My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 507 The Miao Family Hunting Adventure (Part 4)

"It's hard to say. Maybe there's less prey in the mountains, and it just came down from the mountain."

Chen Ling shook his head, took out a plum blossom tube, blew it, and sent a message to his brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

The distance here isn't far.

Soon, the Wang Qingwen brothers arrived.

They were all very happy to have shot a wild boar.

"Brother Qingwen, Qingzhong, I've found the pig herd."

Ignoring his disheveled appearance, Zhao Dahai suddenly jumped out, patting his chest and showing off.

Chen Ling looked over in surprise upon hearing this.

The lynx nodded, both amused and exasperated: "This herd of wild boars really did find their way here from the sea..."

He then went to show Chen Ling the animal trails of the wild boars.

In other words, where is the 'manure path' that people often walk on?

"See that mountain? At the mouth of the valley below, there's a beast trail... People say beginners are lucky, and there's definitely some truth to that."

At first, we circled around the northwest corner of the opposite side, but found nothing.

As a result, after going around in circles, my yellow dog, which had just been snatched away by the sea, started barking.

Then they quickly found the valley entrance. As soon as the dog walked towards the entrance, the wild boars had no choice but to flee, following it all the way to the mudflats.

Lynx's words amused Chen Ling.

"You know, it's like playing mahjong. A newbie can dominate the game right away... Tsk, when I first started hunting, this never happened."

Although I say I haven't, I actually had a similar experience when I was a child, using a slingshot to shoot birds.

When I first started using a slingshot, for some reason, I was incredibly accurate and could shoot down seven or eight birds a day.

But once you get used to it, it becomes unplayable; no matter how you shoot, it feels awkward, and no matter how you aim, it feels wrong.

I am restless and agitated.

However, if you calm down and slowly find your rhythm, you'll regain your accuracy.

The people around them found it amusing to hear them say that.

Zhao Dahai objected: "What do you mean by 'newbie with good hands'? I'm a born hunter, a hunting genius... After I practice some more, there's no doubt I'll be the King of Hunters in the Qinling Mountains."

Chen Ling was taken aback upon hearing this, then laughed and scolded, "Well, I didn't provoke you, and you're already trying to steal my place."

Everyone burst into laughter.

But you have to admit, this fat guy does have some talent; at least he's good at thinking, not just a clueless brute who just laughs blindly.

At this moment, he slapped his forehead and looked at Chen Ling: "Hey, right, I almost forgot. I was just about to ask you something. There's something I'm quite puzzled about. Why are wild boars so stubborn? When a dog pounces on them and bites them, they ignore the dog and only go after people."

In this matter, Jusheng and I have just suffered losses twice.

Yes.

This seems very strange to someone who has never hunted.

The lynx chuckled: "You'll understand after you go on a few more hunts. Whether it's a wild boar or any other wild animal in the mountains, as soon as it sees a person, no matter how many dogs surround it, it will charge at the person."

Wounded wild boars, in particular, will target people.

Wild boars that wander into villages and fields are the same; ask Fugui, and you'll hear that people there used to be killed by wild boars in their fields.

This is about Kinmen Village.

The old hunter from Kinmen Village was almost gored by a wild boar in the mountains. It was his loyal dog, Tiger Head Huang, who protected him and blocked the way. Tiger Head Huang was a king among dogs, but even he couldn't stop the raging wild boar and was gored to death.

"Why is that? No one provoked it, the dog charged ahead. Could it be that the beasts in these mountains are so smart that they know humans are in charge?"

Zhao Dahai still couldn't understand what the lynx had said.

But why exactly?
Lynx couldn't answer for a moment; he had never thought about this before.

He simply said, "That might really be true. Dogs recognize people, and wild animals in the mountains probably do too."

Then he turned to Chen Ling and asked, "What do you think of wealth and status?"

Actually, even many veteran hunters can't quite explain this kind of thing.

Chen Ling, after all, had experienced the internet age in his later years, especially the early information explosion, where there was the most useful information online. In addition, he had served in the military and knew a lot about related events.

However, he didn't explicitly say he knew, but only said, "I've heard a saying that wild creatures in the mountains are often judged by their height."

Humans who walk upright are naturally the most threatening in their eyes.

Therefore, as long as there are people present, no matter how many dogs there are, the wild beast will attack the people first.

This was something no one expected.

But think about it, it's actually quite possible.

"To catch the thief, first catch the king?"

"Well, that's roughly the idea."

Everyone discussed it, and then helped Chen Ling and the lynx to gut the wild boar.

Summer prey.

If the animal is already dead, and its internal organs are not removed quickly, it will soon start to stink.

