Chapter 288: The Turmoil Over Seizing Land Begins

Li Long hoisted the large deer onto his shoulder—it wasn't particularly huge, weighing around forty kilograms, while the fawn was much lighter, about ten-plus kilograms, which Li Long lifted with a single grab.

With his rifle slung across his chest, Li Long carried the large deer and held the fawn, stumbling as he crossed the mountains; his bicycle was on the other side, and once he dragged the carcasses there, the rest would be easier to manage.

Although the large deer was dead, its body hadn't stiffened yet, making it manageable, but the fawn resisted fiercely, struggling constantly with surprising strength.

Li Long gripped its four hooves tightly to prevent it from falling, wondering in his heart if, at this rate of struggling, it would bleed out and die before they even reached the other side of the mountain.

The forest was dense with trees interspersed with shrubs, making travel difficult; Li Long tried his best to avoid the trees, seeking wider gaps, which meant covering extra distance.

Fortunately, the sun had risen, providing decent light within the woods; Li Long moved through the forest with the sun at his back, feeling blood trickling onto his body and neck, but there was absolutely no way to deal with it right now.

Deer blood was a valuable commodity, but there was no help for it; for now, it could only be wasted.

Finally emerging from the forest, he found himself still halfway up the mountain; after scanning the surroundings and spotting his bicycle, he set down both the large deer and the fawn, exhaling deeply to rest for a moment.

The moment the fawn was released, it struggled to its feet and tried to run, only to topple over immediately after standing.

What surprised Li Long somewhat was that the wound on the fawn had nearly stopped bleeding; was it healing?

Or had it missed vital organs? Or perhaps deer simply possessed an inherently strong capacity for self-healing?

Li Long couldn't figure it out, but he stopped overthinking, hoisting the large deer and grabbing the fawn again to head toward the bicycle; upon reaching it, he set down the large deer, untied the rope coiled on the rear rack, secured the large deer across the seat, then bound the fawn's four hooves and placed it atop the larger carcass; ignoring the fawn's incessant bleating, he pushed the bicycle toward the wooden cabin.

By the time he reached the wooden cabin, the sun was already a pole's height above the horizon; Li Long sighed in relief, leaned the bicycle against the front of the cabin, and went inside to get some water.

He was exhausted.

After resting for about ten minutes, Li Long came out to untie the fawn; thinking for a moment, he retrieved some wound medicine and applied it to the young deer; whether it lived or died would depend on fate.

Next, he carried the large deer to the spring, fetched two basins, and began skinning and gutting it.

The deer hide bore bullet holes and wasn't worth much, but it could still fetch a small price, so Li Long skinned it with considerable care.

The doe hadn't eaten much early in the morning, so its stomach was quite empty, though it held plenty of fat; after finishing the skinning, Li Long severed the head and hooves, setting them aside for later processing.

Gutting was delicate work; carelessness could rupture the intestines, causing major trouble; he emptied the stomach contents into a large basin, finding quite a bit of fat as well; the autumn fattening had clearly taken hold, and now it benefited Li Long.

He deboned the venison, placing both bones and meat into a large basin to soak in cold water; at this time of year, it wasn't particularly hot outside, with mountain temperatures peaking around twenty degrees Celsius and dropping to single digits at night, so the meat wouldn't spoil.

Mainly, Li Long still had that herd of wild boars in mind; he figured he'd save this venison for his family to eat, and if he could hunt one or two boars tomorrow morning, he could bring them back to treat the young workers to a meat feast.

Making dried meat out of venison felt a bit wasteful; seeing that the temperature hadn't risen much, Li Long thought for a moment and decided simply to take the venison home, serving as a meat supplement for his family.

Acting on the thought, he didn't bother turning the intestines and stomach inside out, just placed them in a basin and carried them inside to cool; the other untreated offal and the venison were doused with cold water, packed directly into a sack, and loaded onto the bicycle's rear rack.

The fawn lay listlessly by the edge of the wooden cabin; Li Long simply picked it up, carried it inside the small cabin, and stopped fussing with it; if it lived, it lived; if not, he could skin it upon his return.

Locking the door, Li Long rode his bicycle down the mountain; he first went to the large courtyard where Gu Gu Xiaoxia wasn't present; he left some pork ribs there, assuming she would clean and prepare them when she returned at noon.

Then he rode his bicycle back to the team headquarters.

By the time he arrived at the team, it was already past noon; however, Li Jianguo was at home and hadn't gone out, as he planned to go set nets with Tao Da again in the afternoon; seeing Li Long return, he asked in surprise:

"Did you catch something?"

"I shot a deer; I brought it back first for the family to process; I still need to head back to see if I can hunt some wild boars tomorrow; let's keep this deer for the family to eat; there's quite a bit of fat on it, we can render some down and try eating deer oil."

"Alright," Li Jianguo replied, not expecting Li Long to achieve results so quickly; he immediately unloaded the venison from the bicycle's rear rack, found a large basin, and began soaking it under running water before preparing to process it.

"Are you hungry? There's some leftover rice in the pot; shall I heat it up for you?"

"No need," Li Long waved his hand; "I need to rest a bit before heading out again."

Li Jianguo fetched him two mooncakes; these things were high in sugar and excellent for replenishing energy.

Li Long left before Tao Da arrived; the return journey was far less tense.

