American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 336 The Mysterious Buyer!

"set off!"

After receiving authorization from the command post, Yang Zhen did not hesitate at all and issued the pursuit order with a simple gesture.

The team, which had been scattered across the riverbank for reconnaissance, instantly transformed into a highly efficient and precise combat machine. Seven figures shot off like arrows, rapidly darting towards the direction Lin Yu'an had indicated.

Lin Yu'an once again became the spearhead of the team. He no longer needed to bend down and carefully distinguish those minor details as he had before.

The poachers' final preparations before leaving the mountains made the traces they left behind clearer and more conspicuous than ever before.

All signs point to one fact: the enemy is rushing towards the rendezvous point at the Crow Gold Mine!

Around 10 a.m., after nearly two hours of intense running.

Lin Yu'an, who was at the forefront, suddenly made a stop gesture, and the entire team instantly froze in place.

"What's wrong, Teacher Lin?" Yang Zhen asked in a low voice, quickly catching up with her.

Lin Yu'an didn't speak, but simply pointed to a patch of ground ahead. It looked no different from the rest of the place, but his intuition told him that there was an ominous aura about it.

He picked up a dry twig and carefully brushed away the thin layer of fallen leaves on the ground.

A gleaming metallic animal trap suddenly appeared before them, its massive serrated teeth already open, cleverly buried in a narrow passage that was a necessary route.

Yang Zhen's expression grew increasingly grave; the enemy became even more cautious as they approached their destination.

"Attention everyone! Be vigilant! The enemy is just ahead!" Yang Zhen warned the entire team through his throat microphone.

The journey ahead became even more fraught with danger. Lin Yu'an slowed down, his senses heightened to the extreme.

Finally, at noon, as the team crossed the last mountain ridge, Lin Yu'an slowly lay down, his entire body hidden behind the dense vegetation.

"We've arrived," he mouthed silently.

Following his gaze, a vast, abandoned mining area, resembling a scar on the earth, came into view.

At this moment, the sun is high in the sky, like a ball of molten gold, splashed across the endless green sky above the Ailao Mountains.

It is located on a high point on a mountain ridge, about one kilometer away from the Laoya Gold Mine.

The team members lay prone behind a rock, their bodies blending perfectly into the surrounding environment.

Lin Yu'an used binoculars to scrutinize the desolate, abandoned mining area below, like a hawk.

Beside him, the young soldier Xiao Li represents a completely different world.

He lay prone under the unfolded camouflage netting, his fingers deftly manipulating the screen of a military-grade ruggedized tablet.

A small drone is hovering silently over the mining area.

"Team Leader Yang, Eagle Eye is in position. The perimeter of the mining area is safe, and no signs of activity have been detected." Xiao Li's voice, deep and clear, came through the communication channel via the throat microphone.

"Received." Yang Zhen's calm and steady reply came through the channel. "We're initiating infiltration. Remain silent and stay alert."

Yang Zhen's voice seemed to be right next to their ears, but in reality, he and the other five members of the Sharp Blade Squad were like ghosts sneaking into the heart of the mining area.

Their mission is to infiltrate pre-arranged ambush points without alerting anyone, and set up a trap for their prey.

Lin Yu'an adjusted his posture, pressing more of his body weight onto the solid rock.

His task was to act as the squad's second pair of eyes, observing the entire battlefield environment from a macro, natural perspective.

Wind direction, birdsong, or even the slightest unusual movement in the distant mountains and forests can be crucial information that determines success or failure.

Time passed second by second, each second like a drop of water dripping onto a rock scorched by high heat, evaporating instantly but leaving behind a scorched mark.

"Teacher Lin, look." Xiao Li suddenly turned the tablet towards Lin Yu'an and lowered his voice, "I've found something."

On the screen, in one of the dilapidated red-brick workers' houses in the center of the mining area, a wisp of faint bluish-gray smoke was rising from the chimney of one of the buildings.

"They're starting a fire." Lin Yu'an's voice was devoid of any emotion.

"In this weather, at this time of day, they're either cooking or drying something. It seems their backup hasn't arrived yet; they're quite relaxed."

