Chapter 443

He looked up at the outside; it was quite dark. He looked at his watch again; it was past four.

It was a bit chilly in the house; the fire in the stove had gone out. The window paper wasn't pasted tightly, and wind was coming through. Li Long wrapped himself tightly in the quilt, but then he threw it off and climbed up.

Since he had come here to hunt, since he was already awake, and since he could even dream of hunting a tiger, then in a real scenario, there shouldn't be a problem with going out now to hunt a wild boar piglet, right?

He climbed up, put on his clothes, and went over to nail the window paper down a bit. It had been airing out all night; there was no need to keep it ventilated.

He took the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, checked it, loaded it full of bullets, engaged the safety, slung the rifle over his shoulder, and carried a satchel containing a box of bullets and two steamed buns. He filled his canteen with cool boiled water, then checked his lighter and the knife he carried on his person.

After bringing his things, Li Long went out the door, turned around to lock it, identified the direction, and then, with the rifle on his back, walked with long strides toward the southwest.

He remembered that near the place where the beekeeper Old Lv used to stay, there was a small stream. Last autumn, the grass there was quite lush, and wild boars seemed to visit often. In spring, the grass in other places hadn't fully grown yet, so the grass by the water should be growing better; he figured wild boars should visit often, right?

The sky was slightly bright, and walking in the valley, he could see the situation ten or so meters ahead, but the field of vision wasn't broad; most places were still dark and blurry. Li Long didn't walk fast, afraid of falling into a hole.

Marmots were quite annoying; a marmot family of five or six members could dig twenty or thirty holes within a radius of several dozen meters. They usually ate grass on the surface and gnawed on grass roots underground in autumn and winter, destroying the grassland in that area.

Moreover, these things carried the plague virus, and with such a high mortality rate, he didn't know why those tourists in later generations liked such a slovenly creature.

Just looking at those big yellow buckteeth, he knew this thing wasn't clean!

Li Long hated this thing mainly because the holes it dug were sometimes covered by grass; whether a person or a horse stepped into one and twisted, the leg would either be broken or sprained.

The mountains in the early morning were damp and cold, and in some places, mist could be vaguely seen. The grass on the ground wasn't very lush, and occasionally he could see fritillaries growing; it seemed it was almost the season for digging fritillaries. Wild garlic, also known as wild tulips, had also grown out, and a few had already bloomed. Li Long squatted down, found a stick, and dug for a while, unearthed the small bulb underneath, wiped it, and put it in his mouth to chew; it had a special sweet taste.

He threw away the stick and continued forward; one would have to eat a basin of these to get full.

The field of vision ahead became broader. After passing a few hills that weren't very high, Li Long saw scattered feces of wild boars and other animals in the grass.

When he walked to the place where the beekeeper once kept his beehives, there was no movement in the turf. Li Long was very disappointed; it seemed there were no wild boars.

He walked up to it and discovered traces of wild boars having been there; the marks where the wild grass had been rooted up were quite fresh. They should have rooted it up yesterday or the day before, but they just hadn't come today.

It seemed he had made a wasted trip.

He looked to the east; the sky was a bit brighter, but the fish-belly white hadn't appeared yet. He looked at his watch again; it was already past five. He figured that in another half an hour or forty minutes, the sky would be completely bright.

Li Long thought for a moment; he might as well go to his old base, the hot spring, to take a look.

Going directly east from here, crossing two or three mountain gullies, he should reach the Hot Spring Gully.

Li Long found a relatively narrow place, jumped over the small stream, and drilled into the mountain.

In the pine forest, light green new needles were poking out from the old pine branches; looking at the different shades of color, they were quite cute.

The ground under the old pines was covered with pine cones that had no seeds. These pine cones weren't large, the length of an adult's middle finger, and were all dark brown, looking like large insect pupae.

Li Long picked one up and played with it in his hand. He vaguely remembered that when he went to play in the mountains in his previous life, he picked a few to bring back, and the neighbor's little granddaughter liked such things very much because she had never seen them before; it was novel.

Never mind that time; even now, children like Li Qiang who had reached high school and had been out of the county town were few. Occasionally going to Shicheng or Wucheng was seeing the big world. It seemed that a boy in the village who had reached high school saw a pine tree in the county's No. 1 Middle School and pulled a handful of pine needles back, which made many little children very fond of them. Usually, what could be seen near the village were poplar, willow, elm, and red willow trees; plants like pine trees that were in books weren't easy to see. Although there were many in the Southern Mountains, the adults who could go to the Southern Mountains wouldn't think of bringing this stuff for the children.

Li Long picked a few complete pine cones and put them in his satchel, intending to bring them back for Li Juan, Li Qiang, and the others to play with.

