Chapter 869: There Are Honest People and Disgusting People in the Mountains: Li Long Thinks

In the afternoon, Li Long went to the transport company to have the jeep serviced. He didn't know how long this trip into the mountains would take, but the road conditions there were certainly worse than in the county town. Lately, all his driving had been within the county, to the Fourth Small Team, or to Wucheng, where the roads were good, so he hadn't paid much attention. But before heading into the mountains, maintenance was essential; otherwise, getting stranded at a critical moment would cause huge trouble.

After getting the vehicle serviced and the tank filled at the transport company, Li Long drove back to the big courtyard compound and began preparing his supplies.

Knowing Li Long was going into the mountains, Sister Yang wanted to bake flatbreads for him, but Li Long refused. His plan was to just take some naan early the next morning.

Since Li Long frequently entered the mountains, his family had no objections to this trip, only urging him to be careful.

After all, the vegetation in the mountains was now lush, snakes had become more numerous, and there were even more wild beasts capable of injuring people.

Although Li Long hunted often, no one could guarantee accidents wouldn't happen, so upon learning of his departure that evening, Gu Gu Bo Yuan told him to bring wound medicine and similar items.

Late at night, just before going to bed, Gu Gu Xiaoxia reminded Li Long to take good care of his gun and to return early.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to check on the winter pasture camp and our wooden cabin. Last time I went to Urumqi, I actually wanted to invite you all to play in the mountains, but since Dad and Mom wouldn't go, we can discuss it later." Thinking about the bear attacking him at the hot spring last time, Li Long changed his tune, "Actually, there isn't much to see in the mountains; I'll go early and return early."

"Mm, you must prioritize safety." Although Gu Gu Xiaoxia knew Li Long was capable, the mountains seemed mysterious and dangerous to her. Seeing the large wolf and bear skins collected at home, she realized that facing such creatures alive would surely be perilous.

Men usually hold something back when speaking in such situations, omitting the gravest dangers to avoid worrying the women.

Gu Gu Xiaoxia was aware of this tendency, but since Li Long always made the decisions in their household, she couldn't stop him from going into the mountains even if he had business there, nor would she try; she simply helped him pack a few changes of clothes and personal items into a backpack.

That backpack confiscated from the mountains proved extremely useful.

Matches, a lighter, gauze, Baiyao powder, socks, and other items filled half the backpack.

"Ask Sister Yang to fry some pickled vegetables for you tomorrow morning to take along. Just eating naan won't suffice once you're in the mountains. Oh, and don't forget the canteen; don't drink untreated water." Gu Gu Xiaoxia reminded him while helping pack.

Meanwhile, Li Long cleaned the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, loaded it with ammunition, engaged the safety, and set it aside to take tomorrow.

Early the next morning, Sister Yang boiled several salted eggs for Li Long and stir-fried some pickled vegetables, packing them into a canned food jar wrapped in cloth.

After breakfast, Li Long first went to the naan shop; this time he bought only five naan, since no one else was waiting in the mountains, and enough for himself was sufficient.

Driving toward the mountains, he passed through Passing Qingshuihe village and found it very quiet; only from a distance could he see people preparing at the threshing floor, shading the ground. When shading the floor, one must hoe the original threshing ground to break capillary action, soak it thoroughly with water, then cover it with grass. Once dry and rolled flat, it would be ready for use.

Not seeing Meng Hai and the others, Li Long guessed they might still be in the mountains cutting poles, so he didn't stop, driving straight into the mountain range.

In June, except for the outermost layers of hills which grew little grass, the interior mountains were lush and verdant, with abundant vegetation. The mountain breeze was quite cool, dispelling some of the summer heat brought from outside, making it very comfortable.

Li Long first drove to the mountain valley where Ha Li Mu's winter pasture camp was located, intending to check the situation there.

As far as the eye could see, the grass grew very tall; all of this would be mowed and prepared as winter fodder two months later.

Faint tracks left by a tractor were visible; Li Long guessed these were from Xu Haijun's group who had reportedly come to this valley.

Li Long drove the jeep across a small stream and stopped right in front of the winter pasture camp.

Carrying his gun, he got out of the vehicle and, seeing the door of the winter camp half-ajar, confirmed that, just as Xu Haijun had said, someone had been here.

Approaching the winter camp, he found no one inside—or rather, whoever had been there had already left.

Now, apart from the wooden kang bed, the winter camp contained nothing else; Ha Li Mu and the others had even taken the stove with them when they departed. There were signs of habitation: a fire had been lit at the entrance, and judging by the charcoal remnants, this had occurred two or three days ago. Some bone fragments and such remained, but none looked fresh.

