Chapter 605

After Li Long and the others left, during the break in the middle of slaughtering sheep in front of the winter camp, Talihaer's grandmother, Sana, washed her hands, walked over, and moved the wooden cabinet and box she had set her eyes on together.

When moving them together, she also called Talihaer over, telling him to put these two things by her horse, and when they left, to tie them on the horse's back and take them away.

Nasen and Sasi Ken had already moved the two small square tables into the winter camp. Yushanjiang's child, Ye Erjiang, also stacked the two small tables, one upright and one upside down, and moved them into the winter camp. This was all what Li Long had told them when he left.

Not only were there tables, but Halimu also distributed the school supplies to them.

The children had actually been helping to rub salt on the skins just now, and now seeing that they had new study tables, they were truly very happy.

The remaining cabinet and box were taken away by two other old women respectively.

They were a bit dissatisfied that Sana had occupied a cabinet and a box all by herself, but there was nothing they could do.

Because when Li Long was there, Sana had bravely been the first to state her request, wanting to use all the sheep she had driven over to exchange for this cabinet and box.

They didn't have as much autonomy as Sana. How the sheep at home were sold was mostly decided by the men; they were just responsible for auxiliary work.

The money from selling the sheep might have already been calculated by the men at home for other things, so they could at most think about being able to get a cabinet or a box; after all, the cabinets and boxes at home had been used for too long, and some were inherited from the previous generation.

They needed to change them.

Li Long had just asked Halimu to count what furniture each family needed, and he would go over and have people make them. Although Halimu hadn't translated, there were young men who had heard.

Talihaer ran over and whispered to his grandmother, Sana:

"Grandma, Li Long said that we don't need all the sheep. These things are gifts for us... You should share one with someone else; look, Arken's family doesn't have anything..."

"Gifts for us? That won't do." Sana was very clear-headed. "Li Long is very good; you've all said so, and I know. However, accepting things given by others like this cannot last long.

For the things we truly need, we have the ability, so we should use our own things to exchange for them.

He often brings us things, and we cannot let him suffer a loss. Like the last time you used the wild mountain sheep you hunted to exchange for his help in mowing grass for us, that was very good.

We Kazakhs cannot take other people's things for nothing; we must remember when we receive help."

Talihaer nodded, indicating he understood.

Since he hunted that pack of wild mountain sheep while mowing grass in the autumn, Talihaer had become much more confident. This time, his father letting him drive the sheep out was an acknowledgment of his ability.

Of course, his grandmother following along was also to see if he could handle this matter well.

"Of course, if he can really pull more furniture over, I think we can use other things in the winter camp to exchange for them." Sana stroked the brand-new cabinet with her rough, large hands and said:

"Taha, do you know? My dream is to have a room full of brand-new furniture, as well as brand-new blankets we've woven, and to decorate the room beautifully.

Doesn't the family still have jade, gems we've picked up, and those deer antlers? These things don't have much use in our hands; using them to exchange for furniture is quite good."

Herdsmen have lived in the mountains for generations, and every household still has some family foundation.

Some young people yearn for the outside of the mountains, thinking about going to a settlement to live in a courtyard.

Most old people are still accustomed to living in the mountains; in winter, they are in the winter camp, and in summer, they move to the summer pasture.

Sana's idea was to properly tidy up her own winter camp; replacing all the old furniture in the house was the best thing.

Like the other few old women, she looked down on them a bit. Although traditional, women also need to be strong when necessary.

A family is composed of men and women together; men make the decisions more often, but regarding the furnishings in the house, one still has to listen to the women.

Sana planned to ask properly about the furniture after Li Long and the others returned from hunting wolves; if Li Long could really pull more furniture over, then it would be no problem to take out these grass-fattened sheep driven over today, plus some things hidden in her winter camp.

Some Kazakh herdsmen have their own traditional skills; making a wooden saddle or braiding a horse whip is no problem.

But to really let them make the furniture for the house, it was truly a bit difficult. For one, they didn't have that skill, and for another, they didn't have the suitable tools.

