amaotonovel Chapter 396 Timberwolves
Chapter 396 Timberwolves
Before Li Xiangyang could finish speaking, a series of urgent shouts suddenly came from afar.
The three immediately became alert and turned to look in the direction of the sheep.
The herders were seen hurriedly herding their sheep back, their expressions panicked.
"Something's wrong!" Dalai's expression changed, and he quickly jumped onto his horse and galloped towards the flock of sheep.
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou quickly mounted their horses and followed closely behind.
Before we even got close, we heard a wolf howl coming from afar.
The flock of sheep immediately became restless, and several sheep even began to scatter and run away.
"Wolf! Quick, drive the sheep back!" a herdsman shouted.
Li Xiangyang looked up and saw a group of gray figures rapidly approaching on the snow in the distance.
That wasn't how a wolf pack would normally approach. Usually, wolves would approach cautiously, but these wolves charged straight at us, seemingly unafraid of the presence of humans.
"Something's wrong!" Li Xiangyang immediately drew his gun and shouted to Wang Ergou, "These wolves are suspicious! Prepare to fight!"
Wang Ergou quickly loaded his gun, raised it, and aimed it at the rapidly approaching figures.
Dalai's face turned pale: "Have they gone mad? How could they be so audacious?"
Li Xiangyang said in a deep voice, "Because they are hungry, and they know they have a numerical advantage."
As the distance closed, Li Xiangyang finally saw the true faces of those gray figures.
It was a pack of large wolves with slightly grayish-yellow fur and fierce, hungry eyes.
Most disturbingly, their actions were remarkably coordinated, as if under some kind of unified command.
"Bang!" Li Xiangyang fired the first shot, and one of the wolves charging at the front fell to the ground.
But this did not scare away the other wolves. They simply slowed down slightly, then dispersed, forming a semi-circle, and began to encircle the sheep.
“They’re trying to surround us!” Wang Ergou shouted, and then pulled the trigger.
Another wolf fell, but the pack's offensive showed no signs of abating.
The herders also took precautions, firing their guns in an attempt to scare away the wolves, but with little effect.
The wolves had already reached the edge of the sheep flock and were starting to bite and drag away any stray sheep.
"Forget about the lone sheep! Protect the main herd!" Li Xiangyang shouted.
He fired while observing the wolf pack's movements.
These wolves behaved unusually; they were not only unafraid of humans, but also extremely skilled in tactics.
Just when the situation was critical, Li Xiangyang spotted a particularly large wolf in the pack.
It did not participate in the attack directly, but stood at a distance, seemingly directing the actions of the entire wolf pack.
"Ergou, at three o'clock, there's that big gray wolf!" Li Xiangyang shouted urgently.
Wang Ergou immediately turned his gun around and aimed it at the big wolf.
But just as he was about to pull the trigger, the wolf seemed to sense the danger and suddenly dodged behind its companion.
"Damn! This wolf is really cunning!" Wang Ergou cursed in frustration.
At this time, Dalai had already organized the herders to gather the sheep together, forming a circle with their backs to each other, and using weapons to defend against the wolf pack's attack.
Li Xiangyang fired while pondering a countermeasure.
This can't go on; we'll eventually run out of bullets.
He had to come up with a more effective way to deal with these unusual wolves.
Suddenly, an idea struck him: "Ergou, we need to change our strategy!"
Wang Ergou looked at him suspiciously: "What strategy?"
Li Xiangyang pointed in the direction of the large gray wolf that had hidden itself: "I suspect that wolf is the leader. If we can catch or kill it, the other wolves will scatter."
Wang Ergou nodded: "That makes sense! But that guy is too cunning, how do we get close to him?"
Li Xiangyang pondered for a moment: "Lure it out."
He looked around and found an injured lamb standing alone not far from the main herd.
Li Xiangyang quickly ran over, hoisted the lamb onto his shoulder, and headed towards the direction where the big gray wolf was hiding.
"What are you doing? Danger!" Dalai shouted when he saw this.
Wang Ergou immediately understood Li Xiangyang's intention and said to Da, "Don't worry, he knows what he's doing. You guys continue to protect the main group, I'll cover him!"
After saying that, Wang Ergou, holding his gun, cautiously followed behind Li Xiangyang.
Li Xiangyang walked to a spot about thirty meters away from the bushes and placed the lamb on the ground.
The lamb bleated weakly out of fear and pain.
Then, Li Xiangyang stepped back a few steps and hid behind a protruding rock.
Wang Ergou also found a good spot to ambush, aiming his gun at the bushes.
Time passed slowly, but there was still no movement from the bushes.
The lamb's bleating grew weaker and weaker, and Li Xiangyang began to worry that the plan would fail.
Just then, the bushes swayed slightly.
A grayish-yellow head cautiously peeked out, looking around warily.
"It's coming out," Li Xiangyang whispered to Wang Ergou. "Don't rush, wait until it's completely out of cover."
The big bad wolf seemed to confirm that there was no danger around, and slowly emerged from the bushes, approaching the lamb.
It was indeed much larger than an ordinary wolf, its fur was more grayish-yellow, and its eyes gleamed with a dangerous light.
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou held their breath, quietly waiting for the wolf to reach the optimal shooting range.
Just as the big bad wolf was only a few steps away from the lamb, Li Xiangyang nodded slightly.
"Bang! Bang!" Two gunshots rang out almost simultaneously.
The big gray wolf's body jolted, but it did not fall down immediately.
It turned to run away, but found people in another direction as well.
Li Xiangyang had already jumped out from behind the rock and was aiming his gun at it.
"Bang!" The third shot hit the gray wolf's hind leg, and it finally fell to the snow, but still struggled to get up.
Li Xiangyang quickly stepped forward, stepped on its neck with one foot, and raised his gun with the other hand, aiming at its head.
At this critical moment, the wolf pack in the distance suddenly stopped attacking, and all the wolves turned to this side, letting out a series of mournful howls.
"Don't kill it!" Dalai suddenly shouted, "Take it alive!"
Li Xiangyang hesitated for a moment, then struck the wolf's head hard with the butt of his gun, knocking it unconscious.
"Ergou, the rope!"
Wang Ergou quickly took out the rope he carried with him, and the two of them worked together to tie up the big gray wolf tightly.
The wolf pack in the distance became chaotic when they saw their leader captured.
Some wolves began to retreat, while others paced anxiously in circles, but none of them continued to attack the sheep.
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou dragged the tied-up wolf back to the herdsmen.
Everyone stared in astonishment at the enormous wolf.
“This…this is no ordinary steppe wolf,” an elderly herdsman exclaimed in surprise.
Dalai nodded: "Indeed, it's a forest wolf, much larger than a prairie wolf. But how did it end up on the prairie?"
As Dalai said, compared with the prairie wolf, the forest wolf is more robust and its fur is slightly grayish-yellow, which can effectively conceal its figure in the interplay of light and shadow in the forest.
Although they are both social animals, due to the complex forest environment, their hunting methods focus more on using the terrain to ambush prey.