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

Chapter 475 Snowflakes Falling Everywhere
Although wolves are fearless animals, there are always exceptions.

A large forest has all kinds of birds; it's quite common for a wolf pack to produce a few timid and cowardly members.

Because these wolves are afraid of danger and dare not hunt, they are assigned by the wolf king to be sentinels of the wolf pack, responsible for guarding the territory. They do not participate in combat, so they have a very low status and receive the least amount of food.

Wolf cubs are the most important protected group in the wolf pack. So when the pack goes out hunting, the older mother wolves and nannies who have experience in caring for young cubs stay in the den and wait for the wolf king and his pack to return from the hunt.

Old male wolves usually don't fare well; because they fought on the battlefield when they were young, most of them have many hidden injuries.

Such crippled wolves, as well as underdeveloped and useless wolves, are often used as bait. When food is scarce during the harsh winter, they serve as a reserve of food.

To avoid their tragic fate, many wolves choose to leave the pack and die alone or starve outside the pack, becoming dinner for vultures.

The wolf king's wife is the highest-ranking female wolf in the entire pack, and also the most capable. When the pack is divided into groups for coordinated operations, the queen wolf also has the right to lead the pack.

Right now, crouching behind the canyon is the wolf queen's team.

The wolf king's vanguard smelled a mixture of scents beneath the snow in the canyon ahead. In addition to the scent of their prey that they had been chasing for a long time, there were other unfamiliar and pungent smells mixed with the aroma of frozen meat.

They vaguely sensed that the smell was similar to the stench of the terrible weapons that humans had once used to hunt down members of their pack, but it seemed somewhat different. They could only determine that it was a sign of danger, so one of the vanguards turned back to report to the wolf king.

Before long, a large, robust wolf with gray fur appeared in the snow and slowly walked toward the position of the vanguard.

This wolf was twice the size of the other wolves following behind it, with a long and strong body, strong and powerful muscle lines, and fluorescent green eyes that emitted a cold, eerie light in the night, with a ferocious aura in its eyes that was terrifying.

This is a true king!
The wolf king placed his large, sharp claws on the highest rock at the bottom of the valley, and the other wolves lay down around the rock to show their submission to their leader who was on high.

The wolf king also smelled the explosives, a long-lost, familiar scent of hatred.

Before its tribe grew to its current size, every year some of its comrades who charged alongside it were killed by humans using these weapons that reeked of gunpowder.

As it grew stronger and led its pack to gradually devour most of the wolf packs in this snowfield, humans, fearing the size of the wolf pack, would voluntarily avoid this area when hunting, and from then on, the situation of its members being hunted completely disappeared.

After many years, it smelled that scent again.

The wolf king's mane burst open like a dandelion's umbrella, and it stuck out its long, blood-red tongue, gently licking a patch of snow and rolling a few snowflakes into its mouth.

As if it could already smell the sweet, metallic scent flowing through its veins, every hair on the wolf king's body trembled with excitement, its eyes flashed with a scarlet killing intent, its sharp fangs bared, and its wolf head was held high.

The fur on the backs of the other wolves also bristled. Sensing the wolf king's intense fighting spirit, they stood up and stood in front of the first lightning line.

Inside the cliffside cave, Zhang Wuxun's mental pointer ticked by, and finally, as if sensing the surging killing intent from afar, his eyes sharpened, and he turned back to whisper to Wu Xie and the others to prepare.

"They're coming!"

The fat man took a deep breath, his eyes flashing with ferocity. "Perfect timing! Let these beasts experience the divine power of my Thunderbolt Cannon!"

Zhang Wuxun, however, was not optimistic. "The number of wolves is likely to be larger than we imagined, and there is a very intelligent alpha wolf that will guide them around the minefield."

"What? It can't be blown up?" the fat man asked, puzzled. "That can't be right. We've set up such a large area. Even with a mine-clearing device, we might not be able to clear it all."

Zhang Wuxun closed his eyes and fully opened his senses. He could clearly "see" countless reddish-brown figures lurking at both ends of the dark canyon.

A long, even wolf howl reached everyone's ears; it was the signal for the wolf pack to charge!
Immediately afterwards, the reddish-brown figure, led by an exceptionally large one, stepped into the minefield step by step. The other side was progressing a little slower, clearly the wolf queen was more cautious and hesitant.

