Chapter 454: Human Hearts Are Hard to Distinguish Between Good and Evil

Along with the cries for help, there were also the angry grunts of a wild boar.

Li Long felt it was a bit troublesome.

On the mountain slope to the southeast, less than fifty meters from where he had set the trap, there was a patch of broad-leaved forest. Now, someone was climbing a tree. That tree was a bit thinner than a person's waist, maybe twenty centimeters in diameter. The person had climbed to a height of more than three meters from the ground, stepping on a horizontal branch and desperately trying to climb higher.

Below, a large sow wild boar was rooting at the tree. It looked like it wouldn't stop until it knocked the tree over.

Seeing that the person was fine for the time being, Li Long looked toward the trap's location.

There were no wild boars here anymore. The branches over the trap pit had been trampled and collapsed, and he could vaguely hear the sound of wild boars inside.

Li Long was quite happy; it looked like he had trapped something. But why would that large sow wild boar go to root at the person in the tree?

He walked over and saw a trail of footprints running from the trap toward the tree. The footprints weren't obvious at the trap itself, but when Li Long shoveled the ground yesterday, he had missed some in that direction, so there were footprints and wild boar hoof prints on the soil, and the footprints were relatively obvious when crossing the small stream.

Li Long roughly guessed that the person should have been discovered by the sow wild boar when he ran over to look at the wild boars in the trap, and it had mistaken him for the person who dug the trap, which was why it had come over to root.

That sow wild boar was very large; looking at its tusks, it must have been nearly two hundred kilograms, and it was very fierce!

Nearby, two trees with a diameter of ten-plus centimeters had already been rooted (bumped) down by it. He didn't know if this person had been in the tree first, or if the sow wild boar had found the trees in the way.

Did this person think the wild boar was a domestic pig and that it would leave if he shouted at it?

"Help, help!" That person saw Li Long and shouted loudly, "Come and help me quickly! Boss, come and help me quickly!"

Li Long felt the voice of the person shouting was quite familiar. Looking again, it turned out to be the one who had traded *Fritillaria* for meat yesterday!

The one in tattered clothes.

Li Long immediately understood a bit. This person should have had bad intentions, knowing he had come to dig a trap, so he had come over early to watch, probably wanting to pick up a bargain, right?

In this day and age, there were kind people, and naturally, there were evil people, and there were selfish people. Li Long wouldn't be so casual about being good to someone. He had his own kindness, but at this time, he didn't hesitate to speculate about others with malice.

It was just that seeing the tree was already precarious, and he didn't know if the wild boar wouldn't stop until it knocked it over, Li Long aimed his gun at that side.

At a distance of fifty meters, Li Long had confidence he could hit the wild boar, but he didn't intend to take this wild boar; the meat wouldn't taste good if hit, it was too old.

The wild boars in the pit were enough for him to deal with.

He could hear that there was more than one wild boar in the pit.

"You shoot quickly, and if you hit it, give me a leg." That person looked at Li Long aiming at the wild boar and suddenly shouted, "Aim accurately; I'm acting as bait here, this pig won't run."

As soon as he shouted this, Li Long suddenly put down the gun, engaged the safety, and didn't shoot.

Damn it, he had originally thought about saving someone, but this person looked like he wasn't very smart, so he wouldn't bother.

He walked to the trap and looked down, then saw two half-grown wild boars in the pit, and two small wild boars.

It was just that one of the small wild boars wasn't moving anymore; he didn't know if it had fallen to death or been crushed to death, its mouth was full of blood.

One of the two half-grown wild boars had a leg injury, and the other was quite spirited, but now it was relatively manic; after all, the space below was small, and four pigs were crowded together.

Li Long regretted not driving the tractor over. He thought about it and turned back. He couldn't take them back alone without driving the tractor over. If the tractor were here, it would be convenient. Once finished, he could just pull them home.

"Save me, save me!" That person saw Li Long leaving and hurriedly shouted loudly, "Just kill it, I don't want anything!"

The sow wild boar also saw Li Long, slowed down, and seeing Li Long wasn't coming over, it actually continued to root.

Li Long wouldn't go over. This wild boar was so large and now so fierce. If he didn't kill it with one shot, and there was nothing nearby to hide behind, he didn't have the energy to climb a tree!

