Wild 1979: From Fishing and Hunting to Becoming a Literary Master

Chapter 80 Old Smoker

Chen Tuo and Wu Laowai, with their guns slung over their shoulders, continued up the mountain along the sled trail, but the wind on the mountain was getting stronger and stronger.

Chen Tuo, pulling the sled, wore heavy-duty boots with anti-slip treads, his feet firmly planted on the fresh snow.

But behind him, Wu Laowai, wearing high-top cowhide boots, was being pushed by the mountain wind, and his steps began to falter.

As he got older and drank a lot of alcohol at the educated youth settlement, Wu Laowai's steps became increasingly unsteady.

"Hey kid, why am I getting more and more tired? Can you drag me along with you?"

After stumbling twice, Wu Laowai didn't dare to pull him too hard. He immediately asked Chen Tuo if he could help him up the mountain.

They had already covered at least half of the sledding trail, and now they were stuck in a situation where they couldn't go up or down, so Wu Laowai didn't dare to say anything discouraging.

"Uncle Wu, the wind is getting colder. Holding you up is fine, but can you sit comfortably on the sled?"

After turning a few corners, ice shards appeared in the snow and smoke, stinging Chen Tuo's cheeks. He realized he had been too overconfident.

He had already tied up his previously open fur-lined cotton-padded coat, and he had also put on the glove he thought he wouldn't need.

When it gets colder, he has to wear a sheepskin overcoat.

"Aren't you wearing a fur cloak? Try it on. If you get cold, I'll come down. You should put your coat on too, and make sure to button up your fur hat!"

Once on the sled, Wu Laowai didn't let Chen Tuo put on his coat when he got cold, but instead made him put on a Mongolian sheepskin coat.

"Kid, remember this: whether it's your hands, feet, or face, stop when it hurts. If you can't feel it anymore, you'll be in trouble..."

He put on his own leather cloak and covered his head with Chen Tuo's sheepskin overcoat.

Fearing he might not realize the seriousness of the situation, Wu Laowai emphasized the importance of avoiding frostbite.

You might feel the frostbite earlier if you get it at the foot of the mountain.

Frostbite in the blizzard often goes unnoticed.

The men in Songling Forestry Bureau with purple faces are those whose cheeks have been frostbitten in the wild.

"I know! Uncle Wu, we can't just give up, can we?"

After being protected from the howling mountain wind by the Mongolian sheepskin coat, Chen Tuo no longer felt cold.

He touched the broken ginseng in his arms and looked at the now completely white landscape.

"Uncle Wu, I brought that broken ginseng with me. How about we each eat a piece?"

"You don't need to eat that stuff. As long as you can still walk, you can manage..."

Wu Laowai drank deer blood at his settlement in the mountains and was even choked until his nose bled.

Upon hearing that Chen Tuo wanted to eat wild ginseng, she quickly stopped him.

If you eat something that causes your nose and mouth to bleed, you could easily freeze to death in the mountains.

Wu Laowai sat on the sled. Chen Tuo grew hotter and hotter as they walked. After a while, he felt he would break out in a sweat if he didn't open his shirt. He stopped and asked:

"Uncle Wu, the more I pull, the hotter I get. Am I getting cold?"

"Feel it yourself. If you're sweating, it's fine. If you're really sweating, put on a mid-length or overcoat first."

While giving Chen Tuo advice, Wu Laowai also reached into his coat and touched his clothes, only to find them ice-cold.

While admiring Chen Tuo's powerful firepower, this guy also felt a little more at ease.

As long as Chen Tuo is still sweating, he won't freeze to death anytime soon.

I changed into a mid-length overcoat and continued climbing the mountain. The mountain wind was getting stronger and stronger, and the visibility was almost zero, leaving only a pale white expanse.

"Kid, this is the White-haired Wind! If it were any other forest, we'd be dead tonight, facing the Mountain God and the Old Foreman..."