Li Long circled the winter camp, confirming its occupants had left, then simply swept the area and gathered some dead branches from the nearby forest to pile at the entrance.

He knew this measure served mostly as a psychological deterrent; it might ward off occasional wild boars or wolves, but if humans arrived wanting to stay, these branches would not stop them from entering the tidied-up camp.

After this simple cleanup, Li Long got back into the jeep and headed toward his own wooden cabin.

Birds and beasts were very active in the mountains; sounds came frequently, and movements could be heard in the forests lining the road.

Occasionally, a flash of red caught his eye; at first, Li Long paid it no mind, but then he immediately braked, turned off the engine, grabbed his gun, jumped out, and went to investigate. As expected, a patch of wild strawberries grew on the shaded side of the slope, their fruits now ripe, red and quite beautiful to behold.

Li Long looked around; seeing no disturbance, he squatted down and began picking. On this trip into the mountains, his goals were not only to inspect the cabin and the winter camp but also to do some foraging.

In later generations, many who claimed to "forage in the wild" actually trespassed into others' fields, picking fruits from contracted hillsides or vegetables from garden plots; Li Long, however, was truly foraging in the wild—picking wild fruits, hunting wild game, and gathering mushrooms in untamed lands, which was the real meaning of foraging.

The jeep contained quite a few bags for storing items; these were ones Li Long had asked Sister Yang to modify. Since ready-made plastic food bags or trash bags weren't sold in bundles back then, Li Long had Sister Yang wash fertilizer sacks and cut them into smaller bags, making it more convenient to carry things.

After picking over a kilogram of wild strawberries, just as Li Long was about to continue, he noticed a patch of Black Tiger Palm mushrooms growing beside the strawberry bushes.

Li Long was overjoyed; although the procurement station had already collected quite a few, encountering such valuable wild mushrooms nonetheless sparked that unique joy of foraging and the excitement of a good harvest.

He quickly switched to another bag, took out his knife, and cut more than a dozen Black Tiger Palm mushrooms, placing them in the bag without their roots to avoid carrying soil, making them easier to clean later.

Just those dozen or so Black Tiger Palm mushrooms weighed four or five kilograms, quite substantial.

Holding these two harvests, Li Long felt very satisfied. He wandered around a bit more but found no other mushrooms, so he put his findings in the vehicle and drove toward the wooden cabin.

Logically, where one patch of Black Tiger Palm mushrooms existed, others should follow; however, since Li Long's main purpose this trip was to check the cabin's condition, he didn't search further. He could always return to gather more after inspecting the cabin when he had time.

Just as the jeep approached the wooden cabin, Li Long keenly noticed something moving nearby; he immediately stopped the car, turned off the engine, gripped his gun, and slowly crept toward the disturbance.

The jeep's noise had alerted those dark shapes, but after the engine stopped and with Li Long's figure hidden behind a tree, the shadows remained wary only for a moment before resuming their activities around the cabin.

A herd of wild boars.

Damn it, ever since the procurement station opened and he stopped visiting the cabin frequently, this place had practically become a paradise for wild boars!

Of course, it was also possible that the scent of blood Xu Haijun mentioned had attracted these boars—wild boars are omnivores and don't just eat grass roots and pine cones.

In fact, even traditional herbivores like horses and cattle will eat small animals like chicks; whether to supplement salt or nutrition remains unknown.

This thought flashed only briefly before he bent low, raised his rifle, and carefully advanced toward the cabin through the sparse trees.

Within a hundred meters of the cabin, there were no trees; if Li Long moved any further forward, he would be exposed, leaving him no choice but to either shoot immediately or crawl forward.

Among this herd, only five or six were large adults; the rest were over a dozen piglets, weighing just three to five kilograms each, grunting as they followed the old sow, rooting through the turf together in a circle.

Previously, Li Long had slaughtered sheep, deer, and wolves near the cabin, spilling blood and meat broth that enriched the soil exceptionally, causing the grass in front of the cabin to grow luxuriantly; the wild boars mainly gathered here to root and graze on this abundant growth.

Looking from a distance, Li Long spotted no large male boar; he couldn't tell if it was blocked by the cabin or if this herd was simply led by that two-hundred-plus-kilogram large female.

Since he had encountered them, he might as well take a shot.

Li Long carried his gun to the edge of the forest, squatted halfway, rested the rifle, aimed at the herd, swept across them one by one, and finally settled on a medium-sized female wild boar.

