"Erlang! Prepare!" Jiang Pan shouted. Erlang immediately responded, "Ready, fire!"
The villagers cooperated, moving the stones they had collected onto the launchers. Then another person would step on it, causing the launcher to propel the stones forward.
Erlang had truly mastered the launchers these past few days. He and a few other men had thoroughly studied their accuracy. While they couldn't hit the target with every stone, three to five out of ten would land.
Although the efficiency didn't seem high, achieving such accuracy with such simple launchers was already remarkable.
The men in the trees began shooting at the wolf pack with their homemade bows and arrows.
A rain of arrows descended upon the wolves, forcing the pack to retreat.
After this barrage of attacks, the wolf pack suffered casualties of over thirty wolves, and the foul smell of wolf blood permeated the entire forest.
This was the most severe loss the wolf pack had ever experienced. The white wolf watched the beasts fall within the defensive perimeter, angrily scratching the ground with its claws.
After a long moment, the white wolf howled again.
The wolf pack began to retreat into the woods.
Jiang Wan's eyes narrowed. Trying to leave? She wouldn't allow it!
"Grandpa Yang, fire the flaming arrows!"
Yang the hunter immediately took out the arrows he had prepared, lit them on the fire, and nocked them onto his bow before shooting.
The flaming arrows flew over the wolf pack and landed on the ground.
The next moment, the flames erupted.
It turned out they had anticipated the wolf pack's retreat and had pre-set a trap in the woods to block their escape.
Wolves feared fire and dared not approach the flames. The villagers had dug a trench in the woods and filled it with firewood. To quickly ignite the wood, everyone had brought out the oil they had been saving.
Blocked by the fire trench, the wolf pack became agitated. The white wolf looked back at the camp and let out a sharp cry.
The wolf pack turned back in unison, their eyes glinting with ferocity.
Yang the hunter said, "They're going for a frontal assault! Get into the trees quickly!"
Some villagers rapidly climbed into the treehouses, while simultaneously, the wolf pack began to charge into the camp with reckless abandon.
"Ignite!"
At Jiang Pan's command, several men threw torches into the fire trench within the defensive perimeter.
The firewood, soaked in oil and deliberately dried, immediately burst into flames reaching half a person's height.
The wolf pack was trapped between two walls of fire, unable to advance or retreat.
The villagers, standing on the treehouses, began pelting the wolves with stones and shooting arrows. The wolves, under attack, scattered in all directions, but the surroundings were full of traps. The disoriented wolves stumbled into the traps one after another.
Seeing his subordinates dwindling, the white wolf grew increasingly anxious. It let out another commanding howl.
Upon receiving the command, the wolves actually began attempting to jump over the fire trench!
Jiang Pan quickly ordered, "Quick, bring out those spike balls! Then everyone get into the trees and remove the ladders!"
The spike balls he mentioned were a new weapon that Jiang Wan had "conceived" in the past two days. These spike balls were simple weapons made by tying together several sharpened branches. Though simple, their lethality was undeniable.
Each of these spike balls was nearly a meter tall and placed behind the fire trench, making them invisible to the wolves.
When the first wolf leaped through the flames into the camp, it discovered the deadly spike balls in terror, but it was too late to regret it.
"Impaled!"
Those on the treehouses cheered excitedly as they saw the wolf impaled by the spike balls.
Wolf after wolf leaped in. Some landed on the spike balls, while others, luckier, landed on the ground.
The surviving wolves began to search for targets within the camp, but the villagers had already climbed into the treehouses, which were four to five meters high. No matter how they jumped, the wolves couldn't reach them.
A few wolves charged towards the cattle and horse pens, but those areas were also well-defended, and the wolves couldn't budge the sturdy structures.
When Jiang Pan deemed enough wolves had entered, he gave the order, "Attack! Smash them to death!"
The villagers kicked down the makeshift walls of the treehouses and, picking up stones, began smashing them down at the wolves.
Villagers with bows continuously fired into the wolf pack, while those without bows lay on the treehouse floors, stabbing at the wolves with their homemade long-handled knives.
For a time, the wolf howls in the camp were deafening.
The white wolf knew the situation was lost. It let out a couple of low, unwilling growls and turned to flee. The remaining few wolves quickly followed it.
Jiang Wan had been closely watching its movements. Seeing it about to escape, she grabbed a vine she had prepared and swung out.
Chen Yuezhi's eyes blurred as something flew out. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was her daughter. Her legs weakened, and she knelt on the ground, crying out hoarsely, "Wan Wan!"
Jiang Wan didn't look back. Using the momentum of the vine, she lunged towards the white wolf, her dagger ready.
Sensing danger from behind, the white wolf looked back and immediately rolled on the ground, dodging Jiang Wan's attack.
Jiang Wan, her initial strike unsuccessful, released the vine and landed on the ground, smiling at the white wolf. "Let me inspect the goods. I heard that to achieve the highest quality fur, one must skin it alive. But I'm a kind person and can't do such cruel things. So, be sensible and stand still. I promise to make your death painless and without wounds." After all, torn fur was hard to repair; intact pelts were more valuable.
The white wolf didn't take Jiang Wan, a small human not much taller than itself, seriously. It pushed off the ground and lunged at her.
Jiang Wan stood her ground. As the white wolf lunged, she suddenly struck, plunging her knife into the wolf's eye.
The white wolf, worthy of being called a wolf king, narrowly avoided the blow. Although its movements were somewhat clumsy, it earned Jiang Wan's grudging respect.
"You do have some skill. It's a shame, though. We have a blood feud, otherwise, I'd truly want to tame you and have you as my follower. Having such a large wolf as a subordinate would be quite imposing."
But wolves, by nature, held grudges. Although she was confident she could make this white wolf obey her, she worried it might harm her family. Therefore, it had to become her cloak!
The white wolf seemed to truly understand Jiang Wan's words and felt greatly insulted. It let out a long howl towards the sky and attacked her again. The other few wolves also pounced.
Jiang Wan sneered, grabbed the vine, and as the white wolf lunged, she flipped her body using the momentum, landing on the wolf's back.
The white wolf twisted its body violently, trying to shake Jiang Wan off. But the next moment, its body stiffened abruptly. It felt a mysterious force controlling it.
Immediately, its head throbbed with pain. The white wolf whimpered unwillingly twice before collapsing to the ground.
With the white wolf dead, the remaining few wolves lost their leader and turned to flee.
Jiang Wan took out a few pebbles from her pocket and threw them at the fleeing wolves. Several running wolves subsequently fell to the ground.