The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

In just a few words, the two big shots of Yongxing Brigade decided the tiger’s fate. They would let it run wild in the mountains for a few more days and deal with it after the spring hunt.

Seeing it was getting late, Tao Dabao and Yu Xuewen took their leave, bringing Zhao Jun with them.

By the time he and Tao Dabao made their way to Tao Dabao’s house, Tao Fulun, Li Baoyu, and Tao Xiaobao’s family of three were already there.

Tao Dabao had been in the army for many years. He only transferred back to his hometown in ’80 after being wounded, then married and had a child.

His only son was just four years old now. At this moment, he was in Li Baoyu’s arms, listening to him tell the story of how he had single-handedly slain the Wild Boar King.

Seeing Tao Dabao and Zhao Jun return, everyone stood up and crowded around them, asking about their trip up the mountain to hunt the tiger.

Li Baoyu was actually a little annoyed about this. He had grown up reading *Water Margin*, and the character he admired most was Wu Erlang.

Regardless of how he might actually react if he came face-to-face with a real tiger, back at Tao Xiaobao’s house when he first heard the news, the not-yet-sober Li Baoyu had wanted nothing more than to rush up the mountain and perform his own version of "Baoyu Fights the Tiger."

After Tao Dabao finished recounting their expedition, Tao Fei asked him wistfully, "Uncle, after the spring hunt, when our team takes down that tiger, will our family get a share of the meat?"

"What?" The question caught Tao Dabao off guard.

Seeing Tao Dabao’s surprise, Tao Fei added, "I’ve eaten wild boar and Black Bear, but I’ve never had tiger meat before."

Tao Dabao finally snapped out of it and laughed. "What are you thinking, kid? If that thing is taken down, it has to be sent by vehicle to the town. It’s not for us to eat."

"All this kid thinks about is eating," Tao Fulun chided Tao Fei, then said to Tao Dabao, "Da Bao, if you guys go again, you have to be careful. Big Claw isn’t like other animals."

Zhao Jun was getting curious. This wasn’t the first or second time Tao Fulun had shown his apprehension toward tigers, and everyone knew this old man wasn’t exactly the timid type.

Thinking this, Zhao Jun asked Tao Fulun, "What’s the story, Old Sir? From the way you talk, it sounds like you’ve had a run-in with Big Claw before?"

Hearing this, Tao Fulun didn’t speak at first. He just shook his head, swallowed hard, and then said bitterly, "My maternal uncle was killed by a Big Claw."

"Huh?"

Tao Fulun waved a hand in front of his face, then shook his head. "My uncle went up the mountain to check his snares and never came back. The next day, my dad and my other uncle went looking for him, and they found... all that was left of my uncle was from the hips down, and his head. His entire upper body, even the bones, was gone. Only his cotton jacket remained."

"Oh, my God." Now sober, Li Baoyu was also getting scared.

After Elder Tao finished his story, the mood became somber. Just then, Tao Dabao’s wife, Jiang Lan, and Li Yunxiang finished preparing the meal and called the men to eat.

Since the spring hunt was tomorrow and they had already been drinking at noon, Li Baoyu and the others didn’t have any more alcohol, just a hearty meal.

After dinner, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu followed Tao Fulun and Tao Xiaobao’s family back to their place and spent the night.

The next morning, Zhao Jun was up a little after five. By then, Li Yunxiang was already steaming buns.

They were cabbage and pork buns. Li Yunxiang steamed the first batch—twenty large buns—and it wasn’t enough for the five men.

When the second batch was ready, Zhao Jun and the others ate their fill, leaving eight buns.

Just as they were sitting around the kang table finishing up with cornmeal porridge, Li Yunxiang came over with a third basin of buns.

She placed the buns on a nearby stool and said to Zhao Jun, "Zhao Xiao, I’ve already fed your dogs. In a bit, I’ll pack some more buns for you. If you don’t come back for lunch, you can have a bite on the mountain. If you do come back, we’ll have food ready."

"Alright, Ma’am."

After finishing the porridge, Zhao Jun, Li Baoyu, and Tao Fei went to put on their leg wrappings. Tao Fulun hovered around Zhao Jun, pacing and asking all sorts of questions, even saying that in his whole life, he’d never seen a dog-pack hunt.

Anything, when framed as something he’d never experienced in his entire life, was bound to sound a little pathetic.

But Zhao Jun, growing impatient with his pestering, looked up at Tao Fulun and said, "Old Sir, you should just rest at home. Xiaofei is coming with us. You... can’t really go, can you?"

