Chapter 232: Don't Start Trouble, But Don't Fear It
Actually, when it came to the job of gutting and extracting the gallbladder, with Mu Xueli around, no one else was needed.
Mu Xueli's hunting knife danced, and in a dozen seconds, he had extracted the gallbladder of the bear.
This bear was nothing special; it was quite large, and the gallbladder was decent in size, but its color was as black as ink.
It was clearly an "iron gallbladder"!
Fortunately, this one was a full size larger than the bear gallbladder from the one they had killed while hunting yellow goats with Wang An.
Once air-dried, it would weigh about three *liang*—roughly 160 to 170 grams—and could sell for over 500 yuan, which was a decent amount!
Wang An took out a cloth bag and carefully stored the iron gallbladder.
Then, Mu Xueli couldn't resist starting a one-man comedy routine.
Wang An also wanted to know the full story, so he didn't stop him.
Besides, for the past two days, Mu Xueli had become preoccupied because of those three people who stole the sable; it seemed like he always had something weighing on his mind.
He hadn't been acting like himself, though he was still as chatty as ever.
Furthermore, among the four fierce beasts—the dhole, wolf, tiger, and leopard—the dhole ranked first, which was enough to prove that this creature was certainly not a benevolent one.
Moreover, the saline lands of Jiazhuang Liang weren't particularly deep in the mountains; logically, such a creature shouldn't have appeared there.
But it had, so they needed to understand as much as possible about the situation.
Because their appearance was absolutely not a good sign!
Mu Xueli stood beside the bear's carcass, his left hand covered in blood and his right hand holding the hunting knife. He began his performance with great passion, gesturing wildly.
It turned out that while Mu Xueli was on his way back to fetch the sled, as he passed through a thicket, several "red dogs" suddenly darted out from the bushes.
Red dogs—dholes—were even more cunning than wolves.
When a pack of wolves attacks, they generally organize their formation and charge together.
But red dogs were different; when they attacked, they generally didn't make intentional noise, nor did they care much for formation.
One could say they just lunged and bit, dealing with the consequences later. Therefore, these creatures were even more dangerous than wolves.
And although they were only half the size of a wolf, they didn't fear a wolf at all in a one-on-one fight.
However, they rarely appeared alone because they lived in family units; whatever they did, the whole family joined in.
Hearing the noise, Mu Xueli had already become alert, so he casually cocked the firing pin of his Mauser C96.
Upon discovering they were red dogs, Mu Xueli didn't hesitate to raise the gun and fire.
The power of the Mauser was slightly stronger than that of a Type 54 pistol.
Because the distance was very short, Mu Xueli's first shot shattered the head of the red dog that had lunged out.
It must be said that the reason the dhole ranked first among the four fierce beasts wasn't just because of its cunning; like the wolverine, these things were utterly fearless of death.
They either didn't attack at all, or if they did, they fought with their lives on the line.
And it wasn't just the individual risking its life, but the entire family risking theirs together!
They didn't care what you were—wolf, tiger, or leopard—and the sound of gunfire meant nothing. In short: just charge.
So, after Mu Xueli killed the first red dog, two more immediately rushed out.
Wang An had told Mu Xueli and Wang Li that the Mauser was best used horizontally, as the recoil was too great and the gun tended to jump up and down.
Moreover, most of the ancestors from the War of Resistance had used the gun this way.
The Mauser's firepower was indeed fierce; holding it horizontally, Mu Xueli began to blast away.
After killing those two, the red dogs continued to charge one after another, practically lining up to die.
Actually, if the red dogs had organized their formation and attacked together, they might have actually bitten Mu Xueli or even killed him.
However, this "whoever runs fastest goes first" method played right into Mu Xueli's hands.
No matter the animal, even the fastest wild leopard in the mountains, if they lined up in front of a gun barrel, they couldn't withstand the barrage.
In total, there were nine red dogs. Mu Xueli didn't have much trouble; one shot per dog, or perhaps two, and he killed them all.
Even after finishing his story, Mu Xueli seemed unsatisfied: "I went *pew pew pew pew*, one shot one kill, two shots a pair, I beat those red dogs until they were shitting and pissing themselves!"
However, Mu Xueli seemed overly excited, going "pew pew pew pew" over and over.
He was acting truly arrogant and flashy! And there was no sign that he would stop anytime soon.
Unable to take it anymore, Wang Li spoke up
"Brother Mu, tomorrow you should 'pew pew pew pew' those three thieves who stole the sable."
Mu Xueli froze for a moment, then narrowed his eyes at Wang Li.
"That's right, why didn't I think of that? If I 'pew pew' them, how can they possibly seek revenge?"
Wang An hadn't wanted to pay attention to Mu Xueli before, finding it quite amusing to just quietly watch him show off.
But these words from Mu Xueli gave Wang An a start.
Because when Mu Xueli said this, the tangible killing intent in his eyes could not be hidden.
It was evident how much trouble those three sable thieves had caused Mu Xueli over the last two days.
So Wang An immediately asked, "Then where do you plan to find them?"
Mu Xueli opened his eyes wide, seemingly pondering the question.
Then, Wang An continued, "We don't start trouble, but we don't fear it either. It's not our fault, so why worry about them retaliating? They should be the ones worrying."
Seeing the contemplative expressions on Mu Xueli and Wang Li, Wang An thought for a moment and added
"In these mountains, doesn't someone die every year? If things get heated and someone gets killed, then they get killed. What else is there to do?"
As he spoke, Wang An's face was full of disdain and dominance, as if human lives were no different from the lives of mountain animals in his eyes—once dead, they were simply dead.
After hearing Wang An's words, it was as if a light had dawned on Mu Xueli, and he suddenly understood.
The killing intent vanished, and the melancholy and worry disappeared. The old, silly, laughing Mu Xueli seemed to have returned!
Seeing that Mu Xueli was no longer preoccupied, Wang An said, "Alright, stop showing off. Hurry up and skin the red dogs first, then skin the bear. The bear resists the cold, so skin the *gantang* last."
"Brother-in-law, that big deer seems to have a bit of a temper. What if it dies of anger in a bit? Should we just stab it to death first?"
Now that Mu Xueli's mind was clear, he was exceptionally talkative and overly concerned.
Wang An rolled his eyes and said irritably, "Are you crazy? You haven't finished cleaning up the pile of dead ones, and you're already worrying about the living one?"
Mu Xueli chuckled and began skinning the red dogs.
Suddenly remembering the white horse, Wang An said to Wang Li
"Old Fifth, cut two small strips of meat to feed your horse. About the size of a finger. Once it eats meat, it won't be as afraid of these mountain beasts."
Hearing this, Mu Xueli's expression didn't change because he already knew about this.
Wang Li, however, looked completely incredulous. But before he could voice his confusion, Mu Xueli's mouth started itching again.
Mu Xueli bragged, "Just use the red dog meat—the ones I went *pew pew pew pew*, one shot one kill, two shots a pair!"
Hearing this, the corners of Wang An and Wang Li's mouths twitched simultaneously.
Wang Li ignored Mu Xueli, cut two strips of meat, and went to feed the horse.
As for Wang An, it took a tremendous internal effort to restrain himself from swinging his big foot at Mu Xueli.