novelden Chapter 412 Encounter with the Black Bear Again
Chapter 412 Encounter with the Black Bear Again
As soon as Li Xiangyang finished speaking, the lead gray wolf suddenly leaped up and pounced on them!
"boom!"
Li Xiangyang fired his gun, the bullet hitting the gray wolf squarely in the chest. It let out a miserable howl, fell heavily onto the snow, twitched a few times, and then lay still.
The shot was incredibly accurate, but it also thoroughly enraged the rest of the wolf pack.
They howled and pounced on the two of them almost simultaneously!
"Bang! Bang!" Wang Ergou also fired two shots, hitting two gray wolves, but several more were rapidly approaching.
"Climb the tree!" Li Xiangyang shouted, threw his prey onto the fire, grabbed a low-hanging branch of a pine tree next to him, and climbed up in a few quick movements.
Wang Ergou was not far behind, climbing up another tree right after him.
Just as he left the ground, a gray wolf pounced on the tree and bit his boot.
"Ah!" Wang Ergou exclaimed, kicked a few times with all his might, and finally broke free from the wolf's jaws. Still shaken, he climbed to a higher place.
Beneath the tree, the wolves circled the fire and their prey, occasionally looking up at the tree and howling menacingly.
"Looks like we'll have to spend the night in the trees," Li Xiangyang said with a wry smile, finding a relatively stable branch to sit on.
"What a huge loss! We finally managed to bring back the lynx, and these wolves got it for free. Hopefully, they'll scatter before dawn." Wang Ergou hugged the tree trunk tightly, his voice filled with coldness and exhaustion.
The cold wind howled, and the night grew deeper.
The two men watched helplessly as the wolves fought over their prey from their vantage point.
"We need to find a way down here, otherwise we'll freeze to death if we spend the night in this cold wind."
Seeing the wolf pack growing larger and larger, determined to ambush them, Li Xiangyang rubbed his almost numb fingers, his brain racing.
He looked around and suddenly noticed the outline of a stone cave on a hillside not far away.
"Ergou, look over there!" Li Xiangyang pointed in the direction of the cave. "That looks like a cave. If we can get there, we'll be safe for tonight."
Wang Ergou looked in the direction he was pointing, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes: "Then how do we get across? These beasts won't let us off easily."
Li Xiangyang thought for a moment and said, "Then let's find a way to lure them away."
He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a piece of dried meat wrapped in cloth.
“I’ll throw this out to distract them, then we’ll take the opportunity to climb down the tree and head straight for that cave,” Li Xiangyang said in a low voice. “Once we’re inside, we’ll figure out how to start a fire.”
"What if they don't take the bait?" Wang Ergou asked with some concern.
"We can't worry about that now, it's better than waiting to die in the tree," Li Xiangyang said firmly. "Get ready, I'll count to three and then throw it."
Wang Ergou took a deep breath and nodded.
"one two three!"
Li Xiangyang forcefully threw the jerky into the bushes away from the cave, simultaneously shouting to attract the wolves' attention. Sure enough, the wolves were drawn by the sound and looked in the direction where the jerky had been thrown.
"Walk!"
The two quickly slid down from the tree, ignoring their blistered hands, and ran towards the cave.
Running through the snow was extremely difficult, with each step sinking deep into the snow, but the instinct for survival allowed the two to unleash amazing strength, sprinting through the snow.
Behind them, the wolf pack quickly discovered their intentions and gave chase.
"Hurry! They're catching up!" Wang Ergou shouted in alarm as he turned around.
Li Xiangyang, pulling Wang Ergou along, gritted his teeth and rushed towards the cave.
The cold wind stung their faces like knives, but the two ignored it and ran as fast as they could.
When they finally reached the cave entrance, Li Xiangyang found that it was narrower than he had imagined, only allowing one person to squeeze in sideways.
"You go in first!" Li Xiangyang pushed Wang Ergou, then turned around and pointed his gun at the pursuing wolves.
Wang Ergou crawled into the cave and immediately turned around to reach out and pull Li Xiangyang.
The wolf pack was approaching, and the first gray wolf leaped forward.
"boom!"
Li Xiangyang fired his gun, and the gray wolf fell to the ground. The other wolves, startled, retreated, giving him a chance to catch his breath. He quickly retreated and disappeared into the hole.
"Phew—finally safe." Wang Ergou breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the cold cave wall and panting heavily.
Li Xiangyang remained vigilant and carefully inspected the cave.
The cave wasn't deep, but it was big enough for two people to live in. Most importantly, the entrance was narrow, preventing the wolves from rushing in all at once.
"We need to start a fire." Li Xiangyang looked around and found some dry branches and grass in the cave, which should have been left by the animals that had lived there before.
The two of them worked together and quickly started another small fire.
The warm firelight illuminated the entire cave and dispelled some of the chill.
Outside the cave entrance, the wolves lingered reluctantly, occasionally howling, but did not rashly enter the narrow opening.
"Looks like we'll have to spend the night here," Li Xiangyang said, taking off his coat and checking Wang Ergou's boots. Only after confirming that they weren't torn by wolves did he feel a little relieved.
"Luckily there's this cave, otherwise I really don't know how I would have survived tonight." Wang Ergou rubbed his hands together and moved closer to the fire to warm himself.
The firelight flickered in the cave, illuminating the two men's weary faces.
The cave wasn't large, but it was big enough to accommodate two people. More importantly, it blocked the howling cold wind and the wolves that roamed outside.
“We’ll have to take turns keeping watch,” Li Xiangyang added some dry branches to the fire. “You go to sleep first, I’ll keep watch.”
Wang Ergou shook his head: "You used up a lot of energy fighting the lynx, you should go to sleep first."
Li Xiangyang looked at Wang Ergou's determined eyes and nodded: "Then I'll sleep for two hours first, and then it'll be your turn."
Leaning against the cold stone wall, Li Xiangyang closed his eyes.
Outside, the howling of wolves was intermittent, making it difficult to fall asleep. Even so, Li Xiangyang seized this rare brief moment to try to replenish his energy.
"Towards the sun, towards the sun!"
About an hour later, Wang Ergou's urgent voice startled Li Xiangyang from his light sleep.
"What's wrong?" Li Xiangyang sat up abruptly, grabbing his hunting rifle alertly.
"Listen!" Wang Ergou pointed outside the cave, "The wolf pack seems to have been startled by something."
Li Xiangyang listened intently and indeed heard the panicked howls of the wolf pack, as well as the dull thuds of a huge creature moving across the snow.
"It was probably a black bear. Our gunshots and the smell of blood likely alerted it."
Li Xiangyang listened intently, his expression turning grim.
"What should we do then?" Wang Ergou subconsciously took a few steps back into the cave.
"Don't panic. Bears have a good sense of smell, but their eyesight is average. As long as we don't make a sound and stay in the cave, it shouldn't notice us," Li Xiangyang said in a low voice, while sprinkling a handful of snow onto the fire. The flames immediately shrank, and the cave became dark.
The two held their breath and, through the narrow entrance of the cave, could vaguely see a huge dark shadow moving in the moonlight outside the cave.
It was a huge black bear, its fur gleaming faintly in the moonlight.