Chapter 444 - 376: Feeding the Dogs Pork Leg
When the sound of barking carried on the wind, Da Huang shot past Zhao Jun, racing ahead.
Zhao Jun and Lin Xiangshun exchanged a look, grabbed their rifles, and headed toward the sound of the barks.
The straight-line distance from where they were to where Little Bear had started barking was nearly a mile.
The drove of boars hadn’t left its lair yet that morning. Little Bear’s arrival flushed them out, and the five wild boars immediately scattered.
Little Bear didn’t chase the large male "cannon eggs," nor did it pay any mind to the young "yellow-haired" boars running around like headless chickens. It locked onto a sow weighing around 250 pounds.
Little Bear had only taken two steps in pursuit when the sow whirled around. It lowered its snout, the bristles on its back standing on end, and let out a series of guttural GRUNTS.
Little Bear skidded to a stop, standing about a yard away from the sow, and barked up at the sky.
When a dog faces off with a boar, the hound won’t attack. But the moment the boar runs, the dog will give chase and bite.
The standoff between Little Bear and the boar was broken by Xiaohua’s arrival. Seeing that her opponent now had backup, the sow turned sideways and bolted.
"WOOF WOOF WOOF..." Little Bear barked as it gave chase, with Xiaohua following close behind.
The boar sprinted away, through the woods and over a ridge. It ran for over three hundred yards before the two dogs caught up. As Little Bear ran alongside the boar, it suddenly lunged, aiming straight for the boar’s belly.
Seeing this, Xiaohua, who was right behind, also pounced on the boar. But with Little Bear latched onto its belly, Xiaohua could only bite its hind leg.
With two dogs on it, the boar was knocked to the ground. But it immediately rolled, scrambled back to its feet, and charged at Little Bear and Xiaohua.
The two dogs had just gotten up themselves. Seeing the boar’s ferocious charge, they dodged to either side.
After scattering the two dogs, the boar quickly turned and ran again.
Little Bear let out a series of barks. Back when it was with Huang Gui, it used to lead its three sons on hunts, using this kind of bark to rally them. It had become a habit over the years.
Hearing Little Bear’s call, Xiaohua stuck close to its heels.
The dogs were faster than the boar. After another three hundred yards or so, they caught up to it again and launched another attack, only for the boar to quickly shake them off.
Since the chase began, they had launched two waves of attacks, forcing the boar to stop and fight them twice.
In hunting, this is called "pinning" the prey. But since they couldn’t hold the boar, it was a "broken pin."
If they had managed to hold it, that would have been a "kill pin"!
Little Bear chased the boar over mountains and ridges, up to the peaks and down into the gullies, covering a distance of nearly a mile. If it had been Big Fatty, he would have given up by now, but Little Bear remained in relentless pursuit.
It and Xiaohua could catch the boar and attack it, but Little Bear was small, weighing just over sixty pounds. Xiaohua was about the same size. The two of them couldn’t hold the boar. They would pin it, but as soon as the boar charged, they would scatter.
But Little Bear’s barking attracted White Dragon. White Dragon burst out of the woods just as the boar, forced to a halt by Little Bear and Xiaohua, was turning to attack them.
But what the boar didn’t expect was that as Little Bear and Xiaohua dodged to the sides, White Dragon charged straight out.
This big white dog weighed nearly a hundred and ten pounds, two sizes larger than Little Bear and Xiaohua. The sight of it made the boar’s heart skip a beat. It hesitated for a moment, and in that instant, White Dragon was upon it.
White Dragon opened its massive jaws and clamped down on the boar’s ear. The boar thrashed its head, and White Dragon quickly let go to dodge.
Just then, as the boar tried to flee, Little Bear and Xiaohua charged in, both biting down on its hind legs, one on the left and one on the right.
If it had been a deer, it would have surely kicked out with a leg, but a boar couldn’t do that. It could only turn sharply, trying to gore Little Bear on its right with its head while also trying to shake both dogs off.
