Chapter 351

(There is only this chapter at midnight, the rest will be posted in the morning.)

When Li Long, carrying his gun and leading Li Junshan and Li Junfeng, arrived in front of that thing, he could tell it was indeed a wild boar.

This boar was not small; it looked to be over a hundred kilograms, even bigger than the wild boar they had slaughtered at home. It just looked a bit too thin; although most of its body was covered by snow, one could see its frame was long, but it wasn't fat.

"Hey, Uncle Without Xiao Long, you're really lucky. You just came over and picked up a wild boar. This pig isn't small. If we sell the meat, we could at least get a hundred yuan or so," Li Junfeng said with a smile.

Li Long shook his head, slung his gun over his shoulder, walked over, bent down to clear the snow off the wild boar, and then saw the cause of death.

Around the wild boar's neck was a rather thick wire snare, which had dug deep into the flesh. The other end of the wire snare was tied to a small tree as thick as an arm—one could tell that the small tree had been snapped off by the wild boar itself.

"This wild boar got caught in someone else's snare," Li Long said. "It snapped the tree and ran here, probably wanting to root for something to eat, but the wire snare was dug in too deep. It didn't get to eat anything, and I don't know if it starved to death or was strangled to death."

"Who cares how it died? It's frozen, the meat is definitely edible."

"For something like a wild boar, if you don't gut it after it dies, the blood stays in the meat, and the carcass will stink." Li Long shook his head and said, "This meat... I reckon it can't be eaten."

"How can it not be eaten? I don't smell anything rotten?" Li Junfeng had no concept of a stinking carcass and said, "Isn't this meat all frozen?"

"If you don't believe me, then drag it back and see." Li Long had also read about frozen meat stinking in novels; if he really had to explain it, he couldn't give a reason, as he hadn't experienced it himself.

Hearing Li Long's word, Li Junfeng immediately asked Li Junshan to lend a hand, and the two of them pulled the wild boar and headed toward the mountain.

Seeing them struggling to pull it, Li Long told Li Junshan to go back to the wooden cabin, get a sack from the horse cart, flip the wild boar onto the sack, and then pull the sack; it would be much easier to move on the snow.

"Heh," Li Junfeng said while dragging it, "Uncle Without Xiao Long, this method is good. I really didn't think it could be done this way..."

After the wild boar was dragged to the wooden cabin, Li Long told Li Junfeng and Li Junshan to take advantage of the fact that the pork was frozen to chop off the wild boar's four legs and then gut the belly.

Although Li Junshan felt it was a pity, since Li Long had asked for it to be done, he must have his reasons, so he followed instructions.

When the wild boar's belly was opened, Li Long had already started a fire in the stove outside, set up a pot, and boiled water.

"Take the four legs to the horse cart first, then put the remaining gutted part by the stove to thaw. Once it thaws, you'll know why it can't be eaten." Li Long said this to Li Junfeng and then went into the house.

Watching Li Long enter the house, Li Junfeng said to Li Junshan outside:

"I really don't believe that thing can't be eaten. Look at this meat, it's red, and it's been preserved quite well after being frozen. How could it be inedible?"

The fire under the stove was mainly fueled by firewood and burned very vigorously. It quickly thawed the pork. Although the distance was fifty or sixty centimeters, the fire still singed the pig hair, and a burnt, charred smell drifted over.

Soon, Li Junfeng's expression changed. He smelled a foul odor. The faster the meat thawed, the stronger the smell became—it was that kind of heavy, rank stench mixed with the smell of rotting blood and flesh.

He looked at Li Junshan and said helplessly:

"Looks like it really can't be eaten. This meat stinks, how can we eat it?"

"Should we wash it and try? Didn't Uncle Without Xiao Long say this meat stinks because it wasn't gutted, the blood is in the meat, and the gas in the belly fermented it? Then let's wash this meat thoroughly, wash away the bloody water inside, and see if it works?" Li Junshan felt it was a pity that this whole wild boar couldn't be eaten, so he proposed his own idea.

"Then let's try." Li Junfeng went into the wooden cabin, took a basin out, scooped some hot water from the pot on the stove, threw in some snow to make it lukewarm, then cut a large piece of meat and put it in, scrubbing it.

His hands became greasy as soon as they touched the oil. Soon, the water in the basin turned blackish-red and carried a rank stench. Li Junfeng picked up the meat and smelled it again, feeling that the smell had faded a bit.

