Condes Mountains
The aroma of fish that filled the entire room had already whetted people's appetites. Now that it was finally ready to be served, Tuna first served a large bowl to each of the three people who had been running around outside all day.
"Thank you," Dasong took it, tasted it, and pursed his lips. "It seems a little bland?"
"Really? Let me try it." Tuna only took a small sip, and indeed there was no taste in her mouth.
"I don't usually cook for so many people, so I didn't control the amount of salt well. But it's not a big deal. I can just add some more salt to the bowl."
She picked up the salt shaker and sprinkled some into their bowls. "How about this time?"
Dasong gave a thumbs up: "Just right, perfect."
Tuna smiled and continued to help others serve. This time, she put salt in the bowl first and then poured fish soup on it so that it would dissolve better.
Except for the three people who had something on their mind, everyone else was laughing and chatting happily, having a very pleasant dinner.
After dinner, since there were many people who needed accommodation tonight, the remaining two cabins were used.
Tuna stayed with Ding Can and the other two.
"Didn't you ask me to simmer the fish soup in the pot? Why are those two explorers still not back at this hour? Should we go look for them?"
She looked at the darkening sky outside and felt a little worried.
Myron had already lain down on the bed and straightened himself up. "No need. They went out with their camping gear anyway. They didn't say when they left that they would definitely be back that night. They might have already found a good place to rest up in the mountains."
They tacitly kept the matter of the action team a secret from her.
"Yeah," Tuna turned over and blinked at Ding Can a few times.
Ding Can asked, "Is there anything on your mind?"
"I listened to Sister Lucy talk about the latest happenings in their small town today, and I haven't heard enough. I thought I'd go chat with them for a while. They should still be awake, because they're leaving tomorrow."
It turned out that she was just curious. She had been here for two years and really didn't know much about the outside world anymore. Ding Can understood: "You go. They just went through a snowstorm yesterday. Even if they want to sleep tonight, it will definitely take some time."
"Then I'll go over. If you have plans tomorrow, go out first and I'll take them down the mountain."
Dasong raised his upper body to help her. "Going down the mountain isn't like going up, so you don't have to leave too early. Noon is fine. I'll visit you in town when I have time."
"no problem."
Before leaving, Tuna added another piece of firewood to the small pot of simmering fish soup, so that when people came back later, they could have a sip of hot soup.
After making sure the door was closed again, Dasong asked, "Could Ye Shan and Joseph have been caught by poachers?"
He couldn't help but confront Ding Can several times, but because Tuna was still there, he never had a chance to speak seriously.
We had agreed to bring back clues in the evening, but there is still no trace of him at this time. It is really worrying.
Myron's eyes were already closed. "They're professionally trained. They wouldn't be defeated so quickly. Perhaps something delayed them, or perhaps they walked too far and didn't have time to turn back."
Ding Can listened to the wind outside and said, "I haven't heard any gunshots in the valley all day today. With Joseph's big body and Ye Shan's skills, there shouldn't be any big problems."
"I hope so." Dasong looked out the window and waited for half the night until he could no longer hold on and fell into a deep sleep, but he still didn't receive any news of the two people returning.
When he woke up again, it was already early morning of the next day. Myron was going a different way from the other two. He packed his bag, took some bread and water and set off.
Their itinerary was also very simple. They crossed the mountain along the route they returned yesterday, and then went to the cave where the upright-eared martens lived.
When he went out, the doors and windows of the two small houses next door were still closed. Dasong looked through the tiny window and saw that the people inside were still lying on the mattress and sleeping. It seemed that they had indeed chatted for a long time last night.
Let them rest for a while, there is no need to disturb them.
"Ding Can, let's go. There's no need to say hello to them."
The two of them didn't delay on the way and went straight there, walking even faster than the day before.
After arriving at the big rock, I looked towards the cave and saw no erect-eared marten sticking its head out.
Myron said that the minks would go to the woods to forage for food early in the morning. They came out early, and it seemed that they had gone out to find food and had not returned home yet.
"Let's wait here for a while." Dasong sat down with his back against the rock and handed a tortilla from the bag to Ding Can. Charles saw that Ding Can liked it last night, so he made a few more.
Ding Can wasn't particularly hungry, so he chewed the rice in small bites, staring at the area around the cave through the snow.
After waiting for almost an hour, there was still no sign of the upright-eared marten. It was already past nine o'clock and the sun had risen quite high. Even if we were looking for food, it shouldn't take so long.
"Why is there no movement?"
Dasong was also puzzled. "That's right. Although I've never seen minks foraging, they should be eating similarly to pine trees. Their small teeth allow them to eat quickly. I wonder if they're trying to store more food for the winter."
"I don't think so. It's winter now. Even if we want to stock up, this isn't the right time. Besides, we've been to the pine forest. Besides pine nuts, there are many other fresh nuts there."
Ding Can felt something was wrong: "I'll go over and take a look."
