sinovels Chapter 1672 Brown Bear Emerges from its Den
Chapter 1672 Brown Bear Emerges from its Den
Chapter 1672 Brown Bear Emerges from its Den
The person Zhao Jun met on the way was Xu Changming, who was living in a makeshift shack under the bluestone cliff.
Xu Changming carried a burlap sack on his back, which was bulging. A small hand pick was tucked behind his waist.
This small pickaxe has a pickaxe on one end and a hammer on the other; it can be used for both digging and smashing. The hammer end is the one that matches the murder weapon.
But Zhao Jun had no doubt that Xu Changming was a bad person. Not to mention that the old man was over sixty years old, Xu Changming was just picking up large pieces of skin on this bluestone cliff. One piece of skin was worth a sack of yellow leaves. Would he really want to kill someone for money?
"You..." Xu Changming frowned, his graying eyebrows furrowing as he carefully examined Zhao Jun. He asked hesitantly, "Is it Zhao Jun?"
The two knew each other in their past lives, so Zhao Jun knows Xu Changming, but Xu Changming does not know Zhao Jun.
However, Xu Changming had an uncle named Xu Guangyi, who was the bone-setting doctor in Yong'an Village. During the Spring Festival, Xu Guangyi specially sent his son up the mountain to bring Xu Changming home for the holiday.
During that time, Xu Changming did not meet Zhao Jun, but he heard a lot about Yong'an Village, including the Zhao family's prosperity and Zhao Jun's purchase of a car.
Seeing Zhao Jun driving, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, resembling the former wealthy Wang, Xu Changming tentatively asked him this question.
Unexpectedly, Xu Changming recognized him. Zhao Jun smiled and said, "Master Xu, you know me? That just so happens..."
"It's good that you're not here. I was just thinking of going to find your dad," Xu Changming said before Zhao Jun could, which startled Zhao Jun.
"Did you bring a gun?" Xu Changming asked. Zhao Jun nodded subconsciously, and then Xu Changming pointed to the top of Nanshan Mountain and said to Zhao Jun, "See that tall guy over there?"
"Ah!" Zhao Jun nodded subconsciously, and then he heard Xu Changming say, "There's a bear barn over there. If you're free, I'll take you there and you can help it."
"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback when he heard this. He thought to himself that this old man spoke too easily. Killing Xiong Cangzi came out of his mouth as easily as taking a gourd ladle, pouring half a pot of cold water into a vat, and then gulping it down.
Seeing that Zhao Jun did not respond immediately, Xu Changming laughed and said, "Old Xu from your village is my cousin. I spent the New Year at his house. On the second day of the New Year, I was wandering around the village and I ran into your mother. I heard from your mother that you were fighting Black Bear and Xiong Ba, one after the other."
"I..." Zhao Jun was speechless. Judging from Xu Changming's words, Wang Meilan must have said something to him. Considering Wang Meilan's usual behavior of using this mountain as her refrigerator and vegetable cellar, Zhao Jun knew that it was not surprising that Wang Meilan would say such a thing.
"Kid." At this moment, Xu Changming gently patted Zhao Jun's forearm and said, "It's good that you're here. It saves me the trouble of going to find your dad. Otherwise, I was thinking of going to your house to call him first."
As he spoke, Xu Changming pointed upwards and added, "Before the New Year, your dad came to my shack to find a place to stay, and we got along quite well."
Zhao Jun smiled upon hearing this and didn't say anything more. He knew that most of these old mountain dogs had eccentric temperaments, and Xu Changming was no exception.
Xu Changming was being so polite to him at this moment, and the fact that he had taken Zhao Youcai in before the New Year was all because of his maternal grandfather, Wang Dabazhang.
It is said that in his early years, Xu Changming was injured and had no money for medical treatment. It was the kind-hearted Wang Dabazhang who found him a doctor.
Xu Changming had a bad temper, but he never forgot kindness. In his past life, Zhao Jun had wandered into the mountains and arrived at Qing Shi La Zi. Xu Changming let him stay overnight and took good care of Zhao Jun.