He handed the meat to Li Junshan and said with a smile:

"It's really useful, this meat isn't as stinky!"

Li Junshan took it, walked to the side, smelled it, shook his head, and said:

"It still stinks. With this smell, it can't be eaten. Looks like this method doesn't work."

"How can it not work?" Li Junfeng was still unconvinced. He poured out the water in the basin and got another basin of water to wash it clean. As he washed, he gave up himself.

He knew that because he had been smelling it the whole time, his sense of smell might have been affected, but even so, the piece of meat in his hand still had a smell. It was a smell that made one want to vomit just by smelling it. If this were cooked into a meal, it would truly be impossible to eat.

"What a pity!" He threw the meat into the basin, went to the side, bent down to grab a handful of snow, rubbed the grease off his hands, and looked full of regret, "If it could be eaten, we could have had a good meal today. So much meat..."

"It's not necessarily a pity." Li Long walked out of the house at some point and said with a smile, "We can't eat this meat, but other things can. As long as it can be eaten, then our opportunity has come... Come, you two help me get some things."

Upon hearing that this thing was still useful, Li Junfeng immediately became excited. He followed Li Long toward the small room, asking as he walked:

"Uncle Without Xiao Long, what's it useful for?"

"What else could it be useful for? As bait." Li Long found a bundle of wire in the small room, took it out, brought it outside the house, and said to Li Junfeng:

"We can't eat this thing, but things like wolves, foxes, and such still like to eat it. In this deep winter, their noses are very sharp. Tie this meat with wire, boil it until it's half-cooked, and throw it on the snow. Nail the wire into the ground. When these things come over, we'll be able to shoot at live targets."

"This is really a good method!" Li Junfeng immediately took the wire from Li Long's hand excitedly and went to prepare the meat bait. Li Junshan also went over to help.

Li Long only regretted that he hadn't brought the small-caliber rifle. With just his one gun, it was a bit thin.

But it didn't matter, let's just try. Halimu said there were many wolves in the mountains, so let's see if these wolves would come to take an interest in his stinking pork.

There were many pieces of pork. Since they could be used as bait, Li Junfeng felt they should be used sparingly. He cut five pieces of meat and dragged the rest to the side of the wooden cabin, buried them with snow, and packed it down, planning to use them later.

The five pieces of meat boiled for a while, and Li Long ran away. The smell was truly too unpleasant. He decided that when they actually shot a wolf, he would have to make Li Junfeng scrub the pot clean—although it was his own idea, seeing how enthusiastic he was, he would leave this matter to him.

Li Junfeng didn't think it was that stinky; perhaps he had gotten used to the smell and didn't feel anything. He and Li Junshan took the meat out, and then, following Li Long's instructions, placed them here and there within a hundred-square-meter area in front of the wooden cabin. Then they found stones and tied the other end of the wire to the stones. The stones weren't big; the largest was about the size of a volleyball, and the small ones were about the size of two fists. However, Li Junfeng and Li Junshan poured the thawed snow water they had used to boil the meat onto the stones, and soon, the stones were frozen to the ground, with ice forming on top.

Li Junfeng also poured the broth from the pot over the meat, letting the meat itself emit a strong smell. That was it; this time he was certain that as long as there were meat-eating animals nearby, they would definitely be able to smell it.

After everything was done, Li Junfeng and Li Junshan washed the pot several times together, put it away, and returned to the wooden cabin. Li Long was pressing bullets into the 56-semi-automatic rifle. After ten bullets were pressed in, he aimed the gun at the window to test it.

Although it was broad daylight, the window was covered with plastic sheeting, and the door was closed, so it wasn't very bright inside the house.

"Uncle Without Xiao Long, do you think anything will come?" Li Junfeng had been full of confidence while working just now, but now that he was idle, he felt a bit uneasy.

If they had worked for half a day and nothing came, wouldn't it have been a waste of effort?

"They will come." Li Long said very firmly, "Big or small, there will definitely be something coming over."

"I hope it's big ones." Li Junfeng said.

Li Long smiled, pointed to the window, and said:

"Lift that plastic sheet, you two take turns observing and see when something comes."

"Alright, alright, I'll go first." Li Junfeng immediately went over, lifted a corner of the plastic sheet on the window, and a gust of cold wind poured in, making him shiver.

!.

