Just at the moment when Wu Dahu got his eyes lit up searching for the wolf king, the whole wolf pack moved all of a sudden.
Several wolves in stronger shapes pounced on the three harshly, with their fierce-looking mouths wide open biting on the arms of the three.
Wu Dahu waved his dagger in hand, and then dodged and took a few steps back nimbly. The next moment he executed two of the wolves by beheading them.
He wouldn’t be soft any more because what he faced now wasn’t human, but some fierce beasts. He got his movements more agile while showing no mercy at all.
Wu Decai delivered Wu Dahu an expression of astonishment after he got the wolves in front killed. He didn’t expect that Wu Dahu got such a profound martial skill.
As one fell another rose, the wolf pack howled all of a sudden after the leading wolves died. More wolves kept pouncing on the three showing their fierce wolf teeth.
This time, the wolf pack didn’t take a tentative move but just attack the three ferociously.
Turning around, Wu Dahu beat one of the wolves away, and then used the dagger in hand to behead the other. Right after he he cut off the head of the one jumped on him, there came another one which pounced on him on his legs. Wu Dahu changed the way how he kicked bluntly, he then stepped on the attacking wolf under his one of his feet and stabbed its eyes using his dagger and then grabbed its legs, waving its body in the air to threaten the rest of the approaching wolves.
However, he knew exactly that such an action and resistance and being brave to fight against the beasts wasn’t a wise way, but something in vain. If he couldn’t make it to kill the wolf king among them, they would fail to defeat the whole wolf pack even though they had such a great strength.
He then squinted his eyes and the next moment he noticed a special wolf among the wolf pack. This wolf was special because it featured a far bigger shape with fur of distinguished gray. Wu Dahu then bounced and jumped to his feet stepping on the heads of wolves, and then landed in front of that gray wolf.
A trace of fright could be clearly seen deep in the eyes of the gray wolf. It seemed that the action of Wu Dahu brought it a great shock. And then it was a sudden and long howl from it the next moment.
All the other wolves which heard the long howl surrounded gathered and swarmed to the place where Wu Dahu stayed, each one was with a ferocious look and seemed to ready to tear the man within apart.
However, Wu Dahu gained the initiative to take action. Just as the wolf pack swarmed to him one after another, he used his dagger to stab the gray wolf in its head, and then he twirled the dagger in his hand, lifting high the body of it and throwing it to the wolf pack.
It seemed that the action of Wu Dahu had triggered a switch, the frenzied wolf pack became silent all of a sudden. Though all of them were still staring at Wu Dahu in ferocious looks, they retreated frightening. They failed to find any vulnerable part of Wu Dahu, and then withdrew like an ebb tide.
Relaxing shoulders, Wu Dahu heaved a sigh of relief. But then he heard a scream from Laifu not far away.
The nerve in his mind got strained again, he then rushed to the carriage and picked up Laifu who was grabbing his stiff body, saying, “What’s wrong? Did you get hurt?”
Laifu pointed at somewhere in front, shivering and saying in a hoarse voice, “Yuan… Yuanbao…”
Wu Dahu turned his head suddenly, and then he noticed there lay a headless body on the ground.
Taking a deep breath, he would never expect that Wang Yuanbao just died from this fight.
He glanced around and saw that Yin Laosan had already got off the carriage, with the crossbow right in his hands. Wu Decai was just standing aside him with his cloth soaked with blood. It was too dark to recognize the expression of Wu Decai, but it could be inferred that this man wasn’t injured.
“We should bury Yuanbao before we leave.” Wu Dahu said.
But Wu Decai rejected, saying, “We have no idea whether the wolf pack will come back or not. It will be just a time-wasting thing to do that!”
Laifu got his eyes red-rimmed, mumbling, “Yuan… Yuanbao gets a family, he gets seniors at home. If they know that Yuanbao died without being well-buried…”
Frowning, Wu Dahu made an approach to Wang Yuanbao and got Wang Yuanbao undressed, and then commenced digging a pit with his dagger.
He said calmly, “It’s unrealistic to take his body with us, he got a heavy smell of blood. Not only those wild wolves will be attracted by this smell, but the other beasts probably will trace too. His cloth is enough to erect a monument for him.”
Yin Laosan was silent standing there, he put away the crossbow in his chest and then picked up a wood stick around and started digging the pit together with Wu Dahu.
Laifu took a time to digest his sorrow, and then walked to the pit either, and dug the pit together with the two using a random rock.
Wu Decai was left standing still, he nursed a grievance noticing that no one came to an agreement with him.
In considering leaving here as soon as possible, he pursed his lips tight and then joined the digging task too with the three.
As the time passed by, finally, a pit which was capable to accommodate an entire grown man showed up right before them.
Wu Dahu put Wang Yuanbao’s body and head together and then placed them peacefully into the pit. Even though Wang Yuanbao had died, he still got his eyes wide open. The frightening scene was just too shocking, and it brought an astonishment to Wu Dahu.
Wu Dahu then lowered his head, looking at Wang Yuanbao and saying, “Brother Yuanbao, We’ve killed the wolf king just now, we take the revenge for you. Please rest in peace.”
After that, he reached out to the face of Wang Yuanbao and placed his palm on, and then brushed him slightly on his face from forehead to chin.
However, Wang Yuanbao’s eyes were still open wide. It was Laifu who then came to mumble, shivering and saying, “Yuan… Yuanbao cannot die in peace?”
Wu Dahu took a paused, and then continued to say, “Please trust us. We will surely take good care of the seniors in your family. If we dare to break our promise, we will be punished by Buddha!”
