The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

At the bottom of the slope, a wild boar weighing over three hundred pounds was pinned head-down in the snow by three hounds. Its front legs were forced to its knees, unable to rise, but with only three dogs on it, its hind legs were still standing.

The wild boar struggled violently, constantly trying to get its front legs back underneath it.

Any experienced Hunter knew that if a pinned boar managed to get back up, it would immediately turn on the dogs.

Just as the wild boar managed to prop up one front leg and was struggling to raise the other, Huang Gui arrived.

In a flash, Huang Gui’s blade rose and fell. He drove the Invasion Blade down, and it sank deep into the boar’s body.

As Huang Gui struck, he put the force of both arms into the downward thrust. Emboldened by their master’s attack, the six hounds grew even more frenzied, tearing savagely at the boar.

The three black dogs pinning the boar’s head, in particular, took advantage of the blow to force the animal’s head back down into the snow.

The boar roared in the snow, its mouth wide open, and the surrounding drifts slid into its gullet.

Fresh blood now poured from the boar’s mouth, but it continued to fight for its life.

Huang Gui withdrew the blade with a wet squelch. A torrent of blood followed it, and in that instant, the boar felt more than half its strength drain away with the flow.

Huang Gui’s expression was unchanged, his hand steady, as he stabbed down a second time.

The second strike landed right beside the first wound. As the blade sank in, Huang Gui leaned forward, putting his full weight and strength behind it.

The boar’s struggles ceased instantly. Its body only twitched, its four hooves pawing weakly at the snow.

Huang Gui straightened up, leaving the blade in. The long Fraxinus mandschurica Stick of the spear stood upright on the boar’s back.

In less than half a minute, the boar collapsed onto its side. Its legs kicked feebly, its eyes rolled back in its head, and a faint gurgle escaped its mouth.

Watching this from halfway up the slope, Zhou Jianjun’s jaw nearly hit the floor. He was an avid fisherman, but when had fishing ever offered a scene this intense and thrilling?

From Zhou Jianjun’s perspective, this Huang Gui was incredible. A "cannon eggs" boar of over three hundred pounds, and he’d finished it with just two strikes.

It was no surprise Zhou Jianjun thought this way; he was a layman.

But Zhao Jun and Wei Lai were both experienced, and they understood what they were seeing: a perfect display of teamwork between a Hunter and his dogs.

The moment the dogs saw Huang Gui advance, they had launched their final, all-out assault.

As their master, Huang Gui would never let the boar get back up and harm his dogs.

There was a saying: a cowardly soldier is one man, but a cowardly general makes a den of cowards.

Hunting dogs follow their master’s lead. The dogs are a reflection of their master.

Huang Gui was fierce, and the dogs he’d trained were just as formidable. No wonder the man was so proud; he truly had the skill to back it up.

Seeing Huang Gui pull the Invasion Blade from the boar, detach the blade head, and prepare to gut the animal himself, Zhao Jun and Wei Lai scrambled down the slope.

Although it was their first day hunting with Huang Gui, there were rules. In a group hunt, you didn’t let the man who brought down the quarry do the gutting.

There was no complex reasoning behind it; the man had already done the hard part, and it wasn’t right to make him do the dirty work too.

Wei Lai hurried to Huang Gui’s side. "Brother Huang, let me do the gutting."

"No need, brother." Huang Gui waved him off with one hand while slicing open the boar’s belly with the other. "I do things differently. I’m used to gutting my own kills and feeding my dogs myself."

As he spoke, Huang Gui had already opened the boar’s torso. When the intestines and stomach spilled out, he first removed the heart, sliced it in two, and held both halves out toward the small black dog.

The little black dog bounded over, gently took both halves of the heart in its mouth, and trotted off to the side to enjoy its prize.

Zhao Jun glanced at the small black dog, then turned to Huang Gui. "That’s a fine dog you’ve got there, brother."

Men who hunt with dog packs love nothing more than praise for their animals, and that lead dog was indeed Huang Gui’s pride and joy.

Hearing the praise, Huang Gui paused what he was doing with the boar’s liver. He turned to Zhao Jun and gestured toward the small black dog with his Invasion Blade. "I’m not just bragging, brother. If you ever get the chance, go ask around in Lingnan. Every Hunter who runs these mountains knows my Little Bear."

Zhao Jun glanced over. The small black dog had a patch of white fur on its chest, just like the crescent marking on a Black Bear. ’So that’s how she got her name,’ he thought.

Zhao Jun studied the other four black dogs before asking Huang Gui, "Brother, are these black dogs all from the same litter?"

"Oh!" Huang Gui, who was just giving the boar’s liver to two of the other black dogs, looked up at Zhao Jun in surprise. "How could you tell, little brother?"

Zhao Jun smiled. "You can tell by their builds and the lines of their backs. They look like they’re from the same litter."

After finishing with the liver, Huang Gui gave a thumbs-up with his free hand, the blade still in the other. "Good eye," he said. He pointed again to the lead dog, Little Bear. "My Little Bear is the mother. These four are her pups. She had a litter of four, and I kept every one of them."

"That explains it."

A Hunter trying to lead a pack of dogs alone is an inferior method; after all, the instincts of humans and dogs are vastly different.

The best way to lead a pack is with a lead dog, just like how Hua Xiao’Er worked with Daqing.

If the mother is a hunting dog herself, and her pups start following her into the mountains at around six months old to learn from her, they’re guaranteed to turn out well.

And if that mother is also the pack’s lead dog, the pups she raises will be even more exceptional.

Wei Lai stood to one side, listening to Zhao Jun and Huang Gui talk. His gaze toward the black dogs was filled with envy.

A Dog Gang like this was incredibly rare.

Huang Gui gave the six dogs a small meal, but the portions seemed a little meager. After the dogs had devoured their share, they circled him again, licking their chops, but Huang Gui was already scrubbing his hands with snow.

Huang Gui offered no more. The dogs could only stare at the fresh boar meat, drooling, but not daring to take a bite.

Once Huang Gui had scrubbed the grease and blood from his hands, he turned to Zhao Jun and the others. "It’s only a little after ten. Let’s leave this one here and go after that other boar."

"Sounds good!" Zhou Jianjun said, his face alight with excitement. "This is my first time seeing a pack hunt. I never realized how interesting it is."

Huang Gui smiled. "Then let’s go," he said. With a wave to his dogs, he shouldered his gun and started straight up the slope.

The dogs, only half-fed, seemed reluctant to leave the fresh meat. But they dared not disobey their master’s command, and one by one, they trotted with heads bowed after Huang Gui.

Zhou Jianjun caught up with Huang Gui. "Brother Huang, didn’t you feed your dogs enough?"

Huang Gui laughed again. "Brother, that shows you’re a layman. If we weren’t going after a second boar today, I’d let them eat their fill. But we’re about to take on that big solitary one. I can’t let them get stuffed; they won’t be able to run."

"Oh!" Zhou Jianjun nodded again and again, a look of understanding on his face.

The men continued talking as they climbed the ridge, following the large tracks of the boar that had injured a man.

Most of the tracks were three days old. The party followed them for over a mile before they came across fresh ones.

At that point, Huang Gui’s lead dog, Little Bear, sniffed at the new tracks and immediately took off up the ridge.

She barked as she ran.

At her call, all her pups followed.

Seeing its packmates run off, the remaining dog, Hua Gou, quickly followed suit.

"Go!" Huang Gui shouted, breaking into a run. The sound of barking filled the air.

But three minutes later, the barking suddenly stopped.

"Move!" Huang Gui’s expression changed. He yelled and took off at a dead sprint.