The villagers were all discussing what to do with the captured piglet.
Meanwhile, a large truck carrying over a dozen militia members pulled up at the village entrance.
It was Captain Han, the same one who had come last time for the fish fry, leading the group. More than a dozen burly men, all armed with standard-issue rifles, followed a villager and quickly made their way to the foot of the mountain.
“Old Han, so it’s you again! Thanks for your hard work, bringing all these fine men,” the brigade captain said warmly. Seeing it was an old acquaintance, he didn’t stand on ceremony and stepped forward to clasp shoulders with his old partner.
“Don’t mention it, Old Wu. I just got word that there’s a wild boar herd. But do you have any idea how many there are? If it’s too many, the dozen or so of us will be nothing more than a free meal for them.”
Hearing this, the brigade captain stopped with the pleasantries. He pointed to the piglet on the ground and relayed the conclusions from their earlier discussion.
After talking it over for a while, they finally decided to split into two groups and approach from different directions.
The mountain paths were muddy, and if they encountered a large herd, having too many people would actually make it harder to escape.
A few young villagers who knew the mountain well would lead the way, with the militia following behind. The two groups would take two different paths up the mountain and sweep through the side closest to the village.
Wu Jun and Hongqi each carried a sickle. Eight militia members followed behind them on one of the routes.
Along the way, Hongqi led at the front, while Wu Jun carefully observed the vegetation on the ground and looked for footprints. The other militia members were responsible for keeping watch on all sides, in case something sprang out at them.
But after walking a long distance, they found nothing.
One of the militiamen, Huang Da, grew dissatisfied. “What’s going on with this village? They’re not messing with us, are they? We’ve been walking for two hours. Not a single wild boar—not even a hair. I didn’t come all this way just to go hiking.”
Li Shu, another member of the group, thought Huang Da’s complaints were getting out of hand and tried to calm him down. “Take it easy. The mountain’s quiet. With that big mouth of yours, you might just attract something nasty and get us all killed.”
But inwardly, Li Shu cursed: I really don’t know which son of a bitch heard there were wild boars to hunt and fought his way onto this trip, stealing the spot from my good brother.
Listening to the bickering behind him, Wu Jun felt deeply dissatisfied. On a treacherous mountain like this, not running into a herd of wild boars was a blessing. Yet these men had eyes only for the meat.
The heavens soon granted their wish.
Hongqi, who was leading the way, was the first to spot the wild boar footprints on the ground and the tree bark that had been gnawed crookedly. He signaled for everyone to stop, then crept forward quietly. After a few hundred meters, he saw a mud pit where a group of wild boars was rolling around.
There were at least twenty of them. Most were fully grown adults, with only a few small piglets grunting in the corners.
Seeing this, Hongqi immediately returned to the group and whispered to the armed men, suggesting they regroup with the other team before coming back.
After all, the boars had the advantage in numbers. Given those long tusks, their group was no match for them.
Huang Da, however, wasn’t happy about the idea of retreating. “We’ve all got guns. What’s there to be afraid of? Didn’t you say the boars are all in the mud pit? We can just stand at the edge and pick them off. If you guys don’t have the guts, I’ll go myself. These days, the timid starve and the bold feast.”
Six out of the eight armed men felt tempted. The truth was, they all wanted the meat. The leadership had already made it clear: those who hunted more would get an extra share.
Wu Jun could see that these overconfident, red-eyed men couldn’t be persuaded otherwise. At least they had guns. If they couldn’t win a fight, they could still run.
As for him and his cousin—they had come up the mountain with nothing but sickles. There was no way they were going to engage in hand-to-hoof combat.
He decided to go find the other group instead. Li Shu chose to go with the two brothers. He said it was to protect them, but in truth, he just didn’t think Huang Da and his crew’s rash decision would end well.
The three of them quickly withdrew. They hadn’t gone far when they heard gunshots—bang, bang, bang!
Gunshots echoed across the mountain. Before Wu Jun and the others had been searching for long, the other team, drawn by the sound of the gunfire, found them.
The three immediately reported what had happened with Huang Da and his seven companions to Captain Han. Captain Han was furious. “Those little bastards have a death wish. With just a few guns, they dare to take on a whole herd? Li Shu, you lead the way. You two with no weapons, stay at the back.”
