sinovels Chapter 1849 The Lynx Hunt: Ma Ling Thinks of Zhao Jun
Chapter 1849 The Lynx Hunt: Ma Ling Thinks of Zhao Jun
Chapter 1849 The Lynx Hunt: Ma Ling Thinks of Zhao Jun
As dusk fell, the rain gradually subsided, though a light drizzle had been falling for most of the night.
The rain stopped in the latter half of the night, and the next day, June 3, 1988, was a bright and sunny day when I woke up.
After a quick breakfast, Zhao Jun and his group set off on their journey home.
After leaving Fusong and passing through yesterday's battlefield, Guo Dahuzi, Huang Wenbin, and the five members of Pang Jiabang were nowhere to be seen.
"We're saved, huh?" Zhao Jun muttered. Wang Qiang, sitting in the back, laughed and said, "Yeah, maybe they'll get home before us."
Hearing Wang Qiang's words, everyone in the car chuckled.
Meanwhile, in a ward at the Fusong Red Cross Central Hospital, Pang Zhendong lay unconscious with his eyes closed.
……
Zhao Jun and his group set off early and arrived in Shulan at 1 p.m.
At Hongbinlou, the largest restaurant in Shulan, Song Da hosted a dinner with four tables. After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
The Zhao family gang did not travel with the Shao family gang, but instead found a guesthouse in Shulan to stay in.
The day before the Ginseng King Conference, Zhao Jun used the phone number provided by Wu Baoguo to make a call to Anguo Huichuntang.
It just so happens that the client that Manager Huang had arranged for Zhao Jun to return to Hebei from Harbin in the next couple of days. Therefore, the two parties agreed to conduct the transaction at the Shulan First Supply and Marketing Cooperative tomorrow at noon.
When it came time to set the date, the other party said the 3rd or 4th were both fine, but Zhao Jun chose the 4th to be on the safe side.
After finding a place to stay, Zhao Jun and his group had nothing to do the next morning, so after breakfast they went to the supply and marketing cooperative to find Sun Haizhu.
Meanwhile, in Yong'an Village, two pairs of mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, Wang Meilan, Ma Ling, Jin Xiaomei, and Liu Mei, were walking out, their heads wrapped in headscarves and carrying hoes.
The four of them were going to check on the rice paddies, while Zhao Ling, Xu Chunyan, and the others, as usual, went to Zhang Yuanmin's house to meet Yang Yufeng to herd geese.
As Wang Meilan and her three companions left the courtyard, they turned around and closed the gate to prevent the family's little black bear from escaping.
As soon as the door closed, Zhao Youcai's shouts came from the yard. Wang Meilan looked up and saw the little lynx standing on the wall, wagging its short tail at them.
"Go back!" Wang Meilan shooed the little lynx away. The little lynx seemed not to understand. When Wang Meilan told it to go back, it jumped down from the wall and landed at Wang Meilan's feet. Then it used its head to nudge Wang Meilan's calf.
"Alright, come with me." It seems Wang Meilan has been taking it out quite a bit lately, as the little lynx followed her around as soon as she left.
With its own people around, the little lynx wasn't afraid. No matter whose house it passed, it would peek into the yard and sometimes even climb onto the wall.
But whenever Wang Meilan or Ma Ling called it, the little lynx would abandon its curiosity and run to its two female owners.
As Wang Meilan and her three companions walked and chatted, the little lynx played along the way, and they eventually reached the rice paddies.
"Don't run around," Wang Meilan instructed the little lynx seriously, "We'll do some work, you stay put for a while."
Wang Meilan's words only made things worse; as soon as she said them, the little lynx darted out.
"A cat!" Upon seeing this, Wang Meilan hurriedly chased after it, with Ma Ling, Jin Xiaomei, and Liu Mei following closely behind.
But two legs can't outrun four. The little lynx darted out of the northern rice paddy, through the sparse grove of trees, and headed straight for the black mound in the southwest.
Behind the black mound, a red fox, its back bristling and eyes gleaming with ferocity, hunched over and hissed at the lynx running towards them.
Beneath the black mound, inside a burrow hidden by grass, four little foxes seemed to sense something; they huddled together, shivering.
In the blink of an eye, the little lynx appeared in front of the red fox. The instant it stopped, it arched its back, tucked its short tail in, and its four long legs touched the ground in quick succession, turning sideways a sixth of a circle as if skimming the water.
At the same time, as the baby lynx opened its mouth to reveal its fangs, it let out a "roar".
Just as the baby lynx was about to move towards the cave entrance, the red fox let out a sharp cry. Then, a red path and a yellow shadow flashed, and the red fox and the baby lynx collided in mid-air.
By this time, their movements were no longer visible to the human eye. When they were seen again, the lynx and the red fox were tumbling to the ground, lying on their sides facing each other, all four paws outstretched.
Amidst the howls of lynxes and the wails of foxes, clumps of red fur flew out as the young lynx and red fox fought.
In just two seconds, the lynx and the red fox swiped at each other more than ten times.
Suddenly, the red fox rolled on the ground, took a claw from the little lynx, and leaped out of the battle.
As soon as the red fox retreated, the little lynx also got up.
