Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 733 Tiancangzi and Heixiazi, you're not doing this fairly.

Willow Grove, at the bottom of the slope.

Xu Ning sat in the snow, with Wang Hu and Da Laba in front of him dealing with wild boar. A pack of dogs surrounded them, panting heavily on the ground. Clearly, after three hunts, the pack of dogs was also quite tired.

It was already past 11 o'clock, just the time for lunch.

Li Fuqiang and Guan Lei gathered two bundles of firewood, found a sheltered open space, and started a fire to cook their meal. Xu Ning asked Wang Hu to feed the dog gang until they were half full, because he wanted to run two more games in the afternoon. After all, such opportunities were rare, and he had to play them thoroughly and enjoy them to the fullest!
After feeding the dogs, they gathered around the fire, eating their food and chatting. They talked about Tang Er, who was truly an extraordinary person!
Tang Er was a jerk even as a child. His behavior was basically the same as a woman's. He even walked with his crotch tucked in. Every frown and smile was disgusting. In particular, when he raised his pinky finger and squeezed out a sharp voice from his throat, he left the many men in the village speechless.

Someone in the village once said that Tang Er's personality was entirely due to the Tang family's idleness and lack of responsibility; perhaps they had offended some powerful spirit...

Although it sounds a bit far-fetched, the villagers believe this explanation. If Tang Er didn't offend the old immortal, then why did he become like this? There's no reasonable explanation.

Wang Hu remembered that a while ago, he went to the riverbank to bathe with Xu Ning and Xu Long. Tang Er was only fifteen or sixteen years old at the time. Standing on the riverbank, he raised his hand and swung it at the rocks, as if he wanted to master a divine whip. Wang Hu was terrified. When he got home, he had a fever for two days. Han Fengjiao burned paper money and wiped his body with alcohol before the fever subsided.

Later on, Xu Ning, Xu Long, and Wang Hu stopped hanging out with the Tang family, so their relationship gradually faded.

Li Fuqiang scoffed and said, "Tang Er is almost 25, isn't he?"

"No, at most 22..."

"That's so irresponsible. Old Tang isn't even in a hurry to find him a wife."

The loudspeaker interrupted, "My god, even if we were to find a wife for Tang Hao, it wouldn't be for him. Just listen to the way he talks, he's more effeminate than a woman. I can't even imitate that..."

"Haha, that's really impressive!"

After laughing, Li Fuqiang said, "Old Tang must be really stressed out having such a son. It's going to be tough for him."

"Absolutely! What kind of decent man would act like that? I almost threw up after hearing those two sentences just now."

Xu Ning waved his hand and said, "Alright, stop nagging him. I can't even eat anymore."

"Haha, alright, my brother was the victim just now. Oh my god, that little commotion..."

At this point, everyone changed the subject.

"If we kill eight pigs in one afternoon, how are we going to get them back?"

Xu Ning said, "Let's take these three back first and send them to the vicinity of the 28th workshop, then call someone to come and pull them out."

Guan Lei asked in confusion, "Aren't these pigs for the forest farm?"

"Let's get it to Lengchang first, and then send it to the forest farm."

They put down their chopsticks, packed up their lunchboxes, smoked a cigarette, and then got up and headed towards Black Stone Pond.

Because they were dragging three wild boars, their pace was not very fast. The pack of dogs, led by the blue wolf, also deliberately slowed down, walking and stopping frequently, and glancing back from time to time.

Xu Ning glanced at the pack of dogs ahead and laughed, "They're having a blast today."

"Yeah, that's right, opportunities like this don't come often."

The loudspeaker laughed and said, "Our dog gang is the best in the whole of Qing'an. Who wouldn't envy us? Which dog gang is as good as ours? We can kill a 200-pound sow without hesitation. If it were someone else's dog, it could chase a 100-pound wild boar two miles away."

"Is Qing'an's number one dog messing with you? Xu Pao is quite good at training them; the Blue Wolf and Black Wolf are quite talented too."

Xu Ning nodded: "The most important thing about dogs is their talent. Just like with people, if they don't have enough talent, no matter how hard they try later, it's all in vain."

"Brilliant!" the loudspeaker applauded.

By this time, they had reached the lower reaches of the Xiaoshi River, less than three miles from Heishitang.

Just as they leaped over the small stone river and arrived on the hillside, a gust of wind swept by, and the blue wolf looked up at the sky and twitched its nose twice. The black wolf and the flower wolf also sensed this, and then the three dogs started barking at the same time!
Immediately after, Old Fatty fired a shot, and the gang of dogs darted down the hillside, covering more than 20 meters before Xu Ning could react.

"Holy crap! Why is it banging again?"

Xu Ning shouted, "Drop the wild boar and chase it away quickly!"

"Got it."

Li Fuqiang, Da Laba, Wang Hu, and Guan Lei threw down the rope tethering the wild boar and strode forward. However, after running about 50 meters, they heard a loud roar.

