Chapter 652 - 4: Reinforcements (Part 2)
In the distance, Chen Zhou was immersed in the dim prairie, only able to hear the screams of cave hyenas from that side, but uninformed about the exact happenings.
Paul only knew he had to persist; he must hold out until Chen Zhou returned.
The situation was urgent, leaving him no room for wayward thoughts. He could only pin all his hopes on Chen Zhou, on that veteran who was participating in the challenge for the second time.
He believed that Chen Zhou must have his reasons for taking the initiative. As long as he could hold on, once Chen Zhou resolved the situation with the six cave hyenas over there and returned to support, they would be able to solve the crisis.
However, to speak of persistence sounds easier than doing it.
Without fuel to add, the blaze of the campfire grew lower, its glow dimming.
Among cave hyenas continuously launching probing attacks around them, their faces were menacing, lingering between the firelight and darkness, and drooling glistened by their mouths.
The burning stick in Paul’s hand was extinguished by the wind, the once reddish glow cooling and turning into a pitch-black charcoal color.
No longer able to use this stick to intimidate the cave hyenas, he could only discard it and wield his gun with both hands—
Fortunately, there was a campfire. For the time being, he did not need to worry about cave hyenas launching attacks from behind; he only had to deal with the beasts in front, which greatly eased his pressure.
...
Cave hyenas roared one after another. Chen Zhou had already pulled out the wooden spear that pierced the male cave hyena.
Because it was used too forcefully when piercing the male cave hyena, the originally sharp spearhead had broken during the process of rubbing against the cave hyena’s rib, leaving only some blood-stained wood fibers hanging at the spearhead.
Looking back at Paul guarding near the campfire, Chen Zhou faced two choices—
Turn around to support Paul or continue forward to attack the Hyena Queen.
The former was more stable, avoiding injuries to his companion. Simultaneously, the campfire could help him deal with cave hyenas better. The downside was that it was very easy to fall into a seesaw battle, which was the domain where cave hyenas excelled.
Though the latter seemed risky, it was the quickest effective method.
As the mother of most members in the group and the brain of the entire hyena clan, the Hyena Queen held a crucial position. If it got harmed or killed, the entire cave hyena group would fall into a difficult situation.
Chen Zhou had already proven he possessed the ability to quickly kill a cave hyena, and in the Hyena Queen’s eyes, his threat level was rising sharply.
If Chen Zhou chose to advance further to attack the Hyena Queen, it would probably serve as the strategy to besiege Wei to save Zhao, making the Hyena Queen call back the cave hyenas besieging Paul for retreat.
Of course, high reward often comes with high risk.
Two robust female cave hyena "bodyguards" were still with the Hyena Queen. If he could not swiftly resolve the two female cave hyenas, and the Hyena Queen did not recall other members of the group, Paul would be the one to suffer.
Even if Chen Zhou’s plan succeeded and the Hyena Queen recalled the cave hyenas, how he would escape afterward remained a problem.
If he did not grasp the timing and distance well, he might fall into an encirclement by a dozen cave hyenas on the prairie without campfire support, and by then, even if his personal combat power was strong, it would be tough to leave unscathed.
The time left for Chen Zhou to make a decision was not much. After a brief contemplation, he decisively chose to turn back to support Paul.
He felt that even though he could kill the Hyena Queen, compared to losing a companion at the very start of the challenge, killing the Hyena Queen didn’t count as an equivalent bargain.
Cave hyenas were only the first enemies faced after the challenge began. They were neither strong nor sly, and killing them would yield little benefit besides meat and hide.
Meanwhile, Paul, as a modern human, could help him build shelters and scout the movements of other challengers, and in future hunts against stronger prehistoric beasts, he could become a strong ally.
He had no reason to leave his companion in danger and become that "lone hero" to realize his personal heroism.
...
A wounded female cave hyena was still calling on the grass, yet Chen Zhou had already returned with his wooden spear.
The Hyena Queen had been watching the prey’s movements and seeing the terrifying human who killed three group members retreat, it could finally take a few more steps forward and order a full-on attack.
