Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

Chapter 60 A New Feud with the One-Eyed Wolf, The Wolf's Revenge

As Yang Tingting spoke, she became more and more agitated, her emotions surging uncontrollably. Even now, thinking about it makes her tremble with fear.

"The young comrade on duty was called Xiao Jiang. He found a short axe and threw it at the bear with all his might, and then the bear's scalp was blown off."

Black Bear caught up and slapped Xiao Jiang, who was on duty at the production team, to the ground, knocking off his hat and scalp along with him.

The pig farm was far from the production team's dormitory area. Xiao Jiang, the duty officer, was stunned by the slap, but he still instinctively took off running. The dogs that had been barking wildly were now tucked between their tails and ran away in fear. How could a man outrun a bear? He quickly ran into the duty room to lock the door, but the bear had already caught up with him and slammed its paw on the door, shaking the door frame open and almost knocking the latch off.

Xiao Jiang, the duty officer, was also fearless. He grabbed a shovel and propped it against the door. The guard room and the feed shed of the pigsty were separated by a small door. As soon as he opened the small door, Hei Xiazi smashed through the door and rushed in.

As Yang Tingting recalled the events, she wept, her heart pounding with fear at the thought of that sleepless night.

"I didn't dare to speak anymore, I really didn't have any strength left. Luckily, I saw Xiao Jiang climb up to the roof and squat there. The bear couldn't climb up. When it got light, I saw the black bear swagger away."

Several young nurses at the clinic comforted Yang Tingting. Just hearing about that night made them tremble with fear, let alone experiencing it firsthand.

Li Ju'an turned his head and glanced at the inpatient ward of the clinic. There was indeed a young comrade with his head wrapped in bandages in the intensive care unit, waiting for the time to be transferred to a large hospital.

He said, "Fortunately, there is no ladder in the guard room and feed shed of the pig farm, otherwise the bears could climb trees and wooden ladders."

Yang Tingting wiped away her tears and said, "There was a ladder. Comrade Xiao Jiang climbed up the wooden ladder, but when he saw Hei Xiazi chasing after him, he was so scared that he quickly kicked the ladder down."

In the dead of night, the pig farm of the production brigade was in turmoil.

Unable to climb onto the roof, the bear continued its pig feast. Just as dawn broke, the bear swaggered away. It was then that Xiao Jiang, severely injured and suffering from hypothermia on the roof, was rescued by Yang Tingting and others, narrowly escaping death.

The production brigade's pig farm raised more than 100 pigs of various sizes. Eight or nine of them were killed by the black bear, and six or seven were bitten. Most of the remaining pigs were frightened and ran away, thus surviving.

The production team leader was frantic. First, the young officer on duty was seriously injured, almost losing his life; second, so many pigs had been frightened and run into the mountains, resulting in heavy losses. The team leader personally led the deputy team leader and more than a dozen militiamen, even bringing along some stray dogs, into the mountains to find the lost wild boars.

Li the Cripple asked, "Has the person returned?"

Yang Tingting shook her head: "I don't know, we just set off this morning and haven't heard any news yet."

Li Ju'an also knew the production team leader, the one Song Desheng had asked a relative to get a mule through connections; the production team leader's name was Chen Guang'an.

Song Desheng asked curiously, "Uncle Chen, why didn't you ask the hunters from the forest farm to go with you?"

"I don't know. It seems the people at the forest farm were busy hunting at that time and didn't have time to think about it."

Li Ju'an nodded in agreement.

The sequence of events now makes sense.

First, the forest farm organized a raid, then the production brigade was attacked by black bears, and then he killed a wounded black bear.

The logic fits perfectly; the black bear he attacked was very likely the one that raided the pig farm.

But he remained cautious, harboring doubts. Black bears feed in the autumn and hibernate in the dead of winter when they are plump and strong. Why wasn't this black bear hibernating, but instead went to such lengths to attack the production brigade's pig farm?

Was the bear he shot down really the one that attacked the pig farm?

