ryethenovel Chapter 23 Bloodhounds
Chapter 23 Bloodhounds
"You little punk, trying to bring your dog into the mountains to hunt?"
Newbies have bad luck and short life.
Those who were left behind in the mountains by the mountain god and the old leader and couldn't get out were mostly novices who thought they were lucky.
Chen Tuo was at least a human being, and he had even saved Chen Tuo's life once.
Therefore, Wu Laowai wanted to give him the necessary reminders before he made up his mind to go into the mountains.
Whether in the past or present.
Hunting was either a pastime for the wealthy.
It is either a means of livelihood for the poor.
Those idlers loitering around the mountain area, whether setting traps or using guns, cannot be considered true hunters.
Moreover, there are many intricacies involved in hunting.
Those who know nothing and only care about meat in the mountains will most likely become meat in the mountains themselves.
"Uncle Wu, what can I do? I can't walk, I can't survive, and I can't even catch fish every day. I have to figure out where I'm going to eat!"
Chen Tuo brought out Shui Maozi, and without him having to ask again, Wu Laowai went down to the river bend to help him pack the hides.
Chen Tuo, meanwhile, took the obstacle-clearing knife and began to clean up the catfish that had been killed by the otter.
Even without Wu Laowai's explanation, he knew that catfish had a higher fat content than other fish, making it a good choice for keeping warm in winter.
Busy with their work, they talked about the reasons for fishing and hunting.
Wu Laowai seemed to see his younger self in Chen Tuo.
When I first came of age, I was afraid of being conscripted, so I hid in the mountains to survive.
With the conscription gone, and because his father had a beard, he couldn't find food in Songling and had no choice but to continue running through the mountains.
At that time, if Chu Mingshan hadn't spoken up for him, he probably would have been sent to the border region.
"What are you saying? With the educated youth staying at the settlement and guarding this river bend land, you won't starve!"
Pointing the small knife in his hand to the river bend in front of him, Wu Laowai didn't mind giving Chen Tuo some pointers on how to survive.
"This river bend has dozens of ponds. You can chisel a hole in the ice, cast your line, and there will be fish. But if you're going to go into the mountains, you have neither guns nor cannons. Are you looking for death?"
When talking about the hardships of mountain biking, Wu Laowai recalled the bitterness he had endured over the years, and then he became more talkative.
"You little rascal, are you really planning to raise this dog as a hunting dog?"
"Well! At the very least, we can catch a rabbit or a pheasant, right?"
"If you can't catch them, a good dog is one that can catch a mountain rat! To catch pheasants or rabbits, you either need a lot of dogs, or someone to chase them away..."
Chen Tuo led the conversation astray, and Wu Laowai, halfway through his sentence, pointed to the tattered cotton hat on Chen Tuo's chest and said:
"A good hunting dog is made by starvation, but before that, it needs to get used to the smell of blood. Give me the dog and let it lick some watery blood."
"Uncle Wu, is that really true? Aren't hunting dogs supposed to be the fiercer the better?"
"Good my foot! A coward is a good dog. Otherwise, it would bite anything it catches. Could it outrun a bear or a wild boar?"
"That's true..."
Seeing that Chen Tuo listened to what was said, but did not bring over the puppy hanging on his chest.
Instead, he dipped his finger in catfish blood and smeared it on the mouth of the puppy whose eyes were not yet open.
Old Wu raised an eyebrow; this was indeed a fight.
Last night, in this river bend area, he witnessed the madness and ruthlessness of Chen Tuo, this educated youth; today, he witnessed his solitude.
Mountain runners who make a living by hunting and killing animals.
You can't even mention hunting if you don't have some serious toughness.
"Kuangyao" means believing in one's own abilities.
This is especially important; the ridge is covered with ancient trees and wolf-infested forests, so it's not easy for even seasoned mountain runners to find it.
Even exploration teams equipped with various devices can get lost or stray into the mountains.
If you get lost in the mountains, the worst thing you can do is wander around aimlessly, or the old leader will definitely leave you stranded in the mountains.
Arrogant people, who disregard the heavens and the earth and only recognize their own abilities, are more likely to emerge from the mountains.
In Wu Laowai's view, being independent is the best talent for mountain runners.
When a person is alone, they will be wary of everyone.
The mountains and old forests are not dangerous; what is truly dangerous is the human heart.
You must not be greedy yourself, and you must also be wary of others being greedy.
