Chapter 4 – The Wolves
Novel Title: 龙血 (Dragon Blood)
Author：水千丞 (Shui Qian Cheng)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 单鸣 (Shan Ming -MC), 沈长泽 (Shen Changze -ML)
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He didn’t know how long he had been asleep. But the thing that had been warm in his arms suddenly started to move and he was being very loud. He yelled into ears, “Uncle, wake up! Wake up!”
Shan Ming suddenly opened his eyes and looked around vigilantly. There was an open space in front of him. The vigorous flames were slowly burning, illuminating the surrounding area very brightly. When he glanced over to look for any signs of danger, he saw nothing.
Shen Changze hugged him tightly and shouted in horror, “There is something, uncle. There is something in the woods.”
Shan Ming wondered if it was because he lacked sleep that he couldn’t see the things in the woods that even a kid could see. He stood up with the child in one of his arms and picked up a burning stick with his injured hand. He walked a few steps forward and illuminated the woods not far away with the light of the fire on the burning stick. But he still couldn’t see anything.
His sense of sight, smell and hearing have all been trained. If there was really something nearby, it’s impossible for him not to see it. He said coldly, “Why are you so afraid? There is nothing there.”
“There is! There is! Uncle, I can feel that there is something there. I’m telling the truth!” The child shrank into his arms in fear, shaking uncomfortably.
Shan Ming frowned and looked at the hair on the top of the child’s head. He held up the burning stick and approached the woods suspiciously. He reached the edge of the woods, but he still didn’t see anything so he said angrily, “I see fucking nothing, where is it? Has it been an hour yet? You already woke me up?”
The child choked up and said, “There really is something, uncle. I can feel it.”
“You can feel it? What do you mean you can feel it?” After Shan Ming finished speaking, he was suddenly startled. His back felt hairy and he could keenly feel a strong murderous aura around him.
Shan Ming suddenly turned his head and saw several pairs of glowing yellowish green eyes on the ten-metre-high rock that he was leaning on.
Those are wolves!
Although they were hidden in the dark and couldn’t be seen clearly, Shan Ming judged from the limited characteristics that this was a pack of wolves. And it was not a small pack of wolves, There are about six of them.
Shen Changze also saw those eyes looking at them with eerie glowing eyes. He no longer dared to cry loudly. He could only sob softly.
Shan Ming didn’t dare to move.
Wolves are extremely intelligent and strategic animals. They are good at hunting and their wisdom when hunting is no less than that of humans during a hunt. The wolves were observing him and he was observing the terrain. The wolves could come down from the side slope. If they were fast, they could reach him in only a few seconds.
If only he could get back to the fire and get his gun before the wolves reached him. They should be afraid of fire and he would be able to drive them back with his gun.
But he had already reached the edge of the woods and he was more than ten metres away from the fire. Would he be able to run that fast? Or would the wolves come down from the rock faster than him?
Cold sweat broke out on Shan Ming’s forehead. He quickly analysed his situation. He had no gun in his hand. He only had a dagger. Meanwhile, his left arm was injured and he was holding a child in his arms. This situation was not good for him.
He didn’t dare to move. He knew that if he lost his composure first, he would be eaten by all six of those wolves.
The only sensible thing to do now is to leave the child behind. Those wolves would finish off on one prey first. He would have enough time to flee.
The soft and small body was still weeping softly and trembling in his arms. “Uncle, I’m so scared. Help me. I’m scared.”
Shan Ming’s dark eyes stared at those beasts with glowing yellowish green eyes. He then asked in a deep voice, “Do you want to live?”
The child froze for a moment. It was as if he had a premonition of a bad intention. He hugged Shan Ming even more tightly, burying his head into his arms desperately. In fact, he wished he could get into his body so that he would be safe.
“If you want to live, get off me and stand here as bait.”
The child cried out, “No! No!” He hugged Shan Ming even tighter, “No!”
Shan Ming forcibly broke away the small arms that wrapped around his neck and looked into the child’s eyes coldly, “Listen to me. I have no obligation to save you. Only you can save yourself. I will give you a chance. You stand here as bait while I go and get the gun. I can’t run quickly with you in my arms so I won’t take you with me. If I can survive, you will also have a chance to survive. If you don’t want this chance, then I’ll kill you now and feed you to the wolves. That way, you won’t be able to drag me down.”
Shen Changze stared blankly at Shan Ming. He forgot to cry or shout or even beg. He could only look into this man’s eyes which looked so cold and heartless.
Suddenly, anger and hatred welled up in his little heart. He didn’t believe in what this person had said. This person would definitely abandon him and run away. This person has no feelings. He is a devil. He will not come back to save him. He will definitely abandon him and run to save his own life.
Shan Ming felt that the child’s body relaxed and he was no longer clinging to him. He put the child on the ground.
Shen Changze raised his head. His eyes were full of resentment. He whispered to himself: “You won’t save me.”
Shan Ming squeezed his chin and said coldly, “Even if I don’t save you, you are responsible for your own life.” He stuffed the burning stick into the child’s hand, “Stand here and don’t move. If the wolves approach you, just wave the torch at them as hard as you can.”
Shan Ming stood up as a force rose from under his feet. It was the force that burst out in a desperate situation. He was aware of his own running speed and decided whether the child could survive or not.
He shouted loudly, trying to attract the attention of the wolves. He then bounced vigorously and sprinted towards the direction of his backpack.
At the same time, the pack of wolves crazily moved down the slope at an astonishing speed.
When Shan Ming got close to the fire pit, he rolled on the spot and grabbed his submachine gun and pistol. He then jumped up from the ground in order to run back.
But as soon as he turned around, he was stunned. The burning stick was already thrown on the ground and Shen Changze had disappeared.
