nucmednet Chapter 140 Jackal
Chapter 140 Jackal
There was a sound of someone running in the yard. Qing Jiu could still sense it even at such a close distance. It must be someone from the next yard. They should have gone to bed early at this time of night. They must have something important to tell him.
Qingjiu opened the door, and soon Dayan and another hunter came.
"Chief." Dayan shouted after he saw the person clearly. He had just noticed that there was someone in the outer yard. He came down to take a look and found that the door was indeed open.
Qing Jiu nodded and said, "Did something happen?"
Dayan walked to the wall and looked outside. Since they couldn't see anything here, they told Qingjiu about their discovery.
It turned out to be Old Man Shi, Acheng's father. He was old and slept less. He couldn't fall asleep at night, so he sat outside his cave to avoid the wind. He felt a little stiff after sitting for a long time, so he got up and moved around. He had just taken two steps outside when he saw some moving bright spots at the foot of the mountain. After all, he was a hunter and was very familiar with this. Those were the eyes of the herd, reflecting light in the completely dark night on such a cloudy day, and were very obvious.
He originally thought of calling the wild geese after daybreak, but after thinking about it, he felt uneasy and went to look for them in the middle of the night.
After hearing this, Dayan also hurried to take a look. He couldn't tell what kind of wild animals they were, but he was really worried, so he came over and told us that they now had bacon and dried meat hanging everywhere in the yard, which had a strong fishy smell and could easily attract wild animals looking for food. This was their guarantee for getting through the cold season, so they must pay attention to it.
After listening to this, Qing Jiu thought for a while, went to the doorway to call out Liefeng and a few other dogs, fed them some big bones, and let them stay in the outer yard tonight.
"When you go back later, drive Da Mao to the outer yard and let it help watch." Qing Jiu said. Although Da Mao's legs and feet are not as flexible now, his hearing and sense of smell are not a problem. Even if he can't hunt, he can still guard the house.
After the wild geese left, Qingjiu checked around the yard again before going to the door. Liefeng and the others wanted to follow them, but were ruthlessly locked outside the door. Liefeng scratched the door in dissatisfaction, but finally accepted his fate and slept with his two cubs in the corner outside.
"What's wrong?" Seeing Qing Jiu coming in, Ji Lang quickly sat up and asked him.
Qing Jiu briefly explained it, and then Ji Lang collapsed on the kang with a look of despair, and said in a big voice, "In such a short time here, I've seen more wild animals than I have seen on TV in the past twenty years." You know, he was a fan of the animal world when he was a child.
Moreover, there are so many wild animals here that he can't recognize them at all and has never seen them before.
"I asked Dayan and the others to help watch. If those wild animals come this way, let them blow the whistle." Qing Jiu washed his hands and got on the kang.
"By the way, Xishi just came to ask me, do you want to go and talk to him?" Ji Lang said.
Qing Jiu shook his head. "Just go to sleep. It's okay. We can go check it out when the sun rises."
The small group of people who went out returned before noon.
Xishi walked into the yard with an indescribable look on his face, as if he was disgusted and helpless.
"Brother, why do you look like that?" Feng, who was sitting in the yard working with Ji Lang, asked, "Brother Qing and the others haven't come back yet?"
"I'm back. I went to the next yard." Xishi found a place and poured out the white roots he had dug out from his backpack. "A pack of jackals broke into our territory last night. There were more than twenty of them."
Jackals are not a threat that people should be scared of, but the problem is that they are disgusting. They are one of the "three giant scavengers". If a group of jackals comes, it will probably not be long before their "little friends" vultures come. If the vultures really come, then the hyenas will follow soon, and this area will never be peaceful.
Hyenas love to rob the butts of lions, tigers, buffaloes, and apes. As long as they can get it, they will take it. And even if they really kill the prey, they will not eat it immediately, but like to wait for it to rot, just like cannibals. In the process, they will attract more disgusting scavengers, and they will also be infested with insects and even infectious diseases. Therefore, no tribe will welcome any group of these "Big Three".
Because no matter who comes, the other "two brothers" will follow soon.
After listening to Xi Shi's story, Ji Lang was also speechless.
"What should we do?" Feng stood up and clapped his hands. He wanted to go to the next yard to see how they discussed it.
