Water Margin begins as a captain in Yanggu County

Chapter 3: Really a good man

Dong Jian and his men left, but the leader of the hunters, Lin Mao, still tried to persuade them: "Captain, even if I have to put you in jail, I have to tell you..."

"Don't say anything yet, just follow me up the mountain. Time is tight, so make some preparations first." Su Wu waved his hand and led the way up Jingyang Ridge.

Lin Mao was anxious, and called out to everyone around him, "Hurry, hurry, hurry, catch up with the captain."

A group of dozens of people went to Jingyang Ridge in a mighty manner. In fact, the road was easy to travel on. Usually, there were many merchants and travelers here. There was a canal in Yanggu County, and many businesses in the surrounding prefectures relied on this canal to travel from south to north.

Now, there is no one on the road leading from the provincial capital to the canal dock of Yanggu County. The tiger may have killed dozens of people. No wonder the superior of County Magistrate Meng Yi is so anxious.

This tiger does not necessarily eat all the people it kills, it is more of a territorial consciousness.

Su Wu walked forward while looking around.

"What are you looking for, Captain? I'll help you find it." Lin Mao asked.

"Find a place with soft ground and dense forests." Su Wu replied.

"Captain, follow me. Come this way, cross this place, and go down a little from the north..." Lin Mao was much more familiar with this forest than Su Wu.

When we got there, there was a soft open space under the shade of a big tree, and there were many dry branches and dead leaves on the ground.

"Okay, let's dig here. We must dig a big hole before nightfall!" Su Wu began to make arrangements.

Lin Mao was an old hunter, he understood immediately and quickly gave orders: "Follow the captain's instructions, dig quickly..."

Everyone immediately started to get busy.

But Lin Mao also said: "Captain, are you going to use yourself as bait to lure that beast into the trap? It's not a good idea to be so afraid. If you fail, the consequences will be disastrous. Captain, you should think twice..."

“When risking your life, what’s safe and what’s not? More people are useless. This is the only way. Just listen to my instructions.” Su Wu is of course righteous and awe-inspiring. Behind this righteousness is the intention of winning people’s hearts.

He was even more helpless. In fact, he had tried every method these days, including traps and baits. These were professional hunters, and they had used up all the methods they could. He was really forced to this point, otherwise Su Wu would not have to be so righteous.

"Captain, why take such a risk? Even if it's not possible tonight, at most you'll get a few more beatings tomorrow. Captain, you're taking such a risk. If one of you is not careful..."

"No need to say more, just listen to me. My brothers have been following me for more than a month. Everyone has their own parents and children. How can I bear to continue like this?"

Su Wu's words made Lin Mao and the others all look touched, yet still worried.

Lin Mao was about to say something else.

"Stop talking!" Su Wu also scolded him.

"Alas..." Lin Mao was helpless. He looked around, then looked at Su Wu. He could only turn around and go to the crowd who were working hard to dig pits. Digging traps was the hunter's main job. At this time, even if the hoe was not enough, he took out his sword and dug the soil hard.

The pit must be large and deep. Tigers have strong jumping abilities, so there should be many upside-down blades at the bottom of the pit, and some dry branches and leaves covering it.

The soil also has to be transported far away. Hunters are very familiar with this kind of trap, but it is a huge undertaking. Fortunately, there are many people.

Everyone was busy.

Su Wu was not idle either, and began to collect things from the hunters and yamen runners. Three crossbows were a must, as well as ropes, long spears and long forks...

Collect them and put them in a pile.

Lin Mao said again: "Captain, no matter how many weapons and crossbows you collect, you are afraid that you will really hurt that beast. If you don't hit its vital point, the beast will become even more crazy..."

"Don't worry about it. It's life or death. This is the only chance." Su Wu was determined to give it a try. He had always done so.

The pit is still being dug, the deeper the better.

Two hours later, Su Wu was finally satisfied, and the hunters began to create camouflage, which was their innate skill.

It was almost dusk when Dong Jian finally came back. Several people were panting and holding a set of armor, including a cape, a neck cape, a helmet, a breastplate, a skirt armor, arm guards, leg guards, and a crotch guard...

The Song Dynasty's infantry armor was really good. Even though it was made up of several pieces of scraps, it still looked well-made and weighed more than fifty or sixty kilograms.

"Captain, the brothers really can't bear to see you fight that beast alone. I'll stay with you. Two of us are better than one." Dong Jian still wanted to say, and looked at Su Wu with a look of real pity. "I'm afraid it won't come if there are two of us." Su Wu thought about it, and he remembered the story of Wu Song fighting a tiger, and soon after he killed the tiger, he met two hunters.

