Chapter 408: Unlocking New Prey Continuously
As they chatted, the two of them warmed their hands and feet by the fire. It was snowing lightly and the wind in the forest was quite cold.
After dinner, they ate some noodles that Lin Heng and his friends brought, and then everyone went back to their respective shelters to rest. Whether they were hiking or hunting, they were all very tired.
As for the money, they had already agreed before going to bed that they would divide it among them when they got home. He didn't even take the passbook with him, but left it at home.
There was a light snow in the mountains all night. When I woke up the next morning, there was ten centimeters of snow on the ground. The treetops looked like they were blooming white flowers. The temperature dropped a lot all of a sudden.
However, everyone had anticipated the situation in the mountains and brought cotton clothes when they came, so they were not caught off guard.
Li Baiquan sighed as he looked at the snow outside, "Oh, with all the snow, I think the black bears are going into hibernation. It's probably a pipe dream for us to hunt them again."
Lin Heng said: "It's almost the same. It's still my fault this year. I came too late. But there may be hope. Generally speaking, it will not hibernate completely until December."
In fact, the main reason for snow on the mountain is the high altitude, and he estimated that the snow could not stay on the mountain and would melt soon.
"Why should I blame you? Without you, we wouldn't be here, let alone kill such a big black bear." Lu Honghai said, and then said, "Let's go quickly after dinner. It's easier to find footprints in the snow. There's great hope for hunting today."
"I thought so too." Lin Yue nodded.
Lin Heng came to cook. His eldest brother and his uncle and uncle-in-law were preparing to continue their unfinished journey. Lin Heng still chose to stay with his third uncle, and after they came back, he would go on another journey.
After breakfast, Lin Yue and the other two set off. Lin Heng took out the strips of muntjac meat, the small and large intestines of muntjac and bear, and hung them outside to dry.
These things can be dried and braised, and the taste is very good.
During the days he was away, most of the bear meat left here was made into air-dried jerky, and the fat was refined in a pot and packed in bags after solidification.
There is also cured golden rooster.
They mainly ate bacon, as wild boar meat didn’t taste very good, so they ate it here and took the delicious ones home to share with their families.
"Third uncle, I'll go check the traps first. When I come back, I'll look after the camp. You go hunting." After finishing the cleaning, Lin Heng looked at his third uncle and said.
"No problem, go ahead." Lu Honggang nodded.
Lin Heng nodded and took Xiongba out to check the previous trap.
Although it was raining, he still knew the approximate location, and he had also bent the branches of the small trees near the trap into circles.
But he was afraid that Xiongba would run around and get caught, so he tied it with a rope.
He took a look from a distance, and when he found that it was not triggered, he left. After the snow, these traps became hidden, so logically, the effect should be better.
After checking out the forest in the northwest, he came to the forest in the south. The traps were set in each forest to make it easier to check.
“Chirp!”
After walking in the woods on the fine snow for a while, Lin Heng suddenly heard a bird singing. He looked up and saw a grouse on an oak tree not far away.
Instead of taking the bow and arrow, he took out a slingshot from his waist. This thing is more effective than bows and arrows in dealing with some small animals, especially a slingshot made of medical elastic rubber band.
From a distance of seven or eight meters, he took aim and fired with a bang. The grouse was hit accurately before it had time to fly and fell to the ground.
"Woof woof~"
Xiongba excitedly dug the snow and wanted to pick it up.
Lin Heng did not let it go. He walked over and picked up the grouse, then continued to check the trap and look for prey.
As he walked, he suddenly realized something was wrong. A vertical bridge in front of him triggered the trap, and sharp bamboo thorns pierced the tree, but there was obviously blood on them.
"Is this... a wolf?"
Lin Heng walked over and looked at the remaining hair, feeling a little confused.
Without relying on Xiongba, he could see the bright red blood on the snow by himself.
Leading Xiongba, he followed the blood trail and after about four or five hundred meters he found the fallen prey.
"It's really a wolf." Lin Heng was a little shocked. There really was a wolf.
This is an old wolf with gray-white hair. It looks a little thin and has several bloody holes on the right side.
Even though it was hit by a trap, it was still able to run so far, which shows how ferocious the wolf is.
But it was still dead. Lin Heng opened its mouth and took a look. The teeth were still intact and looked no different from dog teeth, but the face gave people a ferocious feeling.
I picked it up and tried it. The wolf seemed to weigh more than 70 kilograms. I was lucky today and had a good harvest.
The wolf had been dead for several hours and the blood could not be released, so he carried the wolf to a hidden place and Sang Yu went to check the other traps.
