Early the next morning, the heavy snow that had been raging all night did not stop, but the howling cold wind finally died down as Ji Ma expected. In the quiet coniferous forest, there is only the slight sound of snowflakes rustling down.
While Wei Ran was on guard duty in the second half of the night to catch up on his sleep, Jima had already cooked a large pot of oatmeal for breakfast, and even had time to make one with the remaining firewood from last night. A small sledge large enough to hold two people's backpacks.
After breakfast, the two of them, whose bodies had warmed up, extinguished the bonfire that had been burning all night, dismantled the tent, fixed everything except weapons to the sledge, and placed their boots on the sledge. Continue towards your destination in the snow.
"This heavy snowfall has come at the right time."
Ji Ma, who was responsible for exploring the path, pointed behind him, "In only half an hour at most, our footprints will be covered with snow. At the same time, as long as we see footprints on the snow, it proves that the prey is not far away from us."
"As long as we don't get lost," the guard responsible for pulling the sledge tightened his shoulders. "Ji Ma, what is the situation at our destination?"
"It's an abandoned gold mine," Jima said in a shocking voice.
"Gold mine?!" Wei Ran's voice rose even higher.
Jima nodded, "I have been there several times with Mr. Nicholas. According to him, gold mines were discovered there before World War II ended."
< p>"If it's a gold mine, you should be able to drive there, right?"Faced with Wei Ran's question, Ji Ma raised his finger and pointed in the direction and explained, "There is indeed an external road. But that road only connects the Kosiyo River. In other words, that road can only be used when the Kosiyo River is completely frozen and cars can run."
"What about boating?" Wei. Ran asked reluctantly.
“It is indeed possible to go there by boat, but if you want to drive to the Kosiyou River, you have to go around at least more than 100 kilometers, and there are many places along the way because the ground has not been completely frozen, so it is more troublesome to get there by car.”
Ji Ma turned around and smiled, "In short, just go honestly. This is the fastest way at the moment."
"The correctional camps in the Soviet era really knew how to choose. "Place" Wei Ran sighed, resigned himself to pulling in the rope, pulled the sledge and followed Jima, and continued to move towards the destination honestly.
In the heavy snow, the two of them pulled the sledge forward hard through the dense coniferous forest and the heavy snow. Occasionally they passed through relatively low-lying places. If they were not wearing snowshoes, the snow on the surface would even be enough. Waist deep.
The bad road conditions not only seriously slowed down the two people's traveling speed, but also caused big trouble to the small animals in the forest. Even the reindeer that were busy migrating south could only move in the soft They were advancing slowly through the snow, stopping from time to time to rest for a while, or to change companions in front of them to help the deer clear the snow passage.
"Bang!"
The crisp sound of gunfireAfter the sound, white smoke slowly overflowed from the barrel of the gun. Before Wei Ran could put away the gun mounted on the branch of the tree, Ji Ma, holding the binoculars, said happily, "The marksmanship is good, I hit a male reindeer." ."
"You taught me well." Wei Ran returned the sniper rifle in his hand to Ji Ma, and at the same time took the telescope from the opponent's hand.
Gently pushing the charging handle to pull out the empty cartridge case and put a new bullet on it, Ji Ma turned off the safety and put the gun on his back, "Let's go, that reindeer can feed us for several days, wait." Let's find a place to camp, and I'll teach you how to cut up the prey."
"Camp up so early?" Wei Ran rolled up his sleeves and looked at his watch, "It's not even two o'clock yet, right? Is it too early?”
“Don’t be too hasty, even if it’s a little slower today, we’ll be there at noon tomorrow at the latest”
Ji Ma motioned to Wei Ran to take off his scarf. , "And the most important thing is that you are already sweating from walking. It will be dangerous if you don't dry your clothes as soon as possible."
"What are you talking about?" Wei Ran put the scarf on his shoulders On the way, he pulled the sledge towards the reindeer that was shot by himself a hundred meters away.
The reindeer's neck had been penetrated by a bullet, and the blood spurting from the broken wound dyed the surrounding snow red, indirectly completing the bloodletting work.
