Chapter 348 Hunting (4)

[Dusk, somewhere in a valley on the west bank of the Styx]

After repeatedly confirming that no one was following him, Pierre asked hesitantly: "Are you sure this is where you are?"

Winters stood on his horse and looked around, trying to recall the retreat route after breaking through the Teltown camp. But the barren mountains and ridges all looked the same, and he was a little unsure.

If you can't think clearly, don't think about it. Winters laughed: "It should be this...don't care, let's dig a few shovels first!"

After a long journey, the Tiefeng County delegation has reached the confluence river basin deep in the wilderness - and at the same time the heart of the Red River Department.

The group even camped outside Bianli City last night.

Revisiting the old place makes people who have experienced the "Battle of the Wilderness" cannot help but feel emotional.

Vashika seized the opportunity and told the recruits about the Battle of Bianli with half pride and half regret. However, he boasted about the Blood Wolf and also boasted about himself.

As the palace of the White Lion and the symbol of the Chihe tribe, Bianli has been rebuilt.

The triangular fort on the east side that was blown into the sky by Winters himself has been repaired, leaving only the eye-catching color difference between the old and new walls as a silent reminder of how brutal that siege was.

According to the little lion, the white lion spends half of his time in Bianli, adjudicating affairs and receiving envoys.

If the schedule is not delayed, Winters should also meet the White Lion at Bianli.

However, the white lion is not in the city right now. The little lion asked and found out - it turned out that the big tent had left Bianli three days ago and went to the hunting ground.

When he learned that the big tent had moved out of camp, the little lion was so anxious that he almost shed tears. He complained to Winters again: "The departure of the big tent means that the hunting ground is about to be surrounded. If we don't hurry up, we really won't be able to catch up!"

Winters fully expressed his understanding for the little lion's anxiety.

The next day, he took a detour.

It's not that Winters deliberately teased the little lion, he just wanted to confirm the location of the buried gold.

In the evening, when others were busy unloading the truck and setting up camp, Winters took only Pierre and Charles away from the camp on the pretext of hunting.

The three of them traveled upstream, first finding the ruins of the bridgehead, and then continued searching along the retreat route that night, and finally found this "suspicious" place.

When they reached the bottom of the valley, Charles couldn't help but exclaimed: "You, Pierre and I alone can't finish digging such a large piece of wasteland until tomorrow! How about I go back and call some people?"

Winters dismounted and took out the shovel from the saddle bag: "It's marked."

"Mark?" Charles was shocked: "Didn't Lieutenant Colonel Jessica say that leaving a mark would lead to discovery, so didn't he leave a mark?"

Winters met Pierre's eyes, and the latter shrugged.

Examining the entrance and exit of the valley, Winters roughly deduced the route taken by the carriage: "The marks on the surface may be exposed, so Captain Mason and I thought of a way. After hiding the golden man, we buried three more wooden stakes next to it. ...It should be about half a foot under the soil."

So the three of them lined up in a flat valley where the carriage could pass, and kept turning up the soil with shovels.

"I don't know how Hailan is doing now." Xia Er hummed and said, "I don't know how Tiefeng County is doing now."

Winters asked casually: "How long has it been since we left Tiefeng County?"

"Almost two and a half months?" Charles calculated for a long time and complained softly: "Brother, how long do we have to go?"

"It's almost time. We should be able to catch up with the White Lion in a few days."

"Actually...A lot of people don't understand it now." Charles said hesitantly: "Why do we have to come all the way to participate in the Hed's hunt?"

Winters thought for a while and did not answer directly. Instead, he asked the other person beside him: "What do you think? Pierre."

Pierre was recovering from a serious illness, and he was sweating profusely after wielding the shovel for a short while. He wiped his sweat and asked, "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

"Where did you learn this trick?" Winters laughed in anger.

Pierre also smiled and replied frankly: "Last time we met the Chihe tribe, we were fighting to the death, but this time we became their guests. To be honest, I can't accept it."

Winters stopped what he was doing and asked, "Does anyone else think the same way?"

"Many of my comrades think so." Pierre said seriously: "Especially the subordinates you just brought out from Jiangbei Province and have not experienced the founding of the Wolf Town army, they don't understand."

