stjorthotic Chapter 86 Deer Blood Feast
Chapter 86 Deer Blood Feast
Chen Tuo didn't know what the male reindeer represented back then, but he still managed a few awkward laughs along with the others.
He laughed, and Wu Laowai and the others laughed too.
Back then, male reindeer didn't have any special symbolic meaning.
But deer are considered pure yang creatures of the mountains, and the male reindeer mentioned by the white dragon back then is not the same as the young reindeer of this year.
It was a young male deer that had just grown up and was preparing to circle around.
These deer were not food for the reindeer herders; the venison they ate was mostly from culled male deer or injured and sick deer.
Bucks, does, and fawns are all important assets of the tribe.
"Su Dao, it's rare for Bai Long to be so generous, choosing the best and strongest male stag. I'm also craving stag blood wine..."
There are two ways to eat deer: the Evenki people have their own way, and the mountain runners have theirs.
Evenki hunters eat raw meat and drink hot blood.
Old Wu, a mountain runner, also followed suit and learned the method of mixing strong liquor with deer blood to keep warm.
To ward off the white-haired wind in the opium den, besides keeping warm by a fire, drinking deer blood wine can also save lives.
There were not enough warm clothes or tents, and no food or firewood to keep warm.
The old opium addict the two of them encountered last night could kill someone in just an hour or two.
The white dragon had decided to eat reindeer, and her people had completed their wolf hunt in the snowfield.
No wolf could escape up the snowy slope under the horses' hooves; they were either killed by the wolf-beating mallets in the hunters' hands or trampled to death by the horses' hooves.
The hunters, who were nearly wiped out, did not fire a single gun; at most, they simply pried open their bayonets and dismounted to finish off the remaining hunters.
The mournful howls of wolves in the ditches and distant forests were suppressed by the neighing of horses driven by the hunters as they rode with their reins drawn.
After killing the wolves within sight, the hunters took out basins made of birch bark and used the wolf blood to feed their horses.
Seeing the horse beneath the white dragon lower its head to drink blood, Chen Tuo asked in surprise:
"White Dragon, can your horse eat meat and drink blood?"
"Yes! In winter, when there is not enough hay, we feed the horses meat. Horses fed this way not only go far, but also become particularly strong."
Hearing Bai Long's answer, Chen Tuo looked at Wu Laowai.
"Kid, the mountains are snowbound, and the reindeer can only eat moss and reeds. Horses can eat reeds, but there aren't enough grasses for them to eat in the mountains."
Not only do the horses of the Evenki hunters eat meat, but the horses of the Solon tribe, as well as other mountain hunters, also eat meat, and often do so.
After answering Chen Tuo's questions, Wu Laowai pointed to the wolf carcasses on the snowfield and asked:
"White Dragon, whose wolves are these?"
"He who takes a man's money is bound to him; he who eats a man's food is bound to him." Before eating reindeer meat and drinking deer blood wine, Wu Laowai still needed to finalize the ownership of the wolf pack.
There were a dozen or so wolves in the sheltered area and a dozen or so wolves on the snow-covered ground; they should be attributed to him and Chen Tuo.
There were many more wolf carcasses on the snowfield. Although they were killed by Evenki hunters, without the two of them, these people, horses, and deer would only be food for the wolf pack to survive the winter.
Wu Laowai's question about ownership was very clear.
That means neither wolf skin nor wolf meat belongs to the hunters; all they can get is wolf offal.
"Uncle Lao Wai, of course they belong to you. Without you, we and the deer herd would probably all have died at the hands of the wolves!"
Without last night's white whirlwind, even a larger pack of wolves would be no match for them.
Besides the wolf hammer, the hunters always carried a dozen or twenty bullets.
However, they did fall into the wolf pack's trap last night when they were hunting them.
Without Chen Tuo and Wu Laowai breaking the deadlock, even if the hunters managed to escape, most of them would have been trapped in the mountains forever.
After Bai Long finalized the wolf's ownership, Su Dao, who was still smiling, spoke up:
"Old Wai, wolf pelts don't fetch a good price down the mountain, but you can get two water lilies across the river. Are you in for the deal?"
