Zhao Panba, an old hunter in Bajiao Village, has raised seven hunting dogs in his life of more than 40 years in the mountains and forests. The first hunting dog's legs were too short and he couldn't catch the muntjac in the mountains, so he was led to the street and sold. The second hunting dog was as fat as a pig just after he turned five years old. The third hunting dog was stupid and stupid. , was bitten to death by a leopard during the first hunt; the fourth hound was a female, but was abducted by a male dog when she grew up; the fifth hound was covered with scabies; the sixth hound confusedly stepped on the hunter's paved road Iron clamp. A hunter who cannot get a satisfactory hunting dog is like a cavalryman who does not have a good horse. Zhaopanba often sighed over this.

Three years ago, when Zhao Panba celebrated his 60th birthday, Company Commander Tang from Manggang Checkpoint gave him a puppy born from a military dog ??as a congratulatory gift. For the past three years, Zhao Panba would rather have a plain meal with plain vegetables than let the seventh hunting dog eat meat with meat. Under his careful care, the puppy grew up. The golden fur on its back was embedded with two symmetrical light black patterns. Its body was as big as a calf, its waist was slender, and it was very powerful and beautiful. It is worthy of being a descendant of military dogs. It can climb mountains as fast as the wind and hunt as fiercely as a tiger. Once, a vulture swooped into the yard to catch a chicken. It jumped up from the flowers and bit off the vulture's wings. Zhaopanba gave it a name: Chili (the flying sword in Dai legend).

Hunters love dogs, and Zhao Panba regards Chili as the second pearl in his palm. The first jewel is of course his seven-year-old grandson Ai Susu. In his spare time, Zhao Panba likes to bring Chili to visit Lao Geng (a friend born on the same year, month and day). After three cups of glutinous rice wine, he will show off and say: "With Chili, I have been a hunter all my life." Hey, even if you have a handful of pearls and a basket of gold, you can't even think of taking it away from me." As he said this, he stroked the dog's ear with his cheek.

But on the early morning of the Water Splashing Festival in 1433 of the Dai calendar (that is, 1980 AD), Zhao Panba did not hold Ai Susu and take Chili to the Lancang River like in previous years. Instead of watching the dragon boat rowing, flying high and dancing to Yi Lahe (a festive form of singing and dancing among Dai people), Chili was tied to a tree in the courtyard with a wild vine. Three stones were used to form a stove, and a pot full of water was boiled. Then, he pulled out a thick wooden stick from the firewood pile and walked slowly towards Chili.

Chili wagged his tail and stuck out his tongue to lick Zhao Panba's trouser legs. Zhaopanba suddenly raised his wooden stick and struck it with his head; Chili quickly dodged and the wooden stick made a small hole in the ground. Chili hid behind the palm tree in panic, whining in grievance.

Zhao Panba’s copper-colored face turned pale, he took a step forward and swung the wooden stick high. At this moment, a child with a snotty nose ran out of the bamboo building, holding a knife in his left hand and a half-cut sour Doi fruit in his right hand. He threw himself into Zhaopanba's arms and shouted: "Grandpa, Don't hit Chili, he is my good friend."

Zhao Panba put away the stick, tears welling up in his old eyes covered with crow's feet; he stroked Ai Susu's soft hair. Said: "My child, it is not your friend. It is an evil and unlucky beast. Grandpa will kill it with his own hands, skin it and remove its bones, and give you dog meat for lunch."

As he said that, he He carried Ai Susu to a pile of wood under the bamboo house and sat down on it, then turned around and forced him towards Chili with a wooden stick...

Yesterday evening, Zhao Panba carried a gunpowder gun on his back and brought Chili with him. Li, went into the Dahei Mountain behind the village, hoping to catch a bamboo rat or dig up a pangolin, so as to improve his life during the Water Splashing Festival. After crossing a clear stream and in a dense forest, Chili suddenly raised his ears excitedly, biting his collar and dragging him forward. Chili is very smart. When it encounters prey, it does not bark like other grass dogs to embolden itself and scare away the prey. Instead, it will silently bite the collar of its owner's clothes to call the police. Sure enough, Zhao Panba opened a few elephant ear leaves and saw a majestic long-maned wild boar under the fluffy tail bamboo more than ten steps ahead, weighing at least four to five hundred kilograms. It was using its two tusks to dig out fresh and tender meat. Bamboo shoots. It stands to reason that a single hunter would try to avoid wild beasts as much as possible. Especially the solitary pig, which is very ferocious, is called "the first pig, the second tiger, and the third bear".

