The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

After he had stuck the three cigarettes into the ground, wisps of white smoke curled up and filled the air.

Zhao Jun pressed his lips together. He took the last cigarette from behind his ear, lit it, and placed it in his mouth before finally handing the matchbox back to Tao Dabao.

Zhao Jun smoked quickly. Once the cigarette had burned down, he turned to Li Baoyu and said, "Baoyu, let’s go. We’re heading back."

"Brother..."

"Let’s go back," Zhao Jun said again, patting Li Baoyu’s shoulder. Then he turned and walked away without looking back.

When Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu caught up with the main group, the militiamen were already carrying the Tiger toward the horse-drawn sleds.

But when they were still more than five hundred meters away from the sleds, the horses pulling them suddenly panicked.

However, Tao Dabao had given instructions to the sled drivers before they came, so they had tied the reins securely. No matter how much the horses bucked, they couldn’t break free.

But as the Tiger drew closer, the horses went wild, craning their necks, rearing up on their hind legs, and neighing nonstop.

"Secretary, Director, this isn’t going to work." Li the Fifth came up behind Yu Xuewen and Tao Dabao. "This Big Claw is even spookier than a bear. The horses don’t dare pull. If we force them, they’re liable to bolt into a ravine."

"Then we’ll carry it back by hand," Tao Dabao decided instantly. "Get some men. Four to a team, three teams taking turns. Leave another ten with guns, just in case anything else happens."

Normally, if they killed a wild boar or a Black Bear, they could just use ropes to drag it down the mountain. But this Tiger was alive, so it had to be carried by people.

The mountain path was difficult, so Tao Dabao left twelve men to carry it in three rotating shifts. The militiamen followed his orders immediately. In the end, far more than twenty-two people stayed behind—a number of others who were curious about the Tiger remained as well.

Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu were in no mood for that. The two of them rode a sled all the way back to the Yongxing Brigade.

Yu Xuewen instructed the sled driver, Li the Fifth, to take Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu all the way to Tao Erbao’s house.

When they arrived at Tao Erbao’s gate, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu got off the sled and said goodbye to Li the Fifth. After watching him drive the sled away, the two entered the courtyard and immediately heard Xiaohua start to bark.

It wasn’t the bark of a watchdog, but one of excitement at seeing its master.

Seeing Xiaohua all alone in front of the doghouse, both Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu felt a pang in their hearts. Li Baoyu walked toward Xiaohua while Zhao Jun went straight into the house.

Zhao Jun pulled open the door and saw Li Yunxiang busy at the stove, making lunch. They had been remarkably fast in capturing the tiger; it was just past noon now.

"Zhao Jun, you’re finally back." The moment she saw him enter, Li Yunxiang said, "Right after you all left, Da Hua ran off. Your Master Tao and Xiaofei spent the whole morning looking for him around the brigade grounds, but they couldn’t find him."

Li Yunxiang had barely finished speaking when Tao Fulun and Tao Fei came out from the inner room. The first thing the grandfather and grandson said upon seeing Zhao Jun was the same as what Li Yunxiang had said.

At this, Zhao Jun forced a smile and said to the three members of the Tao Family, "Our Hua Xiao’Er went with us to catch Big Claw. He took two bites out of him!"

"Ah!" Zhao Jun’s words left Tao Fulun stunned and speechless. He asked in disbelief, "For real?"

"For real," Zhao Jun said with a grin. "My Hua Xiao’Er is the number one dog in this mountain forest!"

The original Yong’an Forest Area included over a hundred Forest Classes, plus the four villages outside the mountains: Yong’an, Yongsheng, Yongfu, and Yongli.

In all these places, there were if not a thousand hunting dogs, then at least several hundred. And among all of them, Hua Xiao’Er was the best.

And now, even in the Yongxing Brigade, whenever a good hunting dog was mentioned, the first one everyone thought of was inevitably Hua Xiao’Er, the dog who took two bites out of a tiger.

That’s right. When the militiamen carried the Tiger back that afternoon, Hua Xiao’Er became famous, and Zhao Jun became famous right along with him.

There were still four days until the end of the spring hunt, but Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu weren’t in a hurry to go home. Of course, it wasn’t because they were after the spring hunt rewards offered by the brigade. Rather, their dogs were injured and needed a few days to recover before they could travel home by sled.

During these few days, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu didn’t stay idle. The two of them took their guns into the mountains to hunt for scattered game. But as the end of the spring hunt drew nearer, the amount of available prey dwindled.

