Chapter 188 Musk Shadow in the Forest
"No, I'm too tired!"
After dinner, Lin Heng lay down on his rattan bed. Today's journey was even farther than before.
Grandpa Gao looked at him and smiled, "That's not good enough, you need to exercise more.
The mountain road we walked that day was only about 15 kilometers. When we were marching and fighting in the past, we often carried 40 to 50 kilograms of things and walked 50 to 60 kilometers a day. That was really tiring. "
Lin Heng shook his head repeatedly: "You are the pinnacle of light infantry, I can't compare to you, sir."
He can't compare with the soldiers.
Grandpa Gao laughed and said, "If you train your physique well, you will definitely be a good material."
Li Baiquan also agreed with a smile: "Lin Heng is indeed suitable. You are so accurate with the bow and arrow, maybe you can become a sharpshooter with a gun!"
Lin Heng waved his hands quickly, not wanting to be a soldier: "I am only suitable for hunting, I can't be a soldier, I can't stand the constraints..."
…
While chatting, the three of them slowly fell asleep.
The next morning, I made some sauerkraut noodle dumplings and then headed up the mountain.
Walking upstream along the source of the stream, there is no water in the valley, but the mountains on both sides are still tall and steep.
From time to time, there are some orchids growing in the cracks of the gray rocks, and their emerald green leaves sway in the wind, which makes people feel relaxed and happy.
There are many kinds of large rocks in the valley, including snow-white, black, and gray.
There is sunshine today, but it is still very cold. The wind is howling in the canyon. There is no sun in this place, and it is covered with snow.
After walking about 500 meters, the three found a place to go up the mountain and hurried up the mountain to look for prey.
Grandpa Gao looked at the towering Taibai Mountain in front of him and said, "This place is not far from Taibai Mountain. Let's go straight over there."
They were actually already in the Taibai Mountains. The trees here had become shorter, and there were large tracts of grassland in some places, and some places were covered with large patches of moss.
Compared to the tall forests, the terrain here is more complex, so there are more biological populations.
As soon as he got up the mountain, Li Baiquan pointed to the opposite mountain and said, "Look, it's another golden monkey!"
The golden monkey was making a lot of noise, and Lin Heng and Grandpa Gao noticed it at the first time.
This guy was on one of the fir trees opposite, eating the usnea hanging from the trees.
They were still quarreling and fighting while eating. When Lin Heng looked over, one of them fell from the tree, but seemed to be fine. It got up and quickly climbed back up the tree.
Grandpa Gao said with emotion: "The ecology of this place is really good, surrounded by clouds and mist, maybe we will get something today."
Li Baiquan said: "Then let's explore separately and don't run too far."
After discussing, Lin Heng took Xiong Ba to one side. After they walked away, he rubbed Xiong Ba's head and said, "You have been eating well these past two days. Try to exert your strength today. At least find me a deer or something."
“Ouch~”
Xiongba raised his head in a humane way and started looking around.
This place is at a high altitude and there is a thin layer of snow. After all, the altitude here is already 3,000 meters, and the highest point of Taibai Mountain reaches 3,700 meters.
Although the sun came out, the snow in the forest did not melt so quickly.
After walking a few hundred meters, Lin Heng saw another red squirrel running away stealthily from behind a big tree root.
Xiongba chased one and it ran straight to the top of a cedar.
"Hiding chestnuts again?"
Lin Heng smiled, ran behind the tree roots and searched for a while, and sure enough, he found a pile of chestnuts and acorns buried in the tree hole.
The chestnuts picked by the squirrels are all big, plump and smooth, absolutely high-quality.
"grumble!"
At the top of the pine tree, there seemed to be a squirrel's protest. Lin Heng's behavior was too shameless.
Lin Heng grinned: "Don't worry, I left some acorns for you. I won't eat this."
He picked another pound of chestnuts, which was really delicious. He was too lazy to hit the pine tree because the branches were too dense and difficult to hit.
In case the arrow gets stuck there, it’s really not worth it to hit the tree last time.
Getting some chestnuts is effortless and a simple way to make money.
After searching the mountain for two hours without any results, Lin Heng headed towards Taibai Mountain.
There is grass on a hillside here, and it still has some greenness in winter. Lin Heng guessed that there should be something there.
Not long after walking in the forest, Lin Heng suddenly saw some hoof prints.
"Xiongba, look for him quickly!"
Lin Heng rubbed Xiongba's head, a little excited. These footprints were definitely left yesterday.
The man and the dog followed the footprints for a short distance before they saw feces. The new feces covered the old feces.