From far away, Li Long aimed at the wild boar and fired a shot. The wild boar was startled and then ran into the distance.

That person in the tree breathed a sigh of relief and shouted loudly:

"Thank you!"

Saying thank you with his mouth, but in his heart, he might not necessarily think so. Li Long didn't care about that much, just shouted loudly:

"You'd better not touch the wild boars in the trap, otherwise this gun of mine isn't just for show!"

That person really had that idea. Hearing Li Long say this, he really felt a bit worried.

While he was hesitating in the tree, Li Long had already run far away.

This person thought for a while and felt it was better to come down first. However, just as he climbed down the tree and hadn't even caught his breath, he heard angry grunts again!

That sow wild boar had come back!

Are wild boars this smart? They even know how to kill a return shot! This person was scared out of his wits and immediately climbed back up the tree, not even wanting his bag!

Li Long really wasn't worried about this person taking the wild boars away. There were two small wild boars below; this person might not dare to go down, and wanting to get the wild boars up would also take some effort. With that effort, he would have already driven the tractor back.

Walking fast and jogging, Li Long returned to the wooden house, took out the crank from the room, brought two basins and a few bags, threw them into the tractor bucket, cranked the tractor, and just as he was about to leave, someone rode a horse over.

Bolati.

"Hey, Li Long, do you have liquor? I have two kilograms of *Fritillaria* here; do you have liquor to trade?"

"I do." Li Long had no choice but to get off the tractor again. It wasn't good to offend the forestry team; let's waste a few minutes. He opened the small room, took a three-liter cage of loose liquor, handed it over, and said:

"This is all liquor. Two kilograms of *Fritillaria*, that's about right." Loose liquor was less than two yuan per kilogram.

"Trading for so much?" Bolati was startled. This must be five?

"Yes, smell it, pure grain liquor, but don't drink too much; the alcohol content is quite high." Fifty-degree loose liquor didn't go to your head when drinking, but it made you drunk quickly.

Bolati got off the horse, unscrewed the cap, took off the small cap inside, tasted a mouthful with both hands, and then exhaled:

"Good liquor!"

Then he screwed the cap back on and gave Li Long a thumbs up:

"Good, you're a good friend! A real friend! I'll come to you to trade all my *Fritillaria* later!"

"That's fine. I have things to do now, you go back; I have to hurry and handle things."

"What's the matter? Do you need help?" Li Long's "generosity" greatly increased Bolati's favor toward him, and he took the initiative to offer help.

"No need, I trapped a few wild boars with a trap, and I want to bring them back." Li Long said, "Later, if you see any of these things—wild boars, roe deer, red deer, bears, etc. —tell me, and you can also trade for liquor. Deer antlers can also trade for liquor and food."

"Good, good, good." Bolati nodded, then carried the liquor and left on his horse, satisfied.

Li Long locked the door and drove the tractor *tut-tut-tut* toward that side.

Before Li Long arrived, he heard the shrill and broken "help" sound again.

What's the situation?

Li Long saw that wild boar still rooting at the tree, and that person was still in the tree shouting for help.

What's going on? This guy is offending the wild boar? Didn't it get scared away just now? Why did it come back again?

However, hearing the sound of the tractor, the wild boar stopped, looked toward this side, and finally turned and left.

The person in the tree looked in Li Long's direction. Although he breathed a sigh of relief and felt a bit grateful, he was also ashamed and angry.

He had peed his pants.

Just now, if it had been ten or twenty minutes later, the tree would have been knocked down!

If the tree had really fallen, this person felt he would definitely die! The wild boar's tusks exposed from its mouth must have been at least ten centimeters long, just like a dagger!

Li Long didn't care about this guy. He drove the tractor to the trap, turned off the engine, took down the basins and bags, then took his gun, aimed at the edge of the trap, and fired two shots to kill the two half-grown wild boars.

After killing them, he immediately went down and pulled the two wild boars up one after another. Then he also pulled the two small wild boars up.

He put the live one directly into the tractor bucket; anyway, at five or six kilograms, it couldn't jump out. He would slaughter the dead ones together later.

There was water nearby, so Li Long leaned against the water and started skinning and gutting the wild boars.

That person walked over slowly and watched Li Long skin and gut the wild boars from the side.

