Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 349 Hunting (4)

   [Dusk, somewhere on the west bank of the Styx]

   Repeatedly confirming that no one was following, Pierre asked hesitantly: "Are you sure it's here?"

   Winters looked around at the horse, trying to remember the route of retreat after the attack on the Turdtown camp. But the barren mountains and wild ridges looked similar, and he was a little unsure.

  If you can't think about it, you don't want to. Winters laughed: "It should be this... don't care, just dig a few shovels and then talk about it!"

   After a long journey, the Tiefeng County Mission has reached the depths of the wasteland - also the heart of the Chihe Department - the Confluence River Basin.

   The group even camped outside Bianli City last night.

  Revisiting the old place makes people who have experienced the [Battle of the Great Wilderness] feel emotional.

  Washika seized the opportunity, half proudly, half regretfully, to the recruits about the Battle of Bianli, but bragged about the blood wolf, and bragged about himself.

   As the palace of the white lion and the symbol of the Chihe Department, Bian Li has been rebuilt.

  The triangular fort on the east side, which was blown up by Winters himself, was restored, leaving only the striking color difference between the old and new walls to remind people how cruel the siege was.

  According to the little lion, the white lion spends half of the time adjudicating affairs and receiving messengers in Bianli.

  If there is no delay in the trip, Winters should also meet the White Lion in Bianli.

   But right now the white lion is not in the city. The little lion only found out after asking - it turned out that the big tent had left Bianli three days ago and went to the hunting ground.

   Knowing that the tent had been pulled out, the little lion was so anxious that he was about to cry, and complained to Winters again: "The departure of the tent means that the hunting ground is about to be encircled. If you don't hurry, you won't be able to catch up!"

   For the anxiety of the little lion, Winters fully expressed his understanding.

   The next day, he took a detour.

   It's not that Winters deliberately tricked the little lion, he just wanted to confirm the location of the gold burial.

   In the evening, when the others were busy unloading their trucks and setting up camp, Winters only took Pierre and Charles away from the station on the grounds of hunting.

   The three of them went upstream, first found the ruins of the bridgehead, and then continued their search along the retreat route that night, and finally found this "suspicious" place

When    descended to the bottom of the valley, Charles couldn't help but stunned: "You, me, and Pierre alone won't be able to dig such a big piece of wasteland until tomorrow! Why don't I go back and call some people?"

   Winters dismounted and took the shovel from the saddlebag: "Marked."

   "Mark?" Charles was taken aback: "Didn't Lieutenant Colonel Jesska say that the mark would be discovered, so he didn't leave the mark?"

   Winters met Pierre, who shrugged.

Examining the entrance and exit of the valley, Winters roughly deduced the route the carriage traveled: "The markings on the surface may be exposed, so Captain Mason and I thought of a way. After hiding the golden man, we buried three more stakes next to it. ...should be just under half a foot of the soil."

   So the three of them lined up in a flat valley where carriages could pass, constantly turning up the soil with a shovel.

   "I don't know how Hailan is doing now." Xia Er hummed, "I don't know how Tiefeng County is doing now."

   Winters asked casually, "How long have we been out of Iron Peak?"

   "About two and a half months?" Ciel calculated for a long time and whispered, "Brother, how long do we have to go?"

   "Come on, I should be able to catch up with the white lion in a few days."

   "Actually... In fact, many people don't understand it now." Ciel said hesitantly: "Why do we have to travel thousands of miles to participate in the hunt of the Hurds?"

   Winters thought for a while, but instead of answering directly, he asked the other person beside him, "What do you think? Pierre."

  Pierre was recovering from a serious illness, and after waving the shovel for a while, he was sweating profusely. He wiped his sweat and asked, "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

   "How did you learn this?" Winters laughed angrily.

  Pierre also smiled and replied frankly: "Last time we met the Chihe Department, it was your life and death, but this time we became their guests. To be honest, I can't accept it."

   Winters stopped what he was doing: "Does everyone else think the same way?"

   "Many comrades think this way." Pierre said solemnly: "Especially the subordinates you just brought out from Jiangbei province who have not experienced the army building in Wolf Town, they don't understand."

   Winters watched the sunset and fell silent.