Ji Ma took out a box of tape measures from his bag and measured the reindeer's head, then counted it carefully again, and then said with satisfaction, "It's not bad, the size of the antlers is It is over one and a half meters wide and has more than 30 forks. Just this deer head can be sold for a lot of money as a specimen."
"So is this why you don't let me head it? "
"Of course"
Ji Ma nodded matter-of-factly, "One of the most valuable parts of the reindeer is the deer head specimen, especially the antlers of this wild reindeer. The traces of fighting are unmatched by those of farmed reindeer."
As he spoke, he used a saw and an ax to chop off the entire deer head and half of its neck, and poked the wound downward on the snow. Grabbing a handful of snow and rubbing the blood off his gloves, Ji Ma pulled out a knife and handed it to Wei Ran, "Now it's your job. Peel off the deerskin completely."
"What should I do?" Wei Ran asked after taking the knife. Although he and the professor had shot deer before, the professor had done all the skinning and disemboweling work himself. He had never done it himself.
"Cut along the midline of the chest, with the blade pointing upward when it is close to the belly, otherwise once the abdominal intestine is cut open, the piece of meat will be useless."
In Jima Under patient guidance, Wei Ran carefully cut open the deer skin, then turned the body over, dumping the entire set of still steaming internal organs onto the snow.
Ji Ma carefully inspected the reindeer's liver and saw that there were no visible lesions on it. Then he cut off the heart and threw it aside. His instructor Wei Ran continued to complete the work of peeling off the skin.
I have been busy for nearly a yearWithin an hour, a complete deer hide was stripped off and spread on the snow. Following Ji Ma's example, they rubbed the deer skin completely with snow to kill the fleas hiding in it. The two of them worked together to lift the deer meat to the sledge and covered it with deer skin. Then they took the deer head and left the "murder scene." ".
Continuing to walk at least one kilometer upwind, Ji Ma chose a sufficiently open and flat location to set up the tent again. When the bonfire was lit, two tender deer legs were cut off and propped aside, slowly dripping with sizzling grease under the licks of the flames.
With all this busy work, the sky outside the tent gradually darkened. From time to time, Wei Ran used a knife to make a few cuts on the deer's legs, while Jima had already diligently propped up the deer's skin with a wooden stick and was patiently scraping away the fat on it.
"How much money can such a deer make you?" Wei Ran asked curiously.
“If a deer head like this is treated well, it can be made into a specimen and sold to my client for at least seven to eight thousand rubles. Deerskin is relatively not valuable, let alone venison. Basically, I can’t take it back, it’s all digested on the spot.”
Jima stopped what he was doing here, raised his head and smiled at Wei Ran, “In addition, I brought people here. From other hunting profits, it is basically not too difficult to earn sixty or seventy thousand rubles a month."
Wei Ran nodded secretly after hearing this. This income is not low in Russia, but Ji Ma pays. The hard work and risks taken are indeed not low.
While the two were chatting, the deer skin that had been processed first was thrown outside the tent. As for the deer head that would be made into a specimen, we could only wait until we got back.
After finishing their work, the two of them ate roasted venison and drank cold vodka to fill their stomachs. By the way, they also put their sweat-stained clothes on logs and hung them on the edge of the bonfire. .
Another peaceful night passed, and when the sky lit up again, the heavy snow outside the tent finally stopped, and even the temperatureless sun symbolically showed its head.
After packing up all their belongings, the two pulled the sledge and set off again, finally arriving at the abandoned gold mine deep in the forest at around one o'clock in the afternoon.
In a forest clearing the size of four football fields, a large four-story building is particularly conspicuous. Not far from it, there is an artificial waterway that has long been frozen. It was like a moat that stretched between Wei Ran and the building. In other locations, there are still some abandoned mineral processing equipment covered with thick snow.
But in addition, the smoke rising from a room on the second floor of the building also indicated that they were not the only guests visiting here.
"What should I do?" Wei Ran, who was lying behind a pine tree, turned to Jima and asked.
"Maybe it's another hunter"
Ji Ma said vaguely, "This season happens to be when reindeer migrate south, and many hunters come to the forest to hunt during this season. . But..."