The pine forest was very quiet; he didn't run into any hazel grouse, nor did he see any wild rabbits. The grass hadn't grown up, so walking was relatively easy.

As far as the eye could see, he could see many branches of Codonopsis pilosula turning green, growing small, tender buds.

This thing was also quite magical; when looking at it in late autumn, the branches above were all withered and would break with a light snap, but as soon as spring arrived, they would turn green again. The vitality was truly formidable; no wonder most wood-type mages in games had life spells.

Digressing.

When passing this mountain ridge and walking downward, Li Long saw that there were many weeds in the gully opposite, with withered yellow and tender green mixed together, and the mottled feeling was very strong.

Before Li Long reached the bottom of the gully, he heard movement in the middle of the gully to the southeast.

When he turned his head to look, he was startled!

Far away, at a distance of about a hundred meters, a monster was turning its head to look at him!

The figure of that guy was a tall red deer; the estimated height at the back was about 1.45 meters, and the head held high must be 1.78 meters, and with the antlers, it was quite a bit taller than Li Long.

The reason he said this guy was a monster was because this thing had two heads!

Two heads, both looking at Li Long!

Li Long was startled and subconsciously turned around to drill into the forest; was this thing something to mess with?

But immediately, he gripped his gun; with a gun in hand, what was there to be afraid of!

A two-headed deer was a rare thing at any time!

Li Long didn't run. That guy was in the grass and had also discovered Li Long. It didn't move either, just stared at Li Long like that.

When Li Long looked carefully, he discovered that the two heads of this guy were a bit uncoordinated, one big and one small. The head on the left was shaking slowly, as if it were shaking its head.

Had it become a spirit? Or was it a deformity?

At any rate, having had the experience of a previous life, Li Long felt that this might be a freak, a deformity, or due to other reasons.

Regardless, shoot it first!

Of course, it would be even better if he could catch it alive. For a thing like this, wouldn't those who did animal observation or breeding pay a high price to buy it if they saw it?

Li Long carried his gun and chased toward that side!

It would be best if he could catch up, though of course, that was wishful thinking. If he couldn't catch up, the possibility of shooting it down from a closer distance would also be greater!

As soon as that two-headed deer saw Li Long chasing over, it actually walked two steps toward Li Long, as if testing Li Long's courage, but then it turned around and ran into the distance!

The grass in that mountain gully was relatively deep, and more than half of the red deer's body was in the grass and bushes.

However, Li Long soon discovered that this deer couldn't run fast!

Unlike the deer he had encountered from afar in the past, which would turn their heads and scatter their hooves and disappear in a few breaths, he didn't know if this deer was uncoordinated or had been injured, but its speed wasn't very fast when running.

Worth chasing!

Li Long didn't think it would be a trap. Was there really such a thing as a deer becoming a spirit? Impossible, right?

He carried his gun and ran with long strides toward the deer. The deer remained in Li Long's field of vision, running all the way to the head of this mountain gully.

The head of the gully wasn't completely closed; there was a sparse forest there. The deer drilled into the forest, its figure vaguely visible, and after passing the forest, it went below.

Li Long rushed to the front of the forest and saw that below was still a mountain gully. This mountain gully was slightly wider, and the grass wasn't that deep. The deer was running forward along a small path trodden by cattle and sheep. Li Long hurriedly squatted halfway, raised his gun to aim roughly, and "Bang!" fired a shot. The bullet hit the red deer near the head on one of its necks.

The red deer was startled, its body darted forward violently. Li Long had originally thought this should at least be a vital attack, but discovered that the deer acted as if nothing had happened and continued running forward!

If it weren't for the fact that it still couldn't run fast, Li Long wouldn't have intended to chase it anymore!

Was it immune to physical attacks?

But looking at that red deer with its huge physique, Li Long's heart was itching; chase it!

He carried his gun and continued running forward along the small path. This path was trodden quite flat, and Li Long's movements were much faster. After running for a long time, he was slightly sweating, but the feeling was quite exhilarating.

Of course, it would be even more exhilarating if he could hit that two-headed deer.

Li Long hadn't been to this gully before, but having a path meant that herdsmen should come often. The path was easy to walk, so Li Long ran fast. The distance between the two-headed deer and Li Long changed from the original hundred-plus meters to seventy or eighty meters, but the small path was winding, and occasionally there was forest blocking it, so Li Long was unable to aim, and he was worried that if he aimed and hit it but it had no effect, the deer would run far away again.

One person and one deer, one chasing and one fleeing, ran for two or three kilometers along this mountain path. Li Long felt that he couldn't keep up anymore; this path was ascending, the altitude was getting higher and higher, and coupled with not eating breakfast in the morning, he felt that his energy was a bit insufficient.

