The trees in the forest area of Chanan Village are often twenty or thirty meters tall, lush and green, blocking out the sun. Walking in the forest, you can't see the starry sky above at all.
As I walked along the mountain path, I kept a close watch on my surroundings.
There were many sheep droppings scattered around the road, which looked like a road that the villagers often used for herding.
"Waaaaah~~"
As we walked, a crying sound suddenly came from the woods ahead, accompanied by the laughter of an old man.
Although Xu Le was a shaman, he clearly hadn't been to the forest area much. Hearing the sounds ahead, he stopped warily: "Everyone, be careful!"
"Go ahead without worry, I'm a night owl."
Old Xiong walked at the front of the group without pausing his steps: "There are all kinds of animals in this mountainous area. Some of them make rather eerie noises. I'll warn you if there's any danger."
I spend all year round in the forest, so I'm basically immune to those sounds. Instead, I'm more concerned about something else: "Uncle Bear, what kind of carnivores live in these mountains?"
Old Xiong, leading the miners with a headache, walked at the front with a hunting rifle in hand and introduced them to me: "Wild boars, tigers, black bears, wolves, Far Eastern leopards... most of them are nocturnal carnivores, so we are very wary of going up the mountain at night."
"These beasts should have a strong sense of territory and wouldn't wander off, right?"
Looking at the old bear's back, I said, "Since you've been a hunter for decades, you should know a lot about the range of these animals."
"I have some understanding of it, but the forest area is not like a zoo. Once the prey in the wild animals' range is not enough to fill their stomachs, these beasts will still run out."
Old Xiong led us onto a side path and continued, "Right now, the wild beasts in the mountains have no shortage of food and rarely venture into human-inhabited areas, so they pose little threat to us! Moreover, in this forest, the greatest threat to humans has never been wild beasts."
The monkey followed behind me and asked, "You mean those poisonous insects?"
Old Xiong lit a cigarette to scare away the mosquitoes attracted by the light: "Yes, but poisonous insects are only one aspect! Compared to ferocious beasts like tigers and black bears, the most terrifying things in this place are forest pythons and wild dogs."
I was a little curious: "I know pythons are scary, but what's so scary about wild dogs?"
"Because there are packs of wild dogs! In the past, this was a forest area. When workers went into the mountains to cut timber, they would often encounter wild animals, so most of them had the habit of keeping dogs! Later, the forest farm was changed into a protected area, and those workers left!"
In those days, transportation was inconvenient, and people couldn't bring their dogs on trains. Except for a few who took their dogs with them, the rest remained here, becoming stray dogs. Generation after generation, their numbers grew exponentially.
Old Bear stopped under a tree, examining the tracks in the grass: "Pythons and venomous insects are cold-blooded animals, and attacking people is their instinct! As for wolves, tigers, leopards, and the like, they hunt to fill their stomachs. They rarely attack people unless they have food and are not threatened. Wild dogs, on the other hand, only attack people to play with them. As soon as they see a person, they will definitely attack."
This is the first time I've heard of wild dogs being more terrifying than tigers: "Do the wild dogs in the mountains have fixed territories?"
"There are too many wild dogs in this forest, divided into many groups. And dogs are smart. Once they sense that their territory is threatened, they will move to another place and often roam in the mountains."
Old Bear plucked a tuft of fur from a dry branch and gestured to me: "Unfortunately, there's a pack of wild dogs right here. Judging from the tracks, they must have just been in this area."
The oldest among them, Uncle Kang, interjected, "Can we avoid it?"
"No, because the place you're going to isn't far from here."
Old Xiong took off his backpack and used his machete to cut a few tree branches: "I have strips of cloth, tar paper, wire and kerosene in my bag. Let's make some torches. Most of the dogs in these mountains have rabies and are quite sensitive to firelight."
I cut off a tree branch, took out some materials from Old Bear's backpack, and tied them to the branch with wire. At the same time, I asked the monkey and Song Laosan beside me, "Did we bring any rabies vaccines?"
"Don't worry, I almost got a psychological trauma from going to the Ze King's Tomb, how could I not bring it?"
The monkey patted its backpack: "Even if everyone here gets bitten by rabid dogs, this will be enough."
In no time, we each had a torch. Old Xiong told us to light all the torches before we set off again.
I saw Xu Le holding the torch straight up, and I grabbed her wrist to correct her: "The top of the torch is covered with flammable oily substances. If you hold the torch at a 90-degree angle, the dripping wax will fall on your skin. When you hold the torch, you have to tilt it to the right front to ensure that you don't burn your hands or get the wax dripping onto your legs and feet."
Old Xiong looked at me after hearing what I said and said, "You're quite experienced. These days, there aren't many people who know how to use a torch."
“I’m an outdoor adventure enthusiast and used to go camping all the time.”
I made up an excuse and changed the subject: "Uncle Xiong, how much longer until we get there?"
Old Xiong pointed ahead with his chin: "After this mountain ridge, the valley ahead is called Human Bone Gully. The two dead sheep we brought back to the village were found in that gully! Normally, shepherds don't graze their sheep that way, so the lost sheep must have run there on their own. It's said that there used to be a rock salt mine upstream of Human Bone Gully. Sheep love to eat salt, so they always like to run that way."
Upon hearing the name, Sister Hua frowned and asked, "Human Bone Gully? Why would it be called that?"
"I heard from the older generation that during the Japanese invasion of China, the infamous Unit 731 had a secret research department in the mountains around Ren Gutou Gou, where they secretly conducted research on the plague. Later, after the Japanese were defeated, some cowards who refused to admit defeat hid in these mountains, wanting to resist by fighting guerrilla warfare."
But the Japanese high command, fearing word of their horrific acts would spread, sent a unit to wipe out all their comrades in the stronghold! It's said that after the Japanese surrendered, the Nationalist army sent men to search the mountains, but found nothing!
Old Xiong used his knife to cut off the branches that were in the way, and continued to say as he led the way: "I heard that this ditch was originally called Shankou River Ditch. Later, a great flood washed out a lot of human bones in this ditch, so it was renamed this name. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was registered under this name."
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