Chapter 480: Big Creature Appears in the Deep Valley
Lin Heng sat down and took out some fresh vegetables he brought from home, including a large bundle of coriander, half-grown yellow cabbage that was not wrapped, and bok choy.
They had already prepared the rice, so they got another shallow pan to stir-fry some vegetables, starting with some braised pork.
Then cut the two pounds of yellow muntjac meat into small strips, put it in the pan and fry it like shredded beef, finally add coriander and stir-fry before serving.
“This is delicious!”
"Yes, it goes very well with rice!"
During the meal, Lin Heng's coriander beef received unanimous praise from everyone, and two kilograms of fried meat was not enough for everyone to eat.
Lin Yue even laughed and said, "Although Lin Heng doesn't cook much, his cooking skills are better than my mom's."
"I also think that the dishes you cook in the mountains are better than those your aunt cooks at home." Lu Honghai also admired.
"I learned it from Xiulan." Lin Heng said modestly.
Everyone finished their meal quickly while chatting. They cooked some pork and fed it to the four dogs. Some of the unpalatable parts of the pork were given to the dogs as a reward for them.
Sleeping was much more comfortable tonight. First, they made a fire stove using yellow mud and a chimney leading to the outside. Then they made a simple wooden door and placed it in front of the door at night, so there was almost no wind in the room.
The hay has been completely dried, and the indoor temperature can reach 14 or 15 degrees, which is very comfortable to sleep in.
The next morning, they woke up and found that it was snowing outside again. Lin Heng peed and ran in and said, "This snow just started. I hope it won't snow heavily today."
If it snows heavily, the traces of prey will be covered and it will be difficult to find them.
"So go find it right away after dinner." Lu Honghai had already boiled the water and was ready to go.
After dinner, everyone went out hunting together. It was snowing and few people came to such a far place, so there was no need to worry about someone stealing things.
When setting off, Lin Heng still carried his backpack as usual, which contained three sweet potatoes, several packets of biscuits, flints and other first aid emergency items.
These things only weigh about six or seven pounds, which is not a burden for him, and he can also prepare for any unexpected situation.
He brought the compound bow, and the shotgun continued to be used by his third uncle. He still liked playing with bows and arrows, and it felt better to shoot.
This time, the group's goal has changed. They are preparing to hunt some prey other than wild boars, such as muntjac, wild goats, roe deer and the like.
The target is a place with evergreen vegetation. There is generally a lot of game in such places, especially on snowy days when there is nothing to eat, so all kinds of herbivores will gather there.
Lin Heng walked towards the direction of Taibai Mountain. His third uncle was with him, while his eldest brother and eldest uncle walked in another direction.
After climbing over two mountains, it was noon when the two finally saw a hillside covered with small green shrubs. Just opposite them, it looked very steep, but was covered with a large number of green evergreen shrubs.
"Let's go to that place. I think there's hope." Lin Heng took out a bag of biscuits and gave it to his third uncle.
Lu Honggang didn't take the biscuit, but said, "Let's eat first and then go. The distance looks short, but it's at least seven or eight miles if we walk."
He brought sweet potatoes and meat and just needed to find a place to make a fire and roast them.
"Let's look for it down the mountain. It's too cold up there." Lin Heng shook his head.
"Okay then." Lu Honggang nodded.
The two men walked down. The forest after the snow was white and extremely quiet, and they did not find any traces of big prey along the way.
Going up the mountain to hunt is tiring, running in the woods all day, but the feeling of constant exploration is also fascinating, and you may find prey inadvertently.
Not long after walking, Lin Heng accidentally discovered a squirrel on the snow in the distance. He approached it to a distance of five or six meters, drew his bow and shot an arrow, hitting it with one shot.
Continuing forward, the two soon arrived at the foot of the mountain.
"Hey, Third Uncle, look at this cave!"
Lin Heng was walking in front and suddenly found a cave, about two or three meters deep, located under a mountain. It was dry and without snow.
"This place is suitable, let's live here." Lu Honggang walked in and put down the fire starter and firewood in his hands.
Lin Heng nodded and picked up some more firewood with his third uncle.
After lighting the fire, Lu Honggang took out two pieces of sweet potatoes to roast, and then took out two pieces of deer meat.
After sprinkling some salt on the deer meat, they put it on wooden sticks and roasted it over the fire.
Lin Heng roasted the squirrel directly without peeling the skin. This was the meat for the two dogs. Together with some leftover noodles he had in the morning, it was enough for the two dogs.
The lean meat was roasted in a short while. It tasted delicious with a golden brown color and no peculiar smell. Unfortunately, it had no fat and looked dry.
