Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 18 The Bear Hunter

"Ama, you see a strange bird in the sky."

Elu (Manchu name, meaning strong) looked up to the sky and said to his father Seldan (Manchu name, meaning arrow).

When Cerdan heard the words and looked up, he saw a strange black bird hovering in the sky.

"Six wings, two legs. Why are there no feathers? Where is the head?" Elu muttered as he looked up.

"Don't look at it, catching bears is serious business, pay more attention to your feet." Seldan, who is in his 30s, is educating his 15-year-old son.

The father and son are from Kulkaqi, that is, the Hezhe people of later generations, but the naturalization of the Eight Banners is relatively early.Their family lives in a small village southeast of Hunchun City. Because of their excellent hunting skills, Seldan goes to the island to hunt bears every year before winter, and then sells them in Hunchun City in exchange for living materials.

"Ama, I went to Hunchun to sell leather this time, so I have to buy a new pair of boots with me." Elu looked at the tattered boots under his feet and begged his father in distress.

"Well. Then we'll see if we can hunt one more bear. Lord Xie-Leader ordered one in the summer. I want to buy you boots and a new cotton robe for your Mama (grandmother in Manchu) , I have to get medicine for your mother, I have to buy an iron pot, a few catties of salt, some beans for the horse, and some tobacco leaves." Seldan said in a low voice as he walked.He repeated everything the family needed, and finally it was his tobacco leaves.

As the head of the family, Seldan has supported the family by hunting wild beasts for many years with his excellent bow and arrow skills.The eldest daughter is already married, and her son Elu has also set a marriage plan this fall. He will have to marry a daughter-in-law in the next spring, but the dowry and belongings have not yet been prepared; when the son's wedding is over, the little girl will also prepare to find her husband's house. .

"Ama, your robe is too tattered. Let's replace it with a new one this time." Elu looked at the tattered cotton robe on his father's body and said worriedly.

"Why don't you buy that, so that your mother can wear it for a few years."

"Still make up? How many years?" Elu almost shouted.

Suddenly, Seldan stopped immediately as if he had discovered something.Elu behind him also stopped immediately and squatted down.

After checking the footprints on the ground for a while, Seldan turned around and said to his son in a low voice, "There are two big, two small and four. It seems that they are still looking for food and preparing for the winter."

Elu gently took off the big bow he was carrying, took out a big arrow from the quiver behind him and hung it on the string.

This kind of iron-headed big arrow used to hunt large animals, Cerdan has six, which is still passed down from his grandfather. Cerdan cherishes it very much and has always maintained it carefully.After each use, it is repeatedly wiped and maintained with animal grease, and then stored carefully.

This time he came to Bear Island to hunt bears. For the first time, he brought his son Elu, and gave him two iron-headed arrows, while he took the other four.

Seldan dipped his index finger into the saliva on his tongue, then watched the wind in the air.Immediately beckoning to his son, the two turned left and walked around quietly from the north side.

Every few steps Seldan took, he stopped to observe the movement, and then continued to move forward.When the father and son walked eight or nine hundred steps away, Seldan raised his hand to signal Elu behind him to stop.In the forest on the right side of the two, there was the sound of bears playing and playing.

Elu didn't even dare to let out the air at this time, so he slowed down his breathing.He imitated his father's attitude, taking each step slowly, pausing for a moment, listening to the movement.

The father and son came to the back of a boulder. Seldan looked out slightly and saw that there were two big bears, a male and a female, and the two little bears were playing a dozen steps away from the female bear, which surprised him very much. .

It's actually rare for male and female bears to bring their cubs together.Generally, male bears can identify whether female bears are carrying their own children. If not, the cubs will be miserable.But according to today's situation, these two cubs should be the cubs of the male bear.

Seldan bowed down slowly, hid behind the boulder, gestured to his son Elu, and signaled his son to shoot the female bear on the right. He gently drew a big arrow from his quiver and hung it on the He pulled the strings, ready to shoot the male bear on the left.

Eru nodded slowly.At this time, his forehead was slightly sweaty, but his hands holding the bow were very calm.He has practiced bow and arrow skills hard under the guidance of his father since childhood, and his level is quite good.In the past, he himself often shot and killed some small animals alone.In the past two years, he began to hunt deer, and the harvest was very good.That's why Seldan took him to hunt bears this time.

