Landlord in the Arctic-Chapter 73: Final Resting Place

Having dodged the sneak attack, Feng Shan looked at the Black Wolf, his heart still pounding. He was surprised to see a look of regret in its eyes.

"You must really want to eat me, don’t you!"

"GRRROWL!" The Black Wolf arched its back and curled its lips, baring sharp fangs in an angry snarl. Along with three other gray wolves, it circled Feng Shan, trapping him in the middle.

Feng Shan held his Type 56 carbine, facing the Black Wolf up close. He couldn’t help but marvel at its size.

It was over two meters long, with a shoulder height of nearly a meter. It looked to weigh at least 185 pounds. A build like that made it a king among wolves; no wonder it could run rampant across the Tundra.

"If you weren’t harassing the Crown Territory, maybe we could have been friends. But that doesn’t seem possible now."

GRRROWL!

The Black Wolf continued to growl, circling Feng Shan and looking for an opportunity to strike.

Just then, one of the gray wolves couldn’t hold back any longer and leaped at Feng Shan. The other two followed close behind, attacking from different directions.

As Feng Shan sidestepped, he thrust the bayonet of his Type 56 forward, plunging it deep into the gray wolf’s heart.

The next moment, Feng Shan yanked the bayonet free. Gripping the rifle with both hands, he rammed it backward, smashing the wooden stock into the head of the wolf pouncing from behind him.

He immediately rolled to evade the last wolf’s bite, and as he came to his feet, he kicked out, sending it flying with a boot to the stomach.

The entire exchange took only an instant.

One gray wolf was dead, the other two injured.

Feng Shan flashed the Black Wolf a savage grin and flicked the blood from his bayonet. Fueled by adrenaline, a wildness buried deep inside him was awakened.

Staring down the Black Wolf’s hostile gaze, he worked the bolt again and again, ejecting the cartridges from the magazine one by one. Finally, he brandished the bayoneted rifle.

"We’re both alphas here. Don’t make your subordinates take the fall for you. It’s pathetic. Come and face me yourself!"

The Black Wolf held its head high, its eyes glinting with a cold, fierce light. It moved as fast as lightning, launching itself in a flying leap straight at Feng Shan’s face.

Feng Shan dodged to the side, simultaneously thrusting his rifle at the Black Wolf’s belly. The wolf twisted nimbly in mid-air, avoiding the attack.

Its attack having missed, the Black Wolf spun around the moment it landed and attacked again.

It opened its massive jaws, trying to clamp down on Feng Shan’s arm.

Feng Shan reacted instantly, raising his Type 56 carbine to block.

As their strengths collided, a numbing jolt ran up Feng Shan’s arm. He used the momentum to swing the rifle horizontally, shoving the Black Wolf away.

The Black Wolf regained its footing, an even more ferocious light in its eyes. It resumed circling Feng Shan, looking for its next opening.

The smile on Feng Shan’s face grew wider, more reckless. ’After holding back for so long, I can finally let loose!’ He raised his rifle.

"Come on. Today, one of us dies."

The Black Wolf let out a low roar and leaped, streaking through the air like a black bolt of lightning. Feng Shan dodged to the side and swung his rifle in a wide arc.

Unexpectedly, the Black Wolf whipped its thick tail in mid-air, lashing it across Feng Shan’s face just as the rifle stock slammed into its belly.

Neither got the better of the exchange, and they ended up swapping places.

Feng Shan’s face stung as if struck by a whip. Warm blood trickled from his nose, dripping onto the pristine snow. The Black Wolf was no better off; its hind legs buckled upon landing, and it nearly collapsed.

"No more delays. Let’s finish this," Feng Shan said, raising a hand to wipe away the blood from his nose. The smear across his face made him look savage and terrifying.

GRRROWL!

The Black Wolf took a half-step back and let out a series of howls.

The two injured gray wolves lying nearby and the three still fighting the White Wolf Pack heard their leader’s call. Ignoring their wounds and their opponents, they all turned and charged Feng Shan.

But to Feng Shan’s astonishment, the Black Wolf turned and fled deep into the Tundra.

"Coward! Get back here! Where the hell do you think you’re going!" Feng Shan instinctively raised his Type 56 to fire. Only after he pulled the trigger did he remember. ’For the duel... I ejected all the rounds.’ "Dammit! That Frank is a walking disaster."

