Rotting Land: Survive

Chapter 741 - 727: Enemy Activity?

Little Coalball was happily galloping in the snow; sometimes it ran, sometimes it jumped, sometimes it rolled, sometimes it dug into the ground, thoroughly enjoying itself.

On the rooftop, Old Xu, after doing a round of patrol, gave some instructions and then turned to leave.

Having seen Old Xu off, Hua Biao returned to the house. Feeling a bit weary, he slapped his frozen cheeks to wake himself up.

He glanced around at everyone and laughed from the heart. Watching Wenquan Xin and others shouting and play fighting in the snow, he felt like he too had returned to that carefree childhood.

Recently, everyone’s nerves had indeed been too tense; they truly needed some relaxation like today.

In order to let everyone enjoy themselves at ease, he must be on high alert and do a good job at guarding.

Just as he prepared to pick up his binoculars and resume work, Little Coalball’s actions inadvertently caught his attention.

Originally frolicking enthusiastically in the snow, Little Coalball suddenly stopped, quietly kneeling in place, eyes fixed on the front.

This action lasted only a few seconds before Little Coalball quickly ran towards the people playing.

"Wow, Ballball, you’re joining the fun too!" Wang Zhongyu narrowly dodged a snowball thrown by Wu Chao, saying nervously, "Ballball, go over there and play with Wu Chao."

Seeing Wang Zhongyu’s attempt to block him had no effect, Little Coalball locked his target onto Wu Chao opposite.

The latter hesitated as Little Coalball pounced towards him, its posture really intimidated him; it was the first time he saw the little one so aggressive.

Of course, Little Coalball didn’t really intend to attack him. Upon nearing him, he tugged and pulled, ran in circles and jumped, making it impossible for Wu Chao to continue throwing snowballs.

On the contrary, because of the little one’s interference, he kept getting hit by snowballs, making him so angry and frustrated as he yelled, "My dear mother, Coalball, what are you doing, helping that rascal opposite!"

Wang Zhongyu laughed heartily with his mouth wide open, "Who are you calling a rascal? I think it’s you! Those with virtue receive much help, those without receive little, understand? Even our Little Coalball understands this reasoning, yet you, a grown man, don’t, really embarrassing!"

Something wasn’t right. With his years of experience dealing with dogs, Hua Biao realized that Little Coalball’s actions weren’t merely disrupting everyone’s game.

On the contrary, dogs’ hearing and sense of smell are hundreds of times more sensitive than humans’, especially specially trained dogs like Little Coalball. It certainly discovered something. Watching its incessant jumping, wanting to howl yet unable to because it was mute, Little Coalball seemed anxious.

Hua Biao decisively issued a warning, "Captain, there might be something going on, please prepare for battle, over!"

Old Xu had just returned to the room; before he had a chance to sit down, Hua Biao’s words caused his nerves to tense up, "What? Hua Biao, clarify, what’s going on? Is it an attack? Over!"

"Well..." Hua Biao didn’t know how to explain to his captain; he couldn’t just say it was based on Little Coalball’s actions, could he?

"Hua Biao, speak up!" Old Xu practically shouted.

"Captain, the snow is too heavy right now, let me verify it further, you should make preparations first. Over!" Hua Biao ended the conversation abruptly, not caring how Old Xu would react. Meanwhile, he shouted downstairs, "Hey, comrades, come inside, there’s a situation!"

His shout halted everyone’s actions. Daxiang raised his hand to his forehead to look around and shouted, "Hua Biao, what’s the situation?"

"Ah, it’s hard to explain in a few words, come inside first, safety first!" Hua Biao said helplessly, the absence of solid evidence making him truly uneasy.

"Sister Wei, are we going back inside?" Fangfang blinked her watery big eyes, looking at the unfinished snowman, somewhat reluctant.

Wei Yang brushed the snow off Fangfang and smiled, "Fangfang, soon a group of big baddies might be coming here, so we need to go inside to let the uncles chase them away. After they chase away the baddies, I’ll come back and build an even bigger snowman baby with you, how’s that?"

Children are always innocent; upon hearing Wei Yang say she would make a bigger snowman baby, Fangfang’s disappointment instantly turned to brightness. She hopped playfully, saying, "Really? Aunt Wei, you must keep your word; you have to help Fangfang make a snowman baby this big."

Fangfang stood on tiptoe and gestured a height inconsistent with her own height for the snowman baby. Wei Yang nodded very affirmatively, "Alright, just as Fangfang said, we’ll make it that big."

Despite their dissatisfaction with the alarm, everyone still followed instructions and returned to the house. Old Xu also hurriedly rushed back to the rooftop; as soon as he pushed the door open, he anxiously asked, "Hua Biao, what’s really going on?"

In this situation, Hua Biao had no choice but to truthfully tell Old Xu about his bold deduction made based on Little Coalball’s anomaly. Naturally, Old Xu was somewhat skeptical. However, he was more concerned about the outcome, "What’s the situation? Is there indeed something?"

Hua Biao blushed and shook his head, "Captain... this is not quite it yet, but I think Little Coalball wouldn’t be so restless for no reason. Now, even if it’s not those bandits arriving, something else might happen, staying alert shouldn’t be harmful."

Though Hua Biao hadn’t detected any signs of life through the binoculars, he firmly believed Little Coalball’s actions carried some implication; unfortunately, he didn’t understand animal language; otherwise, he’d surely ask it what it intended to express.

Old Xu was very wise; he didn’t reprimand Hua Biao for causing a scene by mobilizing everyone due to a dog’s reaction. Instead, he nodded affirmatively, "Hmm, you handled it aptly. Now is no time for negligence; any anomaly should be treated as a real alarm."

Although Old Xu said this, his understanding actually made Hua Biao feel even more embarrassed, considering everyone was having fun, but his actions indeed ruined the mood, "Captain, perhaps now we should lift the alarm, hehe..."

Old Xu noticed Hua Biao’s embarrassment; he pulled out the hand-held radio and seriously announced, "Everyone might be wondering why Hua Biao issued the alarm so suddenly. Actually, it was a temporary plan discussed between me and Old Lin today. The purpose was to use this kind of weather to see how everyone would react to the orders. Overall, the exercise performance was quite satisfactory, and the responses to the orders were fairly quick. Hopefully, in real combat, similar reactions will be maintained. That’s it, everyone, resume your activities. Over!"

"Captain, you..."

"Hey!" Old Xu interrupted Hua Biao’s words with a wave, "Hua Biao, I was speaking truthfully; Old Lin and I have always wanted to find an opportunity like this to test everyone’s response to emergency orders. However, you know recently everyone’s nerves had been tightly strung, conducting an exercise like this at that time wouldn’t yield effective results. So your actions today truly were unexpected; even I got mobilized by you! Haha!"

Old Xu’s hearty laughter seemed to dissolve Hua Biao’s embarrassment. He patted their shoulder, "Alright, Hua Biao, don’t overthink, keep on duty, I’ll go down first, remember any matter, big or small, report promptly."

"Yes, Captain, I understand, rest assured!"

"Hmm!" Old Xu nodded. The recent event did indeed startle him a bit; luckily, it turned out to be safe in the end, and he felt a sense of relief. (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)