Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 964 I like the feeling of being like the wind in the mountains.
Carrying a gun, I leaped quickly through the mountains, my eyes already fixed on the next spot to step on as I ran. I skillfully avoided horizontal branches, tree roots, and scorpion grass, the wind whistling in my ears, the trees rushing past on either side.

Li Long loved this feeling—it had been a long time since he had hunted like this!

Having spent so much time in the county town, Li Long had forgotten when he last went hunting. He hadn't felt anything for it while in the county, but once he was in the mountains, he realized he loved the feeling of hunting, loved the life of holding a gun, chasing prey, and racing through the mountains!
"The wild boar has run far away... Comrade Li Long may not be able to catch up." Someone speculated, watching Li Long disappear into the jungle.

"That's true. The wild boars were only thirty or forty meters ahead of me. As soon as I shouted, they ran away. Li Long even went back to get his gun and chased after them. How could he possibly catch them?" said the young man who had shouted "wild boars" at the beginning.

"Alright, alright, stop talking. It's good that we caught up, then we can have meat for lunch. If we don't catch up, there's nothing we can do."

"Alright, everyone get back to work," the man appointed as the temporary team leader by Li Long shouted. "Boys on both sides, keep an eye out for any other wild animals, wolves or anything like that. Be careful!"

They stopped talking and started working.

After a while, two gunshots rang out in the distance, and the people stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the gunshots.

The trees blocked their view, so they couldn't see anything.

A while later, Meng Hai drove up in his tractor. When the tractor stopped and Meng Hai jumped off, he didn't see Li Long, so he asked the man who was hauling the tree what was going on.

"Just now, the three kids ahead saw a group of wild boars, and Li Long went to chase them."

Meng Hai looked into the deep mountains but saw nothing, so he asked Li Long how things had been arranged.

“The group of three kids in front cut down trees. We piled the trees together. Li Long said, ‘Come over and use the tractor to haul these trees away. After hauling them away, clear the road. Then use the tractor to push the narrow parts of the road open.’”

Since Li Long didn't come, Meng Hai followed Li Long's plan, turning the tractor around and having the others tie the trees together with ropes, then pulling them away one by one with the tractor. Although the ropes Li Long bought were relatively thick, they were still not as good as steel wire ropes, so he dared not pull too many trees at once.

The tractor dragged the tree to a wider valley, then returned to continue dragging it.

While tying the ropes, someone jokingly asked Meng Hai, "Old Meng, what do you think about taking these logs back after the road is finished? They're just sitting here anyway, why not take them back and make some furniture or something?"

“That won’t do.” Meng Hai shook his head. “We don’t have the right to deal with these logs. Li Long ordered the road to be built, and he’s also a forest ranger. We have to listen to him on how to deal with these logs.”

"Old Meng, didn't you understand what Gaqiu meant? He just wants you to ask Li Long if the logs can be taken away," another person said with a smile.

Meng Hai then realized what was happening, glared at the person who had spoken first, and said, "Ga Qiu, you've turned cunning too? Go ask him yourself!"

At that moment, another gunshot rang out in the distance, the sound muffled and not close.

After hearing the gunshot, someone turned to Meng Hai and asked, "Old Meng, should we send a few men to check on Li Long's situation?"

"We can't go!" Meng Hai hurriedly shook his head. "Li Long has a gun; even if he encounters wolves, he'll be fine. What if we get hit by stray bullets if we go?"

Meng Hai's words make a lot of sense; everyone can understand it after thinking about it.

Bullets don't discriminate, and when Li Long hunts in the mountains, he deliberately avoids shooting in that direction.

But if someone goes into the mountains to search, it's hard to say where the stray bullets will go, so it's better to stay here.

Li Long was unaware of the situation regarding the road construction. He picked up his gun and chased after the road into the mountains. Soon after entering the forest, he saw a large area of ​​wild boar hoof prints.

There are many pine cones scattered under the pine trees here. The wild boar must have been eating these things that fell last year when it was disturbed by the road construction workers and ran away.