Moreover, if it weren't for this connection, Zhao Youcai would never have been able to enter Xu Changming's shack before the Lunar New Year.
But the key issue right now is that this old man wants to kill Xiong Bacang. Zhao Jun is capable, but since his rebirth, he has become especially cautious when hunting, and he is unwilling to take care of the bear without his trusted confidants and dogs.
Seeing that Zhao Jun didn't say anything, Xu Changming said, "Kid, you drove here, we'll be up there in a few minutes. We'll kill it there, otherwise it might run away to the warehouse tomorrow morning."
It's the season when black bears and brown bears are coming out of hibernation, so it's understandable that Xu Changming is eager to hunt bears.
Zhao Jun was a man who cared about his reputation, and his mother had already bragged about it for him, so he couldn't very well refuse Xu Changming at this point.
"Master Xu... can't you shoot a gun?" Zhao Jun asked. Xu Changming leaned back, looking at Zhao Jun with disdain, and said, "Hey kid, you underestimate your Master Xu. Before you started shooting, you weren't even here yet."
Zhao Jun believed him and smiled, saying, "Master Xu, semi-automatic is fine too, right?"
"Isn't it all the same?" Xu Changming replied subconsciously, then asked Zhao Jun, "You brought a semi-automatic?"
"Ah!" Zhao Jun nodded, raised his hand to make a "V" sign, and said, "I have two in my car..."
"What else is there to say?" Before Zhao Jun could finish speaking, Xu Changming laughed, "There's a semi-automatic one, so shooting it is just a game, right? Here's the deal, kid. We'll grab our guns and go up there, and you won't even have to lift a finger, just watch me!"
"Huh?" Upon hearing Xu Changming's last half-sentence, Zhao Jun's expression changed, and he said, "Master Xu, you're too kind. Let me do it."
"Fine, you come if you want." Xu Changming agreed readily, but this left Zhao Jun with no room for maneuver.
"Master Xu, shall we leave now?" Zhao Jun asked Xu Changming. "Don't you need to go back to the shack first?"
"No need," Xu Changming said. "I'll go back after I finish this."
After saying this, Xu Changming called to Zhao Jun, "Come on, get in the car."
Zhao Jun: "..."
Since things had come to this, Zhao Jun didn't say anything more. Although Xu Changming wasn't a confidant, Zhao Jun knew the old man was reliable, and with two semi-automatic trees around, killing Xiong Cangzi shouldn't be a problem.
Before getting into the car, Xu Changming took off the burlap sack from his back and stuffed it into the back of the jeep.
Seeing the bulging burlap sack, Zhao Jun asked, "Master Xu, what's in this bulging sack?"
"Trapping," Xu Changming said. "If I don't set traps around here, the snow will all melt, and I'll have to collect the traps, won't I?"
Zhao Jun agreed, saying that this was the time for the trappers to pack up their gear. Just as Xu Changming had said, it was perfectly normal to run into someone with a backpack and a pickaxe at this time.
Thinking about this, Zhao Jun realized that it was wrong to use this as a basis to find the bad guy.
Just then, Xu Changming urged Zhao Jun again, saying, "Zhao boy, what are you thinking about? Hurry up and get in the car!"
"Yes, yes." Zhao Jun quickly responded twice, but when he opened the driver's side door and sat inside, he saw Xu Changming still standing outside the car.
"Uncle Xu, get in the car?" Zhao Jun found this old man quite interesting; after urging him for so long, he still wouldn't get in the car.
"I just realized it," Xu Changming said. "I'm all dirty, and I even made your car dirty."
"What are you saying, Master Xu?" Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun hurriedly got out of the car and went to the passenger side. As he opened the car door, he grabbed Xu Changming's arm and said, "We men don't talk like that. What's with all this talk about cleanliness and filth? Who goes mountain biking in slippery clothes?"
