Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Chapter 198 Clash

That night, although the howling of wolves could still be heard from afar, Zhou Xin slept soundly.

Judging from the improved complexion of the others, they all slept well in the cave last night.

The snowstorm outside has stopped, and today is a beautiful day.

Along with my energy, my confidence also returned.

"Today, we'll reach Hibernation Valley!"

Excitement immediately filled the crowd's faces, as if they could already see the light emanating from the gold.

After a night of wind and snow, the snow on the ground has become much thicker.

The animal tracks that were previously everywhere had been covered up, but they still saw many plum blossom-shaped tracks along the way, which were wolf tracks.

Clearly, these footprints were freshly made, meaning that the wolf pack was nearby.

The hunting dogs seemed very uneasy, as if they wanted to rush out, but were hesitant.

After the last wolf-dog battle, the remaining four hunting dogs were clearly traumatized.

Judging from their reaction, the wolves were probably less than 100 meters away and could pounce at any moment.

The group became more vigilant, continuing to move forward while carefully observing their surroundings.

The group followed the ridge upwards; once they crossed this mountain, they would reach Hibernation Valley.

As they reached the mountainside, the hunting dogs suddenly began barking urgently, and Logan bared his teeth, adopting a defensive posture.

Immediately, everyone heard a rapid rustling sound approaching.

"Ready!" Bell shouted, gun in hand.

The others took out their weapons and stood back to back in a circle.

The next moment, accompanied by a series of whistling sounds, gray shadows darted out from the woods like bullets and pounced towards the group!

The wolf pack surrounded the group and launched an attack from all sides.

Bang bang bang—

The rapid sound of bullets rang out, and the wolf at the front was shot and fell to the ground. The wolves behind it were not afraid at all and continued to pounce forward.

Zhou Xin fired several shots, all aimed at the wolf's head.

But wolves are extremely agile, constantly dodging and weaving as they charge forward to evade their attacks.

Soon, more than a dozen wolf carcasses lay on the ground around them, but the wolves continued to attack relentlessly, fearlessly.

The bullets would soon run out, and the wolves clearly wouldn't give them time to reload.

Zhou Xin had six bullets left in his pistol, and he had killed a total of five wolves.

He reached behind him and pulled out a shotgun from the side of his backpack. With a bang, he shot down a wolf that was lunging at Sofia.

"Th-thank you." Sophia's face was pale, clearly terrified.

With ammunition running low, and the swarm still charging forward with unwavering resolve, everyone's faces turned grave.

Just then, a very loud wolf howl suddenly came from afar.

The sound soared to the heavens, and even the gunshots couldn't drown it out.

Upon hearing the howl, the wolf pack suddenly stopped their attack and turned to retreat.

Seizing the opportunity, the group dealt with several more wolves.

But as if they had received a retreat order, the wolf pack ran away without looking back and disappeared into the woods in an instant.

The group stared in shock at the wolf carcasses scattered on the ground, exchanging bewildered glances, all of them seeing lingering fear in each other's eyes.

If it weren't for that wolf howl, they might not have been able to withstand this attack.

Zhou Xin had this thought pop into his mind: How did I dare to go to the wilderness of Livinggood to pan for gold alone?

If he had encountered a pack of wolves instead of Logan's mother's lone wolf, he would have been devoured by them long ago.

Perhaps he was lucky that time and just happened to avoid the wolf pack's territory.

Only now did he truly understand the dangers of the Alaskan wilderness.

"Russo, Lilith!" Sofia cried out and crouched down.

Just now, the four hunting dogs also fought bravely against the wolf pack, but two more of them were killed.

Logan had just been grappling with a wolf that rushed at him. Although he managed to bite off the wolf's neck, he was also seriously injured.

After catching their breath for a moment, the group began reloading their magazines and analyzing the battle they had just fought.

That unusual wolf howl was clearly issued by the wolf king, who gave the pack the order to retreat.

Through this encounter, everyone also discovered a terrifying fact: the wolf pack definitely numbered far more than twenty or thirty.

Normally, a wolf pack can range in size from a few to dozens of individuals, but the most recorded pack is around 30.

This is the maximum number of wolves in a pack; any more and the rewards from group hunting will not be enough for the pack to distribute.

However, they counted seventeen wolf carcasses on the ground, and the number of wolves that had just retreated should have been around twenty or so.

Moreover, judging from the sounds, there should be many wolves lurking deep in the woods.

Based on this calculation, the number of wolves in this pack is probably no less than fifty.

At this point in the analysis, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

It seems the previous homeowner was right; this place is indeed a super wolf den.

The reason the Wolf King issued the retreat order was probably because he saw the heavy casualties and was unaware that their ammunition was about to run out.

"Hopefully, after this battle, these beasts will realize our strength and give up their attack on us," Walsh said naively.

"No," Bell shook his head, "we've made them our sworn enemies, and they certainly won't let this go."

Like geese in the countryside, wolves are vengeful, but they are far more terrifying than geese.

Perhaps they are planning an even more deadly attack.

Looking at the wolf carcasses scattered on the ground, Zhou Xin suddenly had an idea: if he could find an opportunity to get rid of that wolf king, he might be able to find peace for the time being.

However, the wolf king was clearly very clever; it never showed itself from the beginning, but instead hid in the shadows and commanded the pack.

In any case, since we're already here, we definitely have to go to Hibernation Valley.

After the battle, they learned a lesson: if they were attacked by a pack of wolves again, they should not all fire at once.

That would not only waste a lot of firepower (some wolves were shot seven or eight times and were almost riddled with bullets), but also cause everyone's bullets to be consumed rapidly, without any time to replenish the magazines.

They decided that if they encountered a similar situation again, three people would launch the attack first, while the other three would wait until they ran out of ammunition and needed to be replenished before launching their own attack.

This alternating attack gives them a chance to replenish their ammunition, thus eliminating any opportunity for the wolf pack to attack.

After discussing the next steps, Wyatt looked at the wolf carcasses on the ground and asked, "What should we do with these?"

In the past, these wolf pelts and fangs would definitely have been taken away, as they were very valuable.

But their current goal is the Hibernation Valley treasure, and carrying wolf pelts will definitely hinder their operation.

Moreover, skinning wolves is extremely time-consuming and will affect their timely arrival at Hibernation Valley.

After weighing their options, they only removed the wolf's fangs and discarded the wolf pelt.

Zhou Xin also got a few wolf teeth, thinking that maybe he could make a pendant or something in the future.

Of course, they also cut off a few wolf legs as food for the day.