Chapter 240 Leopards also use strategies

“Uncle, while the leopard’s body is still warm, let’s light a lamp and skin it. I’ll have to trouble you to do it!” Yue Feng turned his head and looked at Uncle Zhao for advice.

The top-quality leather is the one that is most valuable if you peel it off while the prey’s body is still warm. The next best is when the body is cold, and the next best is when it is frozen and then thawed.

The half-grown leopard cub was already frozen solid when it was found. One day more or one day less would not make much difference. But for this leopard that had just been killed, there is indeed a difference.

The leather peeled off while hot will have hair that is less likely to fall off during the subsequent nitration process, and the texture of the leather will be more outstanding, which is a real improvement in the quality of the leather.

“All right! Light up the oil lamps! Skin it while it’s still hot! It’s been many years since we last heard of a leopard. This time we should let it suffer its fate!”

Uncle Zhao also knew the impact of different skinning methods on the leather, so he agreed readily.

The old man agreed to peel the skin while it was hot, and Yue Feng and Xiao Tao immediately got ready to light the oil lamp.

There were only two oil lamps in the house, and even after they were both lit, the brightness was still a little dim. Yue Feng turned on the flashlight, which could barely meet the minimum lighting requirements.

Uncle Zhao took out a wide-bladed skinning knife from his bag in the house. Before starting, he rubbed the blade several times on a piece of old cowhide. Only when everything was ready did he start to work on the leopard’s corpse.

Uncle Zhao was seen holding a skinning knife and cutting vertically from the leopard’s chin, along the central axis of the lower abdomen all the way down to the tail. The still warm leopard carcass was relatively easier to skin. The old man used his fingertips to measure the skin surface, separating the skin from the fat and muscle underneath bit by bit.

It was obvious when skinning the leopard that the female leopard was very healthy, with a thick layer of fat under the skin. The yellowish white oil shone under the flashlight.

The old man’s technique was quite steady. After peeling off the skin bit by bit, he also scraped off the scattered grease. During the process, he also used some small techniques to accurately separate the small structural parts where the skin and flesh were stuck together.

It took about half an hour to peel off the entire leopard skin.

“Huh… Time is merciless. I have gotten older and I can’t help but accept it! My eyesight is not as good as it was when I was young!”

Uncle Zhao stood up straight and then wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

“Hey, you’re still as skilled as ever! Look at this leather board, you cleaned it up so neatly! You can keep the skin of the big leopard! When it’s daybreak, we can skin the little leopard and take it away!”

Yue Feng also mentioned the issue of prey distribution.

This time Yue Feng came hunting. His goal before coming was to see if he could catch two more deer and sell them for money. The actual income from this trip to Luming Valley has far exceeded expectations!

So Yue Feng had no idea about this leopard skin.

This thing must be valuable, and worth a lot of money.

But Yue Feng knew that he could only have a chance to kill the leopard if it was near Uncle Zhao. Whether it was the noose of the deer sinew rope or the objective environment of the cellar, it provided him with a geographical advantage to shoot the leopard.

The only real contribution that Yue Feng and his friends made in the hunt was that they accompanied the old man to explore the surrounding area for a day and set the lasso.

As for the night duty and the job of shooting the leopard to death, it was not that Yue Feng had to be the one to do it, but the old man gave it to Yue Feng to gain experience in order to carry forward his style.

If Uncle Zhao had not made any preparations in advance, he could have easily cut off a leopard’s tail by hastily firing a shot with the muzzle of his gun through the window at night. If he had left space for shooting through the window in advance, the old man’s shooting skills would have been no worse than Yue Feng’s.

Yue Feng is not the kind of person who cannot distinguish between good and evil, and he certainly does not think that just because he killed the leopard, he can take the precious leopard fur for himself. If he divides the spoils objectively and fairly, he would consider it a good deal for the old man if he could get the leopard cub.

“I’m already buried up to my neck in the dirt, what do I need this leather for?”

After hearing Yue Feng’s words, Uncle Zhao had no obvious expression on his face, but asked back indifferently.

“Uh…” This question really left Yue Feng stumped.

Yue Feng knew that this question was not easy to answer. The old man had been hurt by his closest blood relatives when he was young, so he was very sensitive to matters related to such relationships. If Yue Feng didn’t handle the question well, he might upset the old man and offend him instead.