With that, he hurried after Li Shu.
Before they even reached the mud pit, they could hear Huang Da’s screams from a distance: “Help! Someone help me! Sanzi, save me!”
Hearing the cries for help, their faces darkened. Captain Han loaded his rifle and rushed toward the source of the screams.
Wu Jun pulled a few villagers aside and climbed up a large tree to take cover, not wanting to be a burden later.
As he carefully lay flat on a branch, he heard Mei Qiu, who had climbed up ahead of him, exclaim, “Holy shit! This… this guy is done for.”
Hearing this, Hongqi quickly pulled Wu Jun, who was still on the lower part of the trunk, up onto a sturdy fork.
When the brothers looked toward the distant mud pit, they gasped.
Five wild boars lay in the pit, apparently dead.
For some reason, Huang Da had fallen into the pit. He was frantically struggling in the mud while five or six wild boars surrounded him. His gun was nowhere to be seen.
It seemed his cries for help were because he had fallen in.
Captain Han had already positioned his men to shoot at the boars surrounding him. But the boars moved swiftly in the mud, and with Huang Da trapped inside, the hit rate was low.
Meanwhile, some boars had started climbing out of the pit. It looked like it wouldn’t be long before they reached the top and took care of these annoying two-legged creatures.
Watching this harrowing scene, Wu Jun and Hongqi stayed silent. With their slender frames, going down there would only be feeding the boars.
Gunfire continued, but only two more boars in the pit went down. Three were nearly upon Huang Da.
Unable to watch any longer, Wu Jun turned his head, ready to be an ostrich.
Suddenly, he spotted the rope hanging from Mei Qiu’s body. An idea struck him. “What if we tie one end of the rope to a tree and throw the other end to Huang Da, then pull him up?”
Hongqi estimated the distance and thought it might work. The only condition was that Huang Da would have to be lucky enough to grab the rope on the first try.
After a quick discussion, Hongqi climbed down first to talk to Captain Han. Before leaving, he told Wu Jun to stay in the tree and not come down.
Wu Jun had no intention of playing hero. He knew his own limits. There were two elders and two children at home waiting for him.
Mei Qiu, following Hongqi’s instructions, tied one end of the rope securely and held the other, waiting for the command.
Captain Han, having heard Hongqi’s plan, calmed his men. Half of them used stones and branches to harass the three boars surrounding Huang Da, while the others focused on taking down the remaining boars.
With clear orders from the leader, the men stopped firing wildly, and their accuracy improved.
Mei Qiu took advantage of the distraction to throw his end of the rope near Huang Da and shouted, “Grab the rope if you don’t want to die!”
Once Huang Da had a hold on the rope, several free men pulled with all their might. Even with the boars harassing them, they managed to save the two-legged creature.
As soon as Huang Da was safe, Captain Han ordered concentrated fire. About ten minutes later, most of the boars lay dead, and the few still standing soon followed.
Only then did Wu Jun climb down from the tree. He walked over to his cousin and looked at Huang Da lying on the ground. “Did a boar do that to his leg?”
Yes—though he had barely survived, a boar’s tusk had pierced through Huang Da’s right leg. The unfortunate part was falling into the pit. The fortunate part was that the mud had sealed the wound, greatly reducing blood loss.
Seeing the situation was under control, Captain Han sent two men down the mountain to call for villagers to help carry the boars back.
Then he walked over and nudged Huang Da’s backside with the toe of his boot. “You goddamn fool. You nearly got my men killed. What rotten luck—how did you fall in?”
“Captain, Huang Da was shooting from the edge with us. But he wanted more meat, so he moved toward the side with more boars. Somehow, he just stepped wrong and fell. The rest of us couldn’t grab him in time,” one of the militiamen explained.
Huang Da glared viciously at the man. “Shut up. Just get me to a hospital. If my leg is ruined, let’s see if my uncle will let you off.”
Captain Han gritted his teeth in anger. “Other people might be afraid of your uncle, but I’m not. You little bastard. If I weren’t afraid of taking the blame if you died, you’d still be in that pit.”
After that outburst, he assigned two men to take the troublemaker to the hospital for leg treatment.
Listening to all this, Wu Jun grew a little worried that Huang Da might take his revenge on the village. After all, it was their village that had called for help with the boars.