Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 308 The hunting gang breaks up and the leopard attacks
That night, the temperature dropped sharply, and strong winds blew, making the doors and windows rattling, which lasted until dawn the next day.

When it got dark and Xu Laowen and Wang Erli went to work, Xu Ning did not lie on the kang and be a lazy man. Instead, he dragged Wang Hu to the courtyard and found a few pieces of wood to build a house that was more than 1.6 meters high and 3 meters long. Lots of door shelves.

Then he spread out the three bundles of nylon ropes and pulled the rope ends to tie knots on the wooden pole. Wang Hu looked aside for a while. Xu Ning told him how to weave the net and how to tie it while he was knotting and weaving the net. , after Wang Hu learned it, Xu Ning went to play with the dog.

Xu Ning was not in a hurry, nor was he afraid that the leopard would be beaten by others, because the weather these days was not good and the wind was blowing all the time. The old leopard was hiding in the woods in the south and did not like to come out to look for food. This animal is quite resistant to hunger and extremely tolerant. Strong, even if I don't eat for a week, I won't starve to death.

Wang Hu was making a net and asked: "Second brother, will this net work well?"

"Why should I make it up?" Xu Ning sat on the wooden pier, rubbing the head of the wolf dog between his legs with both hands.

Wang Hu said: "Then why are we going to fight? Will we call Brother Qiang and Brother Lei then?"

Xu Ning said: "Let's wait until then. We must first track down the leopard and find the leopard's lair before we can decide how to fight."

Wang Hu looked at the two sections of the net he had just made and asked: "Hey, second brother, do you think Big Speaker and the others can touch Lao Leopard?"

"Who can say for sure? It all depends on fate! If your fate is good, you may be hit if you are unprepared, but whether you can be killed or not is another matter..."

At the same time, the people in the village were also a little anxious, because there were old leopards in the old forest in the south, which made them afraid to go to the old forest to pull firewood.

Everyone nodded, because the reputation of the Chang brothers in the village was getting worse and worse. It was only during the Chinese New Year that they took in Sun Cuiping and her daughter to save some of their reputation.

Some people also say that the Chang brothers are dumb and have no voice at all, so why are they making blind gestures? It's okay to just stay at home. Just a year ago, he was thrown by a black blind man and he couldn't get off the kang. After the year, he still wants to die. Isn't this nonsense?

Xu Ning patted Hualang's butt, stood up and said, "They broke up, let's go and track them down first."

"Yeah! No one will be able to find fault then."

Yesterday Huang Lin went to Lao Xu's house in Qing'an, ostensibly to play with Wang Biao and Liu Tianen, but in fact it was Big Speaker's order to tell him to report to Xu Ning and talk about all these shabby things to improve them. The relationship between the two families.

In addition, the news about the Chang brothers' leopard hunting also spread throughout the two villages, causing everyone to laugh and praise Chang Beifeng for his clever mind and great fortune.

"Yes, Lao Fang's family is so picky, they will have to break up after working together for two and a half days."

But when they heard that Lao Fang's family invited them to dinner that afternoon and only made half a pot of mutton soup, they all almost laughed out loud and said that Lao Fang's family was stingy to a certain extent!

Lao Fang sat under the eaves and said: "Daqun, find a knife for Fang Min. The old gun is rusty and there is no knife that can be used."

This lunch box was covered in black oil stains both inside and outside, and there was a yellow mark on the inside, which was left by mutton fat. To exaggerate, it was said that you could stir-fry another dish just by pressing it with your hands.

Xiaofang's father heard the noise at the door and got out of the sheepfold. Ever since two of the family's sheep were killed by an old leopard, he had been living in the lower room next to the sheepfold. There was a door in the lower house that led directly to the sheepfold. In the pen, it is very convenient to feed the sheep, and the fence of the sheep pen is also built with stones, but there is still ventilation everywhere, with big holes exposed.

He also said that if you have nothing to do in the future, don’t go to his house to buy goat milk, because one time, a man went to Lao Fang’s house to buy goat milk, and the goat’s eggs fell into the goat’s milk, and Lao Fang even used a stick to stir them up.

Big Speaker turned his head and said: "No, just go there. You can stay at home and help your mother do some work."

Big Speaker hurried to Lao Fang's house and saw Lao Fang sitting leisurely under the eaves. Lao Han and Lan Guodong were so angry that they dug through their packs of cigarettes. After careful questioning, they found out that Lao Fang had not prepared lunch for Xiao Fang. , his eldest daughter-in-law was taking out leftovers and putting them in lunch boxes in the outer room.

When I heard that Da Xiaoxiao, Li Mazi, Lan Guodong and others were teaming up to hunt for old leopards in the old forest, I felt a lot safer.

At present, people in the two villages were watching and discussing. They were all surprised to see that Xu Erning did not take anyone to hunt leopards.

People who raise livestock at home stare at their chickens, pigs, cows, sheep, and donkeys all day long, for fear that the old leopard will enter the village and bring disaster to their families who raise livestock.