On the sixth day, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu had just finished breakfast and were wrapping their leggings in their room when Tao Dabao showed up again.

But unlike the previous two times, the moment Tao Dabao saw Zhao Jun, he burst out laughing and said, "Zhao Jun, you did our brigade a huge favor by catching that tiger. Just say the word. What do you want as a reward?"

Then Tao Dabao added, "And I’m saying this on behalf of the brigade."

Tao Dabao’s meaning was already very clear. He was telling Zhao Jun not to feel burdened and just state his request. Whether it could be fulfilled or not was a matter between Zhao Jun and the brigade. It had nothing to do with the Tao Family or Tao Dabao personally.

As for the personal favor Tao Dabao owed Zhao Jun, that would be settled separately.

Zhao Jun thought for a moment, then looked up at the semi-automatic rifle hanging on the wall. "Uncle Tao," he said to Tao Dabao, "if it’s convenient, could you lend me the rifle?"

Ever since Zhou Chengguo was transferred to the Forest Farm to manage equipment, Zhao Jun hadn’t been short on guns. But the Forest Farm’s guns were inspected frequently and couldn’t be kept at home for long periods.

The Yongxing Brigade’s guns, however, didn’t have so many rules. It all came down to a single word from Tao Dabao.

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Tao Dabao turned to look at the rifle. When he turned back, he smiled. "That’s easy. Just take it."

But then, Tao Dabao changed his tune. "There’s just one thing," he said. "Every year before National Day, the armory department sends people down to inventory and inspect all the firearms. So, you can take the rifle with you when you leave this time. Before National Day, when the inspection is coming up, I’ll have someone send you a message. You bring the rifle back, hang out here for a few days, and once they’re done with the inspection, you can take it with you again."

"Alright," Zhao Jun said quickly. "Then I’ll have to trouble you, Uncle Tao."

"No trouble at all," Tao Dabao said with a grin. "That’s nothing. When you’re about to leave, I’ll get you some extra bullets so you can shoot to your heart’s content."

"That’s great!"

Both Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu were delighted to hear that. Then, Zhao Jun asked Tao Dabao, "Uncle Tao, could I also borrow a few pairs of your skis? I’ll bring them back when I come before National Day."

The thaw was about to begin, so the skis wouldn’t be needed anymore. That’s why he wasn’t in a hurry to return them.

"Those old things? Why even bother returning them?" Tao Dabao said magnanimously. "Take as many as you want. We killed so many boars during this spring hunt, we’ll just make more."

"Alright, then." Hearing this, Zhao Jun didn’t stand on ceremony any longer. "In that case, I’ll come get them from you when I leave."

"You got it," Tao Dabao said, then turned to leave. The spring hunt was still ongoing, and there were plenty of fights breaking out between the various teams over prey, both in and out of the mountains. As the Director of Security, Tao Dabao didn’t have a moment’s rest.

Seeing Tao Dabao leave, Li Baoyu sidled up to Zhao Jun and grinned. "Brother, now we’ve got a gun, and the bullets are free, too."

"Yep," Zhao Jun nodded. "After we get back, you should practice shooting whenever you have time. Once the snow on the sunny slopes has all melted, and the North-facing Slopes can support the dogs’ weight, we’ll go take care of that Pig God."

Hearing the name Pig God, Li Baoyu’s spirits immediately lifted. Compared to a terrifying creature like the Tiger, the Pig God was a legendary being that generations of Hunters in the Yong’an Forest Area had wanted to kill but had never succeeded.

"Brother, you wanted the skis for it too, right?"

"Mhm," Zhao Jun said. "It’s surrounded by so many boars. If we don’t clear them all out first, killing it will be a real pain."

"All those boars... clear them all out?" Li Baoyu said in surprise. "Can the two of us really handle that?"

"Just listen to me when the time comes. It should be enough," Zhao Jun said as he finished wrapping his leggings. He hopped off the edge of the kang bed, stomped his feet twice, and then said to Li Baoyu, "Let’s go. We’ll head up the mountain and hunt something down. Auntie has been so good to us these past few days. We should get some more meat for her before we leave."

"Sounds good," Li Baoyu immediately agreed.

In the days they had been at the Tao Family’s home, Li Yunxiang had treated them to delicious meals and drinks every single day. Especially when they returned from hunting, no matter what time they got back, Li Yunxiang would have food ready for them. It was genuinely touching.

And so, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu left the house, walked out of the village, and headed straight for the mountains.