At this moment, the red fox, with a wound at the corner of its eye and blood on its nose, ran away.
The little lynx appeared to be unharmed as it leaped after the red fox.
Although lynxes are not as good runners as cheetahs, they are better than foxes at short-distance sprints.
After catching up with the red fox in a few leaps, the little lynx ran over and placed its front paws on the red fox's rump.
"Awooo!" The red fox lowered its back, propped itself up on its two front legs, and turned to bite the little lynx viciously.
But before it could bite the baby lynx, the baby lynx had already bitten the red fox's neck.
The young lynx was too young to bite through the red fox's neck in one strike. The red fox, its neck caught, viciously bit the young lynx's left foreleg.
The Zhao family's dog gang had torn apart more than one lynx, but that was a dog gang; several large dogs weighing over 100 pounds working together could overpower not only a lynx, but even a Siberian leopard couldn't withstand it.
But the red fox was female, and even with its excrement and urine, it weighed less than fifteen pounds, while the little lynx was almost thirty pounds. The red fox was bitten on the neck, which affected its bite force, and the little lynx's long fur also helped it avoid being bitten.
Next, the lynx and the red fox began to fight.
The little lynx held onto the red fox's neck tightly, letting the fox bite its left foreleg, while it used its right foreleg to firmly press down on the red fox's left thigh and hip.
Although the red fox's canine teeth didn't cause any real harm to the lynx cub, it wouldn't let go. As the lynx pinned it to the ground, the red fox used all four claws to claw at the cub's belly.
With each swipe of its paw, the red fox plucks a tuft of fur from the lynx cub, causing almost no harm to the cub.
But the red fox didn't give up and kept fighting back in its death throes.
The red fox's efforts bought it a chance to survive; it successfully broke free from the lynx's jaws.
But the red fox lying on the ground was pinned down by the lynx's paws.
"Awooo, awooo, awooo..." The red fox let out short, continuous howls, its cries pitiful, as if begging the little lynx to spare its life.
The little lynx's amber eyes were devoid of any emotion. Its strong, powerful front paws pressed down on the red fox, and it lowered its head as if to strangle it.
"Awooo, awooo..." The red fox used one of its front paws to push against the lynx's face, but the lynx pulled its paws forward, causing the red fox lying on the ground to move uncontrollably toward the lynx.
At that moment, the little lynx turned its head and quickly bit the red fox's neck.
The bite was swift and vicious, causing the red fox to involuntarily tilt its head back. Its mouth was between the lynx's two front legs, but it could no longer open its mouth to bite the lynx.
The red fox was still alive at this point, its four legs kicking and clawing wildly, completely out of control, and unable to harm the little lynx.
The red fox's large tail swayed, with a tuft of white fur at the tip floating in the air like a drifting dandelion.
The little lynx used its mouth and claws to firmly subdue the red fox on the ground.
After about twenty seconds, the red fox trembled, kicked its limbs, and struggled violently. The little lynx almost couldn't hold it down, but the dying struggle of a wild animal, like a person's last burst of energy before death, cannot last long.
Three seconds later, the red fox's limbs drooped limply, with only its tail still twitching slightly.
The little lynx pushed itself up on its two front legs, picked up the red fox, and walked away.
At this moment, four little foxes emerged from the cave beneath the black mound.
The four little ones had all heard the red fox's scream. They knew it was their mother's voice, and even though they were small, they could sense the danger and unease in the cry.
Sitting under the black mound, the four little foxes all looked up and squeaked. Though their cries were childish, they were filled with desolation and sorrow.
Just then, Wang Meilan and her three companions reached the grove and heard four little foxes calling. Wang Meilan initially thought they were lynxes, and she broke out in a cold sweat in her haste.
"Huh?" Suddenly, Wang Meilan stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening in surprise.
They saw her cat carrying something in its mouth, shuffling along with tiny steps, heading straight for them.
Ma Ling and the other two stopped in their tracks, looking at the reddish thing the lynx was carrying. Jin Xiaomei frowned and asked, "What's that kitten carrying?"
"It looks like a fox spirit to me." Ma Ling has been a superstitious person since childhood. Although she doesn't practice divination anymore, she still has great reverence for foxes and weasels and often tells Zhao Jun not to provoke them when he goes up the mountain.
As for the fox pelts the family had acquired, Ma Ling believed they were made by others and had nothing to do with her family. Zhao Jun, on the other hand, didn't explain to his wife the principle that without buying and selling, there would be no killing.
"No?" Liu Mei pointed outside the woods and said, "What's that thing making that noise? It's so creepy!"
"My God!" Wang Meilan watched the lynx getting closer and closer, and realized that it was indeed carrying a fox.
“This kitten…” Wang Meilan clapped her hands and said, “It really caught a fox.”
As soon as Wang Meilan finished speaking, the little lynx was in front of her. Wang Meilan quickly reached out to the little lynx and said, "Little cat, quickly let go."
The little lynx brought the red fox over as a gift for Wang Meilan, just like it had brought her the chicken the other day.
After Wang Meilan finished speaking, the little lynx placed the fox at Wang Meilan's feet.