Winters looked at the sunset and fell into silence.

Every member of the envoy was personally selected by Winters. To a certain extent, they were Winters' most trusted and valued subordinates.

If the members of the mission think this way, then there is no need to say much about the attitude of others.

"Your Excellency." Pierre took the initiative to break the silence: "Although I don't trust the Hedians, I believe in you. I believe that there are good reasons why you chose to make peace with the Red River Department. I believe that other people also think like me. Same. So you don’t have to worry.”

Winters sighed: "I should explain..."

"If you don't feel the need to explain," Pierre said seriously, "then there is no need to explain."

After thinking for a moment, Winters had his thoughts.

Winters took a long breath and solemnly promised Pierre and Charles: "When the time is right, I will explain it carefully to everyone... Everyone has the right to know what they are fighting for."

Pierre wanted to say something else, but he swallowed it all. Finally, he just said: "You just have to give the order."

"Okay." Winters' lips curled up slightly: "I have an order now."

"What order?" Ciel asked doubtfully.

“Keep turning the soil!”

Just like this, shovel after shovel, the three of them plowed the soil in the valley until the bright moon hung high.

Just when Winters began to question his memory uncontrollably, he once again heard Ciel exclaim: "Here it is!"

Because Ciel had used rocks as wooden stakes several times, Winters and Pierre reacted indifferently: "A rock again?"

"No!" Charles' voice was so anxious that he said, "Wood! It's a wooden stake!"

"let me see!"

There was no mistake this time, it was indeed a wooden pile.

Winters stepped on the wooden stake with one foot, and drew a circle with his own step as the radius and the wooden stake as the center: "Turn over again! There must be two other wooden stakes in the circle."

Encouraged by the good news, Charles and Pierre moved quickly and found the other two wooden stakes in three clicks.

At this moment, Winters was finally able to confirm that he was stepping on not only dirt and stones, but also two tons of gold.

Charles shouted excitedly: "I'll go back and find someone right now!"

Pierre could not hide his joy.

Now that he found gold, Winters' heartbeat slowed down.

"No!" Winters called to Charles and ordered thoughtfully: "Fill the soil back in."

Charles' eyes widened in astonishment: "Why? We brought the crane, isn't it just to dig out the golden man?"

Pierre was also a little puzzled: "Most of the elite members of the Chihe tribe have gone to participate in the hunt. If you want to dig out the golden man inconspicuously, there should be no better time than now."

"You guys." Winters laughed dumbly and helplessly lectured the two of them: "You only think about how to dig it out! Don't you think about how to take it back?"

"Didn't we also bring the furnace and bellows?" Charles replied confidently: "Dig it out! Melt it down! Load it into a truck and take it away!"

"If it's melted, it's just gold." Winters explained with a smile: "Before I negotiate the terms with the White Lion, the gold man is much more valuable than the gold."

…

…

[Wasteland, hunting ground]

The three-month long hunt is about to come to a grand conclusion, and even bystanders like Winters can't help but feel excited.

Tens of thousands of hunters who had scattered all over the world now gathered together again, and the sparsely populated wilderness suddenly became noisy.

Each hunting team is doing the same thing - driving prey into the final hunting ground.

The closer it gets to the last minute, the more difficult it will be to drive the beast away.

The hunting teams were originally separated from each other, but now they are within sight of each other.

Whenever they observe other hunting parties nearby, the hunters of the Badlands will be extremely cautious.

The distance is too close!

The hunter wants to move the prey without frightening it.

The prey of some hunting teams are cattle and sheep, while the prey of some hunting teams are ferocious beasts. Any encounter will be a disaster.

The panic of prey can also be contagious. If the hunting team gets too close, it is likely to trigger a chain collapse.

Therefore, Koshhaqi would rather stand still than go side by side with other hunting teams.

Perhaps anticipating the coming disaster, the antelopes screamed and wandered, unwilling to move forward.

Hunters from the Badlands are forced to take more drastic measures. They all went out and pulled up ropes to surround the prey from three sides. They kept shouting, banging iron tools, and even simply used whips to force the antelope herd to move.