"I'll send the coordinates and thermal image to Captain Yang right away." Xiao Li's fingers moved quickly across the screen.

"Captain Yang, Eagle Eye reporting. Target location confirmed, coordinates XXX, XXX. Inside a single-story red brick house, four people and three dogs."

"Repeat, four people and three dogs. When lying in ambush, be sure to avoid the dogs' detection range," Xiao Li reported professionally.

"Sharp Blade received. We're close to the pre-arranged ambush point. The view from here is excellent; we can see the red brick house and the only dirt road leading into the mountains. We'll handle it."

Yang Zhen's reply was concise and powerful, full of convincing strength.

Communication fell silent again, with only the sound of the wind and cicadas chirping from the high vantage point.

Lin Yu'an closed his eyes, as if he were feeling the pulse of the forest with his entire body. He knew that all he could do now was wait.

The wait was long and agonizing; a few hours felt like an eternity to the soldiers lying in ambush.

Sweat had already soaked through their training uniforms, clinging tightly to their skin, and mosquitoes were buzzing in their ears, but no one moved an inch.

Finally, around four o'clock in the afternoon, a deep and unique engine roar broke the silence of the mountain forest.

"Here it comes!" Xiao Li instantly focused, his fingers swiping rapidly across the tablet, and the drone's camera immediately locked onto the source of the sound.

On the dilapidated dirt road connecting the mining area to the outside world, two rugged-looking all-terrain vehicles were seen approaching from afar, kicking up clouds of dust.

There were four men in the car, all dressed in expensive professional mountaineering gear, wearing tactical baseball caps and sunglasses, looking like wealthy young men on a wilderness adventure.

"Team Leader Yang, target spotted: two all-terrain vehicles, four people, well-equipped, suspected to be buyers," Xiao Li reported immediately.

"Received. All personnel remain concealed and await further instructions." Yang Zhen's voice carried a hint of cold composure.

The all-terrain vehicle stopped in front of the red brick house, and the ear-piercing engine noise came to an abrupt halt.

Almost simultaneously, the door of the red brick house was kicked open, and a dark-skinned man walked out cursing, followed by three skinny mongrel dogs.

"Woof! Woof woof!" The stray dog ​​barked warily at the new stranger.

One of the poachers, a man with a fierce face, stepped forward and kicked the barking stray dog ​​hard in the stomach.

The dog let out a mournful howl and immediately tucked its tail between its legs and hid in the corner. The other two dogs also fell silent, too terrified to utter another sound.

All of this was clearly recorded by the drone camera high in the sky.

The leader of the poachers spat and said, "Damn it, Boss Wang, you guys finally arrived! If you hadn't come, the mosquitoes in these mountains would have sucked all our blood dry!"

The buyer, referred to as Boss Wang, was a refined-looking man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He waved his hand dismissively, as if trying to drive away the unpleasant odor in the air.

"Enough nonsense, Fatty Sun. Where's the goods? If this batch isn't up to par, don't blame us for making a wasted trip."

"Hehe, don't worry!" The dark-skinned, burly man at the head of the group revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth and waved his hand smugly.

The two young men behind him immediately turned around and went into the house. They quickly carried out several heavy sacks and threw them heavily on the ground.

When the sack was untied, the contents inside made Xiao Li, who was on the high ground, clench his fists instantly, and even his breath stopped.

It was a disgustingly bloody exhibition.

A clouded leopard skin, completely peeled off, with undried bloodstains still clinging to its golden fur.

Several pangolin carcasses, their scales plucked off, huddled together, as if still feeling the agony of being scalded to death.

There were also five dark green bear gallbladders! They were neatly stacked on an oilcloth, emitting a fishy, ​​foul odor.

This is not finished.

A poacher then pulled out a small wire cage from the house.

Inside the cage, a young animal covered in beautiful, cloud-like markings stared at the outside world with terrified eyes, emitting frightened meows. "Clouded leopard!" Lin Yu'an practically spat out the words, a surge of icy anger rising from his chest to the top of his head.

This is a national first-class protected animal that is even rarer and more endangered than the slow loris. These bastards even preyed on its young!
"Boss Wang, look at this little thing, it's alive! What do you think of its appearance?" The burly, dark-skinned man proudly poked the cage with his finger.

