Chapter 102

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 exist in such large numbers, and that was the Mongolian gazelle!

This stuff's whereabouts are unpredictable, and it always moves in groups; there are very few stragglers, and even if there are, they are old or disabled sheep.

So, wanting to hunt this stuff is really difficult; the main problem is that it's hard to find!

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

However, Wang An discovered that there were several unclear wolf paw prints on top of the sheep hoof prints!

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 might not be right either!

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

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

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

"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 them. Look at the direction this gazelle herd is going, and these wolf paw prints..."

Mu Xueli looked for a long time and then asked, "Isn't this the direction of the county? 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 reckon we might even be able to pick up a few," Wang An said with a chuckle.

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 when he heard this and rolled his eyes at his brother-in-law. This brother-in-law couldn't speak like a human when he got excited; no way to fix that!

The two chatted as they arrived near the Heavenly Den. Wang An let his brother-in-law watch the sled and entrusted the three black bear gallbladders to his brother-in-law for safekeeping. Using a random excuse, he wandered off along the mountain ridge.

After wandering 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 the wet firewood covered in snow was smoking, but it wasn't extinguished by humans; it had gone out naturally.

People in the mountains know a rule: extinguish the fire in time after using it, otherwise it's very easy to cause a fire. This place had truly had quite a few fires, and every time, a large area of forest was lost, and there had even been cases of people dying.

So, the fire wasn't extinguished, where had the people gone?

Wang An didn't get too close and carefully scanned the surroundings.

Finally, on a shrub 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 about 20 meters ahead. Looking at the build, it looked like Niu Dali.

His head was covered in blood, both his cotton-padded jacket and pants had turned into rotten cotton batting, one of his cotton shoes was missing, and his big bare foot was exposed.

Wang An didn't get close either, although the news of this den had been leaked by Wang An on purpose.

But Niu Dali's behavior still belonged to "stealing the catch," which is something mountain hunters taboo and despise!

Mountain wealth is not easy to obtain; if everyone fought and snatched like this, many more people would die in the mountains every year!

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

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; if he accidentally ran into it face-to-face, 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, intending 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 he still untied the three dogs, and they dashed out directly.

Wang An drove the sled, turned a corner, and chased after them. This big stallion really had 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, he saw from a distance that the three dogs had pinned 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 only weighed 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 a pleasant surprise!

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

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

The two ran over with hemp ropes. At this time, the three dogs were still biting the necks behind the heads of the little yellow-haired ones 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 except for ropes, and started working on the little yellow-haired ones.

The two basically used the same movement: grab the front legs and pull, the little yellow-haired one would be knocked down directly, press their knees against the little yellow-haired one's belly, 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 really too small; actually, calling them little yellow-haired ones wasn't accurate. To be precise, they were still little "flower-patterned sticks," which is to say, little wild boar piglets!

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 little more; he didn't know if it could survive, but with 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 is not as satisfying as catching it alive!

Wang An suddenly thought that there was still a live roe deer at home; one day he would 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 around non-stop! It was as if they were 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 originally wanted to feed the dogs when they ate later! Pestered by the three dogs, he had no choice but to take the black bear meat from the sled and feed them now, otherwise, the three dogs would make a fuss non-stop.

The three dogs didn't care what kind of meat it was, as long as they got to eat. In a short while, their bellies were round, and they stopped jumping and barking!

But this is normal. Hunting dogs hunt hard, sometimes even risking their lives! Isn't it all 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!

It was windy in the mountains today; although it wasn't too big, the wind direction was unpredictable. The two wandered around 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 getting closer to home, they were basically walking in a circle with Kaoshan Village as the center, and they wouldn't get further and further away from home.

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

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