in2ebook Chapter 154 Bloodstained Cotton Fluff, Torn Arm
Chapter 154 Bloodstained Cotton Fluff, Torn Arm
Tigers have incredible jumping ability, with powerful hind limbs that allow them to leap three to four meters high and a distance of 10 to 12 meters, with a reach of up to 6.5 meters. If a tiger can use external force to push off, it can reach even higher, reaching up to 10 meters.
Song Desheng glanced down into the snowdrift and saw a sub-adult tiger with its ears lowered, eyes wide open, growling at him. Startled, Song Desheng's knees buckled, and he fell backward with a thud. The snowdrift was only four meters high, enough for the tiger to reach him; its paws could almost touch his face.
"Depend on!"
Li Ju'an reacted extremely quickly. Hearing Song Desheng shout, he knew something was wrong in the snowdrift. The gun barrel popped out before he could, and he fired a shot directly at the tiger cub's drooping eye.
boom!
Sparks flew from the muzzle of the gun, the bullet struck like lightning, the recoil jolted his arm, and the bullet hit the tiger cub right between the eyebrows.
The tiger cub had already pushed off with its hind legs, leaping directly towards the edge of the snowdrift. At a height of 6.5 meters, its forelimbs could easily touch the edge of the snowdrift, and it was about to raise its strong hind legs to push off. Suddenly, a bullet entered through a small hole, pierced its forehead, and exited from the back of its head, creating a bloody hole the size of a bowl.
The sub-adult tiger barely struggled; it fell straight back into the snowdrift, blood spraying out from the back of its head and dissipating into the air.
Song Desheng cheered and roared, "Awesome, Brother Li! One shot to the head!"
The hunting dogs excitedly stamped their feet around the snowdrift, eager to leap down and tear their prey apart. Even the black panther couldn't wait to eat the tiger's ears. Having followed Flower Ear for so long, it loved any ear—pig's ears, deer's ears, tiger's ears—the soft cartilage was so crunchy and delicious. But the snowdrift was so deep, it was difficult to climb back up, leaving the hunting dogs frustrated.
Li Ju'an looked at the steep cliffs on both sides of the snowdrift and said, "No rush, how could we get lost if we fell in? Let's find the person first."
Lu Zhiqiang, Lao Qian, and others are missing. The most urgent task is to rescue them.
The environment around the ditch was quite messy, with Manchurian ash, purple linden, Japanese knotweed, prickly ash buds and weeds along the way. Behind the waist-high weeds, there was a pile of rubble.
Li Ju'an followed the mottled bloodstains in the snow under his feet toward the pile of rubble and found that there were indeed stones piled up by human hands.
Judging from the look, people used to burn firewood and heat their meals in this area.
Song Desheng was delighted and said, "I spotted Lu Zhiqiang's pickled vegetable lunchbox. That kid loves cornbread and pickled vegetables the most."
The fire on the pile of rocks had been extinguished for quite some time, leaving the ground covered in ashes. The pickled vegetable lunchbox had frozen solid; Li Ju'an examined it and confirmed it was indeed the aluminum box that Lu Zhiqiang always carried with him.
Suddenly, Li Ju'an discovered a dugout behind the stone pile.
The dugout is a pit-like dwelling dug into the ground, with the entrance facing south. Inside, wooden planks are laid out, covered with thick straw and animal hide mats. In the cold winter or damp rainy season, a fire is lit in the center of the dwelling for warmth, and a hanging pot is set up for cooking. Generally, the north-facing area is the "upper" place, where the elderly and elders live, while younger people can only live on the east and west sides. The dugout is a favorite winter dwelling of nomadic hunting peoples, but it needs to be rebuilt every year.
He discovered that the cellar hadn't been renovated in a long time, and it looked like it had been uninhabited for several years, an empty cellar.
He and Song Desheng were on high alert. Each of them picked up their guns and pried open the door of the dugout, following the bloodstains on the ground as they went inside.
The flashlight beam flashed at the doorway, illuminating the interior corner of the dugout and following the mottled bloodstains from the north to the eastern dwelling.
The light flashed, revealing a patch of blood-stained cotton wool.
Looking at the color of the tattered cotton-padded jacket, it was indeed Lu Zhiqiang's worn-out jacket. Originally, Lu Zhiqiang wanted to wear a new jacket before he set off, but he was scolded by the old man of the Lu family and his second aunt, who said that he would get caught on branches no matter what he did in the mountains, and that the jacket would be very dirty from being scratched. The Lu family did not allow Lu Zhiqiang to wear a new jacket when he went out.
So Li Ju'an and Song Desheng often teased him about his tattered cotton-padded coat. Now, by the light of their flashlights, the two men looked closely and saw that the blood-stained cuffs of the worn-out coat were indeed Lu Zhiqiang's.
Song Desheng immediately burst into tears, crying out, "Brother Lu! My dear brother! How did you get bitten like this..."
He opened the cloth bag, stuffed the blood-stained cotton-padded jacket wadding into it, and couldn't help wiping away tears.
Li Ju'an had already followed the bloodstains toward the eastern dwelling and called out to him, "Stop howling like a ghost, calm down for a bit, and get the important business done, otherwise there will be two more of us lying on the ground later."
Song Desheng wiped away his tears and continued to wail, "My little brother! My little brother Lu! I'm so sorry, I'm too late."
Li Ju'an ran into the east-side dwelling and saw fox paw prints on the window frame, still covered in mud and water, which had already solidified. He turned around and patted Song Desheng on the head, shouting, "Stop yelling like that! Didn't you see the fox paw prints?"
Song Desheng cried for a while, then wiped away his tears and noticed the fox's muddy footprints. He choked back sobs and glanced at him sideways: "So what if they're fox footprints?"
His eyes suddenly lit up, and he and Li Ju'an exchanged a surprised glance.
Lu Zhiqiang was a greedy man; he would risk his life for valuable animal pelts. Fox pelts had become more expensive in recent years, so it was quite reasonable for him to follow a fox to a ditch, then into a dugout, and finally jump out the window after the fox.
But what's with all this blood-stained cotton wool on the ground?
Li Ju'an yelled at him, "What are you standing there for? Chase after them!"
Song Desheng slapped his head and followed him out the window.
The two men cautiously followed the hunting dogs, running around the ditch for a while before finally chasing them to a fallen tree.
The environment here is quite mixed; red pines, ash trees, and purple lindens all grow normally. But this particular red pine tree is leaning down the mountainside, its crown pointing directly downhill.
The bloodstains followed the snow all the way to the roots of the fallen tree, and the tiger led the hunting dogs, barking loudly towards the bottom of the cliff.
Song Desheng walked to the fallen tree and cautiously peeked out. Sure enough, he saw a clump of grass with a tattered cotton-padded jacket lying next to it, covered in blood.
He was so frightened that his whole body went cold, his hair stood on end, and he felt as if he were being electrocuted. He took two steps back and howled.
"Oh my god!"
He had just taken two steps back when he stepped on something soft, which startled him so much that he let out another howl.
"Holy crap, what is that thing that tripped me?"
He turned his head and saw that his heel was stepping on a severed arm. The arm was torn open by a bite wound and hung limply in the snow.
Anyone who sees a corpse for the first time will feel fear. The visual impact of seeing a corpse, combined with the stench of decay, sends fear rushing from the heart to the depths of the soul.
Song Desheng's eyes were red and he was trying to hold back his grief. He slapped his thigh and cried out again, "Brother! Brother Lu, I'm so sorry."