The wound that had just been bandaged was still painful, but the mood was completely different. Although what to do now, Takezoe Shinichiro still has no clear idea. He looked absentmindedly at the white slopes and the bushes in the distance; It wasn't until he remembered the officers and men of the 6th Brigade who were still stuck in the valley that he reminded himself to act quickly.

So he beckoned to Ikunosuke Ito, and with both hands on his ski poles, he slid down the slope as fast as he could.

They had to get to the beach as soon as possible, find the boat, leave Korea, and return to Japan.

It was another sunny night, and it seemed to the poets that such a night was pleasant; In the eyes of lovers, such a night is suitable for a date; In the eyes of the aristocracy, such a night was a good time to drink and dance; But this is all the opinion of man, and in the eyes of the beasts, such a night is destined for nothing.

The bright moonlight brightened what should have been a dark night, and the ghostly deer and yellow sheep could not see anything clearly at night, but could only detect danger with their sensitive sense of smell and hearing, and even if they were attacked, they could only flee with their senses. Tonight, however, the moonlight added a clear outline to everything in the mountains, and as the panther's furry body swayed through the grass, the light reflected off its usual proud, oily fur exposed its whereabouts to the timid herbivores. The mountain deer ran across the ridge with its long legs, the yellow sheep's stubby hooves flew on the steep rocks, and even the stupid roe deer jumped up to the branches of the big pine.

The black panther looked at the prey that was flying away, and flicked its tail helplessly, hitting the surrounding blades of grass and flying sideways. It seemed that there would be no chance to get any more near any prey tonight, and the panther on the ground stood up, shook the mane on his shoulder, which was wet with the night dew, and stretched out in a catly style. It knew that it could not rest now, and that the task given to it by its master was not yet complete.

The panther stepped out of the grass, and in the bright moonlight it became distinctly distinct: it was a strong male leopard, with a large, square head, egg-sized eyes reflecting a faint green light, muscles of the whole body full of strength, and a gorgeous fur-wrapped body that undulated like waves as it walked. It was strange that such a large and majestic beast walked silently, and even on the trail full of dead leaves, there was no sound of even the thinnest branch breaking in the place it passed. There is no place where intelligent life does not know this terrible beast, they are huge in body and powerful, and the most terrifying thing is that they are said to have a brutal temperament, seem to have a hatred for humans, and like to kill people and domestic animals bloodily. But for the most part, the leopard is quiet and majestic, especially when it is trained to carry out its tasks or patrol its territory.

The size of the leopard's territory is not the same, in the cold and barren northern part of the country, the leopards need a vast territory to support themselves, but here, in the rich (for wild beasts) and warm Korean Peninsula, many leopards can be seen in a small area. But even here, there is a difference in the size of the territory between the leopard and the leopard, and the territory of the male leopard often overlaps with several people of the opposite sex, like this black leopard from Qianguo, who now has three females living in his territory, and more importantly, the smell of one of them on the border recently indicates that it is about to come into heat. The owner of the territory took this very seriously, but alas, "will" did not mean "is", and the poor king from a foreign land touched his nose with ashes, oh no, more precisely, a scar on his face, and the roaring female leopard gave it such a memorial.

Although it was not as endurance as the wolves running eighty miles in one night, the leopard was quite fast, and it walked down the valley along the saddle of the mountain, stopping for a while to lie down by the stream and lick a few mouthfuls of water. There was a grove of trees in the valley, which was the border between it and the big flower next door, a male leopard with a pattern of money. The panther walked into the woods, and in the middle of the woods was an old tree that had long since died, which was their boundary stake. The black panther approached the dead tree and looked up and sniffed, very good, the golden leopard big flower boy is still young after all, judging from the smell left, his physical strength is far less than his own, it thought, if the big flower's territory is too close to those strange hunters who can hunt beasts with iron sticks, it will go to drive away this nasty boy and occupy its territory. Then, the panther put its paws on the trunk of the dead tree and "gurgle" to make ten deep marks. The trunk of this dead tree, which was more than a man tall, already had countless claw marks, each as deep as a human knuckle. In addition to leaving claw marks, another way for the leopard to mark its territory is to leave a scent, and it turns around, its hips against the dead tree, and its tail is raised high, spraying urine onto the "boundary stake" like a sprinkling of water. They can analyze each other's gender, age, and physical condition from the urine of their own kind.

After inspecting the boundary posts, the panther began to walk along the valley, and it was obvious that he was going back hungry tonight, of course, the owner would not treat it badly, but it still hoped that it would be able to capture its prey on its own.

The two-legged animals that its owner ordered it to hunt down were not ordinary.

Wait, why is the bush in front of you shaking so much? The panther bent down like a frozen sculpture, with only a gently flicking back indicating that it was still alive. Suddenly, it moved, but unusually slowly, its body clinging to the ground like a snake, trying to hide itself with the tall grass. Closer, closer, it realized that it was a man shaking the branch.

