8mi Chapter 551 Harvesting Antelopes in the Hot Spring Valley
Chapter 551 Harvesting Antelopes in the Hot Spring Valley
Lu Yao made the allocations: the carbine went to Uncle Ba, and the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle went to Ding Dahu.
The remainder was divided into two portions.
The hunting party was also divided into two groups.
Ding Dahu counted the number of people.
Excluding Lu Yao and himself, the hunting team from Jiapigou Village consisted of twenty-six people.
Lu Yao announced that they would be divided into teams and draw lots to decide who would be on his team and who would be on Ding Dahu's team.
Besides Uncle Lao Ba, Tie Zhu, Gou Shengzi, and ten other members, Lu Yao's side also had ten other members.
He Wangcai and Li Youtian were also on his team.
She wanted to follow Ding Dahu for a better chance, but seeing Lu Yao, she didn't dare to say anything.
He was afraid that Lu Yao would be unhappy.
At this moment, Liu Shuangyan, who had been squatting to the side, jumped up:
"Company Commander Lu, me too, I'm in your team."
Gou Shengzi looked at her and said, "We're all men. What are you doing here, a girl? It'll make it inconvenient for you to even go to the bathroom."
Liu Shuangyan glared at him:
"If I were to interrupt your pooping or peeing, who would be peeping at you, would they?"
Gou Shengzi laughed and said, "Aren't you afraid we'll spy on you?"
"You dare! I'll gouge your eyes out!"
Lu Yao waved his hand: "Stop arguing. Since she's with us, she's not afraid of you watching. Today it's my group going into the mountains. Everyone, get ready to set off."
Liu Shuangyan secretly glared at Lu Yao.
You don't even know how to protect me. I was ready to be your woman!
The tools were transported by horse-drawn cart all the way to the foot of Rabbit Ridge.
If the carriage couldn't go up the hill, they unloaded it and pulled the horses up the hillside.
All the equipment was carried by horses, and everyone carried guns and hunting forks as they went up the mountain.
Without lingering at Rabbit Ridge, Lu Yao sensed there wouldn't be much prey there, and headed straight for Wild Boar Forest.
The snow in Wild Boar Forest was deeper than outside; one step down reached up to the calves.
Lu Yao walked at the front, occasionally squatting down to remove the snow crust.
"There is a roe deer path."
He pointed to several plum blossom-like marks on the snow.
"It just happened not long ago."
Lu Yao signaled the team to stop.
He took the animal trap off his horse, and Tiezhu and Goushengzi followed.
Lu Yao chose a spot under a tree where the roe deer footprints were most concentrated, swept away the snow with his gloved hands, and opened the trap.
With a "click," the spring tightened, and he used a small shovel to secure the clamp, covered it with a thin layer of snow, and then plucked a handful of dry grass and sprinkled it on top.
"lead wire."
He reached out his hand. Gou Shengzi handed him a piece.
Lu Yao tied one end of the wire to the iron ring of the clip and the other end to the tree trunk next to him.
"Don't let the clip get stolen."
On the other side, He Wangcai and Li Youtian were in a cloth case.
Make a slipknot out of thin wire and prop it up on a low tree branch along the rabbit trail, about a fist's height off the ground.
Cao Erdan tied up the horse and took the net out of the pack.
It was made of hemp rope, with mesh slightly larger than a fist, and stones were tied to the four corners.
Uncle Ba found a sloping bank covered with bushes and instructed him to spread the net below the bank.
"Here," Uncle Ba gestured with his pipe handle, "if you can hold on, hurry over here."
Liu Shuangyan followed Lu Yao closely, watching him put on his cloth clips.
"Can this be used to hold it?" she asked in a low voice, as if afraid of being overheard by her prey.
"It depends on luck." Lu Yao stood up, brushed the snow off his knees, and said, "Once you've set the traps and snares, don't keep looking here and leave a smell."
He looked up at the sky.
"It's noon. Tiezhu, Goushengzi, come with me to the ditch to the east and see if we can get some lunch."
Tie Zhu responded and took the bow and quiver from the horse's back.
Gou Shengzi picked up a hunting fork and followed.
The remaining people found a sheltered spot to rest.
Cao Erdan cleared a patch of ground with a shovel, gathered some dry branches, but didn't light a fire.
