HPDBC Chapter 1887 Thunderstorm Approaching, Lightning Needle Ignites Smoke of War on Three Battlefields
Chapter 1887 Thunderstorm Approaching, Lightning Needle Ignites Smoke of War on Three Battlefields
Chapter 1887 Thunderstorm Approaching, Lightning Needle Ignites Three Battlefields
Upon hearing Xing San's words, Zhao Jun's expression changed, and he hurriedly walked out of the shack.
The nearby red pine needles are damp and feel wet to the touch, which is a sign of extremely high air humidity.
"Brother!" At this moment, Zhang Yuanmin came over from the side with an oak leaf in his hand and said to Zhao Jun, "Look, the color of this leaf is different now."
Wild ginseng grows in mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests. As rain approaches, the leaves of broad-leaved trees become noticeably heavier and darker in color due to the accumulation of moisture.
The two brothers confirmed Xing San's prediction of heavy rain, and their faces turned grim.
The rain made it impossible to work or carry ginseng, but that wasn't the main problem. What worried Zhao Jun and Zhang Yuanmin was whether there would be thunder during the rain.
If their shack were near the edge of the woods, it would be fine, but if it were inside the woods, there would be a high chance of it being struck by lightning.
This is a matter of life and death!
What Zhao Jun and the others should do now is abandon this shack and quickly move to the shack left by Song Laowai and Xu Changming at the foot of Qing Shi La Zi.
But putting aside whether the Siberian tiger has gone far, the problem is that the ginseng king is still here. What if people are already carrying the ginseng when they come back after the rain stops?
Are you really going to let Xing San go on a killing spree?
"Brother!" Zhang Yuanmin made a quick decision and said to Zhao Jun, "Hurry up, let's set up a trap, or we'll be hit by rolling mines!"
The term "thunder rod" is a term passed down from the older generation; simply put, it refers to a lightning rod.
“Hey, big brother!” Zhao Jun responded without hesitation, “Whatever you say, I’ll do it.”
Zhao Jun didn't know how to do this, so Zhang Yuanmin had to take over. Zhang Yuanmin readily agreed, saying, "Brother, you just need to do the work for me."
"Serving the servants" is a local dialect term. Zhang Yuanmin meant that he wanted Zhao Jun to assist him, such as handing him tools.
Zhao Jun readily agreed, and then heard Zhang Yuanmin say to Xing San, "Third Uncle, you take Jin Hui and Xiao Yang and get a big plastic sheet to cover the outer ring of that ginseng king. Otherwise, if we mix the mud, we won't be able to work tomorrow."
"Once you've finished this, take the two of them and carry the water pole to the river to fetch water."
Xing San readily agreed. Lao Shan Gouzi knew that this was a critical moment, so he did whatever Zhang Yuanmin said.
Zhang Yuanmin led Zhao Jun to the back of the shack, tapped his foot on the ground, and said to Zhao Jun, "Brother, quickly grab a shovel and dig a hole."
After saying that, Zhang Yuanmin left. When he came out of the shack, he was carrying a chainsaw on his back and a gun on his shoulder.
Zhang Yuanmin had been wandering around this forest quite a bit these past few days. He quickly found a small pine tree that was more than ten centimeters thick, started the chainsaw, and began to cut the tree down.
The tree wasn't thick, and it was summer, so Zhang Yuanmin quickly felled it.
The tree crashed into the forest with a loud thud. Zhang Yuanmin continued to prune the pine tree with a chainsaw, then cut off a section about four meters long.
At this time, Zhao Jun finished digging the pit, and he and Zhang Yuanmin carried the pine log to the shack and secured it with a diagonal brace.
Zhao Jun backfilled the soil and buried a section of the pine tree about a meter long. While he was at it, Zhang Yuanmin used a chainsaw to trim the remaining section of the pine tree, cutting out four large wooden wedges and eight small wooden wedges.
Zhang Yuanmin put the small wooden wedges in a triangular bag, while he hammered the large wooden wedges around the buried pine poles.
This was to secure the pine pole. Even so, Zhang Yuanmin was still not satisfied, so he and Zhao Jun pushed a cart to bring over several large bluestones from nearby and used the stones to weigh down the pine pole.
