si-mexico Chapter 144 Even the Tiger Fangs Were Shot Off
Chapter 144 Even the Tiger Fangs Were Shot Off
Li Ju'an was soaked to the bone, and Song Desheng was also drenched in cold sweat from fright.
Song Desheng cautiously peered behind Tangzigou, still shaken: "Brother Li, didn't we almost get licked on the head by Tiger King just now?"
That's right, and there are four big tigers at that. The tigress, leading three of her cubs, gave them a loving kiss.
Li Ju'an turned to Veterinarian Zhang and said, "Your ranch must know about this, right?"
Veterinarian Zhang was still trying to bluff his way out of it, but security guard Zhao was an honest man who told the truth: "If we told them there were that many tigers, no hunter would dare to take on the job of hunting tigers. They would just turn around and run away."
Li Ju'an wanted to turn around and run away right now. His face was full of anger, and he cursed, "Six heads is fine. If it were really six heads, we wouldn't have taken it for this price. Don't even mention 1100 yuan. Even if it were doubled, with just a few of us and our equipment, we couldn't take on six heads."
The forestry station organized a wild boar hunt, and more than twenty hunters and forty dogs came, along with plenty of snares, traps, and wire ropes. Now, all they have, including the old hunter from the security department, is only seven or eight people, and they only have his own hunting dogs. They simply can't hunt any wild boars.
As darkness fell, the deep mountains and forests were pitch black.
The Xingan Mountains were bitterly cold at night, with temperatures plummeting to below minus thirty degrees Celsius. Li Ju'an broke off some pine torches, shielded his hand from the wind, struck a match on a leeward side, and lit the torch, providing a meager glimmer of light.
He noticed that the hunters' faces were blue from the cold, their cotton hats, eyelids, and eyelashes were covered in frost, and there was frost in their nostrils as well. The hunting dogs had scattered, and now only Hammer was following at his feet. Snowflakes began to fall heavily from the sky, and it looked like it was about to snow; the weather was extremely bad.
Song Desheng caught a snowflake in his hand and cursed, "Damn it, what bad luck! It's snowing again."
Li Ju'an felt even more frustrated. The ranch's head, Wang, had always flattered him, and seeing the ranch's dire situation, he'd taken on extra work for himself. But the ranch had tricked him, failing to specify the exact number of tiger kings. He'd gone from expecting two tiger kings to facing six. The enormous discrepancy and pressure left him feeling utterly defeated.
Li Ju'an blew on the pine torch to prevent the flame from going out on the charred stick, and blamed himself, saying, "Lu Zhiqiang, Song Desheng, I was wrong about this today. Things have been going very well lately, and I got carried away, daring to take on any job. This is my fault."
Lu Zhiqiang was so cold he could barely breathe, the icy wind piercing his throat. He said, "You've really moved me. Li Ju'an never expected someone as awful as you. When have you ever admitted a mistake? Even when you fought with Sun Weimin, you were always being cursed at and attacked. And today you're actually blaming yourself and reflecting on your actions. We don't even know what to say to you. But we can't blame you, since that Captain Wang kept praising you."
Song Desheng, also panting heavily, said, "Our Brother Li is just too easily flattered. Captain Wang praised him and complimented him in front of him. Who wouldn't get carried away? Brother Li is sure to get carried away, hahaha."
The group laughed it off, dismissing the matter as Li Ju'an being overly flattered.
Veterinarian Zhang was afraid that Li Ju'an might really quit, and if the ranch couldn't find anyone, they wouldn't be able to have a peaceful year. So he could only force a smile and use his flashlight to help Li Ju'an keep an eye on things.
Li Ju'an, leading the iron hammer, reached the location of the tiger king behind Tangzigou, stopped, and carefully examined the tiger's footprints.
Iron Hammer let out a groan, and he raised his pine torch to gaze at the snow-covered ground. The snow was a blinding white, and looking at it for too long was particularly tiring for the eyes. In addition, the flickering firelight and the falling snow made it even harder for him to see clearly.