The tiger did not go to find the two hunters but Wu Song, which shows that this beast has a really high IQ and knows how to judge the situation.

"Even if he doesn't come, it's better than for the captain to risk his life here alone..." Dong Jian's face was full of worry, and he even looked at Su Wu with a bit of resentment.

Su Wu ignored him. Seeing that the camouflage on the surface of the big pit was almost done, Su Wu made arrangements: "At night, all of you will be divided into two teams. One team will go to the north of the mountain, and the other team will go to the south of the mountain. There is no need to search and drive them away, so as not to really scare the beast. Just stay there..."

This means to drive the tiger towards Su Wu. There is no need to drive it away. Since the tiger can judge the situation, just let it patrol its territory nearby. It will be able to spot Su Wu who invades the tiger's territory, thus ensuring that nothing goes wrong tonight.

Lin Mao already understood and stepped forward to speak.

Su Wu did not give them room to say more and spoke first: "It has come to this. The arrow has been put on the string and must be shot. Stop talking. Let's go! Let's go! Don't make me angry..."

Su Wu was glaring with his eyes and driving away with his hands.

The person who was being chased away would look back every few steps. He wanted to say something but could not, and dared not say anything.

I had no choice but to go down the mountain. It had already been arranged like this...

As they walked down the mountain, Lin Mao said to Dong Jian, "Your chief is a real hero."

"What's the point of saying this now? I just hope that the captain is safe and sound." Dong Jian was very worried.

"It will be fine, it will be fine!" Lin Mao's words sounded like a prayer.

"We have all received a great favor this time!" Dong Jian said, as if he was about to cry, and wiped his eyes with his hands.

"Alas... Everyone knows that the captain is not a mediocre person, but who knew that he is so righteous!" Lin Mao sighed and shook his head, and turned back to look at the mountain reluctantly.

Su Wu was alone on the mountain, but still busy.

The three crossbows had to be arranged at a high place, covered by branches and leaves, with the triggers connected with thin ropes, and then the thin ropes had to be hidden in the tree trunks and branches.

After doing it well, you need to test shoot repeatedly to ensure that there are no mistakes. You also need to adjust the landing point of the crossbow arrow and remember the landing point of the crossbow arrow. This is very important.

Then, he hid the pile of spears and forks everywhere, under dry branches and dead leaves, just to be able to get the weapons at any time and anywhere.

It reminded me of the story of Wu Song fighting the tiger, where Wu Song's whistle stick broke and he was left with his bare hands. He was determined to prevent this situation.

Humans, tens of thousands of years ago, were able to sweep across the earth like horrible upright apes because of weapons. Weapons were indispensable. Even if they were confronting a tiger, their chances of winning would increase exponentially if they had a long weapon in their hands to stab and stab.

You have to stand in front of the pit, not behind it. If you stand behind it, the tiger will not pounce on you easily and you will easily miss. If you stand in front of the pit, you have to let the tiger get close to you first, and it is best to pounce on you first, which means you have to hide first...

The more he thought about it, the more his hair stood up. Just by thinking about it, Su Wu felt the adrenaline in his body begin to surge.

It was still not safe, so he looked around and found a nearby tree. He first lowered a rope to make it easier to climb up the tree, and then placed two spears on the tree.

If there is really no other choice, just climb a tree. Although tigers can also climb trees, you can't defend yourself by stabbing down with a spear from the tree. This is the only way. It is better to be prepared.

Wearing armor, a set of infantry armor weighing dozens of kilograms is inconvenient to wear, but it must be worn, especially the neck cape, which must be tied tightly and tied together with the helmet.

For cats, the first target of their bite is the neck.

Only after the iron armor was put on did Su Wu feel a little relieved and secure. He put a long sword on his waist and placed a few spears on his left and right.

Then, Su Wu went back and forth to various places to practice, rehearsing over and over again. He deeply understood the importance of practice.

I was already tired, so I sat on the ground, ate some pancakes from Wu Dalang's house, drank some water, then stood up and checked everywhere. Even if there were some messy traces, I would clean them up again and try to make the surroundings look normal.

The night gradually darkened, and the forest was completely silent, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind...

Su Wu sat in front of the pit, his eyes wide open, not daring to slack off at all.

The moonlight rose, and fortunately the moonlight was bright, spreading across the distance like silver. However, the big trees cast shadows, and one could only feel gusts of cold wind, which made one's hair stand on end.

(End of this chapter)