For two hours, Lu Lu watched with his own eyes as Unakan held a sharpening knife between his fingers and evenly separated a piece of roe deer skin amidst the subtle sound of clicking. The resulting leather was slightly smaller than an animal skin book.
Thinner.
He could imagine that when it was polished with fine sandpaper, it would probably be less than two millimeters.
The next step is to polish it, which is even more of a delicate job.
The peeling lasted for two hours, which took a lot of energy from Unakan. Moreover, it was getting late and the light was dim, making it no longer suitable for operation.
Lu Lu went home after chatting with the family for a while.
The next day, after Lu Lu finished his work in Caodianzi in the morning, he rode Zhui Feng to the district, went to the state-owned store, and selected four colors of high-quality ink pads.
The ingredients in the ink pad are not easy to fade, so it is suitable for imitating maps in animal skin books and distinguishing them by color.
In the afternoon, he went to Zhao Yongke's house again and brought back the finely polished roe deer skin.
Then carefully cut them out one by one according to the size of the animal skin book.
In the next few days, one of the things Lu Lu did was to remove the map lines and marks from the animal skin book, remove the animal skin pages, overlap them with the new roe deer skin, and use a fine needle to keep following the pattern.
Poke and poke, then re-outline the new roe deer skin and mark them with colors to distinguish them.
The locations of mountains, paths, rivers and old signs are all separated by different colors.
Just because of this matter, Chen Xiuyu put down her work and devoted herself to this matter.
After looking at the brighter and clearer map and comparing it with the animal skin book, the couple was extremely excited.
It took three days to complete the copying of the animal skin book.
Feeling that there was no need to wax it to make it smooth, Lu Lu did not go to Zhao Yongke again, but bound the leathers with ribs to form a new animal skin book.
The preparations for the response were made, and Lu Lu let out a long sigh of relief.
Over the next few days, the weather continued to clear up, and the previously thick snow deposits melted a lot. Seeing that it was no longer a problem to enter the mountain, Lu Lu went to find Zhang Shaofeng, Chen Xiuqing and Zhao Yongke that day, and made an appointment to go into the mountain together tomorrow.
With another man added, Lu Lu decided to go further this time and planned to fight along the Shitou River on the other side of the South Fork.
It is easy to see the traces left by animals on the snow in the river, which can be used to track prey.
Moreover, the snow falls in the high mountains and the frost falls in the depressions. The snow is thicker at high places, but there is less snow in the river valleys. It is precisely because of this that these places become easier places to find food.
With hunting gear such as wooden clamps, mink nets, flexible steel sleeves and iron clamps, and under the influence of bait, he believed that there would be good harvests.
These traps are well laid out, and your energy is used to find blind bears, sables, sika deer, red deer, foxes, badgers, deer, etc., so as to maximize the benefits.
The next morning, the four of them gathered at Lu Lu's Caodianzi.
This time, several people drove sledges and were equipped with a lot of hunting gear, wine, mattresses and food. After Lu Lu asked each of them to drink a bowl of bear oil, they drove all the way towards Nancha District.
The distance is quite long. It took a day just to reach Wutong Village at the intersection of Shitou River and Nancha River in Nancha District.
They directly found a family in Wutong Village and gave them some money for accommodation and fodder. The four of them spent the night in the village and set off early the next morning, driving the sledge and going deep along the Stone River.
In the surrounding area, the terrain is quite complex and there are many rivers, such as the Da Xilin River, Xiao Xilin River, Wuma River, etc. There are several rivers with names.
Such a complex environment is destined to be home to many wild animals.
It's a great place for hunting.
What really worries Lu Lu is that there are places like Daxiong Xiazigou and Damogou that he has already made up his mind about.
Moose, also known as moose, are the largest cervids and can also obtain red goods such as deer penis and deer tendons.
A few people followed the river for more than ten kilometers. The farther they went, the more complex the terrain became.
They chose a slightly flat place among the mountains by the river to settle down. Zhang Shaofeng and Chen Xiuqing, who had followed Lu Lu into the mountains several times, consciously began to prepare the necessary equipment around them while Lu Lu and Zhao Yongke were playing with the tents.
Firewood and wooden piles for night heating.
After a busy morning, I had a simple lunch, dug an ice hole directly on the river, fished out some fish with a dip net, and prepared them as bait materials for setting traps.
On this trip, several people were well prepared and planned to take advantage of the opportunity when the river was frozen and walking was unimpeded to spend seven or eight days searching the surroundings of several rivers near this mountainous area.
Of course, the four people also have their own division of labor.
Chen Xiuqing and Zhang Shaofeng have superb skiing skills. They are mainly responsible for setting up mink traps on the gentle slopes halfway up the mountain.
After following Lu Lu for so many days, the two of them have become very good at setting traps.
Lu Lu and Zhao Yongke, on the other hand, went along the river to check for traces on the ice surface of the river and the snow on both sides of the bank. They also checked in places where there were many rocks or when they saw larger trees.
Is there any Xiongcangzi?
When food is in short supply, animals without the habit of hibernating are searching for increasingly difficult food. Throughout the winter, it can be said that there is no better way than using bait to trap prey.
