Chapter 104 The Difficulties of Hunting in Summer
The four of them moved forward and didn't see any prey on the road. They saw two snakes, a black-banded snake and a mahan (black-browed rat snake), but because his father was there, Lin Heng didn't catch them.
And they are not big, so there is no point in catching them.
There are quite a lot of insects. The forest is very humid, and there are a lot of millipedes, centipedes, ladybugs, longhorn beetles, etc.
Lin Wei caught a one-man show and studied its peculiar shape for a long time.
"That's the hive I found on the hillside over there."
At about eight or nine o'clock, when the sun had just come out, Lin Heng pointed to the slope not far away and said.
"I hope we can find two nests of wild bees this time." Lin Yue said with a smile.
"Grandpa, how far is it?"
Lin Wei was a little tired and asked.
"We've only climbed over two mountains, and we still have to walk over at least three or four more mountains." Lin Heng glanced at him and said with a smile.
"If you can't walk, you can go back now." Lin Yue glanced at him.
"No, I just want to know how far it is." Lin Wei said quickly. He didn't want to go back.
But hunting was not as fun as he had imagined. He had been walking for two hours and had not seen a single grouse.
Lin Heng took Xiongba to look for prey everywhere, and his eldest nephew Lin Wei also followed them.
Lin Yue and Lin's father went together. Unlike Lin Heng, the main purpose of their trip was to pick valuable herbs and look for prey as a supplement.
"Second father, hunting is too difficult."
Lin Wei said dejectedly that he felt his feet were all rubbed raw and he didn't find any prey.
Lin Heng looked at him and smiled, "Sometimes you can't see any trace of your prey for several days, but it's much more difficult than this."
"Well, this is not what I thought it would be."
Lin Wei shook his head, feeling depressed.
"Walk slowly, it's not far anymore. We'll be there when we get there. This road is really long." Lin Heng patted him.
They had been searching all the way, and now the sun was almost overhead, and they were just getting closer to Sanchagou.
Of course, the search range this time is much smaller than last time. It was almost dark when we arrived at Sanchagou last time.
Mainly because the things he was carrying were heavy, Lin Heng did not search much and only picked up one Ganoderma lucidum along the way, and the other mushrooms were basically rotten.
"Dad, big brother, let's find a good place first, put the things there and then look for them slowly."
Lin Heng found his father and elder brother and made a proposal.
"Okay." They were both a little tired.
No longer searching, walking in a straight line was much faster. This time Lin Heng did not plan to go to Baishitan again.
They had searched below the Sanchagou last time and had almost dug up all the herbs. This time they went directly to the waterfall where he picked the Dendrobium officinale.
Set up camp nearby, and search at the foot of Taibai Mountain to the southwest, or go east to search the swamp wetland where the badger was found near the waterfall.
To the northeast is the mountain range where he discovered the musk deer.
After listening to Lin Heng's analysis, Lin's father and others thought it was feasible, and they all followed him.
By the time they got there, the sun had already set. It was probably around four or five in the afternoon when Lin Heng and his three companions finally arrived. They ate some dry food on the way.
The adults are fine, having walked longer distances than this, but Lin Wei is already exhausted.
"This is a good place, let's set up camp here."
After looking around for a while, Lin Heng found a small open and ventilated flat area two hundred meters away from the stream.
"No, I'm dying of exhaustion."
When Lin Wei heard what his second father said, he sat down.
"I guess Lin Wei will never come again next time." Father Lin said with a smile as he looked at his grandson.
Today we walked more than 30 kilometers of winding mountain roads, which was too difficult for a five-year-old child.
"This is because he walked on me for several sections and I had to rest many times, otherwise my feet would have blisters."
Lin Yue looked at his son and shook his head helplessly.
"Let him rest, we will cut down some trees and build a shelter."
Lin Heng said, let alone Lin Wei, even Xiong Ba was so tired that he lay down and couldn't move.
He was tired too, but he had to get the shelter up before dark.
Mosquitoes are the most terrifying thing in the summer shelter, so they brought two large mosquito nets from home, otherwise they would not be able to sleep in the forest.
"Is it a triangle or any other shape?" Lin Yue asked Lin Heng.
"It's a triangle, just raise the two sides a little bit."
Lin Heng said that if the triangle is raised it will be equivalent to a pentagon, and because one will be living there for a longer period of time, it naturally has to be done well.
