Chapter 38: A Single Shot to the Wolf's Head

Old Wang was a veteran mountain guard. Er-gou had learned a few skills from him, and since it was well-known that he had a combative nature, he wouldn't be a burden.

When Tie-zhu looked up, he had already finished a bowl of dumplings, and Wang Lin walked over to give him another.

"Will you split the money from what I kill with me?" Er-gou asked Zhang Huacheng.

"Of course!"

Er-gou nodded and said no more. Zhang Huacheng had a rough idea of what Er-gou needed the money for—likely to build a new house and save for a dowry. After all, that was his only hope of marrying Hua Ling. Zhang Huacheng was curious about how they had met, but he felt too embarrassed to ask.

"You two should eat up; Tie-zhu is about to finish everything in the pot..." Wang Lin said softly.

Tie-zhu, who was devouring the dumplings, looked up sheepishly and grinned. "Brother, these dumplings are delicious..." Whenever he encountered good food, he couldn't help himself.

"They taste better with vinegar, and you don't even know to take a bite of garlic. Never mind, keep eating; one bowl each is enough for me and Er-gou." Zhang Huacheng was torn between laughter and annoyance. Tie-zhu, however, stood on no ceremony with him.

"Are we heading into the mountains tonight? I heard wolves howling when we first arrived." Er-gou had heard them.

"The pack is still searching for us. Let's wait another half hour; the moon isn't bright enough yet." Zhang Huacheng walked to the window and looked up at the full moon, its silvery light illuminating the ice and snow.

"Then I'm going home to get my bow." Er-gou finished his dumplings quickly and headed out.

A bow? Was it old Grandpa Wang’s massive bow? Zhang Huacheng remembered that Grandpa Wang used to be a seasoned hunter who had once brought down a wild boar with a single arrow. Zhang had been small then, but the feat had caused a sensation throughout the entire brigade.

"Have another ladleful; you need to be full to have the strength for the mountains!"

"Yeah!"

Half an hour later, as the moonlight grew brighter, three figures vanished into the vast night. Watching Er-gou, who held his large iron bow and observed his surroundings like a leopard, Zhang Huacheng understood why Er-gou managed to live quite comfortably on his own.

"Did you go into the mountains often?" He clearly looked like a veteran.

"I’d go whenever I got a craving for meat, but only to hunt rabbits or roe deer. I wouldn't dare go in winter, and I avoid it in summer too." Er-gou stomped his feet; his cotton-padded shoes were cold, hard, and provided no warmth.

He didn't dare go in winter because if they encountered a wolf pack, there would be no escaping. In summer, the visibility in the dense forest was terrifyingly poor, and one might not notice a predator until it was right on top of them.

Intermittent wolf howls echoed in the distance. It wasn't close, clearly a sign of the pack communicating.

"How did this pack get so far away?" Zhang Huacheng felt a headache coming on. Judging by the sound, it would take at least an hour to reach their location.

"They’re probably hunting," Er-gou speculated.

"Let's go take a look; consider it a warm-up!" With no other choice, Zhang Huacheng set off to find the pack, and soon they disappeared into the snowy mountains.

Along the way, they encountered a foraging wild rabbit. Zhang Huacheng struck it with a single stone, leaving it twitching on the ground. This move stunned Er-gou, while Tie-zhu took it for granted, snapped the rabbit's neck, and tossed it into his bamboo basket.

The wolf howls grew closer. They were indeed hunting. The good news was that they were moving toward their position; the bad news was that the howling had stopped midway—likely because the hunt had been successful and they had begun to eat.

"With the whole pack out, it’s unlikely to be a roe deer; it's probably a wild boar or a red deer." Zhang Huacheng guessed, loading his gun as he spoke.

The flat areas at the base of Upper White Mountain often saw groups of red deer in winter, but a pack hunting together meant large prey. Of course, a wild boar was even more likely.

***

The mountain wind was biting, but the three men, having been on the move, were nearly sweating; the breath they exhaled quickly turned into swirling frost.

After about twenty minutes, a wolf howl put them on high alert. It was very close!

"Not far ahead. Get ready!" Zhang Huacheng took off his basket and flexed his fingers. Tie-zhu followed suit, setting his basket down while gripping a wooden club in one hand and a sharp wood-chopping knife in the other, a coil of hemp rope slung over his shoulder. Er-gou pulled out an arrow tipped with a polished iron arrowhead.