After a while, Zhao Panba's bald forehead was covered with beads of sweat, and he was panting from exhaustion. He became fierce, dropped the wooden stick and cursed: "You heartless beast, I will let you taste the taste of a gunpowder gun." As he said this, he walked tremblingly towards the bamboo building.

Chili had seen people killing dogs and eating them in the village. He also tied the dog to a tree and put an iron pot next to it to boil water; he knew that a disaster was coming today. It was full of bestiality and jumped wildly, trying to break the wild vines around its neck. But the wild vine is tougher than nylon rope, and it can't be broken no matter what. It groaned sadly, and its eyes for help shot at Ai Susu.

Ai Susu watched her grandfather walk back to the bamboo house with tears in her eyes. She quickly ran to the palm tree and used the knife she used to cut the sour Doi fruit to cut off the wild vines. In a hurry, she cut off the wild vines. A piece of the thumbnail of his left hand was chipped off, and blood dripped on Chili's thick lips.

Chili was free. He shook his head and meekly licked and kissed Ai Susu's body. Ai Susu also hugged Chili's head and neck and kissed him. At this time, the bamboo tower's magic staircase creaked, and Zhao Panba stepped out of the bamboo tower carrying the gunpowder gun. Ai Susu quickly pushed Chili and shouted: "Run away!"

Chili took two steps back, reluctantly glanced at Zhaopamba and Ai Susu for the last time, and hurriedly Turning around, like a wild horse running wild, leaped over the two-meter-high fence made of bougainvillea and flew towards Daheishan.

The colorful leaves and petals are scattered all over the ground.

Daheishan belongs to a nature reserve. Thousand-year-old banyan trees hang down many aerial roots, like the trunks of a group of elephants; the narrow crown of the sky tree towers into the sky, and the straight trunk is like a giraffe's. neck. In the dense forest, there are flocks of muntjacs and pheasants flying around. It is really an ideal kingdom for wild animals. Chili traveled east and west, drinking mountain spring water when he was thirsty, and eating from trees when he was hungry.

It became a wild dog.

One afternoon, Chili transported a red deer by the Lancang River. He was eating happily when there was a sudden rustling sound in the grass, and more than 20 brown-red jackals jumped out. At the head are two male jackals, one of which has a ring of white hair on its neck, like wearing a pearl necklace; the other has a black tail. The group of jackals looked at the bloody red deer on the ground, their small eyes shooting out greedy and ferocious green light; they spread out and formed a fan to surround Chili.

Chili looked at the two leading male jackals coldly. The jackal looked so insignificant and thin in front of Chili's tall body, with its belly so deflated that it probably hadn't caught prey for several days.

The circle of jackals was getting smaller and smaller, and Gao Chili was only two or three steps away. Chili was still chewing on the red deer bones with relish. The two leading male jackals bent their hind legs forward slightly, howled suddenly, attacked from left and right, and rushed towards Chili together. Chili calmly twisted his waist and jumped to a nearby rock. This reef stands abruptly among the gravel on the riverside. It is more than two meters high and has steep walls. The white-collared male jackal followed Chili's butt and jumped onto the rock; before it could stand still, Chili raised its front legs like iron rods, pushed it to the ground, and opened its sharp teeth. It took a while to bite off its throat. The black blood of Bai Xiangyin's male jackal spilled all over the ground, and his body rumbled down the river beach.

The black-tailed male jackal barked wildly and jumped onto the rock fiercely. Chili bit off its neck again.

The group of jackals were so frightened that they refused to disperse and did not dare to jump onto the rocks. They stared at Chili blankly around the rocks. Chili rolled his eyes, jumped down like lightning, knocked down a male jackal, and quickly bit off its throat. Before other jackals could gather around him, Chili jumped back to the top of the rock...