"It took us a lot of effort to get this out of its mother. As for its mother... hehe, her skin is right here too!" he said, pointing to a clouded leopard skin on the ground.

Mr. Wang took off his sunglasses and carefully examined the trembling cub, his eyes gleaming with greed.

"Excellent, excellent! This kind of thing is a rare commodity now. Many big bosses like it and keep it in their villas. It's much more prestigious than any Tibetan Mastiff!"

"All the evidence has been secured!" Xiao Li gritted his teeth and said to Yang Zhen over the channel, "Captain Yang, we can proceed!"

"No rush." ​​Yang Zhen's voice was surprisingly calm. "I feel the real big fish hasn't arrived yet. These people are just middlemen in the transaction."

Yang Zhen's judgment was accurate.

Although Mr. Wang and his group showed great interest in the goods, they did not immediately proceed with the transaction after inspecting them.

Instead, he joined the group of burly, dark-skinned men, leaning against the wall and smoking, looking utterly bored, as if they were genuinely waiting for someone.

Another half hour passed, and the sun began to set in the west, casting increasingly longer shadows on the mountain ridge.

Suddenly, Mr. Wang's phone rang.

He answered the phone with a few simple "uh-huhs," then hung up and said to everyone, "The sir will be here soon, so everyone be alert."

Upon hearing the title "sir," both Boss Wang's men and the group of dark-skinned poachers instantly became serious, even displaying a barely perceptible sense of awe.

Less than ten minutes later, the sound of a "putt-putt-putt" engine came from afar.

A dilapidated Zongshen three-wheeled motorcycle slowly drove along the dirt road, with several fertilizer bags in the truck bed.

The car stopped in front of the crowd. A man wearing a faded blue Zhongshan suit and canvas shoes, with a face full of wrinkles, appeared.

The man, who looked like an ordinary old farmer, slowly climbed out of the driver's seat.

Boss Wang immediately threw away his cigarette, strode forward, and personally helped the old farmer out of the car, his attitude almost obsequious: "Uncle Gui, you've arrived."

The burly, dark-skinned man also suppressed his menacing expression, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace, and bowed and scraped as he approached, saying, "Uncle Gui, you must have had a long journey."

The old farmer, known as Uncle Ghost, glanced at them with his cloudy eyes, said nothing, and walked straight to the pile of bloody goods.

He crouched down, like a picky buyer choosing cabbages at the market.

The dark-skinned, burly man stood by, his face full of obsequiousness, and he deliberately lowered his voice as if showing off his war achievements: "Uncle Gui, look, these are all top-notch, hard-hitting stuff."

"This clouded leopard pelt was peeled off less than three days ago, and it's completely undamaged. Just for this pelt alone, those bosses on the black market wouldn't even dream of getting it for less than two hundred thousand!"

Uncle Gui ignored his boasting, simply rubbed the fur with his rough fingers, and then began his on-site valuation in a tone devoid of any emotion.

"The leather is indeed excellent, without any damage. The market price is 200,000, but I'll estimate it at 180,000 for you."

The burly, dark-skinned man walked up to the pile of bear paws: "Ten bear paws, all cut from top-quality adult black bears, plump and thick!"

Uncle Gui nudged the pair with his toe: "The quality is good. A pair is worth 30,000. I'll round it up for you to 160,000."

Next up are the bear bile: "These five bear bile are cooked using our old method. This batch of bear bile alone is worth at least 800,000!"

The dark-skinned, burly man's voice was filled with greedy excitement as he tried to drive up the price.

Uncle Gui snorted coldly, seemingly rebuking his exaggerated claim: "Eight hundred thousand? Who are you selling to? These five gallbladders are worth at most six hundred thousand. I'll give you five hundred and fifty thousand, the fair price."

The dark-skinned, muscular man's face stiffened slightly, but he quickly regained his smile.

Uncle Gui walked over to the eight pangolin carcasses whose scales had been plucked and said coldly, "The meat of these things is good, but they are a bit light and don't weigh much."

"Hehe, these eight can add up to tens of thousands!" the dark-skinned, burly man chuckled dryly.