With an empty rifle, he could only watch the Black Wolf disappear into the distance.

Feng Shan raised his rifle, ready to deal with the five wounded wolves.

BANG!

With the crack of a gunshot, one of the gray wolves fell.

Nash ran over, rifle in hand.

The rest of the White Wolf Pack intercepted the other four wolves. It was a one-sided fight: one pack was rested and ready, the other was already wounded, and Feng Shan was there to help.

The battle was over quickly.

AWOOOOO!

The White Wolves threw back their heads and let out triumphant howls.

Feng Shan sat down on the blood-stained snow, looking at the field of wolf corpses with a resigned shake of his head.

’All I wanted was to kill the Alpha Wolf and scatter this Super Wolf Pack. I never expected this outcome.’

"Khilla."

Seeing Feng Shan’s blood-covered face, Nash quickly pulled out a medical kit, but Feng Shan waved him off. "I’m fine."

With that, he scooped up a handful of snow and scrubbed his face clean, his gaze fixed on the direction the Black Wolf had fled.

"The Black Wolf is wounded; it can’t have gotten far. I’m going after it. What do you think?"

Nash, of course, had no objections. ’Letting Khilla get hurt is a disgrace. Failing to kill that Black Wolf would be an even greater stain on my name.’

Having made their decision, Feng Shan got to his feet.

The fight had taken a heavy toll on his stamina and focus. He needed to rest. ’Besides,’ he thought, ’with my divination, that injured Black Wolf has nowhere to run.’

"Let’s make camp first and clean this up. I’ll get our position with the satellite phone."

The two of them gathered the scattered corpses of the gray wolves and the reindeer they had killed. Luckily, the heavy snow had just fallen, which would keep them from spoiling for a while.

They pitched the tent. For dinner, they carved a rack of ribs from a reindeer carcass and roasted it simply over the fire. After eating their fill, they turned in early.

「The next morning.」

A light snow had begun to fall again.

After packing up the tent, Feng Shan performed another knot divination. Once he had a fix on the Black Wolf’s trail, the party set out.

The chase lasted another full day.

’I have to admit,’ Feng Shan thought, ’a wolf’s stamina is incredible.’

Even wounded, the Black Wolf ran without rest. It seemed to be running with a purpose.

As the feeling from his divination grew stronger, Feng Shan sensed they were closing in on the Black Wolf.

Because of this, Feng Shan decided not to make camp and press on with the pursuit.

The sky gradually darkened, and the frigid air seemed to grow a new layer of ice.

The wind grew more bitter, howling as it swept across the silent wilderness.

The party pushed on against the wind until the White Wolf in the lead suddenly stopped and let out a low growl.

Feng Shan took up his rifle and moved to the White Wolf’s side, looking ahead.

On the ridge of a snow-covered Mountain not far away, the Black Wolf sat in the snow, its back to them.

The dim, yellow light of dusk fell softly upon its fur.

After such a long chase.

Feng Shan didn’t want to be the kind of man who would shoot an enemy in the back. He raised his Type 56 and fired a shot into the air, announcing to the Black Wolf that the man who had come to take its life was here.

BANG!

After the shot rang out.

The Black Wolf didn’t seem to hear. It remained sitting in the snow.

A strange premonition came over Feng Shan. He lowered his rifle and started walking toward the ridge.

When he reached the top of the slope, the sight before him made him freeze.

At the edge of his vision was the frozen Ice Sea. Vast ice floes glowed with a faint, cold light under the dim sky.

The ice floes bumped and scraped against one another, the crisp sounds echoing over the silent surface.

He walked over to the Black Wolf, now dead, and slowly crouched beside it.

Looking into the Black Wolf’s eyes, which were fixed on the Ice Sea, Feng Shan felt a complex mix of emotions.

’So this is why it dragged itself to the sea, even while injured.’

’Maybe it wanted to go home.’

To the Black Wolf, this frigid sea might have been its final resting place.

’Perhaps, deep in its memory, a familiar pack waited on the other side of the sea.’

’Or maybe...’

’...it was just instinctively following the footsteps of its ancestors, trying to return to its distant birthplace before death.’

The wind, laced with the salty air of the sea, blew across Feng Shan’s face and over the body of the Black Wolf.

Feng Shan stood up.

He gazed out at the frozen sea, silent for a long, long time.

...