Hunting 81: Gathering Goods in the Mountains, I Spoil My Ex-Wife to the Extreme

"Giggle giggle..."

A loud rooster crow awakened the village of Guapigou, which had been asleep all night.

The mountains to the east of the village were also beginning to lighten with the first light of dawn.

The sky gradually brightened.

"Oh dear, I was so suffocating!"

Zhang Sange woke up shortly after daylight streamed into the room through the window.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt his bladder was full, so he hurriedly dressed and went down to the pit. He didn't even have time to put on his cotton shoes before rushing out of the house to use the outhouse.

After comfortably finishing his business in the outhouse, when Brother Zhang San came out whistling, his eyes suddenly widened, and he seemed to be frozen in place as if he had been struck by a spell.

He stared blankly at a long string of footprints in the yard, then squatted down and looked at one of the footprints in front of him.

The footprint was fan-shaped, with a large palm print in the middle and four toe prints in front, making it look like a large plum blossom.

He estimated that the footprints on the ground were about fourteen centimeters long, almost as big as his palm.

"These...these are tiger footprints...glug..."

Having hunted for so many years, Brother Zhang was an experienced hunter. He immediately recognized the footprints on the ground in his yard as tiger footprints.

Thinking of this, he immediately ran into the house, gripped the wild boar spear tightly in his hand, and then carefully inspected his yard.

He discovered that the tiger's footprints appeared near the east wall of his yard and disappeared at the west wall.

This means that the tiger most likely came from the mountains east of the village, passed through the village, and then went west.

But he dared not go out at this moment, because it was only just getting light, and Zhang Sange was afraid that if he went out rashly, he might encounter a tiger that had not yet left the village.

After all, the tiger footprints in his yard were deep and clear, and looked very fresh, as if they had just been stepped on recently.

"Let's go inside and hide for a while, and go out to check things out when it gets a little brighter."

With that thought in mind, Zhang Sange grabbed the wild boar spear and hid inside the house.

It wasn't that he was cowardly, but Zhang Sange also understood that with his old, worn-out ox-horn bow and the wild boar spear in his hand, if the tiger hadn't really gone far, he would definitely be walking into the tiger's mouth if he went out and encountered it.

"Looks like I need to buy a hunting rifle."

"Close the door," Zhang Sange muttered to himself.

"Honey, it's already daylight, why did you lock the door?"

Zhang Sange's wife, Yu Guifen, came out of the house, rubbing her still sleepy eyes. She saw him running back into the house in a panic and locking the door, and she was very puzzled.

"Don't speak so loudly. I just went to the outhouse and found tiger footprints in our yard."

Zhang Sange immediately put his finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture.

"What? There are tiger footprints in our yard?"

Yu Guifen was already in poor health, and upon hearing this, her face turned even paler.

Although Zhang Sange said it was tiger footprints, not that he saw a tiger, the tiger's fearsome reputation was so great that even though she was a woman, she was terrified just hearing that it was tiger footprints.

"Hmm, keep your voice down. It's still early, and I'm afraid the tiger hasn't gone far yet. Let's not go out yet. Even if we need to poop or pee, we have to hold it in and wait until it's a little brighter before going out," Zhang Sange said in a low voice.

"Okay, a living person can't be killed by holding their pee, I'll just pee inside the house." Yu Guifen nodded without any hesitation.

Compared to the possibility of facing a tiger if you go out, what's a little bit of holding in your poop and pee?

"I'll go check if the children are awake. If they are, I'll tell them to hold it in. If they really can't hold it in, they can relieve themselves in the room."

After Yu Guifen finished speaking, she went inside.

After a long time, when he saw that it was already bright outside and he could hear Uncle Zhou's voice outside the courtyard, Zhang Sange finally took off the bolt and opened the door to the main room.

"Uncle Zhou, a tiger got into our village last night."

Upon seeing Uncle Zhou, Brother Zhang San immediately spoke.

"I know. As soon as I went out this morning, I saw a long string of tiger footprints outside the gate, which startled me. I quickly hid inside the house. I had only been out for a short while."

Uncle Zhou frowned, his face full of worry.

Finding tiger footprints in the village is not a good thing. Who knows if the tiger was just passing by, dropping by for a visit, or if it was just wandering into the village every now and then?

Regardless, with tiger footprints discovered in the village, the entire Guapigou Village will likely be quiet for a while, ranging from three to five days to ten days to half a month.

If tiger footprints are found in the village every day or two, it means the tiger is roaming around the village; if no tiger footprints are found in the village for a long time, it means the tiger just passed by last night and left.

