Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 50 Xiaodonggou

On the morning of the tenth day of September, the master and his disciple had breakfast and loaded their guns with gunpowder and gun sand.

Then he put on his leggings, took some dry food and water, and went out to meet the four sons of the Zhou family in the yard.

The four sons of the Zhou family, Zhou Chuanren, Zhou Chuanyi, Zhou Chuanyong and Zhou Chuanzhi, the oldest is twenty-five and the youngest is nineteen.

He has an honest appearance, is hardworking and capable, otherwise the Zhou family would not have been able to accumulate such a large fortune.

Seeing Shui Laowu and Qu Shaoyang coming out with guns on their backs, Zhou Chuanren's eyes flashed with envy, "Uncle Liu, Shaoyang."

Zhou Chuanren nodded to the two of them and greeted them.

Qu Shaoyang and Shui Laowu also nodded. Qu Shaoyang looked at the dog that the four brothers were leading, and his face was also filled with envy.

"Oh, Brother Zhou, these three dogs in your family are really rare."

The Zhou family raised three hunting dogs, all of which were wolfhounds. It is said that wolfhounds are a hybrid of dogs and wolves, with large bodies and ferocious temperaments.

The three dogs of the Zhou family were all born from the same female dog. They look similar and are quite majestic.

Hunters all like good guns and good dogs, and Qu Shaoyang is no exception. Looking at the three dogs of the Zhou family, Qu Shaoyang felt itchy in his heart.

"Brother Zhou, among the dogs in your house, is there a female dog? If she gives birth to puppies in the future, you must give me one."

Zhou Chuanren laughed when he heard it, "Okay, Erqing is a female dog. When she has puppies next year, I will definitely leave you a good one."

As they were talking, three other people came with their dogs.

The three men were dressed similarly, all wearing tattered cotton jackets, leather hats, and boots. They carried bows and arrows on their backs and were leading two black dogs.

One of them was older, and the other two were quite young. It was obvious that they were a father with two sons.

The two black dogs looked very good, without a single stray hair on their bodies. Their skins were smooth and shiny, and you could tell at a glance that they were taken care of with great care.

"This is Uncle Wang and his two sons, Wang Mulin and Wang Musen.

Uncle Wang is a famous hunter in our area. He got the courage of a black bear when he killed a cangzi last winter. "

As soon as Zhou Chuanren saw the three men arrived, he hurriedly introduced them to each other.

"Uncle Wang, these two are new to our Maoer Mountain. They live at the foot of the east mountain, in a newly built house.

Uncle Liu is the big boss in the mountain area. This is Uncle Liu's apprentice. He is very capable."

"Liu Dongshan."

"Wang Jiaxiang."

Shui Laowu and the other party clasped their fists and saluted each other, which meant they knew each other.

While the people here were greeting each other, the first few dogs were sniffing each other.

The two families must have gone hunting together often, so the dogs were familiar with each other and they dispersed after sniffing each other.

If the dogs are unfamiliar, it is easy for them to fight each other when they meet, and sometimes there will be casualties.

"Let's go. Xiaodonggou is quite far away. Let's try to get there before the pigs get up."

When everyone was gathered, Zhou Chuanren called out and everyone, leading their dogs, walked out.

The Xiaodonggou mentioned by Zhou Chuanren is about thirty miles northeast of Maoer Mountain.

There are large tracts of oak trees, hazel trees, red pine trees, etc. in that place, which is the favorite place for wild boars to find food.

In the summer, the mountains there are high and the forests are dense, which obstructs vision and makes hunting very difficult. Even if you catch prey, it is troublesome to bring it back, so Zhou Chuanren and his friends basically don't like to go there in the summer.

Now it is late autumn, the leaves have fallen, and the view is unobstructed.

In addition, in autumn, all kinds of nuts fall to the ground, and wild boars love to eat them. It is the most popular hunting spot for nearby hunters. People at this time are used to walking fast. After more than an hour, we arrived at Xiaodonggou, which is called Xiaodonggou by the locals.

Looking up, two high mountains stand on the north and south sides, and a winding canyon extends to the northeast.

There are clusters of tall pine, hazel and oak trees growing together, and even when the leaves have fallen, the view is not very wide.

In addition, the mountains on both sides are too high, blocking the sunlight, so when people walk into the canyon, the sky seems to be much darker.

It hasn't snowed yet, but there will be a layer of white frost on the ground in the morning.

If it is flat ground, the frost will melt when the sun comes out, and the leaves will become dry and brittle. There will be noise when people step on them, so this is also called "beating leaves".

However, there is no sun in Xiaodonggou, the temperature is low, and the frost melts late.

The frost has just melted, and the fallen leaves have become a little soft due to being soaked by water, so they don't make much sound when you step on them.

Just after they walked about two miles in, dogs began barking, and Qu Shaoyang and the others also saw traces of pigs digging under the oak tree.

The huge forest was almost completely turned over by wild boars, and the pits were almost connected to form a whole piece.

Qu Shaoyang squatted on the ground and looked carefully, and found that the hoof prints on the ground were all quite large.

It is estimated that among this group of pigs, there are at least a dozen big ones, weighing more than 200 to 300 kilograms.

There must have been quite a few little yellow-haired guys back then, probably more than twenty of them.

"These pigs were eating here last night. Now, they should be sleeping in Bojiweizi halfway up the mountain."

Wang Jiaxiang looked down for a long time, then looked up at the surrounding terrain and guessed the current location of the wild boar.

"Chuanren, you and my eldest brother take the dogs to Laoyingzui to stop the fight, to prevent the wild boar from running over the mountain when the gunfire is heard.

Brother Liu, you and my second brother, go to the other end and block it. Remember, if you don't hear any gunshots, don't shoot.

The rest of you, follow me and follow the pigs. Keep an eye on the dogs and don’t let them make any noise or scare the pigs.”

Among the group of people, the four Zhou brothers are young and inexperienced. Shui Laowu and Qu Shaoyang are both from other places and are not familiar with the terrain here.

Wang Jiaxiang is an old hunter with rich experience, so it is natural that he is the leader.

"Shaoyang, right? Well, let me tell you, if the pigs get startled before we get close to them, just shoot them.

Don't be soft-hearted, hit him as much as you can." Wang Jiaxiang turned back and looked at Qu Shaoyang again, and instructed him.

Qu Shaoyang nodded, "Okay, I understand, Uncle Wang."

Just like that, everyone followed what Wang Jiaxiang said and went to their designated locations.

The four people blocking the fight on both sides walked quickly and disappeared into the woods in a few steps.

The remaining five people, leading the dogs, followed the wild boar's footprints and slowly walked towards Bojiwaizi halfway up the mountain.

The dogs had been through many battles and were familiar with this hunting method. Although the increasingly strong smell of wild boars made them more and more excited, the dogs did not bark randomly.

They only express their urgent desire to attack by frequently lowering their heads, bending their waists, twitching their noses back and forth, and looking into their owners' eyes from time to time.

Qu Shaoyang was not familiar with the dog, so he didn't leash it. He held the gun and kept an eye on the movement in front of him at all times.

As they walked, they came to a valley in front of them. A gust of wind blew over, bringing with it a pungent smell. At the same time, the dogs also became restless.

Needless to say, the group of wild boars were in this winnowing basket.

Wang Jiaxiang quickly lowered his body and waved his hand to scare the hunting dogs. The dogs immediately bent down and resisted the urge to shout a warning.

Qu Shaoyang raised his head and looked forward through the gap in the branches of an oak tree in front of him. He saw a dark area in front of him. It was the wild boar that was still sleeping.

(End of this chapter)