Volume One: Planet of Beasts - Chapter 41: Besieged (Part One)

The night was dark and the wind was not strong, but the temperature was extremely low. Everyone wore thick leather garments lined with soft fleece, yet this still failed to block the biting chill. The valley was rugged and strewn with rocks of all sizes, demanding extreme caution with every step; taking a careless misstep and twisting an ankle was no laughing matter.

Li Juxu was a sniper, and regardless of the team, a sniper was always treated like a precious asset. His position was second from the back, easily one of the safest spots.

No one spoke, save for the sound of footsteps. After marching for nearly an hour, they took a ten-minute break before pressing on. Another twenty minutes passed. Logically, blood wolves should have been spotted roaming about by this point, but for some unknown reason, not a single blood wolf was in sight. They walked for another ten minutes, and still, there was no sign of them.

Pushing deeper would bring them dangerously close to the blood wolf lair. Once firing commenced, the blood wolves would swarm out, and escaping would be utterly impossible. Li Juxu immediately suggested sending scouts to lure the blood wolves out while the rest of the team lay in ambush on both sides for a tactical trap. This was the most conventional and safest method of approach, and Cao Gang was just about to agree when Mantis chimed in.

"The terrain here is not suitable for an ambush. Let's advance another half a kilometer. The terrain narrows precisely at that spot, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack."

"Then let's walk another half a kilometer!" Cao Gang agreed without a moment's hesitation. Li Juxu glanced back at Wild Boar, who remained silent. They had hunted blood wolves before, but had never ventured this deep, leaving them unfamiliar with the inner terrain.

Before long, the group arrived at the ambush site Mantis had mentioned. Jagged rocks protruded everywhere, and the canyon suddenly constricted by a third. Indeed, it was a rare and ideal ambush point. Many of the rocks bore bullet holes, claw marks, and dried bloodstains, indicating that quite a few people had previously laid in wait here for blood wolves.

Hunting blood wolves was a relatively common mission, undertaken by many teams. Rumor had it that the meat of blood wolves tasted similar to beef, making it a favorite delicacy among the wealthy. Li Juxu had hunted blood wolves several times, yet he had never tasted the meat; it was simply too expensive. Just as the old charcoal burner could never afford to burn his own charcoal for warmth—a truly ironic thought.

None of them were novices. There was no need for Cao Gang to spell out positioning; everyone instinctively found their spots. The demolition expert set his mines, while Wild Boar prepared two heavy machine guns, carefully inspecting the ammunition, since machine guns were most terrifying when they jammed at the critical moment. Rat and Drummer were tasked with luring the monsters, shedding as much excess weight as possible to maximize their speed. Most importantly, their shoelaces had to be tightly secured; having a shoelace untie while being chased by blood wolves was a tragic predicament. Such incidents had certainly happened before; during combat, the appearance of bizarre and comical mishaps was hardly surprising.

Veterans were once green recruits, but the number of seasoned veterans remained stubbornly low while wave after wave of new recruits washed through—and there was always a reason for that. Mantis moved with great agility, or perhaps he was simply familiar with the terrain. While Li Juxu was still observing, Mantis had already scrambled up the left cliffside, claiming the best sniper vantage point.

Although they were a team, Li Juxu could say nothing about this move; if anyone was to blame, it was his own lack of keen observation. He felt neither anger nor impatience. Mantis's advantage lay in his familiarity with the terrain, while his own advantage was his night-vision capability. No matter how strong Mantis's memory was, he could not memorize the topographical features of every single spot. Li Juxu was different; a single sweeping glance made everything crystal clear. Soon, his gaze fixed upon the middle of the right-hand slope, the most ideal sniping position on that side. As he climbed up the hillside and prepared to unbuckle his equipment, a strange notion crept into his mind.

Tonight felt abnormally, excessively quiet.

He could not explain the source of this bizarre feeling, but he trusted his instincts. After hesitating for a few seconds, he made his way to the secondary sniper position. This spot was rather cramped, making movement up and down quite troublesome. No one would bother coming up here during the day, let alone at night—it was sheer folly. Cao Gang glanced at Li Juxu, but ultimately said nothing.

Although Li Juxu was only a junior hunter, he possessed immense natural talent for sniping. Having been part of the team for two years, he had never once made a mistake.

The Kui-23 sniper rifle, ammunition, chocolate, night-vision goggles, binoculars, and other auxiliary equipment were unnecessary for Li Juxu. The searchlight atop his helmet was also switched off; he had kept it on previously simply to conceal the secret of his night-vision eyes.

With all preparations complete, Rat and Drummer stealthily crept deeper into the canyon. In moments, the two vanished from everyone's field of vision. The canyon grew terrifyingly silent, broken only by the howling wind.

Ten minutes passed, then twenty, yet Rat and Drummer had not returned. Twenty-five minutes ticked away before Cao Gang rose from behind a boulder and gestured to the others.

"Keep holding your positions. I'm going to take a look!"

Just as he reached the turning point, he was suddenly struck by the sound of a massive commotion of footsteps, immediately followed by the shrill, desperate shouts of Rat and Drummer.

"Everyone watch out! There are hundreds of blood wolves—"

"Awooooo—"

Low, mournful howls echoed one after another, draining the color from the faces of the ambush party. What was going on? How could they have lured so many? Whether it was Drummer or Rat, both were experienced hunters; they certainly wouldn't have intentionally drawn such a massive horde. A terrible premonition gripped everyone's hearts—something had gone terribly wrong!

There was no longer any time to ponder what had gone wrong. Gunfire erupted—it was Cao Gang. He had opened fire. The blood wolves had not yet entered the ambush zone, but he had no choice; the wolves were already snapping at Rat's heels. Drummer and Rat were sprinting at top speed, leaving them no time to shoot, let alone glance back.

Bang, bang, bang...

The magazine was emptied in three seconds, swapped out in half a second, and emptied again in another three. As Cao Gang spun around, he hurled a grenade directly into the wolf pack.

Boom—

The explosion reverberated through half the canyon, throwing the wolf pack into considerable disarray and buying precious time for Rat and Drummer. As the two figures hurtled past the turning point, before Cao Gang could even give the order, Mantis and Li Juxu fired simultaneously.

Puff—

Puff—

Two blood wolves were flung sideways, both taking direct hits to the head. Blood wolves were even larger than desert gray wolves, rivaling adult water buffaloes in size. Ordinary handgun bullets striking their bodies would do little more than draw a bit of blood; only direct hits to vital organs could kill them. Li Juxu shifted his muzzle, and just as his bullet pierced a wolf's skull, another round tore a bloody crater through its neck.

"Not good—"

Li Juxu's expression shifted drastically. He and Mantis had targeted the exact same beast. He rapidly adjusted his aim and pulled the trigger; yet almost at the exact moment his bullet drilled through the wolf's ear, the creature clamped its jaws onto Rat's arm.

Crack—

The bite force of a blood wolf was terrifyingly immense; a human arm was as fragile as a white radish. Rat let out a shrieking cry of agony, losing his balance and crashing to the ground as his arm was torn clean off.

Li Juxu pulled the trigger in rapid succession, dropping three blood wolves, while Mantis killed two more. Yet, even more blood wolves surged forward. At that exact moment, Golden Hair leaped out of cover, hurling a bundle of seven or eight grenades tied together straight into the heart of the wolf pack.

Boom—