After that, he tried to brush the face of Wang Yuanbao again slightly. Though Wu Dahu finally made it to close Wang Yuanbao’s eyes, Wang Yuanbao still got his eyes half open.
Maybe Wang Yuanbao still got a grievance in his soul? What would that be? Wu Dahu couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows high.
Wu Decai stood there without no more patience, he kicked some gravels on the ground, and then complained, “Bury him NOW! It will be too late for us if the wolves come back.”
Wu Dahu took a glance at Wu Decai who was just being impatient, he noticed that this man was much indifferent and didn’t even take a look on Wang Yuanbao. Right at the moment, he could feel that something was not in harmony.
Just as Wu Dahu was pondering, Yin Laosan pushed him away and made an approach to Wang Yuanbao, getting close to Wang Yuanbao’s ears and whispering. And then he imitated Wu Dahu’s action to brush the face of Wang Yuanbao from forehead to chin. When he lifted his hand again, Wang Yuanbao had closed his eyes tightly.
He then pushed the soil forward trying to cover the body as if it was nothing surprising for him to do so, saying calmly, “Alright. Now it’s time to bury Yuanbao now. We should make sure that those wild wolves won’t be able to dig him out.”
Regaining attention, Wu Dahu pushed the soil on the ground forward either while staring at Yin Laosan on his face, as if he was about to find out something from Yin Laosan’s expression.
Wu Decai hid himself under a shadow, looking at Yin Laosan who was now filling the pit right away and asking with a cold face, “What did you say to Wang Yuanbao? How did you just make him to close his eyes?”
Yin Laosan didn’t even raise his head, but just answered plainly, saying, “Yuanbao is afraid of being so lonely here, so I told him that I will bring him a mate to accompany with him. That makes him be at ease and leave peacefully.”
The answer from Yin Laosan seem to have disturbed and upset Wu Decai, Wu Decai then sneered, saying ironically, “Well, if you know him the best. Then why not just stay and accompany with him? You might be useful in this situation.”
Wu Dahu glanced at Wu Decai again, retorting, “If it wasn’t Yin Laosan, we couldn’t even get out of the town. I admit that indeed he acted queerly before, but not everyone is perfect though. Since he had made amends for his faults by good deeds, he is still our good partner. If you keep harassing him without reasons, I will show you something.”
The attitude of Wu Dahu shocked Wu Decai right away, he clenched his fists tight but still remained an eccentric smile on face, saying slowly, “Don’t worry, I won’t harass him anymore. Anyway, we will separate tomorrow.”
After they finished filling up the pit, the four got back into the carriage and kept on going back.
Hurrying on with their journey wasn’t a realistic way at all, and they couldn’t stay here either. The wisest way for them now was to select a spacious place for camping and wait to go on again until tomorrow morning.
Not long after they set off, Yin Laosan who was inside the carriage approached Wu Dahu suddenly, while asking, “Do you know what I said to Wang Yuanbao just then?”
Wu Dahu took a pause, and then he pondered for a while, saying, “Was it something about Wu Decai?”
“How do you know? Have you seen the crime scene either?” said Yin Laosan while putting on a look of astonishment.
Wu Dahu shook his head, explaining, “If someone dies without peace, he should have some grievance. Since those wolves weren’t the reason causing the grievance of Wang Yuanbao, only human should be blamed in such a situation. And there were only three out of the carriage, me, Wu Decai and Wang Yuanbao. I am not the criminal, so it should be Wu Decai then.”
Yin Laosan sighed heavily, he then said seriously, “I worried that you probably couldn’t confront the wolf pack alone, so I just leaned against in the carriage secretly observing everything outside. But I’ve witnessed that Wu Decai pushed Wang Yuanbao into the wolf pack purposely. It was really bad to see that there were so many wolves that engulfed Wang Yuanbao in a flash. I couldn’t call for help though because I was afraid that I probably would irritate Wu Decai by doing so. In that case, I had to shut up.”
Though Wu Dahu had speculated on the possibility, he still couldn’t accept it when he heard the fact from Yin Laosan.
Wang Yuanbao was such a man of diligence and honesty. He deserved every single coin he earned from this trip.
It would be much reasonable to think that Wu Decai wanted to kill Yin Laosan because Yin Laosan misled the route and was kind of “useless”. But it was extremely evil and inhuman to kill someone innocent.
Wu Dahu took a sudden pause, as if something occurred to him all of a sudden, he then said in shock, “Will he do something evil to Laifu too?”
Yin Laosan shook his head, saying firmly, “No, he won’t. He will kill me first and you’re the next. And if everything just goes smooth, he probably will kill Laifu in the future. But he won’t show any hostility currently to Laifu. After all, Laifu is the organizer of this trip, he still needs to wait until Laifu dispense the coins.”
Despite the fact, Wu Dahu still got his mind heavy.
He recalled the fact that Wu Decai showed an expression of queerness when they grabbed their conversation just then. He finally made it to figure out why Wu Decai would responded strangely.
It turned out that probably Wu Decai thought Yin Laosan was in the same boat with him and ready to do something bad to Wu Dahu the next.
Just as Wu Dahu’s mind went wild, the front carriage came to a halt all of a sudden. Wu Decai, the one who was with a grinning face currently, walked to him slowly with a dagger in hand, saying, “It’s time now. Take a rest.”
Subconsciously, Wu Dahu grabbed tight his dagger in hand. But when he saw Wu Decai just turned around and left, he loosened his shoulder and got his nerve released all of a sudden. It turned out that he was just too sensitive. He then jumped out from the carriage and commenced arranging the camps.