The meat of a large female boar wasn't tasty, while piglet meat was delicious but too small to make shooting one worthwhile.

He pre-pressed the trigger, preparing to fire.

Suddenly, the herd panicked; the mother boar let out a roar, and the piglets rushed southeast along with her—that direction led to the nearest forest to the cabin, and once inside the woods, the boars would be safe!

Li Long hesitated for a split second before realizing two gray wolves had darted out from the southwest; one had already succeeded, pinning down a three-or-four-kilogram piglet and biting it, while the other charged at another piglet... among this group of prey, these small piglets were the easiest to catch.

Li Long immediately adjusted his aim; the young female boar he had previously targeted unfortunately happened to charge straight toward him, so without a moment's hesitation, he fired—"Bang!"—dropping that boar instantly.

After taking down this boar, Li Long raised his gun to aim at the others, but found that after the shot, the few boars originally running toward him had changed direction; the two wolves also fled, abandoning even the piglet they had in their mouths—very cunning indeed!

Li Long had originally thought that if the wolf was reluctant to abandon the wild boar, he might still get a shot at it, but alas, the wolf was too cunning.

However, in the thicket, a small wild boar, having lost sight of the large sow, ran while grunting; the grass was deep, and the little boar flashed into the thicket and vanished.

Li Long stood up holding his rifle, picked up the spent casings he had fired, stuffed them into his pocket, returned to the jeep, engaged the safety, started the engine, and drove toward the wooden cabin.

After parking the jeep, he lifted his rifle, disengaged the safety, and circled the cabin; within a radius of a hundred meters, he saw no wolves, for although the grass was deep, it could not conceal a wolf's form.

Relieved, Li Long then dragged together the wild boar he had shot, the two wolves, and the young sow they had pinned down and bitten to death.

He did not rush to skin the boar but first inspected the wooden cabin.

Just as Xu Haijun had said, the lock on the cabin door had been pried off and now stood wide open, with two nails pulled out from the hinges.

Inside the large wooden cabin, half of the bedding on the wooden kang remained on the platform while the other half lay on the floor; sure enough, there was a pool of blood on the wooden floor by the entrance, along with signs of gnawing.

He entered the room, lifted the bedding to inspect it, and found bloodstains on it as well, along with shoe prints.

"Damn it, this guy who came to 'borrow' a stay has no decency at all."

On the floor in the corner lay two spent casings; Li Long picked them up and saw they were rifle bullets.

"Was there an attack here?"

Li Long put the casings into his pocket; he could take them back for Li Qiang to play with.

Although the family had bullets, spent casings still held considerable appeal for children.

First, he carried the bedding outside to dry on the wire, found a stick to beat the dust off it, and then went to check the small wooden cabin.

Inside the small wooden cabin, the wooden racks had been moved, with two of them knocked over; Li Long went over, righted the racks, and relaid the wooden planks that had been placed atop them.

What made Li Long feel somewhat nauseated was that the person who had pried open the door had actually taken a dump right in the middle of the floor!

How could this be tolerated?

Since the excrement had already dried, he went out to the shed, fetched a large broom, swept the mess out, and then hung the new lock he had brought on the door.

Fixing the door hinges was also easy; with the tools in the jeep, he found a claw hammer and nailed the hinges back in place, then lifted his rifle and went to the wild boar, preparing to begin skinning.

If the cabin had been in normal condition, Li Long could have simply dragged the boar back to process it; but now, with gunshots fired here, Li Long guessed that the people living here were not ordinary herb gatherers, and he felt somewhat curious, wanting to see just what kind of people would defile his cabin so thoroughly.

"If I don't teach them a lesson, this anger in my heart won't subside!"

Li Long had no objection to someone borrowing this cabin to stay in while in the mountains; if it were him, spending a night in the mountains and encountering such a cabin, he would certainly want to stay there too.

But staying was one thing; if it were him, after staying he would definitely clean up thoroughly, and if conditions allowed, he would even leave some things behind as a token of gratitude.

But this fellow not only stayed but also did something so disgusting; truly a worthless scoundrel!

Li Long slung his rifle over his back, held his knife, and went to the spring to prepare for processing the wild boar.

It had been over half a month since Sun Jia Qiang left; the grass around the spring had grown rapidly, covering the original path, so he set down the boar, fetched a machete from the jeep, cut away the grass to clear an area, put the machete away, and only then began processing the boar.

Imagining this wild boar as that good-for-nothing squatter, Li Long struck down fiercely! (End of Chapter)