As they were lifting the stones, Zhao Jun smacked his lips and said, "Brother, look, the moss is even oozing water. How come we didn't notice it sooner?"
Moss growing wet is also a sign of impending rain. Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuanmin said, "It's already damp living in the woods, how can we be sure of that?"
After the two men weighed down the stones, Xing San and his two companions filled the water taps and buckets they had brought with water.
"Come on, Jinhui!" Zhang Yuanmin called to Zhao Jinhui, "I need to step on your shoulders to get up!"
Without saying a word, Zhao Jinhui went to the pine pole, held onto it, and squatted down.
"Come on, little fatty, put this on." Xing San ran back into the house and brought out two towels, folded them into thick squares, stuffed them into Zhao Jinhui's clothes, and put them on his shoulders.
Then, Xing San and Ma Yang helped Zhang Yuanmin step onto Zhao Jinhui's shoulders.
Zhao Jinhui was really strong and tall, standing at 1.85 meters. Combined with Zhang Yuanmin's 1.55 meters, the two of them were over three meters tall.
As Zhao Jinhui stood up, he lifted Zhang Yuanmin's head higher than the top of the pine pole.
"Brother, hand me that crowbar!" Zhang Yuanmin called out to Zhao Jun, who came over, raised his arm, and handed a steel bar to Zhang Yuanmin.
When ginseng hunters go into the mountains to build huts, a crowbar is essential. Sometimes, they encounter large rocks while carrying ginseng, and they need to use this tool.
And when thunderstorms come, this crowbar becomes a ready-made lightning rod.
Zhang Yuanmin took the crowbar, glanced at it, and quickly lowered it, saying to Zhao Jun, "Brother, sharpen it quickly!"
Commonly used items don't need much rust, but the shinier the lightning rod, the better.
Zhao Jun gripped the crowbar in his hand and hurriedly ran to the front of the shack. He scooped up a ladle of water, returned, and poured it on the bluestone where the pine pole was fixed. Then, he deftly sharpened the flat tip of the crowbar.
"Jinhui, can you hold on?" Zhang Yuanmin, who was climbing up, asked, looking down. Zhao Jinhui replied, "Don't worry, Brother Zhang. With your small frame, lifting you up is no problem for me."
Hearing Zhao Jinhui's words, Zhang Yuanmin and the others laughed.
Zhao Jun quickly sharpened the tip of the crowbar and handed it back to Zhang Yuanmin.
After Zhang Yuanmin took it, he said to Zhao Jun, "Give me the wire and pliers!"
"Brother, how much wire do you need?" Zhao Jun asked. Zhang Yuanmin replied, "Two meters."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun found the end of a large roll of thick iron wire, then cut off a two-meter section with pliers.
Zhao Jun first handed over the pliers. Zhang Yuanmin took the pliers, held them horizontally in his mouth, and then took the wire that Zhao Jun handed over.
Zhang Yuanmin used wire to wrap the crowbar around the top of the pine pole, keeping the pointed end of the crowbar 30 centimeters above the top of the pole. The blunt end was tightly wrapped with wire around the pine pole.
Fearing that the knot wouldn't hold tight enough, Zhang Yuanmin used pliers to pull it off.
After securing the crowbar, Zhang Yuanmin, with pliers in his mouth, reached out to Zhao Jun and mumbled, "Give me the wire."
Zhao Jun knew that Zhang Yuanmin wanted to pull the detonator wire, so he didn't ask Zhang Yuanmin how long he needed and simply stretched out the end of the wire and handed it to Zhang Yuanmin.
Zhang Yuanmin pulled the wire upwards, while Zhao Jun placed it below.
Zhang Yuanmin tied the end of the wire to the crowbar, and then ran it vertically downwards along the outside of the pine pole.
The so-called outer side of the pine pole is the side furthest from the shack.
At this moment, Zhang Yuanmin handed the pliers to Zhao Jun and said, "Brother, leave another five or six meters at the bottom."
The wire hung down from above, and after it reached the ground, Zhao Jun extended it for about six meters before the pliers snapped it.