She crossed the vast snowfield and walked step by step towards the Li'er Marten Cave, with Dasong following beside her.
This is not a flat land, but a naturally curved hillside, so there is a small visual blind spot. Only when you get closer can you see the entire scenery clearly.
The cave built by the upright-eared marten is backed by a mountain wall, and the connection is slightly sunken.
Before the two men found the entrance to the cave, the first thing they noticed was the dark bloodstains that had turned rusty red, which clearly indicated that quite a while had passed.
Something happened!
Ding Can quickened his pace and searched near the bloodstain. Behind a pile of snow not far away, there was a small pile of meat, almost up to a person's knees.
The reason why she used the word "pieces of meat" to describe what she saw was because those bodies were not covered with their original fur.
Those were the skinned corpses of upright-eared martens abandoned here.
"How could this happen?" Dasong frowned, half-knelt in front of the corpses, stretched out his hands tremblingly, took off his heavy gloves, and wanted to hug the one on top.
The blood had already frozen into thin ice, and he couldn't pick it up at first. After using a little strength, he heard a cracking sound, which was the sound of the red ice cracking.
On the cross-section of the broken ice layer, there were a few strands of flesh and blood that had long been dead.
Dasong's movements became more and more gentle as he looked at the small piece of flesh in his palm. He had just touched it yesterday, and it was very fluffy and furry. How could it become so small now, not even half the size?
Animals are skinned differently when they are alive and dead. In order to prevent the hair from being contaminated by blood, if you want to remove the fur completely, you usually skin it alive.
He had seen people slaughtering livestock before, and when he saw the corpses in front of him, he knew that these group of upright-eared martens had been skinned alive.
There was warmth in his palm, and the ice around the corpse slowly melted and turned back into blood, dripping all over the ground. His palm was completely stained red with blood.
At this point, there is an explanation for why the erect-eared marten didn't appear just now.
Perhaps because they were attacked last night and many of their companions lost their lives, the minks fled from here in a hurry overnight and are now completely missing.
Ding Can looked around and found a nearby cave. There was no snow at the edge, and there seemed to be traces of burning on the soil, as if it had been watered with kerosene or something.
They sleep in caves at night, and someone used this method to force the minks out from underground.
If you wait for the rabbit at the entrance of the cave, you will definitely catch it.
Even if they left enough holes for entry and exit, it was inevitable that some of the upright-eared martens would bump into the muzzle of the gun, resulting in such a large number of slaughters.
Traces of the upright-eared marten's struggle and a series of human footprints can still be seen in the snow.
When Ding Can saw the poachers operating at night, he couldn't help but think of the A Ye that Myron mentioned.
Maybe he discovered the traces of the marten group and came here to hunt during his comfort zone. The most important thing now is to try to see if he can find the traces by following the footprints.
"Don't be sad, bury them first." Ding Can patted Dasong's shoulder to comfort him. He picked up a sharp stone from the ground and began to dig the soil.
Dasong held back the tears in his eyes, calmed down, and took out a dagger from his waist to exchange for her stone: "You use this."
Without time to grieve, the two men quickly dug a small pit and buried the bodies of dozens of minks in it, and piled some stones on top to form a small tower shape.
The skinned bodies were indistinguishable, and Ding Can didn't know whether Yuanyuan had escaped or was among them.
If Myron knew about this, he would probably be even more sad.
They followed the direction of the footprints and after about fifteen minutes they arrived at a silver fir forest.
The trunks of the silver fir trees are sparse and straight, and they grow very compactly. In this season, the ground is covered with fallen leaves, which even the vast white snow cannot cover.
Looking inside, it was so densely packed that the footprints disappeared, which only proved that the poachers had indeed entered the forest.
"Be careful." Ding Can looked around closely.
This place is not like the hillside without tree cover. There is no trace to know the exact direction of the previous people's departure. Once people enter, it is difficult to track them down.
What's more, they are in the light while the other party is in the dark.
If the "Cheetah" has the intention to hurt others, they will not have an easy time.
Dasong was a little discouraged. "This place is so big, how are we going to find them? Maybe they've already taken a detour and left."
He suddenly began to understand the fragility and helplessness that Myron sometimes revealed. After seeing the corpses of the slaughtered wild animals and the blood left behind, all his previous words became empty talk.
Apart from eradicating the poaching gangs and bringing all the criminals to justice, nothing else can alleviate the anger in our hearts.
"We have to give it a try. They acted in the dead of night, knowing no one would pursue them. Their trajectory wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision made because they were being pursued. Do you remember the hand-drawn map in Myron's room? From the hillside, through the silver fir forest, we can get to some part of the snow-capped mountains."
Dasong pulled out his patrol logbook from his pocket and said, "When I was bored yesterday, I copied a map into the notebook. It's a bit simple, originally for memorizing the route."
Open the notebook to the page with the Xishan map, and the two full pages on the left and right will form a complete simple map.
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