There were still signs of disturbance in this area, and it was unclear what the wild boar was rooting around in. Li Long followed the tracks the wild boar had left behind.

Although there was no path in the forest, Li Long ran very fast, rushing over some bushes and tall grass without avoiding them. The path ahead gradually became higher, but the slope was not very steep. He could feel that he was running uphill. When he reached a point where the trees were sparse, he saw that he had reached the ridgeline. Wild boar hoofprints crossed the ridgeline and headed southwest.

When Li Long reached the top of the slope and looked down, he saw a group of wild boars crossing the ditch and darting into the slightly flatter bushes ahead.

By this time, the wild boars had slowed down. They obviously didn't realize that Li Long was chasing them, or perhaps because Li Long was quite far away, the wild boars became somewhat lax in their actions once they realized there was no danger behind them.

I want to stop.

Li Long slowed his pace, picked up his gun, bent over, and made his way down the slope under the cover of the bushes.

At this point, he was nearly two hundred meters away from the group of wild boars. Although he had excellent eyesight and could see them, it wouldn't be easy for him to fight them.

So it's better to get closer.

Li Long is tall, so even when he bends down, he is quite noticeable. However, the hillside is covered with dense shrubs and there are some low trees here and there, which allows him to approach quietly.

Li Long made his way down the slope, and when he was still more than a hundred meters away from the wild boar herd, he heard them grunting. They had obviously stopped, and it was unclear whether they were resting or continuing to root for food.

Having reached the bottom of the slope, Li Long lost his commanding view. All he could see were bushes and grass, making it difficult to spot a wild boar. He had no choice but to continue cautiously making his way forward.

To avoid startling the wild boars, he moved very slowly, being extremely careful as he stepped on the grass, afraid that making a loud noise would frighten them.

As he approached the wild boars, Li Long raised his gun. He had already loaded the gun and disengaged the safety while running, and he figured he was now less than fifty meters away from the boars, and that he could probably see them if he stood up.

I straightened up, raised my gun, and aimed. I saw the group of wild boars rooting around on a grassy slope, eating something. There was a low pile of stones at the edge of the slope, and some low shrubs around it.

The group of wild boars included all sizes. Li Long didn't see the largest ones; they were probably in the bushes. In his field of vision, there were a few medium-sized ones, and a dozen or so small spotted wild boars were playfully darting around. Two sows grunted every now and then, probably to keep their piglets from running off.

Li Long aimed at the half-grown wild boar that was rooting around for food, and was about to fire when suddenly some wild boars started squeaking!

The cries were extremely pitiful!

The wild boar herd suddenly erupted into chaos, scattering in all directions. Li Long's attention was drawn by the scream, and when he looked over, he saw a yellow light leaping among the rocks. It had a small wild boar in its mouth, not much smaller than the yellow thing, and it was screaming as it ran away with it!
The wild boar herd quickly noticed the problem, and the two female wild boars that had run away came back and began chasing the yellow light—at this moment, Li Long saw clearly that it was a lynx!
With lynxes around, who would bother hunting wild boars?
Li Long immediately adjusted his gun and aimed at the lynx—the lynx was carrying a wild boar cub in its mouth. After its initial burst of speed, it slowed down—it simply couldn't run fast enough, since the little wild boar cub weighed seven or eight kilograms while it itself only weighed twenty or thirty kilograms!

The mother boar noticed the lynx was small, so she wasn't afraid. She grunted as she chased after the lynx. The lynx was more agile than the mother boar when running among the rocks, but it was hampered by the little creature in its mouth and wasn't as nimble as usual. Li Long was already able to track its movements.

The wild boars that had run away all stopped. One of them was only about 20 meters away from Li Long. At this moment, they did not run back. They stood there blankly, looking back at the pile of stones, waiting for the reaction from that side.

Li Long stood there, holding his gun, slowly adjusting the muzzle, waiting for the right moment to fire.

