Tomb Raiding: My Family's Last Clan Chief is Little Brother

Chapter 474 Midnight Howl
Zhang Wuxun answered the question for Fatty: "The creatures on the snow mountain have their own instinctive ways of coexisting inherited from their ancestors. Wolves need food to survive the winter, so they have to hunt herbivores. Young fawns and mother deer that have not yet grown up and are not strong are undoubtedly their primary targets."

"But a group cannot survive without new life. If the wolf pack is allowed to hunt and kill, the deer herd with only adult male deer left will soon perish."

"In order to survive in the long run, the deer herd must make sacrifices. So whenever the cold winter comes, a dozen or so strong deer that have suffered hidden injuries or are sick will lead the old and weak deer to attract the attention of the wolf pack, buying time for the entire herd to migrate. Once the wolf pack has enough prey to fill their stomachs, they will naturally not chase after food for the following year."

"This canyon serves as a default buffer zone between carnivores and herbivores."

Animals also have their own laws of survival balance, which are the laws formed by the natural evolution of the food chain.

Wu Xie was still somewhat puzzled. "But in this way, wouldn't the wolf pack be able to get food very easily? If this continues, there will only be more and more wolves living on this snowfield, and the number of herbivores that will have to be sacrificed next year will also increase. In the end, won't they still perish?"

"Competition among members of the same species becomes even more intense in order to survive and reproduce."

Zhang Wuxun led the way, holding up the fog lights. His voice sounded faint and sinister in the cold wind.

"How could such a prime location be occupied by only one pack of wolves? The only ones qualified to distribute food are the wolf king who breaks through the encirclement in the battle. As the killing goes on, the more wolves die, the more food there will be."

A chill ran through Wu Xie. Even ants try to survive, and humans can kill each other for survival when faced with catastrophe. How much more so would wolves, which are inherently ferocious?

When food is scarce and they are threatened with death, they will not hesitate to prey on lone members of their own kind. In the struggle for survival, only those who adapt to the environment can survive.

"It's right in front."

Zhang Wuxun pointed out a recessed area on the steep cliff in front of them. This was a temporary shelter that Dan had specifically mentioned to him when he went hunting with Dan and the others.

The group hurried over and discovered that there was a crudely carved recess underneath. The recess was about three stories high, and with the help of the rough stone wall on the side, it was just enough for people to climb up.

“This…” Wu Xie looked at Zhang Wuxun, “Was this specially built by the Khampa people?”

Zhang Wuxun nodded. "When traveling in the vast snowfield, even the most experienced hunters will inevitably take a wrong turn. This canyon is a landmark. If it weren't for this time of year in winter, this would be a place specifically for the Khampa people to rest."

"You and Fatty should hurry up and go upstairs. I need to set up some things down here," Zhang Wuxun urged.

"Should we plant a mine?" the fat man volunteered. "I'm an absolute expert when it comes to planting detonators. It's getting dark, so let's work together to speed things up."

Zhang Wuxun waved to Zhang Haixing, "Alright, you take the two of them upstairs first, get them some food to replenish their energy, we need to leave two people to keep watch tonight."

Zhang Haixing is a professional in rock climbing. She put down her backpack, changed into special climbing gloves, tied a rope around her waist, and then moved her arms and legs. She climbed up very easily, as nimbly as a monkey.

She deliberately slowed down her movements so that Wu Xie and Feng below could see where it was suitable to grab onto and climb.

After Zhang Haixing climbed up, she saw that there were many traces of human chiseling in this recessed area. It was possible that there was originally a recessed crevice here, and later people expanded it into a stone cave to make it easier to enter.

The cave is five or six meters deep, shaped like a small-mouthed, bulging-bellied vase, with a small mouth and a large belly, like a bell lying flat.

She shone a light inside and discovered that there was something else entirely.

At the very bottom of the cave, there is a small stone platform with a dark, grotesque stone statue on it. It is an unknown, strange god that looks like a quail that has been struck by lightning and charred. It stands there stiffly, with small horns sticking out on its left and right sides. I don't know if they are wings or not. It is really ugly.

In front of the stone statue was a copper bowl about the size of a child's fist, containing a grayish-black paste at the bottom of the bowl. It emitted a strange, fishy smell and had dried up completely, sticking to the bottom of the bowl. No one knew what it was.

Zhang Haixing picked up a small stone, scraped some powder from the bowl, examined it carefully under the light, and then brought it to her nose to sniff. She seemed to discover something, and her expression suddenly changed drastically.

She looked back and saw that Wu Xie and the other person hadn't come up yet. She immediately wrapped the copper bowl tightly in the gauze she carried with her and hid it on her person.

