1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

After extinguishing the fire and carrying the wild boar, the Qingyang Mountain Patrol Team set off again.

But no one expected that they had only walked less than two miles down the mountain.

Suddenly, another pitiful howl of a dog rang out from the woods behind them.

"Aww!!"

Chen Gaoshan's face was ashen, and he gritted his teeth.

"Damn it, this thing is never going to stop, it's addicted to biting dogs, isn't it?"

Without saying a word, he threw the wild boar on his shoulder to the ground and turned around.

The dark, swarming creature had somehow sneaked up behind them, pounced from the shadows, and clung tightly to Big Yellow's back, tearing at the flesh with its fur.

Big Yellow was in so much pain that it jumped and flailed all over the ground, howling loudly.

Seeing their brother being ambushed, the remaining nine hunting dogs instantly bristled, turned around and charged, surrounding the little creature once again, and a new round of melee broke out.

Ma Wanzhong was holding a Type 38 rifle, stamping his feet in frustration, his teeth itching, but he just couldn't fire it.

When a pack of dogs is huddled together, it's impossible to tell friend from foe. If a shot is fired, the first one hit will definitely be one of your own hunting dogs.

He was so angry that he started cursing.

"Holy shit, what kind of weird thing is this? It's not that big, but it's so fierce and persistent."

No one expected that this inconspicuous little thing would be so persistent, clinging to the group and refusing to let go.

Qian Zhuizi frowned as she watched the pack of dogs locked in a fierce battle with the malevolent little creature.

"Captain, is it because we took its prey that this bastard is holding a grudge and is coming after us for revenge?"

Chen Gaoshan's face darkened considerably. "You dog that bit my dog, don't even think about getting away with it," he said, and immediately began giving orders.

"Uncle Wanzhong, quickly blow the whistle to call all the dogs back. Make sure they don't get bitten. This thing has to die today. If it doesn't die and sneaks down the mountain with us, comes into the village and bites the children, then we'll be in big trouble."

This guy is really cunning.

Just like before, after taking a bite of meat, it didn't linger. With a twist of its body, it darted away and leaped up the pine tree after a few kicks.

The nine hunting dogs below were so angry that they jumped around the tree trunk.

Even more bizarrely, within a short while, several dogs started gagging and vomiting on the spot, their eyes watering.

Immediately afterwards, a stench that seemed to penetrate the brain drifted over on the wind, heading straight into people's noses.

Ma Wanzhong quickly blew his whistle.

Big Yellow and Little Yellow also drooped their heads, tucked their tails between their legs, and retreated listlessly.

When he went closer and saw Da Huang's injury, his heart sank.

A large chunk of flesh was torn off his back, and it was covered in blood.

That little thing must have bitten off-target and missed the leg bone, otherwise Big Yellow's hind leg would have been ruined.

The stench was still on the dog hair, it was so foul it made people feel nauseous, and Chen Gaoshan barely managed to hold it in and not vomit on the spot.

He covered his nose, frowned, and wondered why the smell sounded so familiar.

Based on the footprints, I've got it.

The next second, he and Ma Wanzhong next to him made eye contact, and they both blurted out at the same time.

"Human-footed badger".

Chen Gaoshan nodded emphatically.

"That's right, it's this thing, also called a wolverine, no wonder it can kill a green stag."

This thing is a complete hybrid of a mountain creature, possessing the traits of a wolf, badger, weasel, and bear.

It's a whole size bigger than its African relative, the honey badger; the honey badger looks like a little brother next to it.

Any wild animal with "badger" in its name is a formidable foe; they are all ruthless.

This thing is the most despicable; it has its own odor glands that emit a poisonous smell. When it gets angry, it releases its odor, which can stun and scare away wild animals several times its size.

In Siberia, where temperatures drop to tens of degrees below zero, the carcasses of animals that have starved to death freeze as hard as rocks, yet wolverines can still bite through them and decompose the carcasses to store food.

This thing looks unremarkable, weighing only fifty or sixty pounds and a little over a meter long, but its bite force is several times stronger than that of a hunting dog.

They can also hunt large reindeer. These herbivores are large, and once their legs are bitten off, they can only wait to be eaten.

Chen Gaoshan stared at the dark shadow in the tree, suppressing his anger.

"You bastard, you've ruined my dog's life. I'm going to shoot you today."

He picked up his submachine gun, aimed at a tree branch, and pulled the trigger, unleashing a burst of fire.

"Da da da da".

More than ten bullets covered the tree branches and blind spots, causing branches and wood chips to fly everywhere and pine needles to fall.

Then, a loud clanging sound came from above.

The wolverine fell straight down from the tree.

Before it could even struggle to turn over, the nine hunting dogs instantly turned red with rage and pounced on it, ready to tear its skin apart.

Ma Wanzhong rushed over and reached out to block and separate the pack of dogs.

"Don't eat it, it'll be a waste if the skin is ruined."

It took a lot of effort to pry the excited hunting dogs away, which saved the wolverine's intact fur.

Ma Wanzhong bent down, grabbed one of its hind legs, and lifted the whole wolverine up.

"Shanzi, your shot was spot on! It didn't damage the leather at all. That bastard was scared by the sound of your gun and fell down."

"This human-footed badger is indeed much bigger than a badger that weighs about ten pounds. It must weigh close to forty pounds. Its skin is really thick. I'll take it back and cut it up to make a pair of winter knee pads. They'll definitely block the wind."

He paused, then pouted in disgust.

