Mountain hunting, while both dangerous and arduous, leaves the outcome of catching prey entirely uncertain!
Yet, this activity is truly addictive, much like fishing; a fisherman rarely considers whether or not they will actually catch a fish!
But one must go! Once a fish is on the hook, the thrill in one’s heart is something that makes a person unable to stop! It’s just like... the way Wang An and Mu Xueqing toss and turn on the kang!!
Wang An drove the sled along the path into the mountains. In reality, there are no roads in the mountains, not even small trails; one simply walks wherever the terrain is wide enough!
When he was about 10-plus *li* away from the Wild Boar Forest,
Wang An heard the pained cries of an animal coming from the woods not far away.
Judging by the sound, it was a deer. Deer are animals that run very fast, and there are only a few types of carnivorous beasts in these mountains that can prey on them! All of them are quite valuable!
Thinking of this, he touched the pistol in his pocket, tied his horse to a tree, and ran toward the source of the animal's cries.
A few minutes later, Wang An hid in a snow pit and peeked forward!
The mountain wind wasn't very strong at the moment, and it happened to be blowing against him; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to get this close!
The noses and ears of mountain beasts are, for the most part, sharper than those of professional hunting dogs!
In front of him, he saw a leopard dragging a sika deer with all its might!
The sika deer wasn't dead yet, letting out "chirping" cries of agony!
It was just that this leopard had made a miscalculation when catching the deer—the disparity in their weights was too great!
The leopard itself wasn't very large, usually weighing about 90-plus *jin*, but this deer—just looking at those large antlers, one could tell it was an adult male sika deer, weighing a full 200 *jin*!
That deer’s body was covered in valuable things!
If the deer had been twenty or thirty *jin* lighter than the leopard, it might not have been a problem at all for the leopard to drag it away! But in the current situation, trying to drag it away was an awkward affair!
In fact, in these deep mountains, when the "Big Claws" (tigers) aren't out, the leopard is already the top predator.
Aside from the black bear and the brown bear, it basically has no rivals!
However, leopards are naturally vigilant; although they are formidable, they are very timid!
These creatures are generally nocturnal, and the chances of seeing one during the day are extremely slim!
It was now around 7:00 or nearly 8:00 in the morning! From his past life until now, Wang An had only ever seen one leopard pelt!
To be able to see a live leopard was truly a stroke of incredible luck!
These creatures might be slightly more numerous than the "Big Claws"!
But wanting to see one is still quite difficult!
One hears about lynx cubs quite often, or sees dozens of their pelts stacked together at the supply and marketing cooperative!
Although sables are also hard to hunt, their numbers are actually quite decent now, and one often hears about which hunter has trapped a large pelt again!
But for many years, no one had heard of anyone bagging a leopard!
At the supply and marketing cooperative, no one had even rumored receiving a leopard pelt!
Even those who claimed to have seen one were extremely rare each year, and it was hard to tell if they were telling the truth.
Because some said they saw a leopard weighing 200 *jin*! But even the largest male leopard struggles to reach 100 *jin*!!!
The leopard was now about 300 meters away from Wang An. He wasn't confident in taking the shot, and he didn't dare get too close!
He always heard people chatting about how, at the slightest disturbance, this creature would vanish without a trace!
He figured he would only have one chance to shoot this thing! It ran too fast!
Wang An aimed with his gun, feeling it was a long shot. He had to get closer. If it heard a sound or smelled his scent and ran, then so be it!
He slowly stood up and crept forward stealthily. It took four or five minutes to reach a spot about 200 meters away from the leopard!
He didn't dare move any closer. Peeking out, he discovered that the leopard, perhaps realizing it couldn't drag the large stag away, had started eating right there!
He shouldered his rifle and aimed carefully at its head!
200 meters was quite a distance; the leopard looked no bigger than a large goose!
Wang An had never been this careful when firing a gun! Mainly because the pelt was just too valuable!
