The Pamir Plateau was filled with stars that night as I sat by the campfire chatting with Rexiti.
He still looked shaken, worried about the wolves coming.
I comforted him a few sentences, telling him to relax, "Don't overthink it. Haven't we fought them before? Even if they come again, we have guns, what's there to fear?"
He shook his head and said, "You don't understand. I'm not afraid of the wolf pack, I'm afraid of..."
"The Black Wolf King?" I asked.
He nodded, "I always thought the Black Wolf King was just a legend. I didn't expect it to still be alive..."
Speaking of the Black Wolf King, I must admit I was a little wary too.
However, wariness aside, at this point, we could only take things as they came.
I refused to believe the Black Wolf King had truly become sentient!
Even if it had, we had guns, and we couldn't handle it?
In this wilderness, with nothing to do, time passed incredibly slowly.
Rexiti and I chatted for a long time, and I realized only a little over an hour had passed.
I glanced at my watch; it was still half an hour until nine o'clock.
Fatty went to his tent to sleep after dinner. Song Bing hadn't rested well last night and was probably asleep now.
As for the others, they were all in their respective tents.
I asked Rexiti if he was sleepy, and if so, to get some rest.
He shook his head, "It's best not to sleep tonight... I have a feeling the Black Wolf King and its pack will definitely come tonight."
Just as I was about to speak, a howl echoed from not too far away.
Looking towards the source of the sound, I saw a faint wolf silhouette on a small hill not far off!
The wolf's silhouette was exceptionally striking under the clear moonlight.
The wolf's body was huge, much larger than an ordinary wolf, and even from a distance, a sense of pressure could be felt!
Accompanying its howl, countless wolf silhouettes instantly appeared on the small hill, densely packed and blocking half the sky!
Rexiti shot up from the ground, quickly grabbing the hunting rifle placed beside him, and then told me to hurry and wake everyone else up.
I naturally realized the gravity of the situation and rushed to gather everyone.
Ten minutes later, everyone was ready to face the threat.
Each person held firearms and weapons.
The pre-prepared bonfires were also all lit, illuminating the entire camp brightly for a moment.
Everyone was at peak alertness.
Soon, several wild wolf figures appeared in the darkness not far away. They didn't charge directly at us but lurked nearby, as if waiting for something.
Fatty glanced at me and asked, "Master Xiang, what are they up to?"
I shook my head, "I don't know..."
"Look over there!" Li Chuang's voice rang out.
We turned our heads to look in the direction he was pointing and saw wolf figures appearing from all directions.
Seeing this, Fatty cursed, "Damn it, these guys have really become sentient! They're trying to surround us!"
Everyone fell silent, their faces solemn.
The wild wolves, like a well-trained army, began to spread out, slowly forming a circle.
Trapped within this circle, we couldn't help but feel tense.
Looking at the dense pack of wild wolves, I suddenly felt that even with our guns, we might not escape this peril.
My palms started to sweat, and my heart began to race.
Song Bing came up to Fatty and me and whispered, "No matter what happens later, don't stray too far from me, understand?"
Hearing him, Fatty and I both nodded.
After an unknown amount of time, it felt like five minutes, or perhaps ten.
In any case, time passed very slowly, and I forgot to check my watch.
Once the wolves had completely surrounded us, a familiar figure appeared!
The Black Wolf King was exceptionally conspicuous amidst the wolf pack directly in front of us. Its icy eyes looked at us as if we were already dead.
It suddenly raised its head and howled!
"Awooo..."
Its howl ripped through the night sky. As its cry faded, the surrounding wild wolves charged at us like a tide!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The first shots were fired by Ayuan, the bodyguard accompanying Jin Qiaoyue.
His marksmanship was extremely accurate, each shot precisely felling a charging wild wolf!
I only managed a quick glance before I had to pull my attention back.
Song Bing, wielding dual pistols, fired with a steady rhythm, almost as if one shot from his left hand was immediately followed by one from his right.
His accuracy was also good, maintaining about seventy to eighty percent.
The firearms we used on this trip were all arranged by Li Chuang.
Aside from Rexiti's own hunting rifle, we were all using old-model Colt revolvers.
These revolvers had significant recoil, and continuous firing put a heavy strain on the hands.
Fatty and I were not regular gun users. Each shot required a two-handed grip, and our aim was poor.
Li Chuang, who usually looked gentle and weak, was no less proficient with a gun than Song Bing at this critical moment.
As for the couple Jiang Ye and Zhao Xuezhen, they were also skilled shooters. I had heard them say before that when they were abroad, they would go to shooting clubs in their free time.
Although the wild wolves were numerous, under the suppression of firearms, they failed to break through the campfire perimeter.
The gunshot sounds, like firecrackers, were incessant, and the number of fallen wolves grew.
The scene before me made me feel as if I were in a battlefield, and the wild wolves at this moment seemed transformed into soldiers unafraid of sacrifice!
The battle lasted for nearly an hour, and even I had fired several magazines of ammunition.
My wrist had started to crack, and the night wind brought a dull ache throughout my body.
Dense wolf carcasses were piled around the campsite, and the air was thick with the smell of blood and the faint scent of gasoline from the campfire.
I noticed a hint of fatigue on everyone's faces, and Fatty had collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.
I went over and patted his shoulder, "Fatty, are you okay?"
He looked at me and panted, "I'm fine..."
At this moment, Li Chuang ran over in a hurry, his face very grim, "The horses are gone!"
Hearing this news, we looked towards the area where the horses were kept and found one horse missing.
Li Chuang said the escaped horse had also taken the ammunition with it.
Upon hearing this, we quickly went to check. We found the saddlebags scattered on the ground; the bag containing the ammunition was gone, and a lot of ammunition was spilled on the ground, with drag marks faintly visible.
Seeing this, I asked Li Chuang how much ammunition we had left.
He brought over a backpack, and there were less than a hundred rounds left inside.
"Only this much is left," Li Chuang sighed.