Each member of the    envoy was personally selected by Winters, and to a certain extent, they were Winters' most trusted and valued subordinates.

  If the members of the embassy think this way, then the attitudes of others need not be said much.

"Your Excellency." Pierre took the initiative to break the silence: "Although I don't trust the Hurd people, I believe in you. I believe that you have good reasons for choosing to shake hands with the Chihe Ministry. I believe other people agree with me. the same. So you don't need to have any concerns."

   Winters sighed: "I should explain..."

   "If you don't think it is necessary to explain." Pierre said heavily: "Then there is no need to explain."

  After thinking for a moment, Winters has considered it.

   Winters exhaled a long breath and solemnly promised Pierre and Charles: "When the time is right, I will explain it to everyone... Everyone has the right to know what they are fighting for."

  Pierre wanted to say more, but swallowed it all. In the end, he only said one sentence: "You just need to give the order."

   "Okay." Winters' mouth curled slightly: "I have an order now."

   "What order?" Ciel asked suspiciously.

   "Keep turning the soil!"

   In this way, shovel after shovel, the three of them turned the soil in a carpet-like manner in the valley until the bright moon hung high.

   Just when Winters began to question his memory uncontrollably, he heard Ciel exclaim again: "Here!"

  Because Charles has used the stone as a stake several times, Winters and Pierre responded flatly: "A stone again?"

   "No!" Ciel was so anxious that his voice sharpened: "Wood! It's a stake!"

"let me see!"

   I'm not mistaken this time, it is indeed a stake.

  Winters placed one foot on the stake and drew a circle with his step as the radius and the stake as the center: "Turn over! There must be two other stakes in the circle."

   With the encouragement of the good news, Charles and Pierre moved quickly and found the other two stakes.

   At this moment, Winters was finally able to confirm that there were not only dirt and stones, but also two tons of gold under his feet.

  Ciel shouted excitedly: "I'll go back and find someone!"

  Pierre couldn't hide his joy.

   Now that he found the gold, Winters' heartbeat slowed down.

   "No!" Winters stopped Ciel and ordered thoughtfully: "Fill back the soil."

  Charle's eyes widened in astonishment: "Why? We brought all the cranes, didn't we just dig out the golden man?"

  Pierre is also a little puzzled: "Most of the elites in the Chihe Department have gone to participate in the hunt. If you want to unobtrusively dig out the golden man, there should be no better time than now."

   "You guys." Winters laughed dumbly and reluctantly taught the two of them: "Just thinking about how to dig it out! Don't think about how to bring it back?"

   "Didn't we also bring a furnace and a bellows?" Charle replied confidently: "Dig it out! Melt it out! Load it in a truck and take it away!"

   "It's just gold when it melts." Winters explained with a smile: "Until I negotiate the terms with the White Lion, the golden man is much more valuable than gold."

  …

  …

  [wilderness, hunting ground]

  The three-month-long hunt is about to come to a grand conclusion, and even bystanders like Winters can't help but be excited.

  The tens of thousands of hunters who had scattered to the south and the north were now gathered in one place again, and the sparsely populated wilderness suddenly became noisy.

   Each hunting party is doing the same thing - driving the prey into the final hunting ground.

   The more you get to the last minute, the more difficult it is to drive the beasts.

   The hunting parties were originally separated from each other, but now they have entered each other's visual range.

   Every time they observe other hunting parties nearby, the hunters of the Bad Earth Division will be careful.

   The distance is too close!

  The hunter must move the prey without frightening it.

  The prey of some hunting teams is cattle and sheep, while the prey of some hunting teams are beasts. As long as they encounter it, it will be a disaster.

  The panic of the prey is also contagious, and if the hunting party gets too close, it is likely to cause a chain breakout.

   So Koshhach would rather stand still than go side by side with other hunting parties.

   Perhaps it was a premonition of the coming catastrophe, and the antelopes wailed and wandered, unwilling to move forward.

   Bad earth hunters had to resort to more drastic measures. They all went out, pulled up ropes to surround the prey from three sides, kept roaring, banging iron weapons and even forced the antelope herd to move by whipping.

   It wasn't until he witnessed the end of the Akagawa hunt that Winters really understood what the little lion said before - "The final hunting ground has been set up in the beginning".