In this high mountain forest, you don't have to worry about being too hot. There are trees to provide shade during the day, and it may only be a little stuffy at night.
"Make it higher, erect four pillars directly, build a triangular roof on top to shelter from the rain, and cover it with film paper and leaves.
Just use treetops to surround it, and then use rattan to weave two large hammocks 50 cm above the ground.
Otherwise, it’s too low and sleeping on the ground is not safe because there are poisonous insects and so on.” Father Lin suggested.
Lin Heng groaned: "This is good, but the workload is huge."
"What are you afraid of? We are three grown men. Just do it if you want." Father Lin waved his hands and didn't care.
"That's fine." Lin Heng knew that his father had a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
After the decision was made, the four of them immediately started cutting trees and working. For support, they used live trees, and for paving, they used picked up dry firewood.
While Lin's father and his eldest son Lin Yue built a shelter, Lin Heng went to the woods to cut vines. There were all kinds of vines in the woods, but this one was the toughest and could be used to make a hammock.
Lin Heng cut more than thirty vines that were seven or eight meters long and took them back. Lin's father and his colleagues had just set up the frame.
"Dad, I don't know how to weave a hammock, so you weave it and I'll build the shelter."
Lin Heng threw the cane to the ground and said.
"Okay, then I'll do it." Father Lin nodded and walked over with a knife.
"I'll come and help too." Lin Wei regained some energy and walked over and said.
"Go and make a stove with mud and cook later."
Lin Heng looked at him and said.
"Okay." Lin Wei nodded. He was good at playing in the mud.
The sun had already set when the shelter was built, leaving only a little afterglow. This was when three people worked together, and the square shelter was too laborious.
We have to reinforce the roof tomorrow and cut some branches to build a fence around it.
The hammock woven by Lin's father was different from what Lin Heng had imagined. He wanted the kind that was made entirely of ropes.
Father Lin used two long wooden sticks as the frame, similar to a stretcher.
But it is indeed more convenient. Just nail a wooden fork on the ground, put the wooden sticks on both sides of the hammock up, and you can go to sleep.
Then put down the mosquito net, and two beds of two meters by one meter eighty are ready. Because they are made of rattan, they are relatively soft to sleep on.
"I'm so tired." Lin Heng lay down on the bed to rest. He was too tired to move.
Father Lin was so tired from herding cattle that after weaving the hammock, he went to make a fire and cook without saying a word.
Lin Heng lay down for a few seconds and then quickly got up to help. He just had some sauerkraut noodles for dinner.
The sauerkraut is fried at home. It doesn’t go bad easily and there’s no problem eating it for a day.
After the noodles were cooked, the four of them went to bed to rest as they were too tired to move.
Xiongba was so tired that he didn't even want to eat, let alone anyone.
Fortunately, I had the foresight to take down the mosquito net at home and bring it with me, otherwise this choir of mosquitoes would have been fatal.
If you are unlucky, you will get malaria and not only will you not make any money, but you will also die.
This is also the reason why no one wants to go out hunting in the summer. Not to mention the poisonous insects and ferocious beasts, even the bites from mosquitoes and gnats can be unbearable.
Especially in July and August, you can't escape unless you stay on the top of Taibai Mountain.
The next morning, Lin Heng got up early, and so did everyone else.
It’s not that I’m not tired, but I was bitten by mosquitoes.
Even with a mosquito net, as long as your arms or body touch the mosquitoes, those damn mosquitoes will stick their mouths in through the holes to suck your blood.
They can also get under the rattan bed and bite it.
"Damn it! Fix the mosquito net today and use palm leaves to cover the bed. These mosquitoes are killing us."
Lin Heng cursed while scratching his arm.
"We have to do it, otherwise it will be too terrible." Lin Yue said with a yawn.
"I didn't sleep well either. We must clean up the house today." Father Lin also agreed. He rolled around and swatted mosquitoes last night and didn't sleep at all.
Fortunately, there is a mosquito net, otherwise I would not be able to sleep at all.
Lin Wei lay on the bed, not wanting to move. He looked at Lin Heng and said with emotion, "Second Dad, hunting is so tiring for you guys. I thought it was fun."
Lin Heng glanced at him and spread his hands and said, "Of course I'm tired. No money is easy to earn. Hunting is full of mosquito bites in the summer and cold winds in the winter. It's also life-threatening. So if you don't want to be like us in the future, study hard."
