Martial Arts and Longevity: Starting from the Spiritual Beast Picture

Chapter 12
At dusk, a dog-pulled sled drove out of Baiqiao Village, heading for the depths of Mount Baitou.

The gray-haired old man on the driver's seat slapped his whip, causing snowflakes to fall from the trees.

There were four people sitting in the car, wearing fur caps and thick padded jackets, with knives, guns, bows and arrows and other weapons beside them, as well as bags full of food.

They were Zhou Paotou, Zhao Lin, Zhu Dachun and Liang Song who went into the mountain to hunt and kill Xiong Wei.

"Zhou Paotou, the snow hasn't melted yet, why are you rushing into the mountains?"

asked the old Zhuangtou driving the car.

Lao Zhuangtou is also a hunter. Because he is too old to hunt, he raised more than a dozen native dogs, and used sledges to send people up and down the mountain in winter to earn money for running errands.

Zhou Paotou asked him to send a few people into the mountain, so as not to waste energy on the long journey.

"Beating children on rainy days is also idle, go to the mountains to try your luck." Zhou Paotou said casually.

The old Zhuangtou looked back, "You don't think about that bear, do you?"

Zhou Paotou laughed, "I don't think about it for a long time. I haven't seen that beast for several years. Maybe it's old and dead."

Zhao Lin heard the two chatting one after another, and the scene of saying goodbye to his parents this morning flashed through his mind.

"Father, mother, my elder brother's business is almost done. I live in the city for the past two days, so I can easily make connections, so I won't be back at night..."

His parents believed it and told him to come back early.

"Don't worry, our family will be reunited soon!"

Zhao Lin regretted saying that at the time, and felt that he was raising a flag. Those who said such things in the movie would end badly.

"Just here, the old man dare not go in."

After nearly two hours of snow sledging, Lao Zhuangtou pulled the reins, and the dogs lay on the snow with their tongues sticking out, and mouthfuls of hot air.

Zhao Lin looked up and saw a tens of meters high mountain in front of him, shaped like a bird combing its feathers.

He had heard of this place, it was called Laoluling.

To the north of Laoluling is the hinterland of Mount Baitou, where there are real deep mountains and old forests, where strange beasts roam freely.

Only a very small number of experienced old hunters, who have explored a few relatively safe paths over the years, dare to go hunting occasionally.

"Thank you, Lao Zhuang."

Zhao Lin and others took their things to the snow and sledge, Zhou Paotou grabbed a small handful of copper coins from his pocket and gave them to Lao Zhuangtou.

The old Zhuangtou counted the money in his hand, his old face smiled like a chrysanthemum, "Come to pick you up at this time tomorrow?"

"Yes, we will wait one more day if we don't come."

The old man blinked his eyes, "Zhou Paotou, don't blame the old man for speaking unluckily, what if you don't come after a day?"

"Wait for two days at most. If you haven't seen anyone for two days, you don't have to wait." Zhou Paotou said in a normal tone.

The old Zhuangtou was old and smart, guessed the purpose of their trip, and did not reveal it, and disappeared into the forest sea and snow field on a snow sledge.

"This trail was passed down from my grandfather's generation. It's safer because you won't encounter any strange beasts."

Zhou Paotou led the way, and Zhao Lin and others followed behind. They bypassed Laogaling and walked into a rough bark birch forest.

Different from the outside of the mountain, there is a lot of snow in the deep mountain, except for the tall trees, there is a vast expanse of white everywhere.

Zhao Lin looked up at the gloomy sky, and thought: "No wonder it is said that it is easy to get lost in the deep mountains and old forests. It looks the same in all directions. If you are not familiar with it, it is easy to get stuck in it and cannot get out."

The four of them vigilantly observed the movement around them as they walked. Apart from the bear, there might be other beasts here.

Traveling in the thick snow was very exhausting. They stopped and stopped all the way, and at about noon, they came to the foot of a small hill.

"Xiong Shizi squatted in the sky in that tree."

Zhou Paotou pointed at a tall and sturdy towering giant tree in the distance, and lowered his voice.

After the snow falls in winter, and after eating and drinking all autumn, fat and strong black bears go into tree holes and burrows to hibernate.

Commonly known as squatting.Hibernating in a tree hole is called squatting in the sky, and digging a burrow to hibernate is called squatting in the ground.