It would take them at least an hour and a half to get back to Ranjiazhai from where they are now.

If we encounter other prey along the way, we'll probably be delayed again.

It's hot now, and it's too much trouble to go through mountains and valleys, so it's better to gut the pig.

Of course, wild monkeys are an exception.

Wild monkeys can be hunted and used as offerings, but eating them is not acceptable to most people.

They have hands and feet, and look like normal people, but eating them is disgusting.

Unless they go too far, no one will hunt them.

So Chen Ling only cut off its tail, without gutting it.

Gutting and butchering a pig.

Feeding the dogs and offering sacrifices to the land.

They then returned the way they came.

On the way back, they didn't encounter any more prey.

That's fine.

Hunting is not an easy task.

Sometimes, an entire hunting team, a dozen or so people, would wander in the mountains for days, enduring hunger and thirst.

In the end, there may be no gain.

They brought back a pig and a monkey in just one morning, which is quite a haul.

indeed.

When we returned to Ranjiazhai in the afternoon.

They actually brought back prey.

The hunting teams in the village could hardly believe it.

Especially when they heard that it was Zhao Dahai, that fat guy, who found the wild boar herd.

Finally, Chen Ling shot and killed the wild boar.

The group of people nearly popped their eyes out.

"Hehe, newbie with good luck, hehehe, good luck."

Zhao Dahai smiled broadly, his face glowing, but his mouth stretched all the way to his ears, and anyone could see his smugness.

Even the dried mud covering his body couldn't hide it.

Chen Ling also said, "I was lucky, it was a fluke."

The hunters favored the lynx the most. The lynx was short and wiry, with sharp eyes and a skin color that suggested it was a creature that often roamed outdoors.

He also brought the two mountain-chasing dogs.

To say that he was an experienced hunter.

The hunting teams in the village weren't too suspicious.

As for Zhao Dahai and Chen Ling...

One was a very fat man, and the other was a young man with fair skin and a gentle temperament.

He lacked any of the shrewdness of a hunter, and his eyes were not fierce at all.

How can anyone believe that?

……

To say they deliberately underestimated them? Not really. An experienced person could tell at a glance.

That's why people always say that the old mountain herder has a keen eye.

Having frequently gone hiking in the mountains, how could one not know who cooperates well and who doesn't?

It's been clear to me for a long time.

When people frequently travel through the mountains and fields, their intuition becomes more and more acute, just like that of wild animals.

"Don't believe me? Fine, don't believe me then. We can't just deny the prey, can we?"

Seeing the suspicious looks in the eyes of these young men, Zhao Dahai said sullenly.

"Yes, these definitely count."

"You were able to hunt prey, which means the local deity has seen your sincerity."

The old village chief smiled and said, "Go to the temple and offer sacrifices to the local earth god. Pray twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, and then you can leave."

Is this enough?

Upon hearing this, the group suddenly found it simple.

It's been a long time since we've stretched our muscles in the mountains, and we only managed to hunt one pig. We're not quite done yet.

Even Chen Ling was the same.

"Can I leave after offering sacrifices once tomorrow morning?"

"Correct."

"Okay, let's take a break and then go for a walk in the mountains this afternoon to chase away some wild boars for you."

"what?……"

The old man actually meant to say that there was no need to chase them away for us, as no wild boars had been coming around the village recently.

It's been three or four days, and the hunting team hasn't found anything during their nightly patrols. They're probably scared off by the last hunt.

The last hunt was a large-scale operation, with the wild boars being chased and intercepted for almost half a month.

In the end, Wang Qingzhong and his little yellow dog caused all the trouble.

While they stirred things up and didn't actually kill any pigs, they certainly had a significant deterrent effect.

So there haven't been any wild boars coming here recently.

"You can go if you want; it's been relatively quiet on the mountain during the day these past few days."

Ever since Chen Ling and the others agreed to those two conditions.

The main purpose is to bring them some nice clothes from outside.

The people in the Miao village were very kind to them.

Even though they had just questioned their ability to hunt wild boars, they didn't say anything offensive.

I was even thinking of finding an opportunity to ask Chen Ling for a camera to take pictures.

So Chen Ling and his group can do whatever they want, as long as it's not excessive or taboo.

But today, I don't know if it's really Zhao Dahai's good luck as a newbie, or if it's the local earth god's blessing.

They didn't even need to go into the mountains to hunt in the afternoon; the prey just came to them.

After washing up and having a simple lunch, they were resting when Zhao Dahai, very excited, took the dog out for a stroll.

But not long after, they heard dogs barking outside.

