Chapter 100

On the road, the two were bragging on the sled.

Suddenly, they stopped talking at the same time and looked together at the dense hoof prints on the snow ahead.

In the deep mountains, only one kind of animal could have such a large number, and that is the Mongolian gazelle!

This thing's whereabouts are unpredictable, and it always moves in groups; it's extremely rare to have a straggler, and even if there is one, it's an old or crippled sheep.

So, wanting to hunt this thing is truly very difficult; the main problem is that it's hard to find!

The three dogs didn't bark, proving that these marks had been there for a long time, and the scent in the marks had already dissipated.

But Wang An discovered that on top of the sheep hoof prints, there were several wolf paw prints that weren't very clear!

So he still wanted to try, and said to his brother-in-law: "Xueli, shall we go horse hunting tomorrow?"

"Chasing Mongolian gazelles? Brother-in-law?" Mu Xueli asked in surprise.

"Yeah, what do you think?" Wang An asked.

"I don't think much of it; who knows where these gazelles have run off to? How long would we have to chase them?" Mu Xueli wanted to dispel Wang An's unrealistic idea.

Wang An thought about it and felt his brother-in-law was right; nothing was certain, and his own guess wasn't necessarily correct!

So he said: "Okay, then I'll go myself; you'd better not go."

"Huh? Brother-in-law, that's not what I meant; if you're going, then I'll definitely go with you!" Mu Xueli felt his brother-in-law was angry and said hurriedly.

"Really, don't go; I might not even chase them for long; maybe if I feel I can't catch up, I'll just come back," Wang An said calmly.

"Anyway, if you're going, I'm definitely going with you," Mu Xueli said with a grin.

Seeing his brother-in-law's attitude of wanting to stick with him, Wang An smiled and said: "Actually, we might not fail to catch up; look at the direction this gazelle herd is moving, and these wolf paw prints..."

Mu Xueli looked for a long time and then asked: "Isn't this the direction of the county town? Is there a wolf pack chasing the gazelle herd?"

"Yeah, who knows where they are ahead; there might be a big snowdrift. Let's not ride horses tomorrow; let's just drive the sled. I estimate we might even be able to pick up a few," Wang An said with a smile.

Mu Xueli slapped his thigh and said excitedly: "That's right, why didn't I think of that? No wonder they say your brain, brother-in-law, isn't a human brain at all."

Wang An was speechless upon hearing this and rolled his eyes at his brother-in-law; this brother-in-law couldn't speak like a human when excited, no way around it!

The two chatted until they reached the vicinity of the Heaven Den. Wang An let his brother-in-law watch the sled and handed the three black bear gallbladders to him for safekeeping, then found an excuse to stroll along the ridge.

After strolling for fifteen or sixteen minutes, he saw smoke rising in the mountain hollow; carefully approaching, he saw that big green poplar tree that four or five people could barely hug!

The place where the smoke was rising was right next to this big green poplar; the open fire had already gone out, and only wet firewood covered in snow was smoking, but it wasn't extinguished by humans, but naturally extinguished.

People in the mountains know a rule: extinguish fire promptly after use, otherwise it's very easy to cause a fire; this place had seen quite a few fires, each time destroying a large area of forest, and there had even been cases of people dying.

So, the fire wasn't extinguished, where did the people go?

Wang An didn't approach closely and carefully scanned left and right.

Finally, on a bush in the distance, he discovered a small strip of black cloth hanging on a branch.

Wang An's eyes lit up, and he walked forward.

Sure enough, after walking another two or three hundred meters, Wang An saw a person lying 20 meters ahead; looking at the build, it looked like Niu Dali.

His head was covered in blood, and whether it was his cotton-padded jacket or trousers, they had turned into rotten cotton wadding; he was missing one cotton shoe, revealing a big bare foot.

Wang An didn't approach either; although the news of this den was leaked by Wang An on purpose.

But Niu Dali's behavior still belonged to "cutting the queue," which is something mountain trekkers avoid and despise!

Mountain wealth is already hard to come by; if everyone fought and snatched like this, many people would die in the mountains every year!

