Yuan Tiezhu's group had a smooth journey, which only made Zhong Wanwan's group look even more miserable. Along the way, apart from a few wild pheasants, the group didn't even see a wild rabbit, which worried Brother Wei a lot.
He's not going to steam buns to save face, but even saving face requires some luck. He has nothing, so he's like a skilled cook trying to make a meal without rice!
Brother Wei observed more and more carefully. In a flash, he seemed to see a very rare animal. He rubbed his eyes, but it disappeared again.
Brother Wei was a little puzzled. He thought he had just seen a wolf, and that was right, the same wolf that was colluding with the enemy.
In fact, the jackal is a very rare animal, and it is not any other special species; it is a disabled wolf.
Don't underestimate the danger of a crippled wolf; remember that the animal kingdom operates on the principle of natural selection.
A disabled animal is destined to be abandoned by its companions, but the jackal survived.
Moreover, wolves, being social animals, also serve as the "strategist," which suggests how intelligent this animal must be.
The reason why the story of the wolf is so vivid is mainly because it is so rare. Many veteran hunters have never seen one in their entire lives.
Brother Wei was fortunate enough to see it because he learned hunting from his maternal grandfather and maternal uncle when he was a child and often went up the mountain.
That time was quite dangerous. Even though Brother Wei was only a few years old at the time and was hung on a tree by his grandfather beforehand and did not participate in the hunting, Brother Wei still clearly remembers the situation.
It was because his hunting partner was too confident and greedy.
Even though he had already collected quite a lot of things, and his grandfather and uncles were all about to go down the mountain, he felt lucky this time and wanted to stay one more day, which led to such a tragic incident.
Actually, you can't entirely blame him for this; hunting is indeed quite dependent on luck.
Sometimes, after waiting in the mountains for half a month, you can only hunt small prey, and you can't even see two roe deer.
Sometimes, you can find big animals right away, even two hibernating bears.
So when a hunter gets lucky, he always tries to catch more so that he can have a good harvest this year.
But my maternal grandfather and maternal uncle were different. My maternal grandfather had been hunting since he was young and he was never greedy. He always knew when to stop, which is why he never had any major accidents in such dangerous mountains.
It was nighttime, and it was already very late. Because we had hunted many wild deer and donkeys during the day, my grandfather was worried that the smell of blood would attract the attention of large wild animals, so he planned to go down the mountain at noon.
But the hunter disagreed. He looked down on his grandfather and uncle's cowardice and mocked his grandfather:
"A hunter who's afraid of wild game? You've really made hunters proud!"
"We're not afraid of that big wild thing. If it comes, that's great! We can just add another big one to our diet!"
He then burst into laughter, and the other hunters, drawn in by his words, joined in the laughter.
Because there were many hunters gathered that time, everyone felt that there was nothing to worry about. Although Grandpa's eyelids kept twitching and he was restless, it was not appropriate to say anything.
Grandpa and my eldest uncle didn't want to go up the mountain, but hunters always hunt in groups. If Grandpa and my eldest uncle were so unsociable, it would be difficult for them to join others next time.
And so, Grandpa was restless and extremely wary of his surroundings all day long.
But that day went exceptionally well; the group hunted several wild donkeys and deer until nightfall.
Normally, wild deer and wild donkeys don't appear together, but that day, by sheer coincidence, the two animals appeared together, and quite close to each other.
Looking back now, it wasn't that the two animals wanted to be close; they were surrounded by wolves, trapped in the area, and became the wolves' winter food reserves.
These hunters, carrying chickens and roe deer, went into the wolf pack's food reserves, practically to feed the wolves.
When night fell, the hunter finally realized something was wrong.
Well, given the circumstances at the time, it would have been quite difficult not to notice.
Because of the green eyes all around, the scene was quite terrifying.
The experienced hunters immediately lit a fire, hoping to drive the wolves away.
But the wolves didn't seem afraid of the fire. No, that's not quite right; they were afraid, but they weren't scared away. Instead, they kept probing and tightening their encirclement.
Grandpa sensed something was wrong, so he had his eldest uncle hang him on a century-old tree. Also hanging on the tree were two pheasants and more than ten frozen wild eggs that they had dug out of the henhouse.
Grandpa told him that no matter what, he must not come down from the tree until someone came looking for him.
And so, Grandpa, Uncle, and the hunters began to fight the wolf pack, a battle that lasted a day and a night.
Nearly half of the hunters were killed or injured. The old hunter who advocated staying was the one who charged ahead, and his family was reduced to only one son, who was severely injured.
And so, finally, they managed to scare away the remaining dozen or so wolves, the wolf king, and the jackal, and the rest of them survived.
Grandpa was also injured in the incident, but fortunately it wasn't serious.
All the other hunters who went up the mountain together suffered casualties, but compared to them, my grandfather's family suffered the least.
They all went up the mountain together. Although Grandpa suggested going down the mountain, the number of people who went up the mountain was the same as the number who went down.
This was so enviable that, after this incident, Grandpa spread the word that his health had deteriorated and he could no longer go up the mountain, so his family would let his eldest uncle go up the mountain instead.
If a hunter can no longer go up the mountain, he has lost his ability to work. In the hunter's eyes, this situation is not much different from the person being dead, which is why Grandpa's house is not conspicuous.
Having gone through such a major event, even though Brother Wei is in his prime and has a wealth of experience, he is still quite cautious.
Brother Wei carefully checked the surrounding area again, but did not see a pack of wolves, not even a single wolf.
Although the check showed no wolves nearby, Brother Wei still felt uneasy. He thought for a moment and said to Zhong Wanwan and the others:
“Let’s go back to the cabin first. Master Zhong and Xia Zhiqing are watching the game inside. We men will go and inform the other hunting team members so we can hurry down the mountain.”
Brother Wei's expression was grave the whole way. After searching the surroundings several times, he suddenly said something that startled Zhong Wanwan, Xia Ning, Wang Erlaizi, and Zhang Liuzhi.
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