After several days of preparation, the horse training exercise was officially launched at noon.
They harvested a lot of grass from the surrounding meadows, piling most of it on the meadows they had enclosed, which easily attracted the horses.
When they arrived quietly, they found the horses and sheep grazing peacefully inside.
"Quietly seal off the entrance, trying not to attract the attention of the horses," Chen Yang said.
Just as they were about to take action, Chen Yang suddenly noticed something unusual about a tree next to the meadow.
"Wait!" he called out to the others.
The creature in the tree is a leopard, eyeing the herd of horses menacingly.
"Our priority is to deal with this leopard and prevent it from attacking the horses. If the horses feel unsafe here, our fence won't be reliable."
Chen Yang pointed to the leopard in the tree and said.
The leopard seemed to have noticed them as well, staring at them for a while before turning and disappearing into the forest.
"Chen Yang, what should we do next?" Ye Wu asked.
Chen Yang hesitated, unsure whether he should block the entrance. If the leopard attacked the herd of horses after blocking it, the horses would have nowhere to escape and would break through the fence. Moreover, they would become wary of the fence, making it difficult to contain them.
"Brother Jiang, you and Yining go and modify the fence exit to be movable, then guard it so that the horses can be released at any time. The rest of you, come with me to hunt the leopards."
Everyone except Jiang Bo, Jiang Yining, and Chen Liu grabbed their weapons and went into the forest to search for the leopard.
"There's only a forest around here; the rest is grassland and hills. Let's split up, two people per group, keep an eye on our surroundings, and call out if we spot anything. We can regroup at any time."
The group split into pairs, but Chen Yang's group had an extra member, the lucky one.
The lucky dog is, after all, a dog, so of course it should be the one to go hunting.
Chen Yang led Ou Huang to sniff the branches where the cheetah had been for a while, and then let Ou Huang go and find it.
The forest was filled with the scents of various animals, and since it was Little Lucky's first time doing tracking work, he couldn't quite understand Chen Yang's meaning. So Chen Yang could only take Little Lucky around to sniff, hoping that Little Lucky could make some discoveries.
"Alien Yang, come and take a look!" Li Su'er suddenly shouted.
When Chen Yang arrived, he saw a skunk carcass hanging on the book.
"It must be a leopard, as other animals generally don't have the habit of eating."
"This leopard has a really strong taste; I can smell the stench even under the tree," Li Sen said with disgust.
"Woof! Woof!" The European Emperor barked twice, seemingly having discovered something.
It jumped to the ground and ran in a certain direction.
"Isn't that the direction of the horse pen?" Hou Yu said with some confusion.
"Oh no!" Chen Yang exclaimed, "It went around in circles and came back."
Chen Yang really underestimated the leopard's intelligence. This kind of animal, which stands above its prey, is sometimes not to be underestimated, otherwise you will only suffer the consequences.
The group hurried back, and before they even reached the horse pen, they heard the neighing of the horses.
"European Emperor, come back!"
Seeing the European Emperor running ahead excitedly, Chen Yang quickly called him back. He didn't believe that just because the European Emperor had fought a wolf, it could fight a leopard.
Putting aside the fact that it was mostly by chance that only the luckiest individuals could fight against adult wolves, a leopard's individual combat strength is much stronger than that of a wolf.
The European Emperor glanced back reluctantly, and seeing Chen Yang waiting for him, he followed Chen Yang helplessly.
When Chen Yang arrived at the horse pen, he found that the horses had not rushed out of the pen, but had huddled in a corner.
Jiang Bo and the leopard were facing off on the other side of the horse pen. And they were facing off with slingshots.
"Wow, amazing! Taking on a leopard with a slingshot?" Hou Yu said admiringly.
“This leopard was probably shot by Jiang Bo with a slingshot when it was about to attack the horse herd, so it’s a bit wary now,” Guo Zifeng said.
And that was exactly what happened. Just as the leopard was about to attack the herd of horses, Jiang Bo spotted it in time, then took out his slingshot and shot the leopard in the lower back. Although the herd of horses was startled, they did not scatter and run away.
"We will surround the leopard. Su'er and Ye Wu are ready to shoot it at any time. The rest of you, get your weapons ready and prioritize your own protection. Throw your weapons whenever you have the chance and come in to avoid close combat."
Chen Yang said.
Jiang Bo noticed the group, which relieved him. He knew that confronting the leopard with a slingshot was unwise; if the leopard pounced, his slingshot wouldn't be able to stop it, and his stone axe was used to protect Jiang Yining.
He had hunted wild boars and venomous snakes in the mountains, but back then he was always with other people around him, all carrying iron axes and bows and arrows. He had never faced off against a leopard like this before, holding only a slingshot.
The leopard noticed the group of people, which made it very alert and it seemed ready to retreat.
"Make it move back a distance, don't get too close to the herd, and keep it surrounded."
Chen Yang wanted to keep the leopard and the horses away because he planned to hunt the leopard. He didn't want the horses to think they were predators like the leopard, so he wanted to keep the leopard as far away as possible and then kill it with a ranged weapon.
Given horses' intelligence, they won't consider them dangerous predators unless a physical fight occurs.
"Su'er, Ye Wu, get ready to shoot arrows. Brother Jiang, you should get your slingshot ready too," Chen Yang said.
He planned to strike first; it would be troublesome if the leopard started running. The sprint champion of the animal kingdom is no joke. With Li Su'er and Ye Wu's skill level, it would be difficult to hit a running leopard.
Chen Yang held up three fingers and counted down. The instant he finished counting down, two arrows and a stone flew swiftly toward the cheetah.
The first to arrive was the stone shot by Jiang Bo. However, the leopard was prepared for Jiang Bo and dodged at the first moment. But it didn't know that the bow and arrow was the most primitive and powerful hunting weapon of mankind. Li Su'er's arrow, which was originally shot off course, hit the leopard's hind leg by accident, while Ye Wu's arrow was also dodged by the leopard's dodge.
The arrow pierced the cheetah's hind leg, causing it to howl in agony and flee without hesitation. However, the injury to its hind leg greatly affected its agility, and it fell halfway down the book it was trying to climb.
In the blink of an eye, several spears and throwing axes came flying at the leopard. The leopard quickly dodged, but ultimately couldn't completely avoid them, and a throwing axe grazed its head.
This was no small matter; the impact of the flying axe was so strong that it made the leopard dizzy and blood flow from its head. However, the animal's survival instinct still prompted it to flee into the dense forest.
"Woof!"
The European Emperor charged out and followed the leopard into the forest, where roars echoed from within.
When Chen Yang and the others rushed over, they saw Ou Huang lying next to the leopard's carcass, wagging its tail at it expectantly.
"Well done!"
Chen Yang patted the little guy's head and praised him. The little guy was very pleased and wagged his tail even more happily.
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd; they hadn't expected to hunt a leopard, especially the newcomers, who were still reeling. Chen Yang and his group, however, remained relatively calm, having survived a wolf attack themselves.
Looking at the group of people around him, Chen Yang suddenly realized that they had begun to demonstrate the power of humanity, and that human wisdom might be the only force capable of fighting against nature.
Right now, they've only hunted one leopard. Once they're fully equipped and have enough people, fighting the wolf pack will be a breeze.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com