Li Long's Type 56 semi-automatic rifle was right beside him. He didn't know if it was curiosity or if he had other ideas, but he took a step toward it. Li Long gestured with his knife:

"You'd better not move around; that's a gun, and I also have a knife in my hand. This thing is easy to slip." That person smiled forcefully and said:

"I'm just curious... I was also a backbone militia member before..."

"Since you were a militia member, you should know that it's best not to mess with other people's guns!" Li Long took the gun over, shouldered it, and continued skinning the wild boar.

"You have quite a big harvest this time." That person made small talk. "That..."

"You'd better leave. I'm not sure if the wild boar will come back after I leave later. If it comes back again, I don't think I'll have time to come back, and that wild boar seems to have set its sights on you. So..."

Li Long said slowly while lowering his head to skin the wild boar, "I'm also quite curious about how you'll escape then."

Hearing this, that person immediately stopped talking and looked around in a panic. However, seeing the wild boar that Li Long had almost finished skinning, he couldn't help but say:

"Look at how much wild boar meat you have today, I don't know..."

"No, you'd better leave now." Li Long interrupted his words.

That person gritted his teeth and said again:

!.

"Just pretend I'm trading with *Fritillaria*. The day after tomorrow, no, the day after tomorrow! I'll be able to bring *Fritillaria* to trade the day after tomorrow!"

"We'll talk when you get the *Fritillaria*!" Li Long remained unmoved.

Seeing Li Long was impervious to persuasion, that person finally turned and left.

Li Long didn't care about him and continued skinning and gutting the wild boars. He had a busy time ahead.

The two half-grown wild boars were about fifty or sixty kilograms each. It was relatively cool here, and after working for a while, no flies came over, but a few wasps ran over. Li Long regretted leaving in such a hurry and not bringing some salt.

After cleaning up the two large wild boars, the sun was almost at its zenith. The small wild boars were easier to handle. Li Long skinned them in a flash, cleaned out the internal organs, intestines, and stomach, didn't wash them completely, put them on the tractor, and drove *tut-tut-tut* toward the wooden house.

Arriving at the wooden house, Li Long opened the door, went into the house to get salt, and rubbed it on the three wild boars. Seeing that the live small wild boar was still rooting at the meat on the large wild boar, he tied it up. It wasn't tied very tightly, at least enough to keep it from moving around.

Thinking about it, Li Long also packed all the *Fritillaria* in the house and the roe deer skin into a bag, hung it behind the seat, locked the door, and drove the tractor *tut-tut-tut* toward the outside of the mountains.

After crossing the Qingshui River and turning onto the Wuyi Highway, he headed east all the way. By the time he arrived at the large courtyard, the sun was already slanting west.

It was still early before Gu Xiaoxia got off work. After Li Long entered the large courtyard, he saw the three little fawns weren't running around wildly, thinking they should be in the glass room.

He got off the tractor and went over to look; sure enough, they were there. The water in the basin had been drunk dry. Seeing Li Long, the three little guys called out anxiously. Li Long smiled, added feed for them, and gave them water before closing the door.

Li Long planned to leave one half-grown wild boar here. He unloaded the wild boar, put the meat in a basin to soak. At this time, the kitchen room was quite cool, so he wasn't worried about it spoiling for a while. However, he took two legs out of the basin, planning to leave one at Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu's place and one at Gu Bo Yuan's place.

There were more people to take care of now, and all aspects had to be considered.

After putting the meat away, he spread the *Fritillaria* out in the side room to dry. Li Long drove the tractor away from the large courtyard again; he had to send the remaining wild boar and offal back to the team first.

There was a whole family over there, and they needed quite a bit of meat. Although he had left quite a bit of meat before, he imagined there wasn't much left.

The tractor made a turn at the pork canteen, and Li Long bought a few steamed buns. He hadn't eaten lunch, and he was hungry now, but he estimated there was no food at home, and he had to come back tonight, so he couldn't wait for them to cook.

The tractor arrived at the horse corral first, put down a leg, and handed the small wild boar to Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu. Li Long then went to the Gu family. Gu Bo Yuan was busy in the vegetable garden and was a bit puzzled to see Li Long, as it hadn't been two days since he left.

"Trapped a wild boar today, brought you a leg." Li Long raised the wild boar leg and said.

"You're quite capable." Gu Bo Yuan naturally wouldn't refuse the good things his son-in-law sent. "Did you leave any in the county?"

