Chapter 21 The Big Spotted Ones Have Entered the Village!
The mountains near the village are quite high, and the further north you go, the more mountains there are, and the denser the forests become.
The sky was dim in the dense forest. Chen Baoyue watched her step carefully while searching among the dead leaves and the roots of the dead trees.
The further she went, the more traces of the large spotted creature became. She also found some fresh droppings of the large spotted creature along the way, indicating that it was indeed nearby.
She made a hand gesture to her father, and upon seeing this, Chen Youtian gripped the spear in his hand even tighter, becoming even more focused.
The slope here is steep, so we need to be extra careful. Chen Youtian walked steadily and still had the energy to look after the others following behind him.
They were hunters living around these mountains, not close to Guojia Village, but not far either. In the past, if something like a large spotted fish appeared, unless it resulted in a death, the county government would not usually organize people to hunt and eliminate the potential danger in advance.
This time, the village elders of Guojia Village heard that in the past, when the county town hired people to organize hunting expeditions, they were the ones who came to them. So, for this event in Guojia Village, they held a special meeting, preparing for each household to contribute some money, and the village chief even took out five taels of silver of his own money.
They finally managed to scrape together ten taels of silver, and then told the hunters that they would have full authority over the tiger they hunted.
That's why we invited these helpers.
Besides the two guides sent by Guojia Village, the remaining seven or eight people in the group were all hunters in their prime.
Everyone was wearing homemade rattan shields and thick cotton-padded coats.
In addition to spears, Chen Baoyue also borrowed several steel forks from the county government office. Before leaving, she even smeared aconite on her arrows.
Seeing that she was so young, and had to follow behind the others to make a living in the forest.
Chen Damu, who was walking ahead, tugged at his brother's sleeve and lowered his voice, afraid that his niece would hear him, "Baoyue is still young and a girl. I won't mention that she used to carry that bow and arrow and spear every day. This tiger hunt is so dangerous, you shouldn't have brought her along."
Chen Youtian glanced back at his daughter. Although her skin was a bit dark, her eyes were bright and sparkling. It was clear that she wasn't afraid of the tiger hunt.
Judging from her expression, she seemed to be eager to meet Big Spot any moment from now on.
He knew it was dangerous; he'd mentioned it before, but—
Chen Youtian sighed inwardly, then turned and glared at Chen Damu. “If you want to say something, you go and say it. Don’t think I don’t know. I just told her she couldn’t go hunting anymore, and the next moment you agreed to take her out with you.”
They both spoil their children, so neither of them should criticize the other.
Upon hearing this, Chen Damu looked embarrassed. "Well, well, I just thought Baoyue was really good at fighting..."
"That's right, you see, these children were all taught by me personally—"
I'm still young, so if I like hunting, I'll just enjoy it.
Anyway, no matter where they go, he and Chen Damu always follow. If they really encounter danger, do you think the two of them, as father and uncle, can just watch a half-grown child take the lead?
It's good to get out and about more. Once you've mastered these skills, even if you get married later, you won't be easily bullied by ordinary families.
"I was just saying that—"
Seeing his older brother roll his eyes at him again, Chen Damu stopped talking. After all, he had just gotten married and didn't have any children yet.
They tightened their grip on the steel forks they were holding and continued walking forward.
Inside the ancestral hall of Guojia Village.
Because no one slept well last night, many people were already dozing off against the wall of the ancestral hall, even though it wasn't dark yet.
But the sun is shining brightly today.
After eating the black flour pancakes for lunch, the hemp rope had been twisted to a near-finished state.
With nothing else to do, Grandma Guo started sewing socks again. Since the shoes were comfortable to wear, the socks inside also needed to be comfortable and breathable. Even if she wore straw sandals over them, these socks would be more convenient to wear at home.
The initial plan was naturally good.
