Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 697: Tiger Hunter is Too Impatient and Misses the Opportunity
The northwest wind howled, and huge smoke balloons blew up in the mountains and forests. The strong wind mixed with snow particles blocked people's ears and made it impossible for people to open their eyes.

Although the weather was not good, the people who had been wandering in the mountains for a day and a night were very excited because they finally touched the big cat's butt. In other words, the big cat came to them on its own initiative. They were not afraid or scared. Not to mention that Xu Ning and others had met the big cat many times, Lao Li and Lao Zheng had also fought with the big cat in the mountains!
Everyone stood in the mountain. Xu Ning walked to the trail ahead and squatted down. He looked carefully with goggles on and found that the big cat had followed their footprints last night, which meant that they had been discovered by the big cat a long time ago.

The big cat walked around the area twice and took a nap on the leeward slope not far from the cave.

Xu Ning stood up and walked to the leeward slope, pulled down his scarf and said, "I think it's nearby, not far from us. Brother, you should unload everything first, so it won't be a burden later."

"Eh."

Li Fuqiang, Wang Hu and others threw their cloth bags and bedding under the roots of the trees without marking them. They often came to this mountain and were familiar with the environment. It would be bragging to say that they remembered every tree, but it was easy for them to remember where there were pits and bags.

Lao Zheng asked: "Which way should we go?"

Xu Ning pointed to the trail at the bottom of the slope and said, "Follow this trail forward. I think it's heading to Qiantiaotang."

"Then why didn't we jump into the pond and see it yesterday?"

"It wasn't at home at the time."

Xu Long said: "If we encounter it, how should we fight it? Should we outflank it or attack it head-on..."

Lao Li said with a smile: "When we fight animals, we don't need to talk about tactics. We just need to kill it. The weapons we had before didn't work very well. Now we have to use 56 semi-automatic rifles. There are 8 of us and we have 80 rounds of bullets in total. We must have riddled it with bullets, right?"

Old Zheng said, "Don't really beat it into a sieve. Erning is thinking of sending it to a specimen museum. The tiger skin is full of bullet holes. It will be difficult to repair. Take your time."

"Okay! Then let Erning take command."

Xu Ning didn't say anything polite. He just waved his hand for everyone to follow closely, and then followed the tiger's trail down the slope. At the bottom of the slope was a ditch, and it was quite difficult to walk along the ditch because the snow in the ditch was much thicker than on the mountain. So they walked on the slope more than 10 meters away from the tiger's trail.

The wind was also favorable in the direction of the jumping stone pond, so everyone did not feel tired. Instead, they were full of energy and seemed to have endless energy.

The gun chamber is full of bullets, but the safety is not turned on. However, the gun is in his hand, ready to deal with emergencies at any time.

It was exactly 11: when they arrived at Tiaoshitang. The snow was too thick in the mountains, so their pace was naturally much slower. If there was no snow or the snow was above the ankles, it would only take two hours to walk from Liushugou to Tiaoshitang. Another reason was that the big cat had circled the mountain several times, causing them to take a lot of detours.

At this moment, everyone's stomachs were rumbling. They didn't eat much in the morning, and pasta and porridge were not filling at all.

Originally, Xu Ning suggested finding a sheltered place to build a fire and continue tracking the cat after filling their stomachs. However, Lao Zheng, Lao Li, Liu Daming and others all waved their hands to refuse. The reason was naturally that they were afraid that the big cat would smell the scent or see the fire and run away. If they lost the opportunity, it would be difficult to find the big cat again.

Later, Li Fuqiang said something fair, "The cloth bag containing the lunch box was thrown into Liushugou. Now we have nothing to eat, only a few ropes left..."

After that, Xu Ning patted his head and said, "Look at my memory. Let's walk around Tiaoshitang until 3 o'clock. If we don't find it, we can drive home directly to have a hot meal."

"it is good!"

The Tiaoshitang, which is covered with large rocks, has a nice scenery. There are perennially green pine trees on the surrounding mountains. White snow covers the rocks, and a hint of green moss can be vaguely seen. In the middle is a winding river, which is the upper reaches of the Xiaoshi River. The river water has been frozen into ice, but the sound of water flowing under the riverbed can be vaguely heard.

The terrain here is quite complex. In addition to large rocks and small gravel, there are also broken cliffs about two or three meters high.

At this moment, at the foot of the low hill on the north side, a spotted tiger was lying next to a pile of large bluestones. Its eyelids were drooping and its head was slightly lowered, as if it had not slept well.

The two front paws of the tiger were folded alternately, and the whole body of the tiger had a lazy posture, as if it looked down on all living things in the mountains.

Just as it was about to fall asleep, it suddenly smelled a familiar smell, similar to the smell of oil mixed with sour sweat.

It suddenly jumped up from where it was, glanced in the direction of the smell, and then did not make a fuss, but just took two steps forward with its front paws, its shoulders gradually sank, its body slowly became narrow and long, and it stretched...