While Mongolian wolves could be sold for guns after crossing the river, they were far less desirable than Siberian wolves, whose pelts were larger and provided better insulation.
Compared to reindeer hide, wolf hide is not only lighter, but also denser and more wind-resistant.
Compared to the downy fur of reindeer hides, wolf pelts, with their double-layered fur, are more suitable for snowy weather.
"If this wolf pelt is made into wolf pelt coats in various settlements, it can be traded for even more..."
If it weren't for Old Smoker and White Hair Wind from last night, Old Wu would have agreed.
But after experiencing a brush with death, he also knew that he was no longer old enough...
"Uncle Su, are you only exchanging guns?"
Wu Laowai hesitated, but Chen Tuo accepted Su Dao's invitation, though he wanted to learn more about their business scope.
If they only deal in arms, who would dare to cooperate with them?
"Guns are just one thing. To put it another way, what the Russian merchants used to do—the fur trade, and what we do now—is what we're doing now!"
When talking about the business he was currently doing, Su Dao's face showed both pride and worry.
It was only because Chen Tuo asked the right question that there wasn't much that could be brought back from the other side of the river.
They wanted to give them cars and motorcycles, but they couldn't sell them once they got them back!
"Uncle Wu, let's talk about this again when we have a drink later?"
Seeing that Wu Laowai did not respond for a long time, Chen Tuo gave him a way out.
At the same time, adjustments were made to the distribution of prey.
"Uncle Wu, we can't let Bailong, Uncle Sudao, and Uncle Morigen work for nothing, can we? How about we split it 50/50?"
Chen Tuo changed his mind at the last minute, and Wu Laowai did not argue, but just took a deep look at Su Dao, who was all smiles.
This old fellow isn't as honest as the other mountain folk.
When crossing the river to go to the market, although both sides may turn a blind eye, who can say for sure what can be exchanged and what cannot?
"Alright! You were the one who started this, so you're the boss, and I'll listen to you!"
Wu Laowai nodded, and the atmosphere among them became even better.
There are dozens of hunters present, so they don't need to do the skinning and processing of the wolf meat.
While watching the excitement, Chen Tuo chatted with Su Dao and Bai Long.
At this point, Su Dao was no longer talking about buying and selling, but about the lives of the hunters in the mountains.
Judging from how clean the hunters were when they cleaned the wolves, the hunters in the mountains were probably not living a very good life.
A wolf, from beginning to end, not only does it not go into the water, but even the filth it leaves after cleaning up will be collected by someone.
If life on the mountain is comfortable, who will go back to clean up these things?
After counting, Chen Tuo and Wu Laowai had gathered thirty wolves, which they would hunt individually.
The sixty-two animals on the snowfield are prey that needs to be shared equally between the two sides.
Ninety-two wolves, including the four that escaped, the newly formed wolf pack could be described as almost completely wiped out.
But Wu Laowai knew that with the wolf king and three alpha wolves gone, it might not be long before they were gone.
In the gullies and ponds of Beishan, there are still packs of wolves numbering over a hundred.
The wolf skins were sold to Chen Tuo and Wu Laowai for sixty-one yuan each.
Even though the wolf meat couldn't be sold for a good price, Wu Laowai was generous and divided it in half, forty-six heads each.
The two men certainly wouldn't drag the wolf meat down the mountain, but the Dobukur settlement would have to make some compensation.
The wolf pack was almost completely wiped out, the reindeer herd suffered no losses, and the settlement even harvested several thousand kilograms of wolf meat.
The hunters, leading their horses back to the mountains, were all beaming with joy.
Wu Laowai, looking worried, pulled Chen Tuo aside and began to whisper to him along the sled track.
"Kid, the wolf king has run away. It'll probably only take a few days to rebuild the pack. The Russians have too many wild animals; regrouping won't be difficult!"
When Wu Laowai said this, he was thinking about whether he should remind Bai Long and the others.
After all, the wolf king's cunning and treachery last night surprised everyone on several occasions.
Could it be that next time, the two of them will be able to save these hunters again...?