After eating some barbecue, the two waited for the sweet potatoes to be roasted and ate them, and also fed the dog at the same time. The whole process took nearly an hour and a half.
"Let's go!" After extinguishing the fire, Lin Heng stood up and moved forward with Xiongba.
He and his third uncle started searching at intervals of two to three hundred meters. After walking for a while, they saw more green evergreen shrubs nearby, but no traces of prey were seen for the time being.
"Third uncle, let's go up the mountain from here, and then look for it from the top of the mountain down. It will be easier to find this way." Lin Heng said after getting closer.
It is easier to fight from the top of the mountain to the bottom, while it is easy to be discovered from the bottom of the mountain to the top.
"Okay." Lu Honggang completely listened to Lin Heng and followed him upstairs.
They climbed up the mountain from this side, and Lin Heng made a discovery before they reached the top.
Halfway up the mountain, we saw a row of crescent-shaped footprints, heading towards the hillside full of green bushes.
"Third uncle, look at this footprint, it's the same as a cow's, could it be that thing?"
Lin Heng looked at his third uncle and said this with a hint of excitement on his face.
"It is very likely Aries, or it could be something else. It's hard to say. The footprints are not clear." Lu Honggang also showed excitement on his face.
No matter what it was, he finally found the trace of the prey. In his opinion, as long as he killed it, he would not lose anything.
The so-called white sheep is also known as takin. This animal can grow to more than 200 kilograms, which is about 400 to 500 pounds, and often lives in groups.
So they couldn't help but be excited. If they really encountered this, they would make a fortune.
The two immediately decided not to continue walking up the mountain and follow the footprints.
This kind of big prey, like a cow, can't run fast at all, so it's very easy to hunt it once you find it.
The two followed the trail and soon reached the hillside covered with green bushes, being very careful not to disturb the prey.
However, after walking for a distance, Lin Heng found something wrong.
"These bushes all show signs of being eaten, but why does it feel like the prey hasn't stopped?" Lin Heng wondered.
"Let's take another look." Lu Honggang was also puzzled.
The two followed the footprints up and down the hillside, turned around several times, and finally found a set of footprints that left.
"We have to continue tracking. It seems that these footprints have been there for some time. They may have come two or three days ago and are gone now." Lin Heng sighed.
After running around the area, the antelope didn't find any other prey.
But he was still very excited. The takin was so big. He had found cow dung last time, but this time it was directly footprints, and there was a high probability that he would find it by following the footprints.
"What time is it? Should we go back?" Lu Honggang asked while looking at the sky.
Lin Heng looked at his watch and said, "It's really getting late. It's half past four. It will be dark in another hour and a half."
"Then I can only come back tomorrow." Lu Honggang sighed.
"This is the only way." Lin Heng nodded. Not only was it dangerous to track them at night, but his elder brother, uncle and others would also be worried if he didn't go back.
On the way back, Lin Heng looked at the sky and sighed, "Please don't snow tonight."
If there is a heavy snow, the footprints will most likely disappear.
"It looks like that won't happen." Lu Honggang said after looking at the sky.
“Woof woof!! Awww!!”
Xiongba called out twice, then came to Lin Heng and rubbed against him.
The two men and the dog walked back in a straight line without looking around, and returned to the camp before dark.
They could see the fire in the wooden house from a distance. As they approached, Lin Yue's voice came from the house: "Brother, did you get anything today?"
"It's a great harvest!" Lin Heng nodded. He noticed that his elder brother and uncle in the room were dealing with golden roosters. It seemed that their harvest today was killing two golden roosters.
When Lu Honghai heard this, he raised his head and asked curiously, "It was too big and you didn't bring it back?"
"I'm just kidding, otherwise why would you have this expression?" Lin Yue laughed. He felt that if he really hit Lin Heng, he would not have this expression.
Lu Honggang said, “Really, 90% of the time it’s a small herd of gazelles, but we didn’t have enough time to track them down.”
"Takin??"
"That guy who weighs at least 300 pounds?"
At this moment, both of them stood up, with expressions of horror on their faces, their eyes wide open and their mouths unable to close.
Lin Heng nodded and said, "That's right. Let's prepare to track him down early tomorrow morning. The chances of catching him this time are still very high."
Lin Yue said excitedly: "If that thing is true, we will be very rich. If nothing else, we can make a lot of money just by selling meat."
Lu Honghai also said excitedly: "I heard that six or seven years ago, Liujia Village in He encountered a herd of antelopes. They killed three big ones and two small ones. A big one can be sold for four or five hundred. Now the money is not as valuable as before. I estimate that one can be sold for seven or eight hundred."
