The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

The ridge leading down the mountain was over two li long, and the source of the gunshot was even farther away. By the time they rushed over, it would be too late.

They all knew it was right not to give chase, but they couldn’t stand the thought of giving up.

Today, this group of four had entered the mountain early in the morning. Lin Xiangshun was driving, and Zhao Youcai sat in the passenger seat, holding a gun. As for Li Dayong and Wang Qiang, they could only squat in the back, in the open-top truck bed.

After the car entered the mountain, they went straight to the northern slope where Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu had seen countless wild boar tracks the other day. The four men got out of the car and went to the bottom of the slope to investigate.

They had arrived a full five hours earlier than Zhao Jun. The tracks left by the boars were fresh, and the dung scattered about hadn’t frozen solid yet.

These boars had just passed through.

"Big Brother! Should we head up the ridge?" Li Dayong asked Zhao Youcai, gripping his shotgun.

Zhao Youcai didn’t answer. Instead, he turned his gaze to Wang Qiang and asked him, "Qiangzi, what’s the play?"

Zhao Youcai, Li Dayong, and Lin Xiangshun were all good at drive hunts with dogs. But for a tracking hunt, they had to rely on Wang Qiang’s skills.

Wang Qiang smiled. "If we just follow their asses, how long is that gonna take? Get in the car. Let’s circle around and check the other side of the slope."

The four men got back in the car. Lin Xiangshun started the engine and drove around toward the southern slope.

But not all the roads in these mountains were passable by car. When they circled around to the west, Lin Xiangshun parked the vehicle on a wood-gathering trail.

The four got out and made a small loop to the south.

By the time they reached the southern slope, they didn’t even need to look at it, because the entire face of this southern mountain was covered in wild boar tracks. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

This herd of boars had come down from North Mountain and gone up South Mountain.

Wang Qiang said, "Get in the car. We’ll keep cutting them off!"

This time, no one else had any objections.

The four men got in the car again and drove around. But after a certain distance, they had to get out and walk toward the base of South Mountain’s southern slope.

When they got to the south side, they found no boar tracks, which meant the herd was still on South Mountain.

"Up the mountain!" Zhao Youcai gripped his gun and took the lead, striding up the slope with the others close behind.

This mountain was much higher than the last one.

The snow on the mountain was knee-deep. Zhao Youcai hadn’t gone more than five hundred meters before Li Dayong caught up to him.

Li Dayong said, "Big Brother, let me break the trail."

"Mm," Zhao Youcai grunted, not objecting.

Although Li Dayong wasn’t as tall as his son, Li Baoyu, he was still around six-foot-one, a rare height in those days.

He had long legs. As he walked ahead step by step, the other three followed in his footprints, which saved them a lot of energy.

By the time they reached the halfway point up the mountain, it was already noon. The four men quickly gathered a pile of firewood and took out the steamed sticky bean buns Zhao Youcai had made that morning to roast and eat.

They started their meal at almost the same time as Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu, who were thirteen or fourteen li away.

With some pickled vegetable strips, the four had a simple lunch. After eating, they rested for another ten-odd minutes, then smothered the fire with snow and continued their trek to the summit.

As they neared the summit, Wang Qiang stopped Li Dayong. He came from the back of the group to the very front and said in a low voice, "I’ll take the lead. You guys follow slowly, and quietly."

The other three didn’t speak, just nodded.

Wang Qiang proceeded cautiously in the lead. After another four or five hundred meters, he suddenly thrust his right hand back.

Zhao Youcai and the others all froze. They stooped slightly. All four were wearing white overcoats, seeming to merge with the icy, snow-covered landscape.

After about half a minute, Wang Qiang flicked his hand upward. He slowly straightened up and moved forward.

Zhao Youcai and the others held their breath and slowly moved upward.

Another hundred meters or so up, Wang Qiang stopped again, but this time he waved repeatedly, gesturing for the other three to come up.

The three continued upward, gathered around Wang Qiang, and cautiously looked up the slope.

About a hundred meters away, there was nothing but wild boars!