  The final stage chosen by the white lion is a high place called [Qingqiu].

  Standing on Qingqiu, looking at the four fields, as far as the eyes can reach, there are empty plains. Within a radius of dozens of miles, only Qingqiu stood alone.

  Above the Qingqiu, the golden palace tent of the white lion, and the blue ponytail fluttering in the wind.

  The hunters walked towards Qingqiu as if walking on thin ice, and they could finally stop until the golden roof of the Chihe Palace tent came into view.

  The last leg of the hunt is over!

  The hunters nailed stakes in their respective positions, pulled ropes between the stakes, and hung felt and feathers from the ropes.

  Sticks, ropes and felts are like a wall, preventing the beasts from escaping; the flying feathers screeching in the wind scare the beasts away.

   Felt walls built by hundreds of hunting parties are connected to each other.

  In the end, a giant hunting ring with Qingqiu as the center and a radius of one eye away rose up in the wilderness.

  [Note: One eye is about five kilometers away, which is the farthest distance the eye can see]

  East to the Styx, west to the Aral Sea, south to Jhin River, and north to Yinshan, the beasts were driven from all directions in the west into the final hunting ground.

  The density of beasts in the hunting ring has reached an unimaginable level. The whining of herbivores is incessant, and the roar of predatory beasts is one after another.

   is really like the song of the Hed shaman: "Hunt the cunning beast, I am the forerunner of sweat; let the wild beast, thigh to thigh; let the beast of the cliff, belly to belly".

   "Look!" Winters pointed at Qingqiu, with a gleam in his eyes: "The stage has been set up, and then, let's see if the performance is strong enough!"

  Anna smiled sweetly and asked, "Then... who is the actor?"

   "It's not me anyway." Winters laughed: "I'm here to be the audience."

  The people who followed Winters on his mission to the Chihe Department were also eye-opening. Even the old Sergey, who looked down on Heard Barbarians the most, was shocked at this moment.

   "My darling!" Old Sergey was shocked with a fierce look on his face: "Is the barbarian a great character again?! How did you come up with this boss battle!"

   Witnessing the massive final hunt of the Chihe Department, the older generation was shocked, but the new generation felt a sour sense of humiliation for no reason - I can't blame them, it is the nature of young people to be strong and competitive.

"What's wrong with a big battle? Didn't he almost get hacked by a blood wolf?" Wasika was at the age when she liked to talk back to Lao Tzu. , When we return to Tiefeng County, we will also engage in hunting! Let's make a bigger one!"

   Hearing these words, there were echoes of approval from the mission team.

  Old Sergey subconsciously scolded his son. However, the flag Vasya held out was too big, and the old man swallowed the swear words from his mouth, and just gave his son a stern look.

   Winters looked around his subordinates and saw that many of them were nodding hard with eager expressions on their faces.

   "Yes." Winters said to Vashka, "You will be responsible for chasing the beasts then."

   "Okay!" Wasika didn't notice the trap in this sentence, as if she had been commended, her head was raised and her face was red.

  Pierre sighed softly.

   "Don't you like hunting?" Anna asked in a low voice.

   "That's right." Winters smiled and bit his ear and replied, "I lied to him."

The    Badlands were among the last to arrive at the hunting grounds. When they could see Qingqiu, the hunting ring had been completed.

   Therefore, Koshhaqi only had to temporarily open a gap in the felt wall so that his men and horses could drive the prey into the hunting pen, which saved some effort in building the felt wall.

   Winters can clearly see that: the moment the prey entered the circle, the tense cheeks of the hunters of the Badlands were all relaxed.

   "You guys just need to wait for the hunting to start?" Winters asked Koshkach with a smile.

   "No." Kuoshhaqi shook his head: "We must guard the felt wall, so that the prey will not break the circle."

   However, the stout Heard man finally showed a tired smile of relief: "But, the harvest is not far away."

  A marvelous purplish-red horse came galloping, and the little lion on the horse was very far away and shouted excitedly: "Montagne! You finally caught up!"

  Three days ago, the little lion was so angry that Winters deliberately took a detour, and went to the hunting ground in a rage. The two are now reunited.

