My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 153 Tiger Head
However, when it comes to hunting in the mountains, each village has its own unique skills and methods. Usually, even if hunters from two different villages happen to meet, they will not go together.

Today is a bit special. It's autumn and the weather is bad. The sky is overcast and looks like it's going to rain. It's better to walk together so we can look out for each other.

The group chatted for a few minutes and got to know each other.

Only then did Chen Ling and the others realize that these hunters were related to Wang Lixian's father-in-law.

The old man leading the group, named Liu Guangli, had a thin, long face, a bulbous nose, big eyes, and a dark reddish complexion. He wore a tattered sheepskin coat and was a cousin of Wang Lixian's father-in-law.

They had been friends for many years and were very close to Wang Lixian.

This is an old hunter.

He's considered a minor celebrity in the surrounding villages.

“Fugui, you guys come closer and take a look. Uncle Guangli is a real old hand at running around in the mountains. Look at this stuff, is it all intact…”

Wang Lixian called Chen Ling and the others over and pointed them out to them.

In addition to their hunting rifles and woodcutting knives, Liu Guangli and his men also had a dagger and a three-pronged steel fork.

In the slang of old mountain hunters, a dagger is called a "niuzi," a three-pronged steel fork is called a "luzi" or "gangluzi," and a commonly used hunting knife is called a "tiewanzi."

These are all tools used for self-defense and for eating after entering the mountains.

Kinmen Village has little farmland, so it truly relies on the mountains and rivers for sustenance.

"Looters" are used to spear fish on water and stab prey in the mountains, making them the most commonly used type of hunting tool.

After all, hunting rifles aren't a panacea, and in many situations, these things passed down from the older generation can save lives.

Seeing the young people's curiosity, Liu Guangli sniffed his bulbous nose and laughed in his hoarse voice, "Don't be fooled by our good haul this time. We risked our lives, killing three good hunting dogs, to hunt this big wild boar..."

"Kids, don't think that having a hunting rifle means you're fearless. Just taking a hunting rifle out to the outside of the mountains is fine for shooting small things, but if you go deeper into the mountains, you'll encounter all sorts of things. If you're not prepared, you might lose your life."

“Like this time, when we encountered wild boars, if you don’t have wrist guards or steel slingshots on your body, you can’t handle it with just a hunting rifle.”

Wild boars have thick hides, so they won't die instantly even if shot with a hunting rifle.

Its attack power is actually even stronger.

Unless you're a sharpshooter and can hit someone in the eye and blow their brain out, you'll be in trouble.

But that's not something an ordinary hunter can do; it requires a sniper.

After saying that, Liu Guangli showed them the bottles and jars carried by several other hunters.

In addition to powders for repelling and treating snake and insect bites, there were also ointments for applying to hunting knives and forks. These ointments were unusual, as they contained a certain degree of toxicity.

It is made primarily from strychnine seeds.

It can be used not only for hunting, but also to reduce swelling and relieve pain when people are injured.

This medicine has many benefits; it can be eaten even if the prey is poisoned, and it won't cause any health problems for humans.

"Haha, Uncle Guangli is so generous, isn't he? He'll show you everything and tell you everything."

Chen Dazhi turned around with his hands behind his back and smiled.

"Look at what you're saying, what's wrong with looking at this little bit of stuff? Running in the mountains isn't some kind of golden job, it's really tough. Young people shouldn't expect to support their families with this. They should strive to improve themselves and develop their careers outside the mountains..."

"From now on, the fewer people going into the mountains, the better. Even if our old skills rot away and are lost, as long as the children no longer suffer, that's fine."

Everyone remained silent, nodding in agreement.

If it weren't for the floods this year, which made everyone so poor that they had to tighten their belts and barely be able to celebrate the New Year, they wouldn't have had to come to the mountains to make a living.

The old hunters chatted animatedly.

The younger ones, however, were a bit impatient. They'd only had boiled wild yams for breakfast, and their stomachs were already growling. So the group went to prepare lunch.

When two villages are put together, the population increases.

However, the hunters in Kinmen Village don't care about these things; they just say they're happy to eat fish.

Right next to the stream, fish and shrimp are readily available; you can catch a handful without much effort.

When Chen Ling heard that eating fish meant he couldn't just make simple fish soup.

After building the stone stove, he found a smooth stone slab, washed it clean, heated it over a fire, and then rendered rabbit oil on it. He had saved some from the rabbit's belly yesterday, and he also brought a lot of seasonings, which he could use to fry fish.

