The Mongolian grassland wolves were experts in the field of snow. They knew the depth of war. The wolves didn't touch the yellow goats in the deeper areas, whether they were exposed on the surface of the snow or trapped in the snow. There weren't even any tentative footprints or paw prints. The yellow goats that were pulled out by the wolves were enough to feed a few large wolves. As for the frozen goats that were not dug out by the wolves, they would be delicious food for the wolves after the snow melted next spring. This vast snow lake was a natural refrigerator for the wolves to store food for the winter. The old man Billig said that there were wolf icehouses all over the Elun Grassland, and this was just the largest one. With these ice cellars, the wolves would often store some meat in them for the next spring. These fat frozen sheep were the life-saving food for the lean wolves that had survived until spring. They were much more oily than the lean live sheep in spring. The old man pointed at the snow nest and laughed,"Grassland wolves know how to live better than humans." Every year at the beginning of winter, when the fattest autumn fat of the cattle and sheep had not yet lost, the herdsmen would kill the sheep and cattle and freeze them as a reserve meat for the winter. They had learned this from the wolves.
When Baler and a few big dogs saw a live yellow goat, their hunting instinct was triggered. They desperately jumped and crawled over, but when they reached the place where the wolves stopped, they did not dare to take another step forward. They anxiously stretched their necks and barked at the yellow goat. A few timid big yellow goats were so scared that they desperately walked into the lake. However, after a few steps, the snow shell collapsed and the yellow goats fell into the snow pit that was as soft as dry sand. The yellow goat struggled with all its might, but it was killed in a short while. The snow nest was still moving, moving down like an hourglass. The deeper it went, the more it formed a funnel-shaped snow hole. There was a yellow goat that used its front hooves to block a hard snow shell the moment the snow shell collapsed. The back half of its body had already sunk into the snow pit, and it was temporarily half-alive.
The snow path was shoveled out, and the convoy went down the ridge. When the convoy reached a place where they could no longer move, they lined up in a row and shoveled the snow on the spot to clear an empty space for unloading.
The men all came up to Billig. The old man said,"Look, the snow in the west is frozen hard. There are not many snow pits over there. There are many sheep dung and hoof prints. Many yellow sheep have run away."
The shepherd Sanjie said," I think wolves can be unpredictable sometimes. If the alpha wolf sends three or five wolves to guard this road, then this group of sheep won't be able to escape."
The old man snorted and said, If you were the alpha, you would starve to death. What would they eat next year if they beat all the yellow sheep in one go? Wolves were not as greedy as humans. Wolves knew how to settle accounts better than humans. They knew how to settle big accounts!
Sanjie smiled and said,"There are too many yellow goats this year. We can't kill them all even if we kill a few thousand." I just want to get some money quickly so that I can buy a new yurt and marry a woman.
The old man glared at him and said,"When your sons and grandchildren marry women, what will happen if there are no yellow goats on the prairie?" You youngsters are becoming more and more like outsiders.
The old man saw that the women had unloaded the car and cleared the snow moat where the wolves had dragged the yellow sheep into a path leading to the deep snow. He stepped onto a pile of snow and looked up at the blue sky, muttering. Chen Zhen guessed that the old man was asking Tengri to allow people to go to the snow to pick up the yellow sheep. The old man closed his eyes again and paused for a while before opening them and saying to everyone, There are plenty of frozen sheep under the snow. Don't be too greedy. After you go in, release all the live sheep first and then come back to dig up the frozen sheep. If Tengri doesn't let these sheep die, we must let them live. The old man lowered his head and said to Chen Zhen and Yang Ke," Every time Genghis Khan surrounded, he would always let go of a small portion. The Mongolians had been fighting for hundreds of years. Why did they have to fight every year? It was just that they had learned from wolves and did not kill them all.
Old man Billig gave each family a rough area to raise sheep and let each family act separately. According to the rules of hunting in the grasslands, people left the areas with more snow pits and easier sheep to the Billig and the educated youth families.
The old man brought Chen Zhen and Yang Ke to his family's ox cart and took down two thick rolls of felt from the cart. Each felt was nearly two meters wide and four meters long. The big felt seemed to have been sprayed with water beforehand and was frozen hard. Chen Zhen and Yang Ke each dragged a large piece of felt and walked along the path. Billig was carrying a long birchwood pole, which was tied with a bent iron hook. Batu and Gasmail had also dragged the big felt into the deep snow, and little Bayar followed behind his parents with a long hook.