"Forty thousand." Uncle Gui succinctly gave the final price.

Finally, Uncle Ghost's gaze fell on the cage made of wire.

This time, Uncle Ghost stared at the cub for a full half minute, a barely perceptible glint of light seeming to flash in his turbid eyes.

He knew that the fragile little guy in front of him was far more valuable than the pile of dead goods worth 930,000 next to him.

This is a living prize, a luxury item that truly makes the top billionaires spend lavishly in order to keep up with the Joneses.

He didn't immediately appraise the cub, but slowly nodded, raised his eyelids, and his cloudy gaze, like two awls, pierced the face of the dark-skinned, burly man.

"The goods are all decent. I'll give you 1.3 million, no bargaining. This batch of goods will total 2.23 million."

"Two million two hundred and thirty thousand!" The burly, dark-skinned man and his three accomplices instantly beamed with barely suppressed elation. The extra one million three hundred thousand was practically free money!

"No problem, Uncle Gui! Whatever price you name is fine!" The dark-skinned, burly man rubbed his hands excitedly, and in his excitement, he started to blurt out whatever came to mind.

"This little thing was a complete surprise! There were a few newborn black bear cubs in the forest, but they're not worth much, so I just gave them to my dogs to toughen them up."

He spoke of it casually, as if it were a trivial matter.

However, upon hearing this, Uncle Gui's usually placid expression instantly turned somber, revealing an undisguised look of contempt and disgust.

He slowly straightened up, stared at the dark-skinned, burly man, and said, word by word, "Sun Changji, your father was also a good hunter in the mountains back then."

"Your family's ancestral rules are to not kill pregnant women or abort children. You don't care about that at all?"

When Ghost Uncle addressed him by his full name, the smile on the face of the dark-skinned, burly man Sun Changji instantly froze.

Uncle Gui's voice was still hoarse, but it carried a chilling aura: "Money is a good thing, but some money, if earned, will shorten your lifespan. Don't do things that will cut off your lineage in the future."

He looked Sun Changji up and down, then changed the subject, seemingly casually, but every word was piercing.

"You're over forty this year, right? I heard you've had more than a dozen wives, but none of them have been able to give you a child. You should think about it carefully."

These words struck Sun Changji's heart like a heavy hammer. His face turned from red to white, then from white to green, and his clenched fists trembled slightly from the force.

Uncle Gui's words struck Sun Changji's deepest, most hidden pain! He was over forty years old and still didn't have a son.

Sun Changji wanted to shoot the old man in anger! But under the gaze of those murky eyes that seemed to see through everything, he didn't dare to move.

He could only swallow all the humiliation and resentment.

"Uncle Gui is right, but I was only doing it for money," Sun Changji finally managed to squeeze out through gritted teeth, as if he were defending himself, or as if he were bowing to Uncle Gui's authority.

Uncle Gui snorted coldly and stopped looking at him, as if even glancing at him was disgusting.

After saying that, he turned around and walked to his tricycle, took out a black plastic bag from under the seat, and casually tossed it to Sun Changji.

The plastic bag looked inconspicuous, but the short-haired young man next to Sun Changji acted as if he had received a royal decree, rushing forward and catching it steadily with both hands.

The young man eagerly opened the bag, took out a money detector, and began to check the money. His greedy appearance was exactly the same as Sun Changji's earlier.

Sun Changji himself stood there, his expression shifting between light and dark. The elation he had felt earlier had been completely washed away by the humiliation and chill brought on by Uncle Gui's words.

The burly, dark-skinned man flattered Uncle Gui with a beaming smile, saying, "Uncle Gui is truly Uncle Gui! Fair prices! Unlike others who are all talk and no action and have no conscience. From now on, I'll definitely come to you first when I have goods!"

"Enough with the nonsense." Uncle Gui's hoarse voice wasn't loud, but the dark-skinned, burly man immediately shut his mouth. "Boss Wang's goods haven't been inspected yet."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Wang, who had always appeared refined and courteous, showed a serious expression.

He gave his subordinate a wink, and one of them immediately and carefully took out something wrapped in thick felt from the storage compartment of the all-terrain vehicle.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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(End of this chapter)