“Then…what do you say we should do with this leopard?” Yue Feng was unsure and threw the question back.

“You guys haven’t started a family yet! These two pieces of skin are the red envelopes I give to you kids for your future families!

After selling this skin, you must divide the money equally among yourself. Brothers must be united and not become estranged because of money or external things!

When the wedding day really comes, you will come and call me down the mountain to attend the wedding banquet!” Uncle Zhao said with a very calm look.

“This… okay! Why don’t you thank me!” Yue Feng agreed reluctantly.

“Thank you, uncle!”

“Thank you, uncle!”

Xiao Tao and his two brothers immediately thanked the old man solemnly.

The reason why the old man did not distribute the proceeds from the prey according to the hunting partnership method, and asked Yue Feng to divide the money equally among his brothers, was to remind Yue Feng that in addition to the rules for distributing the prey, the brothers in the hunting team must also pay attention to brotherhood. The old man gave them this thing because he valued friendship more.

If you continue to refuse and be awkward at this time, the old man will think you are being too distant, and your relationship will no longer be able to continue.

“Hey! Hey! Good! They are all good kids! That’s good enough!

Xiaofeng, you guys have come to my place a few times. When I had nothing to do, I observed you guys. There are many valuable treasures in this forest, but no matter how valuable the treasures are, they are not as precious as close brothers!

Why? Because with brothers, you can earn countless treasures, because at any time, you can trust your back to each other!
This time, for the prey you hunted, you must leave me the offal of these five deer, and leave me half of the remaining fawn, and pull the other four big deer down the mountain!
I don’t need much food and drink here by myself. The supplies you brought up the mountain for me last time will at least be enough to last until the New Year!
The venison from the big buck we caught last time hasn’t been touched much yet, so we left another deer, which is also buried in the snow. When the weather gets better, if you miss us, come back here. You’re always welcome here!”

“Okay! I’ll listen to you!” Yue Feng nodded, and the matter was settled.

“It’s not even daybreak yet. We’re not going hunting today anyway, so go back and lie down. I’ll close the windows and light a big fire so you can get some more sleep! When it’s daybreak and you’ve had enough to eat and drink, you can go down the mountain!”

“OK!”

After closing the doors and windows, the brothers went back to sleep on the floor. This time they felt at ease and slept until 8:30 in the morning, when the sun was already slanting into the house. Then they got up. The rice porridge was still hot in the pot in the house. Uncle Zhao was not in the house. He must have gone out for a walk.

After putting on his clothes, Yue Feng also crawled out of the cellar. When he went to bed at night, the dog and the blind doe were tied at the door, and Yue Feng was a little worried.

In addition, the smell of blood outside the house last night attracted the Red Dog and the Hound Dog Gang, and Yue Feng also wanted to know what happened.

After going out to take a look, Yue Feng saw Uncle Zhao behind the cellar, carrying a headless roe deer weighing about 20 to 30 kilograms, and walking back leisurely.

“What’s going on, uncle? Where did the roe deer come from?” Yue Feng asked.

“Don’t even mention it. Fortunately, I didn’t let you go out of the house to check last night! This headless roe deer was brought over by the female leopard yesterday!” It’s placed on a high place next to your aunt’s grave!
“This…” Yue Feng was a little slow to react when he heard this.

This leopard is too smart, it can even use tricks?

“You mean, the leopard deliberately caught this roe deer, bit off its head and put it on the high slope behind the house, and then let the smell of blood blow to the cellar along the northwest wind, and wait for the red dog to bark and the dog gang to make a fuss, then we go out of the house to check the situation, and then the leopard will take the opportunity to lure the tiger away from the mountain?”

“Yes! The leopard knew that we were in the house and it had no other options, so it came up with this idea. However, it didn’t work. It waited until daybreak before it ventured to get close to the leopard cub and was shot by us!”

In an instant, Yue Feng felt the hairs on his back stand up.

If Uncle Zhao had not firmly decided not to allow Yue Feng to leave the house last night, it would be hard to say what would have happened if Yue Feng had ventured out.

In the mildest case, the mother leopard gets the chance to get close to the cubs and escape safely. In the worst case, the mother leopard is murderous and hides in the dark to launch a sneak attack on anyone who leaves the house.

If there is a close combat in the dark night, it is unknown how much effect this 56-cm rifle can have. It is likely that the leopard will have the upper hand and the person will be injured or even killed in serious cases.