"Hehe..." Hearing Zhao Jun say that, Xu Changming's awkwardness turned into a smile, and he said, "This kid is really good!"
Zhao Jun closed the car door for Xu Changming, walked around the front of the car and got into the driver's seat, then looked at Xu Changming and said, "Master Xu, can you give me some pointers?"
"Huh?" Xu Changming chuckled in response. Then he gestured with his hand and said, "Turn around, let's go up from that side."
Following Xu Changming's directions, Zhao Jun drove the car southward to the high, rocky quarry.
Despite the bumpy ride, Xu Changming smacked his lips and said, "I'm getting old, maybe I should buy a car eventually."
"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback, then Xu Changming continued, "Wouldn't that make it so much more convenient for me to set traps and escape them?"
"Hehe..." Zhao Jun was amused by Xu Changming's words. He smiled and said to Xu Changming, "Master Xu, according to you, you must earn a lot in a year, right?"
"Haha!" Speaking of income, Xu Changming was very proud and said, "Even if I don't earn much, I still make seven or eight thousand a year."
"Hey? Master Xu." At this moment, Zhao Jun remembered something and hurriedly asked Xu Changming, "So, who did you sell those big hides to?"
“Every year I travel to Lingnan to sell my goods in Shulan.” Xu Changming lives near Zhangguangcai Ridge, and it is more convenient for him to travel across provinces to Lingnan than to Daohua County or Shanhe Town.
“No need this year.” Before Zhao Jun could speak, Xu Changming offered, “Your family only collects hides, right? Let’s see, after a while, if I’m willing to get involved, I’ll come down and find you.”
At this point, Xu Changming raised his hand and pointed in the direction of his shack, saying, "It's shameful for me to live in this place; it's inconvenient to go anywhere."
“Master Xu, you…” Zhao Jun said, “Whenever you want to go down, you can go to the Third Work Section, and then take their flatbed cart directly to our village.”
"Can they let me sit down?" Xu Changming asked. Zhao Jun replied, "Yes, you can mention me or my dad to them."
"That's great." Hearing Zhao Jun say that, Xu Changming smiled and said, "That will make things much more convenient, and we can bring back more things."
"Yeah, right." Zhao Jun replied with a smile, then casually added a word of advice to Xu Changming: "Master Xu, be careful these next few days."
"What happened?" Xu Changming asked. Zhao Jun replied, "Wang Jiusheng, the guy in the No. 54 press shed, got killed."
"What?" Xu Changming was taken aback, staring wide-eyed at Zhao Jun for confirmation: "Wang Jiusheng? The one who was picking yellow leaves at No. 54?"
Seeing Zhao Jun nod, Xu Changming loudly pressed, "How could someone possibly kill you?"
"They're probably thinking he can make money off those yellow leaves," Zhao Jun said. "The local police station went up there last night, but they didn't see any yellow leaves or money in the shack."
After saying this, Zhao Jun paused for a moment and added, "He came to my house to sell yellow leaves once before the New Year. He should have been able to get a few after the New Year, but now there's nothing left in the shack."
"Kid," Xu Changming said to Zhao Jun, turning to him, "you're not familiar with those of us who live in the mountains all year round, are you?"
“Yes, I recognize him,” Zhao Jun retorted immediately. “Don’t you know my third uncle, Xing San?”
“He’s different from us.” Xu Changming shook his head and said, “What does he do all day? He catches roe deer and hunts wild ducks, and those things aren’t worth much.”
"Take us, for example. Let's not even talk about my big-skinned ones. Just the ones with yellow leaves, how much does a single yellow leaf cost? Can you even put those in the shack?"
"Oh my!" Hearing Xu Changming say that, Zhao Jun blinked twice and said, "Master Xu, I really didn't know that."
“Hehe…” Xu Changming chuckled and said, “You’re right not to know. Even chickens have their own ways of urinating.”
“Master Xu, they…” Zhao Jun started to speak but then sensed something was wrong, and immediately smiled and said, “Master Xu, I won’t ask anymore. This is your secret, isn’t it?”
