Chapter 1219: Fire
Wei Xiaolin stood rooted to the ground and asked, “Dad, what happened?”
Wei Shengli smiled bitterly and said, “This fellow’s reaction time is slow. He came up to you before realizing that you’re alive… You’re quite scary… So he ran off in shock.”
Wei Xiaolin said speechlessly, “This fellow… He’s indeed a llama, a husky, the invincible, adorable fool. It’s no wonder people used to talk about hunting roe deer. With his silly head coming all the way to me, just one blow and he’ll be a plate of dumplings. Hunters in the past sure had it easy…”
Wei Shengli shook his head and said, “Although roe deers are silly and cute, once he puts you on the danger list, he will run very far away. Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to catch up.”
Wei Xiaolin said, “But I heard that roe deers will stick their head into the snow once they are chased, only to be captured.”
When Wei Shengli heard this, he said with a serious expression, “That’s not because roe deer are silly, it’s just that humans are too savage. Roe deer run very quickly, but hunters are very cunning. They don’t chase after them but follow their tracks. They don’t chase after it in one go, but they keep tailing it. All gra.s.s-eating animals need a large amount of food to ensure their stamina. Roe deer that are chased can’t eat, so they quickly run out of stamina. Hunters also bring enough dried rations. Once a deer can’t run anymore, they collapse out of exhaustion. That’s when the hunters capture them.”
When Wei Xiaolin heard this, she fell silent. “These guys are so silly and adorable. If they die from stupidity, that’s fine. But how can those people scheme against such creatures?”
Wei Shengli said, “That’s right… That’s why I’m staying on the mountain. One is to protect this forest, and the other is to protect them. With me around, I won’t allow those dirty hunters to enter the mountain!”
Wei Xiaolin looked at Wei Shengli thoughtfully. This time, she didn’t immediately exhort Wei Shengli to leave the mountain, but was thinking about something…
On the way, Wei Xiaolin asked Wei Shengli, “Dad, I heard that you guys can find roe deer when going up the mountain in the past? Is that true?”
Wei Shengli said, “Northeast China’s forests have unpredictable weather. Blizzards can happen suddenly. Under the harsh weather of the strong winds, this is a devastating disaster to the roe deer. When the snow is too thick, they can’t dig through the snow to eat the gra.s.s, they will either freeze to death or be paralyzed on the ground. When that happens, we would often pick up roe deer on our rounds. Also, when we are out, we would find a few roe deer at home when we return. You may not know, but seeing how silly they are, you can’t bring yourself to eat them. All you can do is let them nest inside and occupy your bed.”
Wei Xiaolin thought of that and pursed her lips as she smiled. She suddenly realized that the forest was not that boring after all. The desolate mountain did not seem desolate.
As the two of them walked, Wei Shengli suddenly frowned as he looked into the distance. He tilted his head and listened to something. Then, he said, “Oh no, someone is setting a fire on the mountain! Let’s go and take a look!”
“Dad, don’t be anxious. It’s a heavy snow day. It’s fine,” shouted Wei Xiaolin.
Wei Shengli didn’t even turn around and ran forward, shouting, “You don’t understand. In such weather, snow isn’t water. The weather is dry. A spark can result in a huge fire!”
Meanwhile, on the mountain opposite.
After a family knelt down and kowtowed to their ancestors, the man buried a still burning fire with snow.
“Alright, it’s such a cold day. Let’s hurry back home.” The man put on thick gloves and beckoned his wife and daughter.
Her daughter turned around to look at the fire pit and said, “Dad, is this okay? My teacher said that being in a mountain is different from outside. One shouldn’t start a fire easily. If one does, one must guard it until it’s completely extinguished. It’s to prevent a fire.”
Liu Guangcai laughed out loud. “This mountain is filled with snow. How can it be so easy to set a fire? I’ll give your teacher a box of matchsticks and let him try lighting the forest?”
Liu Guangcai’s wife, Xia Hui, laughed and said, “Alright, stop fooling around. Let’s go home and prepare a meal. It would be good if we can return home before dark!”
When the daughter, Liu Yu, saw her parents say that, she did not insist any further. She only held up a handful of snow and pressed it against the fire before following her parents down the mountain.
The three of them had only walked for a short while when a roe deer walked out from the forest beside them. The deer looked around in a daze. After confirming that it was safe, it went up to the snow pile and used its nose to touch the snow pile, nudging the snow away…
“Ow…” The deer suddenly felt a sharp pain at its nose. It let out a loud cry and ran off. Its hooves kicked the fit pit below the pile of snow and instantly the sky was filled with flying sparks. It was carried away by the strong wind…
Some of the sparks landed on the snow and extinguished instantly.
Some fell on the withered leaves that had yet to fall off the tree. The withered leaves charred and began to burn… Then, the wind blew, and the flames on the leaves extinguished. However, half of the flaming leaves fell to the ground.
They landed on the fallen leaves that Liu Guancai’s family had swept to the side. Smoke emerged…
In a short while, flames rose up from the ground. Following that, under the strong winds, more burning leaves and sparks flew! The snow melted under the burning heat, and the dry trees by the side were ignited. Fire soared into the sky as plumes of dust rose, and with a whoosh, the flames swept across like a tidal wave!
Wei Shengli had already run very quickly, but as the saying goes, ‘Mount Hope ran a dead horse.’ Even though it was only a mountain’s distance, it took three hours to cover!
As he ran, Wei Shengli took out his walkie-talkie and shouted, “Fire! Mountain No. 7 is on fire! Quickly send help!”
The person on the walkie-talkie shouted, “Old Wei, wait, I’ll be there! Call the police first!”
Wei Xiaolin had originally thought that things would be fine, but when she saw the thick smoke billowing over the other side of the mountain in about an hour with her seeing the flaming glow from behind the mountain, she knew that something big had happened!
When the father and daughter reached the opposite mountain, they were faced with an inferno. The fire was burning and the crackling of the fire and wood could be heard…
Many animals ran out in panic. Some of the rabbits even slammed into Wei Xiaolin’s leg before rolling forward and continuing their escape.
At that moment, Wei Xiaolin did not laugh. Instead, she was really afraid. She shouted, “Dad, the fire is coming for us. Run!”
However, Wei Shengli waved his hand and said, “You head back first! I can’t leave. I have to observe the fire and pa.s.s messages. Otherwise, if the firefighters come, it wouldn’t be easy to do anything!”
Wei Xiaolin shook her head and said, “No, I want to accompany you!”
“Hurry up and go! You can’t keep up with my stamina. Once the fire comes over, you’ll be finished if you can’t run.” Wei Shengli pushed Wei Xiaolin and said, “Run! Quickly run! I have experience, it’s fine!”
Wei Xiaolin refused to leave.
Wei Shengli took out his walkie-talkie and handed it to Wei Xiaolin. “If you don’t leave, go stand a distance away. Take the walkie-talkie. If there’s someone talking through it, send me a message. The signal here is getting weaker.”