But after sewing only two pairs of socks, she couldn't help but lean back in her chair and try to take a nap. Xiao Hua was busy piecing together a doll with fabric, just because A Tao had shown her off her new doll a couple of days ago. She thought that she had some scraps of fabric at home, so she decided to piece it together and make one that was similar.
For a moment, the entire Guo Family Ancestral Hall was very quiet.
It was peaceful, as if the man-eating giant spotted creature had never been there.
Grandma Guo was half asleep, leaning back in her chair, about to doze off, when she heard a deafening gong banging. The gong and drum were trembling as they were struck, and she heard someone outside shouting, "Big Spotted has entered the village! Big Spotted has entered the village!"
It would have been better if they hadn't made a sound.
The sound was like a thunderclap exploding from the ground.
The peaceful atmosphere in the ancestral hall vanished instantly.
The person who was already asleep was startled awake and stood up from where they were sitting or leaning.
Winter days are short, and the sun has only just set.
By this time, had the large spotted dog already entered the village?
Everyone peered outside with suspicion and uncertainty.
Aunt Xiuxiu, who had been sitting calmly, suddenly panicked. She was still young when the big spotted dog came to the village last time, and even though her memory was from a long time ago, she still clearly remembered the frightening scene. "Quick! Quick! Close the door! Close the door of the ancestral hall!"
The noise outside could still be heard from inside the house. The people who were patrolling the village had all gone to drive away the giant spotted dog.
Apart from women, children, the elderly, and the weak, everyone else in the ancestral hall who had some physical strength took torches, grabbed whatever they could find, and went outside.
Guo Baiwen thought for a moment, then took his new folding stool and followed the crowd out.
Although the door to the ancestral hall was closed, Xiuxiu even found a bench and blocked the door with it.
But the noise from outside could still be heard over the yard. Grandma Guo was disturbed by the noise. Although she was no longer in her own home, her house was located at the entrance of the village.
Whenever a large spotted dog enters the village, it almost always passes by their house.
As she thought about it, she remembered her eldest grandson who had just gone out with everyone, but she hadn't even had time to worry about him yet.
Grandma Guo suddenly felt a heat on her body, looked down and saw that it was Xiao Hua.
She was still young and it was the first time she had ever seen such a scene. Not only did she not know when a bead of sweat appeared on her forehead, but she also felt like she wanted to jump into Grandma Guo's belly and hug her tightly.
"Grandma, I'm scared."
Grandma Guo didn't have time to think about anything else. She gently stroked Xiaohua's back with both hands, saying, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Grandma is here. Xiaohua, don't be afraid."
When Guo Baiwen arrived at the location where the large spotted animal was found with the others, he discovered it was on the path outside his own yard.
A large, ferocious-looking spotted animal was being surrounded by people from both the front and back.
Some of the bolder villagers took out the firecrackers they used during the Lunar New Year, lit them, and threw them towards the big spotted man.
Although the firecrackers were small, the loud noise they made when they exploded successfully attracted the attention of the big spotted dog.
It was at this moment that Guo Baiwen realized that the main force in the crowd who had subdued Da Ban was actually a girl who looked to be about the same age as him.
She chased after him out of the house, still wearing a rough rattan armor, her hands adorned with leather wrist guards, and lashed out with a whip at Big Spot.
The whip whistled as it struck the large spotted body behind him.
There were two burly men in front of him, one holding a spear and the other a steel fork. Together, the three of them managed to subdue the large spotted creature that was writhing on the ground.
It's so infuriating to watch.
It would have been better if this scene hadn't happened in his own yard.
Who knew that in the process of catching the big spotted cat, they would end up catching him at his home.
Big Spot fell flat on his face, slippery and before he could get up, he was whipped, rolling on the ground to dodge, still roaring.
In an instant, the entire Guo family courtyard was filled with the roars of wild beasts, making it extremely lively.
Guo Baiwen was initially standing on the periphery out of fear, but he saw that Da Ban had been subdued.