Although takin are as big as cows, there is nothing valuable on their bodies except their skin and whip. They are mainly sold for their meat, which is worth at most a few thousand yuan.
"I'm just worried that it will snow tonight and cover the footprints. That would be the end of us." Lin Heng said, looking at the two of them.
"No way, it's impossible for it to snow so heavily." Lu Honghai shook his head.
Lin Heng sat down by the fire, and the others discussed countermeasures while cooking. In the end, they all felt that it might be difficult to return to the camp tomorrow night, so they had to take some supplies and chase the antelope.
Someone had to guard the camp, so one had to stay behind. In the end, the one who chose to stay was Lin Heng's third uncle, Lu Honggang.
Although he was left behind to guard the place, he would also have a share if the antelope were killed, so there was no need to worry about not getting his share.
"But if we kill two antelopes, which weigh thousands of pounds, three people will not be enough to carry it back." Lin Yue said.
"If we get killed, let's go back and call for help. The four of us definitely can't make it back." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"Yes, eat quickly and go to bed early so that you can go track him tomorrow. We can talk about other things after we catch him." Lu Honghai said with a smile.
After preparing the dishes, Lin Heng fried some deer meat with coriander, some braised pork with sauce, and some stir-fried yellow cabbage.
They cooked extra rice and vegetables to eat tomorrow morning, then roasted some sweet potatoes to eat on the road, and also took some noodles and a pot to boil water for use on the road tomorrow.
It was just past eight o'clock after dinner, much earlier than yesterday, so several people lay down to rest early.
At six o'clock the next morning, Tiancai Mamaliang and everyone woke up. They had their meals, cut some wild boar meat to feed the dog until it was about 70% full, and then set out with their things on their backs.
Although it was not yet daybreak, it would be enough to see clearly after a while of adapting. However, the weather was cold and everyone was rubbing their hands together. Their feet became cold after walking in the snow for a few minutes.
In this kind of weather, they all applied hand cream made from bear fat on their faces and hands, otherwise cracks and frostbite would appear on their hands within two or three days.
"What bad luck! It snowed today." Lin Yue shook his head.
"Fortunately, the snow is not heavy. It looks like it didn't snow much last night either." Lin Heng said.
"We must track him down today." Lu Honghai sighed.
Everyone chatted in low voices as they walked, and when daybreak came, the hillside from yesterday was already in sight. Although it was very cold, they did not stop to rest or talk, and slowly approached.
"Look, although the footprints are covered by the snow a little, they can still be seen." Lin Heng said, pointing to the ground.
Lu Honghai took a look and said, "It's most likely. Let's go after it and see. It looks like it could be a pair of cows."
"So two?" Lin Yue wondered.
Lu Honghai nodded: "Yes, the cows are all males, and it is normal for one to weigh 500 kilograms. But I can't be completely sure, the footprints are not clear."
They did not leave in a hurry, but looked around to see if there were any other animals. After confirming that there were none, they followed the footprints.
Following the footprints, the three people had walked through three ditches without realizing it. The journey was about six or seven kilometers, and it was already noon.
"This thing can really run!" Lin Yue exclaimed.
Not only did we walk such a long distance, but we almost lost ourselves several times along the way because the snow was not thick everywhere. The footprints were shallow in places where the snow was thin, and they were covered by a little snow and we couldn't find them.
Thanks to the three dogs Xiongba Fengshou and Good Luck, we were able to find the trail again several times.
"Look here!"
Lin Heng was walking in front and suddenly made a sound.
Lin Yue walked up quickly and took a look, and said in surprise: "Such fresh feces, it seems that it will be soon."
"This looks like it was from yesterday, which means it's indeed close. We can't walk very far in one day." Lu Honghai nodded.
The thought of seeing hope soon filled everyone's hearts, and the enthusiasm that had just dissipated surged up again. They immediately found a place to take out the sweet potatoes and the deer meat that had been roasted last night and eat them. They ate them cold and did not get angry.
The three dogs were also fed with cooked wild boar meat, and they were not treated unfairly. After lunch, the three people and three dogs walked forward for nearly five kilometers after regaining their strength. A continuous green bush forest appeared in front of them.
There are rows of gray-white rocks, and the slopes are generally about 50 degrees. Various small green shrubs are distributed among them, which are particularly lush against the backdrop of white snow.
The canyon is not wide or deep, but the environment is extraordinary. A stream flows through it, presenting an unspoiled and quiet beauty.
(End of this chapter)
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