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

Chapter 376 The Radio Station's Cry for Help

The pack of hounds was very imposing, and the noise they made alerted the surrounding wild animals that hunters had arrived.

The gunshot from Chen Xiangqian's cannon startled the surrounding small animals, causing them to scatter and flee. Li Ju'an, standing nearby, shone a flashlight on the bear footprints on the ground.

It had rained a few days ago, and the footprints left behind were clearly muddy. He squatted down and carefully shone a light on the footprints, finding that the footprints were very fresh and the surrounding mud was very shallow, indicating that they had been left recently after the ground dried.

He made a cut on the tree trunk with a knife, picked a wildflower, stuck it on the bark to mark a direction, and noted the bark.

The hunting dogs barked fiercely in one direction, and Da Hu made several attempts to charge forward.

It started to rain.

The night was already dark, and the rain made the feathers on the heads of the two eagles wet, causing them to droop limply, and their footprints on the ground were also largely covered up.

Li Ju'an's flashlight was almost out of power, its light flickering on and off. He called his hunting dog back to the dugout, shouting, "Let's hold out until dawn. This damn weather."

With neither flashlights nor headlamps working, the falcon can't take off. At this point, recklessly tracking a bear that isn't crouching in its den is like throwing yourself to the wind – it's pitch black.

Li Ju'an called the dog into the dugout and set two traps in front of the door. Including the four traps near the tree where the livestock lived, there were a total of six large traps. If any curious wild animals came to peek into this area, he could show them the power of a wire trap, crushing their foot bones as it came down.

The door closed. Chen Xiangqian hurriedly rummaged through the dugout under the last beam of his flashlight, saying, "We can use the tools left by our predecessors and put our human wisdom to good use. Otherwise, why would we say that bears are livestock, unable to use tools?"

Li Ju'an laughed at him: "Now you've finally regained your courage. Just now, everyone's underwear was wet."

Chen Xiangqian hurriedly shouted, "Hey, didn't I spill the water?" He shook the kettle in his hand to indicate that there was still half a kettle of water left.

Li Ju'an smiled but didn't expose him. He then shone the flashlight on him. The flashlight battery was too weak, and the light was unreliable. He had to pat the battery, turn it a couple of times, and keep shining it before he could get any light out.

Chen Xiangqian actually found a radio in the old warehouse.

Chen Xiangqian cursed, "What a piece of trash! We didn't even find a single bullet with a gun. What's the use of a radio?"

Li Ju'an laughed at him, "I don't know who it was, but they fired a foreign cannon at us. They even blew through the door but didn't hit us. They didn't even touch our coats."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiangqian felt a burning pain on his face.

Li Ju'an sighed again and said, "If Chen Pao Shou were accurate, we wouldn't be standing here chatting with him."

Chen Xiangqian clasped his hands together and begged, "Brother, you're really my brother, please don't mention this. Just let Da Hu bite me instead."

He actually put his arm in front of the tiger, begging the hunting dog to bite him, and that would settle the matter of that shot.

Big Tiger glanced at him with his dog eyes, rolled his eyes at him, then shook his butt and turned his back to lie down.

Li Ju'an laughed heartily and said, "Even a dog would complain that your flesh is too gritty."

Chen Xiangqian scratched the back of his head awkwardly and laughed, "Da Hu, you're so picky."

A radio, which looks quite old, is a modified radio, with the batteries on the side showing signs of aging and deformation.

Li Ju'an set up the radio antenna, removed the remaining two batteries from the flashlight, and put them into the radio. The flashlight batteries were almost dead, barely enough to keep the radio running for a few more minutes, but the sound was distorted and slow.

Li Ju'an listened to the crackling radio broadcast and tuned to the local channel in the Xing'an Mountains. He had barely turned on the local radio station when he heard an urgent appeal for help.

"Two large bears have attacked people at the hydropower station east of the barley fields in the Xingan Mountains. Four hunters have been bitten, five hunting dogs have been killed, and seven hunting dogs have been injured. The situation is urgent. We request the assistance of local hunters to the hydropower station! Otherwise, the hunters and hunting dogs will not survive the night."