Zhang Wuxun clearly remembered the location where he and Fatty had planted the hidden mines, but the group of figures advanced five or six meters without triggering a single flare.

Sure enough, his premonition came true.

"Get ready, the wolves have entered the valley," he whispered to the others.

The previously relaxed atmosphere suddenly became tense.

"Damn it." The fat man had no doubt about Zhang Wuxun's words and cursed under his breath, "Are these bastards some kind of monster, like pheasant necks?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a sharp whistle pierced the sky from within the canyon, followed by an explosion.

In an instant, one of the brownish-red figures seemed to be pulled by invisible threads, its body torn to pieces, and the blood foam that splashed into the air froze into blood ice and fell down.

"It's done!" Zhang Wuxun exclaimed joyfully.

Once a mine is triggered, all the remaining sentry bullets will be affected by the aftershocks of the explosion, and none of the wolves in that entire area will escape.

One explosion after another echoed throughout the canyon, and snow waves surged dozens of meters high.

Startled by the deafening thunder, the wolf pack scattered in all directions, leaving behind a trail of torn and flying flesh, howls of agony, and corpses strewn across the land.

Of course, there were exceptions. Just a second before one of the forwards' claws accidentally touched the hidden mine, the wolf king seemed to sense something, quickly pushed off the ground and leaped high into the air. With the sound of a whistle, the wolf king's strong and agile body twisted in mid-air, pounced on the mountain wall to use the momentum to leap forward, jumping seven or eight meters as if divinely aided.

The moment it landed, the wolf king realized something was wrong with the grip of its forepaws. It immediately rolled on the spot, and with a loud bang, snow dust rose up and spread outwards like a tornado. The wolf king's gray figure was buried in the snow kicked up by the explosion.

The wolf queen on the other side was cautious from the beginning. After hearing that something had happened to the other wolf king, she immediately used a howl to order her subordinates to retreat.

Even so, the wolves, startled by the thunderous roar, still triggered the hidden lightning in the snow due to their weak legs.

The deafening roar of the explosion echoed through the sky, engulfing the entire canyon in a scorching wave of heat.

The moment the incendiary bomb exploded, half the sky was turned red.

Fatty, holding binoculars, squeezed between Zhang Wuxun and Fatty, constantly peering at the explosion site, laughing loudly, "Mushroom clouds! Tianzhen, look! Several huge mushroom clouds are exploding over there. They still want to eat Fatty's flesh? Haha, those bastards are finally going to be dead this time."

Zhang Wuxun nodded, feeling much more relaxed. "It's probably about right. It's even more powerful than I imagined. Even if some manage to slip through, they won't be able to avoid the second minefield." Living beings made of flesh and blood are ultimately no match for brute force firearms.

However, the surrounding heat was too mixed, and Zhang Wuxun could not be sure whether the wolf king had been killed by the explosion, so he remained vigilant.

The sound waves from the explosion lasted for more than forty minutes before gradually subsiding, and in the distant canyon, the flames from the burning wolf carcasses could still be seen.

Zhang Haixing searched the area through the scope for a while, but seeing no survivors running in, she put away her gun and got up to stretch her stiff limbs.

Seeing Zhang Wuxun still lying in the same spot, he asked in confusion, "Aren't you all dead? Why aren't you getting up?"

"You guys go and rest first, I'll keep watch for a while longer," Zhang Wuxun said.

Seeing this, Zhang Haixing didn't say anything more. She turned around and crawled into the cave, took out her sleeping bag from her backpack, heated it over the fire, and then found a spot by the fire to wrap herself up and fall asleep quickly.

The fat man chased Feng, who had been terrified for a long time and was almost scared to death, back into the cave. He also urged Wu Xiaoxie to go to sleep quickly, as it was already past three in the morning and it would be dawn soon if they didn't get some rest.

"Alright." Wu Xie nodded. "Call me if you need anything."

After they all went to rest, Fatty pulled two bottles of strong liquor from the ashes, walked over to Zhang Wuxun, sat down against the wall, stuffed one bottle into his arms, and whispered, "The ground is so cold, have a sip of strong liquor to warm up."

The stainless steel bottle felt warm even through his clothes. Zhang Wuxun turned slightly to the side, propped himself up on one elbow, unscrewed the cap, poured a little into the bottle, and then brought it to his lips to take a small sip. The scorching bitterness immediately startled his taste buds, making his eyes feel hot.

