A breeze blew through the woods on the other side of the river, turned a corner on the river, and blew towards the lake. The woods along the river bank suddenly rustled. The breeze could blow away the irritating summer air in the forest, but it could not blow away the murderous aura of a certain badger.
"Boss... it's a misunderstanding..."
Strictly speaking, this was a misunderstanding. But the embarrassing thing was that even Gu Lang felt that he had gone too far.
Think about it, they went to the river to catch fish at dawn, and only caught a palm-sized fish when the sun was out. Not to mention the hard work, they were expecting to have a good breakfast, even if they couldn't braise or steam it, at least they would have a hot breakfast, right? But I had to drag them to the river and volunteered to help them.
Then, the fish was gone.
Wang Ping was so angry.
At this time, Gu Lang was squatting on the slope by the water, with his upper body turned to face Wang Ping, his hands waving in a slightly awkward manner, not knowing where to put them.
"I'll catch you another one! Don't worry! It will be quick! I... I'll catch it right away! I told you, I also grew up in the countryside. My hometown is surrounded by green mountains and clear waters. I used to catch fish in the river when I was a kid. I'm good at this!"
Perhaps because he felt that the explanation was too pale, Gu Lang decided to prove with actual actions that he really didn't mean it.
"When it comes to catching fish, the most important thing is the tools! Look, we have a bucket. I can make a simple fish basket based on the bucket."
While talking non-stop, trying to divert Wang Ping's attention, he picked up the bucket and soaked it in the water. After the bucket was completely filled with water, Gu Lang placed the bucket slightly tilted on the sand and rocks at the bottom of the water, with the mouth of the bucket facing the direction of the water flow.
"I'll fix the bottom of the bucket first, and then I'll catch a few earthworms and put them in it. Because water is always flowing into the bucket, the earthworms won't run out..."
Wang Ping became angrier the more he thought about it. Seeing Gu Lang squatting on the shore with his butt sticking out, busying himself, an idea came to his mind.
After walking around behind Gu Lang, Wang Ping stood up and moved his two 20-centimeter arms left and right in a somewhat comical manner. Then he raised his paws and clapped...
“Bang!”
"oops!"
Gu Lang felt as if someone had suddenly slapped him hard on the buttocks, and he could not help but scream. He subconsciously raised his hand to cover it.
His center of gravity shifted forward, and by the time Gu Lang secretly cried out that something was wrong, he had already uncontrollably thrown himself toward the river surface and dived into the bucket he had just put at the bottom of the water.
“Plop!”
"Gululululu~~~~Ah! Cough cough..."
After accidentally swallowing a few mouthfuls of water, Gu Lang floundered twice, touched the bottom of the water with his hands, turned over, and then sat up from the water with a bucket on his head. A bucket of water poured down his neck, and it took a long time for it to stop.
The water at the riverside was less than one meter deep, and when he sat in it, it only reached Gu Lang's chest. Fortunately, he dived into the bucket, otherwise, the rocks at the bottom of the water would have been enough to hurt Gu Lao San.
After looking at the culprit on the shore, he raised his arm and looked at the bandage that was completely soaked, and Gu Lang sighed helplessly.
This is your own fault, you can't blame others.
At this time, a burst of elephant calls came from the northwest. Judging from the sound, it can be known that this is not the sound of a single elephant, but the collective call of a group of elephants.
“Ah~~~~!”
The sound of elephants one after another startled Gu Lang in the water and Wang Ping on the shore, and they looked towards the northwest involuntarily.
Normally, humans cannot hear the calls of elephants. This is because elephants usually communicate using infrasound waves that human ears cannot detect. If the distance is too far, beyond the transmission range of infrasound waves, they will use another "radio"-like method, which is stomping their feet.
The elephant's paws are large, and they can transmit the vibration frequency from the ground to the inner ear through the bones. In addition, due to their size, elephants are very strong. This method of communication can reach as far as 32 kilometers away, which is farther than the coverage of mobile phone signals.
The sound that humans can hear is not actually the elephant's mouth, but the "trumpet" sound made by the long trunk. There are nearly 100,000 muscles of various sizes on the trunk, which can be used to smell, breathe, drink water, grab things, and "trumpet".
When the air that an elephant breathes is quickly ejected from its long trunk, it makes a sharp sound, like a person blowing a trumpet. Therefore, the elephant's call heard by humans is clearly distinguished from that of other animals.