There is less snow in the valleys and valleys, which makes them a good place for many animals to find food.
After Chen Xiuqing and Zhang Shaofeng went up the mountain to set up a trap, Lu Lu and Zhao Yongke walked carefully along the ice. Within ten minutes, Yuan Bao was discovered.
Following Yuan Bao's guidance, Lu Lu and Zhao Yongke climbed up the hillside and saw the jumping cat hole on the hillside before walking far.
There was a cooing sound in the cave.
This is the sound a jumping cat makes when it is attacked.
There are many animals that prey on jumping cats, but not many can get inside.
Lu Lu glanced around and soon found familiar footprints on the snow - sable.
"It's a sable!" Lu Lu whispered to Zhao Yongke.
Sables will enter the jumping cat cave to hunt the jumping cats. Both of them have seen this happen.
Sables' flexible and slender waists and quick reactions allow them to move quite nimbly. Hunting in holes is a common method for them.
It is precisely because of this that in some places where rabbits and rats are prevalent, minks can be domesticated and used to enter caves for hunting.
Zhao Yongke glanced at the sable footprints on the ground, nodded slightly, carefully looked around, and then pointed towards the snow.
There was another entrance to the Leaping Cat Cave. He immediately rolled a snowball and blocked the entrance. Then he continued to search nearby and soon found the third entrance.
They say a cunning rabbit has three burrows, and this is absolutely true.
Jumping cats build nests underground, with criss-crossing tunnels and often multiple exits to facilitate escape.
While Zhao Yongke was looking for other exits, Lu Lu took out a mink net and installed it at the entrance of the cave he discovered first.
After making sure there was no other exit, Zhao Yongke nodded at Lu Lu, then stamped his feet back and forth on the ground, vibrating the ground to drive the sable out.
Sure enough, when Zhao Yongke hid on the ground, the faint cooing sound coming from the cave suddenly stopped. Apparently, the sable was alarmed and gave up on the jumping cat.
As Zhao Yongke drove away, it didn't take long for a nimble figure to emerge from the hole and crash into the mink trap set by Lu Lu.
Lu Lu immediately rushed forward and held Yuan Bao down before he could speak.
The little thing was restless after entering the mink trap. It scratched and scratched with its sharp little claws. It even twisted its body, turned around and bit Lu Lu's hand.
But since Lu Lu dared to grab it with his hands, he was naturally not afraid of being bitten.
The roe deer leather gloves worn on the hands not only protect against cold, but also prevent bites from small animals.
What's more, Lu Lu didn't give it such a chance. He grabbed the sable's neck and twisted it so hard that the sable's short legs were left trembling for a while.
After walking along the river valley for less than ten minutes, I got a sable, which was a good start.
Yuanbao and a few dog puppies, who had not bitten the sable, were still sniffing at the jumping cat's cave and digging at the soil quickly.
But the soil was also frozen, and Yuanbao and the others couldn't dig it out at all. The jumping cats in this cave had no choice but to give up.
However, since it had been bitten by a sable and, depending on the situation, it had been tossing around in the cave for a long time, the jumping cat would most likely die inside.
After all, there is a large piece of meat in the hole. This is a ready-made bait. Lu Lu doesn't mind setting up a small iron trap at the entrance of the hole. No matter it is a sable, a yellow leather, or a red fox, as long as it steps on it,
Don't even think about leaving.
While Lu Lu was setting up the iron clamp, Zhao Yongke took the sable over.
He took the hunting knife, peeled off the sable skin barrel with extremely skillful movements, and handed the meat to Lu Lu.
Yuanbao and the others didn't eat what Lu Lu fed him. They only accepted Chen Xiuyu after a lot of training. As for the others, they only glanced at the meat thrown at them, even if they were sweating.
Even Heizui has developed this rare habit after hanging out with Yuanbao for a while and being slapped by Yuanbao several times. Now, even when the original owner, Zhao Yongke, hands him food, he just watches eagerly.
At most, a few grunts, and the betrayal is completely confirmed.
Knowing the habits of these dogs and feeding them with rewards can only be done by Lu Lu.
Lu Lu took the sable meat, took a hunting knife, cut it into six pieces, fed them piece by piece, starting with the ingot, and then led him to continue searching along the river.
"Guess what I found again?"
Not long after, Lu Lu saw fresh traces of animals on the snow on the river bank.
Zhao Yongke, who was on the other side, came over, looked at the snow rolling on the river bank, the sliding marks and the running little paw prints, and said with a smile: "You are so lucky, you are a water dog!"
Lu Lu laughed: "We can't let it go!"
The two immediately followed a series of footprints in the snow.
At this time, on the forest road that branched off to Lulu Caodianzi, Jiang Mingfeng was walking towards Caodianzi carrying two kilograms of stove fruits and two cans.
Soon, she came out of the forest and looked at the wooden roof on the meadow covered with thick snow and the green smoke curling up from the chimney. A trace of gloom flashed in her eyes: "If my father hadn't taught you how to lift the mallet, how could you have done it?"
To build such a beautiful big house in such a short time?”
Then, she gathered her mood, crossed the small bridge over the river, came to the gate of the fence, and shouted inside: "Sister Xiuyu, sister Xiuyu..."