On the way, Zhao Kaishan told everyone about the task of entering the mountain this time. The Three Team would enter from the east, and their group would enter from the west.
"Wu said those educated youths asked their Village people for the route into the mountain and even drew a map. Their target is the area around Erdaoling, so we will first use the area within a roughly ten-kilometer radius between the Three Team, our Village, and Erdaoling as the main search area."
The thick snow crunched under everyone's feet. Zhou Cang quickly caught up to Zhao Kaishan's side.
"Captain, how many people are there in total?" Zhou Cang asked.
"Five, three men and two women," Zhao Kaishan said bitterly.
It was as if God was trying to find trouble for them: snowflakes actually started falling from the sky again at this moment.
"How are there women too?" Zhou Cang asked in astonishment.
"Several educated youths from the Third Team are very arrogant, regardless of gender. Especially one named Zhou Xuemei, who keeps saying she can hold up half the sky," Zhao Kaishan said with a wry smile.
"What are they going into the mountain for?"
"What else could it be, they want to eat meat! The Third Team's food is even more scarce, and the educated youths are already given priority care, but they still always say it's not enough to eat."
"They went into the mountain yesterday morning, saying they planned to catch pheasants, but they didn't come back after a night."
"Their Captain, Wu Changjiang, was afraid something would happen and has already led people into the mountain to look for them. At the same time, he sent someone to find me, hoping we could go into the mountain from this side to look, which would greatly increase the chance of finding them."
"Did they bring guns?"
"They did. One educated youth has some background and knows how to use a gun. They borrowed a Type 56 rifle and twenty rounds of ammunition from Wu."
"Then that should be okay, as long as they didn't encounter a Wolf Pack..." Zhou Cang nodded.
Everyone just lowered their heads and hurried on. Each person carried a roll of cotton quilt or sheepskin, not for sleeping at night, but for rescuing people.
The wind and snow became more intense. Although the woods blocked a lot of the wind, the snowflakes still cut across their faces like small knives.
Zhou Cang pulled up the collar of his sheepskin jacket. The Old Lady had given it to him before they set off today; his previous cotton jacket was covered in wolf blood.
"Erdaoling is ahead!" Zhao Kaishan suddenly shouted.
"Everyone, cheer up and look for any clues! Be careful not to spread out too far!"
"With this heavy snow everywhere, any clues would likely be covered up."
The team walked another two kilometers along the ridge, when suddenly they heard what sounded like screams carried on the wind.
Zhou Cang suddenly grabbed Zhao Kaishan's shoulder. Seeing this, everyone looked at him in unison.
"Over there!" Zhou Cang said, pointing to the front right.
Everyone looked over and indeed saw a faint flickering firelight in the distance, as well as the crisp sound of metal clashing.
"Holy crap, there are wolves!" a villager shouted.
Zhou Cang also saw it. Over a dozen gray wolves surrounded five people. One of them was constantly shooting with a gun, but no wolves were seen falling to the ground. Fortunately, each shot managed to scare the wolves back a bit, but they would surround them again after a while.
The other two men held torches, protecting the two girls in the middle.
"Don't shoot, be careful not to accidentally injure the educated youths!" Zhao Kaishan shouted.
"Charge over, and shoot when you're closer!"
A few villagers hesitated slightly, but Zhou Cang had already charged forward like a leopard. Zhao Kaishan followed closely behind, and the rest of the group could only quickly follow.
The Wolf Pack was startled by the few people suddenly charging in. They had also never encountered a situation where humans would charge towards them like this.
Zhou Cang was a little speechless watching the educated youth shakily firing the gun. This guy's marksmanship was truly unimpressive.
It seemed not a single wolf was hit; there wasn't even a drop of blood on the snow.
The arrival of the rescue team invigorated the educated youths, and they immediately shouted loudly as if to scare away the Wolf Pack.
The first thing Zhou Cang and Zhao Kaishan did upon entering was turn around and aim. The other three villagers with guns did the same.
Six guns against over a dozen wolves, Zhou Cang felt no pressure. Following the principle of saving bullets, he was not in a hurry to shoot.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The others fired their guns one after another, and then Zhou Cang was speechless.
Because these Brother Das didn't hit a single one!
Speaking of which, you couldn't blame them. After all, marksmanship is developed by using bullets, and while many people had guns, who could bear to practice shooting every day?
Seeing that the wolves were gradually becoming less afraid of the gunshots, it would be bad if the bullets ran out soon.
He happened to be standing next to the educated youth holding the gun, watching him shoot wildly.
The educated youth was wearing a green cotton jacket. Judging by his shooting stance, he should know how to use a gun, but he was overly nervous.
Sighing, Zhou Cang stuck his quiver into the snow, raised his bow and arrow, and drew it back fully.
The two girls behind saw this scene. One of them, wearing glasses, said to the other,
"Zhou Xuemei, look, that person is using a bow and arrow!" Her tone was full of curiosity.
"Heh, wolves that others can't kill with guns, what use would his bow and arrow be? I doubt he could even shoot off a single wolf hair!" Zhou Xuemei said dismissively.
As soon as she finished speaking,
Twang!
That was the sound of the bowstring snapping. The next instant, a wild wolf was firmly pinned to the ground.
The power of the bow and arrow was such that after shooting through a wolf's neck, it then shot diagonally half a foot into the frozen hard ground!
"Whining!"
The wild wolf struggled, twisting its body. Bright red blood spurted from the arrow shaft. This arrow had struck its carotid artery.
Everyone was stunned, holding their guns and looking at Zhou Cang.
They saw Zhou Cang draw his bow, nock an arrow, aim at another wild wolf, and shoot again!
Thud!
Hit again!
Arrows shot out like a string of pearls. Each time, a wild wolf was pinned to the ground. In the blink of an eye, the over dozen wolves were reduced by more than a third!
His shoulders were slightly sore and swollen, so he put the bow over his head and slung it diagonally across his back, picking up his hunting rifle with his right hand.
Bang!
The huge kinetic energy of the slug sent a wild wolf flying. It was shot in the chest and didn't move again after hitting the ground.
He took out the shell casing and put it in his pocket, then loaded another slug, aiming at another wild wolf.
Bang!
This shot blew off the wolf's skull, splattering a mess of red and white brains everywhere.
"Ugh!"
Zhou Xuemei and the girl next to her both covered their mouths and dry-heaved.
Although everyone had seen chickens killed and so on, seeing a wild wolf killed at such close range with its brains splattering was still a bit too stimulating for them.
At this point, the Wolf Pack had lost nearly half its numbers.
Zhou Cang looked back at the two dry-heaving female educated youths. His wolf tooth necklace around his neck was also revealed.
Zhou Xuemei was stunned. She hadn't noticed before, but only now did she realize this villager was actually a handsome young man!
Although he was wearing the kind of sheepskin jacket villagers wore, it couldn't hide his height, build, and that chiseled face!
He just glanced back and then turned away. Just as he was about to continue shooting, the Wolf Pack suddenly whimpered and ran away.
"Fugui, well done!" Zhao Kaishan patted Fugui's shoulder.
"Yes, thanks to you, you didn't miss a single shot!" The male educated youth holding the gun said with a look of admiration.
"Just good luck, Captain, can I get reimbursed for the bullets?" Zhou Cang joked.
"No problem, not only reimbursed, I'll also report your merits! Hahaha!"