The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

On the mountain road, Li Baoyu asked Zhao Jun as he drove, "Brother, why’d you make a special trip to the Logging Camp?"

Last night, Zhao Jun had gone next door to the Li Family’s home and told Li Baoyu to ask Lin Xiangshun for a day off. Li Baoyu did as he was told and went to Lin Xiangshun’s house in the dark. When he explained he needed leave, Lin Xiangshun instead told him to drive and deliver some things, after which he would be free.

When Li Baoyu came back and told Zhao Jun, Zhao Jun said it wouldn’t be a problem. He happened to be heading to No. 77 Logging Camp himself, so he told Li Baoyu to just pick him up on the way back after finishing his task.

Hearing Li Baoyu ask his reason for coming, Zhao Jun just said, "I was thinking of asking the head of the timber transport crew. He’s from Lingnan, so I wanted to see if he could help me get in touch with someone to buy a few dogs."

"Still buying dogs?"

"Have to," Zhao Jun said. "The other day on Yongxing Mountain, you went over with Little Bear. You saw it, right? She can’t hold the prey down, can she?"

Li Baoyu, who was driving, thought for a moment, then sucked in a breath. "You’re right," he finally said.

At this, Li Baoyu tilted his head to look at Zhao Jun and asked, "The other day at your eldest brother-in-law’s house, during dinner, he said that Huang Gui’s Dog Gang is incredible. They showed up and pinned down a three- or four-hundred-jin Big Cannon Egg."

"That’s a pack from the same litter," Zhao Jun said. "Besides Little Bear, he has three black dogs, all of them pups that Little Bear whelped and were trained as pack dogs. In the mountains, when their mother goes out, they go out. Whoever their mother bites, they bite. What boar wouldn’t they be able to pin down?"

In the world of hunting with dog packs, there’s a saying: When the Big-headed Dog dies, the Dog Gang falls apart.

What is a Big-headed Dog?

A good nose for tracking, the stamina for a long chase, and the fighting power to hold the prey.

Hua Xiao is a Big-headed Dog in every sense of the word, especially with his signature move of attacking from the rear. It doesn’t matter if it’s a boar or a sow; once he arrives, the pig is basically forced to stand its ground.

This is what it means to "hold the prey."

Of course, not all hunting dogs hold their prey by attacking from behind. For example, Zhao Jun’s family’s not-yet-fully-grown Cyan Dragon is a head-on dog that latches on like a vise. Prey that it catches up to usually can’t escape either.

As for Little Bear, she has a good nose and great stamina, but because she’s a female, her fighting strength isn’t a match for a male’s, so she can’t hold the prey on her own.

When she was in Huang Gui’s Dog Gang, her packmates were her own sons. They would chase prey together and return together, so naturally they could hold it down.

But now that Little Bear is in Zhao Jun’s Dog Gang, these dogs are used to Hua Xiao’s undisciplined hunting style. When Little Bear gives chase, the other dogs are slow to follow.

The deadliest problem is that during a fight, Daqing and White Dragon are used to being invincible with Hua Xiao. When Hua Xiao attacks a wild boar from behind, Daqing and White Dragon dare to latch right on.

But Little Bear is a dog that attacks the hind legs. When she attacks the boar from behind, Daqing and White Dragon think it’s the same as when they’re with Hua Xiao.

How could they not get hurt?

But as far as Little Bear is concerned, she’s still a first-class lead dog. After all, every Hunter has different goals. Some people only hunt wild boars under two hundred jin, but Zhao Jun wants to hunt bears.

When they were almost there, Li Baoyu parked the car on a firewood path. The three men got out and climbed up the mountain to the spot where Zhao Jun and Zhang Yuanmin had dug for Ginseng the day before.

"Come on, you two, kowtow!" Zhao Jun said, pointing at the Elder Zhao for Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin.

Hearing this, Zhang Yuanmin knelt without a second thought. After all, they had found three Ginseng plants yesterday, so he was being especially obedient.

