Chapter 47: Doomsday Survival Essential Stockings
First, keep your hands steady.
Banxia took a deep breath, pushed the bow with her left hand, and pulled the string with her right hand. As the oak bow arm bent slightly, the longbow was pulled to a length of one and a half arms, and then stopped. A huge amount of elastic potential energy was accumulated in the taut bow arm and bowstring, forming a fragile balance with the girl's arms and shoulders, ready to explode at any moment.
Banxia's gaze followed the arrow shaft to the grass across the road. She heard some movement in the grass, a sharp, dog-like barking sound.
That's a muntjac.
Muntjacs are very common in Nanjing. They are a small deer species that often move at night and occasionally appear during the day. Compared with the huge red deer, muntjacs are much easier to hunt.
This is a high-quality source of meat.
Muntjac has three advantages: it is light in body, tender in flesh and falls down easily when shot.
Banxia hooked the bowstring with her index and middle fingers. The taut bowstring was stuck in the groove of the arrow tail. Her left shoulder faced forward, her right shoulder faced backward, and her legs were slightly separated. Her teacher had taught her the essentials of archery. The body should be still but not stiff, steady but not hard, and her shoulders should be relaxed. There is no doubt that Banxia is a good student. Her archery level is now the best in the world.
The girl was at least twenty meters away from her prey, and she knew how to hide her whereabouts and scent. Muntjac is a very timid animal, and will run away at the slightest sign of trouble, so Banxia hid behind a big tree. The overgrown weeds were up to the girl's waist. The breeze blew from the front, and this was the downwind side, so the prey could not smell her scent.
Second, you need to keep your hands steady.
The green bushes rustled, and the girl held her breath as she saw a pair of upright brown ears emerging from among the lush green leaves.
Then its forehead was revealed, with a black "V" pattern on its fur and two pitch-black eyes. Banxia recognized that it was a female red muntjac because the male had sharp horns on its head.
Third, your hands must be steady.
You only have one chance.
Once the arrow has left the bow, it cannot turn back. If it misses the target, it will alert the snake. A muntjac is a vigilant creature, so if the first arrow misses the target, there will be no chance to shoot the second one.
It hid in the lush and green meadow and even the gods couldn't find it.
Ten years after the disappearance of humans, cities have become natural landscapes growing out of the land. The erosion power of nature is far more powerful than anyone can imagine. In just ten years, human buildings can become natural settlements for animals. For the creatures newly born in this era, cities are part of the naturally existing world, just like forests, deserts, mountains and plains, they are just special landforms.
Fifteen years after humans disappeared, the city had become one of the areas with the highest species diversity in the biosphere. The slower the force, the stronger it is. Germinating seeds can crack concrete. Any place where sunlight and rain can enter will be quickly occupied by tenacious weeds, followed by small rodents, and predators that feed on rodents. The high-rise buildings built by humans provided animals with unprecedented three-dimensional living space, and they quickly adapted to the environment. Leopards, cats that are good at climbing, learned to set ambushes on high-rise buildings or viaducts. They are cruel and clever predators, and once caused a lot of trouble for Banxia.
This is a wild world after all.
In the food chain, all creatures play two roles: either prey or hunter. Nature is cruel and bloody, and in the most developed era of human civilization, people often overlooked this point because humans have been away from the identity of prey for too long, and they have not seen the bloody remains of their own kind after being eaten for a long time.
Banxia took aim.
With this arrow, the female muntjac will die.
After killing the prey, Banxia would process it on the spot, peeling off the fur, removing the internal organs, and then cutting a few pieces of the best meat from the back or thighs and taking them away. She would not take the whole prey back, as that would be too troublesome, because the remaining internal organs and fur would have to be transported to a faraway place and discarded to avoid attracting some ferocious scavengers.
For safety reasons, Banxia never hunts within three kilometers of his residence.
Suddenly the bushes began to rustle again.
Banxia was stunned.
