Chapter 833: Everyone is Very Joyful

To be honest, Wang An felt a bit of regret that he hadn't bagged that leopard.

After all, that was 10,000 yuan! 10,000 yuan in the 80s!

But that's just how hunting goes; it's normal to get a kill, and it's just as normal to come up empty. Overall, it was a matter of "if I get it, it's my luck; if I don't, it's my fate."

With a sigh, Wang An helplessly led the dogs back.

Lying back down in the grass, Wang An continued to appreciate the beauty of nature.

It had to be said that lying in the grass like this, closing one's eyes and clearing one's mind while the fragrance of green grass filled the nostrils, felt genuinely wonderful.

Of course, it would have been even better without the grass bugs.

Those damn grass bugs were truly annoying; one moment of inattention and one had crawled onto Wang An's neck. If he hadn't brushed it away in time, it would have nearly left him with a huge bump.

After an unknown amount of time, Wang Dazhu and Wang Li finally arrived, leading a group of hired hands who were bringing along a herd of mules, horses, and donkeys.

The reason for mentioning mules, horses, and donkeys was that the people coming to help hadn't just come themselves; they had each brought their own mule, horse, or donkey.

Truth be told, these people were lazy enough to think of bringing their livestock to carry the wild boars instead of carrying them down the mountain on their own backs.

Of course, Wang An was happy to see this; with the help of livestock, the speed would be faster.

Furthermore, the 20 catties of pork were definitely being given away, so how the actual work got done was their own business.

However, when the group saw the wild boar carcasses covering the ground, almost everyone was shocked.

They might have seen skilled hunters before, but they had truly never seen anyone as formidable as Wang An and Wang Li.

A cacophony of discussions quickly broke out

"Oh my god! I've never seen hunting like this. They must have slaughtered a whole nest of wild boars."

"Not quite; didn't Wang Li say that over ten little striped ones got away?"

"That's still vicious enough. Holy crap, these two brothers are qualified to be gunners, aren't they?"

"Yup, I reckon gunners are probably just like this."

"The last time I saw this many wild boars was years ago before I worked at the forestry station. The station organized dozens of hunters, and I remember that was the only time boars died in such a swarm. I haven't seen a scene like this since. Little An and his brother are truly incredible."

While everyone was chatting excitedly, Wang Dazhu shouted

"Come on, everyone lend a hand. Let's get these boars onto the backs of the livestock first. Once we get back, I'll have to trouble you all with the skinning and butchering."

After Wang Dazhu spoke, a villager surnamed Li said with a smile

"No trouble at all, no trouble! We're all happy to do this work. That's 20 catties of pork! My family hasn't even eaten that much pork during New Year's, hahahaha!"

It had to be said that as long as a person learns to be content, it is very easy to be happy.

After this man spoke, another villager chimed in

"Yup. Right now, wild boar meat at the big market is selling for 0.45 yuan a catty. At that price, if you arrive late, there's nothing left to buy. 20 catties of pork is 9 yuan, hahaha... earning this meat is truly comfortable."

Li Caicai, the stonemason, suddenly said

"I must say, the boss does things with class. Just helping carry a pig and we get this much meat... haha, this is really satisfying..."

Following that, the others continued to say similar things as they lifted the pigs.

It was clear that these 20 catties of pork had made these people very cheerful.

Thus, with everyone working together, all the wild boars were tied to the backs of the mules, horses, and donkeys.

Once the boars were tied, the group didn't delay and led their animals back down the mountain.

It had to be said that there is strength and noise in numbers; the group had been clamoring on the way up, and their mouths didn't stay idle on the way down.

However, the topic of their discussion remained centered on the mountain and the pork.

At this time, Wang Li, walking at the rear, pointed to the procession of livestock in front and said to Wang An beside him

"Fourth Brother, look at this scene, isn't it spectacular? Doesn't it look like the great caravan trains of the old days?"

Wang An smiled and nodded

"Yeah, it really does, hehehe. By the way, Fifth, do you know what I saw before you guys arrived?"

Wang Li was stunned for a moment and instinctively asked

"You didn't run into a leopard, did you?"

After Wang Li spoke, it was Wang An's turn to be stunned. Did Wang Li have clairvoyance? How did he know about this?

Noticing Wang An's confused look, Wang Li frowned and said

"Before I went back, I kept feeling like something was following me. Then I caught a glimpse of it and felt like it was a leopard, but I didn't see it clearly. I fired two shots before I felt that thing stop following me."

After a pause, Wang Li continued

"Fourth Brother, do you think the leopard we both saw... might be the same one?"

Hearing Wang Li say this, Wang An had the same feeling, but he still shook his head

"I don't know if it's the same one. I just want to know why this leopard came down the mountain. It's really not a good omen when these things come down."

Actually, it wasn't just leopards coming down that was bad; any animal coming down the mountain was bad.

Because it proved that something had happened deep in the mountains.

At the very least, it proved that food had become scarce in the deep mountains.

However, in this season, herbivores did not lack food. And if there were herbivores, carnivores certainly wouldn't lack food either.

Therefore, the reason the leopard came down was most likely because a "Big Claw" had entered the mountains—meaning a tiger.

But according to the season, it wouldn't be unusual for a tiger to have crossed over from the Russians' side.

After Wang An finished speaking, Wang Li said with a solemn expression

"Fourth Brother, could it be... that a Big Claw has come into the mountains?"

Wang An didn't answer, but nodded with a troubled expression.

Mainly, the fact that there was a tiger in the mountains was absolutely not a good thing for anyone who made their living from the great mountains.

As for the tiger Wang An had led Wu Dong, Zhang Shuya, and the others to kill that one time, that was purely a stroke of luck.

Seeing that Wang An didn't speak and only nodded, Wang Li complained a bit

"What's the deal with these Big Claws? No news for years, and then they all come at once. Truly fucking annoying."

Wang An sighed and said helplessly

"Yup, nothing we can do about it."

After Wang An said this, the two fell into silence.

Until the group returned to the dugout, the mood of the two brothers remained grim.

One leopard was already hard enough to deal with; now there was a high possibility of a tiger added to the mix. This was truly a nightmare!

*** *Thanks to "Big Account Empire Emperor" for the tip, thank you, thank you, a thousand thanks!*

(End of Chapter)