He dug around in the snow and picked up a tiger tooth. The tooth was sharp and long, about four or five centimeters long.
Security guards Lao Zhao and Lao Qian were discussing whether to give chase, but the tigress leading three half-grown tiger cubs couldn't get too far.
Veterinarian Zhang quickly said, "Without its teeth, it won't be easy for the tiger to bite anyone. The tiger king is also injured and can't run fast, so we should just chase after it and wear it down. We'll surround it in no time."
The method he described is a simple and brutal way of hunting tigers in the mountains. Several hunters form a group to directly kill the tiger, and then take the opportunity to surround and attack the wounded tiger.
This simple and brutal method is undeniably dangerous. Hunters are often killed by tigers during their struggles. More importantly, the tiger skin is severely damaged in the fight, rendering it worthless. Therefore, hunters rarely use this brutal method; they only resort to a direct pursuit when both sides are severely injured, unless they are truly desperate.
Song Desheng thought for a moment and said, "No, that won't do. The most important thing about a tiger is its fur. If we lose its fur, what's the point of hunting tigers? Would we really be doing a good deed? We'll dig a trap, and once the tiger pit is dug, no matter what size the tiger king is, it will fall in and never come out, and its fur will still be intact."
The tiger trap he mentioned was a common tiger-catching trap in the past, deeper than traps used for other wild animals. Sharpened wooden stakes were inserted into the bottom of the trap to prevent the tiger from struggling at the bottom, and it also allowed for the capture of a complete tiger skin.
Li Ju'an pointed to the frozen, hard snow and called out to him, "You use a pickaxe to dig first, and see how deep a hole you can dig in one night. Isn't that just working all night to scratch the snow?"
He poked the snow with a pickaxe. The ground was already hard from the freezing weather, and now, covered in snow and ice, it melted and formed a solid layer of ice at night, making a resounding clang when you chopped at it—it was incredibly firm. Song Desheng tried a pickaxe, a pickaxe, and finally an axe, swinging it with all his might, smashing it into the snow with a series of thuds. He was covered in sweat from digging, and the snow itself was slightly damaged.
Song Desheng was also getting anxious. He was already cold, and his undershirt was soaked with sweat. The cold wind made him shiver. He shouted, "What should we do? Give me a knife, I'll just slide tackle the tiger right in front of it!"
Speaking of sliding tackles, Lu Zhiqiang got really excited. He was carrying a Type 54 pistol and a spear on his back. He said, "Make way, everyone. In a critical moment, we still need General Lu. Our Lu family's spear is a tiger spear, with a leather holster on the spearhead and a heavy barrel! It's even better than a 'Di Da'."
The "dida" he mentioned is a famous tiger-hunting weapon in Manchu, the tiger fork. The iron fork is longer, the wooden shaft is shorter, and the fork's edges are thicker and wider to prevent the tiger from fighting back and struggling. Furthermore, the fork's central point is an extremely sharp cone shape, capable of quickly and forcefully piercing the tiger's body without damaging its skin.
Song Desheng looked at the spear in his hand. The spearhead was made of iron, with a sharp front and a pointed back, a ridge in the middle, and multiple blood grooves inside. He said, "It looks impressive, but it's useless."
Lu Zhiqiang got angry and said, "Why is it useless? Why is our Lu family's spear useless? Tell me properly! Wasn't it us who shot down that old sow with our spears last time? Just tell me."
"If you want to brag like that, fine. I'll ask you this: if a tiger comes, would you dare to get close? If the tiger roars, you'll wet your pants in fear."
Lu Zhiqiang was speechless after being rebuked. He had just relieved himself, shivering, and his crotch was still freezing cold. Hearing the sound from the side of the wind startled him, and he spilled the contents into his crotch.
The group was bickering when Li Ju'an checked the ground and shouted, "Stop chasing! Tiger King was only hit in the teeth, but his limbs are fine."
There were scattered bloodstains on the ground, but not many drops; the blood from the tiger's teeth had fallen into the snow.
He looked at the ground for a while and said, "These footprints are not dragged at all, and the big claws and limbs are fine. We can't catch up with them."