bookrandom Chapter 276 We Should Still Fight for It
Chapter 276 We Should Still Fight for It
Amidst the howling mountain winds, the faint sound of human voices could be heard.
Li Xiangyang squinted, scrutinizing the area, a hint of joy appearing on his face. "It's Old Zhou and his men. Looks like they've caught up here too."
"Shall we go over there?" Wang Ergou asked, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Li Xiangyang pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Let's go, let's go take a look. Maybe we can work together to corner the leopard."
The two quickened their pace and walked towards the figure in the distance.
As the distance closed, Li Xiangyang could clearly see Zhou Guangming and his son, as well as Cheng Laosan and his group.
Zhou Guangming stood on a towering rock, holding a long spear, his eyes scanning the surroundings with the sharpness of a hawk.
"Uncle Zhou!" Li Xiangyang shouted.
Hearing the voice, Zhou Guangming turned around and saw Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou. His face immediately lit up with surprise and delight: "Li Xiangyang! Wang Ergou! You two chased us here too?"
Li Xiangyang quickly stepped forward and greeted the others: "Yes, the leopard ran this way, and we chased it all the way here."
"Haha, that's great!" Zhou Guangming laughed heartily. "We spotted leopard tracks over in the valley, but when it saw there were so many of us, it immediately rushed over here."
Zhou Guangming's son, Zhou Yong, chimed in, "We originally planned to flank it from both sides, but we didn't expect you to catch up from behind. Now it can't escape!"
The group exchanged information and decided to approach from three directions to form an encirclement.
The group quickly sprang into action, while Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou stealthily crept over from the left.
Along the way, Li Xiangyang whispered a reminder: "Ergou, you must stay calm this time. Don't panic. No matter how fast a leopard is, it can't outrun a bullet."
Wang Ergou tightened his grip on the hunting rifle, his face grave: "Understood. I'll make sure I hit the target this time."
When we reached the halfway point of the mountain, a gunshot rang out from the hillside on the right!
The tranquility of the mountains was abruptly shattered by a gunshot, startling the birds perched in the nearby trees.
Li Xiangyang instinctively looked in the direction of the sound and saw a figure moving on the hillside in the distance.
From the bushes in the distance, a lithe, tan figure suddenly darted out – it was the leopard they had been searching for!
The leopard charged forward like an arrow, closing in on them in the blink of an eye.
"It's Cheng Laosan and his gang!" Wang Ergou exclaimed in a low voice. "They've driven the leopard over from over there!"
Li Xiangyang immediately understood the situation and quickly raised his gun to aim.
The leopard was incredibly fast and agile, darting through the forest like the wind.
Li Xiangyang held his breath and waited for the best opportunity.
"Hold on, wait for it to stop," Li Xiangyang whispered to Wang Ergou.
Just as the leopard leaped over a fallen log and hovered briefly in the air, Li Xiangyang decisively pulled the trigger.
boom!
The gunshot rang out, and the leopard's body trembled violently, but it did not fall.
After landing, it staggered a few steps, let out a painful roar, and fled in another direction.
"I hit it, but it's not a fatal wound!" Li Xiangyang shouted. "Ergou, finish it off!"
Wang Ergou was unusually calm this time. He took a deep breath, steadily raised his hunting rifle, and aimed at the wounded and slow-moving leopard.
boom!
Another crisp gunshot rang out, and this time, Leopard's body crashed heavily to the ground, twitched a few times, and then lay still.
"Hit! It really hit!" Wang Ergou jumped up excitedly, his face beaming with the joy of victory.
Li Xiangyang patted Wang Ergou on the shoulder, a pleased smile on his face: "You did very well this time—steady, accurate, and ruthless—one shot, one kill."
Soon after, Zhou Guangming, Cheng Laosan, and several other hunters arrived and surrounded the dead leopard.
"Excellent marksmanship!" Zhou Guangming exclaimed, looking at the massive leopard. "I'm getting old; I can't compete with the young ones anymore!"
Cheng Laosan approached and examined the wounds, nodding, "Yes, those were both excellent shots, very accurate. One to the shoulder, one to the head, clean and precise."
"It was Er Gou who fired the final shot," Li Xiangyang boasted to his partner without reservation. "My shot only wounded it."
Everyone looked at Wang Ergou with admiration, making the young man blush with embarrassment.
"Um," Cheng Laosan's cousin couldn't help but ask, "how are these leopards going to be distributed?"
These words created a somewhat awkward atmosphere.
Although everyone had agreed to split the spoils equally when they first met, the question of how to do so arose once they actually fought.
Moreover, this involves the question of how much effort is put in.
After a moment's thought, Li Xiangyang decided that he should still try to get it; now was not the time to be polite. He immediately said, "How about this? Since Er Gou and I killed the leopard, the pelt is ours. As for the rest, you can decide how to distribute it."
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, without any objection.
This is an unwritten rule among hunters: whoever kills the prey gets to distribute the spoils. As long as the distribution plan isn't excessive, everyone will obey unconditionally.
Seeing that no one else objected, Li Xiangyang remained silent, and Wang Ergou also understood that it was time to stop while he was ahead.
Cheng Laosan and Zhou Guangming exchanged a glance, both looking somewhat troubled.
"How about this: we get the whip and the gall bladder, and you can divide the rest?"
Zhou Guangming spoke first, making the suggestion.
Cheng Laosan had no objection to this and immediately stated, "Okay, we'll divide the bones, and everyone can take some meat with them."
After distributing the spoils, the group began processing the prey.
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou worked together to peel off the intact leopard skin.
No one else helped during this process, not because they were unwilling, but because they didn't want to risk lowering the price and thus reducing the discount.
Once they were done, the others began to cut up the rest of the prey.
"Li Xiangyang," Cheng Laosan asked while cutting up the leopard meat, "what do you plan to do with this leopard skin? Keep it or sell it?"
Upon hearing this, Li Xiangyang glanced at Wang Ergou, and seeing him nod, he smiled and said, "Sell him. Ergou is getting married soon and will need the money."
“It’s good to sell it; keeping it will only make people want it more.” Zhou Guangming continued, “By the way, regarding the price, don’t sell it for less than a thousand…”
……
As everyone busied themselves and chatted, darkness fell before they knew it.
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou carefully folded the leopard skin, and the others also tidied up their respective spoils.
Cheng Laosan divided the leopard meat into large pieces for each person and began packing their belongings.
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou shook hands with Zhou Guangming, Cheng Laosan and others to say goodbye.
"Thanks to everyone's cooperation today, otherwise we really wouldn't have been able to hit it," Li Xiangyang said sincerely.
"Yes, I won't say anything more. Let's go hunting together again sometime!" Cheng Laosan replied with a smile.
Zhou Yong chimed in, "Er Gou, congratulations on your wedding! Don't forget to invite us when you celebrate!"
Wang Ergou blushed and nodded repeatedly: "Definitely, definitely, everyone will come to the wedding banquet!"