In the early morning of the next day, Ling Yun and Li Haoyang heard some noises outside the door while they were sleeping. At this time, the door had been opened. Li Dongming and Xiao Hei were not in the room. The sunlight happened to shine in from outside the door, shaking them. Don't open your eyes. They both squinted and sat up at the same time. After smelling the smell of barbecue coming from outside the house, they jumped out of bed and trotted out of the house. Li Dongming was reheating the barbecue that he had not finished last night, and Xiao Hei was also nibbling on the bones and minced meat. Seeing Ling Yun and Li Haoyang coming out, Li Dongming stood up and handed them two roasted rabbit legs. The two took the rabbit legs and wolfed them down. Li Dongming looked at the two of them eating and tore a piece of rabbit meat into his mouth. , another wry smile of helplessness and relief. In this spring season, hunting is really a helpless act. After surviving this period, you still have to rest for a while and let the animals in the mountains breed for a while.
After breakfast, Li Dongming wrapped the remaining half of the rabbit meat in leaves and stuffed it into his arms. According to the plan last night, several people picked up the hunting tools, closed the doors and windows, and went down the mountain happily. After a while, the group of people came to the fork in the road at the foot of the mountain. Li Dongming went straight to the place where the animal trap was set up the night before. Ling Yun and Li Haoyang only then remembered and hurriedly followed.
When I arrived at the location where the bear traps were set up last night, I only saw one bear trap nearby with a lot of blood and some fur on it, while the other two bear traps were missing.
Li Dongming picked up the animal trap on the ground and asked Xiao Hei to lead the way. They followed the blood trail and searched for it. Under Xiao Hei's leadership, the three of them searched for dozens of feet away. From a distance, they saw a thorn bush in front of them. There was a black wild boar lying down. There were two animal traps on the left forelimb and right hind limb of the wild boar. They were the two traps arranged by Li Dongming. At this time, Xiao Hei had already rushed to the wild boar and was surrounding the wild boar on the ground. Spin in circles.
Seeing this, Li Dongming used a hatchet to cut open the vines and branches blocking the road, and quickly ran forward to check. It was an underage wild boar, weighing about forty or fifty kilograms. Two of the wild boar's legs had been captured. Jia Shengsheng's bones were broken and he could no longer walk. He was already exhausted when he was lying on the ground. When he saw someone approaching, he lightly kicked his limbs and wanted to stand up again, but he was unable to move due to excessive blood loss.
Ling Yun and Li Haoyang were so happy that they had captured such a big prey. They squatted down carefully and gently touched the belly of the wild boar. However, Li Dongming frowned when he saw this, and he bent down to take it off. The bear traps on the wild boar's feet said to the two of them: "Two bear traps caught this little wild boar, and both legs have been broken, while the other bear trap was broken free, and it was probably What is trapped is an adult wild boar. This wild boar is vindictive by nature. At this time, we injured its foot and killed its children. When the wound heals, it will definitely come back to seek revenge. You should be more worried when hunting here in the future!" Li Haoyang and Ling Yun He nodded and said yes. Li Dongming handed all the things on his body to Li Haoyang and Ling Yun, while he picked up the wild boar on the ground and greeted them back to the cabin.
Back at the hut, Li Dongming placed the wild boar inside, closed the door, and bolted the door. This round and round was delayed for more than half an hour. In the blink of an eye, it was past midnight, and several people descended the mountain again, running towards the cow dung col. Their original goal was to visit Jinji Ridge, so they did not bring any more animal traps this time. They did not focus on hunting along the way. They only caught a three to four kilogram hare, which was carried in Li Haoyang's hand. A flower-backed pheasant also escaped on the way. In this mountain forest, apart from some wild beasts such as jackals, tigers and leopards, there are not many other prey species. Most of them are pheasants, hares, wild boars, and muntjacs. Occasionally, you can also encounter a few monkeys, Bamboo rats, civet cats, weasels and the like.
Because they had cleared a barely passable road yesterday, they arrived at the small river in less than an hour this time. The three of them briefly washed themselves in the small river, filled the bamboo tubes with clean river water, and started flowing. After crossing the river, we came to the other side and headed towards Jinji Ridge.
After walking for less than half an hour, an endless stretch of hills appeared in front of several people. Li Dongming stopped, pointed to the hills in front and said to the two of them: "The highest point of the hill in front is Jinji Ridge. This mountain forest is no better than the cow dung pit. There are many wild beasts here, and tigers are also very common. During the day, the wild animals generally do not come out to move around. If it comes at night, you must be careful, even for experienced hunters. , and don’t want to stay there at night!”
