My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 216 A skinny camel is bigger than a horse
This was the first time Wu Yang had witnessed the hunting of antelopes.

Two cars with their headlights on were seen driving a flock of sheep across the wilderness. Someone in the driver's seat leaned out, holding a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, and fired shot after shot at the antelope herd.

These antelopes gathered together and didn't run scattered. Almost every shot took down an antelope, and occasionally two would fall at once, like skewers of candied hawthorns.

The sheep were driven by the two vehicles, and their numbers dwindled with each hit. They probably ran less than two kilometers before the vehicles stopped. Then, some people got out, and the vehicles slowly turned back along the same route. The people who got out threw the dead antelopes one by one into the truck bed, picked them up as they walked back, and gradually walked away along the same route they had come from.

They also noticed the three people who had built a campfire in the wilderness for the night, but they remained cautious as they approached and did not come over to greet them.

Wu Yang was somewhat speechless: "They defeated them so easily? Are these antelopes stupid?"

Zhou Jingming watched the two vehicles drive away and shook his head slightly: "Antelopes have a fatal habit, which is that when a car headlight shines on them at night, they will never run out of the range of the headlight. Poachers mostly operate at night to carry out large-scale hunts, shooting at the sheep from moving vehicles. It is very common for them to kill one or two hundred at a time. Moreover, these people's weapons are mostly advanced. Rifles are the most commonly used. They don't even look at ordinary hunting rifles because changing bullets is troublesome."

Shooting them isn't actually the most effective method. I've seen something even more efficient: tie two long wooden sticks to the front of the vehicle, then drive it at top speed into the flock of sheep. Without firing a single shot, a single impact can knock down or run over a large number of them..."

Wu Yang also sighed slightly and did not continue the topic.

He simply went into the carriage and saw that the two lambs Zhou Jingming had asked him to put in the carriage earlier were already cold.

The main problem is that there's no milk to feed the two little ones here, and they can't eat grass yet.

Wu Yang could only take out the two lambs, dig a hole nearby, and bury them.

Because of a recent hunt nearby, the strong smell of blood could attract wolves or other wild animals. That night, Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang took turns keeping watch, partly to prevent the guy Zhou Jingming shot from escaping.

The next morning, Zhou Jingming woke up to the cries of vultures in the sky. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw more than thirty vultures circling overhead.

As hunting antelopes has become more and more common, these vultures have developed a habit of following vehicles into Hoh Xil, circling around them. This is because following the vehicles increases the chances of finding a large number of antelope carcasses, allowing them to feast in that area for many days.

The antelopes have become terrified of cars; they run for their lives at the first sound of a vehicle. During the day, there is almost no chance to get close to them, and we no longer see them leisurely grazing in the wilderness.

It's obvious without even looking that those people last night must have been skinning those antelopes under the circling vultures.

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang went to take a look and found that in a valley, hundreds of bloody antelope carcasses were scattered on the grass, and a dozen or so baby antelopes were bleating around them.

However, Zhou Jingming had a hard time getting close to these little antelopes. As soon as they saw him and Wu Yang approaching, they scattered and fled.

He wanted to help, but there was nothing he could do.

These baby antelopes can run faster than wolves in just three to five days after they are born.

Now that the flock of sheep has been wiped out, it is estimated that what awaits them is the same as those two lambs before. Because they lack milk and cannot eat grass, they will either become food for other wild animals or starve to death in a few days.

Zhou Jingming did not intend to make money from these antelopes. Although he was kind and respectful, he was powerless to do anything about it.

Many people dream of getting rich by hunting antelopes. You can stop one or two, but not all of them. Besides, he doesn't have the energy to spend on such a thing.

He simply walked around among the antelope carcasses, picked up two antelope horns, each sixty centimeters long, with more than twenty horizontal ridges, thin and whip-like, and shiny black, and attached them to the horns.

Wu Yang also got two antelope horns, and put the four antelope horns and two Type 56 pistols into a sack and tied them to the back of the motorcycle.

He was determined to forge Chen Zheng's sword set, intending to use this antelope horn for the handle. He mainly felt it had a good grip, and that over time, it would develop a patina and become jade-like, making it even more beautiful.

The two returned to the car and continued their journey, arriving in Itunbulak as darkness approached.

This is a small town similar to Timac.

However, it is far less bustling than Tymaek, because there are not many gold prospectors coming here yet, and there are almost no shops, only a supply and marketing cooperative.

Moreover, this place is a mining town with a small permanent population. As far as the eye can see, the surrounding area is all yellowish-brown mountains. Even in the summer, there are only scattered grass mounds and camel thorns, making it look very desolate.

After going around in circles, we've returned to our original territory.

Zhou Jingming was both amused and exasperated. If he had known Wu Fusheng was here, he could have come directly from Hami instead of taking such a long and arduous journey.

That night, the two did not stay in town, but chose to stay in the wilderness again.

Zhou Jingming only went to town the next morning to buy some food and refuel his motorcycle.