Along with the barking of dogs, there were also loud "bang, bang, bang" sounds.

When they ran outside, they saw a furious wild boar charging and roaring in front of the village gate, which stood like a memorial archway, with a rather simple and inconspicuous watchtower next to it.

The wild boar was ramming the watchtower.

If you look closely, you can see that the wild boar has wounds on its body.

At this moment, Zhao Dahai hurriedly ran back to call for help, but the village dogs had already rushed over.

But every time these dogs went up, they were knocked away.

Especially since the dogs in this village are generally small, when they encounter an enraged wild boar, even if a group rushes forward... the wild boar's huge head swings and tosses, and few of the charging dogs can withstand it, and they are directly lifted and sent flying in mid-air in quick circles.

Soon, the enraged wild boar pinned down a dog and began to tear at it with its jaws wide open.

The people of Ranjia Village were furious when they saw this, and they immediately grabbed their weapons and rushed forward.

The wild boar, its eyes bloodshot from the carnage, abandoned its pack of dogs and charged at the humans with howling bellows as soon as it saw them.

Encountering a wild boar like this in the mountains can be terrifying when there are few people around, but now this wild boar has come charging right to our door.

The village has men and guns, so naturally they aren't afraid of it.

Needless to say, the hunting team's young men were excellent marksmen. They fired several shots in quick succession, and before the wild boar could even get close, it was hit by bullets all over its body and killed instantly.

Only then did everyone have time to ask Zhao Dahai what had happened.

In fact, Zhao Dahai didn't know either.

He had just taken his two dogs outside when he saw the wild boar charging angrily from the bushes not far away.

Knowing how formidable this troublesome pig was, and having brought no weapons with him, he quickly returned to fetch reinforcements.

When everyone heard this, they were somewhat amazed by Zhao Dahai's luck in encountering a pig as soon as he went out, but seeing his obviously frightened appearance, they also wanted to laugh.

Afterwards, several elderly people from Ranjia Village came over and took a look.

It's said that this wild boar was probably injured during a previous hunt and has come back seeking revenge after smelling the scent.

Wild boars have only so-so eyesight, but their sense of smell is better than that of an average dog.

And this thing holds grudges.

You can remember the scent of your enemy for a long time. Sometimes, even after half a year, when you go into the mountains, you will still be retaliated against by wild boars.

……

Wild boars came to retaliate in the middle of the day.

This matter is not over yet.

In the evening, Chen Ling and the others had dinner at the old man's house. After dinner, they were to accompany Wang Qingzhong to worship the local earth god.

While we were eating, we suddenly heard a pack of dogs barking wildly outside, along with a rapid drumbeat and loud shouts echoing from the mountain.

"Hmm? They're beating the drums. Are they about to begin the land worship ceremony?"

Zhao Dahai suddenly stood up.

The old man and his two nephews' expressions changed: "...No, it's not our Sanxiping that's beating drums, it's the sound of drums coming from Xiongjia Village on the opposite mountain, something's wrong."

In the Miao villages that live nearby, they usually communicate by the sound of drums.

On the mountain, the sound of drums carried far.

At night, it sounds like it's right next to them, but in reality, it's a village in the mountains to the southeast that Chen Ling and his group passed through during the day.

The Xiong family village, a prominent clan, was the leader.

As they talked, people outside began to pass by the door, carrying torches and making hurried footsteps.

The hunting team from Ranjia Village is gathering.

"Yada! Yada!"

From afar, such shouts could be heard coming from the opposite mountain.

"Wild boars again! They've only been quiet for seven or eight days, and they're at it again!"

The old man stomped his foot angrily.

Lynx and Chen Ling exchanged a glance: "Uncle Ran, let's go too."

"Okay, Jinwa, Muwa, go and light the torches."

……

"Yada! Yada! Yada!"

They lit torches, grabbed guns and hunting knives, and had just reached the village entrance, dozens of meters from the gate, when someone outside shouted loudly.

The shouting was accompanied by a deafening cacophony of barking dogs and drumming.

In the vast darkness of night, looking out from the gate of Ranjia Village, one can see a cluster of torches flickering rapidly across the fields.

Human voices, dog barks, drumbeats, and intermittent gunshots mingled together in the night.

A group of dark figures were rampaging through the crowd, running wildly from northwest to southeast, making low, pig-like squeals as they went.

"Woo, woo—"

The old man blew the plum tube, and soon someone ran over to report the situation.

"Grandpa Jiu said that a wild boar king came from Xiongjia Village. It is said to weigh more than 800 jin and dug up their ancestors' graves."

(End of this chapter)