It went around the pile of rocks, staring at one side with sharp eyes. After a moment, footsteps were faintly heard from the northwest. Although the wind was roaring, the big cat's ears were quite flexible and could hear sounds that ordinary people could not hear.

When they got to Tiaoshitang, Xu Ning stopped tracking them. He was afraid of being ambushed by a big cat. Cats are good at catching mice, and their hunting methods are not very sophisticated. They specialize in sneak attacks...

So Xu Ning arranged Lao Zheng and Lao Li on both sides, Li Fuqiang and Liu Daming at the back, Guan Lei, Wang Hu and Xu Long in the middle. This formation had almost 360 degrees without blind spots, and there were eyes watching everywhere.

Suddenly, Xu Ning stood still, staring at the area behind the pile of stones.

Lao Zheng and Lao Li looked at him in confusion, and when they saw that he was motionless, they followed his gaze, but saw nothing...

"Erining?"

Xu Ning frowned and said, "I seemed to be looking at the tiger's tail just now."

"Tiger tail?"

Lao Li said, "Just the pile of rocks in front? Then I'll go take a look."

Lao Zheng advised, "Don't move. Let's listen to Er Ning. No matter how good your shooting skills are, you will be finished if it jumps on you."

Xu Long in the back said, "We can't see it from here, let's move forward, or what?"

Xu Ning glanced at the nearby terrain and said, "Let's go up the mountain. If we see a big cat, we'll just shoot it in the head!"

"clear."

Then, the group changed direction and did not go into Tiaoshitang, because the terrain inside was complicated. Even if the big cat was huge, it would have no chance to hide behind the rocks in Tiaoshitang. If they fired randomly, the bullets would hit the rocks, and apart from hearing the noise, it would hardly cause any harm to the big cat.

Rather than wasting time, it is better to save some energy and look for a good time...

Xu Ning walked up the mountain for more than 10 meters before he found a collapsed snow area next to the pile of rocks.

He immediately determined that this was the big cat's den, and the tail he had just swept was not an illusion!
"Everyone, be careful. I must have been looking at its tail just now. It should be hiding behind the pile of rocks. Don't look over there. We are 1 meters apart. Let's go another 20 meters up the mountain..."

Everyone was silent when they heard this, as opening their mouths would expose them easily, so they just followed Xu Ning's footsteps and walked up the mountain.

At this moment, they were standing halfway up the mountain. At the foot of the mountain there were a few scattered pine trees, an oak tree that had lost most of its leaves, and three elm trees with bare branches.

When they turned around, they saw the big cat's head hidden under the oak tree, with most of its huge body exposed. When everyone saw this, their hearts beat faster and their faces froze.

"Dry!!"

Lao Li was an impatient man. As soon as he saw the big cat's head sticking out, he pulled the safety as soon as he raised his gun. By the time he shouted "do it", his finger was already on the trigger.

There were three consecutive bangs and the big cat retracted its head in an instant. The first shot missed, while the second and third shots both hit the big cat's shoulder, brushing against the tree trunk.

Ouch...

A tiger roar echoed throughout the mountains and forests.

Everyone's heart skipped a beat, as if it were grasped by a huge hand. The huge sound made it hard for them to breathe.

Xu Ning turned his head and held out the gun, then heard Lao Zheng shout, "It's trying to run!"

Lao Zheng held the gun without aiming, relying entirely on muscle memory to pull the trigger. He only fired two shots, one hitting the abdomen of the big cat as it was about to turn around, and one hitting the big cat's hind leg.

The shot cat rolled down the hillside and disappeared from everyone's sight. "Oh my god! How the hell did he shoot it..."

Lao Li slapped his thigh with some regret. He and Lao Zheng were both a little confused. It stands to reason that their shooting skills were such that they could basically hit whatever they pointed at within a range of 50 meters, but today they failed to perform well.

Without firing a single shot, Xu Ning quickly grabbed Lao Zheng's arm and shouted, "Chase him!"

"We can't let it get away!"

Everyone started to chase after it, and finally came to the foot of the hillside. They looked carefully and saw that the big cat was nowhere to be seen.

Only three or four pools of blood blended into the white snow, making them particularly eye-catching.

Lao Li admitted his mistakes and said, "Blame me! I was a little anxious."

Xu Ning waved his hands and said, "Don't blame anyone. This big cat is very clever, but it was also shot. Let's continue chasing it. It shouldn't be able to get far."

"Okay! You track them down, and Lao Li and I will keep an eye on them, don't worry."

Li Fuqiang, Wang Hu, Guan Lei, Liu Daming, and Xu Long were all a little unhappy. Why? If they had followed Xu Ning's instructions, the big cat would have been dead. But Lao Li was too anxious. He fired a gun as soon as he saw the big cat's head appear before he even reached the position.