Hearing this, Ling Yun and Li Haoyang couldn't help but feel nervous. Although Li Haoyang has followed his father and grandfather into the mountains for hunting for many years, he has never been here. He has only visited Niu Shi Ao. I have seen jackals in Niu Shi Au, but I have never seen tigers. I only heard his grandfather say that there are tigers in Niu Shi Au. When I heard Li Dongming also said that tigers often appear in Jinji Ridge, my heart began to change. Got a little scared. Ling Yun was even more nervous than him. He held a spear in his left hand and grabbed the corner of Li Haoyang's clothes with his right hand. Seeing him like this, Li Haoyang suddenly seemed to become brave again out of a desire to protect his brother with a different surname. He straightened up, coughed twice, grabbed Ling Yun's hand and said, "Ling Yun, don't be afraid, Brother Yang is here. Besides, my father is the most powerful hunter in our town, and he is hunting here. It has been decades and we have never failed, and there is Xiao Hei to protect us. Look at Xiao Hei, he is as strong as a calf. Even if he encounters a tiger, he might be able to kill it!" Li Haoyang was exaggerating. After all, Xiao Hei was just a hunting dog. If he encountered a wolf, not to mention a tiger, he would be so frightened that his legs would become weak. Seeing Li Haoyang bragging, Li Dongming smiled and shook his head. He didn't know what to say, but just urged them to walk faster.
The mountain road was difficult to travel, so the group of people walked on the hills for an hour, and finally arrived at the highest point mentioned by Li Dongming - Jinji Ridge. Li Dongming raised his head and looked at the sun above his head. It was already noon, and the spring sunshine was shining on it. My body was warm and extremely comfortable.
Li Dongming looked around. This Jinji Ridge was not like Yangxian Ridge, where the mountain was full of big rocks, nor was it like Niu Shi Ao, which was densely covered with trees. Although the trees here are lush, they do not block the sun. They are mostly fir trees and camphor trees, occasionally mixed with a few other tree species. The ground is covered with black ferns and various unknown weeds.
Li Dongming pointed to a hill to the north and said to the two of them: "Go down from here and walk not far. The hill in front is Fenggang. After crossing Fenggang and walking forward for half an hour, there are still many trees in the forest. There is a big mountain, and that is Juelong Ridge. We hunters only move within the scope of Jinji Ridge and Niushiao, but we must not cross Fenggang, especially not go to Juelong Ridge." Ling Yun and Li Haoyang When the two heard that the place was called Juelong Ridge, they immediately became interested. They also heard Li Dongming warn them not to go there, which aroused their curiosity even more. Li Haoyang quickly asked: "Dad, what is there on Juelong Ridge? Why can't you go?"
Li Dongming took out the rabbit meat from his arms, gave a little to each of them, and said: "Let's eat something first, there's only so much left, just make do with it, and see if we can eat more when we go back later." When we get some prey, we can eat more when we go back." They slowly ate the river water in the bamboo tubes and gave the remaining bones to Xiao Hei. They had no choice but to share it among the three of them. I feel wronged by this little black guy.
The three of them were eating rabbit meat when they suddenly heard a tiger roar not far away. The sound was loud and clear. After searching for a while, they found that it was coming from Fenggang, although Fenggang was half an hour away from Jinji Ridge where they were. However, looking from the top of the mountain, I could vaguely see something shaking in the woods opposite. Although I couldn't see it clearly, I could see that there was more than one tiger among the thorns in the forest.
Seeing this scene, Li Dongming became a little worried. He didn't care, he would be able to escape the danger, but it would be terrible if he took these two little guys and encountered a tiger. So, he quickly swallowed the last bite of rabbit meat, and while beckoning the two of them to go back, he said: "Although Fenggang and Jinji Ridge are less than an hour away, the number of jackals, tigers and leopards in that area is ten times that of It is said that if you go to Jinji Ridge and go to Juelong Ridge, you will encounter beasts everywhere!"
Li Haoyang asked: "How did dad know that there are many ferocious beasts there? Have you ever been to Fenggang and Juelong Ridge?" Li Dongming replied: "If dad had been to Juelong Ridge, you wouldn't be a little brat like you." Well, these legends about Fenggang and Juelong Ridge have been passed down orally from generation to generation in our town!"