Zhang Yuanmin could see clearly from above, and then instructed Zhao Jun, "Brother, cut the hemp rope for me, each section about half a meter long, into eight pieces."
Zhao Jun did as instructed, and then put the hemp rope into the triangular pocket that Zhang Yuanmin had previously used to put the small wooden wedges.
Taking the triangular pouch handed to him by Zhao Jun, Zhang Yuanmin tied it to the hemp rope around his waist.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Yuanmin pointed in a direction away from the shack and called to Zhao Jun, "Brother, dig a hole down this pole to about three meters deep, then dig another hole over there, about one meter deep."
Zhao Jun picked up his shovel and left, while Zhang Yuanmin began to straighten the mine wires from top to bottom.
After straightening it for about fifty centimeters, Zhang Yuanmin placed a wooden wedge between the detonator and the pine pole, and then used hemp rope to tie the detonator and the wooden wedge together to the pine pole.
After tying it up, pull it down another 50 centimeters, still using the same method as with hemp rope.
In this way, the approximately three-and-a-half-meter-long detonator was fixed to the pine pole.
Moreover, because of the wooden wedges, the lightning rod never touched the pine pole.
When they were halfway through tying him up, Zhang Yuanmin got off Zhao Jinhui's shoulder.
After Zhang Yuanmin finished tying everything up, there was still a six-meter-long wire under the pine pole.
Zhang Yuanmin, holding the section of detonator wire, followed the pit Zhao Jun had dug. During this process, Zhao Jinhui and Ma Yang used the sides of their shoes to dig soil around the wire, burying it in the ground.
By this time, Zhao Jun had already dug the pit, and Zhang Yuanmin had arrived at the pit. Xing San, following Zhang Yuanmin's instructions, took the spare blade of the chainsaw from the shack.
Previously, there were about six meters of detonating wire left. After laying a trench of about three meters, there were still more than three meters of detonating wire left.
After taking the blade, Zhang Yuanmin wrapped the remaining detonator wire around it. After each turn, he would use pliers to tighten it as much as possible.
After circling around a few times, Zhang Yuanmin instructed Zhao Jinhui and Ma Yang, "Jinhui, Xiaoyang, you two go and fetch all the water."
After Zhao Jinhui and Ma Yang brought the water tap and the feeder Luo Duti, Zhang Yuanmin had already wrapped the detonator wire around the chainsaw blade.
Next, Zhang Yuanmin placed the chainsaw blade in the pit.
“Brother, you fill in the soil, I’ll water it,” Zhang Yuanmin said, picking up a watering can.
Zhao Jun used a shovel to scoop up soil and backfill it. For every scoop of soil he scooped up, Zhang Yuanmin would pour water on the soil, and he would water it thoroughly.
Seeing this, Ma Yang asked, "Brother Zhang, why did you water it the other day? If it rains, won't the ground get wet by itself?"
Zhang Yuanmin glanced at Ma Yang, and considering that he was Zhao Jun's brother-in-law, he patiently explained, "Water flows to the earth, and thunder returns to the soil. When we water it, the thunder rod on top will come to life!"
Hearing Zhang Yuanmin's words, Ma Yang turned around and looked at the lightning rod that was nearly two meters taller than the roof of the shack.
At this moment, Zhang Yuanmin poured some water into the backfill soil in the pit and said, "It's just like crops, the roots are here."
Zhang Yuanmin knew how to set up lightning rods, but he was uneducated and didn't understand the underlying principles.
The chainsaw blade he buried, which was wrapped with lightning conductor wire, is normally called a ground stake. The reason for backfilling and watering at the same time was to ensure that the soil and the ground stake fit tightly together, thus improving lightning conductivity.
Ma Yang gave a vague "Ah" sound, then asked Zhang Yuanmin, "Brother Zhang, why was this thing buried so far away?"
"You don't know anything, kid," Zhang Yuanmin said. "Thunder is alive; it can jump. If we bury it too close to our shack, what if it jumps into our shack?"