She heard the sound of a second muntjac, which was smaller and fainter.
Soon a small deer head emerged from the grass, with soft light yellow fur, erect ears, big black eyes, and two small bumps on the top of its head. It was less than half the size of the previous one, probably a male muntjac that had not yet grown up.
This is a female red muntjac with her cub.
Banxia drew the bow and aimed the arrow at the smaller one.
The smaller ones are tastier and the meat is more tender.
Kill it and take it back to roast. I haven’t eaten barbecue for a long time. I feel hungry just thinking about it. Banxia loosens his fingers and the bowstring suddenly rebounds.
With the sound of breaking through the air, the sharp arrow left the bowstring and flew across a distance of twenty meters at lightning speed, nailing the feet of the red muntjac cub.
The big and the small were both stunned. They turned their heads to stare at the wooden arrow nailed in the grass. The air was silent for a second, and then their bodies jumped up like springs, and they ran for their lives in panic, and disappeared into the grass.
Banxia stood on tiptoe, pulled the straps of her backpack, raised her hands to make a shed, and looked into the distance for a while before a bird was startled.
Run really fast.
The girl walked over slowly, picked up the arrows on the ground, and stuffed them into the quiver on her back.
"My hands are new." Banxia scratched her head. "How unlucky! The meat that was right next to my mouth flew away."
She thought she would practice her archery skills when she got home.
Forget it, if I can’t hit it, then I can’t hit it. Banxia stretched lazily, “If it is destined to happen, it will happen. If it is not destined to happen, don’t force it—!”
I took out my pocket watch and looked at the time. It was 3:30 in the afternoon.
Today's hunting is over, and it's time to check if the traps and snares we set have any results.
The girl crawled out of the bushes and returned to the wide road. She took off her long-sleeved jacket, put it on her shoulders, and wiped the sweat from her face and neck.
It's such a torture to have to wear a long coat in this scorching weather.
But you have to wear nothing. There are all kinds of things in the grass, including scary mosshoppers and even scarier leeches. A single scratch on the skin is enough to cause pain.
The teacher said that the caterpillars are the larvae of the green caterpillar. This damn thing can occasionally be seen under the leaves of the sycamore tree. If you turn over the leaves under the shade, you will find several of them. They are green all over and covered with thorns in clusters. Pinellia is not afraid of caterpillars, but hates this thing very much. If the exposed skin is touched, it will become red and swollen, and it hurts so much that you want to cut off your hands. It is hard to say which one hurts more, it or the rove beetle.
Leeches are not common in normal times, but they will suddenly appear after the rain. Banxia doesn’t know where they come from. These things hang on the leaves one by one. When animals pass by, they will jump up to suck blood and cannot be pulled out.
Stockings are an important item for survival in the doomsday. Wear them on your head and hands when you go into the meadow.
At six o'clock that afternoon.
The black moon is about to rise, and it’s time for Banxia to go back.
She checked all the traps and snares she had set, and as expected, found nothing.
It looks like we didn’t catch anything today. Let’s continue hunting tomorrow.
Banxia stepped into the gate of Meihua Villa, carrying a backpack and a bow and arrow, humming an old song, and walked on the small path in the community.
The girl suddenly felt terrified.
She paused, and almost without thinking, drew her pistol, turned around and aimed.
She felt it again.
Something is staring at me.
The look was crazy and bloody, like sharp canine teeth. Banxia instinctively thought it was a terrible predator, but she couldn't find where it was. She swept her eyes over the lush bushes and grass in the night, but there was no movement.
Banxia held her breath, remained calm, and slowly retreated step by step into the small door of the high-voltage power grid. She pointed the gun forward with one hand and closed the door of the power grid with the other hand.
She backed away into the apartment building, flipped the power switch on the wall, and sparks flew.
After doing all this, the girl slowly sat down against the wall, breathing heavily. She touched her clothes and was covered in cold sweat.
(End of this chapter)
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