If Xu Ning heard about this, he would not be surprised. He would just think that Lao Fang was making pearl milk tea.

Not only could they not find fault with him, let alone accuse him of being a solitary eater, but they could praise Xu Erning for doing a good deed for the two villages.

But no one in the village said that the Chang brothers were of good character. Chang Danian was a living example right in front of them. As long as Chang Danian came out to hang out, who would dare to praise the Chang brothers? Aren’t those eyes on the buttocks?
This morning after dinner, Da Xiaoxiao carried a gun and wanted to leave. Huang Lin stood at the door and asked, "Dad, do I still want to go to Qing'an today?"

Fang Daquan nodded, went into the house to find a boning knife, and told Xiao Fang: "Be more careful."

"OK."

Outside the door, Lao Han put his hands into his sleeves and said with a crooked mouth: "I'm doing something for his family, and I'm so unhurried!"

Li Mazi lowered his head and whispered: "Just say a few words less. If you hang around for two days, you will be defeated."

Lan Guodong said: "Brother Li, let's go for a walk into the forest today? I'll take a look at you and lead us to hang out on the side..."

Old Han nodded and said, "Yes, why don't you go into the forest? Old Li, what do you think you are afraid of? The seven of us are carrying guns. Even if we can't kill the old leopard, we can't be hurt."

Li Mazi frowned and said, "Hey, you don't understand. To pinch a trace is to walk along the trail. All I have been looking at in the past two days are the old ones. I have to look at the new ones before I can walk into the forest!"

On the side, there was a man wearing a dog-skin hat and said: "Brother Li, didn't you look at the new trace yesterday? I didn't go any further."

"Stop talking, Brother Li is timid, and it's not like you don't know that."

Li Mazi was a little angry, raised his head and asked with a dark face, "Are you going?"

"Go, go, Brother Li, why are you angry? Isn't this a joke?"

"Who the hell are making fun of you!"

As soon as Li Mazi waved his hand, he hunched forward. Behind him, Old Han muttered: "Who is this person?"

Big Speaker grinned with yellow teeth, turned around and glanced at Fang Min, who was already walking towards the door, and told Lan Guodong and Lao Han to leave quickly. They had been standing at the door for eight or nine minutes, and Lao Fang didn't say anything to them. They chatted and drank, and I didn't even think about letting them come in to drink water.

Fang Min hurriedly followed behind everyone. He could feel it now. Even the loudspeaker was not willing to pay attention to him, but he didn't care. Why did he live his life by looking at other people's faces?
So even if he saw something new when he went to the old forest in the south today, Li Mazi didn't say anything and just walked slowly with everyone. Lao Han, Lan Guodong, Da Xiaoba and others also had the same mentality.

But Fang Min was worried. If the leopard was not killed, his family would not be able to survive.

"Uncle Huang, why don't we go for a walk in the forest?" Before waiting for the loudspeaker to reply, Old Han drooped his eyes and said, "My legs hurt! I can't walk anymore. I think I can do it now." Is it almost four o’clock?”

Lan Guodong nodded: "It's not that good. I wandered around for several days without even looking at a leopard fur."

"The two brothers from Qing'an had a good idea. They were lying down in the forest for five or six hours when they bumped into the old leopard. They just didn't know what to do at that time, otherwise the leopard's skin would be peeled off!"

Da Xiaoxiao laughed and said: "They are just blind cats trying to kill mice. They make people laugh when they mention Chang Beifeng..."

"Yeah, it does make you laugh."

A few people turned around and walked back, chatting and chatting as they walked, seeming to have forgotten about looking for the leopard's shadow.

It was half past three at the moment, and it was already after half past four when we got back to the village. Fang Min was so angry that his head was buzzing with anger from his uncles and grandfathers. When he got home, he read the exact words of Lao Han and Lan Guodong. , learned it from Lao Fang and his father.

Lao Fang smoked his pipe and pot and said, "What the hell! That leopard hasn't come for three days in a row. I should have gone back to the mountains. Daquan, you can go to the lower house and stay for two nights."

"Eh." Fang Daquan asked, "Did they tell you?"

Fang Min said: "Uncle Huang said that if we wander around for a day tomorrow, we might encounter a leopard."

Lao Fangba chirped and said, "This loudspeaker can be regarded as sentimental and righteous, but Lao Han and Li Mazi are just talking nonsense!"

Fang Daquan deeply agreed: "That's right!"

For three consecutive nights, everything was calm in Lao Fang's house. There was no disturbance, not even the dogs in the village barked.

The temporary hunting gang in Taiping also disbanded. They did not work hard in the last two days. For them, they have exhausted their kindness to the old Fang family.

The Communist Party just ate a few mouthfuls of Lao Fang’s mutton and drank some mutton soup. After doing this, what else do you want?

The idea of ​​Lao Fang's family is: My family has delicious food and good food, so if you don't contribute, why are you going out to search my house? How could anyone do this!
Although the two sides held different opinions, they did not get into trouble and broke up. After all, they both lived in the same village, and they could not see each other when they looked up.