Bears are exotic animals, but their living habits are the same as those of ordinary black bears.

Before entering the mountain, Zhao Lin made up a lot of hunting knowledge, which Zhou Paotou and the others told him.

Zhao Lin stared and saw an oval-shaped crack in the middle of the branch of the giant tree more than ten meters above the ground.

"follow me."

Zhou Paotou said in a low voice, and led several people into a "diwozi".

Diwozi is a snow cave.

In order to facilitate the observation of Xiong Wei, Zhou Paotou dug it a few months ago.

The door of Diwozi is very small, and when you get into it, you will find a space of more than two meters in length and width. The ground is covered with withered grass and roe deer skin, and four people can just squeeze in.

Zhao Lin noticed a statue of a god embedded in the snow wall, and asked, "What kind of god is that?"

"God of the Mountain, bless us Orion." Zhou Paotou took out the hot pancake from his bosom, took a bite and said vaguely.

Zhao Lin looked at the portrait again, thinking: "You better be effective, otherwise..."

Perhaps out of nervousness, the four of them had nothing to say and ate in silence.

After eating and resting for a while, each took out a white cloth the size of a bed sheet from the package, and covered the whole body from head to toe.

Before killing the warehouse, you must first make sure that Xiong Wei is in the cave, otherwise it will be a lot of fun to compete with an empty warehouse for a long time.

The four of them walked out of the nest one after another, slowly approached the giant tree, lay down at a distance of about [-] meters, and crawled forward.

"Damn, why are there footprints on the ground!"

Zhou Paotou gestured for several people to stop advancing, and then wrote a line of words on the snow with his fingers.

Xiong Wei has a keen sense of hearing, and speaking may wake it up, and they can only communicate in this way.

Zhao Lin raised his upper body a little, and saw that there were many bear paw-shaped footprints scattered on the snow in front of him, extending to the bottom of the giant tree.

There are footprints in any direction, and it is hard to tell whether they are coming out or going in.

Looking up along the giant tree, I saw many paw prints on the tree. Judging from the damage of the bark, there were a few scratches that had just been scratched.

Zhao Lin also wrote on the snow with his finger: "There are new paw prints on the tree, will the squatting be over?"

Zhu Dachun shook his head and wrote: "No, the time has not come yet."

He was not very literate, and only wrote six characters, two of which were replaced by circles.

Liang Song helped him add: "The bear will come out to breathe after being bored in the cave for a long time, and then go back to continue squatting in the warehouse."

Zhao Lin frowned, wondering if it was at home now?
It’s okay to be at home, if you are not at home and go to check it out, what if you come across it and come back?
Zhou Pao let out a soft "hush" sound, attracting Zhao Lin and others to look over, and then wrote on the snow: "The bear will not be out of the warehouse for more than half a day, we will wait here, and we will know whether it is home in a while!"

Zhao Lin and the others felt that the idea was good, so they lay quietly in the snow.

The mountain wind gradually picked up, and the blowing snow dust covered their bodies little by little, blending with the environment.

An hour passed, two hours passed, and the sky gradually darkened...

Just when Zhao Lin thought that Xiong Wei must be squatting in the tree hole and sleeping, there were heavy footsteps behind him, and the sound of snow being trampled flat.

coming!

Zhao Lin raised his heart, judging from the sound of footsteps, it was the bear that came.

Because the footsteps were heavy and light, and there was the sound of dragging - the bear's leg was seriously injured.

The footsteps were getting closer, Zhao Lin held his breath, and glanced at Zhou Paotou and the three of them, just like him, motionless like sculptures.

"Pfft!"

A big furry foot appeared in Zhao Lin's sight, followed by thick legs, a body as wide and thick as a door panel, and shoulders like mountains...

The bear bear is more than three meters tall, several heads taller than the polar bear, the largest bear in the previous life.

She was covered in jet-black, glossy black hair, the roots of which were like iron.

Zhao Lin had previously imagined Xiong Wei as a large black bear, but after seeing it with his own eyes, it felt completely different, and the strong sense of oppression was suffocating.

Xiong Wei staggered to the bottom of the giant tree, stared blankly for a while, then climbed up the tree on hands and feet, and burrowed into the hole awkwardly.

After a while, there was a thunderous snoring sound from the tree hole.

(End of this chapter)