Chapter 7 Platform (VII)
The Cao Gang is a gang that makes a living from the canal. It is not necessarily a gang, at least Huo Chong does not think so. Because in the Qianlong era, the Cao Gang was given a so-called organization.
It was the reign of Emperor Kangxi, several decades before the reign of Emperor Qianlong. It was completely unrelated. However, those who dared to travel along the Grand Canal became alert when Huo Chong asked them directly if they were going to Zhangdian. They all stopped and the leader asked, "Is this brother from Zhangdian?"
"What can I say?" Huo Chong said helplessly. If he guessed correctly, these Cao Gang brothers were probably related to the death of the eldest brother.
Huo Chong certainly didn't want his intuition to be wrong. However, after experiencing so many bad things, Huo Chong became more and more convinced of Murphy's Law, which said that as long as things could get worse, it would definitely happen.
However, Huo Chong thought about it and realized that he had helped these people. If he didn't talk about it now, who knows what would happen when they arrived at Zhangdian. After making a decision, Huo Chong said, "Friends of Cao Gang, I just wanted to save your people. If he is not treated in time, I am worried that this friend will not be able to hold on for long."
The Cao Gang members traveled along the canal all the time. When they heard Huo Chong's accent suddenly change to Shandong dialect, they asked in surprise and anger, "Are you a local?"
"Yeah." Huo Chong had to admit it.
"You...are you Li Xiunian's fellow apprentice?" The man in the lead had exceptionally clear thoughts.
"Yes. Li Xiunian is my senior brother." Having said that, Huo Chong readily admitted it.
"Deal with this little bastard!" the leader of the Cao Gang immediately ordered.
"Brother Liu, run!" Huo Chong shouted and pushed Hunter Liu who didn't understand what was going on. Hunter Liu was very skilled, but he didn't understand what the two sides were saying at first. When he saw the Cao Gang members rushing towards him with weapons, he turned around and ran. He had been hunting in the mountains for many years, and once he took a step, although his steps didn't seem big, he ran faster than Huo Chong who had no experience walking in the mountains.
The hunter ran in front, and Huo Chong followed behind. Behind them, the gang members of the Cao Gang chased after them. After running for a while, the moon gradually came out, casting an even darker hue on the dark mountains.
After running for a while, they saw a valley. Suddenly, a strange neighing sound was heard, and Hunter Liu stopped immediately. Huo Chong also stopped, and heard continuous neighing sounds. The sound was not loud, and it was completely different from the roars of tigers, leopards, jackals and wolves on TV. After listening for a while, Huo Chong heard a similar sound. Just when he was about to ask a question, he saw Hunter Liu slowly moving his feet, his eyes fixed on the dark valley, and whispered: "Brother Huo, we have run into the wild boar's nest."
"What should I do next?" Huo Chong tightly grasped the hunting fork, feeling even more uneasy. The bleak moonlight shone on the ground, and the visible areas were pale. The invisible areas were dark. From the sound, the wild boar became more and more impatient after being startled...
"Where are you going!" The Cao Gang members roared from behind. Footsteps were heard, and the Cao Gang members had already caught up.
Huo Chong quickly shouted in Jiangzhe dialect: "Don't come over, there are wild boars!"
This reminder was obviously useless. The Cao Gang members shouted angrily, "You little bastard, how dare you lie to us!" and continued to rush over.
There was a drum-like sound from the ground, followed by a not-too-scary roar, and a wild boar rushed out from the darkness of the valley, heading straight for the noisy Cao Gang members.
"There's a wild boar!" The Cao Gang members exclaimed. Then they saw the leader of the three people who caught up was knocked down by the wild boar.
The wild boar rushed out for a while, slowed down and stopped, then turned around and rushed back with all four hooves. The people from the Cao Gang didn't dare to face it and quickly hid to the side. There were two screams in succession, and the two uninjured people lost their balance and slid down the hillside.
Before Huo Chong could gloat for three seconds, the wild boar rushed towards him. Huo Chong stared at the wild boar, and when the wild boar rushed towards him, he jumped up, and the tines of the hunting fork in his hand slipped on the wild boar's back and did not pierce it. The wild boar let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered, and Huo Chong felt the wind under his feet. The wild boar rushed past Huo Chong.
Just then, the sound of hooves was heard, and the wild boar turned around and rushed over again. Huo Chong found that he couldn't really see the wild boar's movements clearly, so he followed the instructions of his coach and gave up staring at the wild boar. Instead, he stared at the dark shadow cast by the wild boar's body in the moonlight.
He saw the shadow rushing towards him. When it got close, Huo Chong jumped up again. He held the hunting fork tightly with both hands and stabbed it downward with all his strength. This time, the hunting fork penetrated the wild boar's body fiercely. Then a huge force came from the handle, and Huo Chong was thrown heavily to the solid ground.
The wild boar kept screaming. Huo Chong was unable to breathe and couldn't even get up.
Am I going to lose my life to a beast? Huo Chong was filled with anger in despair. As the roaring sound got closer, he rolled on the ground with all his strength. A wind mixed with the smell of fishy smell blew past him, the wild boar let out a sharp roar, and then there was the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.
There were loud cries of various sizes and rumbling hooves in the valley. Huo Chong felt that he was doomed. With so many wild boars rushing up, there was no place to hide. The hooves became more frequent and farther away, heading towards the gap in the valley.
When the sound disappeared, Huo Chong only felt the pain slightly relieved. At this moment, a hand grabbed his shoulder. It turned out to be Liu the Hunter. He gasped and said, "My God, Brother Huo, you are so lucky!"
"The wild boars...all ran away." Huo Chong finally overcame the pain and stood up with the help of Liu the Hunter. The impact site was burning, but it was not the previous situation where he had difficulty breathing and could not move.
"Help!" A cry for help came from nearby with a Jiangsu and Zhejiang accent.
Hunter Liu asked in a low voice: "What should we do?"
Huo Chong smiled bitterly and said, "Save people."
If possible, Huo Chong actually wanted to leave these guys in the mountains to fend for themselves. However, the Cao Gang was said to have tens of thousands of people, and the loss of these few people was nothing to the Cao Gang, but the Cao Gang would not let it go. Although up to now, Huo Chong still didn't understand why Master Liu Shu and the Cao Gang had a conflict. How could the eldest brother Li Xiunian die in the hands of the Cao Gang.
If this conflict cannot be resolved, Huo Chong has no choice but to escape.
Huo Chong first rescued the two people who had slid down the slope. They were both badly injured and could not move. At this time, Liu the hunter had already started a fire. Under the light of the fire, Huo Chong finally helped the two people up the slope. The one who was injured by the wild boar was injured in the leg. The blood hole was gushing out blood, and Huo Chong could only tie a tourniquet on this guy first. If he continued to bleed like this, his life would be in danger.
After all this trouble, the Cao Gang members stopped shouting for war and killing. But they didn't say anything to Huo Chong. Hunter Liu went to look for a while, and soon came back with a wild boar.
Hunter Liu was really strong. He was holding a wild boar weighing over 100 kilograms without even breathing hard. Returning to the silent fire, Hunter Liu kicked the wild boar and said, "Brother Huo, you almost stabbed the wild boar through with your fork. Even if you put the wild boar in front of me and asked me to stab it, I couldn't stab it that deep."
After saying that, Hunter Liu looked down at the Cao Gang. The Cao Gang looked at the hunting fork deeply , their faces changed, and they turned their heads away without saying a word. Except for the sound of dead branches and leaves burning, the fireside fell into silence again.
