Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 705: The rope ladder and platform

When the wolf king and the queen are doing their work, the other wolves have to stand guard to prevent invasion by natural enemies. After the queen gives birth to cubs, all captured prey must be delivered to her mouth. Therefore, the social structure and hierarchy of the wolf pack are very strict, more complicated than those of jackals.

Li Fuqiang was walking slowly on the snow in front, while Xu Ning, Wang Hu and Guan Lei were following behind. The mountains here were ups and downs, and the valleys were crisscrossed. The terrain was quite complex. Sun Weimin and Master Li said that there would be floods here every summer. This was the inevitable path for mountain torrents because Mudanjiang was to the west.

At around 11 o'clock, they stood on the top of the mountain and looked at the green grass pond below the mountain. The pond was polygonal in shape, surrounded by willows, with thin branches growing randomly, densely packed like millions of dirt balls hanging upside down on the branches. These dirt balls were Ussuri pit vipers, which were very poisonous.

Wang Hu originally wanted to have a steamed meal together on the top of the mountain, but Xu Ning waved his hand to refuse. Knowing that there might be green skins in the green grass pond at the foot of the mountain, how could they be so careless? With their rumbling stomachs, they turned around and went to the ravine three miles away, where they found a sheltered place and picked up branches to make a fire.

"There aren't many grass nests near our house, but here they are piled up in patches, and covered with snow. From a distance it looks like a cemetery..."

Li Fuqiang laughed and said, "There is a lot of rain here, and there are many rivers. It's nothing like where we are, where there is only one small stone river in the whole mountain."

Wang Hu grinned and said, "There is an Ant River ahead, but we have never fished in the Ant River."

"There's no place to step in the Ant River in front of our house. The water is only two meters shallow at the shore. If we want to fish, we have to sail!"

Li Fuqiang nodded: "Hey, brother, didn't you say before that you would buy two casting nets? If we have casting nets, can't we fish while standing on the bridge?"

"I forgot about it because I was busy. Huzi, please remember to buy two nets when you go to the city next time."

"Got it."

They chatted while eating, then boiled some water with the snow from the mountains, and did not get up to pack up until after 1 p.m.

Some people may say that this is just slacking off! Yes, it is slacking off.

In addition, Xu Ning had other plans. When he heard that Da Yan and his companions and the dog gang were attacked by greenskins in the mountains, he felt that this group of greenskins were aggressive and very ferocious. Pure wild greenskins were not like the six greenskins of Wang Xing. Although they were somewhat ferocious, they were contaminated with the aura of being artificially raised, and were much less ferocious than pure wild ones.

Big Eyes was attacked by the greenskins near Qingcaotang, so Xu Ning wanted to take a look at the activities of these greenskins.

When he entered the mountain, he saw several tracks and blood, but did not find the dog's body. He thought the dog must have been eaten by Qingpizi.

"Second brother, there is a trace here."

Xu Ning looked over and said, "This should be a wolf patrolling. We should be on the outskirts of their territory."

"Are you still going inside?" Li Fuqiang asked, holding the gun.

"No, let's go down the mountain directly. It's almost time for today."

"Okay."

Then, Xu Ning and others walked towards the mine. When they were halfway there, they heard a rustling sound behind them.

Xu Ning reminded: "Don't look back, we just keep walking, and if they dare to pounce on us, we will shoot."

Li Fuqiang, Wang Hu and Guan Lei silently loaded their guns. The positions of the four also changed. Wang Hu was in the front, Guan Lei was in the second, Xu Ning was in the third, and Li Fuqiang was in the rear...

"It seems there is no sound anymore."

Xu Ning muttered quietly: "These days they have been eating chickens, ducks, geese, and dog meat, so how can they have room for us? Animals have nothing to do when they are full."

"Brother, when you were tracking them, did you figure out how many green-skinned people there were?"

Xu Ning shook his head. "I can't tell. Greenskins always step on their front feet when they walk. They usually don't walk on unfamiliar ground. In the past, many hunters wanted to set traps to hunt greenskins, but they are getting better and better at it and it's impossible to trap them. But my guess is similar to what Big Eyes said. There are probably more than ten of them."

Wang Hu said with a smile: "If we dry them all, my nephew will have a small mattress to sleep on!"

"It's not that good. I can only make a few mattresses! I need to make two wolfskin coats, and they must be small hats with wolf heads..."

"You two have good vision. Hu Zi and Shi Tou should also hurry up."

Wang Hu rubbed his face and said, "I didn't dare miss a single day, for fear that the age difference between our children would be too big."

Guan Lei smiled and said, "How can it be that big of a difference? We will get married a month later than my brother. If we don't want to get married this year, then we can wait until next year."

Li Fuqiang said: "When you children grow up to be old enough for my family to be rich, I will be the grandfather by then."

Xu Ning said: "If I call you Master, why should I call you Master? Shouldn't I call you Master too?"