Although he still called him Bai Maofeng, Wu Laowai knew that when he changed clothes just now, Bai Maofeng had upgraded to Lao Yanpao.

The snow on the mountain, the snow on the ground, and the snow hanging on the trees, mixed in the wind, was much more powerful than a heavy snowfall from the sky.

If they hadn't applied bear oil before going up the mountain, their faces would probably be covered with bloody cuts from the ice crystals.

The wind was like a knife at the foot of the mountain; that's just a figure of speech.

But in the old opium dens of the Xingan Mountains, there really are small knives, knives made of ice crystals!

He could hear the whistling mountain wind in his ears and the crunching sound of Chen Tuo's feet on the snow.

Wu Laowai took a swig of wine and made up his mind never to go into the deep mountains again.

Compared to the young man who was pulling him along through the old opium den, he's not that old anymore...

"Uncle Wu, listen carefully, is that a gunshot?"

As he walked, Chen Tuo vaguely heard gunshots.

With the dog-skin hat covering his ears and the howling mountain wind, the gunshots didn't sound very clear.

"That's true. Don't go up the mountain. Didn't you want to hunt wolves? Let's walk down the slope. The wolves are probably trapped in the ditch."

After listening carefully for a while with his hat brim lifted, Wu Laowai pointed Chen Tuo in a direction.

Although Beishan was the settlement of Bailong's tribe, their reindeer pastures were located in the ditches and meadows at the foot of Beishan.

At this time, only the reeds in the Tatoudian area were not covered by snow.

Because it was a familiar mountain area, Wu Laowai didn't need to look at the mountain shape; he could determine the two men's location simply by listening to the echoing gunfire.

Going up the mountain again, the mountain wind will only get stronger.

If you walk around the mountainside and turn to the shady side, the wind may stop.

Now, Wu Laowai also knows the purpose of that smoke pit; it was probably used to pen the reindeer herd.

Only when there is smoke will the reindeer, scattered by the wolf pack, follow the scent to find their way up the mountain.

Just as Wu Laowai had expected, Chen Tuo pulled the sled for about half an hour, and the white-haired wind that had slapped him hard turned into snow smoke again.

"Sigh... We finally got out of that opium den, kid. You know what? If we had pushed any higher just now, we might have died in there."

Seeing the white fumes rising again, Wu Laowai then revealed the danger he had just witnessed.

Even with a whiteout, visibility is still possible.

An old smoker, he doesn't listen to reason at all. All he sees is snow and ice, and if the snow blows harder, he can't even open his eyes...

"That old smoker's got some nerve..."

In the recent blizzard, visibility was almost zero. Chen Tuo not only couldn't see anything, but he also lost his sense of direction.

At times like this, fear is inevitable. Even with improved visibility, he could only mutter, "Old opium addict is tough."

"Kid, this is the danger in the mountains. It looks calm on the outside, but there are fierce winds blowing in the mountains."

Having experienced the dangers of Laoyanpaozi, Wu Laowai lost interest in passing on Chen Tuo's mountain running experience.

He almost froze to death just now. If it weren't for Chen Tuo's fried bear meat and a mouthful of baijiu, he would have been stranded in the mountains.

"When you come down the mountain, you'll need to use a stick to probe the way. Be careful not to fall into the snowdrifts; they're like water, and if they're deep, you can drown!"

Running in the mountains is dangerous in ways far beyond just the white-haired wind and the old smoke bubbles; it can be just as dangerous as the snowdrifts that can kill you.

If you fall in and can't climb out, you'll drown in the snow.

Only horse-riding hunters can hunt in the depths of the Xing'an Mountains during the deep winter.

True mountain runners who truly explore the mountains on foot, even if they form hunting gangs, will not easily venture into unfamiliar, deep mountains.

In Wu Laowai's view, apart from a few scattered individuals like him who run their own hunting gangs, what hunting gangs are there in Songling?

The only people who can truly hunt in the deep mountains are the hunters living there...