The news of the tiger entering the village quickly spread throughout the entire Guapigou Village.

I heard that a tiger entered the village last night, which startled everyone, young and old. As a result, the elderly and adults in the village have been restraining their children and not letting them go out to play.

Some villagers, fearing that the tiger might return and target their livestock, even herded their pigs, cattle, and sheep into their homes.

In the dead of winter, when the weather was freezing cold, everyone was usually staying indoors to hibernate. There were fewer people walking around the village than when the weather was warmer. Now that tiger footprints had been discovered in the village, everyone was even more afraid to go out.

This made the already deserted village seem even more desolate.

"The tiger's footprints came from the mountains to the east. It passed through most of the village, and when it was almost to the west of the village, it turned back north and went into the mountains to the north."

North of the village, several hunters, each with a gun in hand, were analyzing the tiger tracks that had disappeared into the mountains to the north.

"I don't know if this tiger just dropped by our village and left, or if it's roaming around nearby. Now everyone in the village is terrified. Nobody dares to go out. We don't even dare to go to the outhouse to relieve ourselves. We have to stay inside, which makes the houses stink."

"Let's wait and see if there are any more tiger footprints in the village in the next few days. If there are, it means that the tiger is roaming around our Guapigou Village. We need to find a way to drive the tiger away or kill it. Otherwise, everyone in the village will be threatened by the tiger, and it will be inconvenient for them to do anything."

"That tiger probably just wandered around our village, since we haven't heard of anyone having their livestock snatched away by a tiger."

"We can't say that. We should still be vigilant. We should remind the villagers to stay home during the day, lock their doors at night, and keep their children under control so they don't run out to play."

"We also need to inform the neighboring villages about the tiger's intrusion, so they can take precautions and avoid being harmed by the tiger."

"Yes, Uncle Zhou is right, we need to notify the nearby villages. But who should go?"

Tigers have a very large range; the territory of an adult tiger needs to be at least 500 square kilometers.

This area is so large that it has long since covered their Guapigou Village and several nearby villages.

But the hunters who were discussing things suddenly fell silent.

If they were to notify the nearby villages, they would certainly risk encountering tigers in the wild, which could be fatal. Since everyone has wives, children, and elderly parents at home, they naturally wouldn't want to take that risk themselves.

After all, people are selfish.

"Use the village office's phone to call Xiangyang Commune and report that a tiger has entered the village. Then have Xiangyang Commune call several nearby villages to inform them that tigers may be appearing. This way, we won't have to take the risk."

At this moment, Li Yunshan, who had been mostly silent, suddenly spoke up.

Although Guapigou Village does not have a direct telephone line to the nearby villages, it does have a telephone line that runs directly from the village office to the Xiangyang Commune government.

Similarly, the village offices of several nearby villages also had telephone lines connecting to Xiangyang Commune.

All they had to do was inform Xiangyang Commune of the tiger sighting in Guapigou Village, and then Xiangyang Commune would notify the other villages. This was entirely feasible.

Upon hearing this, Uncle Zhou and the others' eyes lit up.

Yes, we can use the village office's phone to report to Xiangyang Commune first, and then Xiangyang Commune will notify several nearby villages. This method is feasible.

"This is a good idea. It has to be Yunshan. You young people are quick-witted and sharp-minded, unlike us old folks whose minds aren't working so well anymore."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go back to the village office now and ask the village chief to call Xiangyang Commune."

As they spoke, several hunters from Guapigou Village, armed with shotguns, muskets, and bows and arrows, hurriedly returned to the village office.

There were eight or nine people, all armed with weapons, including hunting rifles, shotguns, and bows and arrows. They weren't afraid of encountering a tiger on the way.

Li Yunshan, carrying his Mosin-Nagant, walked at the very back. He glanced back at the tiger footprints that disappeared into the mountains to the north, and a somewhat whimsical idea suddenly popped into his mind—could the tiger that entered the village last night be the one that roared when he went hunting in the mountains yesterday?

Because Guapigou Village is only eight or nine kilometers away from where he went hunting in the mountains yesterday.

This distance is nothing to a tiger whose territory spans more than 500 square kilometers.

In the middle of the night, it was enough time for it to wander from the vicinity of the hunting grounds it had gone into the mountains yesterday to Guapigou Village.

However, this was just Li Yunshan's guess. The tiger that entered the village last night might not be the same tiger that he heard roaring while hunting yesterday.

"Yunshan, I want to discuss something with you."

Just then, Zhang Sange, who had fallen behind the group and was carrying a horn bow, suddenly spoke to Li Yunshan.