Exhaling, Lin Heng continued: "If you don't want to run, you can rest here. We will go out first, investigate the animal traces in the morning, and set traps in the afternoon."
"Okay, I'll watch things here." Lin Wei nodded. He didn't want to walk at all today.
"Let's eat first." Father Lin said, and went to light a fire and cook.
Lin Heng took Xiongba to explore the surrounding area briefly, but found nothing on the land, only some traces of small animals.
"Hey, this place should be made by pheasants, right?"
On a huge piece of stone, under a small bush, there were some obvious traces of pheasants nesting. They were probably turning over the soil to look for earthworms or something to eat.
"Put down two hooks."
Lin Heng thought about it and took out the fish hook he had tied at home from his backpack.
The fishhook can not only be used for fishing, but also for hooking pheasants and golden pheasants with a definite catch.
After setting three hooks, Lin Heng left quietly.
A few more hooks were then set in two other places where there were signs of bird activity.
The riverbeds on both sides of this section of the stream are very flat, made of sand and gravel, and covered with a lot of lush green grass, making people reluctant to walk in directly.
Lin Heng also walked forward while beating with a stick.
After walking up a few hundred meters, the grass suddenly became lighter, and the waist-deep weeds turned into grass that was so thin that even shoes could not be covered.
"What a beautiful lawn." Lin Heng sighed.
The environment of this place is becoming more and more beautiful, but it’s a pity that it’s too far from home, otherwise it would be so beautiful to bring my wife and children here for a picnic.
After putting down two more fish hooks and marking them, Lin Heng turned around and went back.
When I got back to the shelter, the meal was already ready. It was sauerkraut noodles again in the morning, and I ate all the sauerkraut I brought from home yesterday.
"Where are we going first after dinner?" Father Lin asked while eating.
"First, come with me to the Sanchagou Canyon below to set up a noose trap. There must be something there, and quite a lot of it.
As for other places, you can do whatever you want, depending on the situation. But you have to be careful, especially in the Sanchagou Gorge, where Old Man Tian almost died last time."
Lin Heng said.
"Okay, then, let's go do it together after dinner." Father Lin nodded.
"Don't worry, we are not hunting, we are not that reckless. But you have to pay attention to your safety." Lin Yue also said with a smile.
After eating, they reminded Lin Wei not to run around, and then the three of them set off with ropes and backpacks.
They took a small path and went down into the canyon. After walking a few steps, the three of them found traces of overturned structures everywhere.
"This is a new trace. There was no trace when I came last time." Lin Heng was a little excited and felt that there was hope of setting a trap here.
"Then let's start setting the trap?" Father Lin looked at his second son.
Lin Heng nodded: "Dad, and big brother, do you know how to do the King of Hell's Hanging?"
"I can." Father Lin nodded.
"I'm not really good at it." Lin Yue shook his head.
"Then you watch and learn, and we two will teach you."
Lin Heng said this, then took out a rope and started setting up a noose trap.
Xiongba ran around looking for pheasants and rabbits.
Three people setting traps together is much faster than one person. In more than an hour, the three of them set more than 40 traps near this wetland. Nineteen of them were hanging traps, and the rest were all noose traps.
"What a huge puddle of water!!"
Before they knew it, the three of them had arrived at the center of the wetland, and a huge pond covered with green duckweed appeared in front of them in the middle of the reeds.
"This is probably more than an acre. We can set a few more traps nearby."
Father Lin looked at a few wild ducks in the distance on the water and spoke.
Lin Heng also thought it was good. He hadn’t come here last time and hadn’t discovered there was such a big pond.
“Plop!!”
Just as they reached the water's edge, a splash was heard suddenly, and a splash of water rose up at the edge of the pond three meters away from the three of them.
Xiongba rushed over, but the thing had disappeared and he found nothing.
"What is that?" Lin Yue was stunned.
"It could be a black carp or a catfish. These are the two types of fish that usually live in ponds like this," Lin's father commented.
"You'll know when you fish it out. I just happened to have a hook with me."
Lin Heng chuckled, took out the tied fish hooks and gave three to his father and eldest brother, asking them to put some insects like grasshoppers on them and put them down by the water.
The big fish hooks we bought all have barbs, so there is no need to worry about them running away. You can come and pick them up tomorrow.
"That's a good hook." Father Lin praised and caught a grasshopper and put it on.
Lin Heng caught a small green frog and said with a smile: "The baits are different, it depends on who can catch the fish."
