Chapter 666: Why Howl
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du rejected Hans’s suggestion.
If he had not fallen in love with Sophie, if he had not harvested so many gemstones from the national park, he might still have been somewhat interested in such a plan.
An auction tour was very bitter and tiring work. The word “tour” was just to make the suffering seem more pleasurable.
Treasure hunters did not participate in auction tours to have fun, they did so to earn money. They were required to travel to places far away from their homes and try their luck at finding treasures among a crowd of foreigners.
It was a very strenuous process. Firstly, due to a change in environment, there was a need to adapt to a new environment. Second, it was exhausting, both physically and mentally, to travel on the road. Last, they would encounter resistance from a lot of outlanders.
Just like how the Tucson brotherhood had taken control of Flagstaff, the treasure hunters in other states would consider the districts that they were staying in to be their own territory. How could there not be any opposition when going to other people’s territory and stealing their livelihoods?
Auction tours completely relied on luck. As they would go to wherever there was an auction, finding a valuable storage unit would be very difficult without insider information and information from fellow treasure hunters.
Also, Li Du and his group had the cabin and huge property as their base camp. It was best for them to bring back the things they found, which would incur a very high travel cost due to the long distance.
If they did not bring back the things they found and proceeded to sell them at the places they found them, they would earn a lot less money, which Li Du disapproved of.
Li Du rejected the idea by shaking his head. “Forget it, not going—it will be Christmas soon. We should quietly stay here and rest for a period of time.”
“Rest for a month?” Hans asked, his tone full of regret. “That will waste a lot of time.”
Li Du responded, “There has to be at least one storage auction here in the next month, right? Even if there isn’t a good storage unit for auction, we can go into other industries. For example, old goods trading?”
Every day, there were old goods treasure hunters going in and out of their camping ground. Li Du also understood the old goods market well enough and felt that this profession was pretty interesting and worth a try. Previously at the old goods market, he had gotten a taste of the benefits when the little bug absorbed quite a bit of time energy.
Hans shrugged. “You’re the boss. What you say goes. Making a living from the old goods trade is not easy. You sure you want to go into a new profession?”
Li Du casually snapped his fingers. “Relax mate, everything will be simple.”
He did not just say it for the sake of it. He really intended on going to the old goods market for a try during the period where there were no storage unit auctions.
It was early December, where the smell of winter had completely enveloped the state of Arizona.
As Arizona was a mainland state, it had a subtropical climate. During the year, if it was not arid, it was half arid.
The state had two extremely obvious characteristics. One was the dry air and the other was the clear sky. Put together, this resulted in a high temperature.
The southern region of the state was a desert where the temperature was very extreme. The lowest temperature was around negative 40 degrees while the highest temperature reached around 127 degrees. Throughout the year, the difference in the temperature was huge.
Li Du and the others stayed in the northern part of the central region of Flagstaff. As the overall climate was better, wealthy people liked to come here to buy places to stay during vacation.
However, this “better climate” evaluation of Flagstaff applied to three seasons: spring, summer, and autumn. During these three seasons, most regions in Arizona were arid and hot. As Flagstaff was located close to the Grand Canyons and Colorado Plateau, its temperature was lower and so was more comfortable to stay in.
Despite that, the temperature in Flagstaff became cold during winter.
In the morning, Li Du woke up and put on a leather jacket. As he still felt a little chilly, he picked up Ah Meow and placed him on his lap.
Li Du first drove to Sophie’s house to bring her to work before returning to the cabin.
While driving on the road, he looked out and saw that the ground was currently blanketed in silver snow. The smell of winter was very strong and the trees, as well as the ground, didn’t have much green left.
There were a few deer strolling around the wilderness. These deer had run out from the nearby forest park to farmland in search of food.
A few Amish people rode horse-drawn carriages with their dogs toward the farmland to protect their crops. In America, wild pigs and deer were allowed to spread unchecked, resulting in a large number of them. To them, the Amish’s farmlands were the food paradises that their heart desired.
Ah Ow looked outside while leaning against the car window. Every time she saw a deer, Ah Ow would howl excitedly.
This was in Ah Ow’s nature. The blood of a wild hunter flowed through her veins.
While driving on the road, Li Du met his Amish neighbor, Tomasson. He stopped the car and greeted him. “Hey, old friend. Good morning.”
Tomasson rode the horse-drawn carriage that Li Du had given him. The seat on the carriage was very wide. Tomasson sat in the center while two fierce-looking Bulldogs sat, one on each side, next to him.
Bulldogs were muscular dogs that looked big and tall and had fierce expressions on their faces. As a matter of fact, they had a very gentle temperament and were Americans’ favorite companion dogs.
Both the Bulldogs, who were already grown-up, squatted on the carriage’s seat and majestically scanned their surroundings. Needless to say, they had been specially trained by Tomasson to drive away wild pigs and herds of deer.
Bulldogs looked very frightening to people and their barks were even more frightening. Not only were people afraid of them, but animals were afraid of them too.
Despite that, just as explained before, they had a gentle temperament, were shy, were not very aggressive, and would not hurt the people around them. They were particularly suited to be raised by people for chasing away wild animals.
Even before Tomasson spoke, the two bulldogs started barking when they saw Li Du poke his head out from inside the car. “Woof-woof-woof! Woof-woof-woof!”
With their angry stares, ferocious teeth, and small, fierce eyes, the Bulldogs proudly demonstrated their toughness to Li Du.
However, unbeknownst to them, there was something that was extremely tough in Li Du’s car.
As all the windows of Li Du’s car were closed, the Bulldogs had not detected Ah Ow.
Nonetheless, she detected the Bulldogs—in other words, she saw prey.
Without a doubt, these dogs were food in the eyes of Mexican wolves. With just one bite, they could kill the dogs and carry them away.
Initially, she stayed inside the car and was not interested in the Bulldogs. After hearing them bark in her direction, she was suddenly angry. Yo, is this provocation?
Ah Ow burrowed into Li Du’s arms from the back seat and squeezed her head next to his. With a kick from her hind legs, she sprang out through the car window like a spring.
After landing on the ground, Ah Ow first stretched her body and held up her head before howling into the sky. “Awoo! Awoo-woo!”
The wolf’s howl was resounding, sharp, and stirring. The sound traveled far into the distance from the open field. A few deer, who lived on the field and had seen wolves before, got frightened and promptly bolted away.
The quarter horse that was pulling the carriage was also frightened and wanted to gallop away in a panic after letting out a wail.
Tomasson hurriedly held onto it before getting off the carriage and pacifying it by stroking its neck to calm it down.
After the quarter horse had calmed down, the Bulldogs began panicking.
With a tremble in the muscles of her four limbs, Ah Ow effortlessly jumped onto the carriage. With her front claws pulling on the seat and her hind legs supporting her, she stretched her neck toward the two Bulldogs before opening her mouth and howling, “Awoo-awoo!”
Wolf fangs, far more vicious than the dogs’ teeth, she exposed. The two Bulldogs became so scared that they peed.
This was not an exaggeration—Li Du saw it. A puddle of clear liquid appeared on the space between the legs of both the Bulldogs. They actually got so frightened that they lost control and peed.