Heat the rabbit oil.

Place the mountain catfish, wheat ears, and shrimp on top.

In an instant, with a sizzling sound, the aroma wafted out...

Now we don't even need to worry about wild ducks.

Actually, the rabbit oil doesn't taste that great; the key is that Chen Ling used a variety of seasonings, making it taste quite good.

Everyone ate their fill at lunch that day.

If you feel you're not getting enough fish and shrimp, just go catch more. Larger fish are given a quick cleaning, but smaller fish and shrimp are left untreated and simply fried.

The hunters from Kinmen Village, who had been in the mountains for many days, had never eaten such delicious food before. They ate heartily, putting half-cooked food into their mouths.

They kept praising the people of Chenwangzhuang for their good taste in food.

"Li Xian, you've only been in the mountains for two days, and you've already caught so much game. That's quite a lot."

"Yes, it's not a small amount. The main thing is that the dog we brought this time is excellent. It's very clever and can catch a dog on the first try, haha."

“Oh dear, now that you mention it, I forgot to ask you. Didn’t you say that none of the dogs in your village have been trained? How come they’re all so fierce? Good heavens, in one go, they took down all the well-trained mountain dogs we have.”

"Haha, Uncle Guangli, you don't know, the dog spirit I'm talking about isn't these mongrels, it's those two dogs, look at them? So majestic and strong. With those two around, the dogs in our village are like they have a dog king leading them, they even dare to go for wolves."

Wang Lixian pointed to the two large dogs lying next to Chen Ling, eating fish, and said.

"Huh? You mean those two big dogs? Are they that powerful? I initially thought they were the big foreign dogs that the doll was with."

Liu Guangli was a little confused. He stared at Heiwa and Xiaojin from left to right, but couldn't figure out what was going on.

"Uncle Guangli, you've misjudged it. This isn't a foreign dog; it's a genuine Tiger Head Yellow from here. No one has trained or disciplined it, yet it's still incredibly fierce."

Wang Lixian said with a smile, pointing to Chen Ling: "As for the baby you mentioned, he belongs to my Uncle Juncai's family. His name is Chen Fugui. You must know him."

"Chen Fugui, Jun Cai's son, is that the kid?! Wasn't it him..."

Liu Guangli's eyes widened. Just then, Chen Ling looked over and stopped talking, waving at him: "Are you really Fugui from Juncai's family? I've seen you before. You were a teenager. You were getting your hair shaved halfway when you started crying and wouldn't let your father shave it anymore. You even had to be there with your father holding a lantern to help you pee at night. You've grown up so much in the blink of an eye. I wouldn't recognize you if I saw you."

"Ah, it's me. My father is Chen Juncai. Uncle, you've been to my house before?"

Chen Ling was also a little stunned, having no recollection of the old man.

"Hey kid, how come you've never been there? When did you come back from the mountains that year... never mind, you probably don't remember."

Liu Guangli stared wide-eyed, only saying half of what he meant before shaking his head. He suddenly realized that Chen Ling's father had just lost his wife two years prior, and the boy was causing a lot of trouble with no one to care for him. So he simply stopped mentioning it.

Then she changed the subject: "Are your two dogs also tiger-headed yellow? They don't look like it."

Chen Ling didn't think too much about it and nodded in response: "It's Tiger Head Yellow, pure yellow and pure black, without any other colors. What else could it be but Tiger Head Yellow? It's just that I've been feeding them so well that they've grown too fast."

"It's not right to feed it so well, especially this big black dog, it's huge. It's about the size of two and a half regular tiger-headed yellow dogs..."

The old man frowned: "But the black dog's square head and big ears do look very much like it."

Tiger Head Yellow tea is produced in Fenglei Town, which is located at the junction of three provinces. A section of the ancient Qinling road runs through the area. The area is characterized by deep mountains and dense forests, with high mountains and dangerous roads. In the past, bandits and strongmen were rampant, and wild animals from the deep forests would often run down the mountain to harm livestock and kill people.

Therefore, every household here kept vicious dogs to guard their homes or protect caravans. Through long-term crossbreeding and selective breeding with jackals and wolves, the Tiger-Headed Yellow dog became a special breed.

The tiger-headed dog has glossy yellow fur, a square head, large ears, a broad forehead, and a square, flat mouth, resembling a tiger's head. Originally, this type of dog was mostly yellow-haired, hence its name.

