At six o'clock in the morning in the Far East, the snow in the Greater Khingan Range began to melt quietly. Ranger Vasily climbed up a 120-meter-high red pine tree with the help of a climbing rope, just like he did a few days ago. He wanted to tie an elastic rope to the upper half of the small tree to make a trap for catching poisonous pigs.
Of course, this was already the fifth year since the end of the Doomsday War, and the supplies in the small city not far from here had long been exhausted, so the two bundles of ropes he was carrying on his back were both handmade.
The ropes used to make traps are made of animal tendons. They are very tough and once the prey is tied up, it is difficult to break free. The most important thing is that they are very wear-resistant and fire-resistant - there are many giant beasts in the forest that can breathe fire.
The other roll of rope was woven from plant fibers and was much lighter than animal tendon ropes. Vasily usually used them to quickly go up and down tree trunks. After all, climbing trees without assistance was indeed a tiring job.
Visibility was low in the early morning, and he was so focused on climbing that he didn't pay attention to his height and climbed to the top of the tree in one breath. This happened all the time, so Vasily didn't feel bad. He switched his hand to a firm hold, tilted his body to look to both sides, and then shouted down, "Hey - Larisa!"
Soon, a wild echo came from below the misty white fog: "Hey - Vasili!"
"Arisa! I'm at the top!" he shouted again.
This time, only two seconds later, Larissa's urgent voice reappeared: "Hurry up and throw the thing down! Throw it accurately! Don't let it get caught on the tree branch!"
Vasily smiled happily, then took out the pruning pliers from the tool bag on his waist, cut off some of the surrounding tender branches and tied them together.
As you can see, what Larissa wants are the newly grown pine needles from the treetops. After drying them, they can not only be used to make tea, but also ground into powder to stop bleeding from wounds. It is a rare and valuable thing after the war.
It took about half an hour to process the young branches. During this time, the breeze had blown away the fog. When Vasily was about to climb down a little, a strange sight from the far south attracted his attention.
In the rolling sea of clouds, countless red stars with orange-yellow tails suddenly appeared. They were like the rain of arrows fired by the Mongol cavalry in ancient history. Although not as unified and spectacular as the legendary Central Plains Empire, they were still full of power.
A rain of arrows exploded above the clouds, as if hitting a monster hiding in the sky. Its blood dyed the dark clouds floating from there red. The dark red cumulonimbus clouds were like an ugly scar, which continued to stretch with the airflow from east to west.
Vasily suddenly remembered the jingle that had been circulating in the settlement last year. I think it went something like this: "Oh, right!"
"North windy sky, south sky, sunny sky with blue sky, cloudy sky with burning sky."
He pondered for a moment, comparing the picture before him and feeling the profound meaning contained in the abstract words.
[The country in the south? If I have the chance, I should probably go and take a look.] A thought popped into his mind, but he quickly ignored it. He had his own things to do.
Vasily descended to the tree's waist, found a Y-shaped branch, and tied the animal sinew rope to the trunk at that point, letting the remaining rope hang naturally from the fork in the branch. He then hung the braided rope on another branch and tied a slipknot. Then, carrying the bundle of pine needles on his back, he slid smoothly down the tree, using the tension of the braided rope.
Larissa had already set the trap, a snare snare with sinew stretched taut by the immense force it exerted, and it was certain that this was the spot where the notorious poison-spear-hog would meet its deceased mother.
Vasily spun around in front of Larisa in a showy manner, but was soon lifted up by her waist - her strength was real!
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