"Brother, you, my brother, and uncle will watch from behind. Huzi and Shitou will come with me. Uncle Zheng and Uncle Li, you two will go ahead. You must listen to me this time."

"Understood. Lao Li and I are not familiar with this place. You can just give the orders. Lao Li, don't be anxious this time..."

"know."

Old Li felt quite embarrassed. After all, he had made contributions and fought in formal battles. It was really a loss of face for him to fail to kill the big cat after firing three shots.

Xu Ning waved his hands and said, "It can't run far. Let's chase it quickly and try to kill it before dark."

"okay."

The direction the big cat fled was Blind Valley. Judging from the location of Xu Ning and others, Blind Valley was in the northeast.

They ran along the tiger's tracks and blood trails, but they couldn't move their legs at all, so their speed was naturally much slower than that of the big cat.

It was already past noon and everyone was starving. When they were tired from running, they would grab a handful of snow and put it into their mouths, not caring whether the snow was clean or not, as long as it could quench their thirst.

The roar of tigers could be heard. It sounded very close to them. Xu Ning pointed to the ridge in front of them and said, "There is a small path on this mountain! There is a hidden ditch at the bottom of the mountain, so be careful."

"it is good!"

After jumping over the ditch, Xu Ning found that the tiger's tracks became more frequent, which meant that the big cat was a little tired, or perhaps the pain from the wound slowed it down.

"Be careful, we are not far away from it."

Lao Zheng nodded and said, "Lao Li, don't be anxious this time."

Lao Li said, "Well, let Erning fire his gun first this time. After he fires, I'll fire my gun."

Their physical strength was no less than that of a young man like Xu Ning, and their military qualities were also very strong. The only thing was that they had no experience in hunting animals. In addition, due to their personality, they missed the opportunity before.

It is still six or seven miles away from Blind Valley, and 200 meters ahead is the Snail Shell.

Xu Ning and others were very familiar with snail shells. After all, they had hunted jackals and brown bears here, and also met Guan Lei's wife Sun Lianfang.

"The terrain here is also quite complex. The mountain ridges are in a spiral shape. If you see a big cat, be careful that it hides behind the mountain ridges."

Xu Ning pointed to a tree in front of him and said, "All trees are this thick, so it will be no problem for someone to hide there."

"clear."

At this time, everyone had already entered the snail shell. The tiger's tracks were following the hillside down. They could already see the silhouette of the big cat when they stood on the ridge.

"There! Chase him!"

Xu Ning jumped up and slid down the mountain with the 56 and a half ski. Lao Zheng and Lao Li beside him did the same. After the three of them reached the foot of the mountain, they looked forward and found that the big cat had disappeared.

"Be more careful! Erning, let's switch guns. I just pulled the bolt and loaded the bullets."

Xu Long handed over the 56 rifle, and Xu Ning took it. He pointed to an old lime tree a hundred meters away in front of the left and said, "Using the old lime tree as the boundary, the eight of us will be divided into two groups. Let my brother and uncle follow Uncle Zheng and Uncle Li. You go to the right and we go to the left. But we can't shoot at each other. We must leave an angle..."

Uncle Zheng said, "A pincer attack? Got it."

"Yes, it's a pincer attack. However, when we move forward, the big cat may be hiding somewhere. We must pay attention to safety and don't let it attack us by surprise."

"OK!"

Then, the group split into two groups and ran forward from the left and right.

At this time, the lame big cat, which had been shot four times, was lying behind a tree licking its wounds, and a low sound came from its mouth.

When it heard the sound of footsteps on the snow, it became like a frightened kitten, with all its hair standing on end and it hunched its body and lowered its head in alert.

Just as it was about to run backwards, Xu Ning, Lao Zheng and others jumped onto the ridge, looked down and saw it hiding behind a tree.

The distance is about 80 meters, and the view is relatively wide, because the trees in the forest here have all lost their leaves, and the tree trunks are bare.

Xu Ning, Lao Zheng and others could see the big cat's head, so they didn't hesitate, raised their guns and pulled the trigger.

bang bang bang...

Gunshots rang out from both sides, echoing in the snail's shell.

The big cat at the foot of the mountain fell to the ground with three bullet holes on its head.

It didn't wail when it fell to the ground, because the bullet hit its head, leaving it no chance to regret.

Xu Ning put away his gun and looked down the mountain, shouting, "Go down the mountain slowly! Uncle Zheng!"

"Hey! Listen!"

Lao Zheng and Lao Li had rosy complexions and looked very happy.

There were only three bullet holes in the big cat's head. That was because Xu Ning, Lao Zheng and Lao Li each fired a shot and no one fired a second shot.

At this distance, I am using 56, so I have to be confident!
Everyone moved slowly down the mountain. Wang Hu pointed at the big cat's hind legs and said, "Second brother, why do I see its hind legs moving?"

(End of this chapter)