Chapter 311 Great Discovery in the Forest
"What's going on?"
Lin Heng looked at his elder brother and asked curiously.
"The snares and traps we set." Lin Yue looked at Lin Heng and said, "We haven't checked them for many days. If we caught prey, they might all be dead."
"It seems like there are only a few days left, so why don't we go and take a look tomorrow morning?" Lin Yue asked his eldest brother.
"That's what I meant." Lin Yue nodded, then looked at Lin Heng, "By the way, the crops are almost ripe, do you want to go and look after the wild boars?"
"No time, let's talk about it later. The crops are just beginning to mature." Lin Heng waved his hand.
Finally, the two of them discussed it and decided to get up early tomorrow to go to Sanchagou to check out the traps and explore a bit.
The time is still the same as before, get up at 4:30 in the morning and go up the mountain before 5:00.
There are not many traps above Sanchagou, and the main traps are all below Sanchagou.
After the discussion, Lin Heng turned around and went home. Tian Yan was still there, sitting on the sofa, chatting and laughing with Xiulan Caiyun.
"Boss Lin is back. You won't blame us for eating all the crabs, right?" Tian Yan said with a smile when she saw Lin Heng.
"Snacks are meant to be eaten." Lin Heng took a sip of water and smiled.
"That's right, the boss doesn't care about this at all." Tian Yan laughed.
Lin Heng chatted with them for a while, then went to the back mountain to feed the animals and lock up the chickens and ducks that had returned to the cages.
During dinner, Lin Heng told Xiulan that he would go to check the trap the next morning.
Xiulan looked up: "Then I haven't prepared any dry food for you yet, what are you going to eat tomorrow?"
Lin Heng pointed at the cornmeal fish in the bowl and said, "The remaining cornmeal fish will be enough for me to eat tomorrow morning. I'll probably be back at noon, so there's no need to prepare extra food."
Lin Heng shook his head and said.
Xiulan shook her head: "Noodles and fish won't make you hungry. It's so tiring to go up the mountain. I'll get up tomorrow morning and give you noodles to eat."
"That's fine." Lin Heng grinned.
After dinner, Lin Heng went to the back mountain with a flashlight to dig some earthworms, preparing to go to Sanchagou to fish for catfish tomorrow.
In a blink of an eye, it was already early the next morning. Lin Heng wanted to get up quietly, but Xiulan woke up before he could even put on his clothes.
After cooking the noodles, Lin Heng took Xiongba up the mountain. He didn’t bring Fengshou with him today and kept him to look after the house.
Lin Yue looked at the sparse stars in the sky and said with emotion: "I don't know if I can get anything today."
"At least we can catch some fish, right?" Lin Heng smiled. The dew in the forest was very heavy and a little cold. The only good thing was the air.
"That's true. We can't go back empty-handed." Lin Yue nodded with a smile.
The two walked forward, and soon the sky in the east turned pale. When they looked up again, they found that the clouds had turned golden and the sky was about to brighten.
"It's so foggy. It doesn't seem to be a good day today!" Lin Heng shook his head as he looked at the fog in the forest.
Lin Yue also sighed: "Indeed, then we can only look for the previous trap."
Because the forest was full of fog, the two did not explore much. After looking at the traps, they walked straight towards Sanchagou.
In the blink of an eye, the sky was bright and the sun turned the mountaintops golden. Lin Heng and his friends were not far from Sanchagou.
Most of the traps laid on the road to Sanchagou are noose traps, and iron clamps are not arranged often because they may hurt people.
It’s just a pity that the noose and traps didn’t catch any prey, or it’s possible that any prey they caught was picked up by someone else. They are not the only ones who come here to hunt.
When we arrived at Sanchagou, it was already half past six, and all kinds of birds were chirping loudly.
This time, the two men no longer walked on the ridge nearby, but went directly into the canyon. They first found a good place to set the ground hook for catching catfish, and then crossed the canyon to check the traps they had set above.
After walking a few steps upstream along the stream, Xiongba suddenly stopped and looked into the distance.
"Is there someone?" Lin Yue said in shock as he looked at the smoke coming out from the distance.
Lin Heng was slightly surprised, as that place seemed to be where they camped and built a shelter last year.
"Let's go and take a look." Lin Heng said, and the two men and the dog walked over.
When we came to this pebbled area, we could see from afar the conical shelter built under a huge chestnut tree. This shape is also called a "cactus".
That wisp of green smoke came out from here.
“Woof woof!!”
When Lin Heng and his companions appeared in the distance, a big spotted dog on the opposite side stood up and started barking.
"Tian Baishun, are you here alone?"
