HLnovel Chapter 152 The Strange Bark-Scraping Marker: The Team Encounters Trouble
Chapter 152 The Strange Bark-Scraping Marker: The Team Encounters Trouble
Li Ju'an sneered at Lao Zhang: "Did your team leader say how many tigers there were? If Team Leader Wang wants to hunt tigers, I'll bring one back for him, and that will complete the mission. You're all making a racket, whispering and hiding things, and you won't even say how many tigers there are. Is this how you cheat people?"
He slammed the door and left, which greatly worried Old Zhang, the veterinarian. Yesterday, he called the team leader, asking for more reinforcements. The reinforcements did arrive, but the cannon fodder couldn't just abandon his post. What if the newly arrived Zhao Pao from Eagle Village couldn't be relied on, and Little Li Pao, the tiger hunter, also ran away? Their ranch would be in chaos again, and they wouldn't have a peaceful year.
Veterinarian Zhang quickly grabbed him and shouted, "Team Leader Wang said that after the tiger is shot down, the gunner will get all the loot. Our ranch won't take a single penny, and we'll even cover the cost of bullets and gunpowder. After we're done, you can come back with us. Just go to the warehouse and get as many bullets and gunpowder as you need."
Song Desheng got excited when he heard that. The slugs for his pump-action shotgun were expensive, and he didn't think much of the homemade ammunition made by the hunters in the village.
"Brother Li, this is good, this is really good."
When Veterinarian Zhang saw Li Ju'an stop, he quickly pressed his advantage, saying, "This is our dormitory's phone number. After everything is done, Team White Mastiff will take you there. If your hunting dog has any problems later, just call me. I'll take a truck from the forest farm to treat you, no matter how far away it is."
Li Ju'an glanced at him, continued walking out, and said, "I'll think about it."
The more anxious the other side is, the less he can afford to be, or he'll fall into their trap. However, there aren't many veterinarians in the Xing'an Mountains; scarcity makes them highly valued. If he were to develop a dog-raising gang, and have Veterinarian Zhang to treat the hunting dogs, their survival rate would be much higher.
Zhao Pao's group of hunters from Yingtun watched Li Ju'an walk out and laughed along with him.
"Of course he's scared. It's tough on the young man; one tiger is enough to keep him up for several nights."
"If you're scared, then shut up. If you don't dare to do it, then go beg for food. Don't do this harmful thing."
“Hey kid, have a drink to warm yourself up. Don’t look so sad. Just grit your teeth and go back the way you came. It’s not shameful.”
The hunters from Eagle Village were resting in the wooden hut, watching Li Ju'an with amusement.
As Zhao Pao cut pieces of meat to feed the large eagle on his shoulder, he frowned and stared at Li Ju'an. He saw that Li Ju'an really did lead Song Desheng out, with Da Hu, Tie Chui, and several uninjured hunting dogs following at their feet.
Old Sun, who was under Zhao Pao, shouted, "He really left. He ran away because he was afraid of trouble. Your ranch captain is going to have a headache this time."
Veterinarian Zhang's heart skipped a beat. Looking at the injured dogs in his hands, he immediately felt relieved: "Li Pao'er can't leave. His dogs are still inside the house. Where could they go? I reckon they're just wandering around nearby, looking for a snare to set."
Zhao Pao and the others, holding their wine jugs, scoffed.
They knew this young hunter all too well. He was arrogant and conceited. Since he couldn't save face, he simply went out for a stroll.
"It's getting dark, let's go to sleep first. We can get back to work tomorrow morning."
As night fell, Chen Xiangqian lay in the second room of the west wing of the wooden house, where a warm yellow light shone from the room, while the outside remained pitch black.
He sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), took off his leg wraps, and took off his thermal underwear. He wondered to himself, with temperatures outside at minus thirty or forty degrees Celsius, was Li Ju'an really not coming back?
If I catch a cold from this, it will cause a lot of trouble. Whatever my mood, I have to wait until tomorrow morning to deal with it.