After looking around and finding nothing else, she turned and left the cave, letting down the rope she had brought earlier and swaying it, signaling Wu Xie and the other to tie their backpacks to it so she could pull them up.

On the other side, Zhang Wuxun and Fatty set up traps at both ends of the canyon, about 100 meters away from their resting place.

Fatty originally suggested splitting up, but Zhang Wuxun disagreed. He knew that the wolf pack had already appeared at both ends of the canyon, and if he went alone, he might run into the vanguard who came to scout ahead, which could be disastrous.

The two dug out more than a dozen animal carcasses from the snow, buried detonators in front of the carcasses, then reburied the carcasses, placed a whistle on top, and carefully covered them with a thin layer of snow.

The two men, one setting the detonator and the other the sentry grenades, laid a 15-meter-long minefield in a staggered pattern, covering even the height that wolves could jump up the stone walls on both sides, and attached transparent trigger wires to each minefield.

The whistle bullet is not very powerful, but it is sharp and piercing. At close range, it can directly rupture a person's eardrum. It is also very sensitive to trigger; it will explode if the weight on top changes even slightly.

As the whistle explodes, the fuse connecting it to the detonator below will be pulled, and the detonator will explode regardless of whether the wolf claw has pressed down on the mine's location.

The fat man grinned, a sly smile on his face, and said, "Those Zhang family members, to say nothing of anything else, are really damn generous when it comes to getting equipment. Two whole backpacks full of detonators, that's a lot of money. This job is the most satisfying one I've ever done since I started in this business."

Zhang Wuxun took out an incendiary bomb from his backpack, installed it about five meters behind the minefield, strung up a few transparent trigger wires, and carefully buried it in the snow. He then quietly told Fatty to get out of there.

The wolf pack is currently entrenched at the mouth of the canyon. Even if they want to launch a surprise attack, they will have to wait until late at night when the wolves are sound asleep.

Wolves have an extremely keen sense of smell. Even with dead animal carcasses as cover, they can still detect the scent of Zhang Wuxun and Fatty lingering in this area.

If they sense danger and choose to give up, that's fine. But if they remain stubborn, then don't blame them for being ruthless in their self-preservation.

Zhang Wuxun and Fatty then set up another minefield about sixty meters away using the same method.

By this time, it was completely dark, and the two returned to the bottom of the cliff hollow.

Zhang Wuxun flicked his finger to his lips and whistled upwards, whereupon fog lights immediately shone down.

"You two, come up here quickly!" Wu Xie called out, sticking his head out and lowering a rope.

"You go first, leave your backpack behind, I'll carry it up with you later," Zhang Wuxun said to the fat man. "Thanks," the fat man replied without hesitation. With his size and the heavy clothes he was wearing, climbing such a steep cliff would indeed be quite difficult.

The fat man tied the rope around his waist, stuck his feet into the grooves in the rock wall to get a firm foothold, and grabbed the protruding rock face with both hands. Wu Xie and Feng pulled him up together.

Seeing that the fat man had already climbed five or six meters by pulling and scrambling, Zhang Wuxun gathered the fat man's backpack along with the remaining detonators into his own backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and then stepped into the ditch. Light as a feather, he caught up with the fat man in front of him with almost no effort.

Hearing the noise, the fat man turned around and looked down, then chuckled, "Hey, you're pretty fast, kid. Did you smell the food up there?"

As he spoke, he looked up and asked Wu Xie, "Tianzhen, what delicious food have you guys made? I can smell the meat. I've been in a hurry to get somewhere these past two days, so I've been eating biscuits every day. I'm almost turning into a sandwich biscuit."

Wu Xie laughed and scolded in an annoyed tone, "You think you have the best nose? Shut up and keep climbing. It's so windy here, be careful not to get a belly full of cold air."

The fat man huffed and puffed as he quickened his pace, quickly climbing to the opening of the pit, where Wu Xie and the other man pulled him up.

Zhang Wuxun followed closely behind and climbed up as well. He looked into the distance with binoculars, and only when he heard Wu Xie call him did he turn around and enter the cave.

"Here you go." Wu Xie handed him an aluminum lunchbox filled with large pieces of pork ribs. "My cooking skills are so-so, I just made something quick, but it'll do. After you finish, have some ginger soup to warm yourself up."

The fat man grinned and came over, slurping up a mouthful of meat soup from his lunchbox. He smacked his lips and said, "Hmm, it tastes good. Our Tianzhen has really grown up. She can even cook for herself now. She deserves praise and encouragement."