The lynx eventually got tired, and it was contemplating whether to give up the little wild boar it had in its mouth. Usually, lynxes would catch rabbits, pheasants, and small birds as prey. Today, it was resting in the pile of rocks when the little wild boar curiously came up to it. It would be a shame not to eat the food that was offered to it, so the lynx snatched the little wild boar into its mouth in one gulp.

Then things got chaotic.

One of the two female wild boars plunged into the pile of rocks, while the other spun around outside, clearly intending to corner the lynx. If the lynx were willing to release the baby boar, it could easily escape, but it couldn't bear to!
I haven't eaten meat for over a day, this stuff must taste delicious!
The lynx finally got tired. It carried the little wild boar and jumped onto a rock. It looked around and decided to find a more convenient route to leave. That's when it did!
With a "bang," Li Long's gun barrel stopped, and with a slight flick of his finger, the bullet was fired.

The lynx swayed and fell to the ground. The sow in the pile of rocks hadn't even reacted yet. Seeing the lynx fall, she rushed over to attack it. But Li Long wouldn't allow that. He immediately fired another shot at the sow!
The sow realized what had happened; it was a gunshot. Li Long had shot her in the rump. The sow squealed and turned to run into the bushes.

Seeing that the lynx had stopped getting up, Li Long grabbed his gun and rushed over. With this lynx, today's day was complete.

The other wild boars scattered and ran away, and Li Long didn't even think about fighting them again—the bushes and grass were too tall to see them at all.

Only the baby boar's screams still echoed—it was right where the lynx was. Li Long guessed that when the lynx was killed, its upper and lower teeth bit down directly, and the baby boar couldn't escape and was still being bitten.

Sure enough, when Li Long arrived at the pile of rocks, he saw the lynx lying beside the rocks, its mouth still around the little wild boar's neck. The little wild boar couldn't break free and could only scream in pain.

Seeing the four deep teeth marks on the little wild boar's neck, with blood gushing out, Li Long knew it probably wouldn't survive even if he took it back. So he simply pulled out his knife and slit its throat to let it bleed. He took a folded plastic bag from his backpack, put the lynx and the little wild boar inside, and then carried the bag in one hand and his gun in the other as he walked back.

Just as they were about to reach the top of the slope, a half-grown wild boar suddenly darted out of the bushes beside them and ran up the slope in a flash, grunting as it ran. It was probably scared and hid after hearing the gunshot earlier, but it didn't expect to run into Li Long again.

This wild boar was really unlucky, getting scared three times in one day and experiencing one twist after another. Li Long thought that he should just perform a ritual to help it pass on to the afterlife, so that it wouldn't be frightened again.

He put down the bag, raised his gun, and aimed. "Bang!" Just as the half-grown wild boar scrambled to the top of the slope and was about to run down, Li Long fired.

With the sound of gunfire, the wild boar collapsed to the ground—its body was still twitching, but it was definitely not going to survive.

Although the bullet had great kinetic energy, it wasn't enough to send the wild boar flying.

Regardless, he was killed.

Li Long put away his gun and locked the safety. He picked up the bag and walked up to the wild boar. He found that the wild boar weighed only about 40 or 50 kilograms and looked quite fat. No wonder it hadn't run very fast earlier.

Li Long was quite satisfied with the considerable harvest. As he hurried back to the road construction site, he heard the roar of a tractor, knowing that Meng Hai had arrived.

When he appeared before everyone carrying a bag in one hand and a half-grown wild boar in the other, the workers were quite surprised.

"Hey! Comrade Li, you've hit the mark!"

"Comrade Li Long, is there any in the bag too? I saw blood!"

"Your marksmanship is amazing! If it were me, running that far, how could I possibly catch up..."

"Hey, who said they couldn't win? Look at them..."

Amidst exclamations of admiration and surprise, Li Long walked over to the tractor.

Meng Hai also saw Li Long approaching. He stopped the tractor, leaned out of the cab, and said with a smile:

"Quite a haul!"

"Okay, sure. Call someone over to help us. We'll go to the winter hut and deal with these things, then we can have a good lunch."

