frightfiction Chapter 81 The Mountain Fox Pelt, Completely Taken!
Chapter 81 The Mountain Fox Pelt, Completely Taken!
As the mountain fox pounced on the deer and drank its blood from its neck, it tilted its head and glared at Li Ju'an, its smug eyes saying: What can you do to me?
Li Ju'an's anger surged on the spot. You stole my prey and then mocked me? If I can put up with your rudeness, I'll change my surname to yours.
He immediately picked up his hunting rifle and aimed it at the mountain fox.
Startled, Li Guaizi quickly whispered, "Calm down, don't shoot! How are we going to sell the pelts if we damage them?"
The pelt of the mountain fox is as precious as the gallbladder of a bear. No hunter would shoot a bear in the chest and pop its gallbladder when hunting a bear. If someone did such a foolish thing, and the gallbladder exploded, bringing back the bear's flesh and bones would make them the laughingstock of the villagers for a whole year.
Li Ju'an also lowered his voice and shouted, "Who fired the shot?" He suddenly stepped forward and made a threatening slapping motion.
As a feline, the mountain lemur is extremely sensitive to intimidation. The sudden threat made the mountain lemur abruptly drag the deer back half a step, its piercing eyes fixed on Li Ju'an, and it emitted a low-frequency threat from its throat.
In its death throes, the red deer shook its head and neck violently, trying to shake off the civet. Using the force of the deer's swing, the civet leaped onto the deer's neck again, and no matter how hard the deer kicked with its single leg, it couldn't shake it off. The civet had brutally killed this enormous creature, which weighed five or six times itself—a truly terrifying act.
The lynx was unwilling to give up the deer it had finally managed to hunt, dragging it backwards. Li Ju'an was equally unwilling to give up this rare opportunity. He spotted another large guillotine in the snow, nestled among the dead leaves beneath a large tree. He pressed closer to the lynx, which growled low as it dragged the deer toward the tree.
The mountain civet wanted to climb the tree. As a creature that could bend and stretch, when forced into a corner with no way out, its last resort was to climb a tree. Li Ju'an spotted the large guillotine below the tree, and at the last moment, he suddenly raised his gun and pulled the trigger, aiming at the right side of the mountain civet's ear.
boom!
The intense gunfire instilled fear in the mountain raccoon. The once-proud raccoon immediately turned and abandoned the deer, attempting to leap into a tree.
The large guillotine, which was already lurking in the pile of dead leaves at the base of a big tree, was caught by the mountain weasel's foot. With a crisp "crack," the mountain weasel let out a sharp, mournful cry.
Its right leg was firmly clamped by the large guillotine, which was weighing 20 pounds. The guillotine was lifted up completely, demonstrating the astonishing explosive power of the mountain raccoon.
Li Ju'an had prepared this trick long ago; he secured his guillotine to bushes with wire loops. Where there were no bushes, he tied charred wire to a long piece of wood.
The civet was startled and jumped up, lifting its right foot along with the 20-pound cleaver and a long log. But even with its extraordinary strength, the civet couldn't escape the fate of getting stuck in the branches.
The long log was like a bolt, stuck tightly on the branch, unable to move. The mountain fox was anxious and frightened, only thinking of hiding in the tree as soon as possible, but the more it tried to hide, the more firmly the log stuck on the branch became.
Li Guaizi took out a ring from his cloth bag, aimed it at the face of the mountain cat that was still growling fiercely, put it around its neck, tightened the ring, and dragged the mountain cat down along with the broken branch.
Li Ju'an had his gun butt ready. He swung the butt and struck the mountain fox hard on the head. His gun butt was made of wood, with a steel plate nailed to the back, to better strike the target. With this blow, the mountain fox's head was stunned, its limbs stiffened uncontrollably, and its body trembled slightly.
After strangling the civet, the two men quickly began skinning it. They pried open the civet's limbs and tail, removed the tailbone, and started skinning from the groin. Li Guaizi was very skilled at skinning; finally, he grabbed the pelt with both hands, peeled it towards the head, and the complete civet pelt was removed.
The two looked at each other and smiled as they saw the intact raccoon pelt.
Looking at the complete tarantula pelt, with even the skin of the ears, eyes, and nose intact, Li Guaizi couldn't contain his excitement. He washed his hands with snow, rolled a pipe, and said with a smile as he smoked, "Do you know how much this pelt can sell for?"
Without waiting for Li Ju'an's reply, he squinted and exhaled a smoke ring, continuing on his own: "Remember Old Qian? Last time, Old Qian lost two sons and went mad after coming down the mountain. Fortunately, he still had his eldest daughter and son-in-law to take care of him. Old Qian was afraid; he was afraid that as he got older, his son-in-law wouldn't be able to take responsibility, and if something happened to him, what would become of his children? So Old Qian left a bunch of old things and furs to his daughter and son-in-law, and he left the village and ran away."
Looking at the intact civet pelt, Li Ju'an was equally surprised and excited. In the throes of elation, people tend to be talkative, always trying to find something to say to divert attention. He followed up on Li Guaizi's words and asked, "Old Qian ran away? What did he go to do after leaving the family village? Those pelts he left for his daughter and son-in-law were really not cheap."
Old Qian, a renowned wolf hunter in Lijiatun in his early years, had killed countless wolves, hunting and skinning wolf cubs every year, not to mention other mountain animals like lynxes, foxes, and big pelts, which he had collected in considerable quantities. He kept them for no other reason than to preserve them; they might come in handy someday, or he could sell them for money.
Li Guaizi said while smoking, "As soon as Lao Qian ran away, his son-in-law sold all the mountain fox pelts, big pelts, bear gallbladders, and wolf pelts. They could have sold for 18,000 yuan, but his son-in-law sold them for 9000 yuan. Then he took the money and went to live in the county town. Less than half a month later, the money was stolen."
Li Ju'an shook his head inwardly upon hearing this.
Old Qian was a wealthy man who owned a large number of animal hides. The hides he handled were naturally of the highest quality, easily fetching 18,000 yuan. In the 1980s, that was considered a "ten-thousand-yuan household." A "ten-thousand-yuan household" referred to a family with savings or income exceeding ten thousand yuan. In the 1980s, it was a prestigious title, not only a symbol of wealth but also the best representation of the village's development and progress.
In the early 1980s, becoming a "ten-thousand-yuan household" was a remarkable achievement, representing ability and glory, and serving as a role model for everyone to learn from.
He remembered that in his previous life in 1984, he happened to be traveling south and passed by the celebration of the "ten-thousand-yuan households" in Changxiang. At that time, more than ten township officials brought gifts and, with gongs and drums, went to the homes of the four "ten-thousand-yuan households" in the township to celebrate. Along the way, firecrackers went off, and a large red banner that read "Learn from the Ten-Thousand-Yuan Households" was dazzling. Wherever they went, thunderous applause erupted. It was a very grand occasion.
But the "wealth-generating" animal hide that Old Qian left behind was sold by his son-in-law at half price? And it was stolen too?