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

As for the explosive charge, its power is even greater. It's like a small dynamite pack. If someone is hit by it, broken legs and arms are the least of their worries; it's not impossible for it to kill them.

These explosive devices are somewhat similar to landmines because they are detonated by compression. Generally speaking, explosive devices are used to deal with bears or carnivores such as wolves and tigers.

The method of making it involved wrapping the explosives in strips of cloth and then covering them with meat with a strong muttony smell, such as mutton fat. If an animal tried to bite into the meatball, it would trigger the mechanism inside, causing an explosion.

If enough explosives are used, they can kill animals like bears instantly. If not enough explosives are used, they can injure their mouths, preventing them from eating and causing them to starve to death.

Anyway, once a bomb is successfully detonated, the consequences are quite significant.
However, although bombs are very powerful, very few people actually know how to use them or even make them.

Because when making fried dough, it's very easy to accidentally send yourself to the gates of hell.

Although Wang An and his two companions did not set up wolf traps or bombs around the salt flats, and they did not possess either of these items, it did not prevent Wang An from using them to scare them.

In any case, once a wolf trap or a bomb is set up, no one but the person who set it up will ever bother to find it and dismantle it.

The main problem is that if you're not careful, the person taking it apart will be finished.

After Wang An finished speaking, Lü Deshu and Zhang Tiegang glared fiercely at the two men from Liujiatun, and then Zhang Tiegang said with a forced smile:

"We really didn't notice. Xiao An and Xiao Li, don't get angry. We're leaving now, we're leaving now, hehehehe."

Lü Deshu immediately smiled and said:
“We really didn’t mean to trespass. We saw deer tracks a few days ago, there should have been more than ten. We came here last night, but we didn’t see any deer. Then we were thinking about other things. We just happened to be passing by today and thought we’d come back to take another look. We didn’t expect you to be hunting these deer too. It’s all a misunderstanding.”

Basically, all hunters are very wary of anyone breaking into their traps.

To put it mildly, this is "stealing the fruits of someone else's labor."

But to put it bluntly, that would be a blatant provocation, potentially resulting in serious injury or even death.

As they spoke, Lü Deshu, Zhang Tiegang, and the two hunters from Liujiatun walked outside.

The main reason was Wang An's infamous reputation; not only did people in the surrounding villages know about him, but he was also a household name in Kaoshantun.

However, Wang An never bullied anyone in the village, nor did he ever show his tyrannical nature to the villagers. As a result, many villagers did not know much about Wang An's brutality.

Even so, no one in Kaoshantun dared to provoke Wang An. Even provoking the Wang family was a serious matter, as one had to think carefully about whether they could withstand Wang An's retaliation.

There's no way around it; as the saying goes, "a person's reputation is like a tree's shadow," and that's definitely not just a random saying.

Seeing that the two men had taken the initiative to back down and even stepped back, Wang An and Wang Li naturally could no longer persist in their accusations. If Wang An dared to do such a thing, it would damage his reputation.

Although Wang An's reputation wasn't great to begin with, nobody wants to be talked about wherever they go.

So Wang An also put away his gloomy face and said with a smile:

“We all live in the same village, so it’s not a big deal. I’m mainly worried about you getting hurt. If we hurt you, we’d be in big trouble. Hehehe, we mainly want to catch a live sika deer. Otherwise, we could just team up.”

After a pause, Wang An said again, feigning concern:
"Well, I'm worried that if the deer herd comes over later, I won't see you off. Let's have a drink together another time." It has to be said that although Wang An's words sounded insincere, he definitely gave the other party plenty of face.

Lü Deshu hurriedly said:
"Okay, okay, you guys stay here and keep watch, we're going to think about something else."

Wang An continued with a smile:

"Okay, then take it easy."

After the two groups exchanged very insincere pleasantries, Wang An and Wang Li watched the four people leave before riding their horses back to their hut.

After Lü Deshu and his three companions had gone some distance, one of the hunters from Liujiatun said:
"Damn it, I never thought the one who got the bad luck would be this kid. What bad luck! If it were anyone else, I could have fought with them."

Wang An only remembered that the person who said this was surnamed Dong and had come to his house to sell furs, but he had forgotten his real name.

Zhang Tiegang sighed and said:
"Yeah, if it were anyone else, with four of us and four guns, they'd be happy to team up with us for the hunt. At the very least, we could get a shot and a couple of deer. But look what happened, we came all this way for nothing, damn it."

Lu Deshu's face had long since lost its previous smile and had become very unpleasant. He said with a long face:
"The main problem is that we didn't think they'd bother with the divination rituals anymore. Nobody's been doing that in the mountains for the past two years. We should have done it ourselves first, instead of this constant fuss."

As the four people walked away, their voices gradually faded into the distance.

However, none of the four men ever said they wanted a share of the pie or that they wanted to fight Wang An.

Although he successfully chased the four people away, Wang An was still a little worried.

The main reason is that there must have been at least three groups of people who discovered this herd of sika deer at the same time, including Wang Li and Huang Zhong.

Therefore, Wang An had a strong intuition that before he caught the sika deer, someone else would most likely have to come.

After all, sika deer are extremely valuable, and anyone who finds one would want to get their hands on it.

Back in the shack, Wang Li said with some concern:

"Fourth Brother, do you think Zhang Tiegang and Lü Deshu might do something bad to us?"

Wang An shook his head and said:

"It's probably not possible. They all live in the same village. It wouldn't do them any good if things really turned sour. I'm worried about the other group."

After a pause, Wang An said while counting on his fingers:
"There are only a few people in our village who hunt. Besides Zhang Tiegang, Lü Delin, and us, there are Niu Dalin and Niu Dashuang from the Niu family, Li Dong and Li Bao from the Li family, and Sun Dabalai from the Sun family. Were they also watching this saline-alkali land that day?"

Wang Li nodded upon hearing this and said:

"Yeah, everyone piled them together, so they probably saw them too." (End of Chapter)