It wasn't until he witnessed the end of the Akahe tribe's hunting that Winters truly understood what the little lion had said beforehand - "The final hunting ground has been set up from the beginning."

The final stage chosen by White Lion is a highland called Qingqiu.

Standing on Qingqiu, looking around, you will see empty plains as far as the eye can see. Within dozens of miles, only Qingqiu stood alone.

On the Qingqiu, there is a magnificent palace tent with white lions, and a large blue horsetail banner flutters in the wind.

The hunters marched towards Qingqiu on thin ice, and they could finally stop until the shining golden roof of the Chihe Palace tent came into view.

The last leg of the hunt is over!

The hunters drove stakes in their respective places, stretched ropes between the stakes, and hung felt and flight feathers on the ropes.

Wooden piles, ropes and felt act like a wall to prevent wild animals from escaping; the flight feathers buzz in the wind to scare wild animals away.

Hundreds of hunting teams built felt walls connected to each other.

Finally, a giant hunting circle with Qingqiu as the center and a radius of one eye away rose up in the wilderness.

[Note: One eye is about five kilometers away, which is the farthest distance that the eye can see]

Stretching from the Styx River in the east, the Aral Sea in the west, the Jinjiang River in the south, and Yinshan Mountain in the north, wild beasts are driven from all directions into the final hunting ground.

The density of wild beasts in the hunting circle has reached an unimaginable level. The whines of herbivores are endless, and the roars of carnivorous beasts come one after another.

It is really like what the Hud shaman sang: "Hunting cunning beasts, I am the vanguard of the sweat; let the beasts in the wilderness, thigh to thigh; let the beasts on the cliff, belly to belly."

"Look!" Winters pointed at Qingqiu with a gleam in his eyes: "The stage has been set. Next, we have to see whether the performance is vigorous enough!"

Anna smiled sweetly and asked: "Then...who is the actor?"

"It's not me anyway." Winters laughed heartily: "I'm here to be an audience."

Everyone who followed Winters on his mission to the Red River Department was also eye-opening. Even the old Sergei, who looked down on the Hurd Barbarian the most, was greatly shocked at this moment.

"Good boy!" Old Sergei was so shocked that his face showed a fierce look: "Is there another great person from Barbarian?! How did you get into such a big fight with the boss!"

The older generation was shocked when they witnessed the mammoth final hunt of the Chihe Tribe, but the new generation felt a sour sense of humiliation for no reason - they couldn't be blamed, it was the nature of young people to be competitive.

"What can we do if we have a big battle? Weren't we almost killed by the blood wolf?" Vashika was at the age where he liked to talk back to me. He immediately raised a big flag and deliberately shouted: "Centurion , when we return to Tiefeng County, we will also hunt! Make a bigger one!"

After hearing this, there was a response of approval from the team of the mission.

Old Sergey subconsciously wanted to scold his son. However, the flag that Vasya raised was too big, so the old man swallowed back the curse words and just glared at his son.

Winters looked around his subordinates and saw many of them nodding vigorously with expressions of eagerness to try.

"Okay." Winters said to Vashika: "When the time comes, I will let you be responsible for driving away the beast."

"Okay!" Vashika didn't realize the trap in this sentence. He held his head high and his face flushed as if he had been commended.

Pierre sighed softly.

"Don't you like hunting?" Anna asked quietly.

"Yes." Winters smiled and replied, "I lied to him."

The Badlands were among the last groups to arrive at the hunting grounds. By the time they could see Qingqiu, the hunting circle had been completed.

Therefore, Koshhaqi only had to temporarily open a gap in the felt wall so that his men and horses could drive the prey into the hunting circle, which saved some effort in building the felt wall.

Winters could clearly see it: the moment the prey entered the circle, the tight cheeks of the Badlands hunters relaxed.

"You just have to wait until the hunting officially starts?" Winters asked Koshhaqi with a smile.

"No." Koshhaqi shook his head: "We must guard the felt wall and not let the prey break the circle."

However, the stout Hurd man finally showed a tired smile of relief: "But the harvest is not far away."

A magnificent bay-red horse galloped over. The little lion on the horse was far away and excitedly shouted: "Montagne! You finally caught up!"