"I did, more than this." Li Long said with a smile, "You handle it; I have to go home, and I have to go back to the county tonight."

"Go, go." Hearing Li Long say he had to go back to the county, Gu Bo Yuan urged him, "Be slow on the road; although there are no cars, you still need to pay attention to safety."

"I know." Li Long responded and started the tractor, driving south.

Hearing the movement, the neighbor came to Gu Bo Yuan's courtyard after Li Long left and asked:

"Your son-in-law sent you something?"

"Yes, caught a wild boar in the mountains, sent me a leg." Gu Bo Yuan said with unconcealed pride: "How could I finish it alone? It has to be made into cured meat, troublesome."

Saying it was troublesome, but the pride on his face couldn't be hidden.

The neighbor left muttering. This scholar also cares about face. If you find it troublesome, then give it to me?

Of course, he didn't say it, knowing it would be useless even if he did; how could they possibly give it?

Li Long drove the tractor to his eldest brother's house. Li Qing Xia and Tao Da were sorting nets in the courtyard and were quite surprised and happy to hear the tractor sound.

When Li Long drove the tractor into the courtyard, they had already cleared a space.

"Why are you back again?" Li Qing Xia asked.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei had gone to work, and Du Chunfang and Chen Li Rong were working in the front yard. Hearing the movement, they also came over.

"Caught a wild boar, brought it back for you." Li Long said.

"You should have left it there for you guys to eat." Li Qing Xia complained, "Your wife needs to eat too, and you need to eat something good in the mountains."

"I left some, I left some." Li Long said with a smile.

Du Chunfang came over at this time. Li Long greeted his mother and asked about his second sister-in-law.

Tao Da helped Li Long lift the wild boar down. Li Long asked:

"How is the fish selling?"

"Went to Shicheng to sell today, it sold very well there, Grandpa and I are going again tomorrow." Tao Da said with a smile, "Also ran into Brother-in-law, his mutton is selling well too."

"Xingbang also said his sheep are almost sold out, asked you to think if you can bring another cartload of sheep over."

"Alright." Li Long thought about it and said, "I'll go into the mountains early tomorrow morning. If my friends haven't moved, then it's possible."

"Hmm. You rest, don't worry about this meat, eat some meat before you go later." Li Qing Xia said.

"No, the meat in the courtyard in the county hasn't been handled yet, I have to go back to deal with that." Li Long said, "I'll go after resting for a while. Daqiang, you cut some meat to take back later."

"No, no, I have some at home." Tao Da blushed and hurriedly waved his hand.

"Why be so polite?" Li Long said. If Tao Da weren't here, he wouldn't have specifically sent it, but now that he was here, it was no problem to share some.

Li Qing Xia and Tao Da fixed the nets and then excitedly started cutting the meat.

Li Long watched from the side. The old man's technique wasn't familiar, but as for the meat, there was no need to be so serious; anyway, it was all going into their mouths. Seeing the time was about right, Li Long left driving the tractor.

After the meat was cut, Du Chunfang and Chen Li Rong simmered the meat. Li Qing Xia and Tao Da went to set the nets. After setting the nets, Tao Da wanted to go back, but Li Qing Xia insisted he come back and took a piece of three or four kilograms of meat with him.

The two arranged to retrieve the nets a bit earlier tomorrow and then go to Shicheng to sell fish earlier.

Tao Da also saw that Li Qing Xia had traveled dozens of kilometers back and forth today without any abnormalities, so he agreed. Dozens of yuan a day, this money was earned so deliciously!

Li Long drove the tractor *tut-tut-tut* back to the large courtyard, arriving just after Gu Xiaoxia.

Gu Xiaoxia was extremely happy to see the tractor in the courtyard. Seeing Li Long processing wild boar meat, she asked in surprise:

"You caught another wild boar? Too amazing!"

Hearing Gu Xiaoxia's words, Li Long was also extremely happy. He could hear that Gu Xiaoxia said this sincerely, which was what was precious.

Li Long cut the meat, Gu Xiaoxia prepared dinner, and soon the fragrance of food drifted through the courtyard.

This is life, happiness in the ordinary. Life doesn't have so many great surprises; he liked this ordinary life very much. He almost didn't want to go into the mountains; how good it was to stay here! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 455 =====