He quickly swallowed it in one gulp, the hot wine burning his way from his chest into his stomach, the rich aroma of the wine gradually lingering in his mouth.

The fat man chuckled softly, "You burned yourself in your haste, didn't you? Let it cool down a bit before you drink it."

Zhang Wuxun turned his head and smiled helplessly. He poured a little more into the bottle cap, blew on it before drinking it, and drank three small caps in a row. He felt his entire chest and internal organs warm up.

Zhang Wuxun twisted the bottle cap, put the bottle in his arms to keep it warm, then leaned back into his previous position and whispered to Fatty, "Why aren't you going to sleep?"

"I've had a good sleep, so I'll stay with you for a while," the fat man said.

Zhang Wuxun's lips curled up slightly. He said, "Then go and get Zhang Haixing's gun, and keep an eye on it too."

The fat man had been thinking about this for a while, so he immediately went to get the M16, touched it with great affection, and exclaimed, "Good heavens, really good heavens, I haven't touched such a solid weapon in a long time."

"If you don't mind the weight, you can carry it from now on," Zhang Wuxun said.

When preparing to go into the mountains, the gunpowder was provided by the Zhang family, and all the detonators were made by their own people. Zhang Wuxun provided the five of them with guns and ammunition. No one knew when he put two boxes full of bullets into the room.

"Thanks, buddy." The fat guy patted Zhang Wuxun on the shoulder and lay down to snipe at the canyon on the other side.

The two chatted casually, and time passed by, without any further sound of any hidden mines being triggered.

The wolf queen led the surviving remnants of her army to escape the danger zone. The wolf king's side suffered heavy casualties and almost lost all fighting power. Those who were still barely clinging to life were terrified and dared not approach the canyon again.

The smoke cleared, and everything seemed to have calmed down.

Zhang Wuxun finally withdrew his sense of danger from the minefield, but just in case, he still scanned the area around the crater cliff.

With that one glance, his movement to get up suddenly froze. The fat man, who had thought he was going to rest, stopped abruptly and asked, "What's wrong? Are your legs numb from lying down for too long?"

Zhang Wuxun suddenly gestured for him to be quiet.

"?!" The fat man was confused.

But then Zhang Wuxun stood up, silently leaned against the wall, and with the muzzle of his gun protruding from the top edge of the hole, he pulled the trigger with lightning speed.

After a gunshot, there was a thud as something heavy fell to the ground. Zhang Wuxun quickly turned his head to look down, but only saw a white blur flash by before silence returned.

The fat man was startled and quickly peered up. "What's wrong? Is something touching us from up there?"

Zhang Wuxun also turned his head to look at the cliff above and saw a blurry spray of blood where the bullet that flew from his gun had landed. The snow at the bottom of the valley below had been smashed into a deep pit by something that had fallen, and there was also a lot of blood in the pit.

What did you just hit?

Zhang Haixing and the others were alerted by the gunshots and came to check the situation.

"I don't know what it is, but it's quite big," Zhang Wuxun said uncertainly.

"Was it a wolf?" Wu Xie turned on his fog lights and shone them down, but he didn't see any fresh animal carcasses. He was startled. "You missed? That's impossible. Your marksmanship is so good."

With Muyu's marksmanship, a single shot at this distance would be fatal in no time.

“What came down from up there wasn’t a wolf. Wolves don’t have the ability to climb vertical cliffs,” Zhang Wuxun said with certainty.

"Moreover, that thing was extremely fast. It had already made a dodging motion the instant I fired the shot. I only saw a completely white shadow."

"However, the bullet must have grazed the thing, causing it to bleed, but it wasn't fatal, so it immediately hid after falling down."

If it wasn't a wolf, then what could it be? Could it be some other animal that's eyeing them?
After pondering for a moment, Feng speculated, "It's all white and can climb such steep and dangerous mountain walls. Could it be a snow leopard?"

"Snow leopards are faster than ordinary leopards and can run and leap directly between cliffs."

"Moreover, the body structure of felines allows them to adjust their posture to cushion the impact before landing, so it's normal for them not to die from falling from such a height."

There might be the snow leopard's den in this canyon. The explosion was so intense earlier that the snow leopard, being naturally timid, would easily be frightened and hide.

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(End of this chapter)