Chapter 95: Talent (Update)
Ye Qing had not expected that the coyote pack could become her super cheat when she went into the mountains to hunt.
The key is that these guys not only have a keen sense of smell, but also have a clear division of labor and tacit cooperation. They are even good at using various tactics when hunting, which is better than hunting dogs.
Originally, Ye Qing didn't really care about the fact that the coyotes recognized their master. The main reason was that she felt that even if they recognized their master, it would be useless for her, a village doctor, to have a group of coyotes.
But after just a few hours of cooperation, Ye Qing realized that her previous mindset seemed to have underestimated this useless plug-in.
Since these guys can help her hunt, then if we think about it from another perspective, does it mean that if they are well cultivated, they can also help her find medicinal herbs?
A medicinal herb exploration team composed of a group of wolves roams around in the mountains all day long. Over time, these wolves can sniff every blade of grass and every tree in Changbai Mountain, and can find any hidden precious Chinese medicinal herbs!
The more Ye Qing thought about it, the faster her heart beat. Her eyes couldn't help but fall on Mancang and the group of younger brothers behind it, her eyes shining.
The Mancang couple had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem. They held their heads high and looked down upon the group of bipeds in front of them, with a look of arrogance and pride in their eyes, as if to say:
See, stupid humans, there is no need for hunting guns. Hunting is a piece of cake for us coyotes!
Of course it was impossible to pile up so many prey in the wild. If they were not moved away quickly, the smell of blood would soon attract other beasts. So Wu Yongbing immediately arranged for the hunters who had followed him to act quickly, and together they carried the pile of prey back to the cabin.
An adult wild boar weighs two to three hundred kilograms. In the deep mountains with thick snow, it takes several people to move it, so the seven or eight people Wu Yongbing brought are not enough.
After the group carried back the three wild boars, they called the remaining veteran hunters and returned to the original place. More than 20 people worked together and finally brought all the remaining prey back to the cabin.
It was already six o'clock in the evening and it was completely dark. Everyone looked at the nearly two thousand kilograms of prey in front of them and didn't know what to say for a moment.
The development of things was really beyond everyone's expectations. When they first went into the mountains, they planned that if they were lucky, they could stay in the mountains for a week and hunt two to three thousand kilograms of game. After coming down the mountain, not only would everyone in the village get together for a big pot of food, but each family would also be able to get a few kilograms of meat, which would mean they could have a good New Year.
But who could have imagined that on only the first day in the mountains, some veteran hunters hadn't even fired a single shot, yet they had already achieved their intended goals in a daze?
The meat was still bubbling in the pot. Ye Qing silently threw the dried beans and dried mushrooms she brought into the pot. The old branch secretary smoked a pipe and looked at Wu Yongbing, whose expression was unpredictable:
"Give me something, Lao Wu? What should we do about this? Or should we go down the mountain early tomorrow morning?"
The other veteran hunters all looked towards Wu Yongbing.
Wu Yongbing himself was not very strong, and he had not even used up half of the bullets in the barrel of his gun.
Before entering the mountain this time, we told others that we planned to come down the mountain in about a week, but before entering the mountain, everyone estimated that it would take more than a week. After all, in previous years, when we went into the mountains to hunt, we always spent ten days or half a month in the mountains, and returned exhausted.
But who knew this would happen? Everyone was waiting for Wu Yongbing to make a decision. Wu Yongbing pursed his lips, but unconsciously looked towards Ye Qing.
As soon as Ye Qing saw Wu Yongbing's expectant eyes, how could he not know what this old fox was up to?
It was really because the strength displayed by these coyotes this afternoon was too strong, which made these old hunters no longer want to make any effort and wanted to take advantage of the ready-made benefits from the Mancang couple.
It was difficult for her to refuse this matter, but she also didn't want to enslave Mancang and his gang of little brothers too much. After all, running around in the mountains on such a snowy day was very tiring. Ye Qing felt a little guilty about letting these coyotes work for her for free.
So she was silent for a few seconds, then said to Wu Yongbing:
"At most, we can let them follow us for half a day tomorrow. By noon tomorrow, we will kill as many prey as we can. There is no end to the prey in the mountains. We can't be too greedy. We can give each family a share. It's enough to eat. We have to leave some way for those animals that hibernate."