Accompanied by the Hyena Queen’s command, the attack of the ten cave hyenas suddenly became aggressive.
The three male cave hyenas probing around the spear’s edge began dodging along the blade; their abruptly enhanced desire to attack brought Paul more oppression, aggravating his mental pressure.
Under pressure, people tend to make mistakes.
Focused on resisting the cave hyenas in front, Paul failed to notice that a female cave hyena had approached within 1 meter to his side.
To a cave hyena, this distance is practically equivalent to being up close.
With a fierce glint in its eyes, it seized this rare opportunity and directly bit toward Paul’s side waist.
By the time Paul reacted, its sharp teeth had already punctured his clothing.
In a flustered evade, using the long spear to scare off the three male cave hyenas in front, Paul felt a chill at his side waist, looked down again, and discovered that a large chunk of his camouflage combat uniform was torn off, outerwear along with portions of inner clothing shredded into bits, into the jaws of the female cave hyena.
Fortunately, their combat uniforms were thick enough, or else, with that bite, a large piece of his waist would surely have been torn off.
Nonetheless, although the combat uniform absorbed most of the damage for Paul, the skin around his waist was still scraped by the cave hyena’s teeth, leaving two bloody marks.
...
Barely escaping this sneak attack, Paul’s situation not only failed to improve, but it became even more dangerous—
The female cave hyena, failing its strike, had already closed in on Paul. Now it could launch a second or third attack at any moment.
Meanwhile, other cave hyenas also took this opportunity to breach the spear perimeter. Without the campfire’s obstruction, they would have already surrounded Paul entirely, biting his hands or pulling his legs to tear him into pieces.
With rapid breathing and a heartbeat pounding fast, Paul could no longer capitalize on the long spear’s advantage, able only to grip the middle of it, using it as a defensive tool.
But this was tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst; more and more cave hyenas were gathering, and two fists were hard-pressed to defeat ten mouths. Even if he twirled the long spear spectacularly, how many cave hyenas could he fend off.
...
Just when Paul was struggling left and right and found it difficult to handle, Chen Zhou, far more than ten meters away, took large strides and thrust the wooden spear out with the momentum of his run.
With a "swoosh," the wooden spear cut through the night sky in a sharp arc, accurately embedding itself into the female cave hyena’s back.
Though the spear tip was previously broken in battle, Chen Zhou’s strength was tremendous. Even without a spearhead, the wooden spear deeply penetrated the female cave hyena’s skin and flesh.
This time, the spear’s tip penetrated from the side of the spine, similarly passing through the ribs, inserted about forty-plus centimeters, simultaneously piercing through the cave hyena’s right lung and heart, causing instant death.
With the female cave hyena beside him dead, Paul’s pressure was greatly alleviated.
Though other cave hyenas still sought to continue their attack, the distant Hyena Queen could not accept such substantial losses to the group.
Two brave and battle-worthy female cave hyenas, along with two male cave hyenas who could perform great restraining roles.
They were the backbone of the group, rarely suffering so many casualties even during hunts of cave bears. Facing two humans today had cost them four major warriors, and notably, the most terrifying human still seemed unscathed, without a hint of blood scent spilling out.
If they continued the hunt, even if they killed these two humans, the gained food would far from compensate for the losses.
As the leader of the group, it must stop the reckless actions of cave hyenas at the most dangerous times to rescue the group from peril.
...
A short bark echoed on the empty prairie.
The cave hyenas still eager for the hunt gazed reluctantly at the already wounded Paul and Chen Zhou, who was about to reach near the campfire, ultimately unable to resist the Hyena Queen’s command, turning away one after another.
The dwindling campfire roasted the female cave hyena’s corpse, blood soaking the soil, with a stench rising in the heat.
As the cave hyenas departed without success, they dragged away the bodies of their kind killed by Chen Zhou when they passed, leaving three lines of drag marks on the grass.
They were nature’s most unabashed scavengers; given they were all hungry, the death of their kind was also a sort of gain. At least after using them to fill their stomachs, they could hunt other animals enthusiastically tomorrow.
There are many survival principles, the most crucial being to avoid waste, which the cave hyenas perpetually observed.