The echoing cries of humans continued to reverberate into the cave, simultaneously attracting the four jackals at the mouth of the cave. Three slightly smaller ones stood guard at the entrance, unmoving yet alert, ears erect, listening intently to the sounds emanating from within the cave. They crouched low, ready to spring into bloody action at any moment.
Under the tree where two soldiers waited, one of the jackals began repeatedly ramming its body against the trunk. The sudden violent shaking nearly dislodged one of the soldiers, but he managed to grab onto the trunk in time, executing a swift maneuver to return to safety.
"Be careful, quickly send a distress signal to the base. These jackals will soon mimic the behavior and start ramming our tree. We can't descend, and Hua Yan is in danger at the cave!" one soldier warned.
"I'll send it immediately."
After the distress signal was sent, the two soldiers finally saw the fire at the cave where Hua Yan was growing brighter. They felt a slight relief, fearing she might be sleeping too deeply. They dreaded the possibility of being trapped on the tree by the jackals if they had to fight them off.
Outside the cave, the jackals, despite hearing the sounds from within, were hesitant due to their fear of the fire. They growled impatiently, their bodies instinctively retreating a few steps.
"Oh my god, scared the hell out of me. Thought she was still sleeping!" one soldier exclaimed.
"Don't lose focus, grip the gun tightly, and closely monitor the movements of those jackals at the entrance. If there's any sign of aggression, shoot the one in front immediately," the other soldier instructed.
Inside the cave, Hua Yan stood alert with a knife in hand, silently watching and listening to the outside commotion. She cursed her luck, how she attracted wild animals with just one night's stay. The noises outside sounded like wolves. If they were indeed wolves, she would be in for a bloodbath today. Despite the intense nervousness, Hua Yan felt her hunger intensify. With only two and a half biscuits left, she ate one quietly, feeling a surge of energy.
Before the incident, a green light akin to silk threads emerged from her dragon phoenix jade pendant, wandering across her body. Initially, Hua Yan had trouble sleeping, but the appearance of the green light made her fall into a deep slumber. When the jackals stepped on a dry twig, Hua Yan didn't hear a thing. She was swimming joyfully in a sea as blue as the sky in her dreams. The sun was warm but gentle, everything there felt comforting.
Suddenly, dark clouds covered the clear sky, and a bolt of lightning struck the sea. The booming thunder jolted her awake instantly. Following that was the sound of branches snapping outside the cave.
Hua Yan cautiously approached the cave entrance and locked eyes with a pair of green eyes. Every hair on her body stood on end, but she dared not look away. When eyes meet with a wild animal, if a person averts their gaze first, the animal will immediately attack. It's a confrontation of wills. If you show fear and retreat, the predator will mercilessly pounce on you. A prey without spirit will not be spared.
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As time passed, Hua Yan's legs started to stiffen, a tear trickled down her cheek, making her desperately want to close her eyes. She thought to herself she couldn't, but her body's reaction was faster than her thoughts. With a "plop," the tear fell, and she closed her eyes in a panic, quickly reopening them to check the situation outside the cave. Indeed, two jackals were approaching.
Just then, a shout from one of the soldiers in the tree disrupted the tense moment, causing the jackals to halt their advance. Hua Yan narrowly escaped danger. Seizing the distraction, she silently slipped back into the cave, throwing a bundle of dry branches onto the fire. The flames grew stronger, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, Hua Yan felt warmth flowing down below, realizing her menstrual cycle had started. Annoyed and helpless, she rummaged through her backpack for her "Moon Baby."
Once everything was sorted, Hua Yan pulled herself together, focusing intently on the cave entrance, her hand gripping the knife tightly, sweat breaking out on her palm every few seconds.
An hour later, the outside erupted in a flurry of gunfire, mingled with the agonized cries of the jackals. "Finally, help has arrived... My sleeping bag will be a sacrifice to that fire soon." An hour of continuous feeding the fire, even with a night's worth of dry branches, was almost exhausted.
Just as Hua Yan relaxed her vigilance for a moment, a shadow darted in at lightning speed, aiming straight for her neck.
"Oh no... There's one that slipped through and entered the cave!" Lao Yang had been overseeing the situation from atop the vehicle, closely monitoring the jackals lingering at the cave entrance. Suddenly, four or five foreign tigers appeared in the mountains, stealing the food from the jackals, who hadn't eaten anything for a week. Despite the crisis, with their prey almost within reach, the jackals were not willing to give up easily. Agilely dodging through the gunfire, they lost a few but threw caution to the wind, charging into Hua Yan's cave.
As Lao Yang and a few others rushed into the cave, all they saw were the jackals lying lifelessly on the ground, Hua Yan's backpack and sleeping bag in disarray, covered in what seemed to be blood from either human or animal. But there was no sign of Hua Yan.
"Don't shoot... Move that jackal away," Lao Yang said, staring fixedly at the part beneath the jackal. Because there was still blood flowing from there. Apart from that spot, there was nowhere else in the cave where an adult could hide. Could the girl really have lost her life? Lao Yang's heart tightened at the thought.
The other fully armed soldiers felt a sinking feeling in their hearts as they saw the scene inside the cave. They had sensed the severity of the situation on their way here when they learned that an ordinary civilian was under attack by jackals.
One soldier stepped forward to move the jackal and saw a woman, covered in blood, holding a knife and crawling on the ground. "I found her, I found her..."
Lao Yang hurriedly approached, pushing aside the others and picked up Hua Yan's body, feeling a pulse at her neck. He quickly instructed, "Bring the car over, we're heading back to the base immediately." Then, he turned to another person and said, "Notify the base to arrange for military doctors to be on standby." With that, he carried the unconscious Hua Yan and dashed out.
The two soldiers who had been on the tree and the others outside cleared the remaining jackals from the cave entrance. When they saw Lao Yang emerge carrying Hua Yan, bloodied on the face, they clenched their fists and beat their heads in self-blame. "It's all our fault for not protecting her..."
The only female soldier in the vehicle cleaned Hua Yan with alcohol and found scratches or bites on her neck, arms, and legs, but her face was surprisingly well-protected, which somewhat eased Lao Yang's worries. Though they didn't know what had happened inside the cave, it must have been brutal.
However, Lao Yang's relief was short-lived and turned into concern once the military doctor examined Hua Yan's condition. Upon returning to the base at the fastest speed possible, the military doctor delivered some bad news to everyone...