Wu Xie tossed him two roasted glutinous rice cakes, glared at him, and said, "You fatso, don't ruin my image in public. You make it sound like I'm lazy and good-for-nothing. When you used to cook, I often helped out, okay?"

The fat man teased him, "Oh my, I wonder who it was that little rascal who cut a carrot and ended up eating all the carrots off the cutting board. I can't quite remember who it was, but I think her name was Wu Xiaotu, right, Tianzhen?"

Feng, who was watching the commotion, couldn't help but burst out laughing. He immediately turned around, covered his mouth, and shook his shoulders.

Zhang Haixing took a bite of the glutinous rice cake and puffed out her cheeks as she smiled, seemingly pleased to see Wu Xie suffer a setback.

Wu Xie was furious and shouted angrily, "You fatso, you've exposed my weakness again! Believe me or not, when we get back I'll go to Yun Cai and complain about you, and she'll make you cook a Manchu Han Imperial Feast!"

"Whatever my little sister wants to eat, I'll happily make it for her." The fat man shook his head, his eyes crinkling with laughter.

Wu Xie was so angry that he blurted out, "Believe it or not, I'll get Mu... cough cough Panzi to deal with you!"

"Old Pan is already in a mess, he doesn't have time to worry about kids playing house," the fat man said dismissively.

If the cave hadn't been so cramped, Wu Xie would have jumped up and kicked Fatty.

The two of them bickered like children, while Zhang Wuxun shook his head and sighed silently. No one noticed the fleeting smile in his eyes.

﹉﹉﹉﹉
At midnight, a long and loud wolf howl suddenly rang out in the quiet canyon.

A few monotonous howls responded, sounding both mournful and resentful, rising and falling, from afar and growing closer—this was the signal that the wolf pack was about to move.

Zhang Wuxun suddenly opened his eyes, picked up the M16 that was placed beside his legs, and lay prone behind the backpack that he was using as cover on the right side of the cave entrance. He supported himself with his elbows staggered back and forth and looked at the bottom of the canyon on the left through the scope.

His sniping range extended from the bottom of the cliff to fifty meters away, to prevent any survivors from sneaking in.

Zhang Haixing lay prone on his left in the same position, aiming at the area on the right side of the canyon. This would effectively avoid blind spots and create crossfire.

Inside the cave, the fat man was snoring soundly, a sound that brought a sense of peace and comfort to those around him.

Wu Xie was preoccupied with something on his mind and was not sleeping soundly. He was awakened by the howling of wolves, grabbed his gun, and came out to find Zhang Wuxun and the other man already on high alert.

"How is it?" he asked softly.

Only Zhang Wuxun and Zhang Haixing's guns were equipped with infrared night vision devices, so Wu Xie could only see them clearly when the signal guns were lit and illuminated the nearby canyon.

Zhang Wuxun kept track of the time in his mind and whispered back, "They've probably reached the first minefield. The wolf pack's vanguard has discovered the trap and is waiting for the wolf king's orders."

The moon wasn't full tonight; it looked as if a large piece of the round jade plate had been shattered. But the cool moonlight still shone through the clouds onto the snow, illuminating the entire canyon with its misty haze.

The clear white snow met the distinct gray-blue shadows, and more than a dozen gray-black shadows were perched on the rocks at the bottom of the valley.

These are the vanguard of the wolf pack, occupying a middle-level position within the pack and responsible for the most dangerous hunting tasks.

There is actually a distinction between vanguard and support roles within the vanguard. Vanguards are slightly higher level than support roles, face danger directly, and are the primary force in the hunt.

They are strong and fast, and are responsible for initially startling and driving away the prey, pushing it into the range of their rear guard to surround and kill it, thus assisting in the hunt.

The support team includes substitutes for the frontline wolves and nannies for the wolf cubs. If a wolf in the frontline is injured or dies, a member will immediately take its place. The nannies are the middle-level female wolves who are responsible for protecting the cubs in the pack.

Wolf packs have a very strict and cruel hierarchy, with the highest position held by the male and female leaders of the pack.

They are the embodiment of the wolf pack's spiritual wisdom and strongest fighting force, as well as its protectors and decision-makers. They dominate the pack's mating and food distribution, and are the pack's greatest asset for survival.

The second-highest rank is occupied by the co-leaders of the wolf pack, also consisting of a male and a female.

They are the wolf king's most loyal subordinates, responsible for conveying the wolf king's orders to the members of the pack, much like the chief eunuchs and palace maids around an emperor.

However, they are the kind of close and powerful bodyguards who can sometimes bypass the wolf king and directly punish members who make mistakes.

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