The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

Not far from the brigade headquarters was the clinic.

By the time Zhao Jun and Tao Dabao arrived, the small clinic was already swarming with people, both inside and out.

Seeing Tao Dabao approach, the crowd greeted him and parted to clear a path.

Zhao Jun followed Tao Dabao inside, but he didn’t hear the agonized screams he was expecting.

Aside from the onlookers and the clinic doctor, there was just one man in a tattered, cotton-padded jacket, sitting on a long bench and wiping away his tears.

He sat sideways on the long bench with one leg propped up. His pant leg was rolled up, revealing a badly swollen ankle.

’He must be the victim, but it doesn’t look that serious.’

"What’s going on here?" Tao Dabao came in, took a look around, and realized the situation wasn’t what he’d imagined. He turned to ask the onlookers.

The person he asked, seeing it was the chief questioning them, quickly replied, "Qu the Second was driving his sled home and ran into a stone tiger in the mountains..."

"Oh!" Upon hearing this, Tao Dabao hurried over to Qu the Second, tilting his head to get a look at the man’s face.

Qu the Second was in the middle of sniffling and wiping away tears. He started when he saw Tao Dabao’s face, hastily wiped his cheeks, and cried out, "Chief, you’re here!"

As he spoke, he struggled to get up.

Tao Dabao quickly pressed him back down and asked, "What’s wrong? I heard you ran into a stone tiger?"

"Yeah!" Qu the Second nodded. "Chief, I’m telling you, I almost didn’t make it back!"

Hearing this, Tao Dabao frowned. "Didn’t you just sprain your ankle?"

Tao Dabao knew that Qu the Second wasn’t a Hunter. When he went into the mountains, he carried an Invasion Blade at most. In front of a Tiger, he was as good as unarmed.

If he had really run into a Tiger, was it possible he’d get away with just a sprained ankle?

As soon as Qu the Second heard Tao Dabao’s words, tears instantly welled up in his eyes. He cried, "Chief, my horse... I lost my horse in the mountains."

"What?" Tao Dabao was suddenly alarmed. A horse cost a fortune these days. Losing it meant Qu the Second’s family had lost their entire livelihood. This was no small matter.

Qu the Second said between sobs, "I was driving the sled back when halfway home, the horse spooked. I couldn’t hold on to the reins. Then something darted out from behind and pounced on my horse’s hindquarters, biting down."

"The horse cried out and collapsed, flipping me and the sled. When I took a goddamn look, I saw it was a stone tiger."

"Where?"

Qu the Second replied, "Up above West Second River, near Mrs. Elder Sun’s grave."

West Second River was a local place name. As for Mrs. Elder Sun’s grave, there was no special story behind it; an old woman with the surname Sun had died and was buried there, and the locals found it a convenient landmark to use.

Upon hearing this, Tao Dabao raised his wrist to check his watch. Even though it was already two-thirty, he turned and gestured to someone. "Xiaohan, hurry over to Secretary Yu’s house. Tell him what happened and have him call the Forestry Bureau for instructions."

"Got it, Chief." The man answered, then turned and pushed his way through the crowd to leave.

Tao Dabao then said to another man, "Elder Wu, hurry home and hitch up your sled. After that, come find me at the village headquarters."

The man Tao Dabao called Elder Wu agreed without hesitation and immediately turned to leave.

"Chief!" Qu the Second wailed. "What am I going to do?"

"You?" Tao Dabao paused. "What do you mean, ’what are you going to do’? You just focus on recovering."

"I..." Despite his injured foot, Qu the Second struggled up from the bench, balancing on one leg. He said to Tao Dabao, "My horse is lost in the mountains, so our brigade..."

The words were barely out of his mouth, but Tao Dabao already knew what he meant. He was hoping the brigade would compensate him for some of his loss.

Tao Dabao sized him up for a moment and said, "Alright, I know things aren’t easy for your family. As for this, let me discuss it with Secretary Yu. Don’t you worry, we’ll be able to give you something to help."

With that, Tao Dabao headed for the door, and Zhao Jun followed him out of the clinic.

Just then, Tao Dabao suddenly turned to Zhao Jun and said, "Zhao Jun, you dare come along for a hunt?"

"Uncle Tao, you’re going yourself?" Zhao Jun asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yeah." Tao Dabao nodded. "I wouldn’t feel right letting someone else handle this."

At this, Tao Dabao smiled and patted his own injured leg. "Don’t be fooled because this old leg of mine doesn’t work so well. I can still sprint for three or five hundred meters if I have to, no problem."

"I didn’t mean it like that," Zhao Jun said quickly. "I just meant, Uncle, you’re a brigade official."

"It’s because I’m an official that I have to be the one to step up when something happens," Tao Dabao said, gesturing for Zhao Jun to follow him.

He led Zhao Jun back to the brigade headquarters and went straight into a back room. A moment later, he came out holding two Type 56 semi-automatic rifles.

Zhao Jun already had a rifle slung over his back. Of the two in Tao Dabao’s hands, it was clear one was for himself, and the other was for Elder Wu, the man who would be driving the sled.

When the two of them came out of the brigade headquarters, a horse-drawn sled was already waiting in front.

The driver was the middle-aged man Tao Dabao had called Elder Wu.

Tao Dabao handed the rifle from his left hand to the man and then introduced him to Zhao Jun. "This is the captain of our First Team’s Hunter Team. Just call him Fifth Uncle. He does a fair bit of hunting himself. You two can have a little competition tomorrow."

"Hello, Fifth Uncle," Zhao Jun said, stepping forward to greet him politely.

"Hey there, good kid." Li the Fifth first acknowledged Zhao Jun, then turned to Tao Dabao. "Chief, this young fella looks new to me."

Tao Dabao didn’t answer, simply pointing to the west. "Let’s not get into that now. We need to get up the mountain and see what’s going on. The sooner we go, the sooner we’re back."

"Right."

Li the Fifth slung the rifle over his shoulder, flicked his whip, and went to take the horse by the bridle.

Zhao Jun and Tao Dabao climbed onto the sled. With Li the Fifth driving, the horse pulled them out of the village and into the mountains.

Once in the mountains, the sled headed steadily west. As the peaks grew more treacherous and the forest deepened, the expressions on the faces of Zhao Jun, Tao Dabao, and Li the Fifth grew increasingly grim.

Just then, the horse Li the Fifth was driving suddenly let out a shrill WHINNY and, in an instant, became uncontrollable.

"Whoa..." Li the Fifth strained, pulling hard on the reins. Seeing him struggle, Zhao Jun quickly reached out to help.

At that same moment, Tao Dabao’s eyes swept left and right. With a flick of his shoulder, the semi-automatic rifle slung there was already in his hands.

He leaped forward and to the left, landing with bent knees before executing a smooth roll. When he came up, he was already kneeling on one knee in the snow.

Tao Dabao brought the rifle to his cheek, aimed into the woods, and fired three quick shots.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

As the shots rang out, a flash of yellow flickered through the trees.