After hearing Director Hugo's words, Gao Liang lowered his head, still deep in thought. Suddenly, the entire wolf pack outside let out a long howl simultaneously. Then, Hao Wenming shouted loudly from the outer room, "Get the guns! The wolf pack is charging!" Our rifles were inside a room (which was currently empty), and there was no time to go fetch them. I ran a few steps to the gun rack by the nearby outpost, grabbed two assault rifles, and ran to the door, tossing one to Hao Wenming.
Through the glass window of the door, I saw the wolves that had been lying on the snowy ground all stand up. The huge white wolf, which looked like a bear in the photos, had moved to the rear of the pack. The entire wolf group had already changed formation. The pack was divided into several blocks. The first several dozen gray wolves were sprinting rapidly toward our outpost, and in the blink of an eye, they were about fifty meters away.
We couldn't let the wolves get any closer. I opened the door halfway, leaned out, and fired several bursts at the lead wolves. As the gunshots rang out, a few wolves dropped immediately. However, the remaining wolves seemed well trained—upon hearing the gunfire, they scattered. Nearly half of them disappeared from my line of sight. Hao Wenming copied my stance, crouching by the door and firing half a magazine at the wolves. His marksmanship was average, and when he stopped shooting, only one wolf had been hit.
I was shocked by the wolves' reaction—what was going on? Wolves normally turn and run when they hear gunfire, right? Distracted by this thought, my aim slowed. After several more shots, I took down three or four more wolves, but a few had already bypassed my blind spots and charged to the door.
I hurriedly retreated inside and shouted to Hao Wenming, "Close the door!" Hao Wenming stood, leaning on the doorway. He quickly pulled the door shut and locked the bolt. Just as the door closed, we heard claws scratching on the door.
At this moment, Sun Fatty and Po Jun arrived at the door carrying the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation's gun box. Gao Liang and several directors, along with Huang Ran and the others (Meng Qiqi had regained some consciousness), plus Yang Jun, all gathered at the door. I tossed aside the military assault rifle and picked up the Bureau's specially made rifle.
"Shen La, what's the situation outside?" Gao Fatty asked behind me. I looked at him and said, "These wolves are off. They're reckless and dangerous, but they also know how to scatter and attack. Their main force hasn't moved yet; it seems like they're just testing us." Hearing my words, Director Gao cast a cold glance at Huang Ran, but this time said nothing to him.
"Leaders, what do we do now?" Ruan Liang asked. He had picked up an assault rifle and stood behind us. He had noticed our unease long ago, but earlier orders were to fully cooperate in capturing three drug traffickers. Now the traffickers were caught, but wolves were everywhere outside, and Ruan Liang was clearly no longer reliable and began asking for instructions.
"It's nothing, just a few wolves," Sun Fatty said. "Relax, we still have a trump card. Not to brag, but soon I'll get the whole company outfitted with wolf-skin coats." While speaking, Sun Fatty's eyes glanced at Yang Jun—more specifically, at the black cat on Yang Jun's shoulder.
However, the black cat seemed off. Its tail was tucked, and rather than simply sitting on Yang Jun's shoulder, it was practically lying on him. It had lost its usual laziness, trembling violently with every howl from the wolf pack outside. Sun Fatty was momentarily stunned but quickly realized that cats naturally fear wolves, and the wolf pack seemed to possess some special power that terrified the black cat.
Counting on the black cat to suddenly yell "Nyeh!" like before was clearly hopeless. Not only the black cat, but even the Bureau's financial rat in Sun Fatty's coat pocket was unsettled. The huge rat trembled incessantly inside the pocket, and that wasn't all—it seemed so scared it lost control of its bowels. When Sun Fatty smelled a foul stench, a yellowish stain had already soaked through the bottom of his coat pocket.
Sun Fatty clenched his stomach against the nausea as he pulled the Wealth Rat out of his jacket pocket and wiped it clean. The big rat's head was tucked under its belly, curled into a ball. No matter how Fatty stroked and comforted it, the Wealth Rat trembled nervously, unwilling to stretch out. Gao Liang's expression was strange. He first glanced at the terrified Wealth Rat and the black cat, then shifted his gaze to Huang Ran.