Big Cannon Eggs, old sows, yellow-haired piglets... the boar herd was truly a sea of them, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Seeing the herd, Zhao Youcai didn’t rush to find the legendary Pig God. Instead, he scanned the area to his left and right.

To win this battle, they first had to ensure their own safety. The four of them were on a slope. If they tossed out a bundle of Maze and the boars panicked, they might stampede in their direction out of desperation. That would be a disaster.

There were trees on both sides.

Seven or eight meters to the front-left was a hickory tree. Less than a meter to the back-left was another hickory tree.

Three or four meters to the front-right, and to Li Dayong’s right as well, were also hickory trees.

This was a hickory grove.

The snow this year wasn’t as deep as in previous years, which was why the boars could root for hickory nuts and acorns to eat.

Otherwise, if the snow was too deep, they wouldn’t be able to dig up nuts and acorns, and would have to resort to eating sedge grass.

This hickory grove, he figured, was the herd’s feeding ground.

Zhao Youcai patted Lin Xiangshun and pointed to the hickory tree to their back-left. Without a word, Lin Xiangshun simply and quietly moved toward it.

Zhao Youcai then gave Wang Qiang a look. Wang Qiang crept toward the front-left. He was using a 16-gauge under-barrel shotgun, which had the shortest range, so he had to be at the front.

Zhao Youcai took a bundle of Maze from his satchel and handed it to Li Dayong. Li Dayong took the Maze and, without needing any further instruction from Zhao Youcai, headed directly to the front-right.

Once Li Dayong moved, the hickory tree to his right became free. Zhao Youcai slowly moved to it and hid behind it.

Each of the four men found a hickory tree and concealed himself behind it.

That’s right. They found trees not to climb them.

At such a close distance, climbing a tree would inevitably make noise. With so many boars, how could they not be detected?

So, the four men found trees simply for cover. Only by hiding their bodies could they use the trees for protection when the herd charged down. If worse came to worst, it wouldn’t be too late to climb them then.

Now, with the trees providing cover, all four were able to stand up straight and scan the distance, searching for the largest boar in the herd.

But this herd of wild boars was simply too big.

There were too many boars. No one could see where the Pig God was hiding, nor did anyone know if it was currently sitting or lying down.

Li Dayong, positioned in front of Zhao Youcai, looked back at him. Seeing Zhao Youcai nod, Li Dayong held the Maze in one hand and took out a matchbox with the other.

The very instant Li Dayong struck a match, deep within the herd, a massive boar that had been rooting through the snow with its snout suddenly snapped its head up!

Its entire body was covered in black bristles, and from top to bottom, they were all stiff and hard.

You have to understand, other wild boars have fine, soft hair on their flanks and underbellies.

But this one was covered in bristles!

Other boars have stiff, needle-like bristles growing sparsely along their spines.

But this one’s entire spine, from top to bottom, was covered in a dense mane of these needle-like bristles, each one standing straight up, as if it had a million steel needles on its back.

One of its tusks was broken off at the root. Only one remained, pale yellow and honed into a crescent moon, like a deadly scimitar.

Half of its left ear was missing, and the joint of its right foreleg was bent backward at an unnatural angle.

The leg must have been broken and healed improperly.

There were several scars on its body. The bristles that grew back over them were different from the rest—sparser and coarser.

Behind its left shoulder blade was a wound, like a hole, but not deep.

But it wasn’t deep because half a tusk was embedded inside it!

It must have been left there years ago by one of its own kind during a fight for mating rights.

This was very common among wild boars.

What wasn’t common was its size.

It stood up, and the three-to-four-hundred-jin boars around it looked like children next to an adult.

To say it was like a small mountain might be an exaggeration, but it was certainly as big as a decorative rockery.

Just as Zhao Jun had said, it was incredibly sharp.

So sharp that the very instant Li Dayong struck the match, it caught the faint scent of sulfur.

Its snout twitched and sniffed, making a "HUFF... HUFF..." sound.

In an instant, every boar on the mountainside—whether they were walking, standing still, playing, or rooting for food—froze all movement and snapped their heads up in unison.