At this moment, the elephants in the distance seemed to be "blowing the trumpet" collectively. This sound seemed to have a power that penetrated people's hearts, and it was completely different from the calls Gu Lang had heard on TV or in the zoo before. There was a sense of grief, anger, helplessness and desolation, as if they were commemorating something.
If he had to describe it, Gu Lang could only say that at this moment, he suddenly remembered the air raid sirens that would sound in the city every September.
After exchanging a glance with Wang Ping, Gu Lang said, "It sounds like it's coming from the same direction as last night's gunshots, and the distance seems to be about the same."
"I have to go and see what happened!" This was Wang Ping's first thought.
This is a professional habit that has been ingrained into my bones. Once I hear such unusual animal calls in the wild, I will always think of poachers first and then go to investigate.
Moreover, Wang Ping originally planned to go to the place where the gunshots were heard at night to investigate after breakfast.
But, do I need to take this thing with me
Wang Ping looked at Gu Lang, who was still sitting at the bottom of the water holding a bucket and was a little hesitant.
Xiaohua went to the woods to look for food, and her time was irregular. It all depended on fate when she would come back. Wang Ping was not worried that Xiaohua would attack and hurt someone when he was away. On the contrary, he was more worried that Gu Lang would do something weird.
As long as he had a deliberate plan, Wang Ping didn't believe that Gu Lang would have no means to deal with Xiaohua, especially the defenseless Xiaohua.
"It seems that I have to find a way to teach Xiaohua a lesson before leaving."
Raising his paw and pointing towards the northwest, Wang Ping turned to look at Gu Lang.
"Why? Want to go check it out?"
To be honest, Gu Lang was also very curious about what had happened to make the elephants make such a noise. But if Wang Ping hadn't given him instructions, he wouldn't have gone there.
Curiosity kills the cat, and it can kill people too.
Although Wang Ping didn't look like he had any fighting ability, perhaps because Wang Ping had saved his life, Gu Lang always subconsciously felt that it was safer to stay with him. So if Wang Ping wanted to go, Gu Lang would not hesitate.
But I should go back and change my clothes first...
Picking up the bucket and fetching a bucket of water, Gu Lang and Wang Ping returned to the base again. Gu Lang took off the soaked bandage, found two rolls of dry bandages and wrapped them around his body a few more times to cover the wet wound, and then changed into dry clothes.
Wang Ping jumped into the car, took out Gu Lang's fake tiger-tooth saber and threw it at his feet.
This was the first time Wang Ping took the initiative to ask Gu Lang to bring a weapon. Even Gu Lang himself was stunned for a moment, looking at him for a few seconds before picking up the knife.
In fact, holding a knife was just a precaution. Wang Ping didn't think the people who fired the gun last night were still there.
It's a very simple logic. If they were really poachers and encountered a herd of elephants, they would have opened fire by now.
After completing their preparations, Wang Ping and Gu Lang left their base and walked straight toward the northwest.
After passing the small lake 200 meters away, the two walked forward for another two kilometers. At this time, the sound of the elephants was very clear. It felt like they were just a few hundred meters away.
Gu Lang subconsciously lowered his body and slowed down his steps. At the same time, one hand tightly grasped the handle of the knife, and his whole body was filled with tension.
As for what he was so nervous about, Gu Lang himself couldn't explain it clearly.
In this kind of forest, Wang Ping ran much faster than Gu Lang, and he quickly jumped over the bushes and crossbars in the forest.
After walking about 300 meters, the view in front of them suddenly opened up. Gu Lang and Wang Ping stopped behind a clump of tall trees at the edge of the woods and looked across.
The whole forest here seems to have been cut by nature.
Opposite the two of them, the boundless plain stretched far out along a slightly sloping ground plane. Large tracts of grass and scattered trees dotted the landscape. Standing at the edge of the woods, one could even see the shadows of animals scattered all over the grassland.
However, at this moment, their attention was completely attracted by the scene a hundred meters away.
Nearly a hundred elephants formed a circle on the grass a hundred meters away. The atmosphere seemed a little agitated. From time to time, an elephant would raise its head and stretch out its trunk to let out a mournful cry. The sound was exactly the same as the one heard before.
Through the gaps between the elephants, Wang Ping saw a sea of blood.