As the sun set, the last adult male among the group of jackals did not escape the fate of his brothers.

Jackals are group animals, and a strong male jackal is the leader of a large family; once the leader dies, other male jackals will take his place. If all the male dogs in a group of jackals die, the big family will be declared disintegrated, and the female jackals will take their puppies and run away to live in other jackal groups.

At this moment, seven or eight female jackals howled sadly for a while, and then turned around with a dozen little jackals to escape back to the woods.

Chili barked happily, jumped off the rock and chased after her, pounced on the female jackal with her paws, and butted the female jackal with her head. The mother jackals and their little ones fled in fear, while Chili ran and blocked them, forcing the mother jackals back to the riverside.

The silver plate-like moon rose into the sky. Gradually, Chili’s ferocious attacks turned into teasing, and she allowed the jackal to swallow most of the red deer. The female jackal no longer fought hard. Escaped...

Chili became the leader of the group of jackals, and all the female jackals and puppies bowed to him and respected him. Chili led the group of jackals to live freely in the forest.

But Chili did not forget to summon Panba. He never went to Bajiao Village with his dogs, although he still hasn't figured out why he was driven into the forest.

Chili was severely beaten by Zhaopanba and forced to flee into the mountains. It was really unjust. That day when Zhaopanba was aiming and shooting at the wild boar, he moved his steps and stepped on three snake eggs in the grass nest. At that time, Zhao Panba was concentrating on the wild boar. Unexpectedly, a dark-brown cobra suddenly stood up in the grass. The pair of spectacle-shaped markings with white edges and black hearts on its neck quickly expanded. Its blood-red tongue was spitting rapidly, and it was "whooshing" in its mouth. "There was a sound, staring at Zhao Panba's exposed arms from behind, and he was about to...

Generally speaking, dogs do not dare to provoke venomous snakes. However, at this critical moment, Chili jumped up desperately and bit the cobra's neck. The snake body, which was more than one meter long, tightly wrapped around Chili. At this moment, Chili heard his master calling loudly, but he didn't dare to let go; the two animals were rolling around in the grass, biting...it wasn't until Chili bit off the cobra's triangular head that he didn't care. He took a breath, jumped out of the grass, and pounced on the wild boar that was stuck between the aerial roots of the two banyan trees and was bleeding like a river...

Unfortunately, Zhaopanba didn't see this scene, and Chili couldn't tell his master.

Zhao Panba was heartbroken by Chili's infidelity. He sold his powder gun, determined not to hunt anymore, and stayed at home for half a year. In late summer and early autumn, in order to relax and relieve his boredom, he herded two cattle for the production team.

Opening the Door Festival (every year from July 15th to October 15th for the Dai people, it is the "closed" time. During this period, love, marriage and other large-scale entertainment activities are not allowed. After the Opening the Door Festival on October 15th, Not long after the incident, the two oxen each gave birth to a calf on the same day. This was so gratifying that Zhao Panba slept in the cowshed at night and looked after the cows. During the day he took the cows in search of fresh pasture. One early morning, Zhaopanba was carrying an ancient wooden crossbow and asked his grandson Ai Susu to ride on the back of a cow and drive the cattle to the edge of the Dahei Mountains to graze the bison.

Bison Four is actually a long and narrow depression, humid and warm, with southern alfalfa and red clover growing everywhere, with yellow, white, blue and purple flowers blooming; dewdrops are stuck to the grass blades. Let the cows feast here for three days, and the skinny old cows will be fattened by the young grass.

A pair of calves were running happily in the grass, running to the stream for a while to drink cold water, and then jumping under the cow's belly to suck milk with their young mouths. The cow stood quietly, chewing tender grass, and from time to time stretched out her tongue to lick the calf's back affectionately.

Zhao Panba picked snow-white roses, bright yellow jasmine and golden-edged cannas from the wild flowers beside the stream, woven them into a garland and put it around Aisusu's neck. Ai Susu saw himself transformed into the mythical Prince of Flowers in the clear reflection of the stream. He was so happy that he climbed onto a cow and shouted: "Come on!" He rode the cow as a war horse on the grass. They started galloping, making Zhao Panba laugh.