"There's no secret or anything," Xu Changming laughed. "If one person hides something, even a hundred people wouldn't be able to find it. I'm not afraid to tell you, this is such a big mountain area, if you don't know the place, you're just spouting nonsense."
As he spoke, Xu Changming pointed out of the car and said, "I usually hide the hides in tree holes, looking for trees that aren't completely hollow, but have a section of hollow trunk. I stuff them in and seal them tightly, then check on them every few days."
“Ah…” It’s like being in a completely different world. In his previous life, when Zhao Jun was hunting, he had never heard any mountain runners mention this to him.
“It’s cold in winter, so the hides won’t spoil if you put them inside,” Xu Changming continued. “When spring comes, you can just take them out and sell them.”
As he spoke, Xu Changming spread his hand outwards and said, "But we didn't hide these things in front of our own shacks. This is a huge mountain, where are you going to look for them?"
"Well, it's best if we can't find it," Zhao Jun replied, adding, "If you don't flaunt your wealth, you won't attract trouble."
"Hey!" Xu Changming agreed with Zhao Jun's words, but then he frowned and said, "If it wasn't money that caused the trouble, then why was Yonghu killed?"
"Maybe he doesn't know," Zhao Jun said. "Like Master Xu, if you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known. I would have thought that big hideer was hiding in your shack."
"Don't you even look inside?" Xu Changming retorted. "What could we errand runners possibly have in our shacks? One glance inside and you'd know there's nothing there. We can't possibly stuff anything into the stove hole, can we?"
In the mountain huts, the kang (heated brick bed) has to be kept burning until July, and then it has to be started again at the end of September. The kang is kept burning almost every day of the year, so it's impossible to hide anything in the kang's firebox.
"This..." Zhao Jun felt that what Xu Changming said made sense. Could it be that Wang Jiusheng was not killed because he was greedy for money?
"No!" Zhao Jun suddenly realized that if the thug with the hammer had hacked off three fingers of white hair and his entire family for money, then he must have done the same thing to Wang Jiusheng.
Just as Zhao Jun was lost in thought, Xu Changming, who was sitting in the passenger seat, pointed to the roadside and said, "Let's stop here, we can't go any further up."
Zhao Jun stopped the car, and the two men got out, guns in hand. Xu Changming looked around and asked Zhao Jun, "Kid, shall we gather some branches and forks here, and go build a fire?"
"No need." Zhao Jun chambered a bullet and said to Xu Changming, "Master Xu, let's go, we'll get to that place and get it done."
“That works too.” Xu Changming thought for a moment and said, “If we just pluck two semi-automatic trees, even eight bears would be killed by them.”
Zhao Jun smiled upon hearing this and asked Xu Changming to lead the way. The two of them passed through a spruce forest and entered the Shitan area.
As they walked, Xu Changming said to Zhao Jun, "Kid, let's get this straight. We're both here, and I found the warehouse. The guns are both yours. We'll split it five ways: you get three shares for yourself and the two guns, and I get two shares for myself and the warehouse. Does that sound reasonable?"
“Alright, Master Xu.” Zhao Jun laughed, “Let’s do it your way.”
Seeing Zhao Jun's quick agreement, Xu Changming nodded and said, "As for the share of the granary, I'll have to give Lao Song half of it when I get back. He's the one who discovered the granary, and he's been watching over Xuan Yang..."
"Hanging sheep?" Just as Zhao Jun was about to ask about the hanging sheep, he suddenly heard a series of low roars coming from the mountain wind.
Zhao Jun was taken aback when he heard the sound; it meant that a brown bear had just left its enclosure!
My herniated disc flared up these past two days, so I can't stand up or sit down. I have to lie on the kang (a heated brick bed) and write on my phone.
I've been sleeping a lot lately, taking naps every now and then, so I haven't been able to keep up with the updates.
This chapter counts as yesterday's, so I haven't written today's yet. I'll start writing now, and I should be able to finish it by tonight.
(End of this chapter)