Wu Yongbing was stunned for a moment, then glanced at the old branch secretary, and both of them nodded in agreement.
Half a day is just half a day. You should know that there are only five of Ye Qing's group, and they destroyed a wild boar's den this afternoon. If more than twenty of them work together with the coyote pack tomorrow, the prey they catch will definitely not be less than today!
The cabin was too small, so it was impossible to store all the prey inside. The group could only dig a hole in the snow pile outside the cabin, bury the prey in the snow, and pat it tightly to cover up the bloody smell as much as possible to prevent other wild animals from secretly picking the peaches at night.
After hunting so many preys, there was naturally more than enough meat for dinner in the evening. The old hunters, who had been busy for a whole year and had not had a good meal of meat, ate heartily, and in the end they were all so exhausted that they could not straighten their backs.
At night, the old branch secretary arranged two groups of people to take turns to keep watch, and then added a lot of firewood to the fire, making the fire burn particularly vigorously. The temperature in the wooden house rose quickly, and then a group of old hunters sat in a mess or against the wall, spending the whole night together.
Considering that Ye Qing and Gu Weinan are two girls, the only heated bed in the room was reserved for them. Gu Weinan was worried that Ye Qing could not adapt to this environment and would feel uncomfortable being in the same room with so many old men. He originally thought of chatting with Ye Qing after lying down to ease her embarrassment.
Who would have known that Ye Qing fell asleep soon after he lay down on the kang in his military coat? The speed at which he fell asleep was so fast that even the usually carefree Gu Weinan was dumbfounded and found it unbelievable.
Ye Qing really didn't think there was anything wrong with this matter. In fact, with so many people around her, she even felt a familiar sense of security in her heart.
Because in the ten years of the apocalypse, there was no time to be so particular. For a long time, she just fled everywhere with a group of survivors. It was common for everyone to squeeze into a small house and huddle together for warmth.
However, she did not sleep until dawn, because in the middle of the night, a strange laugh suddenly came from outside, which woke up everyone who was dozing off in the room.
"It's the Fox Immortal!"
The group of old hunters looked at each other in bewilderment. Hearing this laughter in the middle of the night, everyone felt a little uneasy.
The people here are in awe of fox spirits from the bottom of their hearts, especially the old hunters who have been hunting in the mountains all year round. They are extremely wary of foxes. No matter how delicious a fox is, few people will attack it.
However, when Ye Qing heard the familiar fox laughter, he suddenly sat up from the kang and listened to the movement outside.
As the pervasive laughter grew closer, the low howls and roars of wolves were soon heard from outside, clearly warning of something.
A look of understanding suddenly flashed across Ye Qing's eyes, and he quickly jumped off the kang and ran out.
"Master, where are you going?"
Gu Weinan was also awakened by the fox's laughter. Seeing Ye Qing was going out in the middle of the night, he was startled and asked quickly.
Everyone else also looked towards Ye Qing.
Ye Qing didn't have time to explain at this moment. She opened the door of the cabin and saw two yellow foxes squatting in the snow not far from the door.
Mancang and his little coyote brother had been guarding the snow pile where Ye Qing and his friends had buried their prey all night. When they saw two foxes running over, they immediately hunched over, bared their teeth, issued stern warnings to the two foxes, and drove them away quickly.
But the two foxes stood outside the cabin, confronting the wolves motionlessly, and occasionally burst into pernicious laughter.
Ye Qing was afraid that the coyotes would attack the two foxes in unison, so he quickly spoke up to stop Mancang:
"Mancang, you guys retreat quickly and don't scare them!"
Hearing Ye Qing's shout, Mancang turned around and looked at Ye Qing suspiciously.
Ye Qing waved his hands again and emphasized: "They are my friends and have no ill intentions."
After confirming what Ye Qing meant, Mancang suppressed his anger. After warning the two foxes a few times, he turned around and quickly jumped to Ye Qing's feet. He followed Ye Qing closely like a personal bodyguard.
Ye Qing looked at the arrogant guy with amusement, then waved at the two foxes over there.