To the panther's surprise, this was apparently the kind of target that his master had ordered him to pursue.

Its keen eyes had already seen that the man was sitting there eating.

The panther sniffed again, and the peculiar smell emanating from the other party made it even more convinced of its own judgment.

Especially the kind of stick with a sharp blade and fire-breathing that the other party placed next to him made it instinctively furious and angry.

The closer you get, the stronger the smell, not to mention the headwind, but fortunately, the panther has long been accustomed to this smell. The man over there was eating, but remained fairly alert, stopping from time to time to chew and listening intently until it felt safe before starting to eat again (there seemed to be nothing more important in the world, in its opinion).

Finally approaching the place where he was only thirty paces away from this man, the panther was very strange, how could this man who also looked like a soldier be so stupid, if it was a hunter, he would have run away. No matter, attack! The panther leaped out of the grass, and in a split second it calculated its landing point and prepared for a second blow.

The first puff quickly reduced the distance between the panther and the man to ten steps, and the second panther took to his feet, jumped onto the man's back, grabbed his shoulders with his front paws, and at the same time pierced his teeth into the back of his neck, and hung for a while, dragging the man backwards and falling with him on the snow.

The panther jumped lightly, and as the man struggled to get up, the panther struck with its sharp teeth.

It heard the wails of the other party as they died, the crunch of broken cervical vertebrae, the muffled sound of tearing blood vessels, it tasted the bloody fresh meat...... "Woo-woo-" and the thunderous roar of the leopard pierced through the dense woods and echoed through the valleys.

Suddenly, the panther saw another man in camouflage, who was facing him with a long wooden stick with a sharp blade tied to it......

Looking at Ikunosuke Ito, who fell to the ground and was struggling in pain with his throat clutched, Shinichiro Takezoe was terrified for a while.

He had already pointed the muzzle of his rifle at the panther, but the panther did not retreat, but stared straight at him, clearly not afraid.

Its purpose is obvious, to kill itself like it did against Ikunosuke.

The thought of himself as a delicacy to the mouth of this terrible beast made Takezoe Shinichiro's heart tighten.

Although they knew that if they were shot, the sound of gunfire would likely reveal their location, but now they were out of mind. His top priority now is to kill the beast in front of him.

He now somewhat understood why no one was following them down the road.

No one wants to face this terrible leopard.

Takezoe Shinichiro tried to calm himself, he took a deep breath, his finger just put on the trigger, and when he was about to pull it, the black shadow flashed in front of him, and the black panther disappeared.

Shinichiro Takezoe was taken aback, the black leopard was obviously very familiar with firearms and knew what he was going to do, so he dodged the moment he was about to shoot.

Takezoe Shinichiro instinctively turned around, and found that the panther had already bent down, ready to pounce, only the moment he saw the bayonet on the barrel facing it, he stopped his movements and made a posture of preparing to "teleport" again.

His fingers had already left the trigger at this time, and the panther seemed to notice this, and his green eyes flashed with a wary light.

Seeing this leopard so alert, Takezoe Shinichiro suddenly had a strange idea in his heart.

Could it be that this leopard could have been domesticated?

After the Meiji Restoration, the study of Western science was prevalent in Japan, and the study of wild animals was also very popular, such as Emperor Meiji was very fond of studying marine fish, and Shinichiro Takezoe was not very interested in zoology, but he also had a certain understanding.

The leopard in front of him should be the Far Eastern leopard, they are the largest cats in the northern cold zone after the Siberian tiger, with a small head and a long tail, and short limbs; The coat is yellow, covered with black ring spots; The spots on the head are small and dense, the spots on the back are dense and large, and the spots are round or oval plum blossom-like patterns, which are quite similar to ancient copper coins, so they are also called "money leopards". Far Eastern leopards have 5 toes on their forefeet, 4 toes on their hind feet, grayish-white claws, and can be retracted freely, they live in forests, shrubs, wetlands, deserts and other environments, and their nests are mostly built in dense bushes, bushes or caves. They generally live alone, often active at night, and rest in trees or caves during the day. They prey on a variety of ungulates, monkeys, rabbits, rats, birds, and fish, as well as sweet berries in autumn. When food is scarce, they also sneak into villages at night to steal poultry and livestock. According to the book, the Far Eastern leopard is widely distributed in the forests of the Russian Far East, Heilongjiang, Jilin and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.

But this black leopard seems to be a little different from the wild Far Eastern leopard.

It is too large, its limbs are too thick, and its coat is black.

Black leopards are said to be found only in Africa and North and South America, while Far Eastern leopards are not known to have black ones.

A frightening guess crossed his mind.

Judging by the agility and proficiency of this leopard's attack on Ikunosuke Ito just now, it shouldn't be the first time it has attacked someone!

A wild leopard should have an instinctive fear of people, why is it not afraid of people at all? Dare to attack someone?!

