Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

Chapter 259 Sun Weimin Trapped by the Stick

Sun's mother hesitated for a moment and said, "It's because the old master of the Lu family doesn't like the child's father. I asked Qin Pao, and then I came to ask you. If the child's father still hasn't come back, I can only ask Captain Yang to ask the old master of the Lu family. In our village, there are no other families that can go into the mountains to search for people."

Her mother, Song Lanhua, comforted her, saying, "Let's wait a little longer. Who knows, Old Sun might lead them down the mountain as soon as it gets light."

The two talked for a while longer, and Sun's mother finally felt a little relieved. She thought it made sense; the roads into the mountains were blocked by heavy snow, and with the search for people and darkness falling, they would have to spend the night in the mountains before they could come down the next day.

Song Lanhua told her to go home and wait, saying that perhaps the child's father would bring the son down the mountain at dawn. After Sun's mother returned home, Li Ju'an washed his feet and prepared to go to bed when suddenly a loud commotion erupted in the village. It was the Sun family causing a disturbance, alarming every household. Several families lit kerosene lamps and got up to see what was going on.

Aunt Zhang next door was the most inquisitive. As soon as she heard any commotion in the village, she got so excited that she jumped up from the kang (a heated brick bed), rushed to the window to look, wrapped herself in her cotton-padded coat, and ran out to find out what had happened.

Aunt Zhang, always looking out for information, hadn't returned for quite some time. Li Ju'an, curious, sat up, wrapped himself in his sheepskin coat, coaxed his younger sister Li Xiao to sleep first, and then went out to find out what was going on.

The commotion at the village entrance was deafening. Sun Quande, covered in blood and reeking of it, along with several of his uncles, carried Sun Weimin down the mountain. The doctor from the clinic, who had been frantically called by the Sun family knocking on the door, rushed over with his medical kit.

The gate of the Sun family's house was surrounded by many villagers, three layers deep. Even the doctor from the clinic couldn't squeeze in; he was pushed and shoved into the Sun family's house.

Late at night, news of the Sun family spread throughout the village. Sun Weimin had left the group alone to go hunting, but ended up trapped on a gentle hillside. One of his feet was frozen stiff, and after his dog-skin hat fell off, his ears were also frozen stiff.

The clinic doctor rushed over in the middle of the night, saying he needed to cut off Sun Weimin's leg and ear, which terrified the Sun family. That very night, the Sun family called Chen's father, gave him money, and begged him to drive a truck to take Sun Weimin to the city's central hospital. Only then were they able to barely save his right leg and avoid amputation. However, his right ear was frostbitten and he was missing one ear.

The villagers said it was a miracle that the person hadn't died.

Lu Zhiqiang was puzzled and asked how Sun Weimin could be trapped on a gentle hillside late at night. How could he not know the way and get lost?

Lu Jinyang went to ask, and Lu Zhiqiang also went to ask, but they got nowhere after a long time. The old patriarch of the Lu family was really getting anxious with curiosity. For the old hunter of the Lu family, the more bizarre the matter, the more perplexing it became, leaving him scratching his head and unable to recover. Lu's second aunt even guessed that perhaps Sun Weimin had encountered some bad luck or met with a witch doctor?

Later, Lu Wenqian went to ask Sun Hao. The chubby Sun Hao stammered out that his uncle, Sun Weimin, wanted to escape a trap, but couldn't find the trap set by Li Ju'an. So he could only follow the footprints all over the mountains and fields, hoping to find as many as possible.

Besides pheasant snares in the bushes, Li Ju'an also set traps for leapcats and badger traps. These prey weren't worth much money, but Sun Weimin had heard that Li Ju'an had caught a large pelt last time, so he took a chance and wanted to see if Li Ju'an had found any sable footprints this time.

If, by some chance, a large piece of leather got stuck in a snowdrift and he didn't find it, he'd be quite upset for a while. Sun Weimin searched through all the traps Li Ju'an had set, but he couldn't find the one pulling the stick anywhere.