Upon reaching the county town, Li Long went to Daroushitang and ordered a portion of mixed noodles, adding three extra servings of noodles to fill his stomach; after eating, he bought five steamed buns to eat later if he got hungry in the evening, saving the rest for tomorrow's breakfast.

Returning to the mountains while it was still quite bright, Li Long entered the small room; to his surprise, the fawn was still alive, having stood up upon hearing the noise; when Li Long opened the door, the deer even nudged him slightly before retreating backward in fear.

The wound had already formed a scab.

Li Long found it quite miraculous; he tied a rope around the fawn's leg, dragged it outside, and secured it on the grass; the fawn initially kept its distance from Li Long in fear, but seeing him remain still, it began grazing, lifting its head every few bites to bleat twice.

Li Long paid it no further attention, carried out the basin containing the intestines and stomach, and went to the spring to begin turning them inside out.

It seemed next time he went hunting near the hot springs, he should bring a sack directly; warm water made turning intestines and stomachs much easier, as cold water caused the fat to harden, making the task difficult; after finishing and washing them clean, Li Long lit a fire beneath the stove, placed a pot of water on top, and began boiling.

The smell of offal emanated as the water heated; no matter how cleanly washed, this stuff always retained an odor—of course, this didn't count those soaked with technological harshness in the new century's teens and twenties of his previous life; those had already lost their soul.

Once the water boiled, Li Long felt hungry again, so he took a tree branch, skewered the steamed buns on it, and began roasting them over the fire beneath the stove.

The meat buns were generously filled; once heated, a charred aroma quickly spread; the stomach and intestines inside the pot were likely cooked by now, the offal scent fading slightly as a fragrant smell emerged, prompting the fawn to start bleating again.

Li Long glanced at it but ignored the noise; after eating one bun, he felt a bit choked; having run out of water, he hastily split two branches of firewood from beneath this stove, took them to the other stove, ignited a fire there, and set a pot to boil water.

Once the water boiled, Li Long extinguished the fire, ladled the water into a basin to cool, then added some water to the pot boiling the intestines to prevent it from burning dry.

At this moment, the sun had sunk behind the mountain peak, and the temperature dropped instantly.

Li Long took his sickle to the edge of the wooden cabin, cut some grass haphazardly, and placed it inside the small cabin before putting the fawn in; mainly, he worried that leaving it outside at night might attract wolves, which would hardly be worth the loss.

After the pot containing the stomach and intestines cooled slightly, Li Long fished them out, placed them in a basin, and carried them inside.

He carried the pot of water and poured it into the stream; Li Long guessed that this would definitely attract animals during the night.

Bang!

After the sun had completely set, he roasted two more buns over the dying embers, ate them, and then went inside; he needed to sleep early tonight since he still had to check tomorrow morning if he could hunt any wild boars.

The nearby fawn occasionally bleated once or twice, but the moment wolf howls echoed from the distance, the fawn immediately fell silent.

Li Long faintly heard several sounds resembling gunshots; he wondered if Ha Li Mu was ambushing a pack of wolves.

Li Long made no further move, lay down on the bed, and slowly closed his eyes.

He truly was destined for a life of toil.

However, hunting and fishing were things he genuinely loved, so although today was truly exhausting, it was also truly joyful; especially at the moment of gaining a harvest, he felt deeply content.

Unknowingly, he fell asleep; when he woke up, he saw that it was still dark outside.

Shining his flashlight and checking his watch, he saw it was already past five o'clock; Li Long turned off the flashlight, rubbed his face, got up, and dressed.

The fawn in the next room, hearing the movement, seemed to stir as well, though it made no sound.

Li Long opened the door and saw several black shadows suddenly dart away, fleeing into the mountain forest.

The wolves actually came!

It's a pity I didn't set an ambush beforehand; otherwise, I could have hunted a wolf today.

Li Long shone his flashlight around and discovered the wolves had all fled, not a single one remaining. They must have been lingering where he had emptied the boar's stomach earlier, as well as by the spring; during the skinning and gutting, some scraps of meat and bone fragments would have fallen, and such things are tempting to wolves.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to satisfy them.

Li Long released the safety, chambered a round, then engaged the safety again; holding the rifle, he pushed his bicycle toward the wild boar.

If he really managed to shoot a wild boar, he had no desire to carry it back on his shoulders; it was too exhausting.

As his eyes slowly adjusted to the dawn light, Li Long quickened his pace, pushing the bike all the way to the mountain's edge before leaving it there and proceeding slowly toward the summit. The mountain was not high, resembling more of a gentle slope. When Li Long arrived, there was still no movement over there.

He gazed at that dark, indistinct patch—the spot he had seen yesterday that the wild boar had rooted through—and began searching for a suitable ambush position.

Finding a spot fifty or sixty meters away from that location, Li Long lay prone; today, he would continue lying in ambush.

He hadn't waited long, and while the sky was still dark, Li Long spotted a dark shadow approaching, yet this shadow appeared somewhat thin and small, and it was alone.

After watching for quite a while, Li Long realized the creature looked like a fox.

Did foxes also need to come here to find food? Were there not so many marmots and mice on the grassland for it to eat?

This was rather frustrating.

The fox rummaged around there for a while, caught something unknown to eat, then leaped once, seemingly startled by something, and quickly ran off.

Li Long finally felt relieved.

Then, within no more than ten minutes, another group of animals arrived.

There were only three of them—they were actually wolves!

Do wolves also scavenge through garbage for food? (End of Chapter)