Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Lei was secretly taken aback.

The muddy ground beside the puddle was covered with countless animal hoof prints, some as thick as a bowl, others as small as a fist.

Zhao Lei roughly estimated that these hoof prints alone corresponded to at least thirty or forty animals.

No wonder Huang Hongbo attaches so much importance to it.

Such a large herd of animals would be a piece of fat meat in any production brigade.

These days, every household is short of oil and fat. A wild boar weighing over 100 pounds can be brought to town and sold out in less than half a day.

I don't know when, but Huang Hongbo also climbed up.

He leaned down next to Zhao Lei and whispered, "How was it, bro? I wasn't bragging, was I?"

Zhao Lei nodded, his eyes still fixed on the thatch that had been bent over by the puddle: "There is indeed some."

Huang Hongbo pointed downwards: "Look at the edge of the puddle, a large patch of thatch has fallen over, all from when they slept at night. These beasts should still be nearby. When I came to scout the area the day before yesterday, I saw several large ones drinking water by the water."

Zhao Lei watched for a while longer, already planning his tactics.

The herd was large, with gentle slopes on three sides and an open area in front.

If they rushed down rashly and startled the prey, dozens of animals would scatter and flee, and the eleven of them would be no match for them.

Don't let the seemingly clumsy appearance of pigs, sheep, and roe deer fool you. When it comes to escaping for their lives, they can disappear into the forest and outrun four legs.

We need to block off all escape routes first.

Zhao Lei and Huang Hongbo slid down the rocks, landing in front of the crowd on a pile of pebbles.

Huang Hongbo gathered everyone together, and they all squatted in the shady spot behind the rocks, waiting for Zhao Lei to speak.

Zhao Lei squatted in the middle and drew a simple diagram on the ground with his hand: "Brother Huang, you take three people to guard the left slope. Brother Dashan, you take two people to guard the right. The rest of you, follow me and advance from the front."

"Press it down head-on?"

Chubby Deng Shaohua's eyes widened. "Brother Zhao Lei, won't we scare the prey if we just rush in like this?"

"Don't worry."

Zhao Lei drew two more lines on the sketch on the ground. "Shooting will eventually scare the prey away. We should treat the front as the bottom of the pocket and push straight in. That's the best way to attack. But remember to surround them slowly, make sure to gather most of the prey in one place, and only fire when they are within range."

Huang Hongbo, listening from the side, nodded repeatedly: "Okay, I'll do as you say. We'll fight however you want."

Just then, Qin Bowen, who had been crouching behind the pile of stones on the side, suddenly crouched down and ran over.

The kid's expression was off; his lips were pursed tightly, and he even glanced back as he ran over.

"Brother-in-law, something's not right."

Zhao Lei frowned: "What's wrong?"

Qin Bowen swallowed hard and pointed to the rocky slope on the east side of the ravine: "I went over there to pee just now and saw something moving on the slope."

Zhao Lei's heart sank: "What is it?"

"It looks to me...like a wolf."

Wolf?

Zhao Lei's heart skipped a beat.

Since his rebirth, he has gone hunting in the mountains at least dozens of times, traversing the entire forest of Qingfeng Mountain, yet he has never seen a trace of a wolf.

But Yellowstone is different. Yellowstone is connected to a larger mountain range, and if you go deep into the mountains for dozens of miles, you will find endless primeval forests. It is not surprising that there are wolf packs in the deep mountains.

Without saying a word, Zhao Lei quickly climbed back onto the rock, gun in hand, and looked in the direction Qin Bowen had pointed.

Sure enough, several grayish-brown shadows were moving on the rocky slope, walking close to the ground.

It blends almost seamlessly with the color of the stone, making it virtually undetectable unless you look closely.

Zhao Lei squinted and looked at it carefully for a few seconds, then his heart sank.

There were seven or eight of them scattered on the rocky slope, slowly moving towards the valley.

They walked slowly, with their bodies hunched over, tails drooping, and heads bowed low.

Zhao Lei recognized it at a glance; it was a typical hunting formation.

These wolves were encircling us in an organized manner...

Zhao Lei then turned to look at the south side of the ravine. He could vaguely see grayish-brown shadows moving in the bushes. There were fewer shadows than on the east side, but there were definitely no fewer than four or five.

It's on three sides: front, back, left, and right.

Zhao Lei broke out in a cold sweat instantly, and the hairs on his back stood on end.

He realized that the pack of wolves had been there all along, arriving even before them.

Zhao Lei slid off the rock, called Huang Hongbo, Qin Dashan, and Qin Changlin to his side, his face calm:

"There are seven or eight wolves to the east, and quite a few more in other directions. I reckon we've been surrounded and hunted by a pack of wolves."

Huang Hongbo's face turned pale instantly, and his lips trembled: "What? A wolf?"

Qin Dashan's brows furrowed into a knot, and the muscles on his face were taut.

Zhao Lei took a deep breath and turned to look at the quiet puddle in the ravine: "The prey in the ravine didn't gather there on its own. They were driven here from the deep mountains by this pack of wolves."

Huang Hongbo gasped sharply: "You mean... these beasts drove their prey into this ravine, planning to hunt them here?"

Zhao Lei nodded: "That's right! This ravine is sloping on three sides and low in the middle. As long as the exit is blocked, the prey inside will be trapped like turtles in a jar."

Qin Changlin's expression also turned grim: "No wonder! I've never encountered such a situation in my decades of hunting. It seems we've fallen into a wolf's den!"

Zhao Lei quickly reviewed the situation in his mind.

They are hunters, and so are wolf packs!

We're basically fighting wolves for food right now!

The threat of the wolf pack must be dealt with first...

Otherwise, if you shoot at your prey, the wolves might pounce from behind, leaving you vulnerable from both sides, which would be dangerous.

Seeing that Zhao Lei hadn't spoken for a long time, Huang Hongbo became a little anxious, and his forehead was covered in sweat.

"Brother Zhao Lei, how about we retreat? The wolves are not to be trifled with; it's not worth risking our lives. Let's find another opportunity another day; it doesn't have to be today."

Zhao Lei shook his head: "We can't retreat now. We've entered the wolf pack's hunting grounds and they've already marked us as prey. And if dozens of animals in the ravine are startled and rush out, we won't be able to outrun them. Being attacked from both sides is even more dangerous than it is now!"

Qin Dashan also chimed in, asking, "Lei Zi, what do you suggest? We'll do it!"

Although Huang Hongbo was also a hunter, he had never encountered a situation like this before.

The seven-person team he led all seemed very nervous!

In this critical moment, when they had no other ideas, they could only rely on Zhao Lei as their pillar of support.

Huang Hongbo's hunting team also expressed their willingness to listen to Zhao Lei.

"Brother Zhao Lei, we'll follow your orders!"

"Brother Lei, you should give me some advice!"

"Yes, Brother Lei, wolves are incredibly ferocious. People from our production brigade were hunted down by wolves before, their bodies never recovered!"