Not finding any catch, Lin Heng found a few abandoned squirrel holes, put palm-sized clamps in them, and continued to use them to catch weasels.
He originally wanted to set a few more traps today, but given the current situation, he decided to go back and deal with the wolf first.
In the camp, Lu Honggang was peeling potatoes to prepare fried potato chips for lunch. When he heard the noise outside, he quickly got up to check.
"Why...that's not right...did you kill a wolf?"
At first Lu Hong thought that something had happened to Lin Heng's dog, but when she took a closer look her eyes popped out.
"It wasn't a fight, it was a trap. It seems my ointment is quite effective." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"Your skill in setting traps is amazing." Lu Honggang gave a thumbs up. In just over ten days, Lin Heng's traps had already caught three prey.
From this point of view, he felt that he might be able to learn a trick, and setting traps in these wild mountains and forests was a good choice.
“It’s mostly luck.”
Lin Heng said a few words, put the wolf down, took a look, and started to clean up.
He first picked the best part of the wolf's hair and plucked out the amount that would have been enough to make four brushes.
After plucking the weasels, he would tie them up temporarily with a rope and put them aside. He also had some weasel tail hair, which could also be used to make brushes.
He has a book called "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" and knows the ancient method of making brushes. He likes calligraphy and Chinese painting, which is also an exercise for the elderly. It is a pleasure for him to make brushes by hand.
After plucking enough wolf hair, Lin Heng began to peel the wolf meat. Wolf skin is also one of the most valuable furs, especially wolf skin in winter.
After cutting it, scrape off the fat and hang it aside to dry slowly in the shade.
In addition to wolf skin, other valuable parts of the wolf are the femur stone and wolf teeth, which can be used to make pendants.
The thigh stone is a special joint where the wolf's calf and thigh meet. Since ancient times, it has been taken off and used as a pendant after hunting wolves. It is said to have the effect of warding off evil spirits and avoiding danger.
Taking out the internal organs and putting them aside, Lin Heng shaved the wolf meat from the bones, keeping a part for eating, and cut the rest into strips, rubbed salt on them, and hung them on a rack to dry.
The temperature is low and the air is dry now, so it is very easy to make air-dried meat, and it won’t go bad without heavy salt.
Wolf meat is different from bear meat. It has more lean meat and not much fat, and it still smells very fragrant.
Putting the wolf whip and wolf spear aside, Lin Heng took the internal organs to the waterside to clean them. He dried the large and small intestines and took them back, and ate the kidneys, liver, heart, and stomach on the mountain.
After finishing all this, the two men burned off all the hair on the wolf's head and peeled it off, then left it there to dry. This thing would be very delicious when eaten as stew.
The remaining meat on the wolf's skull was cooked and fed to Xiongba, which was more than enough for him to have for a meal. He took some effort to remove the wolf's fangs and later took them back to make a pendant.
"At noon, let's stir-fry some wolf meat and wolf heart." Lin Heng said to his third uncle.
"Okay, I haven't tasted wolf meat yet." Lu Honggang nodded with a smile.
The wolf heart is fried with sour radish. The taste is not much different from the hearts of other animals and is very chewy.
"This wolf meat tastes good, like dog meat, very fragrant."
Lu Honggang took a big bite and nodded in approval.
"It is indeed delicious." Lin Heng nodded. It tastes better than wild boar meat and is comparable to venison.
After eating and resting for a while, Lu Honggang took his gun and went out hunting.
Lin Heng cured the grouse, then wandered around the camp, found two yams and spent half the afternoon digging them.
His third uncle didn't come back until it was almost dark, but unfortunately he didn't catch anything.
After dinner in the evening, the two men took the meat back and hung it above the stove, then quickly went into the shelter.
The snow melted today and the temperature is very low. It is unbearable to stay outside at night.
There was not much snow the next day, but Lin Heng still went out in the morning and took Xiongba for a walk in the winter forest.
At this time, all the leaves have fallen, and only a few evergreen trees and orchids in the ground still have green leaves, while everything else is withered and desolate.
“Woof woof!!”
As they walked, Xiongba stopped and called him.
“Enoki mushrooms!”
Lin Heng walked over and took a look, and immediately became happy. If he could pick up more, he would make a spicy hot pot when he got home today.
You can’t eat hot pot in the mountains, but you can still make spicy hot pot with hot pot base.
After walking for several hours, Lin Heng's feet were already cold. He didn't find any prey, and the trap was not triggered.