The cow trotted to the narrow headland carrying Wen Susu. Suddenly it let out a long "moo" sound, turned its head in panic, and ran towards the calf with all its strength. Ai Susu was riding on the back of a naked cow. He was unprepared and was bumped off. His knees were scraped. He cried and limped towards his grandfather.

With decades of hunting experience, Zhaopanba knew he was in danger. He raised his sharp eyes like a hawk and looked towards the promontory. He saw branches swaying wildly in the bushes, dead leaves falling, and suddenly a group of jackals jumped out and pressed over him.

The two calves got into the belly of the cow and trembled. The cow’s eyes showed anger and horror. Zhaopanba took off his wooden crossbow, slapped a cow on the butt, and shouted: "Idiot, run!" The two cows snorted, spread their hooves, and fled in the direction of Bajiao Village. But it was too late. The jackals split into two groups and jumped in front of the herd, blocking the way. The cattle had no choice but to return to Zhaopanba and look at him as if asking for help.

Zhao Panba took Ai Susu into his arms and observed him calmly. There were about twenty jackals, large and small, and they were all hungry. He knew that hungry jackals were more difficult to deal with than tigers, and he regretted selling the gunpowder gun. Otherwise, the huge explosion of the gunpowder gun might scare the jackals away, and at least it would send a message to the villagers in the village. . Now he only has about a dozen barrels of bamboo arrows and a small tube of blood-sealing throat juice (see blood-sealing throat, a highly poisonous tree whose sap will kill when it touches blood. Hunters in Xishuangbanna use it as curare to kill wild animals. Therefore, it is also called "curare tree"), it will definitely be outnumbered. The situation is indeed critical. But Zhaopanba is an old hunter after all, and he can remain calm in the face of danger. He pulled the two calves and Esussu into the middle, and he and the two cows formed a triangular protective circle facing the jackals. The two cows were snorting heavily, lowering their heads and shaking their two short, thin horns, ready to fight the jackals to the death.

Called Pan Bala to fill the crossbow string, dipped a sharp barrel bamboo arrow in the blood-sealed throat juice, inserted it into the crossbow slot, and looked for the leading male jackal among the eager jackals. But he was surprised to find that, except for the young jackals, all the jackals in this group were female jackals, and there was not a single mature male jackal.

At this time, the jackals had surrounded Zhao Panba and the cattle, howling and approaching step by step. A half-grown male jackal, probably wanting to show off his abilities, rushed up first and scurried back and forth in front of the two cows, trying to find a way to get in and sneak into the guard to drag away the calf. The two cows stared with blood-red eyes and were on guard. Zhao Panba squinted his eyes, picked up the wooden crossbow, aimed at the arrogant half-big male jackal, lightly pulled the trigger, and with a "pop" sound, the sharp arrow pierced its eye socket; it screamed and hit two people on the ground. Roll, kick your legs in the air twice, and stop moving.

The group of jackals made a commotion, and four female jackals and five little jackals jumped out, swarmed up and pounced on Zhao Panba. Zhao Panba didn't panic, quickly dipped the five arrowheads in the poison, and fired them one by one. Four female jackals and one little jackal were all shot to death by arrows, and the remaining four little jackals fled back to the pack of jackals with their tails between their legs.

Although one third of the jackal was killed, it still refused to retreat. There were only the last four barrel wood arrows left in Zhaopanba's quiver. You must quickly try to open a bloody path, otherwise you will run out of arrows and wait to die. Zhaopanba carried Aisusu on his back and tied it tightly with vines. He asked the two cows to hold the two cows on the left and right, and followed him towards Bajiao Village.

Five or six jackals lined up in a row, blocking the road, baring their teeth and roaring. Zhaopanba strode forward to meet them, and shot two of them to death with two arrows. The other jackals saw their companions' painful struggle to death, cowered, and hid by the roadside. Zhaopanba took the opportunity to break out of the encirclement. He ran a short distance towards the stockade and looked back. Unfortunately, the two cows and two calves did not escape with him; after the jackals let him go, they blocked the herd. More than a dozen jackals rushed forward to bite each other like crazy; two cows put their heads close to the grass and raised their poor horns to pick on the jackals and protect their calves. The jackal was extremely agile, shot past the horns, pounced on the cow's bulky body, and bit cruelly. Both cows had several bites on their backs and were dripping with blood. They still refused to give in and resisted desperately.

