Immediately after, Da Hei tilted his nose upward again, sniffing the sky carefully. After a few sniffs, he let out a few barks toward Xiao Hei.
Upon hearing Da Hei's barks, Xiao Hei immediately imitated him and began sniffing the sky as well.
Seeing this scene, Mu Xueli exclaimed in surprise
"Brother-in-law, is Da Hei teaching Xiao Hei how to work?"
Hearing this, Wang An smiled and nodded.
"Mm-hmm, that's exactly what's happening."
As Mu Xueli observed, she nodded with a face full of shock.
"This dog, Da Hei, is definitely going to become a spirit. Even if he hasn't yet, he will sooner or later. He's already learned how to take on an apprentice; he's truly freaking amazing."
Wang An and Wang Li only smiled when they heard Mu Xueli speak; they were clearly accustomed to Da Hei teaching Xiao Hei how to hunt.
The reason Wang An and Wang Li were so calm was primarily because they had noticed this during their previous few trips into the mountains.
Whether it was searching for prey, capturing prey, or directing other dogs to coordinate with one another, Da Hei was teaching it all to Xiao Hei.
The behavior of Da Hei and Xiao Hei was very much like a master teaching an apprentice how to do a job.
In truth, this was the benefit of having an older dog lead a younger dog in hunting; this way, the owner didn't have to worry at all, as the puppy would naturally learn how to hunt.
It was just that Da Hei's method seemed a bit more human-like.
It had to be admitted that the intelligence of Da Hei, the lead dog, was absolutely among the most elite of all mountain-driving dogs.
Wang An felt that even if compared to the finest bloodhounds or military dogs, Da Hei's capabilities were not at all inferior.
He could understand human speech, teach an apprentice, and knew how to command a pack of dogs to cooperate.
Most importantly, during the hunting process, Da Hei knew very clearly what he should be doing; he could ensure that he and the other dogs remained as uninjured as possible.
And this was precisely the point that all hunters valued most.
One must understand that normally, for a hunter to cultivate a good pack of dogs is a very difficult task.
Because in the process, dogs would constantly die, and new dogs would constantly join; it was a repetitive, endless cycle.
For a hunter, the death of every dog was a massive loss and a heartbreaking event.
The loss was obvious, because as dogs died, the mountain-driver had to continue training new ones, spending a great deal of time and energy.
As for the heartbreak, it was because a genuine bond existed between the mountain-driver and the mountain-driving dogs—a bond that could be said to be no less than the camaraderie between comrades-in-arms.
This was why, although the four spotted dogs weren't particularly great, Wang An still didn't hesitate to spend huge amounts of resources to train them.
Furthermore, as long as they showed the courage to risk their lives after entering the mountains, even if their performance was truly poor, Wang An decided he would no longer cull them.
There was no other way; in a sense, these four spotted dogs were like Wang An's children. If his own children were mediocre, could a parent just kill them off?
That was absolutely impossible!
Overall, Da Hei was far too perceptive of human nature and far too sensible; he was simply a perfect mountain-driving dog!
Subsequently, Da Hei began to run while barking, and the other dogs followed suit, barking as they ran after him.
Over such a long period, the three of them had already observed Da Hei's hunting habits.
The first bark seemed to say, "Prey discovered, everyone pay attention."
The second bark seemed to say, "Did you hear me? Respond immediately."
Only after the dogs responded would he let out a third bark, which seemed to say, "Everyone follow me now."
Truth be told, Da Hei really did have a system!
The forest where Wang An and the others were currently located was a relatively sparse lime tree forest. Therefore, after the dogs ran off, the three of them did not dismount but chased after them on horseback.
It must be said that chasing dogs on horseback was actually quite a comfortable experience. However, the trees in these great mountains were always alternating between dense and sparse, so hunting on horseback was something that could be encountered but not sought after.
Of course, as mountain-drivers, they never cared about this; after all, even in a relatively sparse forest, a horse's speed was not as fast as a dog's.
Fortunately, the gap wasn't that large; regardless, both horses and dogs were faster than humans.
A few minutes later, within the sight of Wang An and his companions, they saw the pack of dogs surrounding a thick lime tree, tilting their heads back and barking incessantly.
Some of the dogs were constantly leaping toward the tree, seemingly trying to bite something in the branches.
Unfortunately, dogs cannot climb trees; at most, they could leap two or three meters high before they had to twist their bodies and jump back down.
Thus, it was obvious that the prey was in the tree.
The three of them quickly raised their guns to their faces and aimed in the direction the dogs were looking. However, due to the angle and the lush foliage of the tree, they couldn't see anything.
But there were only a few types of animals that could climb trees, and only a few that would attract Da Hei's attention.
For example, a lynx, a leopard, or a black bear.
As for tigers, although they could indeed climb trees, they rarely did so.
Mainly, with a tiger's strength, there was no need to climb trees for fun; it would be a loss of tiger-face.
The lime tree before them had a diameter of over one meter. After careful observation, the three of them still didn't dare step forward to investigate.
Because regardless of what the prey in the tree was, it was a very dangerous existence for humans.
Especially agile felines like lynxes or leopards; even with Wang An's marksmanship, he couldn't guarantee he would emerge unscathed.
After a while, Mu Xueli couldn't help but ask
"Brother-in-law, can you two cover me? I'll go over and take a peek."
Wang An thought for a moment before saying
"Don't go. What's the rush? Let's watch first. There are plenty of bees around here; it's most likely a black bear in the tree."
The reason Wang An said this was that as long as it was a bear, there was no bear that didn't love honey, and lime trees happened to be the favorite nesting place for bees.
Since there were so many bees, there must be a hive nearby.
And so, amidst the barking of the dogs, the three of them waited, as still as monks in deep meditation.
After another while, Da Hei suddenly began barking in another direction, and immediately following him, Xiao Hei and the other dogs began barking as well.
Clearly, some kind of wild beast was approaching from this direction.
This anomaly quickly caught the attention of Wang An and his companions.
(End of Chapter)