novelden Chapter 167 Taking Turns to Keep Watch
Chapter 167 Taking Turns to Keep Watch
After the wolf pack retreated, Li Xiangyang immediately seized the opportunity to process his prey.
He drew a sharp hunting knife from his waist, and with the tip of the knife, he made a cut along the belly of the jackal, easily peeling off a complete jackal skin.
Occasionally, a few scattered wolf howls could be heard in the distance, but they were already quite far away.
Li Xiangyang knew that without the wolf's command, these wolves would not cause trouble again for a while.
He carefully rolled up the wolf skin and then skinned the other wolves that had been killed.
After tidying up, Li Xiangyang walked back the way he came.
As the wind and snow subsided, moonlight shone through the clouds onto the snow-covered ground, creating a silvery-white scene.
From afar, he could see the firelight of the camp.
Anna and Wang Ergou were waiting anxiously.
The black cat crouched beside the fire, warily watching its surroundings.
"Xiangyang, thank goodness you're alright!" Wang Ergou quickly came to greet him.
"Don't worry, it's all taken care of." Li Xiangyang patted Wang Ergou on the shoulder and showed him the hide. "Look, there was an unexpected bonus."
"Great, since you've gone this far, I'll deal with the wolf we killed too."
After Wang Ergou finished speaking, he glanced at Anna, and seeing that she didn't say anything, he went to deal with the wolves that had been killed in the camp.
After he finished dealing with it, the three of them sat down around the fire again.
Li Xiangyang briefly recounted the process of killing the wolf.
“Mr. Li Xiangyang, Mr. Wang Ergou, I am truly grateful to you for bringing me into the mountains. What just happened has made me realize even more clearly that this place is far more dangerous than anywhere else. I was too arrogant this time…”
“Ms. Anna, you don’t need to blame yourself. Protecting you is what we should do. However, I suggest that in the future, when you go on field expeditions, you should bring more people with you, or accept the kind protection of others.”
"You're right, I will humbly accept this suggestion."
"Alright, enough of that nonsense. In this awful weather, let's have a drink to warm up. Xiangyang, wanna have a sip?"
Wang Ergou rummaged through his backpack, took out a wine flask, took a swig, and said to Li Xiangyang.
Li Xiangyang waved his hand: "No, you should drink less too."
Having already drunk from his own cup, Wang Ergou felt awkward offering it to Anna and sheepishly put it away.
Just then, the black cat suddenly pricked up its ears and turned its head to look in a certain direction.
Nightshade and Little Tiger both looked warily in the same direction.
"Shh—" Li Xiangyang made a shushing gesture.
Heavy footsteps echoed in the distance, crunching loudly on the snow.
The footsteps came and went, stopping and starting.
“It can’t be…” Anna held her breath.
“It’s that,” Li Xiangyang said softly, “a Siberian tiger. The gunshots and the smell of blood brought it here.”
Wang Ergou gripped his gun tightly in tension, but Li Xiangyang stopped him.
"Don't act rashly," Li Xiangyang said, his eyes fixed on the direction the voice came from. "As long as our fire doesn't go out, it won't dare to approach."
Sure enough, the footsteps lingered for a while about a hundred meters from the camp before gradually fading away.
Anna blushed with excitement: "What a pity! If only we could have taken a picture..."
"Forget about it tonight," Li Xiangyang laughed. "But we might find some traces of it tomorrow. Alright, there's no immediate danger, so you guys should get some sleep. I'll keep watch."
Li Xiangyang volunteered.
Anna shook her head. "No, let me do it. As a wildlife researcher, I'm used to observing at night. Besides, I want to document some of tonight's findings."
She took a notebook out of her backpack and sat down by the fire.
The black cat lay lazily at her feet, seemingly already somewhat familiar with this outsider.
"Okay, we'll switch with you in a bit." Li Xiangyang didn't insist and crawled into his sleeping bag.
Before lying down, he specifically instructed, "If you notice anything unusual, wake us up immediately."
Anna nodded and began to write intently.
By the firelight, Li Xiangyang could see her serious profile and the slight furrow in her brow when she occasionally paused to think.
The wind and snow suddenly stopped, and outside the camp, the occasional calls of unknown birds could be heard, sounding particularly clear in the silent mountain forest.
Li Xiangyang tried to regulate his breathing and seized the rare opportunity to close his eyes and rest.
As night deepened, Anna's hushed voice suddenly came from outside the tent: "Li Xiangyang, could you come out for a moment?"
Li Xiangyang immediately became alert and tiptoed out of the tent. "What's wrong?"
“Look,” Anna pointed in a direction in the distance, “I just saw a shadow moving there.”
Li Xiangyang looked in the direction she pointed, but he couldn't see anything in the darkness. However, the black cat's ears were standing straight up, clearly indicating that it had also sensed something.
“Interesting,” Li Xiangyang said in a low voice. “That direction is exactly opposite to where the tiger’s roar came from. It seems there’s more than one tiger in this area.”
"Alright, Anna, go and rest. I'll keep watch. We still have a whole day's journey ahead of us tomorrow."
Li Xiangyang said softly.
“But…” Anna looked at the notes she hadn’t finished writing in her hand.
"Rest first, you can write your notes tomorrow."
As Li Xiangyang spoke, he added a few pieces of dry firewood to the fire.
Anna nodded, closed her notebook, and didn't insist any further.
It was late at night, and the cold wind was howling. Li Xiangyang leaned against a pine tree, holding his gun.
The black cat wandered silently around the area, stopping every now and then to sniff the air.
Little Tiger clung tightly to his leg, yawning occasionally.
Li Xiangyang knew the habits of Siberian tigers.
They have a very strong sense of territory, and if there are really two tigers in this area, the situation becomes even more complicated.
As the saying goes, one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers.
As night deepened, Li Xiangyang's thoughts were pulled back by the distant hooting of an owl.
He gently rubbed his slightly sore shoulders and looked at the sky.
The sky in the east was already turning pale.
After keeping watch all night, even he was starting to feel the strain.
He quietly approached the tent and whispered, "Ergou, it's your turn."
Wang Ergou groped his way out, yawning, "Xiangyang, why didn't you wake me up sooner?"
"It's alright, get some more sleep." Li Xiangyang patted his shoulder. "It's almost dawn; we need to start looking for the Siberian tiger's tracks soon."
The current Wang Ergou is no longer the same as before. Even knowing that a tiger is nearby, he still stands steadily by the fire, adding firewood from time to time.
Suddenly, a wolf howl echoed from afar, its mournful cry piercing to the bone.
In the past, Wang Ergou would have been trembling and extremely nervous as he reached for his gun.
But this time, there wasn't even the sound of a branch breaking outside.
Wang Ergou leaned against the tree, too lazy to even change his posture, only glancing in the direction from which the wolf howls came, maintaining the necessary vigilance.
Looking at Wang Ergou's composed back, Li Xiangyang's lips curled up slightly.
He can finally finally relax and get a good night's sleep.