   "Goodbye." Winters looked at Koshatchi and held out his hand.

  Koshihachi was stunned for a moment, and then extended his hand.

   The two looked at each other and held and released their palms.

  …

"If anyone asks, you can just say that you are a caravan of Pratu." The little lion led the way, and kept turning his head to explain: "It's not that the Chihe Department can't protect you... It's that there are too many miscellaneous tribes. I'm afraid some people will be wrong..."

   Not only hunters from various tribes, but also ordinary members of the Chihe tribe, as well as leaders and messengers of other tribes, participated in the final "shooting" of the hunt.

  There are felt tents of the Hurds everywhere around the hunting ground, and it is very out of place for Winters and others to walk in them.

   So the white lion and the little lion specially prepared a separate camp for Winters.

   "...In addition, it's best not to let your people walk around casually." The little lion said embarrassedly: "You can tell me anything you need, and the Chihe Department will provide you as much as possible."

   "Don't be sorry, safety comes first, the Chihe Department has arranged it well enough." Winters touched the little lion's shoulder: "But... water, we have to pick it up ourselves, and it is inevitable that we have to enter and leave the camp a few times."

  The little lion smiled: "I have asked me to arrange a camp for you next to the water source. Well, it's right in front."

   looked in the direction indicated by the little lion: twelve small felt tents surrounded a large felt tent, a total of thirteen felt tents were neatly located on a small soil **** near the stream.

   Even by Winters' standards, the campsite's location was not without obvious shortcomings. It is close to the stream for easy access to water, and the terrain is high to prevent outsiders from snooping.

   As for the terrain is not dangerous enough... Qingqiu is surrounded by plains, and there is no danger to defend.

   Besides, Winters and his party were surrounded by tens of thousands of Hurds. If the situation really happened, it would be useless for any "risk".

   Looking at the thirteen felt tents, Winters' heart trembled slightly uncontrollably, he pulled the little lion: "That..."

  The little lion didn't know why, so he asked in confusion, "What? What do you want to ask?"

   Winters was silent for a long time, and finally shook his head and said with a smile: "Nothing... When can I see the white lion?"

   "You can now." The little lion shrugged: "But you don't need to rest first?"

   "No need." Winters took a deep breath: "The sooner you see the White Lion, the better."

  …

  [Iron Peak County Mission's Camp]

  Since the host has thoughtfully provided accommodation, there is no need for the guests to set up tents. After all, a thick, spacious felt tent is much more comfortable than a camp tent.

  While the others were unloading the truck and lighting the fire, Anna curiously walked into the largest felt tent in the center of the camp.

  The floor of the felt tent is covered with soft suede leather, and the gauze curtain divides the spacious interior space into left, center and right.

  In the center of the felt tent is a half-human-high iron stove, with a stew pot on the stove, and the light "beeping" of the wood burning is constantly coming from the hearth.

  Because of this iron furnace that emits heat, the inside and outside of the felt tent are two worlds.

   The outside is the cold and windy wilderness in the deep winter, and the inside is a warm paradise.

   touched the fur on the ground, Anna quickly took off her heavy boots, and walked up cautiously with bare feet.

The soft touch of   's toes made her let out a small breath involuntarily.

  The stew pot was making a "gudugudu" sound, Anna carefully lifted the lid of the pot, and the aroma of mutton rose up on the steam, filling the surroundings.

   Anna subconsciously retreated and turned her head due to the high temperature water vapor blowing at her face.

   The next moment, Anna couldn't believe her eyes.

   Because she saw a bathtub.

   A wooden tub big enough for an adult.

  Ana took a deep breath, breathed, and breathed in. After adjusting her attitude, she prayed and walked to the bathtub.

   God seemed to have heard her prayers—the bathtub had been carefully filled with water.

  Ana reached out and touched the water—and it was still warm.

   An unprecedented sense of happiness poured into Anna's heart, and she could hardly control her urge to cheer.

   Carefully picked up a handful of warm water, Anna sat for a while, and suddenly sobbed softly for some reason.

   But she quickly stopped sobbing, wiped away her tears, and returned to her usual appearance.

   She sat by the bathtub, propped her cheeks up, and stared at the water, as if thinking about how to use the precious warm water.

