novelden Chapter 178 Rescuing People and Returning to the Village
Chapter 178 Rescuing People and Returning to the Village
Seeing that Li Xiangyang and Anna were safe and sound, Wang Ergou finally felt relieved.
"Are you alright?" Wang Ergou quickly came up to them, looking them up and down.
Li Xiangyang shook his head: "It's alright. Luckily, Anna learned how to calm a volatile tiger in India... But how are Yang Fusheng and the others?"
"Zhang Laowu was gored by a wild boar and is badly injured; he's still unconscious," Wang Ergou said gravely. "Yang Fusheng was also slightly injured, but it's not serious."
Li Xiangyang nodded, his gaze falling on Yang Fusheng not far away.
The other person was leaning against a pine tree, pale-faced, and still looked shaken.
"Where did they get their guns?" Li Xiangyang asked in a low voice.
"Don't even mention it," Wang Ergou scoffed. "It's a scrapped gun we got from the commune. Don't grumble about it later; they were hunting wild boars to protect spring planting. There's no need for conflict."
Anna listened thoughtfully, "So they're legally possessing firearms?"
"I suppose so," Li Xiangyang explained. "Hunting in rural areas isn't strictly regulated these days. As long as you go through the proper channels and get the necessary permits, it's fine. It's just that the two of them were a bit too reckless..."
Before he could finish speaking, Yang Fusheng dragged his injured leg over.
“Xiangyang,” he said, his face full of shame, “if it weren’t for you all today, we might be dead here.”
Looking at his pale face, Li Xiangyang sighed, "Let's not talk about that now. We need to get Zhang Laowu back right away. He's badly injured; we can't delay."
“Yes, yes, yes,” Yang Fusheng nodded repeatedly, “those two tigers didn’t hurt you, did they? I really didn’t mean to, I was just too nervous…”
"Alright, stop spouting nonsense," Wang Ergou interjected. "If Anna hadn't had a way, this wouldn't have ended so easily today."
Yang Fusheng then noticed Anna, a look of confusion in his eyes.
"This is an expert from abroad," Li Xiangyang explained briefly, "who is currently studying the Siberian tiger."
"Foreign experts?" Yang Fusheng's eyes lit up, as if he wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Li Xiangyang.
"Alright, getting him back is the priority." Li Xiangyang gestured for Wang Ergou to help. "Do you think Zhang Laowu can make it to the county hospital?"
Wang Ergou shook his head: "There's a wealthy doctor in the village, and he's quite skilled. Let's take him there first. Besides, it's freezing cold, and with Zhang Laowu in this condition, I'm afraid he might not be able to get to the county hospital..."
Li Xiangyang understood what he meant.
During this season, seriously injured people are prone to accidents if they linger in the wild for too long.
Anna suddenly spoke up: "I brought some hemostatic and anti-inflammatory medicine, which should come in handy."
Li Xiangyang glanced at Anna, and felt a warmth in his heart.
This foreign girl was still thinking about helping others even in a time like this.
"Then let's get going," Li Xiangyang said, glancing around. "The weather's bad; we need to hurry."
Several people worked together to lift Zhang Laowu up and made a makeshift stretcher using tree branches and clothes.
Anna took out the medicine she carried with her and gave Zhang Laowu some basic first aid.
The group moved slowly but in an orderly fashion toward the village.
On the way, Li Xiangyang walked beside the stretcher, checking on Zhang Laowu's condition from time to time.
The man was seriously injured, but his breathing was still relatively steady, so he should be able to make it to the village.
"Xiangyang," Yang Fusheng suddenly said in a low voice, "could this matter be..."
“I know what you’re trying to say,” Li Xiangyang interrupted him, “Let’s talk about it when we get back.”
As darkness fell, a cold wind howled.
"We need to speed things up," Wang Ergou said, looking up at the sky. "The weather's strange."
Anna also noticed something was wrong, but she didn't say anything and just silently followed behind the group.
As a foreigner, she deeply felt the dangers of the mountains and forests of Northeast China.
Just then, the black cat in front suddenly pricked up its ears, and all its fur stood on end.
"There's movement," Li Xiangyang immediately became alert. "Ergou, you take them and go first, I'll go check it out."
“I’ll go with you,” Wang Ergou said, about to follow, but Li Xiangyang stopped him.
“You stay,” Li Xiangyang said firmly. “They need you.”
Wang Ergou glanced at Zhang Laowu on the stretcher, then at Yang Fusheng who was walking with difficulty, and finally nodded: "Be careful."
Li Xiangyang turned and disappeared into the woods, with the black cat following closely behind.
A few minutes later, they returned.
“It’s nothing,” Li Xiangyang said. “It was just a few wild wolves, but they left when they saw there were many of us.”
Anna breathed a sigh of relief, but she noticed that Li Xiangyang's expression was somewhat serious.
After walking for about two more hours, the village finally came into view.
In the distance, wisps of smoke could already be seen rising from the chimneys.
"Finally here," Wang Ergou breathed a sigh of relief. "Doctor Qian lives at the edge of the village."
Dr. Qian is a traditional Chinese medicine doctor in the village. He is highly skilled and famous for miles around.
"Wait a minute," Li Xiangyang suddenly said, "we need to discuss this."
He looked at Yang Fusheng: "We can keep quiet about what happened today, but there's a condition."
Yang Fusheng nodded repeatedly: "You name it, any conditions are fine."
"Don't do anything so stupid again," Li Xiangyang said sternly. "Your guns may be legal, but hunting deep in the mountains is no joke. If it weren't for good luck today..."
"I understand, I understand," Yang Fusheng said, a look of lingering fear on his face. "I'll never come again, even if you beat me to death."
“Also,” Li Xiangyang continued, “not a single word can be said about those two tigers. Anna is doing research here; if others find out there are tigers in the mountains, someone will definitely try to take them.”
Yang Fusheng looked at Anna, then at Li Xiangyang, and nodded solemnly: "I promise, I will never tell anyone."
As darkness fell completely, the village lights shone with a warm glow in the twilight.
Just then, Zhang Laowu suddenly let out a groan, and his consciousness seemed to begin to return.
"Quickly," Li Xiangyang said, "get the person to Doctor Qian first. We can talk about the rest after we've settled them in."
The group quickened their pace and headed towards the village.
Upon entering the village, the lights in Dr. Qian's courtyard were quickly turned on.
Upon seeing Zhang Laowu's injuries, the old doctor immediately began to busy himself with treatment.
"You guys go back first," Doctor Qian said while preparing the medicinal herbs. "I'll watch over things here."
Yang Fusheng wanted to stay, but Li Xiangyang stopped him: "Listen to the doctor. You're injured yourself too, go back and rest first. Come see him again tomorrow."
Stepping out of Dr. Qian's courtyard, a cold wind howled.
Li Xiangyang glanced at the sky, then at Anna, and asked, "It's getting late. It seems you won't be able to return to the city today. How about this, I'll take you to the educated youth settlement for the night, okay?"
“Okay. Thank you for protecting me today.” Anna nodded.
“Of course,” Li Xiangyang smiled. “But your whistle was a real help.”
Anna shook her head: "That's just a little trick. I can teach you if you want. The real credit goes to you. If you hadn't discovered and saved Yang Fusheng and the others in time, things would probably have been much worse today."
Li Xiangyang was silent for a moment: "Yes, in the mountains, the most dangerous thing isn't wild animals, but people. Wild animals have their rules, but sometimes people..."
“I understand,” Anna said softly, “which is why I’m even more grateful to you. Without you and Wang Ergou leading the way, I wouldn’t have been able to complete this research at all.”