As Cerdan waved his head, the figures of the father and son slowly protruded from behind the boulder and aimed at their respective targets.

The male bear seemed to sense something, and began to move back and forth uneasy, his nose kept sniffing, accompanied by a howl from time to time.Seeing the male bear's unease, the female bear also began to look around for warning.

Suddenly, the male bear seemed to sense the danger from behind the boulder, so he stood up abruptly and began to raise his head and howl; the female bear also stood up and howled, calling his two children to come back quickly.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The sound of two bowstrings, which were almost connected together, sounded, and two large black arrows flew out at almost the same speed, towards the "V"-shaped white short hairs on the chests of the two black bears, centered on the heart.

The male bear and the female bear wailed at the same time, "popping" twice, and fell to the ground with a bang.

The two cubs who heard their mother's call did not know what was going on. They ran out from behind a big tree and threw themselves in front of the mother bear, screaming.

Seldan waited behind the stone for a while, quietly peering out.After he confirmed that the two big bears had been shot, he suddenly jumped out from behind the boulder, ran to the mother bear with a few strides, and held the necks of the two cubs with one in each hand.

The two little bears screamed desperately, twisting their bodies and trying to bite Seldan's hand.It sounded as much as a sheep's bark and a bit like a wild boar.

Elu, who was behind the boulder, cheered, ran out quickly, and walked to Cerdan.He took out the rope he had prepared, tied it around the bear's neck, and tied the rope to a tree beside him.

According to Cerdan's instructions, Elu left the rope a few feet long, so that the little bear could lie beside the mother bear, so that it would not bite the rope desperately.

"Good luck, these two little ones can sell for a good price in Hunchun City." Seldan let out a sigh of relief.

As he pulled the iron arrows from the chests of the two bears and put them away, he said to his son, "Go and bring the horses here."

Elu then excitedly ran to the place where the horse was tied.

"Be careful," Cerdan shouted at his son.

The whole process of this bear hunt also made Cerdan very tired.He walked to the side of the tree and sat down against the trunk.Then he took out a cigarette pot and a cigarette bag from his arms, and knocked on a flint to light a pot of cigarettes.

In the rising smoke, Seldan looked at the prey in front of him and said in a silent muffled voice, "This year has been better."

"Have you chosen the land yet? The battery is about to run out, so you have to fly back quickly." Liu Sheng said anxiously to Zhao Xin.

"Well, choose this place." Zhao Xin pointed to a long and narrow plain on the west coast of the island.This location is just surrounded by a bay. The north and south sides of the bay are low hills and plains, where yachts can be parked to avoid the wind and waves.

The southern and eastern parts of the island have all been flown over to see it. The drone found a small village on the northeast side of the island, and several boats were docked near the seaside of the village.

"Okay, then I'll fly the drone back first."

Through the shooting system carried by the drone, the outline of the entire Bear Island has been clearly depicted on the display screen and saved.Zhao Xin connected a small inkjet printer to print out a few copies of this simple map. Compared with the map photos saved in the notebook in advance, Zhao Xin drew a mark on the location of the preset camp.

He handed one of the pictures to Katsu Saburo and explained the landing matters in detail.

After listening to Zhao Xin's instructions, Sheng Saburo gathered the other six people together and began to talk in a low voice.After the discussion, the few people went to various places on the deck and the cabin respectively to explain the preparations and precautions before landing to everyone.

The coast of Bear Island has a landform similar to that of the northern coast of the island country. The beach area is very small. After landing, there are dense bushes and jungles. Further to the depths of the island, there are large forests and hills.

A few minutes later, the drone flew back and landed on the bow deck. Zhao Xin stowed the drone and put it back into the passenger cabin.

Liu Sheng started the yacht and slowly drove towards the designated position at a speed of 10 knots.

The sea in the early morning was very cold, but fortunately everyone had a thick protective coat on the boat, but they were able to carry it.

After more than an hour, the yacht gradually approached the coast.Liu Sheng found that the water near the coast was very deep, and the yacht could sail very close to the shore, but he was still very careful to drop the anchor and stop the boat when it was 200 meters away from the shore.