The roar startled Xu Ning and the others, and their hearts skipped a beat.

"Black blind man!"

Xu Ning hurriedly shouted, "Blue Wolf! Come back!"

He didn't want the dog gang to hunt Black Bear, because if they encountered Black Bear, there was a high probability that the dog gang would suffer casualties.

In Xu Ning's mind, black bears can be hunted by tracking. If the dog gang were to hunt them, even if there were 18 dogs, many of them would die in the face of the black bear's sharp claws.

"Blue Wolf!"

About three miles away.

Down the slope.

Tang Er reached out and shoved Tang Hao aside, saying confidently, "How could a grown man like me hide behind his younger brother? I'll go up and take a look, you stay here."

Seeing this, Tang Hao didn't dare to argue with Tang Er, for fear that he would have a relapse and resort to his indecisive and scheming ways again.

So the two cut two tree branches nearby and made a simple ladder. Tang Hao held the ladder while Tang Er climbed up the branches and looked out through the skylight in the tree.

Tang Er was rather light. He rested his arms on the sawdust from the skylight and said, looking down, "It's all dark, we can't see anything. How about you get a pine torch? We can light a fire in there?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Hao hurriedly tried to dissuade him: "No, if we do it this way, what if there's a black bear inside? We'll be doomed."

"Hey, look at you, a grown man, what are you afraid of? You're not as brave as me."

"Come down quickly."

Tang Er glanced into the tree hole again, unwilling to give up. In the sunlight, he seemed to spot a wisp of black hair and frowned, saying, "It looks like there's a black bear. I saw black hair."

"Then there is one. Come down, let's go find someone to beat up this bear."

Tang Er slowly jumped down, and after regaining his footing, he rolled his eyes and said, "You're going to find someone to kill Black Bear, and then you'll have to share the money with him, right? If you ask me, the two of us can take it down!"

"Stop talking nonsense! Neither of us has a gun, how are we supposed to fight? Besides, people usually use firecrackers and axes to kill bears, but those are just earthen granaries. This is a sky granary, we can only use guns!"

"Hey, just listen to me. We'll use the same method as before. I'll go up and start a fire to lure the bear out, then we'll each grab a knife and stab it!"

Tang Hao immediately grabbed Tang Er and headed north, saying, "Stop messing around! Can a knife pierce a bear's hide? Let's go back and call for backup. I'm really fed up with you. Why do you always do things on a whim?"

"If Xu Ning can hunt bears, why can't I? A bear isn't just about the meat; its gall bladder alone is worth two thousand yuan. I can use that to find you a wife, isn't that easy?"

"This isn't about getting a wife! You can't mess around like this. Come with me now..." Tang Hao dragged Tang Er away with a bitter face. Tang Er looked back reluctantly, as if 2000 yuan had flown out of his pocket.

“You can earn it, but you also have to be alive to spend it! How did Li Shan die? He was killed while fighting the black bear. What are you doing making such a fuss here?”

"Li Shan deserved it..."

Tang Hao didn't want to argue with Tang Er about this, because it was obvious that the two of them alone couldn't kill Hei Xiazi, and would instead be in mortal danger. So he dragged Tang Er toward Ximaduozi.

They had only gone halfway when they ran into three people, who turned out to be the three Li brothers.

After meeting, the five exchanged a few pleasantries.

Old Li asked, "What are you two doing in the mountains? Hunting livestock?"

"Ah, hunting livestock? Aren't you hunting livestock when you go into the mountains too?"

Li Er said, "You don't have much experience, so hurry home, or my Uncle Tang will get worried."

Old Tang is famous throughout Qing'an. He specializes in handling funerals, and he even took care of the funerals for the parents of the three Li brothers. Therefore, many people in Qing'an know Tang Er, partly because of his eccentric behavior, which has made him widely known...

"Go home? I came into the mountains to hunt livestock, and now I'm going back empty-handed?"

Li Laosan said, "You two only have two knives, what kind of livestock could you possibly kill?"

Tang Erlao was very unwilling. He raised his delicate fingers and said in a high-pitched voice, "Aren't you two just two knives too? You still look down on us two brothers, humph."

"Oh my, this guy... even his little noises are creepy."

Li Laosan got goosebumps all over and covered his arm, saying, "We don't just have two knives, we also have a big axe and a guillotine! Besides, the three of us brothers have experience hunting livestock. We've caught wild donkeys and roe deer on the mountain before. Look at this rope and net..."

Tang Er frowned and glanced at Tang Hao. Just as Tang Hao was about to shake his head, Tang Er couldn't help but say, "That's perfect. I have a job here. If it works out, we'll split the profits 30/70, how about that?"

"What kind of work is it?"

Tang Hao quickly waved his hand: "There's no work at all, stop talking nonsense, or you'll cause trouble..."