Ling Yun followed Li Dongming and listened quietly, but Li Haoyang interrupted: "Has anyone in our town been there?" Li Dongming replied: "When my father was a child, he once heard the elders in the village say that Juelong Ridge A long time ago, it was not like it is now. It was a no-man's land. It is said that there used to be some Jianghu gang there. No one knows the name of this gang now. Some say it is called Shenlong Gang, some say it is called Shenlong Gang. No one from the Shenlong Sect has an accurate statement. This gang seems to have many properties in other places and is never short of money and food, but those people are entrenched in the Juelong Ridge and very few people move around. I don’t know the reason later. , and suddenly all those people disappeared!”
After hearing this, Li Haoyang and Ling Yun asked in unison: "Disappeared?" Li Dongming took off the bamboo tube from his waist, took a sip of water, and then said: "Yes, disappeared. No one knows why those people disappeared suddenly. In fact, , Meilin Town used to not be as sparsely populated as it is now, especially our Baiyun Village, which had thirty or forty households, which was not much different from Liujia Village and Lujia Village at that time. Most of the people in our village were hunters, and in Liujia Village There are also several hunters in Lujia Village. At that time, the hunters in the town would go to the Juelong Ridge to hunt, and they could also meet people from the gang going down the mountain to fetch water. The prey they caught were often sold to the gang. People exchanged money and food and returned to the town. Although there were many wild beasts in Fenggang and Juelong Ridge at that time, they were only about the same as Niushiao and Jinji Ridge at that time. But after the gang members disappeared, they went hunting there again. of people, but none of them have come back!”
When Ling Yun and Li Haoyang arrived here, they were too shocked to make a sound. But after all, they are both children at heart, so they couldn't help but ask: "What happened next?" Li Dongming continued: "Later, the people in the town waited for more than a month and still didn't see the villagers who went into the mountains to hunt. When we came back, none of the people who went in later came back, so we started organizing hunters to search in the mountains!" He said and took another sip of water.
Li Haoyang asked anxiously: "What happened next? Did you find it?" Li Dongming shook his head and said: "The searchers went in batches after batches, but no one came out. They all disappeared in the Juelong Ridge. In some cases, even the whole family went in to look for the person, and there was no news from them all!"
Li Haoyang and Ling Yun were shocked and frightened after hearing this, but they still couldn't hold back their curiosity, so they had to ask in a low voice: "What happened next?" Li Dongming continued: "Later, someone discovered that in the entire Juelong Ridge, there were people all over the mountains and plains. It’s a ferocious beast, even Fenggang is often filled with tigers and leopards!”
Li Dongming turned around and glanced at their eyes, which were still full of fear and curiosity, and then said: "Since then, Juelong Ridge has become a forbidden area for hunters. In order to prevent anyone from straying into Juelong Ridge, some people have The words "Juelong Ridge Forbidden Land" were engraved on a huge stone between Fenggang and Juelong Ridge to remind people in the town not to enter. Since then, no hunter in the town dared to enter the Juelong Ridge We went hunting in the ridge. Everyone can only hunt within the scope of Niushiao and Jinji Ridge. Those who are more courageous will also go to Fenggang, but they will never dare to cross the boundary stone at the foot of Fenggang Mountain. Those who are timid As for us, we can only catch pheasants and hares near our village. In fact, there are wild boars in our village, but we don’t hunt them in front of our homes, so we are easily retaliated by wild boars!”
Ling Yun hugged Li Haoyang's arm and asked in a low voice: "Uncle Ming, did you say that anyone in our village has ever been to Fenggang?" Li Dongming touched his head and said: "Yes! My father , that is, Yangyang's grandfather, went to Fenggang when he was young! According to his own words, Fenggang is full of wild beasts. Even if he encounters prey, he does not dare to take action. If he is not careful, he will be exposed. If If he bumped into a tiger, leopard or something, that would be a disaster! He thought that my mother was still at home with me waiting for him to go back, so he had to come back secretly. "
Seeing that Li Dongming had stopped again, Li Haoyang hurriedly asked: "Dad, what happened next?" Li Dongming took another drink of water and was about to continue talking. Suddenly, a black figure behind him jumped out into the grass next to him, Li Haoyang and Ling Yun. I was scared to death. Looking sideways, he saw Xiao Hei rushing towards a pheasant in the grass. The pheasant didn't even struggle much, but its neck was bitten off by Xiao Hei. It fluttered in Xiao Hei's mouth and flapped its wings in vain.