This is also why, after hunting meat, if someone wants some, you have to give them some and can't enjoy it alone! It's just to build good karma!

Wang An confirmed the situation and turned to leave; the black bear or brown bear in that den didn't know where it had run off to, and if he accidentally came face-to-face with it, that would be shitty.

Returning to the sled, he checked his watch; it was already 12 o'clock.

Wang An and Mu Xueli drove the sled, planning to find a wind-sheltered hollow to eat a meal first.

Just as they were walking, Da Hei started barking; Wang An was stunned, but still untied the three dogs, and they dashed out directly.

Wang An drove the sled, made a turn, and chased after them; this big stallion had plenty of strength and ran fast, but fortunately, the trees in this mountain range were sparse, otherwise it would have been in vain.

After chasing for about four or five li, from far away, he saw the three dogs pinning down three little yellow-haired ones! Judging by their size, they were half the size of the dogs, meaning these three little yellow-haired ones were only about forty jin each.

Logically speaking, in such a cold winter, there shouldn't be such small wild boars; the smallest should be over a hundred jin!

What the hell is this situation?

Wang An and Mu Xueli were both stunned; the appearance of these little yellow-haired ones was truly very surprising! But it instantly turned into joy!

"Such small things, let's catch them alive," Wang An said happily, his playfulness aroused.

"Yeah, brother-in-law," Mu Xueli also started to get eager.

The two took hemp ropes and ran over; at this time, the three dogs were still biting the necks behind the little yellow-haired ones' heads and wouldn't let go; seeing their masters run over, they bit even more fiercely.

Wang An and Mu Xueli were heroic and peerless at this moment, empty-handed with only ropes, and started working on the little yellow-haired ones.

The two basically had the same movements: grab the front legs and pull, knock the little yellow-haired one down, press its belly with a knee, and tie it up with a rope.

Remember, when catching four-legged livestock, you must grab the front legs; try not to grab the hind legs, as it's easy to be kicked and injured!

These three little guys were truly too small; actually, calling them little yellow-haired ones isn't accurate; accurately speaking, they were still little "flower-striped sticks," which is little wild boar cubs!

Once locked by the dogs, they basically had no ability left!

Soon, the three yellow-haired ones were tied up; only the one locked by Da Hei was bleeding a bit more, and he didn't know if it could survive, but given the wild boar's tenacious vitality, it shouldn't be a big problem!

After tying up the little yellow-haired ones, the two looked at each other and smiled; killing the prey, how could it be as satisfying as catching them alive!

Wang An suddenly remembered there was a live roe deer at home; one day he'd catch another live roe deer to keep the one at home company!

The three little yellow-haired ones were tied up, and the three dogs weren't having it, whining and jumping up and down! As if saying: "We caught them, why did you tie them up? Where's the meat?"

Wang An carried one in each hand, Mu Xueli carried one, and the two put the three yellow-haired ones on the sled.

At this time, the three dogs seemed to know they were leaving and jumped even more happily, constantly pouncing on Wang An!

Wang An had wanted to feed the dogs when they ate later! Pestered by the three dogs, he had no choice but to feed them the black bear meat on the sled now, otherwise, these three dogs would make a never-ending fuss.

The three dogs didn't care what meat it was, as long as they got to eat; in a moment, their bellies were round, and they stopped jumping and barking!

But this is normal; hunting dogs work hard to hunt, sometimes even risking their lives! Isn't it for this mouthful of meat!

The two tied the full three dogs to the sled, drove the sled, and continued to look for a wind-sheltered place!

Today it was windy in the mountains; although not too strong, the wind direction was unpredictable; the two wandered for a long time without finding a suitable place, and finally decided to go to the shack they had built a few days ago.

This way, although they weren't moving toward home, they were circling with Kaoshan Village as the center, and they wouldn't get further and further from home.

Arriving at the shack, tethering the horses and feeding them fodder, setting up the pot to melt snow and boil water—these things were all familiar to the two.

They didn't even need to pick up firewood; there was plenty left from last time; after the water boiled, they first scalded the three black bear gallbladders—this was the serious big deal! This was over a thousand yuan!

(End of chapter)