Zhao Panba was so angry that his orifices were filled with smoke. Cattle are collective property and should not be abused by wild beasts. Besides, he had been a powerful figure in the mountains and forests for decades, and had killed countless tigers, leopards, and wild boars. In the end, he let a jackal eat a cow in front of his eyes. Even if he lay in the coffin, he couldn't swallow this breath. Thinking of this, Zhao Panba roared angrily, drew an arrow from his string, ran back, and aimed two arrows at the two jackals who had jumped on the cow. The two cows took advantage of the jackal's panic, gently pressed their heads against the calf's buttocks, and retreated to Zhao Panba.

Ai Susu raised his fist on Zhaopanba's back and shouted at the jackal: "Bad guy, ask grandpa to beat you all to death!"

The jackal didn't seem to be interested. Not afraid of threats. Since half of their accomplices died tragically, they became cautious. After surrounding Zhaopanba and the herd, they did not pounce on them immediately, but howled angrily from twenty steps away.

Zhao Panba’s quiver is empty. Alas, if I still have ten arrows, I can just skin the jackals and send them to the county town's local product purchasing center tomorrow, and I can get back three or five shiny black powder guns.

After a while, the jackals gathered again, and a few jumped up to Zhao Panba to tease and test him. He called Panbala full of strings, pretended to aim and fired an arrow. With a "pop" sound, the jackal heard the familiar fatal sound and retreated in fright.

In less than a pack of cigarettes, the jackal came back again. Zhao Panba fired another missed arrow, and the jackal retreated again. This was repeated four times. There was a jackal with a bald tail who probably saw Zhao Panba singing "The Empty City Strategy". The other jackals flinched the fifth time, but it didn't flinch. It glared at Zhao Panba with its sharp canine teeth and suddenly became silent. He jumped up and wanted to put his front paws on Zhao Panba's shoulders so that he could bite his throat. Zhao Panba was on guard for a long time. He ducked, picked up the crossbow made of red sandalwood, and used all his strength to hit the bald-tailed jackal on the head. With a "pop" sound, the white brains and Black blood flowed all over the ground, and the bald-tailed jackal lay straight on the ground without even a grunt. Unfortunately, Zhao Panba used too much force and the strong wooden crossbow broke into three pieces. He was really bare-handed now.

The jackal was frightened and did not dare to pounce again. A female jackal took the lead in howling, and the other jackals followed suit. The howl was very strange, like a reckless man howling, hoarse and sharp, continuous, shaking the mountain valley, and even Zhao Panba, who was used to hearing the roar of tigers and leopards, couldn't help but feel terrified. The two calves fell to their knees in fright, and Aisusu also cried in fright.

Following the sound of howling, there was a loud crash in a mountain covered by vegetation on the half slope a mile away, and a black shadow jumped out and rushed towards Li Zhaopan. Not far away from Ba, he suddenly stopped.

Zhao Panba rubbed his eyes and looked carefully at the tall dog in front of him. Sure enough, there were two symmetrical light black patterns between the golden fur. It was Chili who had been running away for more than half a year!

Zhao Panba was furious. This ungrateful beast dares to instigate a jackal to harm his master! If there is still a poisonous arrow in his hand, he will definitely shoot it through Chili's heart. Now that I am unarmed, how can I defeat Chili, who is more ferocious than a tiger? It is not a pity to have a handful of old bones and a face covered with loess. My precious grandson and the collective cattle will suffer, and they will die in the mouth of the hunting dog that I have carefully fed. This will become a tragic shame that will be circulated for ninety years. Nine generations of descendants! The old hunter's face turned purple for a while, then turned gray for a while.

Ai Susu also recognized Chili on his grandfather’s back. Facing this ferocious hunting dog, he did not feel frightened, but shouted happily: "Chili, bite the jackal quickly! Bite quickly!"