This breed of dog has well-developed limbs, thick soles, moderately curved toes, and a wolf-like, well-proportioned and powerful physique. Whether in the mountains or on flat ground, it runs fast, swift as the wind, and has great endurance. It is a natural hunting breed, and its roar is as deep as a tiger's, inspiring awe in those who see it.

More importantly, this dog is loyal to its owner, understands human nature, recognizes only one master regardless of wealth, and is very easy to train.

However, it also has drawbacks, namely, it is fiercely protective of its home and owner, and can easily go berserk and bite people to death.

"The black dog looks like one, but this yellow dog doesn't. It doesn't look like one at all. Its head is too narrow and too thin. If it weren't wagging its tail at you, just looking at its eyes, it would look exactly like a wolf."

Liu Guangli looked him up and down, left and right, shaking his head and clicking his tongue.

Chen Ling chuckled inwardly. This old man was talking nonsense. His little Jin did look a bit like a wolf when he was fierce, but now he was perfectly fine. Just by looking at his appearance, he was very handsome and beautiful. How could he look like a wolf?

At this moment, Chen Dazhi walked over with a cigarette in his hand and said, "Alright, Uncle Guangli, now that we've eaten and drunk our fill, it's time for us to get down to business. Didn't you say that Fugui's dog doesn't look like a tiger-headed yellow dog? I'll show you later. It's smart and fierce, much more powerful than a regular tiger-headed yellow dog."

Wang Lixian also said that Xiao Jin was very capable. Generally speaking, although Hu Tou Huang was fierce, he didn't have the ability to command a pack of dogs.

"Alright, I'll see for myself. Tiger Head Yellow is a natural mountain chaser. Once it's in the mountains, pheasants and rabbits won't escape, and it'll even go for a wild boar. Of the three dogs we lost, one was Tiger Head Yellow, which we'd raised for five or six years. I was taking a dump and didn't notice the wild boar coming, and it killed me while protecting me..."

"But that wild boar didn't fare well either. You all saw it just now, it was blind, and its intestines were spilling out all over the ground."

Liu Guangli smiled, tapped his pipe twice, and slowly stood up.

"Click."

A thunderbolt flashed across the sky.

This startled everyone who had just gotten up to leave.

"Why is it still thundering even though it's autumn?"

"Thunder in the second or eighth month of the lunar calendar means thieves everywhere; this is not a good omen..."

The three older men's expressions turned serious.

"No, thunder at this time is not a good omen. We can't go any deeper today. If we go any further in, it will be bad if it rains heavily tonight."

"Man proposes, God disposes; this is all we can do for today."

Liu Guangli sighed and turned to Wang Lixian and Chen Dazhi to discuss, "When we came here, there were quite a few caves on Mopan Ridge in the southwest. The road isn't far. Why don't we make do and spend the night in one of the caves..."

"That's great!"

Upon hearing this, everyone felt relieved.

Having a ready-made shelter from the rain is always better than going through the trouble of digging.

Actually, there are places on the cliffs to the north where they came from, and places to take shelter from the rain, but the terrain is too low and close to the river valley and canyon, so they can't stay overnight after it rains.

“We had heard before that there were many caves in the mountains of Mopanling. The old folks said that they were left behind by the Japanese devils. They lived in the mountains for a long time in order to dig mine pits and drill mine shafts.”

"Yes, those Japanese devils were digging holes everywhere in their search for minerals and oil, they were like madmen."

In the short time it took to say a few words, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky, and small splashes of water rose from the mountain stream.

No one dared to delay any longer and focused on making their way to Mopan Ridge in the southwest mountains.

Walking along the side of the mountain forest, I listened to the raindrops gradually getting bigger and denser, hitting the leaves with a pattering sound. The birdsong and insect chirps were no longer heard, only the cold sound of rain, accompanied by gusts of autumn wind blowing and hitting people's faces.

The autumn rain in the mountains brings a chill, and the mist washes the old forest, turning it seven-tenths yellow.

Mopanling is not far; it takes about twenty minutes to walk there. The mountains here are connected, stretching and spiraling, like a giant millstone, hence the name. When walking in this mountain range, you have to be careful at all times. There are many mine shafts dug by the Japanese. Each shaft opening is about the width of four or five people's arms, and it goes straight up and down. If you fall in, you can't get back up.

Chen Ling and his group saw one, and when they stomped their feet a couple of times nearby, echoes could be heard. They went over to take a look, and the deep, dark mine made their legs go weak and their hearts go cold.

Without much prompting, everyone became cautious.