"You're not going to say anything?" Director Gao looked at Huang Ran slowly.
Huang Ran didn't avoid Gao Liang's gaze. They exchanged a look, and Huang Ran said, "There is a newly demonized wolf among the pack, but I've been observing it for quite some time. There's no sign of any abnormality. It couldn't have been the source of that effect just now."
No sooner had he spoken than Lin Feng snorted coldly. "And now? You still dare say there's nothing wrong with these wolves? If I hadn't reacted quickly, one of the women among you would have been fed to the ghost wolves."
Hearing Lin Director's words, Huang Ran rolled his eyes at him but said nothing, instead lowering his head silently, staring at the ground.
While Huang Ran spoke, Gao Liang kept squinting at him. Only after Huang Ran finished did Gao's eyes shift away. At this moment, Meng Qiqi had already opened her eyes, but she had no memory of what had just happened. She couldn't recall the shadow of the ghost wolves, nor how she had fainted. Miss Meng insisted she wasn't soul-seized. As Meng Qiqi put it, "No matter how bad I am, if I was soul-seized, I'd know it, right?"
Outside the door, the scratching sounds continued relentlessly, making those inside a little tense. Fortunately, this was a military facility; the doors and windows were all built extremely sturdy. The gate was covered on both sides with thick iron sheets. If not for that, the door would likely have been clawed apart already. Through the window, the main wolf pack was still standing in place, and the white giant wolf showed no intention of advancing.
With these dozens of wolves, we were already overwhelmed. If the entire pack charged, we didn't know how we would hold out.
Taking advantage of the wolves temporarily unable to enter, Gao Liang reorganized our defenses. Luckily, the three rooms and the anteroom at the entrance were interconnected, reducing the difficulty of defense. At the main gate stood Old Qiu and Lin Feng. I, along with Sun Fatty, Ruan Liang, and Po Jun, guarded the two windows of the left room. The right room's windows were watched by Hao Wenming, Ouyang Pianzuo, and Nicholas Hugo. The middle room was guarded personally by Director Gao with Yang Jun, protecting Huang Ran's trio.
As long as we survived this storm and communications were restored, we would contact Xiao Heshang and the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation's main forces to come down the mountain. Then dealing with the wolves would be no problem. Yet suddenly I felt a chill—originally, it was us tasked with eliminating the wolf pack. If we had followed the original plan, just a handful of us inside plus a few local fighters like Ruan Liang going up against the wolves outside would truly be a case of "too many wolves, too little meat."
Time grew late. The already gloomy sky quickly turned pitch black. The blizzard showed no sign of stopping. At some point, the scratching outside stopped, leaving only the howling wind. I looked out the window. The dozens of wolves lay huddled at the gate, pressing against each other for warmth. Even for them, life in this weather was tough.
Though night was deep, the outpost had a small diesel generator, enough to keep basic lighting. Outside was quiet. I pulled out a cigarette, shared some with Sun Fatty, Po Jun, and Ruan Liang, then lit one myself. After a few drags, the numbness from the cold eased a bit.
Inside, the temperature hovered around three or four degrees Celsius. Among us, Hao Wenming was the thinnest and shivering uncontrollably. Without hesitation, Hao Wenming used the last of the firewood to stoke the stove. He reheated the half pot of wild chicken and rabbit stew Sun Fatty had cooked earlier, adding a few ladles of cold water. Before serving, he broke the naan bread Ruan Liang had found in the afternoon into pieces and threw it in.
Thanks to Hao Wenming's efforts, the room warmed slightly. We all unconsciously moved closer to the stove. Gao Liang was the first to come out; without hesitation, he ladled a bowl and began gulping it down, barely pausing to spit out bones.
Hao Wenming said to us, "Eat something warm first to get your strength back. I'm not saying this lightly—the snow should stop by tomorrow morning. We just need to get through tonight."
Before Hao finished speaking, Sun Fatty was already sitting across from Director Gao, politely saying, "I'll start off with a few bites. I'll make up for you later." He poured himself a bowl and took a bite just as an eerie wolf howl sounded outside: "Awooo..."
