"Is that the stone stepping stone up ahead?" Little Horse asked breathlessly.
"Hmm." Du Jianshan glanced back. "It's about ten more steps."
"I took a breath and my legs started shaking." Old Zhou gritted his teeth. "At this age, I'm really not up to the task. When I was young, I could carry this up the hill in one go."
"It's not bad now," Du Jianshan joked. "With you backing us up, even pigs wouldn't dare fall down."
"I'm not as fast as you with your knife, kid. Don't actually let a wolf come." Old Zhou curled his lip.
"Chop them up one by one." Du Jianshan slapped the back of his knife. "The scars are still there, and they smell the blood better than we do."
Scarface barked softly at the sound, flicked his tail, and continued to warily peer into the woods.
They finally reached the edge of the stone embankment, and Xiao Ma plopped down on the ground, exclaiming, "Oh my god, my shoulders are going to fall apart!"
Old Zhou also took off his hat and wiped away his sweat: "I need to rest for five minutes and have a drink of water."
Du Jianshan took a water bottle out of his backpack, handed it to Xiao Ma first, and then to Lao Zhou: "Drink slowly, don't choke."
Xiao Ma gulped down two mouthfuls of water, panting, and said, "Brother Du, that last move of yours was really fierce. I could even hear the bone crack when you chopped it down."
"That was aimed straight at the heart," Du Jianshan recalled. "It was difficult to strike from the front; you could only wait until it got close and then crouch down to use its momentum. If you missed, the knife would have gone too shallow, and the three of us would have ended up lying on the ground like wild boars."
"Your courage is truly extraordinary," Old Zhou nodded. "When I saw you pounce, I almost thought you were going to take it down with you."
“It’s not about courage, it’s about experience,” Du Jianshan said calmly. “When a pig pushes up, it’s most afraid of you retreating. If you retreat, it gains strength. If you push hard, it gets a little flustered.”
"What if there was no scar and you got pulled like that?" Xiao Ma suddenly asked.
“Then I really have to take the risk.” Du Jianshan said frankly, “Scarface bites accurately at crucial moments. When we get back, I’ll make it a pot of bone broth.”
“It understands what you say,” Old Zhou laughed. “As soon as you called for it to let go, it backed away.”
"I raised him from a young age." Du Jianshan patted the scarred man's head. "He's got a natural talent."
Just then, Xiao Ma suddenly frowned: "Can you smell it? There's a strange smell in the wind..."
Old Zhou sniffed the air and immediately stood up: "The smell of blood has spread, and the wind is blowing into the woods!"
Du Jianshan's expression changed: "Xiao Ma, do you have any matches?"
"Yes!" Little Ma quickly reached into his pocket. "Dry!"
"Hurry up, pile up a small pile of dry firewood over there and light it to mask the smell!" Du Jianshan immediately ordered. "Old Zhou, look at that ditch to the east, see if there are any animal tracks."
"I'll go!" Old Zhou picked up a stick, bent over, and went over.
Little Ma hurriedly piled up a few dry branches, lit them with a match, and his eyes turned red from the smoke: "Is this fire... enough?"
"That'll do." Du Jianshan bent down and added a few more pine needles. "Let's smoke the smoke out first, then we'll hurry up and carry it away."
Old Zhou returned, his expression grave: "There were indeed footprints at the bottom of the ditch, small ones, like foxes, but they could also be wolf cubs."
“That means they’re in large numbers.” Du Jianshan’s eyes sharpened. “If word gets out that we’re making a scene, it’ll definitely attract them. We can’t delay any longer.”
"I'll carry it!" Xiao Ma gritted his teeth and stood up. "Come on, Brother Du, Lao Zhou, I'll hold things up from behind!"
“You two take turns, and the carrying pole can’t be crooked.” Du Jianshan said, adjusting the carrying pole. “I’ll still walk on the side.”
The group set off again.
Along the way, Scarface stopped several times and growled softly. Du Jianshan would then squat down and touch the ground: "It's still far. It's not a wolf, it's a badger."
"A badger is here too?" Little Horse asked nervously.
"Badgers come to gnaw on bones when they smell blood," Old Zhou explained. "Badgers that have become spirits are very fierce, but they dare not commit crimes during the day, so you can leave without worry."
The sky slowly sank in the west, and the setting sun dyed the trees a deep red.
"We're almost out of the woods!" Little Horse shouted. "We can see the road!"
"Hold on a little longer." Du Jianshan's voice tightened. "Scarface, stick close to me, don't run around!"
Finally, they stepped onto the main road, their feet firmly planted, their heads exposed to the elements.
"Unload the load!" Du Jianshan shouted, "Let's take a break."
The wild boar landed with a thud, raising a cloud of dust.
Old Zhou plopped down on the ground, panting heavily: "I'm back alive!"
The little horse lay down next to the pig and looked at it: "This skin... it must be as big as half a blanket, right?"
“Pigskin is valuable.” Du Jianshan pinched the thickness. “In winter, we use it to sew cotton-padded coats, make belts, and make boot uppers.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