"Okay." Meng Hai smiled, glanced around the crowd, and then said:
"Sun Sihai, Ma Ming, you two go with Comrade Li Long to help!"

Two young men who had been chosen walked this way with their tools. Some people envied them, while others joked that they wouldn't have to work anymore.

Sun Sihai and Ma Ming came over, one offering to help Li Long carry the wild boar and the other to help carry the bag. Li Long pointed at the wild boar and said, "You two can carry it."

He nodded to Meng Hai, picked up the bag, and headed towards the winter shelter.

It was still some distance from the wintering grounds of Yushan River. The two young men put their tools in the back of the small four-wheeled tractor, then carried the wild boar and followed Li Long over.

"Comrade Li Long, what's in your bag?" Sun Sihai had worked with Meng Hai and Li Long before, so he was quite familiar with Li Long and took the initiative to ask.

He was curious himself.

“Lynx,” Li Long said as he walked. “They’re not very big, and the meat isn’t very tasty.”

"Huh? A lynx?"

"It's something like a little tiger?"

Upon hearing this, both Sun Sihai and Ma Ming exclaimed in surprise.

Their screams even drowned out the sound of the tractor, drawing the attention of everyone else.

"Sihai, what's wrong?" someone asked loudly.

"Comrade Li Long has killed a lynx!" Sun Sihai couldn't wait to share the news, as if that would share his surprise as well.

"What? A lynx?" This time, more than one person was surprised.

Many people put down their tools or picked them up and ran over.

"Comrade Li Long, let us take a look?" Sun Sihai said with a smile. "I've never really seen this before, I've only heard about it..."

Li Long wasn't stingy; he put down the bag and took out the lynx.

Its fur is entirely yellow with patterns, and it doesn't particularly resemble a tiger; rather, it looks more like a big cat.

Since it was already dead, it no longer looked as ferocious as it had when it was biting the wild boar; instead, it was rather cute—incredibly cute.

The crowd immediately gathered around the lynx, pointing and staring. Some even reached out and carefully touched its fur, while others, seeing that the creature was dead, stroked its pointed ears and claws.

"Alright, alright, just look and that's enough, get back to work!" Meng Hai shouted, sticking his head out of the tractor. "We'll eat soon, and then we'll know everything once we taste it!"

"Ha ha ha ha."

"Yes, yes, we'll eat it in a bit!" Someone said this while glancing at Li Long, perhaps to confirm whether Li Long would allow them to eat it.

To be honest, Qingshuihe Village is near the mountains, and wild boars are not uncommon; we've hunted and eaten them before. But this thing is extremely rare; most people have only heard of it but never seen it.

Now, a lynx that is alive... no, completely dead, is right in front of them, and everyone is bound to be curious.

When people see something they've never seen before, their thoughts are usually similar to what they would have decades later: What is it? Can I eat it? Does it taste good?

Although Li Long said this stuff doesn't taste good, that doesn't stop them from trying it. Maybe Li Long's cooking is bad, and they can improve it? Little Tiger, you might never have the chance to taste this stuff in your whole life!
The workers quickly gathered around, then dispersed just as quickly because of Meng Hai's words. Li Long put the lynx back into the bag and carried it forward. At this point, Sun Sihai and Ma Ming became more talkative, asking Li Long how he caught the lynx, and whether it was fierce, etc.

Upon arriving at Yushan Jiangdongwozi, the two immediately began working—building a stove, collecting wood, chopping firewood, and coal.

Li Long then started peeling the skins right next to the pool.

Li Long started by skinning the wild boar. He planned to cook the meat first, and then carefully skin the lynx—although it was summer skin, it was still a lynx!

Li Long guessed that this one piece of leather, at its current price, could already buy a regular small four-wheeled vehicle—mainly because it's so rare.

Lord, you are very precious!

Ma Ming and Sun Sihai built the stove, but now they were missing a pot.

“Go to my jeep, there’s a pot in the trunk,” Li Long said to Sun Sihai. “There’s also a floral cloth bag with seasonings in it, bring it over too.”

We're ready to get started.

(End of this chapter)