Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

While Yu Qiyuan was exercising slowly, Yu Qiutang asked Yu Qiujiang to take out the water from the mandrake to soak the crossbow arrows.

The crossbow arrows must be fired at least three times before they can be effective.

He had two crossbows and a total of forty arrows. If he still couldn't catch a musk deer after shooting all the arrows, Yu Qiutang felt that he could just crash himself into a tree and die.

His goal this time was to get two, preferably one male and one female, then two males. If there was only a female, he would have to keep looking.

Musk is taken from the glands of male musk deer. Its original purpose was to release a unique scent to attract female musk deer.

It took less than half an hour to prepare the crossbow arrows.

While having dinner with the two of them, Yu Qiutang explained the next arrangements.

The first is time.

Of course he hoped to get the musk deer as soon as possible, but the problem was that the musk deer lived too far away from home, and it would take basically two days to go back and forth.

If we leave three more days for pursuit and hunting, it will take at least five days in total, so both of them should be mentally prepared.

Both of them said that they had made arrangements in advance and had informed their families separately, so time was not a problem.

"Secondly, I'll get to the point."

Yu Qiutang stuffed a mouthful of mooncake into his stomach, looked around, picked up a branch from the ground, and drew three horizontal lines on it.

"Look, these three horizontal lines represent three different altitudes... Oh, that is, heights. Musk deer are distributed in many places in the mountains here, some at high altitudes and some at relatively low altitudes.

This mainly depends on what they rely on as food.

Even for the same species of musk, such as the forest musk deer which has the best musk effect, it has different living habitats due to different living habits. I will tell you about this later.

What do musk deer mainly eat? Some small fruits, mosses, fungi, leaves, young buds of trees, etc. It is very complicated.

This season is the peak feeding period for musk deer. They will have another wave of reproduction in December, but there is not much edible food in the mountains now.

Considering that we can't search all over the mountains, I have classified them into three categories.

The lowest altitude is the moss area at about 1000 meters.

Wild azalea is what we old people often call small-leaf azalea. This flower lives a little higher, around 1800 meters.

The third type is the Usnea area. You may not have heard of Usnea, but if I say it another way, you will definitely know it, Sea Breeze Vine..."

Yu Qiutang stopped here and looked at Yu Qiujiang and Yu Qiyuan, and found that both of them were looking at him in amazement, with a bewildered look on their faces.

"Never heard of Sea Breeze Vine?"

Yu Qiutang thought that everyone on earth knew about the term "sea breeze vine" and that it was a very common term.

But the two still shook their heads.

The shaking rhythm is very steady and coincidental.

"Well, if you haven't heard of Sea Breeze Vine, then what about Cloud Mist Grass?"

"I've heard of Yunwu tea," said Yu Qiyuan.

"That's right," Yu Qiutang was quite satisfied. Finally, he was not the only one performing a one-man show.

"Cloud tea is the young vine of Usnea. Do you know why it is called cloud grass? It is because they grow deep in the clouds and mist in the mountains and are invisible to ordinary people.

What do you think of? Yes, it is the high mountain clouds and fog, very high mountains. This is the favorite food of musk deer, and it is also the place where you are most likely to encounter musk deer. "

"I know, cousin. We are your soldiers. We will do whatever you say."

When it comes to hunting, Yu Qiutang is Yu Qiuyuan's idol. Ever since he last saw him bring a wild boar home, it left a deep impression on Yu Qiuyuan.

"What Atom said is right. Qiutang, you just decide how to do it."

Yu Qiujiang was already accustomed to Yu Qiutang's way of doing things and knew that he would usually arrange a specific course of action after explaining the basic knowledge.

"Okay, let's do this. We have three of us, but the two of you are not very strong, especially since Atom has just arrived in the mountains and is very weak... Is this okay with you, Atom?"

"No, I'm very weak. Cousin, if you are the King of Chu, then I am just a small soldier."

"Haha, it's not that outrageous, but humility is a good thing. I would rather hope that you can be more cautious from the beginning. Hunting is not a joke after all, especially since we are in the area where many wild animals are active..."

"Really?" Yu Qiyuan looked around quickly. The wind was blowing in the forest and grass catkins were flying. Apart from the birds singing, he didn't see anything special.

"Of course, that's because it's not dark yet. Most wild animals, like cats and dogs, are crepuscular animals. They only come out to move around in the evening when it gets dark."

"That's it."

Yu Qiyuan shrank his head and held the knife in his hand tighter.