His harvest included two kilograms of enoki mushrooms, half a kilogram of yellow oyster mushrooms, and two kilograms of chestnuts, which he dug out from a squirrel hole.
When he returned to the camp, he looked at his uncle and said with a smile, "Let's enjoy some spicy hotpot today."
"What is spicy hotpot? I haven't eaten it yet." Lu Honggang asked curiously.
"You'll know when I make it."
Lin Heng smiled and started to prepare it. He cut some bacon, some bear meat, some deer meat, as well as wolf bones and wolf stomach, and boiled them to remove the fishy smell.
Then heat a little bear oil in the pot, add garlic and peppercorns, then add the hot pot base and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the prepared meat and mushrooms and stir-fry until fragrant, and finally add a little yam and potato chips.
"I'll have this for lunch."
After it was done, Lin Heng placed the pot on the stone, took the rice wine and poured it into the bamboo bucket and said.
"This is called spicy hot pot. I'm drooling just by smelling it."
Lu Honggang swallowed his saliva, picked up the chopsticks, took a bite, and then gave Lin Heng a thumbs up.
"It's delicious, so delicious." He said. He thought this was what delicious food was.
"Come, let's go, Third Uncle!"
Lin Heng raised the bamboo tube and smiled, saying that his third uncle couldn't cook, so something this delicious was a super delicacy to him.
The two of them clinked glasses, drinking and eating together, in the mountains and deep forests.
There are no other thoughts, only enjoyment and happiness, and feeling the taste of freedom.
“Boohoo!!”
Xiongba watched the two people eat and kept licking his lips. He was a very polite and well-behaved dog, waiting for them to feed him.
Lin Heng took a bite or two of the meat on the wolf's bones and then threw it to it.
The two people and the dog were immediately happy.
After lunch, his third uncle went out hunting again in the afternoon. This time it was pretty good and he brought back two golden roosters.
Lin Heng stewed wolf bones in the camp. He tried to eat them all here, as there was no point in taking them back.
After eating the meat, the bones can be given to Xiongba. Of course, he will usually be given some meat.
I stewed pork ribs soup with some noodles and a little chili sauce. After eating it and two bowls of soup, my whole stomach felt warm.
In the blink of an eye, it was already November 25th, and they had been in the mountains for more than half a month.
Lin Heng's harvest these past two days was not good. There were no prey in his traps, and he couldn't go hunting farther away, so his life was relatively idle.
As for his eldest brother, they have been out for four days and have not returned yet. No one knows what is going on.
There is no other way to contact now, all we can do is wait.
Early in the morning on the 25th, Lin Heng went out to check the traps for hunting as usual. He recently discovered a new salty area, and there were traces of animals licking salt there. He took out some traps and set them there.
I checked today and there is no movement yet.
After checking out a circle of traps, he came to a place in the woods where he had set small traps in a small cave to catch weasels.
"Um?"
When he got there, he was stunned again. He saw a cute little creature with round ears, grey fur on its body and white fur on its chest struggling violently. Its front legs were caught by Lin Heng's clamp, which was tied to the tree, so it couldn't run away.
"Sorry little one."
Lin Heng took out a bow and arrow, took aim and shot an arrow, which pierced his neck and nailed him to the ground with a "pop".
This is a stone marten, whose fur is very valuable. He didn't expect that the weasel trap could catch this guy.
But if you think about it, both stone martens and weasels like to dig holes.
"Although it's not sable, the fur is soft and smooth. No wonder sable fur is so expensive."
Lin Heng touched the sable fur and sighed, there are no sables in Qinling Mountains, but there are yellow-throated martens and stone martens. This is the first time he has shot a stone marten.
“Woof woof!”
Xiongba licked the blood and felt a little excited.
Lin Heng took the stone marten down and walked back with the trap. The traps that had been used to catch prey had to be smoked to remove the smell before they could be used again.
"Third uncle, look what I caught!"
Lin Heng walked into the camp holding the stone marten and showed it off.
"This is a mink. Where did you get it?" Lu Honggang was a little surprised.
"You may not believe it, but I caught it in a weasel trap." Lin Heng smiled. He planned to make a scarf out of the mink fur and give it to Xiulan.
"Your traps are really good. You have caught five weasels now. Add this mink skin, and it will be worth a lot of money."
Lu Honggang touched the sable fur. He had never touched it before, but the feel of it was really amazing.
After chatting for a while, the two sat down to skin the mink, preparing to taste the mink meat at noon.
Just at this moment, there was a noise coming from the woods outside.
(End of this chapter)
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