"What else is there to say? Nothing wrong."

The noise they heard behind them earlier was just hallucination, because there were other small animals in the mountains besides green foxes, and the noise just now was made by the greyhound.

Although Xu Ning and others were chatting without restraint, their attention was always on the back. After all, they could not be careless at any time.

It was almost 5 o'clock when the four of them staggered down the mountain along the path. Halfway up the mountain, they noticed a car parked at the foot of the mountain.

When Sun Weimin and Master Li saw the four people coming down from the top of the mountain, they immediately opened the car door and went forward to greet them.

"You must be tired. Hurry up and get in the car to warm up."

Sun Weimin was very tactful in dealing with people. He did not ask Xu Ning and others whether they had seen the young man, but instead asked about their health first.

"Not tired, Uncle Min. We often go hiking, so these two trails are nothing. We walked more than 30 miles in the mountains today, but we didn't see any green-skinned people. However, we saw the blood of those dogs, and there were some tufts of dog hair on the ground..."

Master Li said, "The six dogs didn't return home. They must have been killed by the green-skinned snakes."

Xu Ning nodded: "Well, I think it's not good. Let's go up the mountain for a walk tomorrow. These young guys have been eating a lot in recent days. Now that they have food in their stomachs, they don't like to come out. If they are hungry for a few days, they will find us."

"Okay, you guys are professionals, you can fight any way you want!"

Sun Weimin seemed indifferent to this. After the car drove towards the mine, he said to Xu Ning: "Is there enough food for lunch? Ask Old Li's wife to prepare more tomorrow?"

"Don't prepare yet. We can't eat too much at noon, otherwise we won't be able to run in the mountains. I'll tell you when I need you."

"Well, if you have anything to say, just tell me. My family is making mutton soup. They gave us some steamed white flour buns. Would you like to drink some mutton soup?"

"Oh my god, this is fun, who wouldn't be happy to drink it? Uncle Min, look at us coming over here, and you're still spending so much money, I feel embarrassed for you."

"What's there to be embarrassed about? If you guys weren't here, I would eat like this all the time. It's just a side thing."

When they returned to the five-room room at the mine, two girls brought them two basins of water as soon as they entered the room. They simply washed their faces and necks, then went into the house and put their hands under the small quilt at the head of the kang.

Li Fuqiang smelled the mutton smell in the room and said with a smile: "This little smell is really delicious. I didn't expect to come to Uncle Min's place to enjoy the good life." "Hahaha, this is nothing. I'll make some mutton dumplings for you tomorrow! We're a bit rushed today, and the three of them can't make it."

Guan Lei said: "Sorry for causing trouble, Uncle Min."

"Hey, stop saying that. Our relationship is very important. It's like being at home here."

Xu Ning smiled silently. They all seemed to have figured out Sun Weimin's character. He was a very vain person and, to put it bluntly, he was willing to have some face.

Hey, isn't being shameless contradictory to being frivolous? Actually, Sun Weimin can be shameless with people of high status, but he will be more respectful with people of low status or younger generations. In a word, human nature is complicated. Xu Ning is not surprised by any emotional changes, because even an honest person will be cornered one day, and even a rabbit will bite when it is cornered!

So praising Sun Weimin would make Xu Ning and others feel more comfortable here...

The mutton soup contains liver, blood, lungs, and mutton. Due to the lack of pepper, it has a strong mutton smell. However, if you put some salt and chili oil in the soup bowl, the mutton smell will basically disappear.

Sun Weimin saw Xu Ning breaking the steamed bun into pieces and throwing it into the soup bowl, and immediately thought that eating it this way was interesting. He also learned to do the same, took a big sip and felt satisfied.

"Good! Delicious! Erning is the best at eating. I used to drink mutton soup with rice."

Xu Ning said with a smile: "In the northwest, there is also mutton soup steamed buns. We don't have that kind of steamed buns here, but soaking some steamed buns or fried cakes in it is also very fragrant."

"Oh, that's not so good. Just make two pancakes! Eat this today and make some more pancakes later."

Sun Weimin is very knowledgeable about food. Has he never eaten steamed buns soaked in mutton soup? Of course he has, but there must be something to talk about at the dinner table.

After sipping two glasses of Wujiabai, Xu Ning put down his chopsticks and said, "We will go into the mountain at around five o'clock tomorrow morning. There is no need for Uncle Min to send us there. We also know the way to the mountain. We can drive there by ourselves."

"Going into the mountains at around five o'clock? What time do we have to get up?"

"I got up at 4 o'clock and caught the train."

"Row!"

Seeing how hard Xu Ning and others worked, Sun Weimin felt that it was worth spending some money. Although the two mountain hikers he had found before agreed to give him 100 yuan, not only did they not kill the green-skinned fox, but they were almost bitten to death by it and also donated a lot of money to the health center, which made Sun Weimin very distressed.

