HLnovel Chapter 378 Rescuing People from Their Own Village
Chapter 378 Rescuing People from Their Own Village
Chen Xiangqian was terrified. "They're a husband-and-wife team? Do you think we can even make it out of this mountainous area?"
Remembering the distress signal he'd heard on the radio earlier, Li Ju'an frowned and said, "There's not enough time. We have to go rescue them."
According to the distress signal from the radio station, there were two bears in total. They have now killed one of the female bears, and there should still be a male bear at the hydroelectric dam.
Rain began to fall from the night sky. The autumn nights were extremely cold, near freezing. The rain, falling so coldly, quickly froze the ground into a thin layer of ice. Two falcons, clearly annoyed, shook their heads in the rain, wanting to go inside for shelter.
The two went back into the house, took all their equipment with them, and then pulled out an oily waterproof cloth from the bag and covered their heads with it.
Hunting dogs aren't afraid of rain; their fur is coated with oil, and it dries quickly with a shake. Eagles, however, are indeed afraid of rain. Li Ju'an tore the oilcloth in two pieces and wrapped it tightly around the two falcons, using it as raincoats.
The two men, in the dark and with such equipment, looked at each other with amusement and said, "Luckily, my camera still has power. I quickly took a picture of these two big birds looking so pathetic."
The shutter clicked, the flash went off, and Chen Xiangqian captured this historic moment for the two falcons. The large bird, wearing a raincoat-like hood, was glaring at him with displeasure, its eyes rolling back in its head.
Chen Xiangqian burst into laughter. He saw Li Ju'an about to pick up his gun and head out, but then chickened out at the last second, saying, "Are we really going to rescue someone in the middle of the night? We don't even know where this person is, or which brothel they're lying in. We don't even know where that big bear is hiding, and it's raining, so it's pitch black and we can't see anything."
This was definitely not the time to go hunting. Any experienced hunter would have strongly objected if they knew Li Ju'an was planning to go out at this time. But Li Ju'an insisted, saying, "If we get trapped while hunting a bear, lying there in the middle of a hydroelectric power station, covered in injuries and unable to get out, with bears guarding us, do you expect a rescue team to come?"
Chen Xiangqian thought for a moment and nodded: "Absolutely. We have to search the mountains even in heavy rain. Last time, the Lu family and the Sun family searched the mountains in the middle of the night in heavy snow, with so many people looking for them."
Li Ju'an said, "If someone gets into trouble in the mountains, every household will send people to search the mountains inch by inch. We need to find the person and bring them down the mountain as soon as possible. The sooner we find them, the more lives we might save. Besides, we're just rescuing people. It would be best if we didn't encounter any bears and just brought the person down the mountain."
The radio station broadcast a search and rescue request, and the person seeking help offered 500 yuan to hire a search and rescue team to enter the mountains.
But at this point, money was no longer the issue; money couldn't buy four lives. The person seeking help was desperate, and within half an hour, the price was raised to 800 yuan. The hydroelectric dam was located deep in the mountains, in a desolate Gobi desert. In this weather, it would take at least a day for rescue teams from various places to get into the mountains, and only Li Ju'an was closest to the site.
Li Ju'an opened the door with his gun and shouted, "Let's go, Da Hu! Let's search the dam!"
In the wind and rain of late autumn, the lead dog, Da Hu, barked once and ran off towards the hydroelectric power station.
Qingkedi and Lijiatun are far apart, separated by a shimmering reservoir and a winding river, with several villages scattered around them, seemingly close yet not intertwined. Despite their geographical distance, hunters from these villages can cross the boundary and hunt together during the regular hunting activities organized by the forest farm.
The recent rampage by Gobi bears in the barley fields has reached unprecedented levels. They have not only encroached on hunters' territories but have also caused injuries and deaths to hunters and their dogs. In such a critical situation, how could the hunters of Lijiatun stand idly by?
Li Ju'an, along with Chen Xiangqian, nine hunting dogs, and two falcons, hurriedly followed the radio's distress signal into the vicinity of the hydroelectric power station dam to search for the wounded.
It was dark and quiet around.
Braving the cold, falling rain, Li Ju'an hurried to the edge of the dam. In the dim moonlight and the open terrain, he could barely make out the scene.
He fired a shot into the sky.
The barking of the hunting dogs and the firing of guns signaled to the conscious hunters that a rescue team had arrived. Soon after, a single gunshot rang out from the southwest, indicating the direction.
Li Ju'an shouted, "Let's go, let's go over there."
Chen Xiangqian followed Li Ju'an closely into a pine forest and a rocky area. They looked around carefully but saw no one. Suddenly, the hunting dogs barked wildly at the rocky area, their fierce barking signaling to their master that something was in the rocky area.
Li Ju'an knew Da Hu well; he must have smelled the scent of a wild animal. The smell of large livestock is very strong, both fishy and pungent, making hunters extremely sensitive.
If it were a common wild animal, like a wild boar or roe deer, Da Hu would simply lead his pack of dogs to charge. With the title of the strongest mountain-chasing dog, Da Hu could take on a wild boar single-handedly. Wild animals like wild boars were easy prey for Da Hu. But now, the lead dog hesitated, not charging forward directly, but instead frantically unleashing its aura to prevent any wild animals from appearing in the rocky pond.
Chen Xiangqian's heart skipped a beat, and he cautiously asked, "Could that thing be a bear?"
The hunting dogs barked even more fiercely at the rocky outcrop, seemingly trying to scare away wild animals. Li Ju'an and Chen Xiangqian quickly set up their guns and aimed at the rocky outcrop in the pine forest.
The dark muzzle of the gun was pointed at the pine forest, creating a stalemate with the wild beasts behind the rocky pond. The beasts didn't show themselves, and no one dared to go in.
Chen Xiangqian hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "How about we fire a couple of shots to lure that beast out?"
Li Ju'an cursed, "Are you out of your mind? Two people are not enough to kill the bears that are camped in the warehouse, let alone the bears that are not camped in the warehouse and are still wandering outside. They just pounced over like that, covering more than ten meters in a flash, and they were right in front of you before you even threw out the bullet casings."
The two men and the wild animals in the pine forest were locked in a stalemate.
Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound behind him, and a weak voice called out to him, "Little Li Pao?"
Li Ju'an was taken aback. He told Chen Xiangqian to hold his gun and keep an eye on things, while he turned around and looked up at the treetop. Hey, it was an acquaintance. It was Old Li, one of the village's five-guarantee households.
Old Li's wife ran away, leaving behind two children and his elderly father. Li Ju'an had a conflict with him, scolding him for stealing the trap and the pheasant he caught, calling him a fool. Old Li felt aggrieved, so he led him to the base of the big red pine tree, saying he found it in the tree. That's when he discovered the eagle's nest on the big red pine tree.
Li Ju'an had beaten Old Li badly for several days back then, and Lu Zhiqiang had also given him a good beating several times. What a small world! I never expected to run into him here.
Li Ju'an glanced at him briefly before continuing to aim his gun at the pine forest.
When Old Li saw his indifferent attitude, he immediately panicked and hurriedly pleaded, "Li Pao, you've finally come! It's like a blessing to have met a rescue team. We've been trapped here for most of the night, and we can't even move our right legs. Old Chen's injury is even more serious. Sun Weimin's leg was already injured, and he won't wake up no matter how we call him while he's hanging like this."
Li Ju'an shouted, "Uncle Chen from the ranch is here too? Sun Weimin is here too? What's that bastard doing here?"