HLnovel Chapter 155 The Battle Between Wolves and Siberian Tigers
Chapter 155 The Battle Between Wolves and Siberian Tigers
On the ground lay a severed arm, beside the grass clumps lay blood-stained cotton wadding, and beside the torn cotton-padded jacket.
Sobbing, Song Desheng stuffed his broken arm into a cloth bag, knelt in the snow, and bowed repeatedly, muttering that he would take the arm back to the Lu family patriarch as a keepsake. After all, the Lu family patriarch had treated him to a feast and had been kind to him.
Li Ju'an examined the footprints in the snow, patted his head, and said, "Stop crying, stop hurting people, or you'll summon Big Claw."
Song Desheng actually stopped howling, but his wailing turned into sobbing, and he kept muttering, "Brother, brother, you died so tragically, you were bitten to death by the Tiger King."
Li Ju'an used a chisel to poke at the snow crust, and he discovered something underneath. As he poked, he said, "It's not Tiger King, look at this string of footprints on the ground."
Song Desheng then realized that the paw prints spreading across the snow were not those of a Siberian tiger, but rather those of a green-skinned wolf. The green-skinned wolf was also known as Zhang San by the hunters in the village.
He couldn't understand it at all. The more he couldn't understand, the more he stared at it, and mumbled, "Isn't this Tiger King's territory? How can there be so many Zhang Sans? Was Brother Lu killed by Tiger King or by wolves?"
Li Ju'an pounded hard on the snow crust, pondering in his mind.
Logically speaking, the gullies and ponds deep in the mountains are where small animals gather in winter, attracting predators. No one dares to live in this area; no one wants to encounter wild beasts every day. Even experienced hunters are terrified.
But there happens to be a dugout in this area.
Who would dare build a dugout in an area frequented by wild beasts? They must be a fierce person.
With a "crack," the snow shell split open, revealing a corpse inside.
Song Desheng was so frightened that he trembled and his body shook. He cautiously peeked inside, but kept his eyes closed. He clasped his hands together, and his hands trembled violently.
Li Ju'an suddenly spoke up, saying, "Take a closer look and see if the person inside is really Lu Zhiqiang."
Song Desheng opened his eyes and was stunned.
The body looked like it had been there for a while. Because of the snow and ice, the body under the snow crust was covered with a layer of frost, making it impossible to tell when it died. However, its limbs and arms had been torn apart, and its shoulders and abdomen were covered with bite marks from wild animals. Its intestines had been pulled out and emptied.
The gruesome scene sent chills down their spines.
How is this any different from prey?
Song Desheng then realized that the corpse had nothing to do with Lu Zhiqiang. It wasn't wrapped in the same cotton quilt Lu Zhiqiang had worn, but it had a broken arm.
"Isn't that Lu Zhiqiang? Then who is it?"
The body didn't belong to anyone they knew, nor to Old Qian, Old Sun, Little Shi, or the others from the ranch. Li Ju'an said, "Who would build a dugout by a ditch like this and live there peacefully for so long?"
The two exchanged a glance and suddenly remembered what Old Qin, the King of Taozi in Changbai Mountain, had once said.
Qin Pao Tou'er once acquired a wolf, intending to keep it as a lead dog, following the advice of an elder: a wolf can also be kept as a lead dog.
But in Lao Tao's eyes, this idea was simply a pipe dream. Lao Tao's most frequent gossip about Lao Qin was: "That kid, he'll be bitten to death by a wolf's eye sooner or later."
Song Desheng suddenly realized the same thing and exclaimed in surprise, "Could this be the place where that senior Qin knew lived? Then this person, this person, isn't he...?"
There were wolf paw prints all around, and suddenly the two of them thought of the same thing.
