bookrandom Chapter 474 Luckily, you finished him off in time.
Chapter 474 Luckily, you finished him off in time.
The steep mountain path became increasingly difficult to traverse, and with each step upward, the snow deepened.
Their cotton trousers were already soaked through with snow water, and their frozen fingers could barely hold the hunting rifle.
The mountain wind swept through the treetops in the distance, stirring up large swaths of snow mist that instantly filled in the footprints that had just been made, leaving everything in a white expanse.
After walking for about an hour, Li Xiangyang suddenly stopped, squatted down, and carefully examined a series of footprints in the snow.
"What's wrong?" Wang Ergou also squatted down.
“Look, these are roe deer tracks,” Li Xiangyang pointed to the marks in the snow. “And they’re very fresh; they must have been left this morning.”
Wang Ergou squinted and looked: "That way?"
"Okay, keep up," Li Xiangyang said softly, then gestured for Wang Ergou to be careful.
The two tread lightly, following the footprints.
After walking for about ten minutes, there was a faint sound coming from the bushes ahead.
Li Xiangyang raised his hand to signal to stop, then slowly raised his gun and aimed at the crosshair.
Through the scope, he clearly saw an adult roe deer looking for food in the snow, completely unaware of the approaching danger.
Li Xiangyang took a deep breath, held his breath, and gently pulled the trigger.
"boom!"
A gunshot shattered the tranquility of the mountains, startling a flock of birds into flight.
The roe deer fell to the ground with a thud, struggled a few times, and then lay still.
"Excellent marksmanship!" Wang Ergou clapped and cheered.
The two men stepped forward, and Li Xiangyang examined the prey: "It hit the heart, but it didn't suffer much."
Wang Ergou squatted down and skillfully tied the roe deer's limbs with rope: "It only weighs sixty or seventy pounds, and the meat is quite good."
"Let's hang it on the tree first and continue deeper into the area," Li Xiangyang said, helping to hang the roe deer on a thick pine tree and covering it with a cloth.
The two continued on their way, and the mountain became increasingly steep, with denser forests.
The cold wind howled, and snow occasionally fell from the branches, making a soft "plop" sound.
As they reached a mountain hollow, Li Xiangyang suddenly reached out and stopped Wang Ergou: "Wait, did you smell something?"
Wang Ergou sniffed: "It smells a bit fishy?"
"The smell of wild boar," Li Xiangyang said confidently, "and it's not far."
The two became alert and cautiously probed forward. After rounding a thicket, they came to an open area where the snow was scattered and messy, indicating that animals were foraging there.
"Over there!" Wang Ergou exclaimed in a low voice, pointing to a black dot in the distance.
Through the gaps in the branches, Li Xiangyang saw a large wild boar nudging the snow with its snout, searching for roots underground.
Li Xiangyang held his breath, gestured to Wang Ergou, and the two of them crouched down slightly, using the bushes as cover, and quietly observed the wild boar in front of them.
"It's quite big," Wang Ergou muttered under his breath, "It must weigh at least two hundred jin (100 kg)."
Li Xiangyang nodded slightly, his gaze never leaving the scope: "The distance is a bit far, get closer."
The two moved stealthily, carefully avoiding any dry branches that might make a sound. Wild boars have extremely keen hearing and smell, and the slightest carelessness could startle them.
Suddenly, a mountain breeze rustled through the treetops. The wild boar raised its head alertly, its small eyes scanning its surroundings warily, its nose twitching as if sniffing for any unusual scent in the air.
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou immediately stopped what they were doing, standing still and holding their breath.
After a few tense seconds of waiting, the wild boar seemed to think there was no danger and lowered its head to continue foraging.
Li Xiangyang signaled Wang Ergou to go around to the right, while he himself slowly moved forward to find the best shooting position.
The two acted separately in tacit agreement, their years of hunting experience forging a silent understanding between them.
Li Xiangyang found a sturdy pine tree, carefully leaned against the trunk to steady himself, and slowly raised his hunting rifle.
Through the scope, he could clearly see the wild boar's side profile. To an experienced hunter, the most lethal shooting point on the boar was immediately apparent: the heart, located behind the shoulder blade.
Li Xiangyang took a deep breath, slowly exhaled half of it, and gently placed his finger on the trigger.
Just at this critical moment, a crisp sound of a branch snapping suddenly came from the forest.
The wild boar instantly became alert, abruptly raising its head, its small eyes flashing with a dangerous light.
It seemed to sense danger, its body tense, ready to flee or attack at any moment.
There was no time to hesitate. Li Xiangyang quickly adjusted his aim and decisively pulled the trigger.
"boom!"
Gunshots echoed through the valley, startling a flock of birds into flight.
The wild boar was hit by a bullet, and its body trembled violently. But unexpectedly, it did not fall down. Instead, it let out a shrill cry and charged towards Li Xiangyang.
"Damn it, I missed the vital point!" Li Xiangyang thought to himself, quickly taking aim and preparing to fire a second time.
The wild boar was incredibly fast, rushing to within twenty meters of Li Xiangyang in the blink of an eye, its tusks gleaming coldly, its eyes filled with rage.
At this critical moment, a gunshot rang out from the right.
"boom!"
Wang Ergou's bullet struck the wild boar precisely in the head. The massive body fell to the ground and slid several meters across the snow before coming to a stop. After twitching a few times, it remained motionless.
"That was close!" Wang Ergou hurried over, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "I almost pounced on you."
"Yes, thankfully you finished me off in time." Li Xiangyang breathed a sigh of relief.
The two men worked together to tie up the wild boar, preparing to take it back to the village.
This wild boar weighed over 200 pounds, and even two adult men found it difficult to handle.
"Come on, let's take a break." Li Xiangyang put down the rope and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Although it was the dead of winter, the two of them were drenched in sweat after all that exertion.
Wang Ergou pulled a cloth bag from his pocket and took out two boiled eggs: "Let's replenish our strength first."
Li Xiangyang took the egg, gently tapped it against the tree trunk, and peeled off the shell: "It's still early, do you think we should walk around a bit more?"
"That's for sure!" Wang Ergou took a big bite of an egg. "We've only been out for a short time, and we've already got such a huge wild boar. Let's hang it in a tree and take it with us on the way back."
Li Xiangyang nodded, popped the remaining eggs into his mouth, and stood up. "Okay, we'll do it your way. Let's settle the prey first, then we'll continue deeper in."
After much effort, the two finally managed to drag the wild boar to the large pine tree where they had previously hung the roe deer.
Wang Ergou looked up at the thick tree branch and frowned: "This wild boar is too heavy; I'm afraid it won't hold."
“Don’t hang it on there,” Li Xiangyang looked around and pointed to a large rock not far away. “Let’s drag it behind that rock and hide it, then cover it with snow. That way, it won’t be easily spotted by other animals, and it’ll be easy to find on the way back.”