But having run all the way here, stopping and not chasing anymore was a bit shameful, and he was a bit reluctant.

That wasn't a deer; that was a huge pile of money.

Li Long carried his gun, panting heavily as he continued to chase, intending to give that deer a good beating after catching up, and cut off the two deer heads directly to make into specimens to hang in the wooden cabin!

Thinking this in his heart, his feet didn't stop, and he was ready to find an opportunity to pull the trigger with the gun in his hand at any time. Just at this moment, a half-grown wild boar suddenly darted out from the forest on the side. Li Long hurriedly made an emergency stop, raised his gun to be on guard. In the time he was stunned, he saw a group of half-grown wild boars darting out behind it, just blocking the way twenty or thirty meters in front of Li Long.

That group of wild boars had originally darted out from the forest intending to run along this mountain path in Li Long's direction, but as soon as they saw Li Long, the leading half-grown wild boar was startled. It didn't turn well and tried to change direction forcibly, but didn't grasp the force well, and its body rolled over, flipping down to the bottom of the gully.

A group of small wild boar piglets followed behind them, and one by one, they didn't brake in time and followed them down. Two of them felt the movement behind and slowed down, still staying on the mountain path, and then looked at Li Long blankly. Hey!

Didn't this just bump into the muzzle of the gun?

Li Long raised his gun and fired a shot at the half-grown wild boar below that hadn't flipped back up, and then aimed at the small wild boar piglets. He vaguely remembered someone saying they wanted to eat roast suckling pig; wouldn't bringing a few of these back be enough?

At least the favor was repaid.

That half-grown wild boar fell on the spot. Two of the small wild boars were hit by Li Long; one had its head smashed, which was too horrible to look at, and the other had a leg shot off directly, screaming miserably there.

The other wild boars had all darted away without a trace.

Only then did Li Long look toward the forest. He discovered a gray shadow flash and disappear, and then another gray figure also flashed. He suddenly realized that it was a pack of wolves chasing the wild boars!

Could he be considered a fisherman reaping the benefits?

Li Long was on full alert, holding his gun and aiming into the forest, and only breathed a sigh of relief after there was completely no movement over there.

Eh, where is my deer?

Only then did Li Long remember that he was chasing that two-headed deer. He looked up, but the deer had long since disappeared.

Damn it!

He was a bit unwilling, but looking at the empty space ahead and thinking that chasing over would be of no use, he had to carry his gun and look at the forest again. There was no movement, so he walked into the gully.

!.

While walking, he still looked at the forest from time to time; wolves were too cunning and couldn't be taken lightly.

When he reached the bottom of the gully, Li Long completely set his heart at ease. It was thirty or forty meters away here; he figured the wolf had really run far away. Or perhaps it was hiding somewhere and didn't dare to come out, wanting to wait until he left to see if there was anything left in the gully that it could eat.

Li Long saw that the half-grown wild boar had been hit in the neck by a shot, and blood flowed all over the ground. Although it was still twitching, its eyes had already lost focus, and it would breathe its last in less than two minutes. Of the two small wild boars, one had its larger head smashed and was dead, while the smaller one was still alive, but its leg was broken, and it was still screaming miserably on the edge of the grass.

Li Long slung his gun, drew his knife, and slit the throat of the small wild boar that hadn't died, then sliced open the bellies of the two small wild boars, scooped out the entrails, and placed them in the grass.

Since it was a wild boar chased over by wolves, and he had taken advantage and eaten the lion's share, he had to leave some benefits for them.

As for the half-grown wild boar, Li Long lifted it and carried it on his shoulder, supporting it with one hand, and held the two small wild boars in his hand, carrying them back.

He left this place fifty or sixty meters away, and a gray wolf slowly darted out from the forest, looked at Li Long's back, then quickly went down the gully, sniffed the wild boar's entrails, and immediately began to eat them in big mouthfuls.

Subsequently, another wolf came and joined the ranks of eating.

And half an hour after Li Long disappeared into this mountain gully, Yushanjiang rode over on horseback.

The wolves had already finished eating and run away, and there were bloodstains on the ground. Yushanjiang looked around, looked at the bloodstains again, and finally found a few shell casings. He determined that it should be Li Long who was hunting here.

Yushanjiang had run over after hearing the gunshots. He guessed it should be Li Long, but just hadn't run into him.

However, seeing the bloodstains and knowing that Li Long had hit something, he smiled and went back.