Could it be that this old wolf deliberately raised wolves in this ditch, intending to train them as hunting dogs, and hunted them every day? But as time went on, the wolf cubs grew up, their ambition grew, and with food and prey scarce in winter, the wolves dragged their owner into the ditch to tear him apart. They then dragged the uneaten carcass into the snow, leaving food specifically for the mother wolf and her cubs to survive the winter.
The moment they thought about it, the hairs on their bodies stood on end, and they couldn't help but shiver.
"Damn it! This is just asking for trouble. Who would raise so many wolves in a ditch?"
"Even in death, they're still disgusting. Now that the wolf pack has gathered, Lu Zhiqiang and his men are in big trouble."
With large claws in front and a pack of wolves behind, no one could stand that.
The more Song Desheng thought about it, the more frustrated he felt. He cursed, "Damn it, this is too much! I'm going to give that guy surnamed Qin a good scolding later and make him throw out his wolf-eyed eyes so he can stop causing trouble for people."
As the two were thinking this, suddenly shouts of fighting came from behind the cellar.
The intense conflict was marked by the roars of tigers and the howls of wolves.
The two quickly left the fallen tree that had been leaning against the mountain and ran towards the pile of rocks 30 meters away to the left.
Li Ju'an crouched down behind the pile of rocks and set up his gun, surrounded by thorny stalks and wild grass.
The low-frequency roars of beasts, seemingly numerous, echoed through the ditches and ponds, while birds took flight in the forest, and owls cackled loudly.
Looking through the 3.5x scope, Li Ju'an spotted a large Siberian tiger clashing with a pack of wolves.
He said in a low voice, "This place really is wolf territory, and there are actually people who have raised wolves to have big eyes."
The wolf pack's territory included this ditch. The wolves, fighting for their territory, actively attacked the intruding Siberian tiger. In a sparse forest to the west, a mountain animal with grayish-blue fur, resembling a dog, lowered its head, bared its fangs, and howled softly.
The menacing green-skinned wolf is clearly a protector of the pack, second only to the wolf king. He is the pack's most powerful male wolf and one of the top two fighters.
The Siberian tiger roared, shaking the snow off the branches. Green Skin, as a double-flowered red stick, took the initiative to provoke a fierce battle, leading three other male wolves behind him.
The Siberian tiger is incredibly fierce; its raised paws carry immense power, displaying its formidable might. A single slap severely injured two wolves, allowing them to break free from the encirclement of the green-skinned wolf. Big Claw, knowing to capture the leader first, pounced on the alpha wolf hiding behind the green-skinned wolf, launching a fierce attack from behind.
The alpha wolf was in its prime, very agile and nimble. It bit the Siberian tiger's rump and pulled out a large handful of tiger fur.
The Siberian tiger roared angrily, then turned and ran forward at top speed. Its long body covered more than ten meters in just a few leaps. The wolf pack wouldn't let the Siberian tiger escape. Once the wolf pack launched an attack, it was a fight to the death.
The Siberian tiger charged forward, pursued relentlessly by two male wolves, who would occasionally seize an opening to bite and ambush its hind legs. The tiger, in pain, angrily lashed out with its large paws, slapping the alpha wolf twice, leaving it severely injured.
The alpha wolf howled in pain, its body limp and collapsed on the snow. Without its leader, the remaining male wolves were less effective. Seeing an opportunity, the Siberian tiger bared its teeth and bit off the neck of the nearest male, dragging it in its mouth and angrily shaking and tearing at it.
The wolf pack was so frightened that their fighting strength plummeted. The strongest male wolves fell haphazardly, some with their bellies ripped open and intestines spilling out, others wounded on their backs, howling and whimpering in pain.
The Siberian tiger was also injured and panting heavily, but its intense anger drove it to continue tearing at the wolves with its large claws.
Li Ju'an and Song Desheng hid behind cover, making no sound, and quietly watched the fight between the tiger and the wolf pack through their scopes.
Suddenly, something occurred to him: Lu Zhiqiang and the others hadn't said a word yet, could they be hiding behind some cover like them?