The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

"Big Bear Dominator!" Li Baoyu cried, rushing to Zhao Jun’s side and grabbing his arm.

Zhao Jun immediately shook off Li Baoyu’s hand. With a shrug, the rifle slid off his shoulder and into his waiting grasp.

Li Baoyu turned and pointed back the way he had come. "It’s over there."

"You saw it?"

"I saw its prints." Li Baoyu gestured with his hands. "Huge Bear’s Paw prints, way bigger than my own footprints."

Li Baoyu wore size 45 shoes, and the prints were much larger than his own. ’This brown bear has to be over eight hundred pounds, maybe close to a thousand.’

’And that’s a conservative estimate!’

"Let’s go!" Zhao Jun said, pushing off. He held his rifle in one hand and used a Fraxinus mandschurica stick for support with the other, sliding away on the snow.

"Alright!" Hearing Zhao Jun’s command, Li Baoyu’s spirits lifted. But they hadn’t gone far before he realized something was wrong.

Zhao Jun wasn’t heading toward the bear tracks. He was heading home.

"Brother," Li Baoyu said, quickly sliding forward to catch up. "Aren’t we going to hunt that Xiong Ba?"

"Nope," Zhao Jun said, as if it were obvious. "Seeing tracks this time of day means it’s a roamer. Who knows where it’s holed up? And we don’t have any dogs. It’s too dangerous for the two of us to go after it." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"But..."

"But nothing," Zhao Jun laughed. "Let’s hurry home and get some rest. Tomorrow, we’ll go In the Town and sell the Gall in our pockets."

"Now that’s a good idea!" Hearing they were going to sell the Gall, Li Baoyu’s face lit up with a huge smile.

’One thousand yuan! Just thinking about it is enough to make you happy.’

The two traveled over mountains and ridges, following the same path where they’d discovered the herd of wild boars half a month ago. There were still boar tracks on the trail, but it was easy to tell they were old. They didn’t find any fresh signs.

But after another half-mile or so, they reached the very slope that had been trampled flat by the boar herd.

As they drew near, they saw a multitude of fresh boar tracks merging from a side trail, with droppings scattered among them.

Zhao Jun stopped and poked at the droppings with his Fraxinus mandschurica Stick. They were frozen solid.

That didn’t tell him how long ago the boars had passed, but one look at the tracks confirmed they had been made today.

"Baoyu," Zhao Jun called out.

Li Baoyu, who was bent over examining the tracks, looked up at his name. He saw Zhao Jun pointing up the slope.

Li Baoyu nodded, and they started sliding up the slope together.

The entire way up, the snow beneath them was covered in boar tracks, many of them fresh.

They had just reached the crest of the ridge and hadn’t even found their footing when they heard a massive bang.

BOOM!

A flash of light flickered on the opposite mountain, the roar echoing all around them.

On the opposing ridge, a cloud of snow smoke billowed into the air.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The initial shots were followed by an unending barrage of gunfire!

The first few shots were distinct, but after the third, the gunfire blurred into a single, chaotic roar.

The ridge opposite them was like a sleeping dragon that had just been awoken. It was as if the dragon was turning over in its sleep, the entire ridgeline churning with movement.

’It’s not the mountain that’s moving,’ Zhao Jun realized. ’It’s countless wild boars stampeding across the ridge.’

The boars poured down from the mountain’s peak, a constantly undulating mass, all the way to its base.

One pig after another, a chaotic flood of bodies. From a distance, it was impossible to make out individual animals, creating the illusion that the mountain itself was in motion.

"Brother..." Li Baoyu stammered, grabbing Zhao Jun with one hand while pointing frantically at the opposite mountain with the other.

Zhao Jun held his rifle, but he didn’t flick off the safety.

’Too far.’

’I can faintly see them running, but I can’t make out numbers or individuals.’

But then he saw it—one figure that seemed much larger than all the others around it.

After about two minutes, the churning on the ridge ceased. The gunfire died down, and silence returned to the mountains.

Li Baoyu stared blankly at the now-tranquil ridge opposite them, his hand still clutching the sleeve of Zhao Jun’s padded jacket.

Zhao Jun gave him a light, resigned pat. Li Baoyu finally snapped out of it and turned to Zhao Jun. "Brother, should we go take a look?"

"No," Zhao Jun said, shaking his head. "They didn’t get it."

"How’d you know?"

Zhao Jun said, "I saw the big one."

"When?"

"Just now."

"How come I didn’t see it?"

Done wasting words, Zhao Jun gripped his rifle in one hand, planted his Fraxinus mandschurica Stick with the other, and said, "We’ll find out if we follow them."

With that, Zhao Jun shot off down the slope.

The bases of the two mountains met at a confluence. From there, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu headed east and saw that the snow on a long, gentle slope had been completely packed down by the herd.

Innumerable hoof prints overlapped, making it impossible to distinguish one from another.

Here and there on the snow, they could faintly see specks of bright red. Some of the boars had been hit.

The snow, packed down by the herd, was exceptionally slick, allowing Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu to glide across it at high speed on their skis.

But suddenly, Zhao Jun dug his Fraxinus mandschurica stick into the snow, bringing himself to a stop. He turned and looked back at the mountain where the shots had come from.

A wicked grin spread across Zhao Jun’s face. He raised his rifle to the sky, flicked off the safety, and fired a shot.

BANG!

Far away on the high mountain, Zhao Youcai, Li Dayong, Wang Qiang, and Lin Xiangshun faintly heard the shot and all turned in unison toward the sound.

"What was..."

"Dammit!" Zhao Youcai, who had been smoking, slapped his thigh and scrambled to his feet. "Don’t let someone else snatch our prize!"

"Brother-in-law," said Wang Qiang. "Should we give chase?"

Zhao Youcai stared into the distance, pausing for a full two seconds before pulling his gaze back. He sighed. "What’s the point in chasing now? Let’s head back."