Living in the mountains and forests as hunters

Chapter 39

When night fell slowly, another heavy snow began to come, and the north wind whistled through the mountains and forests. In the quiet night, the sound of whirling branches began to become louder and louder. Zhao Yiyi and Zhao Dahu listened to each other in a trance. Suddenly there was another familiar roar, which gradually became louder and louder, but the sound was farther away than yesterday, which made Zhao Yiyi not know whether it was expectation or frustration.

Speaking of anticipation, the sound of howling wolves was far away, and she felt that maybe the pack of wolves was slowly preparing to leave, or she could guess that the pack of wolves passed by her own territory and would not have much impact on her family. But at the same time, she was also worried about the direction the wolf was going. Was it going to the village?Or the direction to the Lin family?If she went to the village, she would worry about the clansmen in the village. If she went to the Lin family, she would be even more worried about the stepmother, because it was the way home for her man, and she didn't know if she would meet them.

The most frustrating thing is that she can't analyze it at all, and she doesn't know the problem here. Even if it is analyzed, she has no ability to stop it.

"Sister, the wolf has gone far away? What are they doing wandering around like this?"

Zhao Dahu was also very puzzled. He added a handful of firewood to the yard, and looked outside secretly for a long time. He didn't see anything, so he could only go back to the cave to talk to his sister. There are wolves howling, no matter how brave you are, you can't help it!Zhao Dahu is also very uneasy now, he only now knows that living in the mountains is so dangerous, this is something he has never encountered in his ten years of career, he always feels that his own mountain is quite safe!
"How do I know what they want to do? Just listening to the voice, it seems to be a little far away, don't be afraid! Your brother-in-law will come back tomorrow, he knows a lot and knows what to do."

Although An Dalang is only in his early twenties, he is the backbone in this family, and Zhao Yiyi subconsciously feels that as long as An Dalang is at home, she will feel at ease.

"Sister, has that brother-in-law ever killed a wolf?"

"Why not, there are wolf furs at home!"

"But, I heard from the old man that this wolf is the most vengeful, and will take revenge. Isn't brother-in-law afraid?"

Zhao Dahu didn't talk about this, and Zhao Yiyi didn't think about it. Now that he said it, for some reason, the texts he learned in school immediately appeared in Zhao Yiyi's mind, such as Pu Songling's wolf or something. My heart was beating violently, and I was thinking wildly in my mind: Could it be that those wolves came to seek revenge from An Dalang?

"No, your brother-in-law said that the beasts in this mountain also have rules, and hunters and mountain people have their own territories. If they go to someone else's territory and are killed, it is their own fault. Your brother-in-law killed the wolf. If you cross the line, nothing will happen."

Zhao Yiyi didn't know whether to comfort herself or Zhao Dahu with these words, anyway, she had a serious face and said it very carefully, as if she was afraid that others would not believe it.

Looking at Zhao Yiyi like this, Zhao Dahu also seemed to feel that he had said something wrong, so he scratched his head and smirked, then said blankly:
"That's right! That's right! There have never been any big beasts in our village. My brother-in-law and I have been wandering here for a long time, and I live very well. It's good to have a place! I didn't expect this beast to be so particular. In other words, this time, something happened to them themselves, so they crossed the line, so don't worry about it!"

Zhao Dahu also seemed to hear the uneasiness in Zhao Yiyi's voice, so he quickly changed his mouth and kept talking about reassuring words, but just as he finished speaking, there were a few desolate screams from outside the other side , both Zhao Yiyi and Zhao Dahu jumped up in shock.

"Dahu, you said this is, this is."

Zhao Yiyi didn't dare to speak anymore, it was Zhao Dahu, he was a boy after all, he was more courageous, he listened for a while, and said:
"Sister, it sounds like a wolf has been injured? What kind of danger is this? Just at this time, why don't you go outside? Could it be that they fought themselves?"

Zhao Dahu was also very puzzled, thought for a while, then turned around and went to the door, wanting to open the door, and go to the yard quietly, Zhao Yiyi saw this, and hurriedly grabbed him.

"What are you doing! Don't go out. Wounded wolves are the most fierce. What if they know you are here and surround you?"

"Sister, it's all right, it's far away! Besides, there is a fire at the door, and there are animal traps outside the yard. It's very safe. I'll just take a look and see what happened there. Besides, I'm in Outside, with a bow and arrow, if someone really finds it, we should know it sooner and have a precaution."

Hearing what Zhao Dahu said, Zhao Yiyi didn't know for a while whether she should listen to her younger brother, but it didn't seem like a solution to just let her passively wait like this. After thinking about it, Zhao Yiyi said:

"Well, let me go and get the smudges that your brother-in-law usually uses to go to the woods, and touch some on your body, at least to cover up the smell, so as to save those things from finding them. Well, I will go with you."