After the fishing hooks were set, the three men set some traps along the edge of the pond and prepared to find a way into the woods.
Unfortunately, no rabbits or pheasants were encountered along the way, and Xiongba was unable to show off his magical powers.
Just as we were about to enter the woods, a gray figure suddenly jumped out from the bushes nearby and ran quickly towards the river valley below.
“Woof!!”
Xiongba's eyes suddenly lit up and he chased after him, running like a cheetah. The distance between him and him was about thirty or forty meters just now, but in an instant he was less than ten meters away.
Both Lin's father and the other were shocked. At first they were wondering if they could catch up with the rabbit because it was so fast.
In a moment, their eyes widened with shock. This was the first time they saw Xiongba hunting. His mighty posture and terrifying speed were just like his name.
In just a few seconds, he had caught up with the hare. At the critical moment, the hare knew it could not outrun it, so it pushed back at full speed and made a sharp turn.
This is the rabbit's best weapon for escaping. Using the advantage of its small size, it can easily shake off the enemy. However, Xiongba turned one step ahead as if he had expected it and pounced on the hare.
Plop! "Squeak!!"
After the dog and the rabbit rolled a few times in the grass, Xiongba came back with his head held high, biting the hare.
"Awesome! This is really the Red Hare among horses and Lu Bu among men. It's so mighty!" Lin Yue couldn't help but say.
Father Lin gave a thumbs up, his face full of shock: "I dare say there is no dog more powerful than this one in our village."
Lin Heng smiled triumphantly, took the dead rabbit, and rubbed Xiongba's head and chest fiercely: "Tonight you will not only have rabbit meat, but also fish."
“Ouch!!”
Xiongba was sticking out his tongue and sweating, his eyes full of pride and happiness.
"Dad, how much do you think this rabbit weighs?" Lin Heng threw the big gray rabbit to his father.
"Hey, this must be four or five kilograms. Xiongba is so awesome." Father Lin said with a smile.
"We have meat to eat tonight." Lin Yue was also happy. He caught a prey on the second day after he arrived, which made him very optimistic about the next journey.
After taking turns praising Xiongba, the three continued exploring. They were now on the mountain south of the canyon, and the shelter was in the southwest of the canyon.
There weren't many signs of prey here, so five or six traps were randomly set up on the forest path.
Although no trace of prey was seen, the medicinal herbs had grown a lot in size.
Father Lin found a piece of Astragalus, and Lin Yue found a lot of Psoralea corylifolia.
Lin Heng separated from them. He planned to go back to the shelter first, and then go to the north side of the canyon and plant a few Yama King Hangs at the place where he had found Lin Musk Deer before.
He picked up three Ganoderma lucidum along the way, and when he was about to return to the shelter, Lin Heng suddenly stopped.
He looked at the two plants growing in the bushes on the stone skin in the distance and said uncertainly: "These should be Polygonatum sibiricum."
The leaves are arranged in whorls, linear-lanceolate, slightly curved at the front end, and look very much like Polygonatum.
"Who cares? Just dig and you'll know."
Lin Heng saw a wooden stick and walked over to start digging.
Polygonatum sibiricum is not very valuable, but it has high medicinal value. The ancients highly praised it, and even immortals used it to make elixirs.
"It can't be wrong. It's Huangjing."
After digging up the soil, Lin Heng saw yellow tubers, connected one by one. There was a depression on each section, which was the mark of annual growth.
"It's not small. It may be seven or eight or even ten years old." Lin Heng was very happy. The more he dug, the more he found. He could dig out four or five kilograms from this plant.
Huangjing has the effects of replenishing qi and nourishing yin, strengthening the spleen, moistening the lungs, and benefiting the kidneys. Even if you don't sell it, stewing chicken, ribs, etc. at home is also very good for people.
The stone surface was covered with black soil, which was very soft. After a while, Lin Heng dug out the first one. It was a large plate, weighing definitely four or five kilograms.
As a moral person, he kept the piece of root with leaves in the soil and cut it off with a knife, so that it could still live and be dug up again later.
He happily accepted the remaining four or five pounds.
Polygonatum sibiricum grows in large patches, and its fruits germinate easily. At first, Lin Heng only found two, but when he walked over, he saw four or five more, which should have grown from the largest Polygonatum sibiricum.
"dig!"
Lin Heng dug up each one, kept a part, and took away the rest.
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