Xi Shi grabbed him and said, "Don't leave. You and Ji Lang help set up some traps. Get ready. I have already tracked down where they are hiding. We will go and kill them all tomorrow."
"Ah?" Ji Lang looked a little disgusted, "Do you want to eat their meat?" He didn't want to eat it, it felt so disgusting.
After all, now is the most critical hunting time. If we have to devote our attention and time to these jackals, then I guess they won't want to waste the meat we hunt down.
Xi Shi shook his head. "If we don't kill them, they will soon attract vultures. We have to deal with them quickly. Humans can't eat jackal meat, so we can dry it and save it for the dogs in the cold season."
After hearing what he said, Ji Lang was a little skeptical. Given how picky Liefeng and the others were, would they really eat the meat of this thing?
Ji Lang is not wronging them. The tribe has hunted a lot of wild animals recently, and they have left a lot of bones for them, and some have been stored. Last time, when Ji Lang was eating dried meat, he accidentally dropped a piece on the ground. Ermao saw it and rushed over. Originally, no matter what the food was, as long as it fell on the ground, they would just roll up their tongues and swallow it directly. But this time, Ermao rushed over, sniffed it, and then turned around and left!
After eating so much fresh meat and bones, they actually began to dislike dried meat.
Not long after, Qing Jiu also came back and described to Ji Lang what kind of trap they wanted, mainly to prevent any fish from slipping through the net. If they ran out of the territory, it would be easier to deal with them. If they still stayed in the territory, it would be difficult to catch them again after alerting them. After all, everyone was busy hunting and it was impossible to spend a lot of time on them. Moreover, the windy season was over and it would be the cold season soon. It was difficult to hunt these guys outside. They might hide near the tribe and annoy people, which would be a troublesome thing at that time.
Since the crops in the fields have been harvested, the traps originally set at the edges of the fields have also been put away and are now stuffed next to the doorways. This is a good opportunity to tidy them up and reuse them.
These traps were very useful later on. Every morning, Liefeng and the other animals would follow Jilang out for a walk and have their bellies full. But gradually, the little animals learned to be smart and stepped on the traps less often. Some were even brave enough to bite the wooden cages outside. So they can't be used directly now. Some of the iron sheets inside have been exposed to wind and rain outside and have rusted. We have to try again to see if they can still be used.
There were so many jackals that all the hunters in the tribe followed, even Ji Lang could go along. He hadn't gone out hunting for a long time, and he was very excited at the moment. He held his long knife in his hand and walked behind the team, staggering with Hefeng.
"Brother Lang, you have to help me watch my butt later. Jackals also like to dig butts. Although they usually don't actively attack humans, they can be very fierce when they are cornered. What's more, their teeth are very sharp, and one bite will leave several bloody holes." Feng came close to Ji Lang, covering his butt and said, looking frightened.
Ji Lang only knew that hyenas like to have their butts scratched, but he didn't expect that jackals would do the same. At this moment, his butt also tightened. Oh my god, this was not a fight with the jackal, this was a battle to protect his butt.
"How do you know this? Have you ever fought a jackal?" Ji Lang asked him. This guy was obviously just a kid, but it seemed like he had seen everything.
Feng nodded and shook his head. "I didn't fight them, but when I was in the Taoli tribe, Qingge and Xiaoman left. I hid in the cave by myself and occasionally went back to the tribe to check. At that time, the tribe was full of corpses, which attracted many jackals and hyenas. I saw it when the living people in the tribe clashed with them."
He excitedly told Ji Lang about the scene he had seen before, and Ji Lang was amazed. Wow, these two things can actually cooperate with each other.
Time seemed to pass quickly when listening to gossip. Ji Lang was still enjoying the gossip when the team in front suddenly stopped. Qing Jiu had already arranged for them to guard different positions.
There were also a few people carrying backpacks filled with traps to set the traps. Ji Lang had taught them this before they came out, so there was no need for Ji Lang to go there himself.
Everyone hid in their assigned positions. Ji Lang, Qing Jiu, Feng and another hunter formed a group. They hid relatively close to the mountain wall. A row of traps were set at the base of the wall. Most jackals are good at judging the situation. If they feel they cannot defeat an enemy, they will slip away along the wall. Therefore, traps must be set to prevent them from escaping and people must be kept watching.
