A thousand dollars and a groundless promise saved him a lot of trouble. Li Du thought it was a pretty good deal.
He had cash on him, so he counted a thousand dollars and handed it to the lawyer. Then he said, "We'll leave here immediately. We'll climb up this ridge and won't hunt any more animals here."
Claude smiled and took the money. "Okay, Mr. Li. I wish you all the best."
The way this matter was handled was quite surprising to Li Du. He had thought that there would inevitably be a fight with the uncivilized Native Americans. He was even prepared to run away in the event of a firefight.
He did not expect the Native Americans to learn to use the law to solve problems. Of course, they had no legal basis, but the result was not excessive. Li Du acquiesced to their tribal law as a basis.
The burly man took the cash, counted it, and put it away. Then he looked straight at Li Du and said, "Hey, sir, is the monkey on your back injured?"
Ah Bai, who had been hiding in Li Du's backpack, climbed out and sat on Li Du's shoulder. It looked at the matter curiously. The injury on its lower body was obvious, and it was wrapped in several layers of gauze.
Li Du remembered the interest of the poachers in Ah Bai and asked warily, "What's wrong?"
The burly man took out a small clay bottle from his pocket and said, "I have an ancestral medicine for treating injuries here. It's made from twenty-five kinds of plants. I'll sell it to you for a thousand dollars. Do you want it? It can cure your monkey's injury in two days. "
His words sounded like the words of a swindler. Li Du could not help but laugh and asked, "So expensive?"
The burly man said, "I think you're rich, so I want to sell it to you. I won't sell it to ordinary people. Only my people use this medicine."
When he said this, he looked even more like a swindler.
As if afraid that Li Du did not believe him, the burly man said, "Within two days, I guarantee that the monkey's wound will scab and it will be able to climb trees and walk again. The money will be well spent."
Li Du said, "You don't even know my monkey's injury. How can you guarantee it?"
The burly man smiled and said, "It was grazed by a shotgun bullet. The wound is not serious, but the humidity in the mountains is high and the temperature difference is large. The wound will not heal easily. Your medicine is not suitable for the environment here."
Hearing this, Li Du became serious and said, "How did you know it was a graze from a shotgun shell?"
The big man said, "It's very simple. Look at its fur. There are some spots that are slightly yellow and black. This is the result of being burned by gunpowder. The gunpowder that caused this result came from a hunting rifle. I know its power. Since your monkey can still sit up, it was obviously only grazed by the bullet. Otherwise, its lower body would have been destroyed! "
This analysis was very reliable. Li Du felt that the burly man was somewhat reliable.
The burly man shook the bottle again and said, "I can see that you value this monkey a lot. It's your favorite pet, right?"
"Yes."
The big man said again, "I won't murder your pet for a little money. Wouldn't that make you angry? You have so many guns with you, our tribe can't run away from here. If I lied to you, you can come back and find me at any time. This is big trouble, and I won't cause big trouble for the tribe for a little money. "
Li Du thought for a while and said, "Five hundred dollars a bottle."
The big man shook his head. "One thousand dollars. This medicine is definitely effective. It took us a year and a half to collect all the herbs we needed!"
Li Du released the little bug. It was easy to verify his words. The little bug turned back time and he saw the process of making this bottle of medicine.
The big man was not lying. It was very difficult to make this medicine. It took more than a year to collect all the herbs. In the end, a lot of the herbs were made into a big bottle of this medicine.
He counted another thousand dollars to the Native American. The man grinned and handed the bottle to him. He said, "Come back and find me when you're done. One thousand dollars a bottle. It works wonders on external injuries!"
The expected conflict did not happen. The Native Americans were not unreasonable. On the contrary, they were gentler than most of the treasure hunters Li Du knew.
After getting the money, the Native Americans left. Lu Guan looked at their backs and said, "They're not here to scam us, are they?"
Li Du motioned for Brother Wolf to untie Ah Bai. He said, "It's possible, but this is probably not their main business. Otherwise, they would have starved to death. How many people come here in a year?"
The thing in the small bottle was some dark green paste that emitted a fragrant smell. Brother Wolf hesitated and said, "Do we really have to use this stuff?"
Li Du felt that it was not something bad from the smell. He applied some on Ah Bai's wound. Ah Bai grimaced in pain but did not cry out in pain like before.
After paying two thousand dollars, they continued to climb up the mountain.
The good weather was over. Unknowingly, the sky was overcast. When they set up camp at night, Brother Wolf chose a flat hillside with a lee.
Li Du took out a roll of film. After turning back time, he looked at the photographer's route and then compared it to the map to correct the route.
Now, he had not set foot on the route that the chief and the photographer had taken to the burial ground. Before he set foot on that route, he had to first find the site of the Kochena tribe.
By this time, they were already deep in the forest. In the past, there were no mountain roads on this mountain. It was very difficult to enter the mountain. It would take at least half a month to walk from the outside to where they were now.
It was very late at night. Dark clouds floated in the sky that night. There was no starlight or moonlight, so Li Du chose to sleep early.
Looking at the stars in the Appalachian Mountains was even more beautiful. The bright stars seemed to be shining on the top of the mountain. It seemed that if they climbed another mountain, they would be able to see them.
When he woke up the next day, he looked at the map carefully. After another round of climbing, they finally arrived at a valley.
Li Du raised his head and saw that there were towering mountains on both sides of the valley. It was as if God had cleaved this valley with his sword.
There were some large birds flying above the valley. Brother Wolf used a telescope to observe and found horned owls, horned owls, red-tailed eagles, and northern goshawks.
This was in line with historical records. There were eagles nesting on the peak of the Kochena tribe's camp. In the Native American language, the name 'Kochena' meant 'the birthplace of eagles.'
This was the camp abandoned by the Kochena tribe. After more than a century, this camp had been abandoned.
Throughout history, many explorers had come here in search of gold and treasure. The camp had been badly damaged. Only a careful search would reveal some caves.
The outside of the caves was covered with vines and weeds. One had to push them aside to see the cave entrance.
Some of the caves had been occupied by wild animals. There were no traces of Native American life in them.
After resting for a while, Li Du was ready to lead the group to retrace the treasure route that the chief and the photographer had taken. However, not long after they started on the road, Ah Ow sniffled and suddenly took the lead to run into the forest at the side.
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