"The meat is definitely inedible; it stinks even worse than a badger's dog."

Chen Gaoshan stared at the scourge, getting angrier and angrier. He really wanted to grab it by the tail and smash it against a rock a few times to vent his anger.

The healthy yellow dog had a large chunk of its flesh bitten off for no reason, suffering greatly.

"Uncle Wanzhong, you can use the meat to feed the dogs. It doesn't have much fat, and you can't render oil from it. I'll take the hide."

Wang Tongsuo looked at the badger with human feet in Uncle Wan Zhong's hand.

"I've heard my dad say that this thing holds grudges. If we take its prey, it will definitely come back. Luckily, it didn't bite anyone."

Regardless of anything else, Chen Gaoshan had already accepted the grudge against this species.

"That dog is playing dumb. I'll kill it every time I see it. It's just a menace."

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On the way back, Chen Gaoshan dared not carry the wolverine on his back.

He carried a large sow weighing over 200 pounds on his back and a wolverine weighing less than 40 pounds in one hand.

It smelled terrible, a pungent, fishy stench that wouldn't wash off once it got on her clothes. She was afraid that if she carried it on her back the whole way, the clothes would be completely marinated and unwearable.

They carried a lot of things, walking and resting intermittently, until it was almost dark and the sun had completely set before they entered the village. They kept a sow, a blue sheep, and a wolverine pelt for themselves. Ma Wanzhong contributed his dog and labor, and being the most experienced, he was given an extra share of the remaining game.

Wang Tongsuo and Li Wuyang, the two newcomers, should take less.

The remaining wild boar meat was divided between Xiao Kouzi and Qian Zhuizi.

Upon arriving home, Chen Gaoshan entered his yard and slammed the wild boar, blue sheep, and wolverine onto the ground.

Da Huang and Er Huang followed behind him listlessly. Da Huang had a strip of cloth wrapped around its back and walked with a limp.

Chen Liushi was busy in the courtyard.

As night fell, she was collecting the urine rings that she had washed and hung to dry during the day. Just as she reached out to tear off the last piece of cloth, she turned her head and saw a yard full of large prey, and her eyes lit up.

But the next second, a stench that pierces the brain.

Chen Liu immediately frowned, pinched her nose, and felt dizzy from the smell.

"Shanzi, did you guys go into the mountains and hunt a wild boar? Why does it smell like a dead child? What's that stench?"

The smell was so strong that she kept backing away.

"Quickly, quickly take off your clothes, throw them in the yard, don't bring them inside, go wash them right away."

She turned her head and called into the house again.

"Hongying, your brother Shanzi is back! Quickly steam a bowl of chicken cake for him, and reheat some steamed buns. He must be starving after running all day on the mountain roads."

Hongying, who was helping Sunflower take care of Sanmao inside the house, responded and immediately came out. After smiling at Brother Gaoshan, she went to the kitchen to get busy.

At the foot of the courtyard wall, Old Chen, holding his pipe, had just finished eating and was sitting on a stone, smoking and resting in the cool air.

Hearing Shanzi's mother shouting, he got up and came over. He looked at the ground and then saw the strips of cloth wrapped around Dahuang's back, looking listless.

He took a puff of his pipe.

"This is a badger with a human foot; this wound must have been caused by one of these things!"

Chen Gaoshan nodded, squatted down, and patted Dahuang's head.

"Dad, Mom, this is it. This thing is so smelly, I didn't dare carry it on my back, I carried it by hand all the way. Da Huang tore off a piece of flesh, and with this hot weather, I'm afraid the wound will fester and get maggots. Dad, do you have any ideas?"

Old Chen stared at the palm-sized wound on Da Huang's back, his pipe stopped near his mouth.

"You're lucky this time; you managed to kill that human-footed badger."

"This thing holds grudges and is ten times more vengeful than a black sly. It's incredibly evil. The older generation in the village all know that this badger not only digs up graves, but if it gets really hungry, it will actually sneak into the village and harm the children."

"More than ten years ago, there was a kid in our village who was greedy for badger oil to sell. He secretly went into the mountains to dig up badger burrows, thinking there was only one baby badger, but it turned out there were two badger jackals hiding in the burrow."

"Those two things pounced on people and bit them hard. Once they bit, they wouldn't let go. That kid risked his life to smother the two badgers under his body until they died. He even strangled one of them, but his own leg was bitten raw. He had to lie in bed for a whole month before he could get out of bed and work. He almost ruined his leg."

"This badger is incredibly strong; once it bites into flesh, it won't let go, even if it dies. Big Yellow only lost a piece of flesh, so let's just leave it wrapped up like this for now. It's too late, don't fuss over it. Tomorrow morning, go find Uncle Zhou and get some herbal medicine to apply. Whether it recovers depends on how tough it is."

In the mountains, Uncle Wan Zhong had already rinsed and bandaged Da Huang's wound.

But in those days, there was no medical care available in the villages.

When a person is seriously injured, they can only endure it and leave it to fate. If they can't make it through, they will just wait to die. Let alone a dog, there is no way to treat its injuries with skin grafts.

Seeing Da Huang slumped against his feet, enduring the pain without uttering a sound, Chen Gaoshan felt a tightness in his chest.

These two dogs have followed me into the mountains to patrol, hunt, and guard the house for two years, going through thick and thin with me, and are like family.

After that, he never brought his dog with him when he went into the mountains again.

Let Dahuang and Erhuang stay at home and guard the house.

He felt a pang of guilt watching them suffer, even watching them die.

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