This is a typical toilet. Whether it is a musk deer or a muntjac, they have the habit of defecating in the forest, usually not far from their nests.
Lin Heng squatted down and took a closer look, then he recognized it: "This is musk deer feces!"
Being able to identify prey is also a major skill for a hunter, and Lin Heng has just learned it.
The reason why I am so sure is that I have two musk deer at home.
Although the forest musk deer is smaller than the muntjac, its fecal particles are larger than those of the muntjac, and are similar to the seeds of green beans.
The feces of muntjacs are round and similar to soybeans.
Slowing down his pace, Lin Heng took Xiongba to look around.
With the sight of prey, the mountain wind didn't seem so cold anymore.
After walking through the woods for a distance, they came to a bush forest. In this place, there were low bushes, various grasses, and some green mosses.
Lin Heng did not act rashly. He found a convenient hiding place and slowly looked around.
The most taboo thing in hunting is being rash. As long as you don't move and don't expose yourself, your chances will be great.
After searching for half an hour, Lin Heng saw a unique white color in the green bushes.
“Found it!”
Lin Heng couldn't help but feel excited. This was the white hair on the chest of the musk deer.
He waited a little longer, and when the musk deer moved, he saw its canine teeth turned back.
Male Musk Deer!!
Lin Heng's mind moved. This meant there was musk. If he could get it, he would get at least one thousand dollars.
But he thought again, maybe he could set up a trap near here. If he could get a live one, wouldn't it be more profitable? After careful consideration, Lin Heng shook his head and thought, "No, ten birds in the bush are not as good as one bird in the hand. Let's kill it first."
Who knows what will happen next, so let’s just fight first.
He hasn't been alarmed yet. He is more than 300 meters away. If he gets closer, he should have a chance.
Putting down the bow bag, taking out the compound bow and pulling out an arrow, Lin Heng found a suitable position and slowly approached.
In just a few minutes, they reached a distance of two hundred meters. Lin Heng stopped for a while and found that the musk deer did not seem to notice him.
He gritted his teeth and continued to move forward. After more than ten minutes, he incredibly arrived at a distance of more than seventy meters away from it.
Lin Heng couldn't believe that such a big prey was only more than 70 meters long.
He put on the bow, aimed for three seconds and then shot the arrow.
With a whoosh sound, the arrow shot out from the bow with a pulling force of 50 pounds can reach a speed of 70 to 80 meters per second, which means that it only takes one second to reach such a long distance.
The arrow pierced through the musk deer's body almost at the same time it heard the sound. The invincible hunting arrow went straight through the musk deer's body.
“Woof woof!!”
Its instinctive reaction was to turn around and run, and Xiongba started chasing after it.
Lin Hengze walked forward slowly. The musk deer couldn't run far. It would die if the arrow pierced its stomach.
Three minutes later he heard Xiongba's call. When he arrived, Lin Musk Deer had already fallen to the ground and was motionless.
Obviously completely dead.
Lin Heng picked it up and took a look at it, and couldn't help but say, "It's a little light!"
He estimated that the musk deer weighed about 13 or 14 kilograms, but he didn't know how much musk it contained.
I think it has been bred, so there probably won’t be too many musk.
But no matter what, it can definitely be sold for a thousand yuan. When he thought of this, Lin Heng couldn't help but grin.
"The resources near Taibai Mountain are so abundant." Lin Heng said with emotion. He had gained such a harvest on the first day.
After feeding the blood to Xiongba, Lin Heng carried the musk deer back. Before they knew it, it was already past two in the afternoon, and it would be almost dark when they got back.
He was now a bit far away from his uncle, Grandpa Gao, and the others, so he was ready to go back and reunite.
Not long after he walked away, he heard gunshots coming from a mountain opposite him.
When they met up, he saw his uncle holding a big gray rabbit in his hand.
Li Baiquan was just about to say that he had a good harvest when he saw the musk deer that Lin Heng was carrying and was stunned.
"Lin Heng, you hit the musk deer!!"
He was shocked. Lin Heng's luck was too good. He had been hunting for so many years but had never caught a musk deer.
Lin Heng has only gotten three this year. It's really frustrating to compare yourself with others.
Lin Heng laughed: "I was wandering around in the woods and found it by accident. Xiongba contributed to this."
He was following the direction Xiongba was walking, but he didn't expect it to really exert its strength.
If it weren't for Xiongba, he might not have gone in that direction and would have probably missed the musk deer.
"It seems that I have to get a dog too." Li Baiquan looked at Xiongba. This dog was really majestic and useful.