   After thinking for a moment, Anna shook her head with blushing cheeks. Finally, she felt the temperature of the water and stood up, ready to see what else was prepared on the other side of the felt tent.

   Before leaving, Anna inadvertently caught a glimpse of a set of clothes neatly placed on the square table beside the bathtub.

  Anna picked up her clothes—a brand new hunting suit.

  …

  [The center of Qingqiu, the group of palace tents in the Chihe Department]

   Standing in a distance and looking into the distance, there is only a splendid palace tent on Qingqiu.

  The actual palace tent is more than one, but a temporary building complex composed of more than ten felt tents.

  Accompanied by the little lion, Winters walked into the palace tents of the Chihe Department without any interrogation.

The members of the Chihe tribe are making the final preparations for tomorrow's hunting, checking horses, testing bows, sharpening arrows... Armored soldiers of all colors are running around, and from time to time some servants run out of a felt tent in a hurry and get in again. Another felt tent.

  Winters watched with great interest the busy scene of the people of Chihe, while following the little lion to the most gorgeous and largest palace tent.

   Suddenly, Winters stopped without warning.

   He turned his head and looked behind him, but there was nothing; he looked around again, but there was nothing.

   He continued to walk forward.

  In an inconspicuous felt tent ten steps away, Erlun's heart almost jumped out of his chest.

  The old woman beside Erlen asked hoarsely, "Is [Herde] him?"

  The old woman is too old to tell her age, her teeth are almost bare, and the wrinkles on her face are like ravines etched by the wind. Her hair and clothes are tied with the bones of all kinds of animals, including birds and beasts.

   The most chilling thing is the old woman's eye sockets - what originally existed there was dug out alive, leaving two empty, black holes, like bottomless abyss.

   "[Hede] is him." Ellen hugged the old woman and wept bitterly: "[Hede] what should I do? Old mother..."

  The old woman also hugged Eerlun, and gently patted Eerlun's back with her dry hands.

   Under the comfort of the old woman, Erlun gradually stopped crying.

  Across the thick felt tent, the old woman stared straight at Winters' back.

   There was nothing in her eye sockets, but she straightened her back with difficulty, panting heavily, staring at Winters until the latter walked away.

"[Herde] I once saw the future of the White Lion through the fog, and because of that future, I returned the name of the White Lion to the White Lion." The old woman hoarsely muttered to herself: "[Herde] But I Can't see that man's future, can't see anything... I can only smell fire, blood and tears... It's all on him..."

   On the other side, the little lion raised a curtain decorated with gold and silver, and Winters stepped into the palace tent of the Chihe Department.

   The white lion stood up and nodded in greeting.

   [Repay (false)! ! ]

   [About the hunting of the Chihe Department, I did not make up or "original", but refer to the content of the "World Conqueror History" about hunting, hunting, and winter hunting]

[…they spend a month or two or three forming a hunting ring, slowly and gradually driving the beasts ahead, cautiously lest one escape the ring… During these two or three months, they Day and night he drove the wild beast like a flock of sheep, and then sent a message to Khan, reporting to him the condition of the prey, how many they had gone, where the wild beast had been raised, and so on. At last, when the hunting ring shrunk to a diameter of only two or three paresas (11-17 kilometers), they connected the ropes and covered them with felt; the army stopped in the circle and stood side by side...]

[Yelü Chucai's "Winter Hunting of Hu Cong" can also provide some references: "The emperor's winter hunting is like a marching army, and Bai Hao is surrounded by a long encirclement. The long encirclement does not know how many kilometers away, and the dragon is shocked by the mountains. The long encirclement is arranged like In a circular formation, thousands of miles of clouds rush in. Thousands of wild horses and goats, red bears and white deer rush to green deer.

   The strong man bends his bow to kill strange beasts, and even drives away tigers and leopards and chases greedy wolves. It is unique to tourists who are tired of Chinese books, put down the felt curtain and recite the Book of Changes. ]

   [In addition to hunting in winter, there are also flying falconry (falconry) in spring. For nomadic tribes, hunting is both a production activity and a military exercise]

   [Thank you for your collection, reading, subscription, recommendation ticket, monthly ticket, reward and comment, thank you all]

   (end of this chapter)