Chapter 26
“Move!”
“Anyone in the village who can still move, get the arrows to the front lines!”
The village chief mobilized the elderly, the weak, and the women and children, working together with Blacksmith Sun to transport arrows to the frontline.
Bundles of arrows were quickly piled up beneath the earthen wall.
There were not many arrows.
Blacksmith Sun led a group of people to assemble arrows on the spot.
The batch of crude arrowheads and Hundredfold Steel arrowheads that had been stockpiled earlier finally came in handy.
The financial crisis of the blacksmith shop was indeed resolved in winter.
But…
Everyone knew clearly that if the wolf pack could not be driven back, the dozens of villagers would likely not survive the night. “You two pieces of trash, why are you still hiding? Get out here and help!”
Blacksmith Sun personally dragged Bai Yuhui and Hong Kaibao out of a wooden house.
Both of them were covered in soot and dust, their faces filled with fear and guilt.
Su Wangchuan naturally noticed them.
They had not logged off?
Or… were they unable to log off?
But the situation was far too tense to give him time to think. Outside the village, the wild wolves suddenly began to stir.
With a piercing wolf howl—
All the wolves launched a simultaneous assault on the earthen wall of Blackstone Village.
“They’re coming!”
“Fire arrows!”
The dozen archers who had been holding their strength saw the wolf pack charge forward without hesitation and loosed their arrows at once.
This time, more than ten wolves were hit head-on.
The wolves’ fur was thick, but it could not withstand the brutal penetration of iron arrowheads.
They did not have the thick hides and layers of fat that wild boars possessed. The arrows were vicious and lethal.
More than ten wolves screamed as they were struck, collapsing on the spot and losing all ability to charge or climb the wall.
Su Wangchuan also hit his target for the first time.
An arrow pierced the wolf’s chest. Blood spread across its torso as it collapsed stiffly to the ground.
But this was clearly not the time to admire his “first kill.” Like the other hunters, Su Wangchuan immediately grabbed a second arrow, nocked it, aimed, and fired.
THUD!!
Two wolves managed to scramble up the earthen wall, clawing at the rough surface. One was immediately thrust down by a spear, while the other had its eye pierced clean through by Zhao Heiniu’s arrow.
Blood burst from the wolf’s eye socket, the scene shockingly vivid.
So accurate!
So fast.
Su Wangchuan had only just released his second arrow, and the captain had already completed a triple kill.
With Zhao Heiniu holding this position, the four archers quickly took down more than ten wolves.
The surrounding wolves retreated one after another, fleeing in other directions to avoid this deadly area.
The other three directions were in danger.
“Captain!”
“We can’t hold this side!”
“Come help us!”
All three directions sent urgent calls at the same time.
Zhao Heiniu’s face darkened. He rapidly emptied his quiver, then said, “Su Wangchuan, you stay here with the spearmen. Do not let the wolves get in. The rest of you, follow me.”
Zhao Heiniu took three hunters with him and rushed off to provide support.
This side was left with only Su Wangchuan and three spearmen—outnumbered and isolated.
Su Wangchuan sucked in a cold breath, feeling a trace of tension.
But he was the type who became calmer at critical moments. He kept muttering to himself:
“Ten steps.”
“Kill them within ten steps.”
“The wolves won’t get in.”
“Don’t be afraid.”
This was what Zhao Heiniu had taught before, and Su Wangchuan remembered it clearly.
While steadying himself, Su Wangchuan prepared his quiver.
The wolves hiding beneath the earthen wall noticed that several people had left the top of the wall. Seeing the threat reduced, they hesitated, howled to call their companions, and began closing in again.
Su Wangchuan held his breath, his gaze calm as he watched seven or eight wolves approach together. He silently drew his bow and nocked an arrow…
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a wolf creeping quietly toward the wall. He did not shoot.
The three wolves at the front suddenly accelerated and charged the wall.
The spearmen grew tense and rushed over to block them.
The wolves behind immediately sped up as well.
Su Wangchuan moved!
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Two clean, decisive rapid shots!
One wolf at the rear was hit head-on and dropped dead instantly.
The next wolf was struck through the waist. A large amount of blood dyed the snow red.
The three wolves clawing at the wall were driven back by the spearmen, circling restlessly beneath it.
Su Wangchuan ignored them.
They could not get in anyway.
Seeing that the wolves beneath the wall were safe for the moment, more wolves continued to howl and charge over.
Su Wangchuan smoothly killed two more wolves. He felt his movements growing even smoother, his aim increasingly confident…
WHOOSH!
A wolf sprinting toward the wall suddenly had an arrow embedded in its thigh.
Su Wangchuan’s expression did not change as he drew his bow again.
Several wolves attempted to flank from the left.
WHOOSH!
There was no need to deliberately aim. Once the arrow was released, it hit its target.
Su Wangchuan fired three arrows in succession, dropping three wolves.
A wolf nearby seized an opening, lunging forward and clinging to the wall beneath Su Wangchuan’s feet. Its mouth opened wide, its foul tongue nearly licking his straw shoes. The hot breath raised goosebumps across his body.
Su Wangchuan remained unhurried. An arrow pierced straight through the wolf’s eye.
It let out a whimper and collapsed to the ground as if all strength had drained from its body.
“Beautiful.”
A militiaman nearby could not help but praise him.
In just this short span of time, Su Wangchuan had consecutively hit seven wolves.
Accuracy was one thing, but maintaining such calm composure and steady rhythm under these conditions was something many militiamen and hunters found extremely difficult.
WHOOSH.
WHOOSH WHOOSH!
Su Wangchuan could no longer stop.
Within ten steps, whenever an opportunity appeared, he drew and fired, never missing.
Three wolves were killed outright.
The remaining wounded wolves, though not immediately dead, lost massive amounts of blood in the snow and succumbed quickly to severe hypothermia.
Zhao Heiniu’s support on the other side was swift, and the danger in the other two directions was soon stabilized.
Under the rapid barrage of arrows, wolves fell one after another onto the snow.
But there were still many wolves left.
“Arrows!”
“I need arrows!”
At this moment, two hunters had already emptied several quivers.
“Use them sparingly.”
Zhao Heiniu shot them a fierce glare.
The ones being scolded were two hunters with mediocre accuracy.
Su Wangchuan had also emptied two quivers.
Beneath the earthen wall, more than forty wolves lay scattered on the ground.
These wolves were cunning. Seeing that there was only one archer here, they believed this side would be easier to break through.
They had not expected Su Wangchuan to be not only calm, but also ruthlessly precise with his archery.
With orderly control of his shots, he did not give a single wolf a chance to enter the village.
Zhao Heiniu had actually been keeping an eye on this side, ready to rush back and support Su Wangchuan at any moment.
Instead, he found that Su Wangchuan was moving and shooting with the ease of a veteran hunter, suppressing an entire direction by himself.
“This guy…”
“A born hunter.”
“What a pity he’s already Old Sun’s apprentice.”
Zhao Heiniu was filled with regret.
As time passed, more and more wolves outside the village were wounded, their mournful howls rising and falling.
The remaining wolves finally lost their will to fight. They no longer dared approach the earthen wall and gradually retreated into the darkness.
Several wolves even tried to drag away their injured companions.
Zhao Heiniu’s voice rang out again:
“The wolves are no longer a threat. Everyone, do your best to finish off the rest of them, so these beasts don’t come back!”
“Alright!!”
The entire village was filled with soaring morale.