He clearly remembered that at the supply and marketing cooperative, a single pelt started at 1,200 yuan! He estimated that in a few years, it would be worth several thousand! Maybe even over ten thousand!!
He took a deep breath, held it, and just as he was about to fire, he saw the creature lift its head to look around!
He adjusted his state and continued to wait for the right opportunity!
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, it lifted its head again to look left and right!
Eating, yet looking everywhere! Constantly glancing around!!
It kept repeating this behavior!
To keep his trigger finger nimble, Wang An had specifically taken his hand out of his mitten, and now, damn it, it was about to go numb from the cold!
Oh, for heaven's sake! This thing has absolutely no patience!
Finally, after about 10 minutes, Wang An waited for the perfect opportunity to fire!
The deer seemed to have died! He saw the creature pull out the deer's intestines and engage in a tug-of-war with them!
"Bang! Bang!" Two shots rang out, and the leopard didn't even react before it collapsed right there!
I hit the leopard! I actually hit the leopard! Wang An felt a surge of wild joy in his heart!
That sense of success and satisfaction was almost comparable to that final shudder he felt when he was doing "that" with Mu Xueqing!
This was something only a master marksman could accomplish!
And Wang An, who barely knew how to hunt, a half-baked hunter relying solely on his marksmanship, had actually bagged a leopard that hunters hadn't caught in years!!
One has to say, luck is definitely a part of strength!!
He ran forward, happy and excited. Looking at that exceptionally beautiful leopard pelt, it was truly a feast for the eyes—the golden, shimmering fur was dotted with black rosettes the size of large coins!
Once this pelt is tanned, he could make a coat and have Mu Xueqing wear it! Strip off all the fabric and have her wear only this leopard fur coat! Wow...! How sexy that would be!!...This matter must be studied!!
The leopard had only been hit once in the head, near the eye.
The other shot, judging by the marks, had grazed its nose and hit the ground directly!
He couldn't call it luck; he had been dithering back and forth, unable to fire.
Wang An had been lying on the snow for nearly 20 minutes! His hands had suffered the most; now that he was relaxing, his fingertips were throbbing with pain!
If it weren't for that "lucky intestine," whether he could have hit it or not was a different story!
He stabbed the necks of both the leopard and the sika deer to bleed them. The sika deer was already dead, so he let out as much blood as he could!
Deer blood is an excellent thing; deer blood wine is a great tonic! It’s a pity he didn't have any containers on him! What a waste!!
However, this large deer pizzle—perhaps the leopard didn't like the taste—had been perfectly preserved! Not bad! Not bad! Hahaha!
He cut off the deer pizzle completely. There were no antlers; at this time of year, there were only the antlers, hard as rock!
But since these antlers were attached to the deer's skull, they would definitely make a beautiful ornament!!
Gutting it was out of the question in this freezing cold weather!!
Looking at the leopard he had bagged and the sika deer he had scavenged!
His mood was exactly the same as when he held a naked Mu Xueqing after finishing that business! So comfortable!!
He turned to go get the sled. This large stallion, after a brief moment of agitation, was no longer afraid of the leopard's carcass!!
Normal horses, mules, and oxen would be frantic and wouldn't even dare to get close if they smelled the scent of predators like "Big Claws," leopards, wolves, or lynx!!
But this large stallion was so impressive! Right, he still hadn't looked at those introduction letters!
There were six introduction letters, none of them long, but he didn't know if they belonged to those four people! Or if everyone mentioned in these six letters was already dead!
Anyway, the meaning of these letters was that this horse belonged to a horse farm in Inner Mongolia!
He tried hard to recall the few memories he had before entering the "fence" (prison) in his past life; the horses from that farm seemed to be specially raised warhorses!!
Damn! This horse is incredibly impressive; it's not an ordinary horse at all! But why are there no markings on it??
Thinking of those two horses that had vanished in a flash! Such an amazing horse—his heart ached, it pained him, it hurt and ached!!
Dear readers with tickets! Please give me one!!!
Any kind of ticket will do!! I salute you, I salute you!!
(End of chapter)