The two changed into all-terrain camouflage uniforms suitable for cold temperate climates in the cabin, put on tactical vests, and brought a full set of equipment.Walking into the cabin, he handed a walkie-talkie to Katsu Saburo.Liu Sheng had already adjusted the frequency of the walkie-talkie, and Zhao Xin explained how to use it.

In the eyes of a crew of people, Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng boarded the assault boat towed at the stern, untied the cables, and drove towards the predetermined landing site.

The assault boat slowly approached the shore, and Liu Sheng stepped on the beach sideways.He noticed that the sand on the shore here was very rough and very grainy.

Zhao Xin drove the assault boat slowly to the beach and stopped. Liu Sheng took the cable thrown by Zhao Xin and tied the cable tightly to a rock.

The two moved the assault rifles behind them to their chests, loaded the magazines, pulled the bolt, opened the safety, and moved the muzzle forward, looking around and walking towards the preset position.

Two hours later, standing in the knee-deep grass, Zhao Xin slapped a pose.Liu Sheng took out a small folding flagpole, hung a small red triangular flag, and then inserted the flagpole into the grass.

"With this as a sign, the land area of ​​97.6 square kilometers and the 12-nautical-mile sea area beyond the surrounding coastline belong to our territory!" Liu Sheng solemnly gave a military salute and shouted loudly.

"Come on~~ Let's talk about marine territory when you have warships and cannons. Not counting the continental shelf, there is a 24-nautical-mile contiguous zone and a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone."

"Hey, isn't it with you, my warship cannon is pointed at you." Liu Sheng patted Zhao Xin's shoulder kindly.

"This matter can't be settled for a while. Even if I dare to buy it, who would dare to sell it? Besides, you can drive it by yourself when you buy it?"

"I'll find a way." Liu Sheng said confidently.

Zhao Xin pouted and ignored him.

Katsu Saburo's voice came from the walkie-talkie: "Sir, sire, how is the situation?"

"Everything is fine." Zhao Xin responded by pressing the walkie-talkie on his shoulder.

"What is he asking?" Liu Sheng asked casually.

"King Saburo is asking about our situation." Zhao Xin paused and continued: "I said, you have to learn a foreign language, otherwise you won't be able to communicate with these people, and I can't always be your personal translator. Right." Zhao Xin complained to Liu Sheng.

"Then you can't let them all learn Chinese?" Liu Sheng responded resentfully.

"Yes, of course they want to learn Chinese, but they won't be able to use it right away? Listen to me, you should learn from Katsuzaburō, he has a serious Kanto accent. As for Liji, don't learn it, it's all Kanto dialect."

Liu Sheng shrugged and agreed helplessly.

"Okay, we've checked the one-kilometer distance around, let's pick them up ashore. There's still a lot of work to do, otherwise we won't be able to live in the tent before dark." Zhao Xin felt that it was almost time, and urged Liu Sheng.

At the same time, while Liu Sheng was not paying attention, he quietly took out the jade pendant and knocked it gently on the ground, and a lot of shovels, picks and sickles appeared in the grass.

Zhao Xin didn't plan to tell Yupei's secret, and Liu Sheng thought that Zhao Xin was just a wave of his hand.However, in Liu Sheng's eyes, this kind of behavior is no longer something that a "magic stick" can do, and he is about to become an alien.

When Zhao Xin himself disassembled the gun for maintenance two days ago, he accidentally broke a big hole in the tiger's mouth on his right hand.

He was the only one in the tent at that time, and Zhao Xin rummaged through the medical kit by himself.In a hurry, the blood from the wound smeared on the jade pendant.

This time Zhao Xin noticed that Yu Pei absorbed all the blood from his wound, and the injured part healed very quickly, leaving only a faint scar, which made Zhao Xin very stunned.

During the process of dismantling the tents and recycling all the materials before the camp was evacuated, the rush caused Zhao Xin to put in and take out the materials several times.After tossing back and forth a few times, he found that he could hold the jade pendant to concentrate his mind and take out a certain type of material, instead of the previous way of taking it all out, and then busy taking it back.

The two turned and walked back to the shore, untied the cable, and launched the assault boat.

"You guys tell everyone to prepare for landing." Zhao Xin shouted into the walkie-talkie.

Immediately, the two boarded the assault boat and began to transport everyone ashore.

(End of this chapter)