After walking for over an hour, I was starting to feel quite exhausted. My stamina had been significantly drained from fighting the wolves earlier, and coupled with the exertion of traveling on this plateau, I, despite not suffering from altitude sickness, found it rather taxing.
The fatty was in a similar state, wiping sweat from his brow and panting. "Brother Xiang, how about we rest for a bit?"
I glanced back at the group behind me, then pondered. "Let's walk a little further. We'll rest after we get over that next ridge."
The fatty sighed in resignation, a grimace on his face. "Fine."
We continued on for about another ten minutes when Jiang Ye suddenly approached me, offering a foreign cigarette. "Mr. Xiang, can we chat?"
I wasn't accustomed to his foreign cigarettes, so I waved my hand. "Is there something you need?"
He glanced at the Fatty and Re Xiti beside me, seemingly wanting to speak with me in private.
He and I shifted a few steps aside. I took out my own cigarette, lit it, and took a puff. Then, looking at him, I asked, "Can you speak now?"
He exhaled a plume of smoke. "Mr. Xiang, I know you might find my wife a bit melodramatic, but what I want to say is that she's not acting this way because of the altitude sickness."
I assumed he was here to apologize, so I said, "Mr. Jiang, you must understand I have my own difficulties..."
Before I could finish, he interrupted me. "I think you'd best be cautious of Miss Jin..."
My brow furrowed, and I looked at him with confusion. "What do you mean?"
"During the day, when she went to the restroom with my wife, I noticed..."
Just as he got to this point, the Fatty shouted, "Brother Xiang! Situation!"
I immediately looked towards the Fatty's direction, only to see several wolf shadows appearing ahead!
"Awooo..."
A familiar wolf howl echoed from not far away, and the previously docile horses became restless, breaking free from their reins.
Suddenly, the horse carrying Zhao Xuezhen reared up on its hind legs, throwing her to the ground.
Seeing this, Jiang Ye sprinted over to check on her. At this moment, more and more wolves were appearing. Several were less than ten meters away from us, baring their teeth fiercely, as if seeking retribution for their fallen comrades.
I quickly reached for my pistol, my heart pounding...
These creatures were truly persistent. It seemed they wouldn't rest until they had us all here tonight!
Before we could react, the wolves charged at us, each with eyes glinting with ferocity, like hellhounds!
Someone fired a shot, and suddenly, gunfire erupted from all directions. The Fatty and I stood back-to-back, and I told him to wait until they were closer before firing.
Neither of our marksmanship was particularly good, so this was the only way to avoid wasting ammunition.
In just a few breaths, I had fired several shots, killing three wolves.
The Fatty had also taken down two.
"Brother Xiang! This won't do, we need to get out of here quickly!"
I scanned our surroundings and asked, "Where do we go?"
The Fatty looked around and then fell silent.
The area was flat, without a single tree. Running out would be suicidal.
Re Xiti shouted, urging us all to huddle together.
Hearing this, we all moved closer. However, Jin Qiaoyue and her bodyguard, Ah Yuan, remained indifferent.
I called out to her. She turned and looked at me, making a gesture that I didn't understand.
Before I could react, Ah Yuan charged headlong into the approaching wolf pack!
In a short time, he was swallowed by the pack.
The other wolves, seeing this, all rushed towards him. At this point, Jin Qiaoyue ran over and said, "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"
Grabbing her backpack, we quickly followed Jin Qiaoyue as she jogged away.
As we ran, I looked back, only catching a fleeting glimpse of Ah Yuan's silhouette being engulfed by the wolves.
What was going on?
Were they just going to abandon him?
I wanted to ask Jin Qiaoyue, but seeing as she was running at full speed with no intention of looking back, I kept my silence.
We continued to run frantically for about ten minutes, everyone panting heavily, before finally stopping.
"Further ahead... about two kilometers from here, there's an ancient site. It'll be safer there," Re Xiti said, pointing northwest.
Hearing him, I added, "Everyone, hold on a bit longer. It will be safe when we reach the front."
Seeing no objections from the group, we followed Re Xiti towards the destination.
Soon, we arrived at the so-called ancient ruins, which were merely a few dilapidated mud walls.
We found a relatively decent spot, and everyone finally got to rest.
The place we chose was enclosed by mud walls over three meters high on three sides, with a partially collapsed roof.
It was hard to tell what era it belonged to.
Seeing everyone sit down to rest, I found Jin Qiaoyue and asked her about Ah Yuan's situation.
She replied, "Mr. Xiang, don't worry. He'll be fine. Ah Yuan is just going to hunt the wolf king."
Her tone was exceptionally casual, as if it were nothing to be concerned about.
"He's going to hunt the wolf king alone?" I asked, looking at her incredulously.
"Mm..." Jin Qiaoyue nodded, glancing at her electronic watch. "It should be soon..."
I was at a loss for words, feeling a strange sensation.
Although the black wolf king had a limp, it was still protected by so many wolves. Could Ah Yuan handle it alone?
Well, whether he could or not, it wasn't my concern.
Ah Yuan was her man. Even if something happened to him, it was none of my business. For now, I needed to take care of myself.
In the previous skirmish, both the Fatty and I had sustained injuries. Although we had guns, we couldn't avoid being bitten or scratched by the dying wolves.
I had a long scratch on my calf and another on my arm from a wolf.
The injuries weren't severe, but I was worried about infection.
The Fatty was no better off, with several wounds on his body.
We sat in a corner and took disinfectant from the medical kit to clean our wounds. The stinging was intense.
After cleaning them several times, we bandaged the wounds with gauze.
Once all that was done, I was too exhausted to move. Leaning against the mud wall, my eyelids grew heavy.
I don't know when I fell asleep. When I woke up, a blanket was covering me, and it was still dark all around. Only a beam of light from a flashlight shone from not far away.
The Fatty's snores resonated to my right. I turned to look at him and saw that he was sleeping soundly, a string of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth.
I stood up and stretched, then realized that, apart from the Fatty and myself, everyone else was awake.