The caves on Mopanling were left by the Japanese soldiers back then. When they were searching for minerals and oil, they dug caves on the mountainside for convenient living. Chen Ling and his group found the caves in the rain. There were four caves, not far apart, but one of them was blocked by rocks and covered with moss and wild grass.

Since Chen Ling and his group had a large number of people, they chose the relatively larger one from the remaining three.

The cave entrance is flanked by a huge, steep rock. The entrance is narrow at the top, pointed at the bottom, and round in the middle, requiring one to crouch to enter. The interior is quite spacious. Shining a flashlight into the dark entrance, one feels only darkness and coldness. The crevices in the cave walls are covered with dense moss, and there are various kinds of animal droppings on the ground. Fortunately, they have dried and hardened over time; otherwise, one would definitely step in a pile of excrement if one ventured into this dark cave.

No one had been here for years, and the cave smelled rather unpleasant. It took the group quite a bit of effort to clean it thoroughly. Afterward, Chen Ling took out a fire rope from his bag and used it to smoke the cave, trying to mask the odor.

It's raining quite heavily outside, and the temperature in the mountains is dropping. Many people are already feeling cold, so they're preparing to find some dry firewood to start a fire.

Chen Ling had been doing this job for the past two days, but now it was the other young men's turn. They braved the rain to go into the woods to pick up the pine needles. There were plenty of pine and cypress trees on the mountainside, in places that no one usually came to. The ground was covered with thick pine needles and lots of dead branches. They could easily find a bunch to carry back.

It was only a little past three in the afternoon, and Chen Ling noticed that it was already dark outside. The autumn rain was cold and damp, and the dogs had lost their energy to play. They lay down next to him, yawning incessantly.

Only after the fire was lit did everyone feel like talking.

It gets very cold in the mountains after the autumn rains. If there are no caves to shelter you from the wind and rain, even if you set up a tent and light a fire, you'll still be shivering at night and won't be able to sleep at all.

There's a mountain spring on Mopan Ridge. A few young men had just finished killing and cleaning wild ducks and other things by the spring, and when they came back with a pot of water, they were shivering all over and didn't want to move from the fire.

"Is there any wine left, Brother Xian?"

Chen Ling was roasting a wild duck when he asked a question.

"Don't worry, there's plenty. Even if we don't have any Li Xian, we'll bring some. It's damp in the mountains, how can we do without some wine?"

Chen Dazhi replied with a smile. He had peeled two long worms and a mountain rat and marinated them with the seasonings that Chen Ling had brought. These were caught by a pack of dogs on the way to Mopanling, and they would make a meal.

"Everyone's having a drink tonight, and we're counting on you, Fugui, to come up with some good snacks to go with the drinks."

"Haha, my roast duck is sure to be amazing. I'll also make a hot soup with another one and some worms later to warm you up. It'll be absolutely satisfying. Just you wait and see."

It's a little past three o'clock now, not too long since we had lunch. Actually, none of us are hungry, but with this kind of weather, we can't go anywhere. We're stuck in the cave with nothing to do, so we might as well make something to eat, have a few drinks, and get some rest.

……

As darkness fell and a cool breeze began to rise, the dim yellow firelight in the cave flickered.

As warmth rose from the cave, everyone who had finished their drinks drifted off to sleep.

Night had fallen outside the mountains by then, and the rain gradually subsided and stopped. If you listened carefully, you could hear wolf howls in the distance, and closer by, there were also rustling sounds and strange "yo-yo" cries.

Chen Ling suddenly woke up and looked out of the dark cave entrance. He was a light sleeper and always felt that something was hiding in the dark watching him, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Woof woof woof! Woof woof!" Not only did Chen Ling notice something was wrong, but Heiwa and Xiaojin also jumped up and ran to the cave entrance, baring their teeth and barking defiantly at the dark forest.

The barking of the dog woke everyone up.

"What's wrong, Fugui?"

"The rain stopped for a while outside, and it felt like something was touching me."

Chen Ling walked to the cave entrance with his hunting rifle and saw his dog standing in front of the entrance, staring fiercely in one direction in the woods.

After the last wolf hunt, he scolded the two dogs, telling them not to run away easily when they encountered wild animals, and this time they clearly remembered.

They did not act rashly.

However, when Chen Ling stepped out of the cave, his expression changed. He saw green eyes everywhere in the forest, surrounding the cave and extending forty or fifty meters away.

When Wang Lixian and the others came out and saw this scene, their expressions changed drastically.

"Is this a pack of wolves? They've come looking for us because of our scent?"

(End of this chapter)