The old leopard did not get into the sheep pen, which made Lao Fang relax his vigilance. He asked his eldest son Fang Daquan to go to the west room to sleep well for two days. Fang Min volunteered to go to the lower room to serve the sheep.

In the first few days, Lao Fang put the two lambs in the lower room, threw free firewood into the stove, and burned the lower room quite warm. Then he covered himself with a thick quilt full of sheep dung and slept. Not too cold either.

1984年2月29日，午夜1点30左右。

On the streets of Taipingtun, an animal with yellowish fur, black spots and bright eyes was walking leisurely. It was about one meter long and had a tail of about one meter.

It walked to the fence of Lao Fang's house and raised its head and smelled it. Seeing that the fence was not high, it jumped over. This movement made no sound and was very light.

The reason why it visited Lao Fang's house again was to take advantage of the few remaining sheep, because it likes to live alone and is often active at night. In places with sufficient food, its range of activities is relatively fixed, just like now.

When food is scarce, it will roam for dozens of miles in search of food. During the day, it mainly sleeps in its nest or in the bushes. It has a strong sense of territory. There are often several leopards whose territories overlap, and they will fight for territory. Of course, it is not ruled out that two female leopards and one male leopard live in harmony.

Leopards have well-developed senses and are extremely agile in their movements. They are good at climbing trees and do not like swimming. They have a ferocious temperament and can easily become irritated after being teased for a few times. They mainly prey on deer, roe deer, deer deer, red deer, wild boar, and small animals such as jumping cats. , pheasants and other herbivorous animals.

Leopards have two common hunting methods. One is to hide in a tree and pounce on passing livestock from a high position. However, you need to wait for the opportunity, otherwise it will be useless to wait in the tree if the livestock does not move away from it.

One is a sneak attack, first sneaking up on the prey, then suddenly jumping out and biting the prey's neck, biting off its trachea or arteries.

The prey it can't finish eating will be hung on the tree for easy preservation and will not rot easily, and will not be eaten by other carnivorous animals...

At this moment, the old leopard sniffed the smell in the sheepfold, and the more he smelled, the more he smelled it. He turned his head and looked at the fence, and then wandered around the sheepfold. Because the sheepfold was blocked by stones, he had to find an entrance first. .

The old leopard is very smart. After all, it ranks among the IQs of jackals, tigers and leopards. It made a simple patrol and decided on the route. First, it jumped to the haystacks with the help of stone rollers, and then jumped along the high stacks of haystacks. Go up to the roof of the lower house.

The roof was made of straw, with clay and wooden boards underneath, so as soon as its body weighing more than 100 kilograms fell, it made a banging sound. The sound was not loud, because the people sleeping in the lower room did not notice it at all. The big wolf dog is still sleeping soundly in the kennel...

The old leopard walked to the eaves and looked down at the six sheep in the sheepfold. After choosing its prey, it jumped down from the eaves and rushed into the sheepfold, regardless of how dirty the sheep dung was on the floor of the sheepfold. He pushed his hind legs forward hard and killed a ewe in an instant.

At the same time, the remaining five sheep in the sheepfold jumped up and down and made bleating sounds.

Suddenly, the big wolf dog that was guarding the house rushed out of the den and barked at the sheepfold, causing the dogs next door to also respond. For a while, the whole village could hear the barking.

The old leopard was not satisfied after killing a sheep, and then he jumped straight to the next fat sheep. His two front paws were embedded in the fat sheep's skin, and he bit the back of the fat sheep's neck with his big mouth. Its fangs directly pierced the throat of the fat sheep, and blood spurted out instantly...

After Fang Min, who was sleeping in the lower room, heard the barking of sheep and dogs, he hurriedly jumped up. He didn't even have time to put on his shoes. He just picked up the boning knife placed under the pillow with his bare feet and ran towards the door leading to the sheepfold. go.

"What a mess!"

Fang Min stretched out his hand to open the door and saw a tabby cat in the moonlight. It suddenly turned its head and grinned at him, making a sound of "shass".

"The king bullied the calf and fucked the ground..."

Fang Min saw two dead sheep lying on the ground, and the old leopard was biting the third one. This scene stimulated him greatly. He held the boning knife tightly, shouted with red eyes, and ran away gritting his teeth. To the old leopard!
After hearing the dog barking, Lao Fang and Fang Daquan, who were sleeping soundly, woke up instantly.

Lao Fang shouted in the east room: "Daquan! Quick, look at the sheep..."

Fang Daquan suddenly jumped out of bed, ran to the outhouse without putting on his shoes. After leaving the house, he picked up the shovel standing under the wall and ran towards the sheep pen.

Lao Fang was older and could not move as fast as Fang Daquan, but with the sheep in mind, he quickly ran to the outhouse, picked up the kitchen knife from the cutting board and followed Fang Daquan.

After hearing Fang Min's scolding, both Lao Fang and Fang Daquan felt their hearts pounding.

Fang Daquan shouted at the top of his lungs: "People! Come into the house! Hurry..."

(End of this chapter)