightly as he pushed up his glasses.
"This is now the territory of the strange beasts," Zhao Tieshan continued.
"Various gregarious beasts have built nests in these ruins, and the deeper we go, the more dangerous it becomes. The place we need to go is on the outer edge of the ruins, in the territory of the Earth Bear."
"The Earth Bear?" Ye Feng asked.
"A third-tier beast, earth-attribute, with thick hide and immense strength," Hong Gu briefly explained. "This thing acts alone and has a very strong sense of territory; there won't be any other large beasts within a ten-mile radius. Once you find it, you don't have to worry about other beasts interfering."
"The difficulty lies in finding it," Ah Kun added. "The Earth Bear sleeps underground during the day and only comes out at night. Moreover, the entrance to its den is very well hidden. Last time we came to scout the area, it took us three days to pinpoint its approximate location."
Zhao Tieshan patted the car door: "We'll talk when we get there. Old Ma, find a place to park."
Old Ma drove the pickup truck behind a cluster of collapsed buildings and parked it in a relatively secluded spot.
The group got out of the car, covered it with camouflage netting, and sprinkled some animal repellent powder around it.
"What is this?" Ye Feng smelled a pungent odor.
"Beast-repelling powder is made from the excrement of third-tier beasts and several herbs," Ah Kun explained. "Low-tier beasts will avoid it if they smell this. Of course, it's useless against beasts of third tier or higher."
Ye Feng nodded, silently noting it down in his mind.
Zhao Tieshan took out a weapon from the car: a nearly 1.5-meter-long horse-slaying saber with a thick back and a cold, gleaming blade.
He slung the knife behind his back and spoke to the group.
"Is everything ready?"
Hong Gu checked the short knife at her waist and the crossbow in her hand, and nodded to Zhao Tieshan.
"Ready, boss!"
Old Ma shouldered the modified heavy crossbow and grinned.
Ah Kun carried a large backpack and held a tablet in his hand, which displayed a topographical map of the ruins.
"Ye Feng, you stay behind me," Zhao Tieshan said. "No matter what happens, don't stray more than three steps from me."
"clear."
Ye Feng and his group of five set off, heading deeper into the ruins.
Only after entering the ruins did Ye Feng truly grasp the scale of this old-world city.
Although the street was in ruins, its broad outline remained.
Some of the building ruins on both sides still retain their original shapes.
"This way." Ah Kun looked at the tablet and led the way into a relatively intact street.
"The Earth Bear's lair is in the southeast direction, about three kilometers away."
The group of five proceeded quietly, trying not to disturb any strange beasts.
In the wilderness, the worst thing you can do is make any noise.
If this attracts the attention of the pack of strange beasts, it will be the beginning of disaster.
Ye Feng noticed that the formation of Zhao Tieshan's team of four was very particular.
Old Ma led the way, carrying a crossbow and clearing the path.
Hong Gu stood on the left side of the group, carefully surveying the surroundings.
Ah Kun was in charge of navigation in the middle.
Zhao Tieshan was at the back, and the four of them advanced in an orderly triangular formation.
They worked together very well!
After walking for about twenty minutes, Ah Kun suddenly stopped and raised his hand to signal everyone to stop.
"What's wrong?" Zhao Tieshan asked in a low voice.
Ah Kun frowned, staring at the tablet in his hand.
Suddenly, many red dots appeared on the tablet in his hand.
"A lot of monsters are coming towards us!" His voice trembled. "They'll be at our location in thirty seconds."
As soon as he finished speaking, a low sobbing sound came from the depths of the ruins.
The sounds rose and fell, as if echoing each other, resounding simultaneously from all directions.
"It's a wind wolf."
"At least fifty! No, more! The leader is a Tier 3 wolf king!"
Ah Kun's mouth was trembling!
Wind Wolves are second-tier social beasts, known for their speed and teamwork.
Being alone is not scary.
But a pack of wind wolves is something even fourth-level martial artists would avoid.
"Damn it!" Old Ma cursed, picking up his crossbow. "Where did these beasts come from?"
Zhao Tieshan's face darkened. He quickly glanced at the surrounding terrain and made a decision.
"Stand against the wall, back to back, tighten your defense!" He pulled Ye Feng to the middle of the group.
Hong Gu, Lao Ma, and A Kun immediately moved closer, forming a circular defensive formation with their backs to each other, and surrounding Ye Feng in the very center.
"Kid, no matter what happens later, don't run around!" Zhao Tieshan roared.
Ye Feng didn't speak, his hand already on the hilt of the knife.
The sobbing grew closer.
Then, the first batch of wind wolves emerged from the shadows of the ruins.
They were a size larger than ordinary wolves, and their grayish-white fur blended almost into the ruins in the dim light.
One, two, five, ten...
Within a few seconds, at least thirty wind wolves appeared in sight.
More wind wolves emerged from the depths of the ruins.
The wolves did not attack immediately, but instead dispersed, forming a semi-circular encirclement.
They surrounded Ye Feng and his group of five.
At the very back of the encirclement was a wind wolf that was clearly twice the size.
He is eyeing Ye Feng and his group of five with predatory intent.
This is a level three wolf king.
He is the absolute king of this pack of wind wolves.
It scanned the five people with its pupils, finally settling on Zhao Tieshan, and roared from its throat.
It has begun to awaken intelligence and knows that this human is the greatest threat among this group of humans.
"They're about to attack," Hong Gu whispered.
"Awoo!"
The wolf king looked up and howled to the sky.
All the wind wolves launched an attack simultaneously.
More than thirty second-tier wind wolves surged forward like a tide, moving at an astonishing speed.
Their coordination is extremely seamless.
Zhao Tieshan took a step forward, swinging his horse-slaying saber in a wide arc.
"puff!"
The wind wolf at the very front was cleaved in two with a single strike, blood gushing out.
Old Ma's crossbows fired simultaneously, and the thick bolts pierced the body of a wind wolf, pinning it to the wall behind it.
Hong Gu fired her crossbow in quick succession, and three short arrows accurately struck the eyes of three wind wolves, killing them instantly.
But there are too many wind wolves.
After taking down a few, even more pounced on them.
Zhao Tieshan fought and retreated, his saber wielding with impenetrable speed, each strike taking the life of a wind wolf.
But his expression grew increasingly serious.
These wind wolves weren't attacking blindly; they were exhausting his strength.
The wolf king stood on high ground, coldly watching everything, as if waiting for his chance.
Ye Feng was surrounded, his fingers gripping the knife handle tightly.
He is waiting.
Waiting for an opportunity to kill the wolf king directly.