Li Laosan asked, "What exactly happened?"

Tang Er sneered, "You have to agree to a 30/70 split first. We two brothers get 70%, and you three brothers get 30%. Is that okay or not? Give me an answer!"

"Then tell me what kind of work you want to do."

"Black Bear!" Tang Er shouted as if singing Peking Opera, startling the three Li brothers, who shrank back and took two steps back, their eyes darting around furtively.

"Where to put it? Where to put the black bear?"

Li Laosan grabbed the axe and looked behind him, muttering to himself.

"Hahaha, look at the cowardice of you three. The black bear I mentioned is currently in the warehouse. Otherwise, why would I have said we'd split the profits 30/70? Whether it's okay or not, if you agree, then we'll go and kill this black bear. If not, then forget it."

The three Li brothers were stunned for a moment, then looked at each other and said, "No way! We're not going to fight the black bear. Those black bears can easily hurt people, and we don't have guns, so we can't kill them at all..."

Tang Er frowned: "Fine, don't go then. I'll find someone else to fight you. You three are really doomed."

Li Laosan laughed and said, "We're doomed just because we don't dare to fight the black bear? You're hilarious."

Tang Hao grabbed Tang Er and said urgently, "Let's go quickly, don't waste any more time."

Tang Er stared at the three Li brothers and said, "You'll have your chance to regret this!"

After Tang Hao and Tang Er had walked 40 meters away, the three Li brothers gathered together and whispered among themselves.

Old Li rolled his eyes and said, "What should we do? Let's follow their footprints and see if we can find the warehouse."

Li Laosan nodded: "I think it'll work! We have a guillotine and a big axe..."

“He just said the Heavenly Granary, not the Earthly Granary. If it were the Earthly Granary, it could be killed with an axe, but the Heavenly Granary is much harder to kill.”

“What’s so difficult? There are three of us! Let’s lure the bear out first. You gather two fires nearby, and San’er and I will chop it down with axes.”

After pondering for a moment, Li Er finally couldn't resist the temptation of the black bear and nodded: "Okay! Let's follow their footprints down the mountain, I reckon it's not far."

The three brothers followed Tang Er's footprints to the location of the tree. The tree was very conspicuous, not only because it was thick, but also because there was a ladder made of tree branches on it.

However, at this moment, Tang Er and Tang Hao reappeared.

Tang Er shouted loudly, "You three bastards, behind our backs, you tried to sneak up on the black bear we found? Huh! Don't you have any shame?"

After Tang Hao dragged him away, he felt increasingly uneasy. So Tang Hao told Tang Er about his concerns, and Tang Er pulled Tang Hao back without hesitation.

The three Li brothers were stunned for a moment. The third brother said, "Who wants to shoot the black bear you found? We saw it when we came over."

"Shameless! Bah! You call this men? I doubt they can even compare to women! Look at the mess you've made..."

Li, the eldest, said, "Hey, you can't say that. The three of us were going to come anyway. Otherwise, why would we be carrying big axes and guillotines? Our purpose was to kill the black bear. The reason we didn't agree to your request earlier was because we had already discovered this Tiancangzi!"

"You're talking nonsense! You're lying! You're twisting the truth!"

Tang Er was so angry that his head was buzzing. He stretched out his orchid finger and cursed incoherently: "You are all sons of bitches! I told you before you followed my footprints here. You still want to keep this black bear all to yourself? I'm afraid you won't live to enjoy it!"

Tang Hao remained silent. He was a moderate person and wouldn't make a move unless pushed to a certain point. Besides, with Tang Er making his move, his limited vocabulary was simply not up to par.

Li Er, standing beside the tree, was startled. He thought he heard heavy breathing coming from inside the tree, so he quickly stepped forward to stop him, saying, "Brother, don't shout! Let's talk this out, don't shout..."

"What's wrong? You have the nerve to do this, but you're too ashamed to listen? Huh! Look at the three of you, all dressed up like respectable people, how can your hearts be so vicious?"

Li Laosan seemed about to say something, but Li Er pushed him aside and said, "Brother, don't shout yet, the bear inside has woken up!"

"Awake? Better that you're awake! Then let Black Bear pounce on you all and kill you all!"

Boss Li frowned and said, "If we die, you two will die too."

"So what if I die? I don't think I'm afraid of dying. Ha, that's ridiculous."

Tang Er is a complete scoundrel. His extreme personality and behavior make many people unwilling to talk to him. If he ever has a moment of madness and drags innocent people down with him, then he's doomed.

Tang Hao said, "Alright, since the three of you have handled this matter unfairly, then we two brothers won't say anything more. Anyway, this black bear is 70% our size! We just want the gall, and you can have the meat and skin."

"Why?"

Tang Er shouted, "So what if I went through all that trouble to find this black bear? What's the big deal!"

(End of this chapter)