As they drew closer, they heard low growls and the sound of tearing flesh, occasionally punctuated by the high-pitched yelps of wolf pups. The scent of blood hung faintly in the air.

When they finally got close enough to see, they witnessed two massive red deer lying in the snow. A pack of wolves was surrounding them, tearing and devouring the carcasses. Several grey wolves, already full, lay nearby licking their paws.

There were eleven wolves in total, including three pups covered in blood, their bellies round and bloated. It appeared they had burrowed into the deer's stomachs to eat the viscera.

Zhang Huacheng immediately spotted the alpha wolf licking its paws. It was the largest and had the most vicious gaze. A small pack like this didn't have a "wolf king," only an alpha. He tapped Er-gou and signaled that he would take the alpha, leaving the rest to him. Er-gou nodded.

The scent of blood had temporarily dulled the pack's sensory advantages; as top predators, they lacked sufficient vigilance.

"Bang!"

The crisp sound of a gunshot rang out. In an instant, the alpha slumped to the ground, motionless. The bullet had struck it right between the eyes.

The pack erupted in chaos. A whistling sound tore through the air as an arrow struck an adult grey wolf in the abdomen, causing it to howl and struggle on the ground. Almost simultaneously, Zhang Huacheng chambered a new round and fired at a large, growling adult wolf. The creature, which had just assumed an attacking posture, collapsed, twitched, and quickly breathed its last.

"Awoo!"

The remaining wolves scattered in a panic.

"That's enough. Don't shoot anymore," Zhang Huacheng said, waving his hand as Er-gou prepared to take another. There was no way they could carry more. Better to leave them; they might linger nearby.

The grey wolves had fled. The two he had shot in the head were dead on the spot, and the one pierced by the arrow had stumbled as it tried to escape, only to fall and twitch to death shortly after.

"We're stopping?" Er-gou asked, bewildered.

"We can't carry any more. At most, we’ll take a pelt. Save the rest for next time—we still have the red deer here." Zhang Huacheng drew his bayonet and walked over, professionally ending the suffering of the wounded wolf with a single strike. In the distance, the mournful howling of the pack and the calls of the mother wolves echoed.

"Tie-zhu, drag the deer over, and the wolves too!"

"Got it!"

The two red deer were a buck and a doe. The doe had likely been killed first and was mostly eaten, while the buck had been gutted, with only the entrails removed.

"Brother, we’ve struck it rich!" Tie-zhu was overjoyed as he hauled the buck; he dragged the several-hundred-pound carcass with ease.

"This is the first time I've ever killed a wolf," Er-gou said, pulling his arrow out and kicking the dead wolf.

Zhang Huacheng quickly gutted the three wolves, clearing out the entrails. He had Tie-zhu bury each one in the snow as soon as it was processed to let them freeze quickly. Although the doe still had plenty of meat, it was covered in teeth marks and riddled with bacteria from the wolves' mouths, so Zhang Huacheng decided to abandon it, keeping only a tattered, chewed-up hide.

He finished gutting the buck, and aside from the antlers, he had Tie-zhu use an axe to chop off and discard the excess head and hooves. This simple processing took a full half-hour.

They stuffed the massive alpha wolf into Tie-zhu’s bamboo basket. Tie-zhu shouldered half of the buck, while Er-gou carried the wolf he had shot and held the deer antlers. Zhang Huacheng stuffed a grey wolf into his own basket and shouldered the other half of the buck.

"Brother, we're really leaving that one behind?" Tie-zhu stared at the discarded doe as they prepared to leave. That had to be over a hundred pounds of meat!

"Do you want to work yourself to death, or do you want to kill me?" Zhang Huacheng gasped for air; he was carrying over two hundred pounds of weight!

They moved slowly, stopping frequently to rest, occasionally having to help each other carry the halves of the buck. Er-gou finally understood why Zhang Huacheng had brought him along—he just needed someone to help haul the game back.

All the way, Tie-zhu remained energetic, which made Zhang Huacheng feel a bit ashamed. After all, he was a legendary "Super Soldier," even if his reborn body hadn't fully recovered yet...

"Brother, we’ve really made a fortune this time!" Tie-zhu’s head was filled with thoughts of money.