Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Chapter 195 Mountain Ridge Wolf Shadow

At night, Zhou Xin had just fallen asleep when he suddenly heard a wolf howling.

He suddenly snapped back to reality.

The sound was very far away, and it must have come from several different wolves.

Immediately afterwards, a loud wolf howl rang out nearby, as if echoing the howl from afar.

Zhou Xin recognized the wolf howl; it was Logan's.

He crawled out of his sleeping bag, put on his coat, and emerged from the tent.

Wyatt and Walsh also emerged from the tent one after the other.

There were also rustling sounds coming from Sofia and Windsor's tents, as if they were about to come out, but Bell, who was on night watch, stopped them.

"Don't all come out; we need someone to get enough sleep."

As he spoke, he looked solemnly at the distant mountain ridge.

The group followed his gaze and their hearts sank.

Under the aurora's glow, several dark dots were moving rapidly on the distant mountain ridge.

The wolf howls we just heard came from there.

Everyone instantly realized that it was the silhouette of a wolf.

The wolf shadows lingered back and forth on the ridge, not approaching this side. They moved along and stopped intermittently, as if observing something.

After a while, the wolf's shadow finally disappeared on the ridge, seemingly heading to the other side of the mountain.

"That's the direction we need to go, isn't it?" Wyatt frowned, his gaze still fixed on the spot where the wolf's shadow had disappeared.

"Yes," Bell said, still gazing in that direction. "That should be the alpha wolf on the scouting side; they've spotted us by the firelight."

"It seems we might encounter them soon." Walsh looked a little nervous; he had even taken out his gun when he crawled out of the tent.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Bell said, regaining his composure as he sat back down by the fire. "In any case, we need to be extra careful from now on."

The group crawled back into the tent, but none of them could fall asleep again.

The next morning, Zhou Xin came out of the tent and found that everyone looked unwell.

They packed their belongings, roasted the leftover rabbit and grouse from the previous night and ate a little before heading towards the forest beside the valley.

Throughout the journey, everyone wore solemn expressions, and the atmosphere became somewhat oppressive.

"We've entered the wolf pack's territory, everyone stay close to the group!" Bell reminded the group from the front.

If they encounter a wolf pack head-on, sticking together to defend themselves is undoubtedly their only chance.

Zhou Xin walked at the back of the group, constantly keeping an eye on what was happening behind him.

Fortunately, Logan and the Hound were there to help them with their reconnaissance work.

After walking for about an hour, Bell suddenly stopped.

He squatted down with a serious expression, observing the snow-covered ground in front of him.

"What's wrong?" The others all gathered around.

Upon seeing the scene that Bell was focusing on, everyone fell silent.

There were many messy, plum blossom-shaped footprints on the snow.

Although Logan and his hounds had run ahead of the group, everyone was certain that the footprints in front of them did not belong to Logan and his hounds.

The footprints were quite fresh, probably left just a few hours ago.

The footprints went to the right of their direction of travel.

"Let's go, be careful," Bell said before continuing to walk forward.

No further abnormalities were found in the following period.

However, in order to avoid attracting wolves with their scent and sounds, they no longer dared to hunt with guns or cook food over a fire.

After a simple lunch of grain, they continued their journey.

As they moved forward, they discovered more and more wolf tracks in the snow.

As the altitude increases, the trees gradually thin out until they disappear.

Fortunately, the weather has been pretty good these past two days, with no strong winds or snow.

At 3 p.m., they finally reached the top of the mountain.

The group gazed into the distance, where everything was shrouded in mist, with distant forests and mountains appearing and disappearing in the mist.

Looking at the snow-covered mountain slopes sloping down in front of them, experienced hunters would sit on their long backpacks, lie prone on the backpacks, and ski down from the top of the mountain.

That's a great idea!

Zhou Xin sighed as he followed suit and slid down the mountain.

The descent speed gradually increased, the wind whistled in my ears, and it felt as if I were on a speeding train.

Using this method, they quickly reached the mountainside.

The surrounding vegetation increased, but at the same time they also discovered more and more traces of wolves.

The footprints in the snow, the scattered clumps of wolf droppings, and the fur of grouse and hare all told them that they had ventured deep into the wolf pack's territory.

Just then, the hunting dog suddenly started barking loudly and ran off in one direction.

But they only ran a few steps before stopping and looking back at Logan.

Logan stood still, seemingly unaware of anything unusual.

Zhou Xin immediately understood that the hunting dogs must have smelled something unusual, and since wolves' sense of smell is far inferior to that of dogs, they did not smell the food that the hunting dogs had smelled.

"Danger ahead!" Bell had raised these dogs for many years and therefore understood what their unusual behavior meant.

The hunting dogs barked a few more times, then took the lead and ran forward, barking as they went.

"Let's follow!" The hounds were heading in the direction of Hibernation Valley, and even though there was danger, they had to go.

The group followed the hunting dogs for several hundred meters or so when suddenly the dogs stopped and began barking loudly at the front.

As everyone stepped forward, their expressions changed drastically.

On the snow lay the carcass of a moose.

The corpse had been gnawed away to almost nothing but skeleton, with bones and fur scattered everywhere.

The crimson blood stained the surrounding snow red.

Clearly, this was a feeding scene of a wolf pack, and judging from the traces, it must have happened within one or two days.

Looking at the scene before them, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

Before anyone could react, the hunting dogs suddenly started barking again.

Zhou Xin looked up, his pupils contracted instantly, and the hairs on his skin stood on end.

At the foot of the distant mountain, three wolves stood there, looking in their direction.

Although they were far away and could only vaguely see the wolves, everyone clearly had the feeling that three wolves were staring intently at them.

The hunting dogs barked frantically, seemingly warning the three wolves.

The three wolves indeed showed no intention of attacking. They stared intently at the group for a while before turning and disappearing into the woods.

"These might be the wolf shadows on the ridge last night. It seems they were indeed scouting." Bell frowned, staring at the spot where the three wolves had disappeared.

Surprisingly, these wolves seemed to know where they were going and kept moving along their path.

Perhaps they have been completely targeted by the wolf pack, but the main force of the wolf pack is still hiding, and they have only sent out scouts to find out their details.

It seems these wolves are indeed very clever and cunning; perhaps they are preparing a deadly attack.

A battle between humans and beasts seems to be brewing wildly.