"It's over!" Wang Meilan knew the fox was doomed as soon as she saw it land limp on the ground.
“Great Fox Immortal!” Ma Ling squatted down and reached out to poke at the red fox.
Ma Ling had heard her grandmother tell stories of foxes and weasels taking revenge on people since she was a child. Now, seeing the little lynx kill the red fox, Ma Ling felt a little scared. If Wang Meilan hadn't been there, Ma Ling might have knelt down.
Seeing Ma Ling touching the red fox, the little lynx thought Ma Ling really liked the gift it gave him, so it immediately nudged its head against Ma Ling's hand with its forehead.
"Squeak... squeak..." From the other side of the woods, the cries of the four little foxes were still pitiful.
At this moment, the little lynx's long, pointed ears twitched, a cold glint flashed in its eyes, and it immediately turned around to eliminate the threat completely.
"Where are you going!" Ma Ling reacted quickly, grabbing the lynx's hips with both hands.
The lynx, which had just been contemplating killing, instinctively turned around to bite, but the moment its mouth touched Ma Ling's hand, the lynx immediately realized something was wrong and quickly stopped its attack.
The lynx missed biting Ma Ling, but Ma Ling then gently slapped its face.
Ma Ling's slap was light, but her shout was loud: "Are you going to bite me again?"
At this moment, the little lynx's eyes were unusually clear. It did not struggle while being held by Ma Ling, but turned its head to look towards the woods.
"Come here!" Ma Ling forcefully pulled the baby lynx to her side and then picked it up. The baby lynx struggled to get down, but after Ma Ling slapped it again, it calmed down.
"Mom, what should we do?" Ma Ling asked. Wang Meilan replied, "My dear, you should take the kitten home right away."
"Mom, what about you?" Ma Ling asked. Just then, Wang Meilan picked up the red fox, handed it to Liu Mei, and told Liu Mei to go back with Ma Ling.
"Auntie," Liu Mei said, taking the red fox from Wang Meilan, but then asked, "Where are you and my mother going?"
"I'm going with your mother to check on that fox cub," Wang Meilan said, lightly tapping the little lynx's head with her finger. "If its mother kills it, won't the fox cub starve to death?"
Hearing Wang Meilan say this, Ma Ling carried the little lynx and Liu Mei carried the red fox back to the Zhao family compound, while Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei went to rescue the little fox.
Foxes usually give birth in April or May, so this litter of fox cubs must have been born in April. By now, they are already able to roam freely near their home.
As soon as Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei arrived, all four little foxes scurried into the cave. Wang Meilan went to the cave entrance, squatted down, and peered inside, but it was pitch black and she couldn't see anything.
Wang Meilan had no choice but to tell Jin Xiaomei to go back.
When Wang Meilan arrived home, Zhao Youcai had already peeled off the fox pelt.
Ma Ling stood in the outer room, holding the lynx cub, looking at the fox pelt hanging on the low wall of the vegetable garden outside the window, and said worriedly, "Could this be a form of revenge against us?"
"No way, sister-in-law," Liu Mei said with a laugh, holding the chubby little boy. "There's no such thing."
“Of course there is.” Ma Ling frowned and said, “My grandma said that there used to be an old Mu family in Xiaohonghe, and they were killed by a fox spirit. All that was left was a blind girl.”
“Daughter, don’t listen to your grandma,” Xing San laughed from the side. “The Mu family died from eating white mushrooms.”
Old Mountain Dog didn't know what the deadly white amanita was; they all called it a white mushroom.
“My dear daughter.” At this moment, Zhao Youcai took out a cigarette case, pulled out two cigarettes, gave one to Xing San, and then said to Ma Ling, “What fox or yellow, Dad will make them all submit with one shot.”
Upon hearing this, Ma Ling glanced at her father-in-law, somewhat disbelieving.
But then Xing San chimed in, "Don't worry, girl. With us mountain runners around, nothing can stop it."
At this point, Xing San stubbed out his cigarette, pointed out the window, and laughed, "If you don't believe me, go ask Old Han's wife. If I go to her house and sit down, will she come back to life?"
After saying this, Xing San chuckled and said, "I'll exhaust her!"
Hearing Xing San say this, Ma Ling felt a little relieved. At this moment, she missed Zhao Jun terribly.
At noon, the Zhao family ate their lunch and went about their work.
In front of the black mound north of the village, a yellow fox, carrying a rabbit in its mouth, looked around blankly.
Foxes are very responsible animals. Unlike prostitutes, male foxes don't just lay their eggs on the ground after they've finished.
Male foxes take on the responsibility of caring for their wives and children after the female fox gives birth.
Although it's a temporary partnership, the male fox will care for the female fox and cubs for three to four months. After three to four months, when the cubs are able to leave their mother and survive on their own, the male fox will leave.
This litter of fox cubs is only a little over a month old. Today, the yellow fox went out hunting and came back to find that its home had turned yellow.
At this moment, four little foxes emerged from their den and began to wail around the yellow fox.
The air still carried the scents of the red fox, the lynx, and Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei. The yellow fox released its grip, the wild rabbit fell to the ground, and then the yellow fox roared to the sky.