All the wolves were chasing after the little boy into the woods.
Shan Ming cursed loudly, “Fuck”.
It appeared that the kid doesn’t trust him.
However, the child really has no reason to trust him. It’s just that he did something stupid and he ran out of the range where Shan Ming could save him.
Shan Ming hesitated for a moment about whether to save him or not. With such a pause in his steps, the leader of the wolf pack had already rushed into the woods.
Shen Changze’s behaviour disrupted his entire plan. He originally wanted to shoot the wolf’s leader. After the leader’s death, the rest of the wolves would retreat because they lose their alpha. This was the only chance he could think of for both of them to survive.
Just thinking that a five-year-old child can cooperate with him was indeed a mistake. Shan Ming didn’t think about it deeply anymore. He raised his gun and fired two rounds, hitting the last wolf while missing a hit on another wolf.
Shan Ming chased towards the woods with his submachine gun in hand.
After getting away from the fire, the woods were pitch black. The visibility was extremely low. Shan Ming could only see shadows moving under the moonlight, but he couldn’t aim his gun at anything at all. He couldn’t hit any wolf like this in order to scare them away.
Soon, he saw black shadows running on one side of the woods. He knew that these wolves were about to start surrounding the kid from the front and back. With the two short legs of that child, he would definitely not be able to run very far before being overtaken by wolves. He must be right there, not far ahead of him.
After passing through the forest, a dim reflection of light appeared in front of his eyes. Shan Ming recognized that there was a small river. The child was submerged in the river with more than half of his body under water. Only his nose and eyes were exposed above the water. It seems that water is taboo for the wolves so they did not make any rash moves.
Shan Ming couldn’t decide to say whether the kid was lucky or unlucky. Or maybe he was just smart enough to jump into the river.
Wolves are very cautious animals and their caution gives time for them to change their minds.
It’s just that those wolves found Shan Ming very quickly as the next prey. The first wolf looked back at him and quickly ran towards him. The other wolves also followed suit.
Shan Ming raised his gun to shoot, but he missed. He didn’t dare to stay any longer in the woods, so he hurried to run towards Shen Changze’s direction.
As soon as he ran a few steps, he felt winds blowing on his back. Without even thinking about it, he turned around and fired a shot. The shot was missed. He saw the five wolves rushing towards him in a formation from all sides. They were not going in a straight line. They zigzagged towards him!
These beasts! Shan Ming cursed in his heart. He fired another shot and finally sent the middle wolf to his death. At this time, the wolves were only two or three metres away from him. They jumped up and rushed towards him.
Shan Ming waved the butt of his gun and smashed it hard on the face of one wolf. His submachine gun flew out of his hands. Shan Ming lowered his body to avoid the pounce of another wolf. He then pulled out the dagger in his boots and lay down on the ground suddenly, raising his hand. With a violent wave of his hand, the wolf above his head had a bloody cut in its stomach and immediately howled. It fell to the ground, unable to move anymore.
Shan Ming rolled back on the spot. One wolf bit his military boots and its sharp teeth pierced into the flesh instantly. Shan Ming yelled. He pulled out his Browning pistol from his waist and shot the wolf on its head twice.
The last two wolves finally pounced on him and began to bite frantically.
Shan Ming blocked his neck with his arm and swung the sharp dagger back and forth while his Browning pistol randomly spit out bullets. After all nine bullets were gone, Shan Ming hit a wolf in the eye with the handle of the pistol. Then, he raised the knife and cut off its neck.
The other wolf had torn off a piece of flesh from his thigh. Although it was tempted by the smell of blood, it stopped attacking and fled under the call of the alpha wolf.
The whole process took place in just over a minute. There were now three wolf carcasses and a bloody man lying on the ground.
Shan Ming panted heavily, staring at the dark blue night sky with wide eyes. He was motionless.
The child came out of the river and ran to him. He was crying and calling for him. “Uncle…”
Shan Ming glanced at him. He then raised his hand and slapped him. The impact caused the child to stagger and fall to the ground. He said in a hoarse voice, “I told you to stand there.”
The child jumped on him, “Uncle, I’m sorry. You’re bleeding a lot, what should I do? What should I do?”
Shan Ming endured the pain and sat up from the ground, “I can’t die.”
He checked his wounds and found that his thighs, arms, and feet were all bitten by wolves. But apart from his arms, the other injuries were not that serious. Fortunately, he did not hurt his vital parts.
Normally, these injuries would not kill Shan Ming. But him being lost in this god-forsaken forest, he began to worry that he might not be able to get out alive.
He looked at Shen Changze’s crying face and his heart was full of disdain.
This is such a weak creature that needs protection all the time.
This child offers no contribution to him and he will only drag him down. Such a creature is most suitable as food for the strong. In Shan Ming’s view, this child is not worthy to be alive at all.
But he actually saved such a worthless thing.
Shan Ming doesn’t want to think about the reasons for him to save the child. He only does things according to his preferences. If he saves them then he saves them. There is no point in thinking about the fucking reason anymore.
He commanded the child: “Get my gun back for me.”
The child wiped the tears from his face and ran to pick up Shan Ming’s beloved MP5 submachine gun and Browning pistol.
Shan Ming stood up using his MP5 submachine gun as support. He walked limply to a dead wolf and snorted, “There’s more wolf meat now. At least we can eat something fresh.” He looked back at Shen Changze and handed his bloody knife in front of him, “You cut them for me.”
The child pursed his lips and took the knife with a trembling hand. He looked at the wolf that had just died, held the knife tightly with both hands and gritted his teeth. He then thrusted it into the flesh with a strong force. The uncoagulated blood spurted out on his face.
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*Translator’s Note: This book is really exciting. I like it so much! -K
Next update: 2023.05.15
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