Lin Heng asked as he looked at Tian Baishun who was sleeping against a pillar. The moment he saw the dog, he knew that the person here was Tian Baishun.
"Oh, it's really rare to meet Boss Lin." Tian Baishun grinned as he walked out of the shelter.
Lin Heng did not answer this question. He walked closer and found that he also brought pots and bowls. Looking at the traces again, he immediately understood: "You have lived here alone for several days. Are you here to watch the hunters?"
Tian Baishun waved his hand: "It doesn't matter whether I hunt or not. I just want to have some fun in the mountains and live comfortably!"
He has no parents and no children, so he can be said to be really carefree and free. He can do whatever he wants. Anyway, if one person eats, the whole family will not be hungry.
Every year he would go up the mountain to stay for a while. This year he chose the Sanchagou Canyon. He hunted when he was hungry and drank when he was thirsty, and he lived a very enjoyable life.
Lin Heng glanced at the old man. He was becoming more and more free and easy. He had lived such a life in his previous life. Although he was free and easy, he often felt lonely and isolated.
But it won’t happen in this life. It’s good to have a happy family, and it’s even more wonderful to live with the one you love.
Lin Heng looked at him and said, "You didn't take the prey on my noose, did you? I came here and couldn't find any."
This old guy is notoriously dishonest, and he thinks it is very likely.
Tian Baishun's eyes twitched: "Don't spit blood at me, you boy, I'm not the kind of person who would do that kind of thing."
Then he chuckled again: "If you guys talk nicer, I can give you some. I just shot a little wild boar the day before yesterday, and the meat is smoked dry."
"So powerful?" Lin Yue didn't believe it. He walked into his shelter and saw that there was really a lot of smoked pork and even a pig's head.
"You think I've been hunting for more than a decade." Tian Baishun was very proud, and then he looked at Lin Heng and said, "If you want to hunt, go to the northeast. There are traces of roe deer and wild hog badgers there recently, but I didn't catch any."
"Thank you very much." Lin Heng nodded and asked, "How long will you stay here?"
Tian Baishun said casually: "It depends on the situation. If you get bored, you can move to another place. I plan to find a place on the top of the mountain to stay for a few days."
"That's fine."
After saying a few words, Lin Heng and the other man said goodbye and turned to walk towards the swamp in the canyon to see the place that Tian Baishun mentioned.
However, Lin Heng did not hold out much hope for this. He killed a few large green frogs on the way, took out their livers and put them on the hooks. When he reached the edge of the swamp, he lowered the hooks onto the ground.
I set 12 hooks, some of them were used for earthworms and some for frog livers.
After getting down, the two followed Xiongba to explore. Because the traces of the smell of water disappeared from time to time, Xiongba's sense of smell was not very good.
Soon they arrived at the forest on the edge of the canyon. There were a mixture of trees, shrubs and weeds here, and the environment was complex, so there was a high probability that animals were hiding there.
Both of them were very cautious, making almost no sound, and would look around after every two steps.
Xiongba seemed to suddenly smell something on the ground. He looked back at Lin Heng and then walked forward.
Brother Lin Hengchong made a gesture to follow and followed Xiongba. After walking about three or four hundred meters in a winding way, Xiongba stopped in front of a hole.
"This is a weasel's nest!" Lin Heng whispered. He smelled a foul odor as soon as he arrived.
Although weasels smell bad, their fur is more valuable than rabbit skin and can be used to make leather jackets, paintbrushes and sweaters. A good quality one can be sold for ten dollars, so it is worth hunting.
"Then should we use fire to fumigate it?" Lin Yue asked.
Lin Heng nodded: "Yes, wait for Xiongba and I to look for other cave entrances nearby."
Lin Yue nodded and set up a noose trap on the cave so that if the creature suddenly came out, it would be trapped.
He took Xiongba to search nearby and indeed found two more caves. He blocked one of them and set a double trap of noose and clamps at the entrance of the other cave, then went over to light a fire and set off smoke with his eldest brother.
I found some pine needles and smoke started rising all of a sudden. After I fanned it into the cave, I saw smoke coming out of the other hole after a while.
“Ouch!”
Two minutes later, Xiongba shouted, "Brother!" Lin Heng ran over and saw that the weasel had been caught by a noose and a clamp, and a foul smell came out.
“Oh my god!”
Lin Heng had no way to get close and could only wait.
After a few minutes, the weasel was strangled to death by the noose. He endured the stench and picked it up, then used a dagger to cut off the scent glands on both sides of the anus.
The smell was much better after the stink glands were removed, but Lin Heng felt that his tempered steel dagger was a little smelly.
