Mu Xueli rubbed her backside and said to Wang An with a face full of grievance
"Brother-in-law, why are you like this? I didn't even get to enjoy a moment of beauty."
At this moment, Mu Xueli looked like a resentful little daughter-in-law, which made the scene look quite comical.
Wang An glanced at Mu Xueli and said only two words
"No way."
As he spoke, the four of them began to gut the wild boars, removing the hearts, livers, and lungs to feed the dogs.
With so many wild boar organs, there was no need to cut up meat for the dogs.
For carnivorous animals, organs are naturally the first choice; this is evident from how predators always tear open the belly to eat the organs first after every hunt.
Although Xiao Hei had performed very well today and could be said to have made a great contribution, the first bite of meat was still fed to Da Hei.
There was no helping it; the lead dog is always the lead dog. As long as Da Hei had not abdicated his position, Xiao Hei could only play the supporting role.
However, this time, Wang An split the extracted boar heart into four quarters with two cuts. The first quarter went to Da Hei, the second and third were given to Xiao Hei and Da Qing, and only the fourth quarter was given to Da Huang.
Although Da Huang, the female dog, was a lead dog and a "Taitouxiang," her abilities in various aspects were truly limited, leaving her in fourth place.
Once Wang An had fed the first four pieces of meat to the four lead dogs, Mu Xueli and Wang Li began feeding the livers, lungs, and other organs to the rest of the dogs and wolves.
Although the general pack ate the same things as the lead dogs, the rule of who went first and last could absolutely not be disrupted; there had to be a short interval between them.
Soon, the pack of dogs and wolves all had bellies round from eating and lay scattered in various places. Wang An and his three companions, however, could not afford to be idle; they had to skin the pile of dead boars while the carcasses had not yet stiffened.
At this point, the speed and quality of their knife skills became fully apparent. Usually, by the time Mu Xueli had finished skinning three dead boars, Wang An and Wang Li had not even finished skinning two.
As for Huang Zhong, he was even slower. After tinkering for a long time, he had made countless cuts in the boar skin, yet he hadn't finished skinning a single one.
When 14 out of the 26 wild boars had been skinned, Wang An checked his watch and found it was almost 12 o'clock. Thus, Wang An instructed Huang Zhong
"Xiao Zhong, go chop some firewood and start a fire to roast the remaining boar hearts and livers. Xueli, Lao Wu, you two keep skinning the pigs. I'll go drive the sleds over."
The three of them agreed. Wang An tossed his knife aside, rubbed his hands with snow, and walked toward where the sleds were located.
Although they were currently at Wild Boar Ridge—a place hunters were usually unwilling to visit—Wang An felt quite secure with twenty-one dogs and wolves standing guard.
However, as Wang An walked out of the hillside and was about to reach the sleds, he suddenly saw giant plum-blossom-shaped footprints appearing on the ground.
The moment he saw these plum-blossom prints, Wang An's eyes widened. He felt his scalp tingle and his hairs stand on end; his whole body felt numb as if struck by electricity, and cold sweat broke out instantly.
Indeed, the reason Wang An had such a strong reaction was that these plum-blossom prints were "big paws"—left by a tiger.
Those who have never witnessed how brutal a tiger is will never know how terrifying the creature is. Only by facing off against a tiger personally can one understand why tigers are considered equals to the legendary dragons.
Subconsciously, Wang An pulled out his Type 54 pistol and chambered a round.
In this situation, Wang An felt that using a Type 56 semi-automatic would provide no certainty, mainly because the muzzle movement was not fast enough.
Even with the big Type 54, Wang An still didn't feel confident in fighting a tiger, but at the very least, it increased the probability of a successful hit.
Holding the big Type 54, Wang An stood motionless, observing the surroundings for a long time before finally stepping forward.
To say he wasn't afraid would be an absolute lie, but no matter how afraid he was, the tasks at hand still had to be done.
Fearing that a tiger might suddenly leap out from somewhere to attack him, Wang An did not walk quickly; one could say he was being extremely cautious.
But when Wang An reached the sleds and found the three horses eating their fodder without any abnormality, he felt he might have overreacted.
Because it had to be admitted that animals were far more sensitive to danger than humans.
For example, before an earthquake, chicks fly wildly in the coop, dogs become restless, mules and horses try to break their reins, and even mice scurry out of their holes.
When humans see this, those who don't understand simply find it baffling, not knowing what is happening to the animals.
Seeing that the three horses were safe and showing no abnormalities, Wang An breathed a sigh of relief and engaged the safety on the big Type 54 before putting it back in his pocket.
He gathered the sacks of fodder and placed them back on the sled, linked the three sleds together, and drove the eldest horse back toward where Mu Xueli and the others were.
But as he walked, the eldest horse suddenly stopped in its tracks, raised its head, and let out a "hilly-lilly" neigh, looking as if it were facing a formidable enemy.
The two horses behind were even worse, pulling violently at their reins—a clear "bristling" reaction after being frightened.
Whenever Wang An and the others drove the sleds into the mountains, the eldest horse always pulled the lead sled, Mu Xueli's Da Qing horse was tied to the rear beam of Wang An's sled, and Wang Li's white horse was tied to the rear beam of Mu Xueli's sled, forming a chain.
Unfortunately, since the three horses were now frightened simultaneously, they stopped following the path, all wanting to break free from their reins and flee immediately.
There was no helping it; horses and mules are like this when spooked—they just bolt recklessly, only stopping once they are exhausted and can no longer run.
Because of the tiger prints, Wang An had already been uneasy while sitting on the sled. Now that the three horses were acting up, Wang An immediately jumped off the sled, swung his arm to take the Type 56 semi-automatic from his back, and pulled the trigger in the direction the eldest horse was looking.
Horses, mules, and donkeys share a common trait: when they cannot escape, they usually stare fixedly at the very thing they fear most. It is unknown whether they are trying to figure out what is before them or trying to break their inner fear.
As the sounds of "Bang, bang-bang, bang-bang-bang..." rang out, Wang An saw a colossal creature suddenly leap from the nearby bushes, blotting out the sky as it pounced toward him.
Simultaneously, this colossal creature let out a deafening roar.
Wang An looked closely and discovered that this sky-blocking colossus was a massive tiger leaping through the air.