The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

A big, dark figure tumbled off its back, giving the wild boar a start. Seeing Li Baoyu’s head plunged into the snow, his body bent forward, the boar actually froze for a moment.

As for Li Baoyu, he flipped over like he was doing a somersault. His legs came down, and after lying in the snow for barely a second, he scrambled up and ran.

The boar snapped out of it and squealed twice, then began to chase with reckless abandon, dragging Daqing and White Dragon forward with it.

Zhao Jun and Xu Changlin both raised their guns, but with the two dogs flanking the boar, they had no clear shot.

At the critical moment, Daqing’s grip slipped again. Its mouth, clamped onto the boar’s ear, slid off. As it lost its hold, Daqing, who had been pulling back with all its might, was sent tumbling backward into the snow.

Freed from the drag of the nearly 130-pound Daqing, the boar’s speed instantly skyrocketed.

Now, White Dragon couldn’t hold on either.

’This is bad!’ Zhao Jun knew the situation was dire. He quickly shifted his aim forward, trying to lead the boar before taking a shot.

But as he moved the barrel forward, it was Li Baoyu he saw through the Gun Star.

Zhao Jun held his position. ’If Baoyu keeps running, the boar will appear in my Gun Star, and I can take the shot.’

But before Li Baoyu could get clear, the boar was on him. It jabbed its snout between Li Baoyu’s running legs and powerfully flicked its head up.

"Aaaah..." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

As Li Baoyu let out a strange cry, he was already airborne, flying about seven feet before crashing heavily to the ground.

With a muffled THUD, snow flew up around him from the impact.

BANG!

Zhao Jun fired a panicked shot.

Blood blossomed on the boar’s back, but the shot hadn’t hit bone. It was only a flesh wound.

BANG!

Xu Changlin fired too, but his shot was high, the bullet whizzing over the boar’s spine.

It wasn’t that the two Cannon Shooters were poor shots; they were just afraid of hitting the wrong target.

The target they were worried about hitting wasn’t a dog, but Li Baoyu.

Because after tossing Li Baoyu, the boar had charged forward again and was now right on top of him once more.

The gunshots sent Daqing and White Dragon lunging ferociously at the boar. Nearby, Hua Xiao’Er and Da Huang heard the noise, released the dead Little Yellow, and glanced around. Seeing another battle raging, they both scrambled up and sprinted toward it.

But the boar was blood-crazed. It ignored the gunshots and kept after Li Baoyu.

Li Baoyu had just struggled up from the snow when the boar was on him again.

Once again, it thrust its snout between Li Baoyu’s legs and jerked its head up forcefully.

Li Baoyu was flung forward, smashing into the snow once again.

Thankfully, the thick mountain snow cushioned his fall, preventing serious injury. But being tossed into the air twice had left Li Baoyu dizzy.

Li Baoyu lay prone in the snow. He pushed up with his hands and kicked with his legs, but just as he got his rear end into the air, the boar was there again!

By now, Zhao Jun and Xu Changlin had reloaded. But just as they brought their rifles to their cheeks, they saw the boar toss Li Baoyu a third time.

The boar charged again, and in an instant, it was back in front of Li Baoyu.

This time, Li Baoyu didn’t get up. He was lying sideways in the snow.

The boar drove its snout into the snow beneath Li Baoyu, wedging it right under him.

The boar flexed its powerful neck and heaved upward. Li Baoyu went flying once more, this time spinning in a full circle before crashing back down.

Li Baoyu crashed into the deep snow and lay there, face down. This time, he didn’t get back up.

Seeing the boar charge Li Baoyu yet again, Zhao Jun grew desperate. He tossed his gun aside, snatched the Invasion Blade from Xing San’s hands, and charged straight for the boar.

By now, all four dogs had latched onto the boar, but the animal was utterly blood-crazed. Even with Hua Xiao’Er biting its rear, it still struggled to reach Li Baoyu.

Half a meter from Li Baoyu, the four dogs managed to drag the boar to a halt. But it struggled furiously, thrashing and rolling with them in the snow.

