Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

"Danger Zone?"
Chen Fan had never heard this name before.
"Indeed."
The bald man turned around, looked at Chen Fan, and said, "Do you remember the iron-armored rhinoceros we encountered halfway yesterday?
That level of beast is not uncommon here. It's mainly mid-grade carnivorous demonic beasts, and their numbers have soared. In fact, if your luck is bad, you might even encounter high-grade demonic beasts."
"High-grade demonic beasts..."
Chen Fan gasped.
So-called high-grade demonic beasts typically had bodies three to four meters tall or more, and even larger ones existed. They often possessed the power to destroy a small human stronghold and were highly aggressive!
It was said that in the past, many small strongholds were almost wiped out overnight, targeted by high-grade demonic beasts that directly crashed through their walls at night.
"Let's turn back and look elsewhere."
Chen Guo Dong looked ahead with lingering fear. These experiences were all paid for with human lives.
The team advanced towards the southeast.
"Isn't this a bit boring?"
The bald man smiled at Chen Fan.
"Hmm."
Chen Fan nodded, wiping the sweat from his head. He felt his entire back was drenched in sweat, making his clothes cling to him uncomfortably.
"This is the normal state when going out hunting."
The bald man comforted him, "There were times when we traveled all day, not seeing a single trace of prey. Sometimes we saw some, but they vanished in a flash."
"That's right. What happened yesterday was an explosion of luck. Of course, it was also because your archery, Little Fan, was accurate. Otherwise, seeing them would have been useless," a middle-aged man with a large nose next to him said with a wry smile.
"So that's how it is."
Chen Fan also showed a wry smile. It seemed he had set his expectations too high, putting the cart before the horse, and making the improvement of basic archery proficiency his primary goal when going out hunting.
He hoped there would be some harvest today...
He sighed inwardly, unconsciously glancing behind him, at the place Uncle Liu and the others called the "Danger Zone." There should be many prey there, right?
But with his current strength, it was still too dangerous.
Next, the group chatted idly.
After an unknown amount of time, a few small black dots appeared two to three hundred meters ahead.
Chen Fan also saw them.
Everyone's spirits immediately lifted. They hurried forward, charging boldly. When they got within a hundred meters, strange expressions appeared on everyone's faces.
They saw two gray Wilderness Wolves attacking a lone Savage Ox. This Savage Ox seemed to be young, its body not much larger than the Wilderness Wolves. It swung a pair of arm-sized horns, darting left and right, trying to gore one of them to death.
The two Wilderness Wolves, however, cooperated perfectly. One was responsible for attracting attention, while the other ambushed, specifically biting at the soft underbelly of their opponent.
By the time Chen Fan and his group arrived, the young Savage Ox's intestines had already spilled out, and blood stained the ground. Clearly, its strength was almost exhausted.
Just then, the two attacking Wilderness Wolves also noticed the group of people. They immediately became alert and ran off, their eyes fixed on both the prey and the humans.
The Savage Ox, however, swayed on the spot, on the verge of collapsing.
The group looked at each other, as if saying, "Is there really such a good thing?"
"Are we dreaming?"
"What do you say?"
The bald man coughed twice and said, "This Savage Ox, should we take it?
Or should we take it?"
"Hahaha."
The others all laughed heartily.
"Does it even need to be said?
Of course we take it. This is a gift from the heavens."
"Not bad. Perhaps it saw that we've traveled so far without any harvest, and couldn't bear it?
Oh, this Savage Ox, though it's not fully grown, must weigh at least 200 catties, right?
Beef! Ten years ago, I couldn't even afford to eat it."
"Hahaha, we really should thank those two beasts for doing the work for us."
Chen Guo Dong, however, was somewhat quiet, frowning.
"Father, what's wrong?"
Chen Fan was originally very happy. Seeing his father's expression, he asked curiously.
"Nothing."
Chen Guo Dong shook his head, looked at the Savage Ox that would soon die from blood loss, and asked, "Little Fan, give it a quick end."
"Hmm."
Chen Fan nodded. As everyone gathered around, he walked about thirty or forty meters away and shot an arrow.
The Savage Ox didn't even notice the commotion around it. Like a fixed target, it cried out and collapsed.
He glanced at his basic archery proficiency. It was less than 1%, a bit low.
But the good news was, it gave 5 Experience Points, for a total of 8 points.
Lost in thought, his gaze swept into the distance, discovering that the two Wilderness Wolves were still staring at them and their group.
"The distance is a bit far, over 150 meters. These two beasts are truly cunning."
A murderous glint flashed in his eyes and then disappeared.
Even with the eighty-jin draw weight bow on his back, it would be difficult to hit a target over a hundred meters away, and even if it hit, the destructive power would be limited.
The others weren't idle either. They quickly began to butcher the prey, preparing to drag it away.
Chen Guo Dong frowned. He also noticed that the two Wilderness Wolves had been watching them all along. Clearly, they were very unwilling to have their prey stolen from their mouths.
Wilderness Wolves were a type of demonic beast with a strong sense of revenge. He feared they wouldn't give up easily.
"Let's end the hunt for today."
He said, "I always have a bad premonition. Besides, if we can really drag this prey back to the stronghold, the harvest will already be very abundant."
"Hmm."
Everyone agreed.
They had already picked this up; what else was there to be dissatisfied with?
On the desolate field, the team walked back. After one or two hundred meters, two gray figures followed closely, like buffalo hide candy that couldn't be shaken off.
Chen Fan had also tried to take the initiative to attack, but as soon as he pursued, the two Wilderness Wolves ran back. When he returned, they came back. They seemed to have understood the tactic of "the enemy retreats, I advance; the enemy advances, I retreat."
"Damn it!"
Chen Fan cursed inwardly.
How could these dogs be so cunning? He even suspected if they possessed intelligence.
It was still because his range wasn't far enough. If he had the 100-jin draw weight bow, he could have shot their dog heads off from over two hundred meters away.
"Guo Dong,"
The bald man's expression also grew solemn. He glanced at the two Wilderness Wolves. "Do you think these two beasts are calling their companions?"
"Very likely."
Chen Guo Dong nodded gravely. "That's what I was worried about from the beginning. Wilderness Wolves naturally prefer to move in packs. These two lone ones are a bit strange. Now, looking at how they refuse to give up, they're probably waiting for the main group to arrive."
"What!"
"This, what should we do now?"
Upon hearing this, the others in the team became a bit flustered.
Don't even mention two or three. Even four or five Wilderness Wolves wouldn't be a problem for them. With weapons in hand and numerical superiority, at most, they would suffer some injuries.
But if a whole pack, over ten or twenty, arrived, then it would be dangerous.
For one piece of prey, it was clearly not worth such a great risk.
But it was easy to say. Who would be willing to easily give up such an easy benefit?
For a moment, everyone's eyes fell on Chen Guo Dong. The time to test the team leader had arrived!