When Li Long carried the wild boar back to the wooden cabin, the sun had just risen. He was a bit tired. He placed the half-grown wild boar on the wooden floor and the two small wild boars on the tractor, and sat down in front of the door to rest for a while. After relaxing, he stood up to open the door, went in, and used a ladle to scoop up water and fill his stomach.

He was hungry, but didn't really want to make breakfast. Thinking about it, he simply gnawed on two mouthfuls of dry steamed buns, then carried the starting crank to start the tractor.

Perhaps because he was tired, and also because it was morning, the tractor was hard to start. Li Long cranked it twice but didn't get it started. He simply used his foot to step on the decompression lever, held the crank with both hands, and cranked it. The rotor turned rapidly, and feeling it was about right, he released his foot. His hands immediately felt the pressure, and he lifted with force, then took advantage of the momentum to step back and pull the crank out. The tractor chugged to life, and a puff of black smoke rose from the chimney; this was because the throttle was opened too wide. Li Long adjusted the throttle down, threw the crank into the compartment under the clutch, and turned to lock the door.

All three wild boars were thrown onto the tractor. Li Long intended to leave, but seeing blood on his clothes, he changed into a jacket, then got on the tractor and drove toward the outside of the mountains.

Although there was a harvest, to tell the truth, Li Long was really a bit unwilling; that was a two-headed red deer!

He didn't know if he would be able to run into one again in this life. However, if he told people, probably no one would believe him.

But there was no help for it; who let it happen so coincidentally?

The tractor drove fast, chugging out of the mountains. He just didn't run into any yellow sheep, then chugged across the Qingshui River. When he got on the Wuyi Road, Li Long looked up and happened to face the sun, which was very dazzling. He was thinking about whether he needed to get a pair of sunglasses. It wasn't for showing off; this sunlight was really annoying. Fortunately, there weren't many cars now, otherwise, it might be a bit more troublesome and prone to car accidents.

When Li Long drove the tractor to the entrance of the Big Meat Canteen, there were quite a few people eating breakfast there at this time. The chugging sound of the tractor startled Zhong Guo Qiang. He went out and saw it was Li Long, and immediately became happy.

"Comrade Little Li, it's really rare for me to see you driving a tractor here for breakfast."

"Just came from the mountains. I remember you said that wild boar piglets make good roast suckling pig? I got two; one is a bit disfigured, and the other has a broken leg. You take them away," Li Long said.

"You really got them?" Zhong Guo Qiang was greatly surprised. This Li Long was too efficient, right? He seemed to have mentioned it when he got married, and now he had already gotten them?

Zhong Guo Qiang went to the tractor trailer to look, and really saw the two small wild boars.

Done!

However, his gaze fell on the half-grown wild boar again, and he turned to ask Li Long:

"Are you selling this one too?"

"Not planning to sell it, keeping it for myself to eat," Li Long said with a smile. "Manager Zhong, you take the two small ones away; I'll clean the big one later when I go back."

"Alright, I was thinking this half-grown wild boar also tastes good, and wanted to get a leg."

"A leg is fine." Li Long thought about it; anyway, it wouldn't keep now, and it had to be shared. He would send him a leg when he got it ready later.

There were people watching, and seeing it was a wild boar and hearing the conversation between the two, someone immediately asked:

"Are you selling this wild boar meat? How much? Can you weigh a leg for me?"

"Sorry, this isn't for sale; it's for myself to eat and to give to friends," Li Long hurriedly said. "Sorry, I just came back from the mountains and still have to eat breakfast. Everyone disperse."

Zhong Guo Qiang carried the two small wild boars and went inside.

Li Long ordered porridge, pickles, and two flower rolls. Just as he was eating, Zhong Guo Qiang came over to pay.

"Two, ten yuan each; this is twenty."

"No, no, no," Li Long held a flower roll in his hand and hurriedly waved his hand:

"Giving them to you; this thing was caught along the way, it's not worth money. Manager Zhong, you being able to go to my wedding gave me great face; how could I accept money for these wild boar piglets?"

"If you don't accept this, you have to accept it for the wild boar leg," Zhong Guo Qiang persuaded. "This is public property, don't be polite."

"No, no, no," Li Long said. "I'm not being polite. How about this, for that wild boar leg, I'll accept ten yuan." He took a ten-yuan note and said, "That's it. I'll send it to you after I clean it up later."

"Alright." Zhong Guo Qiang nodded with a smile.

He wouldn't send the half-grown wild boar home. Li Xiangqian, Chen Hongjun, and Zhong Guo Qiang would each get a pig leg, and the remaining meat would be air-dried in the big courtyard to be eaten later. He would send it home next time he got a big one.

The destination of the wild boar meat was clear.

It was just that as Li Long ate, he felt it was still not satisfying.

That was a two-headed deer. (End of chapter)