Chapter 344: Used the Wrong Thing

Luring them with salt is not such an easy task; the main issue is that they have no way to place the salt near the herd. Although the herd considers them non-threatening, it is still very resistant to humans getting too close.

The people of the Scientific Expedition Team have no choice but to take salt every day and scatter it on land that is relatively close to them, but the herd ignores them, and naturally, it cannot discover the existence of the salt; it won't even eat the grass on that patch of land.

No matter how much salt is scattered, a single rain washes it all away, and a month's worth of effort is completely wasted.

Seeing that late autumn has arrived, the grass has begun to wither and turn yellow, and the leaves on the entire mountain have turned colorful, making the horses' presence even more conspicuous, but such grassland also increases the hunting opportunities for predators.

They have yet to see a tiger, but they have already encountered large and medium-sized wild beasts like leopards, jackals, and lynxes several times. Perhaps it is because there are many of them, or perhaps it is just that these beasts have already filled their stomachs, which is why they did not launch an attack on them, but their own psychological state has also begun to panic; in front of these beasts, their odds of winning are not high.

So, after some discussion, they decided to send a portion of the people back to exchange for more Soldiers to come over. They belong to the civilian staff, and although they are physically strong and can handle a Weapon to fight, they are, after all, far inferior to Soldiers who train every day.

Upon learning that there are no small number of predators in the forest, for the safety of the Scientific Expedition Team, Baifeng reduced the scientific personnel by fifty and sent over a hundred more Soldiers to protect their safety, while also sending some professional hunters to hunt down those wild beasts.

Of course, they cannot over-hunt, otherwise, it will affect the ecological balance. Large herbivores generally will not have too obvious a change, but those small animals are prone to causing chaos.

The arrival of the hunters and Soldiers added a very sufficient sense of security to the Kexiaozhan, and at the same time, it also gave them a great deal of meat. They could eat varying quantities and different varieties of meat almost every day, and everyone's life suddenly became comfortable. Although they were never short of food, meat was still rationed, and it was hard to see any for days at a time.

At the same time, the hunters also noticed their matter of using salt to lure the herd. The herd now has some reaction, because the decrease in grass has forced them to expand their search range, so they have now come to places that were previously trampled by humans and that they were unwilling to go to.

Some of the previously scattered salt was washed away by water, and some seeped into the soil, so the herd is not only eating the grass but also pulling it up by the roots to lick the salt content in the soil.

The slightly effective plan made the people of the Scientific Expedition Team very excited, because it is now almost Winter, and as the grass becomes scarcer, the herd might leave here to find food in more distant Pastures; if that happens, their work for this year will be in vain.

But when the hunters saw the salt they were using, their eyes widened. They were actually using refined salt—Yanyan that had been refined and processed by their factory. Of course, the hunters didn't think it was a waste—they were least afraid of wasting salt—but they questioned the use of fine salt itself.

The Scientific Expedition Team's application to use salt was known to almost everyone, and Baifeng personally approved the note, but no one said they were using fine salt. The hunters finally understood why the salt-luring effect was so poor: because the herd couldn't see the salt at all; as soon as it got slightly damp, the salt would disappear, and their noses couldn't smell the salt.

After being criticized and corrected by the experienced hunters, the people of the Scientific Expedition Team realized where their problem lay, so they immediately contacted the city and had several carts of unprocessed Banyan sent to them; this was the only thing that could truly be used to attract the herd.

They broke the Banyan into fist-sized chunks and threw them in a line to lure the herd in their direction.

This time, the herd finally discovered the existence of the salt and could see it with their eyes, so they gathered their courage, crowded over, and frantically licked the Salt Blocks; several horses were licking one piece of salt, and their tongues were fighting each other.

However, although they threw enough Salt Blocks, the herd still only advanced a small distance and did not walk all the way over according to their expectations. In the face of the temptation of salt, they still chose to avoid risks. Furthermore, even if a horse licks non-stop, how much salt can it lick? Not to mention that their demand for salt is also limited; if they have too much, they still have to go to a water source to drink, and eating grass still occupies the majority of their time.

Some half-grown horses, being bolder, would run further away to lick, as they couldn't compete with those tall horses, but they would basically be called back by the old horses before they had run very far; they were still wary of humans.

The people of the Scientific Expedition Team stayed in the house all day, observing the herd through the Glass with a Telescope. If a horse ran closer, they would be very excited, and if it suddenly ran back, they would let out an "ah."

Only the hunters went to persuade them not to think of things too simply. Even if the horses came over, what could they do? Were they sure they could catch them? If they caught them, how many could they catch? They were afraid that even if they successfully caught one, what would be the use? For the sake of one or a few horses, they would provoke the entire herd and destroy the meager bit of trust they had managed to build up.

As for the Pasture problem they were worried about, the hunters clearly stated there was no need to worry; the herd would not leave, because the season for rotating Pastures had already passed, and they would only stay here for the Winter and would not migrate to other places again.

At this time, one person said: "Since that's the case, why don't we send some of our country's forage and feed over? In case this herd has no food to eat in the Winter, then couldn't they use this salt-luring method to lure them with grass?"

Everyone thought it was feasible, but the hunters felt a bit uneasy in their hearts. Since this herd could survive here, it meant the water and grass here were lush enough; they didn't have to worry about food in Summer and Autumn, and they had their own ways of foraging and tricks for surviving the Winter. To make their forage useful, luck would have to play the biggest part—for example, a heavy Snow disaster in Winter that covered all the grass in the field under thick snow; only then could it trap the herd and force them to come here to eat the Huaxia grass.

But a hypothesis is a hypothesis after all, and its feasibility is not high, so it could only be shelved for now.

Meanwhile, in the city, Baifeng was still researching and testing the Taomaguan. He didn't count on the Scientific Expedition Team being able to trick a herd of horses back from the wild; it was better to prepare for a violent capture first.

Of course, they could only experiment with the Taomaguan on cattle; they really couldn't find any other test subjects.