When they arrived at the deep snow, the old man asked the two students to lay a large blanket on the snow shell first, and then let Yang Ke, who was strong and heavy, go up first to test the endurance of the big blanket. The wide, flat, thick, and hard felt was like a huge ski. When Yang Ke stepped on it, the snow under the felt only made a slight squeak and showed no signs of collapsing. Yang Ke took the initiative to jump again. The felt surface caved in a little, but it did not collapse. The old man hurriedly stopped him and said," You can't mess around like this inside. If you step on the big blanket, you will become a frozen sheep. That's not a joke. Alright, Chen Zhen's body is lighter than yours. I'll take him in first to pick up two sheep. Next time, you two can get up by yourselves." Yang Ke had no choice but to jump down and help the old man climb up the big felt. Chen Zhen also climbed up. The big felt was more than enough to support two people, and with the addition of two yellow goats, it was not a problem.
After the two of them stood firm, they worked together to pull the second big felt from the side of the first big felt to the front. After the two large pieces of felt were aligned, the two of them strode over to the first large piece of felt and placed the long hook. Then, he repeated the previous action and switched the large felt at the back to the front. The two large blankets took turns to rotate, and the two of them slid toward a live yellow goat in the distance as if they were driving an ice and snow ark made of two felt leaves.
Finally, Chen Zhen personally boarded the unique divine boat of the Mongolian grasslands. This was the snow transportation tool invented by the grassland people to resist the Great White Disaster. In the grasslands of Mongolia, countless herdsmen had ridden this divine boat for thousands of years and escaped from the abyss of extinction. They had saved countless sheep and dogs from the deep snow. It was unknown how many prey and spoils of war that had been trapped in the snow by the wolves, hunters, and cavalrymen had been salvaged from the snow lake by this divine boat. The old man Billig had never kept the secrets of the Mongolians from him, a foreign student. He had even personally taught him how to use this weapon. Chen Zhen was fortunate enough to become the first Han student to pilot the ancient and primitive Mongolian Ark.
The felt boat slid faster and faster, and from time to time, the creaking sound of the felt snow shell could be heard. Chen Zhen felt as if he was sitting on a magic carpet and flying carpet in the myths, gliding and flying on the white snow. He was trembling with fear, thrilling and exciting, and he felt like he was floating in the air. He could not help but be extremely grateful to the grassland wolves and grassland people for giving him a primitive mythical life. In the snow lake, eight flying boats and sixteen flying carpets were moving side by side, chasing each other, sending up large amounts of snow and ice. Dogs were barking, people were barking, and Tengri was smiling. A thick layer of clouds suddenly floated in the sky, and the cold air suddenly dropped. The slightly melted snow suddenly turned into a hard ice surface, increasing the safety factor of the snow shell by 30%, making it safer to raise the sheep. Everyone suddenly took off their sunglasses and widened their eyes. They raised their heads and shouted happily, Tengri! Tengri! Then, the swift boat's movements became faster and bolder. At this moment, Chen Zhen seemed to sense the existence of the Mongolian Longevity Heaven Tengri. His soul was once again caressed by the grassland Tengri.
Suddenly, the cheers of Yang Ke and Bayar came from the slope on the shore. Chen Zhen turned around and saw Yang Ke and Bayar shouting loudly, He had dug up one! He had dug up one! Chen Zhen used the binoculars to look again. He found that Yang Ke seemed to have dug out a big yellow goat under Bayar's instructions. The two of them each pulled a leg of the goat and walked towards the ox cart. The people who stayed on the shore also picked up their shovels and ran into the deep snow.
The felt boat was already far away from the safe zone and was getting closer and closer to a big yellow goat. It was an ewe, its eyes flashing with despair, fear, and weak hope. It was surrounded by snow pits, and there was only a snow-covered shell the size of a table under its hooves, ready to collapse at any moment. The old man said, Push the felt slowly, but not too slowly. Don't scare it. It was two sheep now. It was not easy for anyone to live on the grassland.
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