So he felt that he had to find some ruthless people, even if it cost more money. If he found another group of people like the big-eyed two and got injured by the green-skinned people, wouldn't Sun Weimin have to pay compensation?

The next day, Xu Ning was pushed awake by Wang Hu. He stood up and looked at his watch. It was exactly 4:20.

The four of them went to the toilet one after another to solve their physiological problems. When they returned to the room, the bedding had been folded up by the two girls and there was a table on the ground.

Sun Weimin smiled and waved, "Come and eat quickly. I made some pancakes this morning and heated up the leftover mutton soup from last night. Here are two trays of large steamed mutton dumplings. Come and eat!"

"With such good food so early in the morning, Uncle Min, I don't even want to leave."

Sun Weimin laughed: "Haha, if you don't want to leave, just stay here! You can stay as long as you want!"

After the meal, Xu Ning poured some wine into the canteen, Wang Hu put the lunch box on the edge of the kang into the cloth bag, and Li Fuqiang and Guan Lei checked the guns.

It was dark outside and the cold wind was howling. Xu Ning and the others pulled up their face scarves when they went out, and then strode into the car.

The main purpose of going into the mountains today is to stroll around. This is what it means when you do things for acquaintances. You must make the other party feel that you are getting good value for money. If you deal with all the ruffians as soon as you arrive, how will they feel good?

Ah, I spent nearly 1000 yuan, and you just took it away? You're robbing me!

Before leaving, Xu Ning did not tell Sun Weimin when he would be back. He just waved his hand and drove away.

After entering the mountain, they found a sheltered place on the top of the mountain and sat for a while. They happened to see the sunrise. The scenery was quite beautiful. The golden sunlight shone on the snow-covered mountains. In the words of later generations, it was the sun shining on the golden mountain...

At 7:25, Xu Ning started to walk into the mountain. After passing by the bloodstains and traces he had seen yesterday, they headed straight for the back mountain of Qingcaotang.

Two tracks of green wolves were found in the back mountain. The footprints here were a little different from the ones when they came here, because the green wolves were no longer marching, but standing in scattered positions. Xu Ning took a rough glance and judged that there were 11 wolves in total!

"This is Qingpizi's back garden, brother, look at the bones and meat buried in the snow..."

Wang Hu came over and said, "Second brother, it looks like a dog's leg."

Xu Ning took a look, lifted his foot and buried the dog's leg back into the snow, saying, "Let's go first. If we linger here for a while, the green-skinned man will smell the scent and come."

"Not fighting today?" Li Fuqiang asked in surprise.

"No, didn't you hear what Uncle Lianfang said? Uncle Min was afraid of taking advantage of others, so he asked us to come here. You beat him in two days. How can he feel happy?"

For Xu Ning and others, let alone 11 greenskins, they could fight even if 11 more came, because they had taken two 56-and-a-half bullets and two old jue-bamboo rifles before, and they had experience in hunting greenskins before. As long as they climbed up the tree, these greenskins would be lambs to be slaughtered!
After they left in a hurry, only 10 minutes later, three green foxes appeared at the place where they left. They sniffed, bared their fangs, bared their fangs, turned around and ran towards the Qingcao Pond with the dog's legs in their mouths.

"The location we were in was pretty good. There weren't any extra trees around, so the view was pretty wide. I'll come over tomorrow to cut the branches and build a platform on the tree."

"Okay, then we need to build two platforms, right?"

Guan Lei said: "Brother, I see they all use rope ladders to hang on the trees, which makes it easier to climb trees. Should we also use rope ladders? It is easy to climb trees and build a platform."

"Shitou's idea is good. Let's do it this way! Now let's find some branches to make rope ladders. Two 4-meter rope ladders will be enough. Brother, you can split some wood to make platform steps. When we go back, go ask Uncle Min for some nails."

"Okay!"

After that, they started working in the mountains, and it was not until dark that they finished making two rope ladders and more than 10 pieces of wood.

Xu Ning lowered his head to look at his watch, then prepared to return to the mine.

It was already past 7 o'clock when they arrived at the mine. Sun Weimin and Master Li were standing at the gate and saw the car lights turned on. They immediately clapped and stamped their feet in applause.

After Xu Ning and the others jumped out of the car, Sun Weimin ran over and said, "Oh my god, you guys are driving me crazy! Why are you back at this time?"

Xu Ning said with a smile: "I just wanted to walk a little further into the mountains, so I didn't pay attention to the time."

"Oh, I was wondering why you didn't come back at this time. I was afraid you might run into some villains..."

"It's not that easy to meet him. If we can meet him, it would be even better. We can just fight him directly."

Guan Lei nodded: "The range of the green skin is quite far. We followed their trail for a whole day and didn't even see a single hair."

Sun Weimin patted his chest and said, "It's good that everything is fine, it's good that everything is fine, then hurry up and go into the house to wash up..."

(End of this chapter)