While speaking, he quickly took out some grass juice, applied it on the exposed skin of the two, and took out two daggers from the box, gave one to himself and Zhao Dahu, and added his hatchet, Zhao Dahu The old pair of bows and arrows he kept, and put the ax at the door, so that he could use it later, he felt relieved, and he and Zhao Dahu opened the door of the cave, and walked into the yard.

Hearing the sound in the yard is very different from that in the cave. At least for these two people who have been tossing in the mountains all year round, they can already vaguely hear the direction of the sound and what kind of animal it is, but they don’t listen to it. It's okay to come out, but after hearing it, Zhao Yiyi and Zhao Dahu's expressions changed, because the voice came from the south, and this was the only way for An Dalang to come back!
"Sister, this, this, is it possible that brother-in-law is really back? This is Daheitian, and Dabao and the others, this, how can this be good?"

"No, there's only the sound of wolves. Sister, listen, it's the sound of wolves screaming again. This is the third time! Did brother-in-law kill the wolf?"

"How did the wolf go there? Their wolf mountain is in the north! This is wrong! Isn't this going away from home? What's wrong with the wolf?"

"Sister, do you think brother-in-law saw the cigarettes we lit? Do you know something happened? Will you bring someone with you? Brother-in-law is very smart, he must have thought of something, right?"

Maybe Zhao Dahu was nervous or didn't know what to say for a while, anyway, the babble was endless, he kept talking, and kept looking south, as if he could see something, but he just saw it. For a long time, I still could only see the pitch-black forest and the snowy land glowing under the moonlight.

At this time, Zhao Yiyi was no longer in the mood to listen to her younger brother, but kept praying to the gods and Buddhas all over the sky, hoping that An Dalang would be safe.

After a while, there were three or four more screams of wolves from the south. After this time, a long howl of wolves suddenly came from the east, and then there were echoes from all sides. Zhao Yiyi and Zhao Dahu's hair stood on end, how many wolves are there!They didn't know it!This is terrible, could it be that this is a wolf disaster?

Zhao Yiyi remembers that in this memory, he heard his dead father talk about the wolf disaster. It seems that because the wolves in the mountains have not been hunted for decades, more than 100 wolves, five or six wolves were formed at once, because There was not enough prey in the mountains, and finally these wolves attacked some villages. Later, a group of officers and soldiers and all the nearby hunters organized to go up the mountain to fight wolves, killing nearly a hundred of them, and then calmed down. Only then can people continue to live in peace.

Listening to the sound of the wolf outside now, I'm afraid that the number of wolves has increased again now!Also, the people in the mountains, because the wolves appear in groups, usually not in a crisis of survival, would not provoke them. Isn't this just giving the wolves a chance to reproduce safely!Be it a bear, a leopard, or a tiger, the skin is very valuable outside, and the tiger bone is a precious medicinal material. For silver, some people will cut it from time to time. Only the wolf, apart from the skin, is really no big deal. It's useful, wolf meat is not tasty, wolf bone boiled medicine is not taken seriously now, it has no economic value, so let them do it!
Zhao Yiyi's mind was full of random thoughts, and he kept thinking about some things about wolves in the animal world that he had seen before from his memory. Unfortunately, it was too long, and his memory was not very clear, so he couldn't remember anything. Can give up, staring at the outside in a daze, his mind went blank.

"Sister, I'm going out."

Zhao Dahu called Zhao Yiyi's soul back, his eyes widened in shock.

"What are you doing? Why are you going out? Are you going to die? Don't go.

"Sister, let's be on the safe side. If someone kills a wolf, the wolf will run wild. What should we do when we get here? There are only two traps at the door, how many can we block? I don’t even care about us. I also lit a fire on this mountain road. We don’t have to worry about the north and west sides. The east slope is steep and sharp, and there are traps. We don’t have to worry about it. Only the south side is the usual path to the hot springs. It is the most stable. If the wolves are coming, we will not be able to cover them up. Light it up, at least let them be more cautious, and let us see farther. If the wolves want to come from the east, we can also shoot arrows or something. .”

As soon as Zhao Dahu said it, Zhao Yiyi also came to his senses, knowing that this was indeed what needed to be done, he quickly helped to bring out a lot of firewood from the cave, and said to Zhao Dahu:
"Light it first, and then go. It's safer to have a torch."

Waiting for the fire to be lit outside the yard, Zhao Yiyi and Zhao Dahu could see a lot more places. There was nothing in the place illuminated by the bright fire, but they still felt that they were very close to danger.

(End of this chapter)