mtl008 Chapter 395 Qingshan Gacha
Chapter 395 Qingshan Gacha
The jeep bumped along the winding, rugged dirt road over the grassland, and outside the window, the vast grassland unfolded like a slowly unfurling scroll.
Inside the car, Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou swayed with the car's movements. Wang Ergou rubbed his still aching head and complained about the terrible road conditions from time to time.
The journey was silent, and time slipped away amidst the bumpy ride. As the sun gradually set in the west, several white yurts appeared in the distance.
The group finally arrived at their destination, Qingshan Gacha.
As soon as the car came to a stop, Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou unloaded their luggage from the vehicle and were ushered into the largest yurt by the enthusiastic herdsmen.
A dozen or so herders were already seated inside, and as soon as they saw them come in, they immediately burst into applause.
"Come, come, welcome, guests from afar! Please have a seat!" A middle-aged man stood up and greeted them warmly. "I am the Gacha leader of Qingshan Gacha. Just call me Bayar!"
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou sat down by the stove, the warmth of the room allowing their tense nerves to relax slightly.
Bayar poured them steaming hot milk tea: "Have some to warm yourselves up! You must be hungry, right? We've prepared a welcome feast!"
Upon hearing the word "banquet," Wang Ergou's expression immediately changed: "Um... Bayar, we're here to hunt wolves, not to eat..."
Bayar laughed heartily: "Of course we should hunt wolves! But if we don't properly entertain our guests, where will we, the people of the grasslands, put our faces?"
Seeing this, Li Xiangyang knew he couldn't avoid another drinking party tonight, so he could only accept it with a smile.
Sure enough, the welcome banquet that evening was even more lively than he had imagined.
Almost all the men in the village came, and the table was filled with all kinds of meat and dairy products.
Everyone had to offer them a toast, and cup after cup of mare's milk wine was continuously brought to them.
Li Xiangyang managed to keep up, but Wang Ergou soon found himself struggling.
His face flushed, and when no one was looking, he whispered to Li Xiangyang, "I have a feeling they deliberately got us drunk; they never intended for us to hunt wolves."
Li Xiangyang patted him on the shoulder: "Don't overthink it. Maybe they're just being enthusiastic? We'll suggest going and see what's going on tomorrow. They can't keep dragging their feet and preventing us from going, can they?"
In the middle of the night, Wang Ergou finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep on the table.
Li Xiangyang was also dizzy from drinking, but he managed to stay sober.
Bayar looked at him with an appreciative expression: "Brother Li, you have a good capacity for alcohol! Much better than those hunters who came last time!"
Taking the opportunity, Li Xiangyang asked, "Were there other hunters here last time?"
Bayar nodded, his expression suddenly turning serious: "They came. Five of them came last winter, claiming to be professional hunters. Within two days, two were bitten by wolves, and the others fled overnight in terror."
Li Xiangyang frowned: "That's amazing? How do you usually herd livestock?"
“We can only travel in groups, carrying hunting rifles and torches,” Bayar sighed. “But there will still be losses. The wolf packs have become increasingly aggressive lately, and they're almost at the village.”
Li Xiangyang nodded: "Tomorrow I want to go and see where the wolves are active."
Bayar hesitated for a moment, then said, "Alright, I'll have Dalai take you. But be careful, it wouldn't be good if we hurt the guests and caused a scene."
The next morning, Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou were woken up by Dalai.
“Have some breakfast first, then I’ll take you to see the grazing area,” Dalai said. “The weather’s nice; it’ll be perfect for the sheep to stretch their muscles.”
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou ate some dried meat and milk tea, checked their guns, and then set off with Dalai.
The weather outside was sunny, but the temperature was extremely low.
Li Xiangyang tightened his fur coat, and his breath immediately turned into white mist.
Several herders were already leading their horses and herding their flocks of sheep toward the distant grasslands.
Dalai led a horse to each of them: "Ride horses, walking is too slow."
Li Xiangyang skillfully mounted his horse, while Wang Ergou was a bit clumsy, but eventually he also sat steadily on the horse's back.
The three followed the herdsmen and their flocks of sheep toward the distant grasslands.
“It’s winter now, and the grass on the grassland is mostly covered by snow,” Dalai explained as they walked. “The herders will find some sunny spots on the slopes that aren’t completely covered by snow to graze their sheep, so that they can eat as much grass as possible.”
Li Xiangyang nodded: "When do wolf packs usually appear?"
Dalai's expression was grave: "It's not fixed; sometimes it's in the morning, sometimes in the evening. In short, they always attack when our defenses are lax."
The three of them soon arrived at a gentle slope.
The sunlight shone here, melting some of the snow and revealing the dry grass underneath.
The herders began letting their sheep graze here, while they themselves gathered in twos and threes, constantly keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.
A herdsman held an old-fashioned rifle in his hand, his eyes constantly scanning the distance.
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou dismounted and carefully observed their surroundings.
"Did you find anything?" Dalai asked.
Li Xiangyang pointed to a grove of trees in the distance: "There are traces over there."
Dalai looked in the direction he was pointing and exclaimed in surprise, "How did you know? You could see it from that far away?"
Li Xiangyang didn't answer, but turned to Wang Ergou: "Look at the snow over there, what do you feel?"
Wang Ergou squinted and examined it carefully: "There are traces, probably wolf footprints. But they're very faint, probably left yesterday or the day before."
Dalai stared at the two in astonishment: "Your eyesight is amazing! You could see so clearly from that far away!"
Li Xiangyang shook his head: "It's not good eyesight, it's experience. Wolf tracks in the snow leave a special reflection and shadow. Let's go take a look."
The three rode their horses to the edge of the grove.
Sure enough, there were several obvious wolf paw prints on the ground, as well as some drag marks.
"Some prey has been dragged away." Li Xiangyang crouched down, carefully examining the tracks. "It's probably a rabbit or some other small animal."
Wang Ergou was also pacing around when he suddenly called out, "Xiangyang, over here!"
Li Xiangyang and Dalai rushed over and saw Wang Ergou pointing to the trunk of a tree with several deep claw marks on it.
Li Xiangyang crouched down and carefully examined the wolf paw prints on the ground. Combining the depth and width of the paw prints, he analyzed, "Strange. Judging from these marks, this wolf is too big. Generally, a prairie wolf has a shoulder height of 60 to 90 centimeters and weighs about 20 to 50 kilograms..."
The three followed the tracks and soon found a patch of snow that had been trampled and messed up, with some dark red bloodstains on the ground.
“There was a fight here,” Li Xiangyang said. “Judging from the marks, there were at least five or six wolves.”
Dalai nodded. "It must have been a wolf pack hunting. But what's strange is that wolves usually drag their prey back to their den, but there are no obvious drag marks here."
Li Xiangyang thought for a moment: "Perhaps the prey was too small and was eaten on the spot. Or perhaps..."