Everyone walked for half the morning before stopping to rest. Everyone, young and old, was exhausted.
Uncle Zhao's face improved a little, but he ate some dry food, drank some water, and urged everyone to continue on their way.
Fortunately, after walking for more than an hour, everyone found a cave halfway up the mountain.
The cave is only the size of a room, which can barely accommodate the elderly and the young.
Uncle Zhao looked around and decided to set up camp here.
Everyone sat down tiredly and relaxed.
But Uncle Zhao shouted to the men, "Don't take your hands off the knife and don't go too far!"
Some people thought that Uncle Zhao was too cautious and shouted, "Uncle, what are you afraid of? This road is quite quiet!"
Uncle Zhao glared. , scolded, "What do you know? You should be afraid of silence! In such a big forest, there are no pheasants, rabbits, or birds. It is normal if there is movement. If there is no movement, it means there is something nearby, and the little beasts hide because they are afraid. Now."
After thinking about it carefully, everyone realized that this statement made sense, and they all immediately stood up.
"Fourth, bring more people and chop wood right in front of you. The more, the better. I'm afraid it will be difficult tonight."
Uncle Zhao ordered loudly and went to call the women again.
"Just one bite for dinner. Watch the children and don't run around."
Everyone responded loudly and started to take action.
Soon, the men chopped down the firewood. There was no water nearby, so the women used the saved water to cook porridge. As long as it was cooked, one bowl per person would be dinner.
The old people were busy cleaning up the cave. I wonder if any big beasts lived in this cave. There were no insects or snakes, but there was a fishy smell.
Once it's cleaned and covered with linoleum and quilts, it's still possible to live in. At least it's much better than the previous shack.
Children, big and small, were barefoot and laughing on the bedding.
Jiayin was the youngest, so she crawled to the entrance of the cave and sat down for fear of being stepped on.
Mrs. Li was worried that her granddaughter was thirsty, so she brought a bowl of water over and saw the entrance of the cave.
There was a sudden scream in the woods nearby. The old lady was so frightened that she threw the bowl away and rushed forward to hug her granddaughter.
"There are wolves!"
The camp immediately became a mess, and the men picked up hatchets and rushed forward.
It turned out that the village chief's donkey sneaked to the edge of the forest to eat grass and was surrounded by four or five wolves.
The donkey's neck, hind legs and belly were all ripped open, and it screamed in pain.
Everyone subconsciously wanted to snatch the donkey back, but Uncle Zhao tried his best to stop them.
"Come back, come back, you can't go! Be careful of wolves rushing into the camp!"
The men woke up and retreated one after another, guarding the camp.
"Light a fire, more bonfires!"
Uncle Wei and Uncle Wang also stepped forward to help, shouting at everyone to move back.
Soon, everyone retreated to the entrance of the cave.
The women didn't care about scalding, they picked up the almost cooked vegetable porridge and ran away.
The men held hatchets and sickles in their hands and protected the women, old people and children behind them.
Hundreds of people, at this moment, did not dare to breathe.
Hundreds of pairs of eyes just stared at the village chief's donkey, which gradually became silent and was dragged into the woods by a few wolves.
The village chief's aunt is weak and usually rarely talks, but now she was crying until she was weak.
The family has kept this donkey for five or six years, and the couple has no children, so they really treat it like a relative.
Now he is eaten by wolves!
Mrs. Li hugged Jiayin, came up and patted her on the shoulder, trying to comfort her, but she was so scared that her lips trembled.
Jiayin secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and the hairs on the back of her neck that had been standing up all day softened.
The fear of being inexplicably threatened is the most terrifying thing.
Now that I know it was the wolves that fell behind, it's not so bad.
There was no movement in the forest for a long time. A villager wiped the cold sweat from his head and asked in a low voice.
"Uncle Zhao, have the wolves left?"
Uncle Zhao's face turned black and he shook his head and said, "They must not have left. Those wolves are just the vanguard. There must be at least thirty wolves in this pack. One donkey is only enough for wolves. The king and a few of the strongest wolves will share the meal, and the rest will starve, let alone us."
Hearing this, the timid woman started sobbing while holding her child.
In the long forest, if you are targeted by wolves, you will definitely die.
The village chief waved his pipe and pot and scolded everyone, "Cheer up, you are scared before the wolves come around. Then you might as well just give the meat to the wolves!"
"That's right, there are so many of us, There are also hatchets and sickles, and Lao Si and Liu Biaotou are even more skilled. They have to deal with dozens of wolves, so there is nothing to be afraid of!"
Uncle Zhao also shouted, and finally said, "These wolves have not moved. I'm afraid we have to wait until the evening. We only start attacking when everyone is asleep. We eat when we need to, drink when we need to, and gather strength. Night is the time to fight hard!"
Li Laosi and Liu Biaotou stepped forward, "Uncle Zhao is right. , the two of us can divide them into ten or eight, and there won't be much left. We can solve it with one knife each!"
"The old people and children are all in the cave, and we are not afraid of sneak attacks by wolves. We just need to guard the entrance of the cave."
" Yes, let's light more fires!"
"Sharpen your knives and come at night to chop down a few and kill a few. We can also make wolf-skin coats to wear in the winter."
After all, they are all young and strong, holding a hatchet in their hands. As soon as they were encouraged by the old men, and everyone was emboldened, they became more energetic and responded loudly.
The camp gradually became active again, taking turns eating, guarding the entrance of the cave, lighting bonfires, adding firewood, and it was busy but not chaotic.
After dinner and a brief tidying up, Uncle Zhao, the village chief and others divided the young men into small teams. Each team consisted of seven or eight people, who rotated every hour to guard the entrance of the cave.
Beside the entrance of the cave were Tao Yongying and other women, also holding wooden sticks and even spatulas in their hands.
Further inside are the adults and children, and the innermost and safest place is the elderly and children.
Jiayin guessed that the wolves would not attack when it got dark, so she lay in her grandma's arms and went to bed early.
I thought about getting up in the middle of the night and helping with the vigil.
Although she was just a little doll, everyone thought she was of no use, and indeed she was of no use at all, but she just didn't feel at ease.
She finally had a new home, and a family who loved her like a treasure, and she didn't want to have the slightest chance of losing it...
Unfortunately, she was so exhausted during the day that she tensed up.
She slept very deeply. In her dream, she was feeding chickens and ducks in the courtyard. Suddenly, a big bad wolf jumped out and took the chickens away. She was so angry that she cursed.
Big bad wolf?
She suddenly shivered and woke up, using her hands and feet to crawl towards the entrance of the cave.
The old lady was awakened. She stretched out her hand and felt that her arms were empty. She was also startled.
She finally found her granddaughter crawling away through the faint light, so she chased after her. When she was about to pick her up, she was stunned by a pair of green eyes outside the cave entrance.
"The wolf is coming! The wolf is coming, get up quickly, the wolf is coming!"
The old lady screamed desperately, waking everyone up instantly.
Including the men on night watch, they were almost scared out of their wits!
All the men jumped up, picked up hatchets and started to chop without even seeing where the wolf was.
The wolves were so angry that they thought they had found a good opportunity, but it was ruined by a little baby and an old lady.
The wolf king let out a long howl, and upon receiving the order, the wolves opened their bloody mouths and charged forward crazily!
Wolves are not as big as tigers, black bears, and even less powerful than wild boars.
But wolves are the smartest beasts. When it comes to team fighting, they are surprisingly scary.