The invading knife was Yu Qiujiang's, which was slightly lighter, while Yu Qiutang's halberd was held by Yu Qiujiang.

This kind of cold weapon is very suitable for use in close combat. For example, when encountering a pack of wolves or jackals, you basically just sweep a large area with the gun. Those creatures will be crippled if they touch you and won't be able to get close at all.

Even if I meet a blind bear, I can still fight it.

"So you have to be safe during the day. After dark, don't do anything but stay by the fire, okay?"

"Know!"

"Okay, let me continue. Considering the actual combat effectiveness, we will be divided into two groups. Brother Jiang, you and Yuan Zi will guard the lowest level, which is the moss area. There are generally no wolves in this area. The only lethal animals are jackals.

Jackals are quite cunning. As long as you don't provoke them, they will not attack you for a while. Choose a good position and there will be basically no danger.

We have prepared whistles. This kind of bone whistle can be transmitted over a long distance. The mountains are spacious and the echo can increase the distance. If there is an accident, blow it a few more times and I should be able to hear it. "

The bone whistle can indeed be transmitted over a long distance, but Yu Qiutang can hear it mainly because his hearing is stronger than that of ordinary people. Of course, he does not need to tell the two of them directly about this.

"As for me, I will start by searching in the middle-level cuckoo area. If everything goes well, we won't need to go higher. If we don't get anything in the first two days, we can only go higher.

This arrangement is mainly for safety reasons. After all, it is meaningful only if everyone is safe. Otherwise, even if we go through so much trouble to get something, if someone is injured, we can’t bring it down the mountain.”

"That's it."

Yu Qiutang and Yu Qiuyuan now understood clearly.

“Okay, let’s keep going forward. When we pass through this meadow, I remember there is a broad-leaved forest ahead. If we keep going up, we will reach the moss.

We won't rest next. Qiu Yuan, please be patient. It's a cloudy day today. I guess the wild animals will be active earlier. We should go up as soon as possible. We may get some unexpected gains."

"Don't worry, cousin, I've rested and can leave at any time."

"Not bad, great performance, full marks to you."

The three of them continued forward.

When they passed through the dandelion bushes, the affected dandelion umbrellas floated all over the sky, and many of them fell on the three people. As they moved, these umbrellas were also carried to other places, completing the biological reproduction process.

Putting humans in nature, there is actually no difference between humans and other animals. They rely on nature and are also relied on by the animals and plants in nature. Walking through the wild grass, you can see some relatively short shrubs on the edge. There are no paths to pass in many places, so you can only make your way forward.

Yu Qiutang followed the memories of his ancestors, but there was a time difference between reality and memory. In many places he thought there were roads, but when he ran over and looked, he found that they were still forests.

This is purely a memory error.

The consequence of this is that they travel much slower than their actual distance.

It was almost four in the afternoon when we crossed the bushes and passed through a hybrid broad-leaved forest and arrived at our first destination.

What's even more exaggerated is that there was a drizzle of rain and snow.

Yu Qiutang saw a protruding stone at the edge of the woods, so he climbed up, stood on the high place and looked around, and found that the moss area was very large, at least two or three hundred acres.

At first glance, it is densely packed and green, which is very healing.

If it were placed in the future, it would definitely be a tourist check-in destination.

In fact, moss is called moss, but it is actually a very large classification, just like people are called people, but there are all kinds of people.

The distribution area of ​​moss is also very wide. It grows on hillsides, swamps, wet golden leaf moss grasslands under forests or by lakes. There is no geographical restriction. It is basically found in the mountainous areas of Northeast, Northwest, North China and Southwest China.

Relatively speaking, there are fewer species in the south.

For farmers, moss is a very disgusting grass and causes them a lot of trouble.

The main reason is that this thing has a strong reproductive ability and is difficult to die.

Their rhizomes are well developed, and all rhizomes can generally produce new branches.

If there is drought or insufficient water, most of them are in the state of nutrient branches. When the water conditions are better, they will immediately form growing branches and bloom and bear fruit.

Because of this characteristic, if moss grows in the field and farmers pull it up and throw it on the roadside, it can persist for a long time and will be able to grow back and survive as soon as it rains.

And because they rely on rhizomes to reproduce, they will multiply and soon occupy a large area of ​​land.

However, precisely because of this habit, some genera of mosses are used for paving meadows or for feeding livestock, which is perfect and the more the better.

The moss in front of Yu Qiutang and his team belongs to the alpine category. Its leaves are relatively narrow and diamond-shaped. It is now in bloom, and the mountains are full of small yellow flowers.