Li Dongming stepped forward quickly, took the pheasant from Xiaohei's mouth, and weighed it in his hands. Good guy, it weighs five or six kilograms! He quickly bent down and touched Xiao Hei's head and praised: "Well done Xiao Hei, I'll give you one of these pheasant legs when you get back!" After saying that, he carried the pheasant and continued to walk back with Li Haoyang and Ling Yun.
Seeing that Xiao Hei had captured such a big pheasant, Li Haoyang and Ling Yun just touched Xiao Hei's head, without even looking at the pheasant in Li Dongming's hand. The two of them asked at the same time: "Uncle Ming! Dad! You haven't finished speaking yet. What happens next?" Seeing this, Li Dongming shook his head helplessly, sighed and said, "You guys, you are only here to listen to the story, but... We’ve forgotten all the business we came here for! If it weren’t for Xiao Hei, we would have gone back empty-handed this time!” Li Haoyang raised the hare in his hand and said, “Dad, isn’t there another rabbit here? Really?" Li Dongming chuckled and said, "Well, if you like to hear it, I will continue to tell you. By the way, where did I just talk?"
"Speaking of which, people in the village no longer dare to go hunting in Juelong Ridge," Ling Yun replied hurriedly.
Li Dongming continued: "Well, after that, gradually, the scope of hunting was reduced by more than half. There were more people and less prey. It was no longer possible to feed so many hunters just relying on the prey from Niu Shi Ao and Jinji Ridge. So what? , many hunters either changed their careers to other livelihoods, or moved their families away from Meilin Town, and in the end only a few people were left. As for the hunters, our family is the only one left. There are still a lot of people in the town. If you want to leave, don’t you think Liu Guangcai’s family in Liujia Village also heard that they are moving to Jinling?”
At this point, the story is almost finished, but Ling Yun and Li Haoyang are still thinking about it. At this time, several people came to the small river in Niu Shi Ao.
Li Dongming was about to go down to the river to fill more water, but he felt someone tugging at the corner of his clothes. He turned around and saw Ling Yun pulling at the corner of his clothes and pointing to the left bank. Li Dongming followed Looking in the direction of his finger, not far away there was a spotted tiger lying on the river beach drinking water. This tiger is over nine feet long and extremely strong. Li Dongming was shocked and thought something was wrong. He was so focused on telling the story that he didn't realize that there was such a huge tiger here. If this beast were to hit him, they wouldn't be enough for it to eat. Li Dongming made a silent gesture towards Li Haoyang and Ling Yun, and led them back gently.
They took a long detour before returning to another location by the river. They simply replenished some drinking water and hurried back, not daring to stay for even more than a quarter of an hour.
By the time the three of them returned to the cabin, it was already dark. Li Dongming was still frightened when he recalled the scene just now, and told Li Haoyang and Ling Yun to be more careful when hunting in this mountain forest in the future. After explaining for a while, he started busy skinning the hare and roasting it for dinner.
After roasting the hare, Li Dongming found that the bamboo tube containing salt was empty, so he put the small bamboo tube in his arms and prepared to take it back to replenish the salt and bring it back next time.
A few people ate a few bites in a hurry. Because there was no salt, the hare tasted lacking a lot of flavor. The three of them didn't eat much. Only the little black one had a good taste this time. He didn't care whether there was salt or not. , half of the hare got into its belly.
Because it was getting late and he encountered a tiger, Li Dongming did not dare to stay outside the house for too long. After dinner, they simply cleaned up and wrapped the uneaten rabbit meat in leaves. The three of them and the dog entered the hut together.
Ling Yun and Li Haoyang collapsed on the bed as soon as they entered the room. Li Dongming hung the wrapped rabbit meat on the wall, tied the door, and loosened the rope of the live hare. Li Dongming was just lying on the floor to rest when Li Haoyang suddenly turned over and sat up and said, "Dad, when I was a child, I heard my grandfather say that there are dragons on the Juelong Ridge. Is it true?" Ling Yun heard his question and immediately became confused. Feeling energetic, he jumped up, stretched his neck, and sat on the edge of the bed side by side with Li Haoyang, staring directly at Li Dongming. Li Dongming smiled bitterly. He knew in his heart that once the child's curiosity was aroused, he would definitely not be able to sleep until it was satisfied. But he was indeed a little tired at this time, so he continued to lie down and said: "There are no dragons or phoenixes in this world. What your grandfather said are just ancient legends and cannot be true!"