Previously, the wolf howls had come from the pack together, but this time it was a single howl. I looked outside the window and saw that the howl came from the white giant wolf. At that sound, the distant pack all stood up. The wolves at our gate also rose, their fur bristling as they faced the door, barking loudly.
"The wolves outside are moving!" I shouted to Gao Liang and Sun Fatty.
No sooner had I said that than the white giant wolf howled again. The main pack surged forward while the few wolves at the gate scattered backward. After running about twenty or thirty meters, they split into two groups, charging at us and the right room separately.
Sun Fatty dropped his bowl and sprinted back, grabbing his assault rifle. He stood by my side while Po Jun was behind me, forming a pincer.
Their target was the windows. I saw the lead wolf leap and smashed through a glass pane, jumping in one bound of about one and a half meters high. At that moment, I fired a shot that hit its head. The wolf crashed to the ground midair.
A breach appeared at the window. After killing that wolf, the following wolves kept rushing in. Fortunately, the gap was narrow. As long as we pointed our barrels there, we didn't need to aim precisely. Seeing the wolves jump through, we just pulled the trigger in bursts.
I had seen Sun Fatty's marksmanship back at Water Curtain Cave, but I didn't expect Po Jun's shooting to be just as methodical. He fired controlled bursts, never full auto, and his stance showed experience in field combat—not something learned overnight.
Within a minute, about a dozen wolves lay dead in the snow outside the window. The wolves in front of the door grew hesitant. The frequency of their jumping slowed.
Huang Ran peeked through the door crack and said, "Give us a gun, we can help too."
Gao Liang sneered, "What more do you want? Want me to give you a single bullet?"
He distrusted Huang Ran completely. With hundreds of wolves outside and Huang Ran inside, if he caused trouble, it'd be hard to control. Though Yang Jun was guarding inside, Director Gao still wasn't relaxed.
After hesitating, Gao Liang ordered the three groups, "Hold your positions and be careful. If anything happens, I'll send Yang Jun out to assist."
Then he glanced at us and went back into the inner room to guard Huang Ran's group.
While we were in the thick of it, gunfire erupted from Hao Wenming's side. Like us, the glass at their windows was smashed by wolves. The wild wolves outside were jumping in.
Regarding Bureau matters, these three directors were skilled hands, but none was as proficient with the Type 95 assault rifle as I was. Their bullets sprayed wildly, the muzzle flashes impressive, but few wolves were killed. Bullets weren't made to be wasted like that. I sighed and decided to intervene before they got themselves into trouble.
I told Sun Fatty and Po Jun, "I'll go help over there. You two hold down this side."
Just as I turned, Po Jun grabbed my arm, "I'll go there instead. I can coordinate better with the three of them."
He nodded at me and ran toward Hao Wenming's group, swapping magazines as he ran. Right after Po Jun left, Ruan Liang quickly filled his position.
No sooner had Po Jun left than the main wolf pack reached us. The dozens of wild wolves outside the window suddenly became frenzied again, charging the sill. But the same old routine followed: limited space meant the wolves had to jump one by one, each landing dead on the snow.
Wolf carcasses piled up, almost level with the window sill. Finally, all wolves outside the window were dead. The new wave of wolves didn't attack immediately, giving us a brief breather.
Aren't wolves supposed to be cunning? This didn't look like it at all. Just blindly charging.
Behind them, the main wolf pack of several hundred gray wolves had gathered outside. Sun Fatty, gripping his rifle beside me, observed the wolf pack carefully.
He turned to Ruan Liang and said, "Hey, Ruan, do you have any grenades or anything? Even three or five, I could take care of these bastards."
Ruan Liang gave a bitter smile. "You're too kind to this outpost. Grenades? Three or five? Where would I get those? We're just in charge of military cables here. If it weren't for cooperating with your operation, we wouldn't even have enough Type 95 rifles."
Sun Fatty grinned oddly after hearing this. After swapping magazines, he suddenly aimed his rifle out the window at a dense cluster of wolves and unleashed a burst. When the gunfire ceased, a dozen or so wolves lay dead on the ground.