"Hang it on the tree first to get rid of the smell, and then peel it when you come back." Lin Heng shook his head. If his body was covered with this stench, he would forget about hunting other prey.
"Okay." Lin Yue nodded. There should be no other hunters nearby.
After hanging the weasel on the tree, the two continued exploring the forest.
After a while, Lin Heng stopped under a set of footprints and said in surprise: "There are still footprints of musk deer in this place!"
Now he just wants to capture musk deer alive to expand his own breeding population. There are only a few of them, and they are prone to disease due to inbreeding.
The footprints of the forest musk deer are easy to distinguish from those of roe deer and muntjac. Its footprints are sharp triangles, with the front part very pointed and slightly forming an isosceles triangle.
When walking, the two front hooves are close together. When jumping, the two front hooves will separate, forming an eight-shaped shape, and the hanging hoof will also leave footprints.
He has been looking for ways to buy a shotgun recently, the kind of gunpowder injection gun that injects anesthetic. It is sold in China at this time, but it is difficult to find because few people use it.
If we can buy it, the chances of catching musk deer alive in the future will be much greater.
"Look for it quickly." Lin Heng touched Xiongba and signaled it to take action.
Xiongba searched for several hundred meters and a musk deer toilet appeared in front of him. Lin Heng stood still beside the tree and observed the surroundings carefully. After making sure there was no movement, he went to check the feces.
Musk deer are accustomed to defecating at designated spots, and their feces are in piles. The particles are much smaller than those of muntjacs, roe deer and the like, and the difference can be seen at a glance.
“This is a working forest musk deer toilet!”
Lin Heng was a little excited when he saw the fresh feces on the top.
This means that the musk deer is nearby, but it is not known whether it is male or female.
After carefully searching the area, Lin Heng became worried. There were not many chances to find a musk deer, and he could hide in the surrounding area to ambush the musk deer in use, with a high probability of success.
But the annoying thing was that he didn't bring any food with him, and he would go hungry if he didn't go back.
After thinking for a while, Lin Heng asked Xiongba to look at the situation around him, and he set up several noose traps nearby.
After finishing, he retreated carefully without damaging even a single leaf.
After finding his elder brother, he told him about this matter. Lin Yue sighed: "You are so lucky. What are you going to do now?"
"Xiongba is really powerful." Lin Heng smiled slightly and continued, "How about this, I'll go to Tian Baishun's restaurant today, and you go home and tell Xiulan."
Lin Yue shook his head and said, "I think we should just stay here. If the people in the house find out that we haven't returned, they will definitely guess that we were delayed by hunting. Then we can just go back early tomorrow morning after hunting."
Then he added, "When we are not here to build the dam, Dad will definitely take Sandie and Lin Hai to work. We don't have to worry about food. It's not difficult to catch fish."
"That's fine." Lin Heng nodded. He understood that his elder brother also wanted to hunt, so it didn't matter. As long as he could go back early tomorrow.
Xiulan is now under the care of Caiyun, so nothing will go wrong.
Lin Yue added: "Then let's go check out the noose and clamps we set up earlier."
Lin Heng nodded, and the two of them walked around and looked at the noose and clamps that had been set up on the mountain before.
“What a pity!”
After walking for a long time, I finally saw a trap triggered and a big gray rabbit appeared, but unfortunately it was already smelly.
"Traps and clamps should be set in winter. If you don't watch them for a day in the summer, they will go bad." Lin Yue shook his head.
Lin Heng also nodded and said, "Then collect the ones here tomorrow and keep the ones that can be visited every other day."
There was no catch with the noose, so the two had to go back to take the weasel in, and then went to check the ground hook.
Lin Heng caught half a pound of catfish in the first one and was very happy.
The two looked over one by one. They didn't catch any big catfish today. The biggest one weighed only two kilograms. They caught five in total. The rest were either no fish or the bait was eaten but the fish disappeared.
One fish weighed two kilograms, two weighed half a kilogram, and the other two weighed only two taels, which added up to a total of a little over three kilograms.
Coming to the creek outside, the two men raised the two-pound catfish and killed the small one directly, preparing to take it back and grill it later.
The weasel was also killed and skinned, and the meat was prepared to be roasted and fed to Xiongba.
With the fish and the weasel, the two returned to Tian Baishun's shelter. In the middle of the day, the old man was lying under a tree enjoying the cool air, feeling very comfortable.
"It seems that your harvest is not very good. Are you preparing to go back?" Tian Baishun asked with a smile.
"We plan to stay here for another day and borrow your campsite for one night." Lin Heng looked at him and said.
(End of this chapter)
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