Only in this way can they leave the mountain area intact.
The three characteristics of being wild, ruthless, and independent are also the summary of Wu Laowai's thirty years of experience running in the mountains.
If you don't know how to do this, it's best not to go mountain running; you might not be able to get back.
"Fish blood is different from animal blood. Don't just assume a dog only knows how to dive into ponds to catch fish, and use this..."
He got up and placed the hide, which was covered in the blood of the fur, next to Chen Tuo. This time, Wu Laowai didn't say anything sarcastic.
"Our dogs aren't afraid of the cold, but they also shouldn't be. Just put them on the snow."
After giving Chen Tuo some advice on dog raising,
Wu Laowai didn't say anything more, he just squatted on the snow shell and carefully treated the other water sprite.
Only when the little red-haired puppy stopped licking the blood off the hide did Chen Tuo pick up an axe handle and walk over to the mountain dog.
Chen Tuo gently placed the puppy on the snow crust. The mountain dog bared its teeth, and Chen Tuo used the handle of the axe to lightly tap its little head.
With Chen Tuo holding it down, the puppy, which hadn't even opened its eyes yet, whimpered and moved to the side of the mountain dog, nudging its head as if looking for milk.
The mother mountain dog was pinned down by Chen Tuo, whimpering pitifully.
The puppy, smelling the milk, started whimpering anxiously.
Wu Laowai, who had stood up, had no interest in watching the strange scene of Shan Gouzi feeding his puppies.
He just stared blankly at Chen Tuo, who was barefoot on the snow.
In Songling, although there are no fools who go winter swimming, there are quite a few people who scrub themselves with snow.
If you get used to rubbing your hands, you'll not only be less likely to get sick, but you'll also improve your health.
But there's a limit to how cold you can withstand.
A fool like Chen Tuo, who walks barefoot on the snow-covered plains of the Hetao Plain, is hard to find even with a lantern.
The danger lies in what Wu Laowai just warned us about.
The Xingan Mountains are so cold in winter that frostbite doesn't give people time to react.
There are many people in the forest farm who are missing noses or ears.
Ask them why they weren't on guard.
The explanation is always the same: there's no feeling.
Before you know it, your nose and ears will be severely frostbitten.
The same goes for hands and feet.
Compared to the nose, ears, and fingers, the toes are more susceptible to frostbite.
If the toes turn purple or black, the best way to treat them is to break off the frozen toes.
What left Wu Laowai stunned was not Chen Tuo's toes that might have been frozen off.
Instead, it was the steam rising from Chen Tuo's feet under the white light of the gas lamp...
At minus 20 or 30 degrees Celsius, your feet will definitely emit steam when you step on the snow.
But it's rare to see steam rising from the ground even after walking dozens of meters.
For a moment, Wu Laowai couldn't help but have the same thought as Xiao Kai.
"Is this kid going to die?"
Thinking of Chen Tuo's internal organs being frostbitten and his high fever, Wu Laowai also thought of the big thing that the old leader had given him.
Seeing that the mountain dog had stopped howling, Chen Tuo turned around and started talking about the withered ginseng again.
"Uncle Wu, I found the ginseng remnant. It originally had five fingers, but I gnawed on one finger, and the other four fingers are covered with teeth marks. There are hardly any tendrils left."
"That's a waste of good stuff. If it were a single ginseng root that's two fingers thick, it would be worth a fortune. But with five damaged branches, even a connoisseur wouldn't pay a high price."
Upon hearing that Chen Tuo had found five ginseng roots, Wu Laowai understood immediately.
Although wild ginseng is also produced in the Xingan Mountains, the real production area is still Changbai Mountain, where the truly good ginseng comes from.
The Xingan Mountains are characterized by low ridges and thin soil, especially the Songling area, which was even logged by the Japanese settlers.
The remaining treasures are either in uninhabited areas or in places where it's impossible to find them, like blind spots.
Wild ginseng is a precious mountain product, valued primarily for its appearance, with its medicinal properties being secondary.
There are very few families that can truly save or prolong a life with ginseng.
It was already in poor condition, and now it's damaged and has teeth marks on it.
Perhaps the ginseng root in Chen Tuo's hand is not even worth half a piece of water chestnut skin.
Seeing that Wu Laowai had lost interest in the remaining ginseng, Chen Tuo asked:
"Uncle Wu, is hunting difficult?"