Zhao Panba turned his face and faced Ai Susu He yelled: "Shut up!" Then he pointed a trembling finger at Chili and cursed sternly:

"You damn beast, you are the womb of a wolf and the soul of a devil. One day it will become the meat in the hunter's pot."

Chili gently wagged his tail towards Wen Susu and stretched out his tongue to grind his teeth. Zhaopanba felt that Chili was cruelly mocking him. He couldn't help but shudder for a while. Suddenly he felt like he was stepping on white clouds, and his whole body was light and soft. He was old and exhausted, and just wanted to be less affected. Mental torture before death. He simply sat on the ground and weakly said to Chili: "If you want to bite you, bite my neck as soon as possible." He closed his eyelids, and two lines of old tears overflowed from the corners of his eyes.

But after waiting for a long time, there was still no movement. Zhaopanba felt strange. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Chili was still wagging his tail in front of him. The jackals got impatient and howled one by one.

Chili didn’t move. After a while, twelve jackals divided into two columns and pressed towards Zhaopanba.

Suddenly, Chili stared at the jackal and barked three times. The jackals stood still as if they were electrocuted, and they all looked at Chili with fear and anger.

Chili rushed to the path leading to Bajiao Village, drove away the three little jackals guarding there, then ran to Zhaopanba, bit his lapel, and dragged him towards the "gap".

Before Zhao Panba understood what was going on, the three female jackals sniffed the fishy smell of the corpses of their accomplices, suddenly howled like crazy, and led the nine little jackals to pounce on Zhao Panba. and herds of cattle.

Chili growled angrily at the jackal, but to no avail. So its limbs flew into the air, like an arrow that had just left the string, swooping here and there, and using its head to push over the jackals that were baring their teeth and claws.

The three female jackals surrounded Chili desperately and bit each other; the other nine little jackals also abandoned Zhaopanba and the herd and pounced on Chili.

Chili killed six little jackals and a female jackal at once. But unfortunately, the remaining two female jackals bit Chili's two hind legs and refused to let go. Chili was kneeling with its front paws bent, unable to move. Three little jackals took the opportunity to pounce on it and gnaw at it.

Chili screamed wildly, suddenly raised his head, straightened his waist, and raised his front paws into the air. The three little jackals were thrown to the ground; Chili's two front paws pressed down on the two little jackals on the left and right respectively. At the same time, the jackal bit off one of the hind legs of the little jackal in the middle, including the leather bone, and then bit through the belly of the two little jackals under the front paws. The three little jackals screamed, dragging their bloody bodies and fled into the grass.

However, Chili also had several bites on his body and was bleeding profusely. Especially the two female jackals biting its hind legs, their sharp teeth gnawing at its snow-white bones. Chili couldn't turn around and didn't have the strength to jump anymore, so he had to lie on the ground, watching Zhaopanba barking "woof woof woof" in a hurry, hoping that his old master would leave as soon as possible.

When Zhao Panba saw that there were only the last two female jackals left, his courage returned. He got up and ran over, suddenly picked up the two hind legs of the female jackal on the left, threw them into the air, made an arc, and hit the stone hard; the female jackal suddenly fainted.

The female jackal on the right immediately let go of Chili and suddenly jumped up to Panba's shoulder. Zhao Panba was unprepared and stumbled to the ground. The female jackal opened its bloody mouth and bit him viciously on the Adam's apple - at this critical moment, Chili dragged his hind legs with exposed bones, used the greatest strength in his life to pounce on the female jackal, and bit him tightly. Hold its neck...

When Panba was summoned to separate them, the female jackal was dead and Chili was lying there softly, dying. Ai Susu cried and put the garland his grandfather had made for him around Chili's neck. He took off his shirt and jacket and helped his grandfather bandage the wound on Chili's leg.

The sun was at its peak and the mist had dispersed. Zhao Panba drove the injured cow, took Ai Susu, hugged the unconscious Chili, and walked tiredly step by step towards Bajiao Village. Go. Along the way, Ai Susu kept calling "Chili!" "Chili!" affectionately. In front of Zhaopanba's eyes, the scene under the palm tree always swayed, and old tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes