Chapter 262: Binding the Deer, Making Bark Bowls
The herd of deer was currently in a state of absolute panic, trapped deep in a snow pit and unable to get out, with a pack of dogs barking above them.
There were no bucks in this herd, so the deer had no leader to lean on; they all began to bleat in terror.
The cry of a deer is actually quite pleasant, but when a whole herd is doing it, it becomes rather annoying.
After a long while, Wang An and his two companions finally arrived, their steps heavy with exhaustion.
The moment the three of them saw the herd trapped in the snow, they were overcome with wild joy, as if all their fatigue had vanished instantly.
Mu Xueli shouted loudly, "Sika deer! So many Sika deer!"
Wang Li wasn't tired anymore either, looking at the herd with a face full of excitement.
Wang An was naturally very happy as well, though he didn't express it as overtly.
These were Sika deer. Although does weren't as valuable as bucks, both the blood and the meat were genuinely expensive, high-quality goods.
Furthermore, Wang An had wanted to raise these creatures for a long time; this was practically a windfall.
Thus, Wang An said, "We're catching them all alive. Try your best not to injure them."
"Got it, Fourth Brother. Deer blood wine is great stuff; we'll catch them and then bleed them," Wang Li said with a grin.
Wang An shook his head and smiled. "My meaning is to catch them and raise them. That way, we'll have an endless supply of deer blood wine."
"Raise them? Right, raising them is great! Whenever we want deer blood, we can just kill one," Wang Li continued to clamor.
Mu Xueli couldn't help but interject from the side, "Calling you a blockhead is like praising you. Breeding! Do you understand what breeding is? Just like the yellow goats at your Fourth Brother's house—you just keep them."
Wang Li was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood, though it didn't dampen his excitement in the slightest.
Nodding, he said, "Yeah, whatever works, hahaha!"
At that moment, Da Hei and the other dogs spotted the three of them and all ran over.
Da Hei acted as if he had suffered a great injustice, whimpering by Wang An's leg, and while whimpering, he let out a few "woof woof woof" barks toward the herd.
Wang An certainly couldn't understand the literal words, but he understood Da Hei's meaning.
Da Hei was saying: "This wasn't my fault! What the hell are we supposed to do with this?"
Wang An smiled and patted Da Hei's head. "Da Hei, well done! There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing it this way!"
Hearing Wang An's words, Da Hei first glanced at Wang An's face, then began shaking his head and wagging his tail, leaping up to pounce on Wang An.
Anyone who has raised a dog knows that when a dog is shaking its head, wagging its tail, and jumping around in place, it is at its happiest.
If a dog's state is to tuck its tail, droop its head, and let its eyes dart around, it has definitely done something bad or is unhappy.
Da Qing and Da Huang also pounced on Mu Xueli and Wang Li, respectively, though they were simply currying favor with their owners.
As for the Sika deer in the snow pit, these two dogs didn't even give them a second glance.
After standing there for a while, the three of them took their ropes and walked toward the snow pit.
The snow in this gully—a combination of fallen snow and wind-blown drifts—was genuinely thick.
The current situation was such that if Wang An and the others didn't catch the deer, the animals would eventually freeze to death here; it would be extremely difficult for them to get out on their own.
The snow was so deep that even for someone of Wang An's height, it basically reached his chest.
Consequently, the three of them had to scramble and crawl to reach the Sika deer.
Deer are very timid, so the approach of the three humans caused the herd to panic once again.
All the deer lunged forward desperately, but no matter how good their jumping ability was, they couldn't leap out while sunk in such deep snow.
Two people worked together to bind the fawns, while the larger deer required all three of them.
Of course, when binding deer in the snow, the large does couldn't have their legs tied directly. They first needed a halter to secure the head, and then the deer had to be lifted and pushed out of the snow pit.
Once they were out of the pit, their legs could be tied.
One doe jumped too high in the pit but landed head-first, diving straight into the snow. The three of them struggled significantly to dig the deer out.
But the damn thing was, after dragging this doe out of the pit, they discovered that for some reason, its neck was broken. The three of them felt a genuine pang of heartache.
However, it wasn't dead yet, so they could only deal with it later.
There were 15 deer in total: 8 large and 7 small, making it a reasonably sized herd.
The large ones were adult does, each weighing roughly between 130 and 150 jin.
The 7 fawns were "deer of the year," meaning they were less than a year old, each weighing only sixty or seventy jin.
Among these seven fawns, four were bucks and three were does.
In this era, aside from deer blood and deer hearts, the most valuable parts were the deer penis and the velvet antlers.
Deer fetuses were also valuable—extremely so.
The placenta was also valuable, as it was used as a medicinal ingredient or a nutritional supplement.
However, a "deer fetus" is not the same as a "deer placenta," or rather, the fetus includes the placenta.
A deer fetus is the unborn fawn still inside the doe's belly; when it is removed along with the placenta, it is called a deer fetus.
Taking a deer fetus, as the name implies, involves cutting it out of a living pregnant doe.
Therefore, very few, if any, mountain hunters would do such a thing.
For mountain hunters, killing prey was fine, and catching them alive to raise was fine, because that was their livelihood.
But extracting a deer fetus was considered an act that defied the laws of heaven, something that would bring retribution.
One must understand that true mountain hunters had beliefs; they would never kill a "pregnant" mountain animal.
Of course, in many cases, it was impossible to tell if an animal was pregnant, so many were inevitably killed.
But if a true mountain hunter encountered such a situation, they would remove the fetus, bury it in the soil, and mutter a few words of self-consolation.
Although Wang An wasn't a pure-blooded mountain hunter and didn't have as many taboos, he would absolutely never do such a thing!
Because that kind of thing was too fucking cruel!
As a human, one should have some bottom line.
After binding the deer, the three of them smoked a cigarette and rested for a while.
The initial run had exhausted them, and then hauling those 15 deer out had added exhaustion upon exhaustion.
However, the pack of dogs was excited again, circling and lying down beside the deer.
Mainly, the gaze of these dogs was quite terrifying, which made the cries of the deer even more shrill.
Wang An wanted to kill the broken-necked doe immediately to end its suffering and use the meat to feed the dogs, but the deer blood would be wasted.
Sika deer blood was even better than that of red deer.
So, steeling his heart, Wang An decided to wait until the sled was brought over before killing the deer to feed the dogs; that way, he could use lunch boxes and flasks to collect some of the blood.
Thinking of this, Wang An said to Mu Xueli and Wang Li, "You two keep an eye on these deer; don't let the dogs bite them. I'll go get the sled. When I return, we'll kill the deer to feed the dogs."
Just as Wang An stood up to leave, Wang Li suddenly said, "Fourth Brother, let me get the sled. I'm afraid I can't keep Da Hei and the others in check."
Wang Li still had a vivid memory of the dogs "cursing" at people. Last time they caught a red deer, if Wang An hadn't intimidated the pack while taking the abuse himself, the one being cursed would have been Wang Li.
Wang An thought about it and said, "That works. You've got your box-gun with you, right? Load it and keep it in your hand. Avoid the thickets and be careful."
"Don't worry, Fourth Brother, I know the drill," Wang Li agreed. He took the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle off his back and planted it in the snow.
Then he took out the box-gun, looped the strap around his wrist, put his mittens back on, and turned to leave.
After Wang Li left, Wang An and Mu Xueli had nothing to do, so they started chatting and shooting the breeze.
No matter where he was, Wang An had a habit of observing his surroundings. When he saw a few thick basswood trees not far away, he suddenly thought of bowls made from basswood bark.
Those would be great for collecting deer blood!
When Wang An mentioned the idea to Mu Xueli, her eyes lit up immediately. The two of them walked over to the basswood trees and began to get to work.