Moreover, the wild leopard is afraid that it will not understand what the trigger on the gun is for, right? Why does the leopard in front of him dodge when he sees his finger on the trigger?

Could it be that it could be an animal killer who was domesticated to track down and kill people?!

Shinichiro Takezoe gritted his teeth and jerked his finger on the trigger again.

Sure enough, as he had guessed, the panther immediately dodged again, and although Shinichiro Takezoe pulled the trigger as fast as he could, the bullet still failed to hit the panther.

And just as he was about to fire a second shot, the panther's front paws had already slapped him on the shoulder.

The panther didn't pounce this time, but gave him a hard blow with his claws.

Takezoe Shinichiro's rifle fell out of his hand, and he threw the panther into the snow, and he felt the panther's sharp teeth pierce his throat, and his eyes suddenly went black.

"Lao Bai! Stop it! A woman's voice came from afar.

"Are you sure he's that bullshit minister? ......" a male voice sounded.

"It's him, Takezoe Shinichiro, is there any anger on the other side? That's the nephew of Japanese Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito, so save it if you can! It will definitely be useful for the lord! Another male voice said anxiously.

"Hmph, count your sharp eyes, otherwise, Lao Bai will have no food, but he won't be able to spare you!"

"Grandma, can you spare me...... My God, Lao Bai, you have to be merciful, this man is a big official, and the bounty is big, you can't eat him......"

Takezoe Shinichiro's consciousness gradually blurred, and he fainted.

Shinichiro Takezoe would not know that not every Japanese in Korea was as lucky as him.

Black woods, standing on both sides of the valley. A gust of wind not long ago has swept away the snow and ice from the trees. Now, they snuggle up in the twilight, depressed.

The vast wilderness is as silent as death, with no meaning of life or movement except cold and desolation. But all this does not mean just sorrow, but contains cruelty that is more terrible than sorrow, far more than the coldness of ice and snow. It was eternity, with his imperiousness and ineffable wisdom, that mocked life and the struggle of life.

But the indomitable life is still there, and it is rebelling. A group of people is trudging hard. Their faces are indistinct, as if they were wearing the mask of the devil, the undertaker of the funeral of the ghosts in the underworld, but in fact under the mask, they are human beings, the people who are going deep into the desolate, silent, mocking land, the people who drive themselves to fight against the power of this world that is as dazed, strange, dead as this infinite space.

The procession moved silently, and in order to save some effort, they remained silent as they walked. There was silence all around, and the silence seemed to be an entity that oppressed them, affecting their spirits, as if the pressure of deep water was affecting the diver's body. It oppressed them with an infinite space and the immense power of unchangeable commands. They are forced to retreat into the depths of their own hearts, and to squeeze out all the arrogance, passion, pride, and delusional self-esteem of the human heart, like grape juice, so that they find themselves at last nothing but finite and insignificant dust, operating in the action and reaction of great, blind matter and force by inferior cunning and a little ingenuity.

At this moment, a faint wail came from a distance, shattering the silence of the space, soaring rapidly up to the highest note, like a wisp of endless, trembling and nervous, and finally, slowly disappearing. It carries with it a kind of bitter ferocity and hunger anxiety, probably the wail of a man facing destruction.

The people in front turned their heads and looked at each other with the people in the back, nodding to each other.

The second wail. The needle-like shrill sound pierced the dead silence. Both of them could hear where the voice was, behind them - it was in the opposite direction.

The third corresponding scream resumed, to the left of the second.

"They're really chasing us." The voice of the person in front was hoarse. Apparently, he struggled to speak.

"No, it's not the Qianguo people who are chasing us, but the wolves." The man in the back said, "There is a lack of food, and I haven't seen a trace of a rabbit for a few days." ”

After that, they stopped talking, and listened attentively to the howls of the predators that continued to sound behind them.

It was too dark, and they camped in a small wood. People sat silently by the rising fire, and no one wanted to run into the darkness.

"They're close to our camp." Someone said.

The man at the head crouched by the fire, nodded, and shook the fire with a branch in his hand. It wasn't until they started eating that they spoke: "These wolves know how to be safe, they already have food, and they know that it's better to eat those people than to be eaten by us." ”

He laughed as he spoke, but everyone looked serious, obviously not thinking his words were funny.

Now the wolf has eaten his poor companion, who is also a soldier of the 6th Brigade.

"Could these wolves be domesticated by the Qianguo people?"

"You think too highly of the Qianguo people."

"I heard that the Bo hunters in Changbai Mountain outside Qianguo Pass can train wolves, reindeer and eagles."

"You know a lot."

"There are many fierce beasts in the palace of the Emperor of Qianguo, including elephants, rhinoceros, lions, tigers, leopards, and a large number of hunting dogs, which is what our intelligence officer said. Emperor Qianguo had an institution called 'Yu Bei Office', which specialized in raising all kinds of animals and accompanying the emperor to have fun. (To be continued.) )