Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

He chopped down the hollow poplar trees nearby with an axe, and every five or six steps, he drove in two stakes about the thickness of a small bowl. He spaced the stakes about one foot apart. He called Song Desheng to the snow, where he pulled out eight strands of oiled silk rope and looped them around the stakes. The tree trunks all had knots, about the thickness of a bowl, which he secured with the loops.

He used white thread to make loops and tied them to the two wooden stakes on the left and right, then opened the loops.

Song Desheng looked at the weather and said with some worry, "This damn weather, it's probably going to get dark quickly, and we'll probably have to have a big firecracker."

Li Ju'an didn't mind and said, "Big smoke cannons are great. After the heavy snow, the snow here won't be waist-deep anymore."

Let alone the Tiger King, no wild animal could cross from this side to the other in waist-deep snow while hunting. He used a white single-line snare, which would frighten the animals away from this side, so they would have to go around it.

The wild beast circled around but always managed to slip through the snare, only to get caught.

This was a southern method of setting traps. He was eager to know if the trap set by the "Trap King of Changbai Mountain" would work, so he specifically planned to visit Old Qin at the clinic before the opium cannons arrived to check on Old Qin's recovery. As luck would have it, he happened to run into Sun Weimin and his group.

Song Desheng, standing to the side, began to ramble on about what happened to Lao Qin's team afterward.

After the civet cat snatched Lao Qin's hat, Wang Guochang led the team into the mountains. Later, the seventeen of them lost track of the civet cat but discovered a herd of red deer. Since they hadn't caught the civet cat, they figured hunting a male red deer for a delicious venison hotpot that night would be just as appealing. Little did they know, this herd of red deer had already been targeted by a pack of wolves.

A wolf surrounded a deer, but upon hearing the gunshot, the hunter snatched the deer from its jaws, and the wolf held a grudge. In the snowy mountains of the Greater Khingan Range, once a wolf holds a grudge, it's a recipe for disaster.

Song Desheng shouted, "Those Zhang Sans have been following us all the way, and they even took the opportunity to split our group apart. That's why I fell behind. If I hadn't run into you guys, I would have felt like something was following me."

The heavy smoke and cannons arrived quickly, and gunshots rang out from the distant mountaintop.

boom!

The gunshots rang out more than once, sounding like a fierce exchange of fire, but gradually the intervals between the shots grew longer and longer, until finally there were only sporadic gunshots at long intervals.

Li Ju'an slapped his thigh suddenly and exclaimed inwardly: Oh no!

He shouted and asked Sun Weimin and Lu Zhiqiang how many bullets they had left.

Sun Weimin and Lu Zhiqiang's muskets were almost fully loaded. They also had a lot of bullets they hadn't used yet. Song Desheng's slugs were also full. In addition, Li Ju'an hadn't even fired his gun since entering the mountains. The four of them had enough ammunition.

"That was an old-fashioned pump-action sound, it was Wang Guochang's gunshot! He's running out of ammunition."

Wang Guochang, an old hunter from Niubeitun, used a pump-action shotgun, which was very old and sounded different from ordinary shotguns.

For many days, Wang Guochang's team was surrounded by wolves. Hunters often say that wolves are the most patient animals, and the hunting dogs' encirclement techniques were learned from the wolves' ability to flank. If the prey escapes, the wolves chase, wearing down the prey's energy. If the prey fights back, the wolves retreat to avoid it, conserving their strength for the next harassment.

The back-and-forth harassment was a war of attrition, a test of physical endurance. Once the prey was exhausted and cornered, the pack would launch a final, fatal attack, with all the male wolves pouncing and tearing at the prey. For hunters, ammunition is everything. Now, after three days of depleted ammunition, Wang Guochang's team was nearly out of ammunition. To survive in the freezing cold, they would have to contend with the extreme cold and hypothermia.

It can be said that this is a double torment of mind and body.

Li Ju'an checked his ammunition, set a snare, and headed towards the mountaintop where the gunshots had come from. The hunters in the village often bickered, but when it came to a crucial moment, they were decisive. Remembering that a pack of wolves was besieging the old hunter of Niubei Village, they all grabbed their guns and followed Li Ju'an, running up the mountain along the footprints.

At this moment, Wang Guochang's team was locked in a stalemate with the wolf pack.

The group included many hunters from Niubeitun. Three days earlier, the Niu brothers, Niu Jianghai and Niu Jianghe, had tracked a red deer and fired a shot, killing the male in the head, which gave them a great sense of accomplishment. But no sooner had they finished shooting the deer than they spotted a pair of bright green eyes—it was a wolf.

Niu Jianghe immediately became displeased, cursing and pointing his gun at the wolf: "You bastard Zhang San, you dare to steal meat from us? I'll kill you!"

His brother, Niu Jianghai, tried to lower his gun, but it was too late. Niu Jianghe pulled the trigger and fired a shot, hitting the male wolf in the leg. The other wolves, hearing the gunshot, quickly scattered.

"Not to mention Zhang San, even Tiger King is not allowed to steal prey from my mouth."

Niu Jianghe laughed heartily, fired another shot at the scattered wolf pack, and shouted, "I was a sharpshooter before I retired from the army, now you believe I wasn't just bragging, right?"

His marksmanship was steady, but he had already made a big mistake and offended the wolf pack.

The wolves scattered and fled, and the male wolf that had been shot in the leg limped away. Niu Jianghe confidently prepared to drag the shot deer back.

His brother advised him to forget about the deer and hurry down the mountain to turn back, as Qin Pao had no idea where he was or hadn't replied.

But Niu Jianghe was in his early twenties, a time of youthful arrogance and fearlessness.

"Why should the wolf have the deer I hunted? I have to take it, and no one can take it from me."

Relying on the large number of hunters in his group, he felt no fear whatsoever and strode towards the woods where the deer had fallen.

The distance for shooting a deer is over 100 meters. If you're too far, you won't hit it, and if you get close, the deer will warily run away before you can even get near it. You have to run over 100 meters to reach the spot where the deer has fallen.

Old hunter Wang Guochang's voice called from behind him: "Don't go over there yet!" He couldn't persuade Niu Jianghe, so he could only go over with Niu Jianghai to meet up.

Just as the three were about to fall into the road, the pack of wolves reappeared.

The deafening howls of wolves at close range sent chills down their spines, instantly raising goosebumps. Seven or eight male wolves pounced on the three men.

Wang Guochang reacted quickly, pulling the trigger immediately. He was using a double-barreled shotgun, which had great power at close range, but he had to reload after firing two shots. He took down the male wolf charging in front with two bullets, and then hurriedly retrieved his ammunition. Niu Jianghai and Niu Jianghe were using old-fashioned shotguns. The three of them fired six bullets, but fortunately the wolf pack sensed the danger and began to retreat.

Seeing the wolves retreat, Niu Jianghai grabbed his younger brother Niu Jianghe's arm, trying to leave quickly. But Niu Jianghe shouted, "My deer! Why should I leave the deer I hunted to these animals?"

He couldn't bear to leave empty-handed, so he insisted on dragging the deer carcass along with him.

His brother, in a panic, grabbed his ear and yelled, "Get the hell out of here! Is your life more important than that beast?"