There's also a communications radio station at the hydroelectric power station dam.

Li Ju'an and Chen Xiangqian exchanged a glance, both seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.

The hydroelectric dam was only about two miles away from them, very close. And there were two huge bears there?

Chen Xiangqian glanced outside the door, feeling something was off, and said, "Hey Li, that wasn't just a Gobi bear. How can this thing be called big? Have these hunters never seen a big bear before?"

The Gobi bear is not large; it is short in stature. Adult male bears can reach 150 to 190 centimeters in length, about 90 centimeters in shoulder width, and weigh between 100 and 120 kilograms, less than 200 jin (100 catties).

This thing looks quite big, but compared to other bear species, the Gobi bear is short and stocky, practically a dwarf. However, their bodies are very sturdy, made entirely of strong muscles, and their explosive power when they run and pounce is terrifying. They are both agile and fierce.

The female bear appears petite and delicate, with a body length ranging from 130 to 170 centimeters.

Moreover, Gobi bears are very socially awkward. Unless they are foraging for food, they will never stay with their companions. They have strict territorial boundaries and would rather stay with sheep than forage with their companions.

The Gobi bears in the barley fields live in extreme temperatures. Summer temperatures can reach over 40 degrees Celsius, while winter temperatures can drop to as low as -40 degrees Celsius, and local villagers are rarely seen there. Only in remote, untouched corners where life is scarce can the Gobi bears secretly live in the oases of the barley fields.

Li Ju'an asked Chen Xiangqian, "Did you really see that? How tall was it when it stood up?"

"So high!"

Chen Xiangqian stood up and compared himself to the beam in the wall, roughly 1.9 meters tall. Li Ju'an looked at him, squinting and laughing: "When we came in, who was huddled up like a lump of flesh? Now you're all stretched out, your arms could dance."

Chen Xiangqian, with his thick skin, laughed and said, "Of course! Back in our troupe, we could even dance the Little Swan, and we were even more flamboyant than those Russians." He actually tiptoed around on the ground a couple of times, making it look like he was really dancing like a little swan.

Suddenly, the horse outside the door neighed fiercely, kicking its hooves with all its might, while the bleating of the little ibex beside it was even more heart-wrenching.

Li Ju'an reacted faster than the hunting dogs, raising his gun and aiming it at the nearest window, then fired a shot at the dark figure under the jujube tree.

The bullets fired from the overhand shotgun at close range cut through the air. The modified overhand shotgun, propelled by the homemade bullets of the Lu family patriarch, possessed extremely strong gunpowder propulsion, comparable to the ground-based cannons made by the Lu family.

The first bullet blasted out, tearing through the night with its force, and the ground beneath the jujube tree roared with fury.

throat!

This was the first time Chen Xiangqian had ever heard a bear roar.

The low-frequency roar of the bear was deep and hoarse, most eerie in the darkness. The owls in the forest were startled and flew away. Chen Xiangqian heard the low-frequency roar, which exploded in his ear at close range, making his face instantly flush, his whole body feel cold, and his limbs went numb and icy.

For a moment, he couldn't move his feet. His legs felt weak, and he didn't even have the strength to set up the cannon. He couldn't lift the gun at all.

After firing a shot, Li Ju'an moved his firing hand upwards, pressed the gun handle downwards, and held the bullet between his middle and ring fingers, pushing it into the chamber with a "click," firing another shot.

Bang! The close-range explosion of fire caused the dark figure under the jujube tree to roar even more angrily. After several fierce struggles, it seemed to be fighting against the heavy object, tearing up large patches of soil. The horse and the little ibex cried out even more intensely.

This was the first time Chen Xiangqian had ever heard a horse neigh so sharply and high-pitchedly.

Li Ju'an shouted, "Chen Xiangqian, turn on the flash."

His fingers quickly loaded ammunition, then he snapped the rifle butt and continued aiming at the shadowy figure.

Chen Xiangqian realized what was happening, quickly took out the Seagull brand camera hanging around his neck, aimed it at the jujube tree, and pressed the shutter.

With a crisp click, the shutter clicked, and the light illuminated the scene.