"A-choo!" Yu Qiyuan sneezed and felt embarrassed.

"It's really a bit cold. I didn't feel it at that time, but I felt it when the rain fell on my face."

"Put on your raincoat!"

Yu Qiutang jumped down from the stone and said, "Come on, follow me. I will arrange your positions first."

As he spoke, he tapped the moss with a crossbow arrow and moved forward cautiously.

The place where moss lives is humid and warm, which is the best place for snakes to live. Now is the transition period between autumn and winter. Snakes are in the early stages of hibernation. Their temperaments are very unstable and they are very aggressive, so we must be careful.

Yu Qiutang took the two of them to the edge of the cliff. There was a gap here, either caused by rain or mudslide, which left a gap of several square meters.

"You two stay here. The view here is good. You can basically see the entire moss area. The terrain is high, so there will be no accumulation of water even if it rains. It is also diagonally opposite to the woods, so when wild animals are active, they will not stray far from the woods..."

Yu Qiutang patiently explained to the two of them.

The two of them kept nodding, thinking in their hearts, you don't have to explain to me, just arrange it, we will listen to you.

"You have no experience in hunting musk deer, so just observe. If a musk deer appears, just remember the direction. I will think of a way to trap it when I come back."

"Just watching?" Yu Qiyuan felt that it was different from what he had imagined.

"So what else do you want to do?"

Yu Qiutang said with a smile: "After you finish this trip, if you are still so motivated, I will bring you here next time."

"That's for sure." Yu Qiyuan was full of interest.

Yu Qiutang didn't tease him, and repeatedly reminded Yu Qiujiang not to leave this position.

In addition to the many advantages mentioned above, this place has an even greater advantage, which is that it is backed by a cliff. In other words, if there is a siege by wild beasts, at least there is no need to worry about being attacked from behind.

In fact, when wild beasts attack people, as long as the people have weapons in their hands, it is difficult for them to hurt people from the front.

But the problem is that creatures like jackals often travel in groups, and usually have a clear division of labor: a few in the front will attract people, while the rest will flank them from the sides or even block them from the back.

I don’t know how good Sun Tzu’s Art of War is.

Even if there are only two wolves, they will definitely attack from the front and back, and rarely foolishly rush forward directly.

Correspondingly, dogs like to attack in groups, basically directly fighting head-on.

Moreover, when the hunting dogs are besieging, they just need to drive the beasts away or drive them into an encirclement. There is no need for them to bite them directly.

Relying on this "sea of ​​dogs tactics", they can even drive away brown bears, but in fact, as long as a black bear is a little bit more ferocious, the dogs are no match for it.

Just like in front of a tank, no matter how many infantry there are, they are useless.

There shouldn't be any problem finding such a position for the two of them. Before leaving, he repeated again that they should never leave this position and should blow the whistle if there was any abnormality or danger.

Only after both of them agreed did he leave with peace of mind.

With Yu Qiujiang around, he can basically rest assured.

This cousin was not good at pioneering but was good at maintaining the status quo. Besides, when I was leaving, as Yu Qiyuan's cousin and a "senior" who had been into the mountains several times, he would naturally shoulder the heavy burden.

Mosses generally grow on sunny hillsides. If Yu Qiutang wants to climb up, he can only go against the flow.

However, the route he chose this time was not like the previous ones, where he tried to find a relatively easy path to walk.

He had only one requirement for the route: the shortest.

No matter how difficult it is, it is not a big problem for him now.

The package was placed where it was before. He only brought a small amount of water and mooncakes, which made his steps much lighter. If it weren't for the gun and crossbow on his back, he would have been even faster.

The forest he was climbing at the moment was also a hybrid forest.

There are all kinds of trees inside, which shows that this location has experienced flooding or geological changes. Otherwise, this effect cannot be achieved by birds and animals alone.

Many of the trees in the forest are probably hundreds of years old. Even if three people hugged them together, they might not be able to surround them. Many of the trees have even been split in the middle, directly in half, but they are still tenaciously alive.

Yu Qiutang climbed and clambered quickly through the forest like a monkey. Along the way, he found two sika deer chewing tree bark, several muntjacs, a group of wild boars, and several species of monkeys.

But he was not in the mood to pay attention to them at the moment, and instead ran quickly towards his destination.

Ten minutes later, he crossed a route that would have taken the three of them an hour to walk and rushed out of the hybrid forest.

Wow!
The scene before him left him dumbfounded even though he was well-informed. (End of this chapter)