They didn't linger there, quickly filled their stomachs, and continued their journey towards the Altun Mountains.

Around noon, we finally arrived at the southern foot of the Altun Mountains.

Zhou Jingming did not continue to approach, but stopped the car and asked the driver to point out the location of Wu Fusheng's mining site.

He told Wu Yang to watch the driver while he carried five or six half-packs to the ravine. Sure enough, he found a mining site in the mountains, where Wu Fusheng was enjoying the cool air under a tarpaulin-covered canopy.

Meanwhile, by the stream in the mountain valley, dozens of people were busy digging ore and transporting it to the sluice to be washed.

With the matter settled, Zhou Jingming didn't rush in. Instead, he went back to find Wu Yang. After meeting Wu Yang, he told the driver bluntly, "I'm here to cause trouble for Wu Fusheng. Do you want to go to the gold mine and die with Wu Fusheng, or do you want to go back now?"

"Go back, I'm going back right now!"

Having traveled with two murderers all the way, the driver had no intention of going in to find Wu Fusheng anymore.

His foot, which had been shot by Zhou Jingming, had become ulcerated and infected over the past two days. If it wasn't treated soon, his entire leg would be crippled, and it could even be life-threatening. In fact, he had already started to have a high fever because of the infected wound.

"You are wise!"

Zhou Jingming smiled and nodded: "Drive the car away!"

Zhou Jingming also wanted this car, but unlike a tractor, it couldn't be driven anywhere. It couldn't go to places with bad roads, and there were often checkpoints on good roads. It was more troublesome to use than a tractor. Moreover, he didn't want to get into more trouble because of this car. Who knew if this black car was legitimate?

Seeing that Zhou Jingming let him leave, and even let him drive the car away, after confirming it several times, he felt like he had been granted a pardon, got into the driver's seat, and drove away as fast as he could.

Once the car was out of sight, Wu Yang asked, "Brother Zhou, what do we do next?"

"Of course, we'll go straight to Wu Fusheng's mine!"

Zhou Jingming hopped on his motorcycle: "When we get to the mining site, just keep quiet. I'll handle the rest. Just say we heard there's a gold mine here and we've come to look for it."

Zhou Jingming estimated that Wu Fusheng probably hadn't figured out what happened in Chengdu at this time. Judging from how hastily they left Chengdu, they hadn't studied it carefully.

Since that's the case, Wu Fusheng had once gone to the Wucheng Geological Team to look for Zhou Jingming, so he was at least an "acquaintance".

Then just go directly to them as an "acquaintance," there seems to be no need to hide.

This move can be described as bold.

But compared to getting nothing from shooting at someone from a distance, it might be better to get to know Wu Fusheng better and perhaps gain some benefits.

After expending so much effort and going through so many days, Zhou Jingming's plan was not just to take Wu Fusheng's life.

Even though he was a wealthy man, and even though he was defeated in the Maqin Snow Mountain, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Even if you take his life, you can still get some valuable scraps from him.

After Wu Yang also got on the back of the motorcycle, Zhou Jingming started the motorcycle and headed into the ravine where Wu Fusheng's mining site was located.

Zhou Jingming's back-and-forth trips took up a lot of time, and it was already dusk.

The roar of motorcycles echoed through the valley as they headed straight for Wu Fusheng's mine.

When they saw Wu Fusheng's mining site again, there was a commotion there, as if something had happened.

Zhou Jingming couldn't help but slow down his motorcycle.

Upon seeing the two arrive, three men from the mine, carrying Type 56 pistols, came to greet them. From a distance, one of them rudely shouted, "What are you doing here?"

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang got off the motorcycle but didn't rush to remove the Type 565 motorcycle strapped to it. Doing so could easily make people think they were there to cause trouble, and could potentially lead to an overreaction.

He replied in a deep voice, "We were just passing by. We heard there was gold here, so we came to scout out the area to see if we could find a vein... We were just passing by, we didn't mean anything by it."

The three of them quickly arrived at the scene and were slightly taken aback when they saw Zhou Jingming.

When Zhou Jingming saw the three of them, he raised an eyebrow.

He recognized the three men at a glance as the same three women who had tried to trap him in Chengdu and ambush him. Unexpectedly, they had been following Wu Fusheng the whole time.

That's good; it solves the problem once and for all, saving us a lot of trouble.

Clearly, they recognized Zhou Jingming as well.

One of them hurriedly ran back and soon returned with Wu Fusheng.

Zhou Jingming did not take the initiative.

On the contrary, Wu Fusheng was very enthusiastic: "Hey, isn't this Technician Zhou? What brings you to this desolate place?"

Zhou Jingming frowned slightly, pretending not to remember Wu Fusheng: "You are..."

"Technician Zhou really has a bad memory. My surname is Wu, and my name is Wu Fusheng. When you were still with the Wucheng Geological Team, I visited you, hoping to get some information about mineral deposits from you. However, Technician Zhou ignored me..."

When Wu Fusheng said this, he looked at Zhou Jingming with a smile, his expression full of mockery.

(End of this chapter)