Lu Zhiqiang woke up at the clinic.

He had just opened his eyes when he saw Li Ju'an. He was so angry that he sat up and wanted to curse, but he had been unconscious for too long and was too angry. He lay back down, barely able to breathe, and could only curse intermittently.

"Sun Weimin, that beast! He deliberately tried to kill me!"

Li Ju'an was about to leave, but at the last minute he pricked up his ears again.

"Why is this related to Sun Weimin again?"

Lu Zhiqiang was so angry that he grumbled and then burst into a tirade: "I ran into that bastard, and he said there were bears on the mountain and wanted to go together. I didn't believe him for a second, and I was about to leave when he suddenly shoved a gun into my hand."

"I told you that guy had bad intentions and gave me a gun that exploded."

He had previously lent his dog, Dahuang, to Sun Weimin, but Sun Weimin lost Dahuang, which tragically died. This led to a major conflict between the Lu and Sun families, resulting in a complete break in their relationship. Lu Zhiqiang was also beaten so badly by the Lu family patriarch that he couldn't get out of bed for three days, which is why he went hunting in the mountains out of frustration.

When Lu Zhiqiang met Sun Weimin, it was like oil and water; they were so angry their teeth were practically grinding. But the temptation of an old-fashioned rifle was too strong, and Lu Zhiqiang ultimately couldn't resist it, taking the hunting rifle Sun Weimin had given him and heading into the mountains alone.

As luck would have it, they ran into a pack of wolves, fired a shot, and it exploded!

Fortunately, his aiming posture was inaccurate, so he didn't get hit by the gun, but was only knocked unconscious.

That was a close call; he almost died.

Lu Zhiqiang struggled to sit up and shouted, "That grandson of Sun Weimin! I'll blow his head off and see what kind of wickedness is inside!"

Song Desheng, always eager for excitement, said, "Alright, if you fire another shot, it might explode again."

If Lu Zhiqiang hadn't been still paralyzed in his hospital bed, the two of them would have started fighting.

Li Ju'an inspected the old-fashioned rifle.

The gun still bore the serial number of the state-owned farm, which the Sun family had obtained through connections from the farm. Back then, when the regiment marched into the Great Northern Wilderness to reclaim wasteland, it brought a batch of firearms. At that time, rifles that had not yet been produced nationwide were reserved for frontline troops, so the regiment carried relatively old, ordinary rifles for hunting and self-defense.

This old gun, though only a few decades old, was in relatively good condition and still had five bullets inside. Logically, Sun Weimin hadn't expected to encounter Lu Zhiqiang when he went into the mountains; rather, feeling guilty, he gave the gun to Lu Zhiqiang.

Unfortunately, the gun exploded, nearly killing Lu Zhiqiang.

Li Ju'an scolded Song Desheng, saying, "Don't stir up trouble. Lu Zhiqiang, how many Zhang Sans have you run into?"

When this was mentioned, Lu Zhiqiang sat up straight, his eyes showing fear and lingering apprehension.

"One."

"One?"

"Yes, just one. A one-eyed wolf with white fur hanging on its chest."

Before Song Desheng could react, Li Ju'an and Li Guaizi had already taken a deep breath and felt a chill run down their spines.

Li Guaizi knew about the feud between the Lu family and One-Eyed Old Wolf, and also knew that Li Ju'an had shot and killed One-Eyed Old Wolf, who had a blood feud with the Lu family.

But what's going on here? A one-eyed wolf just died, and now another one-eyed wolf has appeared?

Li Guaizi asked Li Ju'an in a serious tone, "Zhang San is the most vengeful guy. Have you ever killed wolf cubs? Or killed wolves and spared their lives?"

Li Ju'an had never killed wolf cubs before, he was quite certain of that, but he thought carefully about the matter of keeping them alive.

During the last hunt, he encountered three wolves attacking Old Qian. He killed two of them on the spot and seriously injured the other.

It scrambled over the ridge and across the ditch, then ran away, stepping over the jumbled rocks at the bottom of the pond.