"Xiaoyang, we haven’t gone hunting in the mountains for years!" Li Dahai said hesitantly. "I’m over fifty now. I’m not as young as I used to be."
Back in the day, the village had Hunters who often went hunting in the mountains.
But eventually, they nearly hunted the animals to extinction. When the hunting ban was enacted, the village Hunters even had their homemade guns confiscated, and no one went hunting in the mountains anymore.
"Uncle Hai, I don’t need you to do the fighting. You and Brother Jianzhong are both Hunters; you know how to find wild boars. I just need you to find them. I’ll take care of the rest," Li Yang said, full of confidence.
"You will?" Li Dahai and Li Jianzhong, a stout man in his thirties, were both stunned.
"That’s right!" Li Yang nodded. "I will!"
"Will that really work?" Li Jianzhong asked worriedly. "We don’t even have hunting rifles anymore. How are we supposed to fight them? You don’t understand, those wild boars are crazy. They’re a real handful when they charge."
"I know!" Li Yang nodded. "Don’t worry about it. If I can’t beat them, I’ll run. And let me tell you, pork is really expensive right now, right? Lean pork costs over thirty yuan a jin, and wild boar sells for even more than regular pork! A single three-hundred-jin boar, sold at forty yuan a jin—that’s twelve thousand yuan!"
Those words made both men itch with anticipation.
They were all just fed up with being poor.
"Fine!" Li Dahai gritted his teeth. "Let’s do it."
"Great!" Li Yang said. "Grab your gear. We leave at nine!"
「At nine o’clock, the three of them put on their headlamps and set off for Daqing Mountain.」
Wild boars usually only came down from the mountains to forage during winter, when food up there was scarce.
For them to be coming down at this time of year, in the summer, one could only imagine how little food they had. This meant the wild boar population was huge.
Li Dahai was a very experienced Hunter, and Li Jianzhong was a competent assistant.
They arrived at the plot where Xia Lian grew her vegetables. Sure enough, the plants were completely wrecked.
"Let’s wait here quietly," Li Dahai said in a low voice. "There are still some vegetables left. Maybe another boar will come down to eat."
And so began the long wait.
An unknown amount of time passed before they heard the sound of footsteps.
THUD... THUD...
Judging by the sound, it wasn’t small.
Instantly, all three of them felt a surge of excitement.
This was Li Yang’s first time doing something like this. The other two hadn’t hunted in a long time, either, and the sudden return to action gave them a small thrill.
Up the slope, a wild boar with long tusks descended quickly, heading straight for the vegetables to root around.
It looked absolutely famished.
Li Yang glanced at Li Dahai.
Li Dahai was also a little nervous. Wild boars were no pushovers.
Even a tiger would give a wide berth to a crazed boar.
"I’ll make the first move," Li Yang said, revealing his hatchet.
"I’ll go with you!" Li Jianzhong was holding a long iron spear.
Li Yang nodded and instantly dashed over.
"Oh no!" Just then, Li Dahai’s expression changed. "Get back! There are two more behind it!"
He was right. Trailing the big boar were two other large ones, also making their way down.
Li Dahai’s heart sank. ’My god! Three wild boars! How are we supposed to fight that?’
But Li Yang had already charged forward.
In truth, when Li Yang saw the other two boars, his heart had skipped a beat as well.
’I’m screwed! I was too reckless!’
But the boar had already spotted him. There was no other choice but to face it head-on.
Li Yang moved like lightning. Before the first boar could even react, the hatchet in his hand flew through the air.
"SQUEAL!"
The wild boar let out a frenzied roar as its front right leg was severed clean off. It collapsed to the ground in an instant.
Its body, weighing over three hundred jin, hit the dirt, and the ground itself seemed to tremble.
The two boars behind it shrieked and charged straight at Li Yang.
’Damn it, they’re ganging up on me!’
A chill went down Li Yang’s spine.
Just then, Li Jianzhong rushed to the front, leveling his long spear and heading for one of the other boars.
But the boar actually knew how to dodge, and it sidestepped the attack.
Li Jianzhong, on the other hand, couldn’t stop his momentum, and his spear plunged into the ground.
After dodging, the boar instantly picked up speed and rammed toward Li Jianzhong.
"Jianzhong, watch out!" Li Dahai cried out in alarm.
A sense of despair washed over Li Jianzhong.
At that very moment, Li Yang appeared out of nowhere from the side and smashed his hatchet down on the boar’s head.
The boar let out a pained squeal and immediately collapsed.
The last remaining boar was stunned.
’It had never seen such a ferocious Hunter before.’
It let out an angry roar, and instead of retreating, it charged again.
"You head back first!" Li Yang said to Li Jianzhong.
Li Jianzhong felt ashamed that he hadn’t been any help at all.
As the boar closed in, a rope appeared in Li Yang’s hand.
FWOOSH!
The rope accurately looped over the boar’s head, securing it tightly in an instant.
The boar’s momentum was immense, and it tried to keep running.
But Li Yang stood as firm as a mountain, bringing the charging boar to a dead stop.
Li Dahai and Li Jianzhong both sucked in a sharp breath. ’Just how much strength would it take to stop a charging boar in its tracks like that?’
’This is just insane!’
"Get down!" Li Yang roared, giving the rope a powerful tug.
The boar could no longer stay on its feet. It was literally pulled into the air, flying over Li Yang’s head before crashing to the ground.
THUD!
The boar was knocked senseless by the fall, too dazed and dizzy to get back up.
Li Yang stepped forward and knocked it unconscious with his hatchet.
Three wild boars!
Li Jianzhong and Li Dahai just stood there, stunned, unable to process what had happened for a long moment.
"Not good!" Just then, Li Dahai heard the sound of more footsteps thundering from behind the hill. His face paled. "Let’s go, quickly!"