The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

Once they’d dragged the pig outside, Zhao Jun looked at the men around him and said, "That cannon egg I shot earlier—I don’t want it. Whichever of you brothers wants it can take it home. As for this sow, I need to take it back for my uncle and aunt."

Hearing this, they realized Zhao Jun was heading home. Just a moment ago, he had been talking about continuing to follow the boar’s tracks.

But on second thought, it made sense. They’d been through two fights in a row, and even the dogs were exhausted. It really was time to go home.

The men discussed it for a moment and agreed to meet at the entrance of the village at seven the next morning to pick up the boar’s trail again on Little Gu Mountain.

Then, Zhao Jun, Li Baoyu, and Zhou Jianjun began dragging the wild boar down the mountain toward home with a rope.

Meanwhile, Wei Lai, Huang Gui, and Jiang Ming went to retrieve the cannon egg that Zhao Jun had killed earlier.

The three had already decided that this pig would go to Wei Lai. The one Huang Gui had shot the day before would go to Jiang Ming.

As for Huang Gui, his home was in Lingnan. There was no way he could drag a wild boar all the way back there.

As Zhao Jun dragged the pig down the mountain and back into Yongsheng Village, people started greeting Zhou Jianjun and asking who had brought back the wild boar.

With the second day of the second lunar month approaching, the sight of a wild boar made everyone’s eyes burn with envy.

Zhou Jianjun told them Li Baoyu had killed it. If he’d said it was Zhao Jun, people would know he was Zhou Jianjun’s brother-in-law and might have felt bold enough to ask for some pork.

But Li Baoyu was just a guest of the Zhou Family, which made it too awkward for anyone to ask.

When the three of them dragged the pig into the Zhou Family’s courtyard, Hu Sanmei was overjoyed. Zhao Chun stood to the side, telling her mother-in-law that meat from a sow weighing around 220 pounds was the most delicious.

Once Hu Sanmei brought out the tools, Zhao Jun, Zhou Jianjun, and Li Baoyu began skinning the wild boar in the courtyard.

Seeing the entire boar hide hanging in the courtyard, Zhou Jianjun finally couldn’t resist. He said to Zhao Jun, "Xiaojun, how about I start going hunting in the mountains with you?" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback for a moment but quickly recovered. "Brother-in-law, let’s talk about that later," he said. "We’ve been on the move all day. Let’s get inside and rest."

"Right, right."

...

After dinner, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu returned to the north room. The two of them lay on the heated brick bed, chatting.

After a bit of small talk, Li Baoyu suddenly sat up. "Brother," he said to Zhao Jun, "with so many of us splitting that two hundred yuan and one hundred food tickets, no one’s going to get much, are they?"

Zhao Jun smiled at Li Baoyu. "Baoyu, let me tell you, the money isn’t the issue. The crucial thing is, if we can’t even take down this boar, we can forget about going after the Pig God."

"Oh..." Li Baoyu seemed to have an epiphany. He slowly lay back down, his head returning to the pillow. "So you’re using this big loner for practice, brother."

"Exactly," Zhao Jun said. "The Pig God is even tougher than this boar. We need to figure out how to take this one down first before we can even think about the Pig God."

"Then what about my dad and my uncle...?"

"Them?" Zhao Jun chuckled. "It’ll be a wasted trip for them."

"Ah!" Li Baoyu suddenly shot up from the heated brick bed again.

This gave Zhao Jun a start. "What’re you doing now?" he asked, surprised.

Li Baoyu said, "I wonder how Brother Zhang is doing."

Hearing Li Baoyu bring up Zhang Yuanmin, Zhao Jun sighed, rolled over, and said, "All right, go to sleep."

"Yeah, okay."

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, Zhao Jun, Zhou Jianjun, and Li Baoyu met up with Wei Lai, Huang Gui, and Jiang Ming. The six men circled the mountain.

Luckily, the mountain wasn’t too large, and by a little after three in the afternoon, they had made a full circuit.

Wei Lai, Huang Gui, and Jiang Ming had to go retrieve the boar that Huang Gui had killed two days prior. Before they split up, Zhao Jun pointed to the surrounding mountain and said to the three men, "Tomorrow, we get up early. We head into the mountains with flashlights at six o’clock sharp."

At this, Zhao Jun pointed to Jiang Ming. "Brother Jiang, you head up from the base of the western slope. Sneak toward the old boar’s den. If you see it, shoot. Best if you can kill it. If not, just head straight home."

"Got it!" Jiang Ming agreed.

Zhao Jun continued, "Brother-in-law, Baoyu, tomorrow you two will go up from North Mountain. I saw a large tree on the summit. If the boar heads your way, you both climb it. Wait for the boar to pass underneath, then you climb back down."

"Once you’re down, follow the boar. And as you follow, make a lot of noise."

"You got it," Li Baoyu chirped. Then he quietly explained to Zhou Jianjun that this was what they called "beating."

"Brother Wei," Zhao Jun said to Wei Lai, "you position yourself at Liangdao Gully on West Mountain. Ambush it at the head of the first gully. Shoot on sight."

After giving Wei Lai his instructions, Zhao Jun turned to Huang Gui. "Old brother," he said, "tomorrow you’ll take my four dogs and set up an ambush at Erdao Gully. Don’t release the hounds until you hear a gunshot."

"Understood!"

With the plan set, Zhao Jun returned to Yongsheng Village with Zhou Jianjun and Li Baoyu.

They ate and slept. Early the next morning, while it was still pitch-black outside, Hu Sanmei had already finished making breakfast.

After they finished eating, the three men loaded their flashlights with brand new C-cell batteries. Once they were bundled up, Zhao Jun slung his rifle over his back, Li Baoyu and Zhou Jianjun each took hold of two dogs, and each of the three men grabbed a flashlight before heading out the door.

When the trio arrived at the village entrance, it was just barely six o’clock. They saw Huang Gui, rifle on his back, already there and waiting for them.

Li Baoyu and Zhou Jianjun handed the four leashed dogs over to Zhao Jun and Huang Gui. Then, they parted ways, heading north.

Zhao Jun and Huang Gui entered the mountains together, heading straight for the two gullies on the east side. Only when they arrived in front of the second gully did Zhao Jun hand all the dogs over to Huang Gui.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ming was following Zhao Jun’s orders, heading straight for the old boar’s den on West Mountain. By the time he reached the ridge in front of the den’s entrance, it was just past seven, and the sky in the mountains was beginning to grow faintly bright.