Chapter 108: There’s Another One
Gu Fei gently pried her mother’s hand away and, pretending to draw a knife from the mule cart, walked over to Uncle Ma. Uncle Ma said quickly, "The seven of us will spread out, each taking a position. From the sounds just now, I’d guess there are five or six wolves. They’ve just about got us surrounded."
He raised his voice. "If anyone spots a wolf, don’t panic. Wolves are afraid of fire, so they might not come all the way in."
"If a wolf does charge, a few of us here will take the lead. Don’t move unless we move. If we do, the men from each family will assist from the sides. Grab whatever weapon you have and just swing at the wolf. But be careful not to hit anyone!"
’You couldn’t expect these farmers to have much combat skill. It’d be good enough if they could just lend a hand without causing more trouble.’
"Furthermore, all you women, keep a close watch on your children. No noise, no screaming. We can’t have the men getting distracted. Does everyone understand?"
"We understand," the crowd replied, their voices trembling.
Li Chunhua quickly buried Little Cao’s head in her embrace.
Ms. Qian held Bao’er tightly, her face deathly pale.
Hu Zi huddled against his mother, not daring to breathe.
Gu Fei’s family’s campfire was more or less in the center, with a few other families’ fires on the periphery. Everyone was now huddled in a tight knot around the flames.
The men clutched cleavers, hoes, scythes, and axes, nervously scanning the darkness around them.
Gu Fei clutched a gleaming long blade, her eyes fixed on the darkness ahead.
Not far to her left was her eldest uncle. Some distance to her right stood Zhang Ze.
Behind her stood her father, with her brothers beside him.
The campfire only illuminated their immediate surroundings, leaving everything else cloaked in a vast darkness.
A sudden chill ran down Gu Fei’s spine as she saw a wolf emerge from the darkness at an unhurried pace. It stopped a short distance from the campfire and stood motionless.
Its eyes gazed indifferently at the crowd, as if it hadn’t yet decided whether to attack.
The men standing on the perimeter had all seen the wolf now. They tightened their grips on their makeshift weapons, each man holding his breath.
Just then, Bao’er, who was sitting on the ground in his mother’s arms, spotted the wolf in the distance through a gap between people’s legs.
He suddenly let out a piercing scream. "A wolf—!"
Ms. Qian frantically clamped a hand over his mouth. The women and children around them turned to look at Bao’er, their eyes filled with fury.
Just then, perhaps provoked by the shriek, the wolf suddenly moved.
With a push from its hind legs, it lunged toward the crowd.
Gu Zhang, Gu Qing, and the others began to panic, but they remembered what Uncle Ma had said: as long as Gu Fei and the main defenders didn’t move, neither should they.
Gu Fei’s eyes were locked on the wolf. As it leaped into the air, she swung her long blade in a vicious arc, slicing it from its neck all the way down to its belly.
A spray of hot blood rained down, drenching Gu Fei.
The wolf tumbled to the ground. As it struggled to rise, Gu Fei stepped forward, leaned down, and brought her blade viciously down on its neck again.
Just then, a dark shape shot past Gu Fei’s side.
Gu Fei’s heart leaped. ’Another one!’
But she had just swung her blade and couldn’t pull it back in time—and her father and brothers were right behind her!
In her desperation, a pistol suddenly appeared in her other hand. Without even looking, she fired at the shadow by pure instinct.
A gunshot rang out. Gu Fei had no idea if she’d hit the wolf.
Meanwhile, the wolf in front of her had a deep gash on its neck from her long blade, and blood was gushing from the wound.
The wolf, ferocious to the end, was still trying to charge forward. Gu Fei aimed at its head and fired.
Without waiting to see if the wolf was dead, she spun around, only to see another wolf with its jaws clamped around her father’s neck. In the distance, her eldest uncle was rushing toward them, cleaver in hand.