Zhao Jun reached them, knife in hand. The boar was just rolling over to get up from the deep snow. Without aiming for a specific spot, Zhao Jun lunged and stabbed.

The blade struck the boar’s left flank. That whole side was solid ribcage. The knife bit into flesh, then struck bone with a loud CRACK.

The Fraxinus mandschurica Stick in Zhao Jun’s hand snapped. His forward momentum, now unchecked, sent him stumbling forward, and he barely managed to stay on his feet.

The boar let out a pained squeal. As it turned its head toward Zhao Jun, Daqing and White Dragon seized its ears. The boar still tried to lunge at Zhao Jun, but Da Huang latched onto its other foreleg.

Zhao Jun gripped the broken half of the Fraxinus mandschurica Stick still attached to the Invasion Blade. Seeing the boar’s head pulled up by Daqing and White Dragon, he raised the weapon and stabbed at its throat.

SQUELCH...

The blade plunged in, and blood sprayed all over Zhao Jun’s face.

Zhao Jun wrenched the blade free and immediately ran to check on Li Baoyu.

Li Baoyu was just lifting his head from the snow when a dark shadow loomed over him, giving him a terrible fright.

Before he could cry out, he heard a familiar voice.

"Baoyu! Baoyu."

Li Baoyu said nothing, letting Zhao Jun try to pull him up. But he was a dead weight; how could Zhao Jun possibly lift him alone?

Luckily, Xing San rushed over to lend Zhao Jun a hand, and together they managed to haul Li Baoyu out of the deep snow.

"Ngh... uh..." Li Baoyu stood up, looked at Zhao Jun, then at Xing San, his face a mask of confusion.

This terrified Zhao Jun. He patted Li Baoyu’s face a couple of times, then ran his hands down from his neck all the way to his ankles. To his immense relief, the kid hadn’t broken any bones.

At that moment, Li Baoyu finally came to his senses. He threw his arms around Zhao Jun and began to cry without a word.

"Alright, alright!" Zhao Jun patted his back, then pushed him away. "Baoyu, are you hurt anywhere?"

Li Baoyu shook his head, wiping his tears with the sleeve of his cotton-padded jacket.

"You don’t feel off or anything, do you?" asked Xu Changlin, who had just arrived.

Li Baoyu just said, "Dizzy. I’m dizzy, and my head’s all fuzzy."

Xu Changlin asked Zhao Jun, "Are the kid’s arms and legs okay?"

"They’re fine, all fine," Zhao Jun replied.

Hearing that, Xu Changlin finally relaxed and laughed heartily. "He just got tossed stupid by the boar."

"Oh my god." Xing San shook his head from the side and gave Li Baoyu a pat on the arm. "Man, what possessed you to do something so reckless? You scared the hell out of me. My heart is still pounding."

Once he was sure Li Baoyu was really okay, Zhao Jun finally relaxed. He returned the Invasion Blade and its broken handle to Xing San, telling him to go gut the Little Yellow. Zhao Jun then drew his own Invasion Blade from the small of his back and went to dress the old sow that had tossed Li Baoyu around.

Meanwhile, Xu Changlin rummaged around in the deep snow, retrieving Li Baoyu’s dog-fur hat. He knocked the snow off it and plopped it back on Li Baoyu’s head.

"Man, you’re lucky it was an old sow," Xu Changlin said, a note of fear in his voice. "If that had been one with ’cannon eggs,’ what would you have done?" Just as he said, it was a good thing the female boar didn’t have tusks. If it had been a male, those two thrusts to the crotch would have likely left Li Baoyu crippled.

He was the one who had brought these two boys out from the village. If something had happened to Li Baoyu, he would have no way to face Li Dayong and Jin Xiaomei.

Li Baoyu’s head was still spinning a little, but after hearing Xu Changlin’s words, he muttered under his breath, "I’m never doing that again."

The words were barely out of Li Baoyu’s mouth when, in the distance, Hua Xiao’Er started barking again.

"WOOF! WOOF!"