Uncle Ba sat down against a tree, placed his carbine across his lap, squinted, but his ears were perked up.
About half an hour later, several muffled thuds came from the ditch to the east; they were the sounds of small-caliber gunfire.
Before long, Lu Yao walked ahead, with Tie Zhu and Gou Shengzi behind, each carrying two gray rabbits.
The rabbit's neck was covered in blood, which dripped onto the white snow.
Upon their return, the two men were full of praise for Lu Yao's marksmanship.
They found a rabbit burrow, and the rabbits, startled, jumped out and scattered. It took Gou Shengzi and Tie Zhu two years to kill one of them.
Lu Yao fired a burst of small-caliber bullets and actually killed three of them.
"Four are enough," Tie Zhu said.
Cao Erdan then lit the fire.
The flames glowed blue and crackled in the snow.
Gou Shengzi took out a knife and squatted by the fire to gut the rabbit.
The still-warm internal organs were pulled out.
The rabbit meat was skewered on twigs and roasted over a fire. Oil dripped into the fire, sizzling and smoking.
Lu Yao didn't sit down, but stood on a high place and looked into the depths of the forest.
Further into Wild Boar Forest lies the shadow of Crouching Tiger Ridge, dark and indistinct.
He said, "Let's leave after we finish eating. The traces here are too messy; it doesn't look like there's anything big here."
The meat was only partially cooked, so everyone tore it apart and ate some.
Liu Shuangyan stopped eating after a few bites and kept looking towards Wohu Ridge.
I was filled with curiosity about the mysterious Great Ring Mountain.
After everything was tidied up, the snow buried the fire.
Lu Yao had Cao Erdan lead the horse and walk in the middle of the group.
The group regrouped and quietly headed deeper into the mountains.
No one spoke; the only sound was the crunching of footsteps on the snow.
The old man at the front suddenly raised his fist.
Everyone froze.
He slowly squatted down and parted a clump of fallen bushes in front of him.
On the snow, several hoof prints the size of bowls were deeply embedded, the snow at the edges not yet frozen solid.
The footprints led to a dense, dark pine forest.
Uncle Ba gestured with his fingers to indicate the depth of the footprints, then leaned closer to smell them, and mouthed something to Lu Yao:
"Wild boar. Just passed by."
Lu Yao waved his hand:
"Don't chase them, let's go to the hot spring valley. Let's hunt down as many antelopes as possible and bring them back. Then stay overnight before heading back. We can collect the snares we've set; the harvest should be quite good!"
Uncle Ba nodded. Although he was older and had a lot of hunting experience, he had to listen to Lu Yao when he was with Lu Yao's team.
The team changed direction and headed west along the foot of Wohu Ridge.
The snow crust had hardened, and it made a crunching sound when you stepped on it.
After walking for about two hours, a steep cliff appeared before us.
At the bottom of the cliff, amidst the pile of rocks, there was a dark hole that could be vaguely seen.
The blackened patch of burnt grass in front of the cave has been covered by snow.
Looking at this scene, Lu Yao seemed to recall the battle with the wolf pack as something from a past life.
Lu Yao stopped, took out a flashlight from his pocket, twisted the back of the flashlight, and the flashlight lit up. He shone it inside.
The hole wasn't big; you had to crouch to get in.
There was a breeze inside, and a faint smell of sulfur lingered.
"This is it." Lu Yao turned off his flashlight. "Ma Xian stays outside, Cao Erdan keeps watch. The rest of you, come in with me."
He carefully carried the small-caliber tube and was the first to crawl in.
The cave was dark, and the beam of the flashlight shone on the dark rock walls.
The further you go in, the stronger the smoky smell becomes, and the heat hits you in the face.
After walking nearly a hundred meters, the view suddenly opened up, and the white light was dazzling.
Everyone squinted.
Before us lies a valley.
In the center is a lake with steam rising from it; the water is light green and shrouded in white mist.
There was no snow around the lake, and the ground was covered with soft green moss.
On the sunny slope of the valley, there was a sparse forest, the leaves of which had not yet all fallen, showing a hint of yellowish-green.
The most striking thing was that in the clearing at the edge of the woods, many yellowish-brown shadows were moving around.
It's an antelope.
They were far apart and looked like moving stones.
Some were munching on moss with their heads down, while others stood still, their ears twitching from time to time.
Lu Yao came here to harvest the antelopes.