Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Seeing Wang An and his two companions return safely, everyone's faces lit up with joy and relief. They asked the three whether their trip had gone smoothly and whether they had encountered any dangers along the way, to which the three naturally answered with smiles.

While chatting, the group unloaded the car, quickly taking down several sacks of clothing, shoes, and hats from the roof rack, as well as various food items and toys from the trunk and seats.

Of course, what was unloaded belonged to Wang An, while what belonged to Wang Li and Mu Xueli was all left in the car.

As for the sack of money under the car seat, none of the three of them said what was inside. They only had Wang Li and Wang Dazhu move Wang An's sack of money and the money from selling the watch to the east room where Wang Dazhu and his wife lived, while Wang Li and Mu Xueli's money remained in the car.

After unloading the truck, everyone gathered in Wang An's living room to listen to Mu Xueli recount her experiences along the way, which everyone found incredibly fascinating.

Holding two babies in his arms, Wang An turned to Mu Xueqing beside him and asked:

"Have you been doing well at home while we were away?"

Mu Xueqing nodded first, then suddenly seemed to remember something and said:
“Just a few days ago, around midnight, our dogs barked once. Then Xiao Zhong took a gun and strolled around our yard. He found some mutton near the gate, and there was medicine mixed in with it. Dad said it was arsenic, which is very toxic.”

Arsenic trioxide, also known as arsenic trioxide, is a white powder or crystal that is odorless and tasteless. It is one of the oldest poisons.

Just 0.1 to 0.2 grams can kill a person or animal, making it extremely toxic.

Unfortunately, this stuff is colorless and odorless, and it looks very similar to flour or baking soda, so it's extremely difficult to distinguish it when mixed in with certain foods.

Upon hearing that someone had poisoned his dog and wolf, Wang An's eyes narrowed instantly, and a terrifying killing intent immediately spread out, as if the temperature in the entire room had dropped several degrees.

Strangely enough, although "killing intent" is something that cannot be seen or touched, many people can clearly feel it. So when Wang An's negative emotions were displayed, the room quickly quieted down.

Of course, the reason why everyone was quiet was not necessarily because they sensed the so-called "murderous aura," but because while they were chatting, they were constantly glancing at the people in the room, and Wang An's change in expression was naturally noticed by everyone.

Wang An's importance in this family is self-evident, so when Wang An's expression changed, everyone naturally fell silent.

Fortunately, the two little ones were still in Wang An's arms and didn't know what a "serious atmosphere" was. Only when his eldest daughter, Xingfu, called out "Daddy" in slightly unclear words did Wang An snap out of his daze, dispelling all his previous negative emotions. He then smiled broadly at Xingfu and said:
"Oh dear, my eldest daughter is calling for her father! What's wrong, my dear? Hehehehe."

As he spoke, Wang An gave her a kiss on her happy little face.

After cuddling and cuddling the two little ones for a short while, Wang An turned to Huang Zhong, who was standing not far away, and asked:

"Did you go to check on them the next morning? Where did they go?"

Upon hearing this, Huang Zhong immediately said:

“I went there. I followed the footprints to the road behind, and then the footprints disappeared. I figured there must have been a sled there to pick him up. After that, he rode away on the sled, and the sled tracks and hoofprints went towards Yangshutun.”

"After that, I followed the horse tracks all the way to Yangshutun. Later, they probably remembered the hoof prints. I think they tied tree branches to the back of the sled and dragged away the prints. When the wind blew, even the prints dragged by the tree branches disappeared. In the end, I had no choice but to come back."

It must be said that Huang Zhong learned a lot from following Wang An and the other two for so long.

It's important to know that the skill of tracking horses wasn't just used for hunting. It was also frequently used in rural areas at that time. For example, as Huang Zhong mentioned, it was very important to remember the shape of a horse's hoofprints and then track the horse by following those hoofprints.

Of course, this skill requires a certain amount of talent; otherwise, finding the exact hoofprint you're looking for among countless hoofprints would be an extremely difficult task.

Wang An nodded without speaking, but his mind was racing, trying to figure out who the poisoner could be.

However, after thinking for a long time, Wang An couldn't come up with even the slightest idea.

The main issue is that although arsenic trioxide is a highly toxic substance under control, it is a necessary chemical raw material used in glass factories, steel mills, and pesticide factories.

Therefore, if we want to trace the source of the poison, the scope of the investigation is simply too vast, making it impossible to find anything at all. Just as Wang An was pondering this, he heard Wang Dazhu say:
"It's nothing serious. I think they probably won't dare to come back. The dogs barked that night, and then Xiao Zhong found some mutton. After that, the dogs never barked again."

After Wang Dazhu finished speaking, Wang An suddenly remembered the dogs' safety and immediately asked:
"None of our dogs and wolves ate that mutton, did they?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Dazhu said with a hint of helplessness:

"After the big and small circles ate, your Uncle Baoguo and I gave them a lot of water, which they vomited up. Later, we gave them several egg whites and mung bean water."

"That's right, they're still half-dead and listless in their doghouse. It's been several days, and I don't know if they'll recover. I'm pretty sure they won't make it."

Locally, people generally believe that raw egg whites and mung bean water can detoxify, but no one knows exactly why.

Whether it's a person accidentally eating poisonous mushrooms, being poisoned by pesticides on vegetables, or livestock accidentally eating toxic grass or mushrooms in the mountains, the usual practice is to force-feed them raw egg whites or mung bean water.

Wang An nodded upon hearing this and said:
"Okay, I'll go take a look in a bit."

The two dogs, Daquan and Xiaoquan, were the last to arrive at Wang An's house, along with the two old dogs, Zhaocai and Wangcai.

However, Zhaocai and Wangcai are guard dogs, not hunting dogs. Since they came to Wang An's house, they have never left Wang An's yard and live a very comfortable life.

The Wang family's affection for these four dogs was far less than their affection for Dahei, Xiaohei, and the other dogs and wolves.

Although the bond wasn't very deep, after raising them for so long, there was still some affection involved.

It should be noted that all the dogs in Wang An's house were treated equally. There had never been a case of not giving them dog food, or giving meat to other dogs but not to them.

Therefore, Wang An was still very angry that the two dogs had been poisoned.

This time, however, Wang An didn't show it.

After discussing the poisonous mutton for a while, Wang An said to Liu Guilan and Mu Xueqing:
"Mom, Xueqing, you two should distribute the clothes and shoes in that sack to everyone. I've written each family's name on the bags containing the clothes, so you can just take them."

Turning his head, Wang An instructed Huang Li again:
"Little Oriole, come and comfort the child. I'm going outside to check on those two dogs."

The oriole quickly agreed:
"Okay, big brother, you can just put them on the ground."

After entrusting the two little ones to Huang Li's care, Wang An got up and went outside.

Upon seeing this, Wang Li, Mu Xueli, and Huang Zhong immediately got up and followed them out.

As soon as Wang An stepped out of the courtyard, the dogs and wolves surrounded him again, a large, imposing group.

Wang Anxin was concerned about the safety of Daquan and Xiaoquan, so he simply patted the dogs' heads and walked straight to their kennels.

When Big Circle and Little Circle saw Wang An coming, they tried hard to get up to greet their master, but their condition was too bad, so they lay down again.

Wang An stroked their heads and observed them carefully for a while before realizing that the two dogs were doomed and were probably waiting to die.

The main problem was that, despite the cold weather, their doghouse already smelled of the putrid stench emanating from the entrails of poisoned livestock.

This is what makes arsenic trioxide so formidable: although it is colorless and odorless, when it kills livestock or humans, it corrodes and eventually rots their internal organs. (End of Chapter)