After Zhang Yuanmin finished speaking, the pit was filled in. After emptying the water from the water tap, Zhang Yuanmin held the tap up and said to Xing San, "Uncle San, take a look and take out all the metal things in the shack and put them all in the wheelbarrow. Then we'll push it far away and cover it with a tarpaulin."
"Brother Zhang, what are you doing?" Zhao Jinhui asked. Zhang Yuanmin replied, "Metal things attract lightning. We leave these things in our shack, and it will come looking for us."
Zhang Yuanmin's explanations are all old sayings passed down from the older generation. In fact, the reason for not placing metal near the lightning conductor is to prevent the formation of a circuit and the generation of induced lightning.
But none of the Zhao family members were educated, and they all listened to Zhang Yuanmin's advice. They all hurriedly went back to their shacks to pack their things.
They dismantled the stove and put away the kitchen knife, pot, and stew pot.
While tidying up, Ma Yang asked about the meal, and Zhao Jun suggested setting up the stove far away before it rained.
They would have a hot meal at noon, and if the rain didn't stop in the evening, the group would eat large pancakes in the shack.
Ma Yang wasn't picky; he was fine as long as there was food, regardless of its quality.
At this moment, Xing San reached behind his waist and said to Zhao Jun, "Kid, I can't keep this knife in my hand anymore, can I?"
"What about the gun, Brother Jun?" Zhao Jinhui asked again. Zhao Jun replied directly, "We definitely can't throw the gun away."
Yeah, if they didn't have guns, wouldn't these guys be in real trouble if something went wrong?
As soon as Zhao Jun finished speaking, Zhang Yuanmin said, "Isn't there still a tarpaulin left? Use that tarpaulin to cover the guns and stuff, and then put it in that corner."
Everyone did as Zhang Yuanmin said. Zhao Jun and the others packed their things, while Xing San and Ma Yang hurriedly went to cook.
While Zhao Jun and his men were busy avoiding the mines, a fierce battle was taking place in Yongsheng Village.
In the Pang family mansion, the most luxurious residence in Yongsheng, the windows were shattered, and the sounds of a woman's wailing and the lamentations of Pang the Blind could be heard from inside.
Meanwhile, during the break between the second and third periods at Yong'an No. 1 Primary School, Zhao Hong led a group of people into Class 2, Grade 1, while the teacher was away.
Upon seeing Zhao Hong and her group enter, the noisy classroom instantly fell silent. Then, Zhao Hong shouted, "Who is Pang Xiaodong? Come out here!"
Zhao Na, who was in the senior class of kindergarten, didn't have the same courage as her older sister, but she still led Wang Tian and Wang Xue to corner a five-year-old girl behind the water room.
The mother and her two children had already started their group tour, but Zhao Youcai was on his way into the mountains.
Zhao Youcai sat in the jeep, anxiously looking out the window, but the more he looked, the more serious his expression became.
"I'll curse it!" Zhao Youcai suddenly blurted out a curse. Zhao Weipeng, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was confused and turned to ask Zhao Youcai, "Brother, who are you cursing?"
“That’s right!” Wang Qiang, sitting next to Zhao Youcai, also asked, “Brother-in-law, why are you talking so much?”
"Damn it!" Zhao Youcai stared out the car window and said, "It looks like it's going to rain."
"Brother, how did you figure that out?" Zhao Weipeng looked out the window in surprise, and heard Zhao Youcai say, "Look at that fog! It's usually on the second flank of the mountain, but it's all going to the mountain peak!"
The situation Zhao Youcai described is a manifestation of rising water vapor.
Hearing this, Jie Chen hurriedly said, "Uncle, what should we do? It's raining, can we still hunt this tiger?"
"Still hunting tigers?" Zhao Youcai said irritably, "If the hell thunders, we'll all be dead!"
"Huh?" Zhao Weipeng was startled and quickly asked, "Big brother, shall we go back?"
“Go back to what?” Zhao Youcai’s small eyes widened. “Your son and my son are still in the mountains. If we go back, what will happen to them?”
“That’s right!” Li Baoyu chimed in, “My brother is still in the mountains!”
"Hurry up, Baoyu!" Zhao Youcai urged, "Let's get to that shack quickly!"