Several strong hunters followed the three men, each holding a spear and fork, surrounding it. The capture seemed to have come to a complete end.
Then he saw that his own walls, his own stone house, and his own kitchen, all of which, because of this commotion, looked like dilapidated buildings, beginning to lean outwards.
Ignoring my fear, I hurriedly squeezed into the crowd.
He still has a lot of things stored at home!
Putting everything else aside, let's not damage his cellar too.
But as he pushed his way into the crowd, and seeing that Big Spot was losing ground, people around him began to gather around.
With more people around, Chen Baoyue no longer had as much leeway to whip the animal as before. Seeing this, she could only whip it twice more before stopping. She rubbed her aching wrist and looked up to see the crowd using stones they had picked up from somewhere to smash the large spotted dog.
I thought that everything was settled by now.
But who would have thought that without the restraint of the whip, Big Spot, who was still whimpering and struggling, suddenly rallied again.
He stood up, staggered, turned around, and lunged at the people closest to him.
Grandma Guo, who had just heard that Da Ban had been subdued, was walking home from the ancestral hall when she saw this and her face turned deathly pale: "Wen Zai, Wen Zai—"
She instinctively shouted out and tried to run forward in a hurry.
But how could her speed possibly keep up with Big Spot's speed?
Seeing that Da Ban was about to hurt someone, Chen Baoyue, who was still rubbing her wrist, became anxious and, disregarding everything else, hurriedly raised her hand and lashed out with the whip twice more.
However, the accuracy of these lashes was not so good. In addition to the big spot that was being hit, Guo Baiwen, who was also inexplicably lashed, couldn't help but hiss.
Although I was wearing a cotton-padded coat, it was an old one and not very thick, so the whip still hurt a lot.
In particular, just now, in order to avoid the big spot, he quickly turned his body around and tried his best to wave the folding stool he was holding to cover himself. He probably twisted his ankle, and his foot felt burning painful.
But even if my foot hurts, it's better than being injured by the big spots!
After all, there were no rabies vaccines available for him at that time.
Taking advantage of the whip restraining Da Ban, Guo Baiwen gritted his teeth and, using the pain, forced himself to crawl quickly to a safe place on all fours before he could fully stand up.
They didn't even care about the folding stool on the ground.
He was lucky; although he was whipped on the back, he managed to react and run away.
But Guo Banshan next to him was completely terrified. He didn't even turn around to run away. He just stood there, dumbfounded, as if he had completely forgotten how to walk.
Only when he saw the large spotted creature open its mouth to bite him did he instinctively raise his arm and hold it horizontally in front of his head.
But it was just a fleshy arm after all. Big Spot's sharp teeth pierced through his thin cotton coat and bit straight into his entire arm.
Seeing that the man was bitten in time, but the big spotted one was frozen in place because of the bite, Chen Youtian took a step to the right and turned to the side. As the big spotted one opened its mouth to bite, he swung a spear and hit its nose, while kicking its leg at the same time.
After the big spotted dog fell to the ground, Chen Youtian, Chen Damu, and several others immediately raised the sticks in their hands and hit it hard on the head.
Skin with large spots is precious, so if it can be controlled, it's best to preserve it as intact as possible.
I don't know how many times the stick was used to hit the ground.
Seeing that Big Spot had completely stopped breathing, it lay motionless on the ground.
Only after the fight subsided did the group finally calm down and stop.
The crowd outside the Guo family courtyard split into three groups, with the men all pushing to the front, wanting to get a closer look at what the large spotted creature actually looked like.
The women split into two groups: one group was comforting Grandma Guo, who rushed forward to hug Guo Baiwen, while the other group was anxiously stopping the bleeding and bandaging Guo Banshan's wounds.
The whole scene was chaotic, even more lively than during the Chinese New Year.
A note from the author:
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Tigers are protected animals, and this scene is set in a fictional ancient era.
We still need to protect animals and care for the environment, love you!
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