As soon as the two foxes received Ye Qing's call, they hurried over.
More than two months ago, Ye Qing and Gu Weidong went into the mountains to look for the two foxes but failed to find them. Later, Ye Qing secretly tried to look for them near the stream, but unfortunately he could not find any trace of the two foxes.
So this time when she came to the cabin, Ye Qing did not give up looking for the two foxes. When she was stewing vegetables at night, she secretly threw a few sweet potatoes into the fire. The aroma of the roasted sweet potatoes could spread far away. If the two foxes smelled this familiar aroma, they would naturally follow the smell and find them.
Ye Qing was right. Late in the night, the two foxes really came over following the smell of sweet potatoes.
However, when her eyes fell on the bulging belly of the female vixen next to her, Ye Qing couldn't help but be stunned.
"No wonder I couldn't find you during this time. It turns out your wife is pregnant."
Opening his bag, Ye Qing took out a few sweet potatoes and handed them to the female fox.
As soon as the female fox saw the sweet potato, her eyes lit up immediately. She came forward and opened her mouth towards Ye Qing.
Another round object fell out of this mouth.
Ye Qing picked up the thing quickly.
With the help of the firelight in the wooden house, Ye Qing could see that the thing in her hand should be a blood-red jade pendant with special patterns carved on it. It looked somewhat similar to the writing on the previous piece of jade inlaid with ruby, so they should be from the same vein.
If it was just speculation before that there might be an ancient tomb in this mountain, then the appearance of this jade pendant further confirmed Ye Qing's guess.
The high standards of this ancient tomb, which could use such top-grade rubies and jade pendants as burial objects, are enough to prove that the identity of the tomb owner was extraordinary.
This made Ye Qing even more anxious. He was eager to find the cave of the two foxes and seal the entrance to the ancient tomb as soon as possible to prevent other burial objects in the tomb from being oxidized and corroded, causing irreparable damage.
But she did not go into the mountain alone this time. With so many eyes staring at her in the wooden house, Ye Qing could not find an excuse to act alone. She could only take out a few sweet potatoes and let the two foxes leave for the time being.
When she entered the wooden house, she saw that all the old hunters in the house were staring at her with complicated eyes. Obviously, the scene of Ye Qing feeding sweet potatoes to the two foxes outside the door just now was seen by these villagers.
Although people are calling for getting rid of superstition everywhere, the hunters in the village have lived at the foot of Changbai Mountain for generations. They grew up listening to the elders telling various legends about Changbai Mountain. Therefore, even though they have served as militiamen and fought against the Japanese, they still unconsciously associate some supernatural people and things with ghosts.
These old hunters had never seen such a talented person as Ye Qing who could control the coyotes in Changbai Mountain and deal with the fox fairy in their entire lives. Although they didn't dare to ask, they were more or less in awe of the little girl in front of them.
Even the old branch secretary and Wu Yongbing couldn't help but marvel at it.
She is able to live so freely and boldly in Changbai Mountain, and she can quickly integrate into and become one with the villagers at the foot of the mountain and the animals in the forest. This is not something that most people can do.
No wonder Ye Zhiqing said that coming to Kaoshantun was like finding his spiritual home. Before, they thought that this city girl was just saying this to the reporters, but now it seems that the girl really didn't lie.
Ye Qing had no idea that her behavior just now had caused the villagers to make up a lot of nonsense. After sending the two foxes away, she went back to the house and lay down again.
But she did not fall asleep. Instead, she quietly pulled Gu Weinan and said in a low voice:
"I may have to go out early tomorrow morning. If the old branch secretary and others ask me where I've been, you need to cover for me."
Gu Weinan didn't understand, but nodded obediently anyway.
Originally, she wanted to ask Ye Qing what he was doing outside, but seeing that Ye Qing had no intention of explaining to her, she had to swallow the words back.
As for Ye Qing's safety, Gu Weinan was not too worried.
After this period of contact, Gu Weinan knew too well Ye Qing's fighting ability, which was not much inferior to her brother. Moreover, there was a group of coyotes protecting Ye Qing. I'm afraid her master could walk around Changbai Mountain without any hesitation.
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