Tao Fulun froze, then it hit him. ’That’s right. My own grandson is in the group. Even if I tried to tag along secretly, he’d just send me back.’

At this thought, Tao Fulun sighed, shook his head, and went back to his room.

Just as Tao Fulun left, Tao Xiaobao came in. He wasn’t a hunter, but as a militiaman, he had to participate in cordoning off the mountain today.

Tao Xiaobao came in and asked, "How’s it going? All set?"

Zhao Jun stood up, stamping his feet, and said to Tao Xiaobao, "All packed. Hey, Uncle, are there any other formalities we need to know about?"

"No formalities." Tao Xiaobao sat on the edge of the kang, took out some cigarettes from his pocket, and offered them to Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu. When neither of them took one, Tao Xiaobao lit one for himself, took a drag, and said, "There’s a mobilization rally in a bit. If you want to check it out, we can go take a look. If not, you can head straight up the mountain."

Hearing there was a mobilization rally, Li Baoyu quickly said to Zhao Jun, "Brother, let’s go see it."

"We’re going!" Zhao Jun replied decisively. His own Yong’an Village was small and didn’t have large-scale events like the spring hunt, so he was quite curious about it.

"Then let’s go!" Hearing that both Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu wanted to see the spectacle, Tao Xiaobao stood up with the cigarette dangling from his lips and led the way out.

Zhao Jun moved to grab his rifle, but Tao Fei stopped him. "Brother Zhao, no need to take your rifle. You’ll have to come back for the dogs anyway, so you can grab it then."

’He’s right,’ Zhao Jun thought. ’They’re holding a big meeting. I can’t bring the dogs, so I’ll have to come back one way or another.’

Once they left Tao Xiaobao’s house and walked toward the open ground in the center of the village, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu realized it seemed like the men from all ten of Yongxing’s production teams had turned out.

Wasn’t there a phrase to describe such a lively scene?

"Gongs and drums resounded, firecrackers popped, red flags fluttered, and a sea of people gathered."

Except for the firecrackers, the other three parts were all present.

By now, a wooden platform had been set up in the central open space of Yongxing First Team.

On either side of the platform, eight cannons were lined up horizontally.

Next to each cannon was a wooden crate. Although the crates were closed, they were clearly filled with cannonballs.

A Cannon Shooter stood to the right of each cannon, and behind the cannons on both sides stood two rows of militiamen, each with a rifle slung over his back.

And they were all Type 56 semi-automatic rifles.

Like the Cannon Shooters, they stood as straight as javelins in the biting cold wind.

Zhao Jun wasn’t carrying his rifle, but among the several hundred people gathered there, more than half were. They carried semi-automatics as well as various modified hunting rifles.

Four or five hundred men stood facing the wind, whispering among themselves. Their combined voices created a chaotic, buzzing din.

But the atmosphere was truly incredible.

It was no wonder.

In previous years, the Divine Land had been eyed covetously by outsiders. For this very reason, the Great Helmsman had devised the brilliant, if eccentric, strategy of the "Three Big Booms," of which the million-strong militia was one.

Zhao Jun and the others waited in the crowd for a short while as more and more people gathered from all directions.

By nearly eight o’clock, almost a thousand people had assembled. And on the wooden platform stood Yu Xuewen, Secretary of the Yongxing Brigade, and Tao Dabao, Director of Security and leader of the Civilian Militia Squad. Both stood with rifles on their backs.

「At eight o’clock sharp, Tao Dabao took two steps forward.」

When he reached the edge of the platform, the nearly one thousand people present fell instantly silent.

Tao Dabao opened his mouth, his voice booming as he shouted, "Comrades! Every year, a good portion of the grain we work so hard to grow is destroyed by those damn beasts."

"This is absolutely unacceptable! There’s not enough food for the people, so how can we let beasts ruin it!"

"So, starting today, our Yongxing Brigade will begin a seven-day spring hunt! All militiamen, according to the tasks previously assigned to your production teams and squads, will cordon off all the surrounding mountains for me."

"All Hunters will enter the mountains! Shoot whatever you see! Leave none alive! We’ll skin them and eat the meat!"

"YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!"

The moment Tao Dabao finished speaking, someone in the crowd below shouted in approval. Immediately after, everyone except for the militiamen and Cannon Shooters standing at the sides broke into thunderous applause.

A few seconds later, the applause died down.

Tao Dabao was now holding the rifle from his shoulder. He didn’t fire a warning shot, but simply raised it to the sky and roared, "Kill!"

In an instant, the thousand men below roared "Kill!" in unison. Their voices merged into one, a cry for blood that shook the heavens.