"Hey..." Li Baoyu looked at the already kneeling Zhang Yuanmin, then at Zhao Jun standing off to the side with his hands behind his back. He asked Zhao Jun in surprise, "Brother, how come you’re not kowtowing?"

"If he tells you to kowtow, just do it." The kneeling Zhang Yuanmin reached out, tugged Li Baoyu’s sleeve, and said, "Your brother once captured the Mountain God..."

Hearing what Zhang Yuanmin said, Li Baoyu glanced at Zhao Jun, then knelt side-by-side with Zhang Yuanmin and kowtowed toward the Elder Zhao.

When the two of them got up, they saw Zhao Jun facing the slope. He raised a hand and pointed, "Brother Zhang, Baoyu, you two start from here and search your way up. If you see Ginseng, don’t shout. Just wave me over."

The Ginseng buds were still curled up, and Zhao Jun was afraid they might not see them clearly and call out by mistake. That was why he told them to just signal him if they found any Ginseng.

Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin were both quite obedient. Following Zhao Jun’s instructions, they carefully picked away the dead branches and rotten leaves on the surface of the soil, searching for the Ginseng sprouts hidden underneath.

Meanwhile, Zhao Jun stood behind them, took out two sheets of calendar paper from his satchel, unfolded them, and pulled out a pencil stub that was rolled inside. He began to write and sketch on the paper.

About an hour later, Zhang Yuanmin, who had reached the top of the slope and was circling back down the side, suddenly pulled Li Baoyu. The two of them instantly froze in place.

Zhao Jun looked up and saw Zhang Yuanmin waving at him. Zhao Jun quickly ran over, took a look, then threw his head back and shouted, "Ginseng! Ginseng!"

Li Baoyu, who hadn’t joined the hunt yesterday, wanted to get in on the action and shouted, "How many-grade leaves?"

Zhao Jun responded, "A Mountain-Opening Key!"

"How many stalks?"

"The whole mountain is full!"

With a wave of his hand from Zhao Jun, Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin both continued forward, leaving Zhao Jun alone at the spot.

Zhao Jun first crouched down to carefully observe the direction the Ginseng sprout was bowing its head. Then he looked up, calculated silently for a moment, and finally took the Deer Antler Key from his satchel to dig up the Ginseng.

Although he could dig it up without tools, having a professional tool on hand made the job twice as efficient.

This was just a sprout, though. The stalk hadn’t emerged, and the leaves hadn’t grown, so there was no need to tie a red string or anything. He could just dig it right up.

Just as Zhao Jun finished digging up a Second-class sprout, Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin had already come down the slope, bringing him moss they had peeled and bark they had cut.

Zhao Jun wrapped the Ginseng Bun, pointed to the side, and told the two, "Keep going. There are plenty of big ones here."

Having just found a Ginseng sprout, Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin were full of energy, searching the slope as Zhao Jun directed.

This time, it wasn’t long before Zhang Yuanmin was seen pulling Li Baoyu again, and the two froze on the spot.

Before Zhang Yuanmin could even wave him over, Zhao Jun was there in two quick strides. He looked down and shouted, "Ginseng..."

"How many-grade leaves!" Li Baoyu shouted.

"Fourth-grade leaves!"

Upon hearing this, Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin exchanged a look, joy spreading across both their faces. Then Li Baoyu continued shouting, "How many stalks?"

"The whole mountain is full!"

After the ritual call, Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin were about to continue down the slope but were stopped by Zhao Jun.

Even though it had Fourth-grade leaves, Zhao Jun didn’t rush to dig it up. Instead, he picked up a few dead twigs and placed them next to the Ginseng as a marker. Then he took out his paper and pencil again and started to write and sketch.

Just then, a cry of "Ah!" escaped from Zhang Yuanmin. Zhao Jun jumped in fright and looked up to see a creature slithering past on the ground.

Zhao Jun quickly shot Zhang Yuanmin a look, scaring him into swallowing the words that were about to come out of his mouth.