As the boar spun around to attack, Little Bear and Xiaohua turned and fled. With nothing holding it back, the boar started running up the slope again.
But White Dragon quickly overtook it, lunged, and bit down hard.
White Dragon had a vicious bite. It latched onto the boar’s ear, planted its paws, and pulled with savage force, making the boar stumble.
The boar thrashed its head to attack. Although White Dragon retreated, Little Bear and Xiaohua attacked from behind. The boar had no choice but to turn again and go after them.
Compared to before, now that White Dragon had joined in, the boar still hadn’t been put in a "kill pin." But after each "broken pin," it couldn’t get very far. It would run a hundred yards or so before being forced to stop and tangle with the three dogs for a moment.
In this way, the boar’s stamina rapidly drained. By the time Da Huang arrived, the boar, facing an assault from four dogs, could no longer hold out. It was cornered against a fallen log, struggling futilely.
In the distance, Zhao Jun and Lin Xiangshun heard the barking stop and stay in one place. They knew the boar was pinned for good, so they slowed from a jog to a quick walk.
When they got closer, Lin Xiangshun took one look and chuckled at Zhao Jun. "Better than yesterday’s four dogs. Even the boar they brought down is bigger."
Zhao Jun smiled at his words and drew the bayonet from his Type 56 semi-automatic rifle. But then he heard Lin Xiangshun beside him say, "Xiaojun, give it to me. Let me do it."
Zhao Jun heard him and knew Lin Xiangshun’s hunting fever had kicked in. He immediately handed the semi-automatic rifle to Lin Xiangshun and took the over-under shotgun in exchange.
Lin Xiangshun entered the fray with the bayonet fixed, plunging it into the boar’s armpit. As he withdrew the blade, the blood groove unleashed a jet of blood, and the boar collapsed to the ground, wailing and convulsing.
A moment later, the boar died. Zhao Jun and Lin Xiangshun shooed the dogs away, then worked together to flip the boar onto its back. Zhao Jun used an Invasion Blade to open up its chest cavity.
At this time of year, the boar had almost no fat on it, just a few thin layers on its belly.
Zhao Jun cut out the boar’s heart and split it in two, giving half to Little Bear and half to White Dragon. Then he cut out the stomach, sliced it open, scraped out the contents, and split it as well, giving half to Little Bear and half to Da Huang.
Next was the liver. It wasn’t as prized as the heart or stomach. Zhao Jun divided it into three portions, one each for White Dragon, Da Huang, and Xiaohua.
As for the intestines, he cut them into several pieces. Most went to Xiaohua, though White Dragon and Da Huang also got some.
This showed the lead dog’s privilege. Little Bear received portions of both the heart and the stomach, the choicest parts. Meanwhile, the support dogs, White Dragon and Da Huang, each only received one of the prime cuts.
Zhao Jun pointed at the boar and asked Lin Xiangshun, "What should we do with this one?"
"Skin it. We’ll carry it out," Lin Xiangshun said. "Leave the head and hooves. We’ll just take the good meat."
"Alright!" Zhao Jun started working with Lin Xiangshun to skin the boar. Halfway through, Little Bear, having finished its heart and stomach, trotted over to Zhao Jun, wagging its tail. Its little belly was slightly rounded, but from the look of it, it wasn’t full yet.
Seeing this, Lin Xiangshun said quickly, "Xiaojun, hurry and cut it a piece of belly meat to eat."
Zhao Jun thought for a moment, then pulled over one of the boar’s thighs. He carved a large chunk of meat from the skinned leg and stuffed it into Little Bear’s mouth.
With the meat in its mouth, Little Bear trotted off into the distance, wagging its tail.
Zhao Jun then carved more meat from the leg for White Dragon, Da Huang, and Xiaohua. Noticing Lin Xiangshun looking at him, Zhao Jun smiled and said, "We’ll save the pork belly. We’ll eat it at home tonight. I’ll make you something good."