But immediately, he grabbed his collar so the wind had nowhere to pour in, and then looked outside.

"Change every ten minutes." Li Long said while half-lying on the wooden kang, "Don't look for too long, your eyes won't be able to take it, and it's also very cold."

Ten minutes later, Li Junshan took over. Li Junfeng hurriedly went to sit by the stove to warm himself while saying:

"It's been a while, why hasn't anything come?"

"How could it be that fast!" Li Long said with a smile, "Even if you set snares to catch rabbits, you have to wait all night to see any movement. Setting sticky nets is the same. There are so many fish in the small lake, but even after setting the net, you have to wait until the next day to collect the fish. You've only just put the stuff down and want something to come already? If that were really the case, then there would be too many wild things in these mountains!"

Li Junfeng smiled. He also knew he was impatient, but this was his first time doing something related to hunting in the mountains, so he was truly a bit excited and hoped for some results.

In less than ten minutes, he went to replace Li Junshan again. After two more rounds, Li Junshan suddenly shouted:

"Uncle Without Xiao Long, look, it seems like something is coming!"

"What? What? Let me see!" Li Junfeng walked over impatiently.

"Keep it down!" Li Long stood up, patted him, and said, "If you scare it away, then there's no game to play!"

"Oh, oh, oh!" Li Junfeng had an apologetic look on his face. After looking at the thing carefully, he said with some disappointment:

"It's a bit small... doesn't look like a wolf!"

"Of course it's not a wolf." Li Long pushed him aside, looked carefully, shook his head, and said, "That's a fox, not a wolf."

"A fox? Uncle Without Xiao Long, you mean a fox? That thing's fur must be valuable, right?"

"Hmm, twenty or thirty yuan, maybe." Li Long shook his head and said, "Don't shoot yet, let it take some food and leave. We're waiting for wolves. If we shoot the fox now, the wolves won't come."

"Is there such a saying?" Li Junfeng was a bit puzzled, "Are wolves that smart?"

"You bet." Li Long put down the plastic sheet and said, "Let it eat; at most, it'll eat one piece of meat. Since ancient times, loud noises, lightning, and thunder have been phenomena that make animals afraid. The wolves in these mountains haven't been shot at for just a day or two. Once they hear a gunshot, even if they smell that there's something here, they won't dare to come over."

Li Junfeng lifted the plastic sheet again and took a look at the fox that was gnawing on the wild boar meat, feeling a bit regretful.

But when it came to hunting, he only had the part of listening; he couldn't make the decisions at all.

Watching the fox finally gnaw off a piece of meat, pick it up in its mouth, and run away, Li Junfeng asked again:

"Uncle Without Xiao Long, do you think the wolves will definitely come?"

"That I don't know." Li Long waved his hand, "I think there's an eighty percent chance they'll come. With such thick snow, it's not easy for wolves to find food. If there's ready-to-eat food, they'll definitely want to come back and eat it."

Waiting until the sun was a notch higher than the mountain in the west, Li Junfeng was already getting anxious. This was equivalent to waiting for a rabbit by a tree stump; the more he cared, the slower time felt. So Li Junshan was staring out the window, and Li Long was half-leaning on the large wooden kang chatting with Li Junshan. Only he couldn't sit or stand, looking every once in a while, afraid of missing it.

Just at this moment, Li Junshan suddenly spoke:

"Uncle Without Xiao Long, there's... that should be a wolf, right? Looks like a dog, it's coming!"

Li Long was a bit surprised upon hearing this. It wasn't dark yet, and the wolves were coming over so brazenly?

He immediately arrived at the window and pushed Li Junfeng, who was impatiently wanting to see, to the side.

"Hey, it really is a wolf!" Li Long smiled, a bit surprised, "Coming before it's dark, this pack of wolves seems to be starving..."

"Let me see, let me see!" Li Junfeng was very anxious to come over and see.

"Alright, you take a look. After looking, move aside, I'm getting ready to shoot!" Li Long disengaged the safety of the 56-semi-automatic at the window, pulled the bolt to chamber a round, and got ready.

Li Junfeng looked through the window paper. In his field of vision, four wolves were walking in a fan shape toward the place where they had placed the wild boar meat.

"These wolves are all about the same size... hey, there's one that's a bit smaller. I wonder which one is the wolf king?" Li Junfeng said, and then made room.

Li Long rested the gun on the window and slowly took aim. (End of chapter)