When they met Grandpa Gao, he was holding two grouse in his hands. When he saw the musk deer that Lin Heng was holding, his eyes lit up and he said with a smile, "You are really amazing. You caught a musk deer on the first day you came to the foot of Taibai Mountain."
"It's all thanks to Xiongba. It found it." Lin Heng said with a smile.
Grandpa Gao shook his head and said, "Don't be modest. This thing is very alert. You can't defeat it without some skills and patience."
"Haha, that does require some skill." Lin Heng admitted it with a smile.
Grandpa Gao patted him on the shoulder again and said with a smile: "We don't distinguish between musk deer, so it should be okay for us to eat some musk deer meat when we go back."
Lin Heng smiled and nodded: "Of course, it's no problem to eat it all, I'll make it for you."
"Then we have to try the musk deer meat. I haven't eaten it yet. It is said to have a strong nourishing effect." Li Baiquan also said with a smile.
All three of them had caught prey and were extremely hungry, so they went straight back to the camp.
It was only five o'clock and there was still more than an hour before dark.
Lin Heng first took off the entire scent sac of the musk deer and placed it on a stone to dry.
Then the skinning job was handed over to Grandpa Gao. He and his uncle Li Baiquan rebuilt the stove with mud and discharged the smoke outside.
Each of them brought a small pot with them when they went up the mountain. Lin Heng cut a musk deer leg and fried the meat.
The bones were added to two spare ribs to make soup, and chestnuts and yam that his uncle had just dug were added.
Musk deer meat is almost all lean meat. Lin Heng cut some pork belly and fried them together. The aroma came out immediately.
Add some soybean paste and pickled radish slices brought from home, and a pot of fragrant fried musk deer meat is ready.
The rice was cooked first, and the three of them drank rice wine with the fried musk deer meat.
After taking a bite, Mr. Gao nodded and said, "This musk deer meat is very tender and tastes better than beef."
Li Baiquan also nodded repeatedly: "Yes, no wonder this thing is becoming less and less."
Lin Heng ate two mouthfuls with relish before smiling and picking up the rice wine to drink a little with the other two.
There wasn't much rice wine, and the three of them drank it very carefully.
Musk deer meat feels more delicate than venison, with finer grains. The slices are very soft and have a strong meaty flavor. It is chewy but not too chewy.
"I'll be satisfied if I can hunt a wild boar this time I go into the mountains." Li Baiquan said with emotion after drinking some wine.
Lin Heng smiled and said, "It's not difficult. There are far more wild boars than musk deer. If you look carefully, you will definitely find one."
"Yes, there are probably quite a few places like this." Grandpa Gao also nodded.
After drinking, Lin Heng went to bring over the pork rib soup: "Come, have some pork rib soup."
"Mm, it smells so good. This wild yam is delicious too."
Grandpa Gao took a sip of the soup and nodded with satisfaction, feeling that he had been satisfied with this trip into the mountains.
The bones and meat in the bone soup, which had been simmered for over an hour, had completely separated, and the yam that had been added half an hour ago had become so soft that it was difficult to pick it up with chopsticks.
Wild yam is like this. It is easier to cook than artificially grown ones and becomes soft and mushy very easily. It usually only takes about ten to twenty minutes to cook.
However, some artificially cultivated yams remain hard even after being boiled for two hours.
This soup tastes better than pork ribs soup, and musk deer bones contain more nutrients than pork bones.
Lin Heng thought that he must bring the rest back for his wife and children to try, and then let his parents and elder brother have a taste.
In the end, there was still a lot of pork rib soup left, not because it didn’t taste good, but because we couldn’t finish it.
The meat and rice are enough to fill you up.
After dinner, Lin Heng found a rope to tie up the musk sachet and hung it in the air. After it dried, he preserved it with paper.
The musk deer skin is temporarily hung in the air, waiting to dry.
The next morning, when everyone got up, they all felt warm.
Li Baiquan smiled and said, "This Musk Deer Meat is indeed a little different. It warms my body up a lot."
Grandpa Gao nodded and said, "This thing is indeed nutritious. Yams and chestnuts are also very nutritious. Putting them together will definitely make you feel energetic.
But you can’t eat too much. Let’s eat the grouse and pork I shot today. Let Lin Heng take the rest back for his family to taste.”
Lin Heng was not stingy yesterday and took out more than four kilograms of meat for everyone to eat.
Li Baiquan also nodded: "Of course, we still have some pig offal to eat, so we won't eat the musk deer meat."
"The internal organs of musk deer can be eaten, but they will probably go bad by the time we take them back." Lin Heng said with a smile.
Grandpa Gao smiled and said, "Let's make pork offal noodles this morning. Lin Heng cooks very well."
(End of this chapter)
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