He wondered if a bear had already stepped into the bear snare and dragged the stick down the mountain. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He crouched down and carefully searched for bear tracks in the snow. But before he could find any tracks, he stepped right into the large snare.

He stepped into the large snare with his right foot, his entire calf tightly wrapped in it, causing him to grimace and howl in pain. He looked down and realized it was a bear snare! It was the very snare Li Ju'an had been searching for, the one he'd set up with the trap.

He thought to himself, "I'm doomed," and yelled at the top of his lungs, waiting for someone to come to his rescue. Suddenly, he heard bursts of gunfire and fierce animal roars coming from the mountains behind him. The "crunching" sounds he heard were becoming more and more like the roars of bears.

He was filled with remorse and closed his eyes in anguish, knowing that Li Ju'an's group had encountered a black bear. He had finally found such a wild black bear in the mountains, how could it have fallen into Li Ju'an's hands?

To make matters worse, he wanted to get a black bear that was stepping on a stick for free, but he ended up getting caught in the trap himself.

"Li Ju'an! Qin Pao! Lao Lu!"

Sun Weimin screamed desperately, the pain from the tight bandage on his right foot making him grimace, cold sweat pouring down his forehead, and he couldn't help but gasp. But the damned gunfire dragged on for a long time, showing that the fight between the group and the bear was also going to be tough. The gunfire completely drowned out his cries for help, and his heart sank to the bottom.

After an unknown amount of time, the bear-hunting team in the distance fell completely silent, and the sky gradually darkened. Sun Weimin heard a rustling sound and thought to himself, "I'm doomed. If we've encountered some green-skinned beasts, I really won't survive the night."

Sun Weimin struggled to drag the log. But the iron chain binding the log with a lock held several hundred pounds of solid wood. The incredibly heavy log had only been dragged a short distance across the snow, but further ahead lay the forest and bushes. If the log got stuck in the tree roots or the bushes, he would truly become prey. What difference would there be between him and a black bear about to be hunted?

"Damn it! Li Ju'an, listen to me!"

He realized he could fire a warning shot to alert the other bear-hunting team to rescue the people. The distant gunfire had ceased; he stared at the rustling bushes, quickly raised his gun, and fired a shot.

boom!

The bushes shook violently, and he was overjoyed, convinced it was a stag. "You beast, trying to steal from me? I'll beat you to a pulp!"

He yanked the bolt back, dragging his throbbing right leg, aimed at the bushes, and fired several more shots, emptying the magazine. "You little bastard, just wait till I get my hands on you!"

After emptying his magazine, he was reloading and closing his gun when suddenly there was another rustling sound from the bushes, and a dark figure darted out. He thought to himself, "This Zhang San is cunning!" Just as he was about to draw his dagger to parry, a hunting dog rushed in front of him and barked fiercely.

This isn't some scoundrel; it's just Li Ju'an's slippery dog, Iron Hammer.

Sun Weimin beamed with joy, his smile stretching to his ears, feeling utterly saved. Li Ju'an's hunting dog, Iron Hammer, was still there; Li Ju'an couldn't possibly go down the mountain, and the dog would surely alert the rescue team.

He smacked his lips excitedly, winked, and endured the excruciating pain in his right foot as he called out to Iron Hammer: "Good girl, Fatty, come quick, bring that kid Li Ju'an over to rescue people."

Just as he was about to untie the cloth bag in his hand, intending to hang a cloth strip around Iron Hammer's neck to call for help, Iron Hammer cautiously took three steps back, stared at him warily for a while, then barked fiercely twice, turned around and ran away.

Iron Hammer ran far away and never came back. Sun Weimin dragged his right leg, which was almost broken by the harness, and shouted angrily, "You fat, lazy woman! You beast! Li Ju'an will chop you up and stew you sooner or later."

After Li Ju'an's team had completely led the hunting dogs away and it got dark, Sun Weimin realized he was afraid.