Seeing the other party's hesitant look, Wei Ran couldn't help but tense up, "What?"
"Maybe he's a gold digger who wants to make a fortune"
Ji Ma Pointing in the direction not far away, "That direction is the entrance to the mine. In the summer, people often go there to try their luck."
"Can you find it?"
" It's difficult." Ji Ma shook his head, "Otherwise this place wouldn't be abandoned."
Wei Ran raised his telescope and looked at the smoking room again, "Then what should we do now?" /p>
"Wait a minute"
Jima looked at his watch, "When it gets dark, if no one comes out of that mine, we'll go say hello. If the other party is really a gold digger, we can only wait for them to leave."
Wei Ran immediately guessed Ji Ma's worries, "You suspect that Mr. Nicholas asked us to take it from the safe. Is it gold?"
"If it is really gold, it will be troublesome."
Jima said worriedly, "Anyone who is willing to come here to dig for gold at this time is not smart. Being sick means being so poor that there is no other way to survive. To them, we are almost the same as the gold in the mine. The best outcome is probably to be put under house arrest and forced to go gold mining. So Victor, if the worst happens, Don't tell us our original purpose, otherwise, no matter whether there is gold in the safe or not, we may not be able to survive."
"I understand"
Wei Ran is in trouble. He swallowed. Although this danger was far less than what he experienced in Stalingrad and Don Position 19, the threats posed by the two were exactly the same.
If nothing else, although the previous two experiences of returning to World War II were always life-threatening, combined with the studio's surveillance footage and his own physical condition after returning, Wei Ran had already vaguely guessed that his own The main body may not really go back.
In other words, even if you really died on the battlefield of World War II, you might still have a slim chance of surviving in your original world. But if he was shot dead by a possible gold digger in that building, he would really be on the hook.
"Put this on"
Ji Ma slowly took out a snow-white blouse from his bag and handed it to Wei Ran, and then took out a tent of the same color. Come out and spread it on the snow.
In addition, the animal skin that was still supported by a wooden frame was given to Wei Ran. The two people wearing smocks lay on the tent cloth, each holding a telescope and a sniper rifle and staring quietly into the distance. The building and the direction of the mine entrance.
While the two of them were waiting quietly, the temperatureless sun above their heads began to set little by little. When it began to darken, two reindeer pulled a sledge and ran out of the coniferous forest opposite to stop. At the doorstep of that building.
"It looks like he is a hunter"
Ji Ma, who put the gun on his backpack, breathed a sigh of relief, "There are wolves and reindeer on his sledge.The other party might be a hunting team. "
"Then do we want to go there? "Wei Ran, who was also holding a telescope, asked.
"Wait a little longer"
Ji Ma pointed the gun in the direction of the mine again, "When it gets completely dark, If there is still no one entering or leaving the mine, we can go over and make contact with them. ”
Wei Ran didn’t say anything after hearing this. He just secretly took out a pistol that was in a cowhide book, filled it with bullets, and put it back without even turning off the safety.
For him, although the two cruel wars he experienced before did not teach him much, at least he no longer had any hesitation about killing people - whether with a gun or with a gun. Knife.
Time passed by, and about two hours later, Jima handed the sniper rifle in his hand to Wei Ran, and then took off the bolt-action shotgun from the latter's backpack. , "Victor, I will make contact with the other party. If everything is safe, I will shake the flashlight at you. If it is dangerous, I will find a way to shoot. At that time, you will have to find a way back to Intali." "
"How about we camp somewhere else? "
Wei Ran grabbed Ji Ma who was about to get up, "Anyway, we have plenty of time, we can wait until the other party leaves." "
"In the next month, this forest will only become more and more lively. Jima showed his big yellow teeth that were exposed by the smoke, "And it's Principal Nicholas's birthday in half a month. I want to go back to attend his 90th birthday." ”
Before Wei Ran could say anything else, he had already picked up the gun, carried the half-deflated tent on his back, and walked a hundred meters away. Then, holding a bright flashlight, he walked through the dense forest. I walked straight towards the snow-covered Soviet-era building.