Zhao Pao and the others all assumed that Li Ju'an had gone to the thatched hut to find a way to save face and would be back soon. But no one returned by midnight.
It was unusually quiet outside, and even Old Tang, the forest ranger, was getting anxious: "Why has Li Pao been gone for so long? We haven't heard any gunshots."
Veterinarian Zhang, wrapped in a quilt, sat up, feeling anxious. He said, "Should we go out and take a look?"
The hunters in Eagle Village remained silent. Even with their excellent eyesight, falcons can only clearly see prey about 800 meters away during the day. But at night, when the light dims, their vision is severely impaired, making it difficult for them to see their surroundings and prey.
Inside the forest ranger's cabin, a group of hunters exchanged glances, then lay back down, wrapped themselves tightly in their blankets, and wiped the grime from the corners of their eyes.
What are you thinking about so late at night? Sleep is the most important thing. Any urgent matters can wait until tomorrow morning.
……
At this moment, Li Ju'an led Song Desheng and followed Da Hu back, going deeper and deeper into the area.
He was very worried. Why was there still no news from Lu Zhiqiang, Lao Qian, Lao Zhao, and the others so late? There hadn't even been a single gunshot. Given Lu Zhiqiang's character, he would have been back long ago after he'd stripped the tiger of its skin. It would have been just a matter of moments before he met Lu Zhiqiang.
Five uninjured hunting dogs followed at his feet: Big Tiger, Iron Hammer, Black Tiger, Flower Girl, and the little wolfhound Steel Cannon.
The five hunting dogs had no visible injuries, but after two days of exhaustion, their physical strength was greatly depleted, and their condition was quite poor. Loyal dogs protect their master. Seeing the sky darken and his master leave the cabin, Da Hu quickly followed. Seeing the lead dog leave, the dogs naturally huddled together and walked away.
Snorting in the cold wind, his eyebrows and nostrils covered in frost, Song Desheng, clutching his pump-action shotgun, said, "Brother Li, you really went all out to hunt tigers. We're in this state, how did that ranch manage to bribe us with just a few boxes of ammunition?"
The thought of the slugs he'd get after killing the tiger filled him with excitement, and he counted on his fingers, wondering if it would be a thousand or two thousand rounds. If the ranch was generous enough to give him two boxes, he wouldn't have to spend any money on bullets for years. He had to be frugal; slugs weren't cheap, and he had to live frugally.
Li Ju'an cursed, "What a load of bull! Didn't you see that money-grubber Lu Zhiqiang is sticking leaves into the tree bark?"
Along the way, the tiger sniffed the air, guiding its master toward the red pine tree.
As Song Desheng followed Li Ju'an closer to the red pine tree, he discovered that the bark had been slashed with a knife, and there were withered leaves stuck inside the bark roll.
This is called "bark cutting." The bark is cut from a large tree, reaching a length of two feet, and then rolled into a roll. This is to let the hunting party behind know that this is someone else's territory and that they should remain silent and not steal the prey from the hunters.
Moreover, the leaves stuck in the bark also serve as directional markers, and the position of the leaves on the bark implies three different "codes".
If a leaf is stuck inside a bark roll, it means the hunters are hunting from the inside out. If the leaf is stuck outside, it indicates to others that the hunting party is hunting from the outside in. If the leaf is stuck in the middle of the bark roll, it suggests that a two-sided hunt is taking place based on that location.
But now, the markings on the bark of this red pine tree seem increasingly strange to the two of them.
There wasn't one leaf, but two; neither on the outside nor inside, nor in the middle. The two leaves were inserted on the front and back sides of the bark roll, facing each other.
Song Desheng stared blankly, puzzled, and said, "There are so many tigers in the forest, yet Lu Zhiqiang has so much free time to chase after them at this crucial moment? This kid has really made something of himself. Isn't he afraid of tigers? How can he chase after the Tiger King?"
Suddenly, Li Ju'an next to him slapped his thigh and shouted, "Oh no! It wasn't Lu Zhiqiang chasing away the Tiger King; it was their team being chased away by two Siberian tigers!"