Of the two men at the checkpoint, the older one went inside to make a phone call, while the younger one insisted on inspecting Li Long's vehicle.
His expression changed when he saw the three pelts in the trunk. When he spotted Li Long's Type 56 semiautomatic rifle inside the vehicle, he stepped straight back several paces and said sternly, "Did you use this gun to hunt? You've broken the law, do you know that?"
As he turned to look toward the checkpoint, the man who had made the call happened to come out. Noticing his colleague's expression, he immediately asked, "Xiao Liu, what's wrong?"
The young man surnamed Liu immediately said, "They have guns in the vehicle, and they've killed wolves. There are wolf pelts. What should we do, sir?"
The older man smiled when he heard this. "Leave it alone."
Then he said to Li Xiangqian, "Director Li, correct? Our station chief would like you to take the phone."
Li Xiangqian went inside to answer the call. The older man went over and closed the trunk and doors of Li Long's vehicle. Patting his apprentice on the shoulder, he said:
"It's nothing. Don't be nervous. Their leader said they were getting rid of pests for the herders. Otherwise, if these wolves killed too many cattle and sheep, we'd have trouble too."
Li Long nodded. "You're making a fair point. We should protect animals, but we can't put them above people. If these wolves aren't hunted, they'll become a scourge in the mountains. We only came up to hunt wolves after the herders asked us for help."
As he spoke, he opened the door, took a pack of cigarettes from the vehicle, and offered cigarettes to the two inspectors.
Still assuming Li Long was an ordinary employee of the