Chapter 51: It’s only reasonable
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
The silver Wolf King shone brightly under the moonlight that reflected off it and made it look like it was glowing. Up on the cliff, the Wolf King’s silver fur was fluttering in the wind like a fine work of art.
However, Ren Xiaosu did not have any intention of appreciating it. He only wanted to run away!
Didn’t they say that the wolves had already left the vicinity of Stronghold 113 and headed into the mountain range that was several hundred kilometers away? Why had they suddenly reappeared here?
The cliff was not far, and it would only take around ten minutes for the wolves to get here. However, Ren Xiaosu was most worried about the whereabouts of the other wolves. What if they were nearby?
Ren Xiaosu shouted, “Hurry into the canyon!”
Liu Bu was stunned. “Get into the canyon? Are you crazy? If we enter the canyon, wouldn’t we be digging our own graves?!”
“If we don’t get into the canyon now, we’ll all die!” Ren Xiaosu rushed over to the side of the pickup and grabbed the large and rather intact rat carcass before running towards the canyon. He had the most experience with the wolves, so he knew best the terrifying opponents they would face if they did not make their escape now.
The natural predators of wolves might have been eliminated by the stronghold when they were assigned to clear out the wilderness, leaving them with the freedom to move about fearlessly in the wilderness.
Ren Xiaosu looked behind him and was surprised to see that the others were still in the mood to retrieve their belongings by the campfire and load them back into their vehicles! It was as though the wolves were still very far away. No one was particularly anxious about the situation.
Moreover, Ren Xiaosu mentioned earlier that these wolves did not dare enter the canyon. That also gave these people a boost of confidence. As long as they could enter the canyon that was about ten meters away, they would be safe.
Ren Xiaosu thought, ‘These people are really not afraid of dying. Why are they still packing their clothes at a time like this? Shouldn’t they at least grab food and water first?’
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu realized that Yang Xiaojin, Xu Xianchu, and him had the most awareness within the team.
Xu Xianchu immediately went to his vehicle to retrieve his gun and ammunition while Yang Xiaojin threatened a driver with a gun to get him into the vehicle to drive.
But what could Ren Xiaosu do now? Surely he could not perish together with them here. As he ran into the canyon, he observed the cliffs on both sides. Although it looked precipitous, it did have some handholds to hold on to if he had to climb it.
Ren Xiaosu was examining this because he knew that he had told the others that the wolves would not enter the canyon just so that he could hide the truth of how he survived. But he knew that the wolves had not hesitated at all when they chased him into the canyon that time.
So the wolves would definitely chase after them, and it would be a major problem on how to escape at that time.
The off-road vehicles were a great form of transportation. But it was difficult to say whether they could even outrun the wolves on flat ground, let alone on this rocky road in the canyon.
A few days ago, the private troops skirmished with the wolves. Although there were several hundred soldiers with loaded guns, several dozen of them were still bitten to death by the wolves. With just under twenty of them, it was nowhere near enough.
There was an appropriate saying for these events: “You don’t have to outrun wolves as long as you outrun everyone else.” But a dozen-odd people could not possibly slow the wolves’ pace. If anything, all of them would perish.
That was why Ren Xiaosu did not get into the vehicles immediately but ran towards the canyon instead. It was not because he made the choice in panic, but that he knew right from the start that he wouldn’t be able to escape even if he got into a vehicle. He had to find another way.
If he were left no other choice, he would have to climb the cliff. No matter how strong the wolves were, they couldn’t possibly climb walls, right?
Ren Xiaosu was not sure if he had enough strength to climb to the top, but that was the only way to survive.
At this moment, someone started a vehicle and gunned it for the canyon. There were not enough vehicles for everyone now because the pickup had been totaled.
Everyone was terrified after they spotted the wolves appearing at the edge of the forest. Those wolves were probably as tall as buffalo, and they seemed to be in no hurry as they moved slowly towards the humans.
Liu Bu kept screaming in horror, and many of the soldiers blanched.
Those who were determined to pack their belongings now realized just how foolish they had been. If they hadn’t gone to take their stuff, they would probably have already reached the inside of canyon by now!
“Wait, don’t close the door!” Someone shouted, “Squeeze in a little, we all can fit!”
But before the person saying that could squeeze into the vehicle, he was kicked out of the vehicle by Liu Bu. After that, the vehicle door was slammed shut!
“Start driving! Hurry up!” someone yelled.
Ren Xiaosu was extremely calm at this moment. There was no right or wrong in the wilderness. Surviving was right, while dying was wrong. All he could do now was survive and became the last survivor. That was all.
The four vehicles that were still working drove straight into the canyon. This was at the cost of leaving behind two people who did not manage to get in on time. Suddenly, they heard two screams from outside the canyon. Ren Xiaosu trembled as he realized that the wolves were faster than he had imagined.
When the vehicles were passing by Ren Xiaosu, one of them actually stopped for him. He could see Yang Xiaojin pointing a gun at the driver’s head from the backseat of the vehicle. She turned to Ren Xiaosu and said, “Get in!”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. He didn’t expect that Yang Xiaojin would threaten the driver with a gun to stop the vehicle. Besides, he had no intention of getting into the vehicle! Could a vehicle outrun the wolves in this godforsaken place?
Yang Xiaojin seemed to realize that Ren Xiaosu was not budging. She pulled out a black pistol, an M9, with her other hand and pointed it at Ren Xiaosu. “Get into the vehicle!”
Ren Xiaosu was speechless. He turned around to look out of the canyon and was surprised by what he saw. Yang Xiaojin followed his gaze and looked back as well. She saw that the wolves had come to a stop outside the canyon. Several dozen huge wolves were quietly peering into the entrance of the canyon. Their fur was stained with blood.
Liu Bu watched the wolves from his vehicle and said in a startled manner, “So they really won’t enter the canyon. We’re safe!”
Everyone felt like they had survived a disaster after getting away from the wolves!
Someone even started crying. “We’ve been saved!”
Liu Bu muttered, “I never expected the refugee kid was telling the truth.”
But Ren Xiaosu wasn’t at ease one bit, because he had lied to these people and did not expect the wolves to actually stop chasing them.
What did this mean?
It showed that some changes had really occurred in the Jing Mountains during the past year. This must have been the reason why the wolves had stopped in their tracks at this place.
It also meant that it must have gotten much more dangerous in the Jing Mountains lying beyond the canyon than imagined. Those five words on the cliff that said, “Stop here, ye who live,” was absolutely not a lie.
What should they do?
Someone got out of the vehicle and looked at the wolves that were standing outside the canyon. “Why don’t we set up camp here and wait for the wolves to leave before we head back the way we came?”
Ren Xiaosu thought, ‘I’ve never heard a dumber suggestion.’ He said, “If y’all want to head back, carry on. I’ll never go back the same way.”
Xu Xianchu nodded and said gravely, “That’s right, there’s no way we can turn back.”
In this sort of situation, the forest was essentially the wolves’ home field. If you wanted to wait for them to leave, where would you expect them to go to? It would take three days to get back to the stronghold from here. In the space of three days, these wolves might even have enough time to turn into werewolves and give you a good thrashing while holding you up.
Of course, the wolves couldn’t possibly turn into werewolves. That was just an analogy.
No one responded to Xu Xianchu because everyone knew they would die no matter when they decided to head back. The only way that they could continue living was to head to Stronghold 112!
There was no way back anymore!
Liu Bu looked at Ren Xiaosu and asked, “Why are you carrying that rat?”
“To eat, of course!” Ren Xiaosu said matter-of-factly. “What else would I do with it?”
Liu Bu nearly puked. “You’re going to eat that?”
Ren Xiaosu said, “All of the food is in the pickup, and the pickup’s gone now. If I don’t eat this, what should I eat? Also, it’s only reasonable to eat them since they ate my crackers.”
Liu Bu was speechless.
That did sound rather reasonable!
In actual fact, Ren Xiaosu knew that the biggest problems this group would face were the food and water supplies.
Although Ren Xiaosu had grossed Liu Bu out, he did not really intend to eat the rat.