Wild beasts can also use strategies, which opened Yue Feng’s eyes. Those who can survive in the cruel natural environment are elites! !
“It’s just right. These red puppies have been howling for half the night. This roe deer hasn’t been gutted or bled yet, so we won’t eat it. Instead, we’ll give the red puppies a treat!”

“Row!”

……

After a while, Xiao Tao and his brothers heard the noise and got up. They were all young and strong guys, and they were obviously much more energetic after a nap.

After breakfast, with the help of Uncle Zhao, the brothers packed up all the venison, leopard meat and fur they brought back. They pulled four sleds and went down the mountain along the same route they had taken.

On the other hand, the four brothers of the Yuefeng hunting team stayed on the mountain for two nights without coming down, which made several elderly mothers worried.

Early in the morning, Xiaowen and Xiaowu’s mother called Xiaotao’s mother and came to Yuefeng’s house to wait.

Before leaving home, I agreed to stay in a cellar in the mountains for one night and come back the next day. But now it’s a day late. I haven’t seen him and no news has been sent back. The adults at home must be worried.

“Xiaofeng’s mother, why don’t we go find Jianguo and gather some people to go up the mountain to look for the child? It’s already a day late, let’s not let anything happen!” Xiaowen’s mother couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes, sister-in-law, why don’t we let Jianguo take people to the mountain to look for him? I was worried about our children last night and couldn’t sleep the whole night!” Xiao Tao’s mother also echoed.

Although Meng Yulan was also worried about the safety of the children, as the leader of the hunting team, she was the backbone among the sisters and could not show any weakness.

“I think we shouldn’t scare ourselves! Xiaofeng has been to the place with his brothers many times, so they won’t get lost in a familiar place!

Besides, they were holding two guns and leading four dogs. Ordinary mountain beasts could not do anything to a few people!
They went to Woniu Mountain to seek refuge with an old man named Zhao. The old hunter had been living in the mountains for his entire life, and nothing could go wrong with him taking care of a few children!
I think the biggest possibility is that something happened that delayed them, causing them to stay in the mountains for an extra night, and they should be able to return today!”

“Can you come back today? What if you can’t come back today?”

After hearing Meng Yulan’s analysis, Xiaowen’s mother felt a little relieved, but she was still a little nervous.

After all, both of his sons went to the mountains. Old Zhang died early, and she raised her sons alone with great difficulty. If they both died in the mountains, she would not be able to explain to her husband even if she died.

“If I can’t come back, I will go find Wang Jianguo and ask him to organize people to go up the mountain to look for him! Don’t worry, I will definitely come back!” Meng Yulan said firmly.

“Then I’ll listen to you and wait another day!”

Seeing that the two sisters had calmed down, Meng Yulan looked around and said, “The children have been staying in the mountains for two days. They have not had enough to eat or drink. They must be suffering!

We are all at home, so why not just sit there? Let’s make some dumplings and eat them when our son comes back!”

Women tend to think too much when they have free time, so they might as well assign some work to everyone so that time can pass faster.

So, several old sisters got busy, some chopping meat, some kneading dough. After the preparations were done, they sat around the stove and started making dumplings in a lively manner.

The dumplings stuffed with venison and green onions had just been wrapped when the sound of a dog barking was heard in the yard.

Meng Yulan was startled when she heard the noise. She didn’t care that her hands were still stained with flour. She was the first to get up and walk out of the house.

The four dogs, Black Wolf, Big Yellow, Big Black and Little Flower, all came back safe and sound. When they saw the mistress of the house, they immediately came up to her, wagging their tails, and licked the flour off Meng Yulan’s hands.

“The dog is back! The brothers must have gone into the village too! I told them they would be back today! Xiaowen’s mother, boil some water in the big pot in the east room. Now that the sons are back, try to cook the dumplings so we can have a hot meal!”

“Oh! Okay! I’ll continue to boil water!” Xiaowen’s mother responded and quickly added water to the six-person pot to boil the dumplings.

“I’ll go to the entrance of the alley to greet them!” There was no room for two people in the kitchen, so Xiao Tao’s mother called out and went straight to the entrance of the alley.

Soon, Yue Feng and his brothers returned home in a mighty procession.

After seeing the prey her son and his friends brought back, even Meng Yulan, who had seen a lot of the world, could no longer hold back.

(End of this chapter)