Li Long didn't know that a very casual idea of his had sparked a Kazakh old woman's dream of "renovating" her own home.

He carried his rifle and went out with Halimu and the others, but he didn't actually hold the idea that they could kill wolves. However, no matter what, he couldn't let these guys become even more rampant.

Wolf howls echoed in the distant mountains; Halimu didn't lead them toward that side, and the direction he went was exactly the side where he had driven the horse back yesterday.

"Those wolves are very vengeful. Running to my winter camp last night to howl was thinking about revenge." Halimu explained to Li Long while walking:

"Their companions died on this road. Since a lot of sheep were driven over this road early this morning, they will likely treat this road as a key ambush point. Wolves are also very smart.

If Talihaer and the others return relatively late, and it's dark, they will definitely be attacked by the wolf pack."

They came over actually to clear out the danger that might be on this road. Halimu and the others couldn't let Talihaer and these people walk at night; even with rifles, walking at night was also very dangerous.

Halimu, Yushanjiang, plus Li Long, and two people in their twenties or thirties were all carrying rifles, walking with large strides into the mountains, and soon followed the path trodden by sheep, crossed two mountains, and then walked forward along the valley.

Li Long kept looking at both sides. The snow on the mountains was very loose; this continuous snowfall meant the snow hadn't had time to be packed solid, and although it was very thick, if you really roared, it wouldn't cause an avalanche.

He had sharp eyes and could see quite a few hoofprints and claw prints of wild animals, large and small, like rabbits, on the mountain slopes on both sides.

On some shrubs on the mountain slopes on both sides, there were still scattered berries hanging that hadn't completely fallen and had already been frozen. These things were food left for birds and small animals.

Li Long also saw a gray rabbit dart from one patch of shrubs to the roots of another, and burrow into the grass.

He didn't go to chase it; for him, the target was too small and not worth it.

"Red deer!" Suddenly, a herdsman pointed to the mountain ridge to the west and shouted.

Everyone looked over, and sure enough, on the mountain ridge 100 meters away, a large and a small red deer were looking at them from the ridge; after hearing the movement, they immediately ran toward the back and disappeared behind the ridge.

No one went to chase them. Their target was wolves; if they could see wolves along the way, they would definitely chase them, but as for other animals, unless they were exactly within range of the muzzle, they would just let them be.

That was what Li Long thought.

Continuing to walk forward, just when Li Long felt that the possibility of running into wolves was gone, they crossed another mountain, and when they were at the top of the mountain ridge, Li Long himself was the first to discover in the distance, just on a part of the mountain ridge near the top, by a few giant rocks, a gray wolf was observing the road the sheep had walked!

"Wolf!" Li Long shouted softly, "Ahead..."

When he shouted "wolf," he had already half-squatted down, and the rifle on his back had already been flipped and held in his hand; when he raised the rifle, his finger had already unhooked the safety, the bullet was already chambered, and he used the ring on the rifle barrel to center that gray wolf.

The gray wolf also discovered the movement here at this time; the fur on its body stood up, it looked up and let out a short howl, issuing a warning to its companions, and then turned around and burrowed into a crevice in the rocks!

Wolves are very smart, knowing that even from such a distance, these enemies could kill them, so they could only sneak attack.

"Bang!"

Li Long fired; the gray wolf had just turned around when it was hit in the head by Li Long, tilted over, and rolled under the rocks.

Another wolf howl rang out in the mountains opposite; Li Long looked over and could see shrubs, but couldn't see any wolves.

Clearly, these wolves were hiding in the grass, and he didn't know if they were ambushing, eating, or ambushing in preparation to attack something.

"Li Long, your marksmanship is getting better and better." Halimu praised.

"Your eyesight is also good." Yushanjiang nodded, "I didn't even see a wolf there."

Li Long smiled and said:

"Actually, I didn't expect that coming along this road, I could really run into wolves. I thought that in broad daylight, wolves wouldn't be so rampant..."