Liefeng and the others had already run into the mountains, and soon their barking sounds could be heard from inside. The dogs were much larger than the jackals, and it was easy for them to cause a commotion among the jackals. Soon, rustling sounds could be heard from the valley.
Several people immediately concentrated their attention. Sure enough, soon two guys that looked like foxes jumped out from the bushes. When they saw people here, they immediately turned around and prepared to retreat. Qing Jiu and Feng rushed out quickly. They acted decisively and in just a few seconds, the two jackals were lying on the ground motionless.
This was the first time that Jilang saw a real jackal. It must be said that jackals are much cuter than their "little friends" hyenas. They are also smaller in size and look not much bigger than a kitten.
Sure enough, the appearance is still very deceptive. Ji Lang could never imagine that this little thing could pick the butts of other animals.
Soon, people from other places also came back, carrying the bodies of jackals in their hands.
"Two of them escaped." Guo Qi said helplessly, "They fell into the trap, but we didn't care much and went to kill the others first. When we came back, we found that they had actually broken free from the clamps." As he spoke, he shook the clamp in his hand. It was already covered in blood. He didn't know where they got so much strength.
"Let them run away. I'll come out more often these days to check on them. It would be great if they run out of the territory. Otherwise, I'll take care of them." Xi Shi said. Even if they didn't take action, the jackals in their hands would not survive if they encountered other wild animals.
All the guys gathered together, and Ji Lang counted them. Wow, there were exactly 24 of them. Although the meat was not tasty, it could be saved for the dogs to eat in the cold season, and the fur could also be used after being cleaned up, so it was not a wasted work.
On the way back, Qing Jiu asked some people to take the jackal back, and he took the others to go to the lake to dig up the remaining lotus roots. The weather was getting colder day by day. Not only would it be uncomfortable to dig if they didn't dig later, but if the water surface started to freeze, they would not be able to dig at all.
Jilang also came with him.
There was a group of unknown birds by the lake, with shiny white feathers. When they heard the noise, they flapped their wings and flew away. Ji Lang happened to see them. There were withered and yellow lotus leaves on the lake, layers of woods in the distance, and the cloudy sky with only a faint sunlight. A large group of birds flew away into the distance, revealing vitality in the loneliness. It was a pity that he was a science and engineering man, otherwise he would have been able to write two poems to express his emotions through the scenery.
Feng quickly took off his shoes, rolled up his trouser legs, and rushed into the lake. Soon he began to throw lotus roots into the water. Each one was plump and longer than a child's arm. Ji Lang was so jealous that he didn't even bother to write poetry and rushed in.
These people are really crazy. Not only do they take lotus roots, but they also occasionally take loaches and eels, as well as fish that they don't know how they were caught.
The people on the shore were unable to fill up their backpacks quickly and just joined in the fun, and soon several of the backpacks were full.
"That's enough, let's not dig them up so that there won't be any lotus to grow in the next warm season." Ji Lang hurriedly stopped Feng who was still "leaving no grass to grow wherever he went."
"Then I'll catch a few more fish and bring them back. I want to eat fish ball soup. Brother Lang, you help me block the way and I'll catch them. If any of them run over to me, you can come to my side." After Feng said that, he went to a place where the water was a little deeper. He acted so quickly, accurately and ruthlessly that he took out a net bag from somewhere and soon the net bag was full.
Last time, Qingjiu said that he would bring Jilang to dig lotus roots the next day, but something happened the next day and both of them forgot about it completely. This time they dug to their heart's content. It was still early today, so they washed and rinsed the lotus roots by the lake and only went back after they had cleaned them.
Ji Lang was not that strong, and if he was carried down the mountain and then up the mountain with a basket of lotus roots on his back, it would probably cost him his life, so he picked up a few fish tied with straw ropes. As soon as he entered the yard, Miaozai came out from somewhere and kept meowing around Ji Lang. It seldom came to ask for food like this, and Ji Lang could not stand it, so he had to give it a not-so-big fish.
Of course, if he knew that the fish would be exchanged for a dead mouse placed next to his pillow early the next morning, he would have been so scared that he almost screamed his throat out.
Even if you beat him to death, he won't give it to you.
Everyone working in the yard was frightened by Ji Lang's heart-wrenching scream.
Later, every time I talked about this, I would laugh for a long time.