Life: A Black and White Film (一生一世，黑白影画)

Chapter 3.2 - The Shadows of Fate (2)

Wen Han's emotions were somewhat on the edge, and with the alcohol acting as a catalyst, she was not able to control them.

Wordlessly, she rose to her feet and returned to her own tent. This time, she truly did sleep. The instant she shut her eyes, it was as if she had been pushed into a whirlpool, and heavy-headed, she slipped away from consciousness.

However, it seemed that before long, she was awoken by screams of terror.

Abruptly, she sat up. Vaguely sensing that this was not a dream, she immediately crawled out of the tent.

There was no one beside the campfire. Far away, silhouettes of people were flocked together in one place, hugging their heads and squatting down beside the tents.

In the darkness, she had taken only two steps forward when someone suddenly seized her by the arm and crouched down. "Poachers! They must be poachers! There are so many Tibetan mastiffs!" Agnesa cried in Russian, her words quivering.

Pain stabbed Wen Han's wrist from Agnesa's grip. She patted Agnesa's hand, her own arm sore from the anxiety that clenched her. What about him? Where was he? Frantically, she searched around with her eyes but was unable to find the two guides and him, or his friend Meng Liangchuan.

All around, there were only the snarling and barking of dogs, ferocious and ruthless-sounding.

Two of the soldiers stationed to guard the lake were injured, and they held their wounds as they roared out furious shouts. A group of hounds pounced into the jungle thicket, clamping down and tearing with their teeth or being clamped down upon and torn at by teeth. In the black of night, nothing could be seen. There were only the yowls and cries of beasts.

Someone carrying a hunting rifle was taking backwards steps, and as he walked past where Wen Han was, he narrowed his eyes. "If you see any animal, slash at it. If you don't hack them to death, you'll be the ones bitten to death." Meng Liangchuan yanked out a dagger and tossed it at her feet.

Reaching her hand out, Wen Han pulled the blade over and clutched it tightly.

She did not know what use there was for her to have a dagger. The speed of those darting shadowy figures was too terrifying. Her sight had become blurry from fear. The landscape before her eyes shook and would suddenly grow larger, then suddenly smaller. All of a sudden, the tent behind them, which was used to hold cookware and utensils, was knocked over, and two animals flipped and rolled into it. Amidst the smashing sounds of pots and bowls crashing to the ground, the beasts, swathed in the tent canvas, came charging in her direction. Behind her, Agnesa gave a shrill shriek as Roman yanked her by her collar, and tumbling and scrambling on their hands and feet, they raced toward that largest tent. Besides hiding, there was nothing they could do.

"Wen Han!"Agnesa yelled her name.

She did not move.<>This is an UNAUTHORIZED copy, taken from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

She had clearly seen a familiar-looking shadow entwined with a Tibetan mastiff, rolling on the ground with it. Under the moonlight, there was blood on Cheng Muyun's face. The look in his eyes was even more ferocious and chilling than the beast beneath him. With a single stab, he thrust his dagger straight into the Tibetan mastiff's heart, then dragged the blade crosswise, nearly splitting the beast in two at the chest.

Blood came gushing out, a brilliant red, completely staining his pants.

Climbing back up onto his feet, he cast an emotionless glance at Wen Han.

Wen Han's feet seemed to have a mind of their own and wanted to run toward him.

But in that moment when she let her guard down, a shadow suddenly dove at her. The instant the beast's jaws clamped down on her shoulder, Cheng Muyun was throwing himself at her, tearing her back out from the Tibetan mastiff's mouth. The two crashed together into the ground, the sky and the earth seeming to spin around them as their bodies bowled toward the pitch-black waters of the lake.