"Wouldn't? Have you forgotten my experience yesterday, brother?" Halimu patted his arm, "There are really a lot of wolves in the mountains this winter, and they are very fierce; we must be careful!"

Halimu had lingering fears about yesterday's incident, and he believed he would remember it for a long time.

Several people went down the mountain ridge, crossed the valley, and came to the place with the large rocks.

The gray wolf was already stiff; Li Long's shot had entered from behind the right ear and come out through the mouth; this wolf could be considered killed with one shot, without suffering much.

Halimu picked up the wolf and looked at it, saying:

"A two-year-old gray wolf, acting as an observation sentry in the wolf pack."

Yushanjiang pointed to the crevice in the rocks and said:

"This wolf pack should have hunted a wild mountain sheep here yesterday or this morning; I don't know where they dragged it to eat."

There was some fur that had been grabbed off in the crevice, as well as some bloodstains. Li Long guessed that the wild mountain sheep should have been dragged to the wolf den by the wolves. He didn't know if there were old wolves or wolf pups there. Otherwise, the wolf pack should have eaten the wild mountain sheep clean here.

Several people dragged the wolf and continued to walk forward. Li Long was the first to hit a wolf, and the others weren't very convinced, or rather, they felt they were a bit behind and also wanted to hit a wolf as soon as possible to clear the danger for the return road.

Li Long felt that he and these few people were being watched. It was just that when he looked into the mountains on both sides, he couldn't see anything. It was mainly the snowy ground, plus there were too many shrubs in the mountains, making it difficult to discover existence further away.

He guessed that it should be the accomplices of that gray wolf just now, watching them from further away.

Are they wanting revenge?

If they really dared to come over for revenge, it would be exactly what Li Long and the others wanted.

It's a pity that those wolves definitely wouldn't come over.

In these deep mountains and wild forests, wolves are more cunning and ferocious than foxes.

Only in foreigners' fairy tales would they say wolves are that stupid.

Li Long didn't remind Halimu and the others. He believed that these herdsmen who had lived in the deep mountains for many years wouldn't be much worse than himself in this regard.

Everyone was looking left and right at the moment; clearly, they all knew there was danger nearby.

!.

Their rifles were also held in their hands; although the safety wasn't disengaged, judging by their posture, they were all in a stance where they could raise their rifles at any time.

After they crossed another low mountain ridge, the next quite long stretch of road was walking along the valley; walking in the valley, it wasn't easy to see when there was danger on the mountain ridges on both sides.

However, everyone had rifles in their hands, so they weren't worried; they continued to walk forward for over a kilometer, and finally saw three gray wolves running wildly from the other end of the valley toward this side.

Those three gray wolves seemed to be chased by something, running in a panic; when they were still 200 or 300 meters away from Li Long and the others, they discovered that there were also enemies ahead, so they immediately turned and went up the mountain.

This sudden change of direction was a bit awkward; because this valley was often walked by people driving sheep, the view was clear, and Li Long and the others discovered the wolves a step ahead, so several people lined up and aimed their rifles at the three wolves.

At a distance of over 200 meters, the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle could completely hit them.

However, it also depended on these people's marksmanship. After all, those gray wolves weren't dead targets; when they discovered Li Long and the others, they had already started changing direction and running up the mountain.

As long as they darted into the shrubs on the mountainside, they would be saved.

However, just as they turned around, originally their heads were facing Li Long and the others, so the target was relatively small, but now their bodies were directly facing Li Long and the others horizontally, so the target became more than twice as large.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Several people fired their rifles one after another, and some even fired two shots.

Two of the three gray wolves were hit and fell to the ground; one of them died directly, and the other was still rolling on the ground, not quite dead.

The bullet just grazed the fur of the remaining one, not hitting it; after the gunshot, it suddenly accelerated, lowered its body, and darted into the snow on the side, then darted forward into the shrubbery, and then only the shrubs and grass moved, and it couldn't be found.

The sound of gunfire startled something further away; snow was churning over there, and by the time Li Long and the others carried their rifles to the dead wolves, they couldn't see anything further away.

