Chapter 148: Luring the Enemy |
Crack.
The wooden door shattered, and a Giant Hyaenodon struggled to push its head through the broken gap.
What greeted it was the shadow of a club smashing towards its face.
"Thud!"
The long club shattered and broke.
The Giant Hyaenodon's nose split open. Its mind went blank, falling into a brief state of confusion.
From the sides, seven or eight long spears thrust in from both flanks, stabbing its face painfully. One spear even struck its eye directly.
Intense pain sent the Giant Hyaenodon into a frenzy, its thick neck shaking violently.
With a loud clatter, the last wooden door was actually torn off by its brute force. However, this door panel also got stuck around its neck, like it was wearing an Elizabethan collar.
"Hurry! Block them! Those on the second floor, retreat to the third floor! Buy time!" Cao Biansheng roared.
The corridors on both sides were packed with male students. Dense forests of long spears blocked the Giant Hyaenodons trying to charge up.
On the second-floor corridor, some of the male students began an orderly retreat towards the third floor.
"Teacher Luo, should we throw the torches?"
Luo Gang nodded. "Throw the torches first, buy a little time."
Then bundles of dry branches and firewood were thrown from the second floor onto the first-floor staircase, followed by falling torches.
Soon, thick smoke billowed, and flames ignited.
The Giant Hyaenodon pack's assault rhythm temporarily halted.
The fire wasn't very big, confined only to the staircase entrance.
These wooden materials wouldn't burn for long; they only served to delay time.
Behind the second-floor window of Building 4, Qin Ziwen frowned as he watched the first-floor defense line of the teaching building begin to crumble. "Trouble. This Giant Hyaenodon King is actually this patient."
Could it be that they really had no choice but to go down and fight head-on? But there were only fourteen of them in total. Even combined, their numbers were only about the same as the surviving Giant Hyaenodons.
The area from the North Gate to the teaching building was completely flat, with absolutely no cover. A head-on clash would likely scatter their formation in the first encounter; it would be pure suicide.
Qin Ziwen said, "The big one isn't taking the bait. Maybe we should try the smaller ones."
He shot two more arrows. The arrows hit, but those Giant Hyaenodons just snarled at them, staying close to their leader and not leaving the pack.
Yang Cunshen had been observing from the side. He suddenly spoke up, "Sir, I have a plan."
"Speak."
Yang Cunshen said solemnly, "No matter how fierce or cunning a beast is, it cannot escape being a beast. Normally, the death or injury of a few companions would make the pack wary and retreat. But this pack has strong desires. There are only three likely reasons: first, protecting their young; second, hunger; third, territory disputes. Since they are attacking proactively, it's probably unrelated to one and three. Food is scarce in the Gobi Desert, so the second possibility is most likely. I observed that the abdomens of these Giant Hyaenodons are sunken; they are undoubtedly lacking food and hungry. We might try using meat to lure them, to split them up. The courtyard wall downstairs isn't high; they can easily jump over it. We can first throw meat to attract their attention, then throw meat inside the residential complex's courtyard wall. Once they are behind the wall, we can lure them into the building and deal with them separately."
"Use meat? But I don't have any meat here." As Qin Ziwen spoke, he glanced towards Zhang Bo standing not far behind him.
Zhang Bo was taken aback. He looked around, then pointed at himself. "Me?"
Qin Ziwen said, "Boss Zhang, consider it a loan to me. I'll pay you back later."
Zhang Bo looked at the people around him staring at him. "Alright, alright, alright. I give up." He returned to his room and, a moment later, brought out three salted fish.
"Is this enough?"
Qin Ziwen sighed helplessly. "Bring more. As long as we can kill one Giant Hyaenodon, we'll have several hundred pounds of meat. Don't worry about me not being able to repay you."
Zhang Bo thought for a moment and felt that seemed reasonable. He hurried back to his room and brought out several large chunks of fresh meat.
The meat still felt cold to the touch.
Qin Ziwen privately wondered: the cellar? Or ice? But now wasn't the time to ask.
They cut all the meat into small pieces, but not too small to prevent difficulty in throwing.
After giving instructions to Du Yu, a moment later, Qin Ziwu hefted a piece of meat in his hand, took aim, and threw it.
"Plop!"
The fresh, blood-streaked piece of meat landed accurately right behind a Giant Hyaenodon's rump.
Hearing the sound, it instinctively looked back.
Then its head immediately froze, unmoving.
What... did it smell?
Meat!
It was meat!
It had been nearly ten sunrises since it last tasted the flavor of meat.
Saliva instinctively began to secrete.
It quickly walked towards the piece of meat.
Suddenly, a larger, darker shadow swept past from behind, shoving it aside.
It instinctively bared its teeth, but upon realizing it was the leader, it quickly retracted them.
The Giant Hyaenodon King walked up to the piece of meat, lowered its head and gave it a casual sniff, then eagerly extended its barbed, long tongue to roll the meat into its belly.
It smacked its lips. For its massive size, this bit of meat could only be considered an appetizer.
"Plop!"
Another piece of meat.
Landed not far from the courtyard wall.
The Giant Hyaenodon King walked forward, lowered its head, and ate this piece of meat.
Then it raised its head and licked the corners of its mouth.
"Plop!"
Another piece of meat fell, but this time, the scent of meat was coming from behind the courtyard wall.
The Giant Hyaenodon King paced back and forth below the courtyard wall. Seeing the other Giant Hyaenodons also jump over, it finally couldn't resist. With a leap, it easily cleared the 2.2-meter-high wall.
After eating this piece of meat, from around the corner, it heard a sound.
The Giant Hyaenodon King followed the scent.
On the ground was another piece of fresh meat.
These pieces of meat were a bit small for it. They could satisfy a craving but weren't enough to fill its stomach.
After eating a few pieces and circling around, it finally arrived at the entrance of Unit 2, Building 4.
Staring into the pitch-black entrance, it instinctively grew wary. But under the temptation of the meat's aroma, the Giant Hyaenodon King's stomach let out a gurgling sound. In the end, it couldn't resist the lure. Lowering its head, it cautiously walked inside.
Inside, besides the scent of meat, there was also the smell of those humans.
It moved forward with a hunched posture, walking very slowly. It didn't detect the scent of any natural predators in the air, which relaxed it slightly. Following the stairs upwards, just as it passed a corner, it saw several humans standing at the top of the staircase.
One of them was that person who had shot arrows at its rump earlier! When enemies meet, eyes blaze with fury.
"ROAR!!!"
The Giant Hyaenodon King charged rapidly up the staircase.
Although the environment here was somewhat unfamiliar—it had never walked on this kind of concrete staircase before—compared to the jagged, rocky cliffs, it wasn't too complicated.
"Snap!"
In the quiet, dim stairwell, the sound of an animal trap snapping shut suddenly rang out.
The Giant Hyaenodon King stumbled, instinctively pulling back its trapped right forepaw.
"Snap!"
In its panic, its right hind leg also stepped on another animal trap.
The Giant Hyaenodon King's movements became somewhat hurried.
"Trapped! Kill!"
Du Yu stepped forward first, his waist and horse stance unified, his long spear descending like a falling galaxy.
The sharp spearhead plunged into the Giant Hyaenodon King's head. It paused for a moment, then broke through, sinking in nearly halfway.
The Giant Hyaenodon King let out a shrill, piercing roar. The narrow stairwell made it difficult to dodge left or right. It could only move forward, or retreat!
......