Three days ago, the little lion was angry at Winters for deliberately taking a detour, and went to the hunting ground in anger. The two are now reunited after a brief separation.

"Goodbye." Winters looked at Koshhachi and stretched out his hand.

Koshhaqi was stunned for a moment, and then also stretched out his hand.

The two looked at each other and held and released their palms.

…

"If anyone asks, just say that you are Plato's caravan." The little lion led the way, turning back to explain: "It's not that the Chihe tribe can't protect you... but that there are too many miscellaneous tribes. , I am afraid that some people have evil intentions..."

Participating in the final "shooting" of the hunt were not only hunters from various tribes, but also ordinary members of the Chihe Tribe, as well as leaders and envoys from other tribes.

There were Hurd tents everywhere around the hunting ground, and Winters and others felt very out of place walking among them.

So the white lion and the little lion specially prepared a separate camp for Winters.

"...Also, it's best not to let your people walk around casually." The little lion warned sheepishly: "You can tell me anything you need, and the Red River Department will provide it to you as much as possible."

"Don't be sorry, safety comes first, the Red River Department has made enough arrangements." Winters touched the little lion's shoulder: "But... we have to get the water ourselves, and it is inevitable that we have to go in and out of the camp several times. "

The little lion smiled: "My brother specifically asked me to arrange a camp for you next to the water source. Here, it's right in front."

Looking in the direction indicated by the little lion: twelve small felt tents are clustered around one large felt tent, and a total of thirteen felt tents are neatly located on a small soil slope near the stream.

Even by Winters' standards, the camp's location had few obvious flaws. Being close to a stream makes it easy to get water, and the terrain is higher to prevent outsiders from prying.

As for the terrain not being dangerous enough... Qingqiu is surrounded by plains, so there is no danger to defend.

Moreover, Winters and his party were surrounded by tens of thousands of Hurds. If something really happened, all the "dangers" would be useless.

Staring at the thirteen felt tents, Winters' heart trembled uncontrollably. He pulled the little lion and said, "That..."

The little lion didn't know why and asked in confusion: "What? What do you want to ask?"

Winters was silent for a long time, and finally shook his head and said with a smile: "Nothing...when can I see the white lion?"

"You can do it now." The little lion shrugged: "But you don't need to take a rest first?"

"No need." Winters took a deep breath: "The sooner we see the white lion, the better."

…

[Camp of Tiefeng County Mission]

Since the host thoughtfully provided accommodation, there was no need for the guests to pitch tents. After all, a thick, spacious felt tent is much more comfortable than a marching tent.

While others were unloading the truck and lighting the fire, Anna curiously walked into the largest felt tent in the center of the camp.

The floor of the felt tent is covered with soft suede leather, and gauze curtains divide the spacious interior space into left, center and right.

In the center of the felt tent was an iron stove that was half a man tall. There was a stew pot on the stove, and the gentle "beep" of burning wood continued to come from the furnace.

Because of this iron furnace that radiates heat, the inside and outside of the felt tent are simply two worlds.

Outside is the wilderness of deep winter with the howling cold wind, while inside is a warm and peaceful paradise.

After touching the fur on the ground, Anna quickly took off her heavy boots and walked up carefully with bare feet.

The soft touch from her toes made her breathe out softly unconsciously.

The stew pot was making a gurgling sound, and Anna carefully lifted the lid. The aroma of mutton rose up in the steam and filled the surroundings.

Anna subconsciously retreated and turned her head due to the high-temperature water vapor hitting her face.

The next moment, Anna couldn't believe her eyes.

Because she saw a bathtub.

A wooden bathtub large enough for an adult.

Anna inhaled deeply, exhaled, and inhaled. After adjusting her mentality, she prayed and walked to the bathtub.

God seemed to have heard her prayer - the bathtub was thoughtfully filled with water.

Anna reached out and touched the water - and it was still warm.

Unprecedented happiness flooded into Anna's heart, and she could barely control her urge to cheer.

Carefully picking up a handful of warm water, Anna sat blankly for a moment, and for some reason, she suddenly began to sob softly.

But she quickly stopped sobbing, wiped away her tears, and returned to her usual self.