Halimu took out the knife he carried with him, stepped forward, and slit the throat of the wolf that was still baring its teeth.

"Three wolves." Yushanjiang looked at Li Long, "You hit two of them by yourself... impressive."

Li Long, however, was looking ahead and asked:

"Should we continue walking forward?"

Now that feeling of being watched on both sides was gone, but he always felt that there should be something big ahead.

There weren't many animals that could force three gray wolves to flee.

Who knows what it could be?

There was a little bit of worry, but more curiosity.

"No need." Yushanjiang shook his head and said, "We can't see them. If there really was something, it would have darted into the forest as soon as it heard the gunfire."

Li Long then discovered that after exiting the valley, the next mountain valley had dense pine forests on both sides; if there really was something, it would just hide in the forest, and it would be impossible to see.

Several people carried the wolves and walked back.

It could be considered a pretty good harvest. According to Li Long's idea when he followed them out at the very beginning, he might not even be able to hit one wolf; it was mainly because it was broad daylight, are wolves that stupid?

He underestimated the wolves' courage in the forest.

This was originally their territory.

When several people carried the wolves back to Halimu's winter camp, the sheep had already been slaughtered and processed for the most part.

A large pot was set up in front of the winter camp, one pot boiling water, and one pot boiling meat.

Two women were baking naan at the naan pit that had been cleaned out, and the fragrance of boiled mutton and the fragrance of baked naan drifted over, making Li Long feel truly hungry.

He discovered that the furniture that had been unloaded earlier was gone. Only some wood shavings were taken out by the children to play with, and from time to time, they would be scolded by the adults, and then the wood shavings would be tidied up into the cart bed.

For these herdsmen, these wood shavings were also very useful things. At least when setting up the stove, wood shavings were a very good kindling.

Seeing Li Long and the others return, and also bringing back three wolves, the people and children who were still working all made various sounds.

Exclamations, cheers, questions about the situation, and some who wanted to follow along to hunt.

Talihaer, who was skinning a sheep, very much hoped to follow along to hunt wolves.

He felt that skinning sheep was no longer something a true hunter like him should be doing.

Killing more than a dozen wild mountain sheep by oneself, he was afraid that no one would break this record for a very long time.

It was just that in the winter camp, his family still treated him as a child; after all, he wasn't married yet.

"Finish this sheep, and then eat." Yushanjiang threw the wolf down and said, "Rest for a while before working."

The slaughtered and cleaned sheep were already piled up in a large heap; Li Long took a rough look, and there were almost thirty of them.

The efficiency was truly very high.

The internal organs had also been frozen in dozens of trays. There was still warm water in the large basin for rinsing. As soon as Yushanjiang gave the order, everyone quickened their movements, finished what they had in their hands, and prepared to rest.

Speaking of which, they were also hungry.

Halimu's wife came over, sprinkled salt into the mutton pot, and brought over a tray of sliced onions.

She also took out a small wooden table from the house, but was chased by Nasen, who wanted the small wooden table back.

This caused Halimu to want to go over and scold Nasen, but Li Long stopped him.

It was another young man who smiled and went over to take the two small wooden tables from the side of his horse.

They took the small wooden tables back intending to use them as kang tables, so there was no problem using them here for a while.

Nasen and the others' tables were for use as desks, so they would cherish them more.

Actually, small children are more sensitive to the sense of belonging to their own things; at this time, parents hope that children will be more generous in front of guests, while children hope that things will be decided by themselves whether to share or not.

The three wolves were gutted first, and not skinned immediately.

The freshly baked naan had been brought over and placed on the small table, and the boiled mutton had been served in a large basin and placed together; everyone laughed and played, washed their hands, and each took meat and naan, preparing to eat.

Halimu's wife took out a stack of enamel basins from the winter camp; they should have been left behind by Li Long during one of the times he came here, and they had been keeping them well.

Li Long also followed along and began to eat.

Freshly baked naan, it's truly delicious.

He inexplicably remembered that little Gan who automatically gave up and didn't drag down his comrades. (End of chapter)