She sat next to the bathtub, propped up her cheeks, and stared at the water, as if thinking about how to use the precious warm water.

After thinking for a moment, Anna shook her head with blushing cheeks. She finally felt the temperature of the water and stood up, ready to see what else was prepared on the other side of the felt tent.

Before leaving, Anna inadvertently caught a glimpse of a set of clothes neatly placed on the square table next to the bathtub.

Anna picked up her clothes - a brand new hunting suit.

…

[In the center of Qingqiu, the palace tents of the Chihe tribe]

Looking from a distance away, there is only a splendid palace tent on Qingqiu.

There is actually more than one palace tent, but a temporary building complex composed of more than ten large and small felt tents.

Accompanied by the little lion, Winters walked into the palace tents of the Red River Department without any questioning.

The Chihe tribe is making final preparations for tomorrow's hunting, inspecting horses, testing bows, sharpening arrows... Soldiers with various feathers are running around, and from time to time, slaves rush out of a felt tent in a panic and come out again in the blink of an eye. Enter another felt tent.

While observing the busy scene of the Chihe tribe with great interest, Winters followed the little lion towards the most gorgeous and largest palace tent.

Suddenly, Winters stopped without any warning.

He turned his head and looked behind him, but there was nothing; he looked around again, but there was still nothing.

He walked on.

In an inconspicuous felt tent ten steps away, Erlun's heart almost jumped out of his chest.

The old woman next to Erlun asked hoarsely: "[Hedian] Is that him?"

The old woman was too old to tell her age, her teeth were almost gone, and the wrinkles on her face were like ravines carved by the wind. Her hair and clothes were tied with various animal bones, including birds and animals.

The most chilling thing is the old woman's eye sockets - the things that originally existed there were dug away alive, leaving two empty, black holes, and seemingly bottomless abyss.

"[Hede] It's him." Erlun hugged the old woman and sobbed painfully: "[Hede] What should I do? Old mother..."

The old woman also hugged Erlun, and patted Erlun's back gently with her dry hands.

Under the comfort of the old woman, Erlun gradually stopped crying.

Through the thick felt tent, the old woman stared straight at Winters' back.

There was obviously nothing in her eye sockets, but she straightened her back with difficulty, panted heavily, and stared at Winters until the latter walked away.

"[Herd] I once saw the future of the white lion through the fog. Because of that future, I gave the white lion's name back to the white lion." The old woman murmured to herself in a hoarse voice: "[Herd] But I I can't see that man's future, I can't see anything...I can only smell the fire, blood and tears...they are all on his body..."

On the other side, the little lion raised the curtain decorated with gold and silver, and Winters stepped into the palace tent of the Red River Department.

The white lion stood up and nodded in greeting.

[Repay (false)! ! ! ]

[Regarding the hunting of the Akahawa tribe, I am not making it up or "original", but referring to the content of "History of World Conquerors" about hunting, hunting, and winter hunting]

[...They spend one, two or three months forming a hunting circle, slowly and gradually driving away the beasts in front, being cautious lest a beast escapes from the circle... During these two or three months , they drove the wild animals like a flock of sheep day and night, and then sent a message to the Khan to report to him the situation of the prey, how many they had driven to, where they had frightened the wild beasts, and so on. Finally, when the hunting circle shrunk to only two or three paresans (11 to 17 kilometers) in diameter, they connected the ropes and covered them with felt; the army stopped around the circle and stood shoulder to shoulder...]

[Yelu Chucai's "Winter Hunting of the Regiment" can also provide some reference: "The emperor's winter hunting is like marching an army, and Bai Yan's command is surrounded by a long army. The long siege is unknown for thousands of miles, and the Hidden Dragon shakes the Lishan Mountain and the gods are shocked. The long siege is arranged like this In a circular formation, thousands of cloud settlements from thousands of miles away are rushing in. Thousands of wild horses and goats, red bears, white deer and green deer.

The strong men bent their bows to kill strange beasts, and even drove away tigers and leopards to chase away greedy wolves. Only the tired tourists in Zhongshu put down their felt curtains and recited the Book of Changes. ]

[In addition to winter hunting, there is also spring flying (falconry). For nomadic tribes, hunting is both a production activity and a military exercise]

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