Chapter 113: Hunting in the Forest

The purpose of their trip was a group of Wild Boar; they had previously come down the mountain and ruined quite a few crops, which led to this operation to wipe them out.

The hunting dogs followed the scent, bit by bit, deep into the mountains, and the group didn't stop to rest until one o'clock in the afternoon.

"Everyone, hurry and rest to recover your stamina; the Wild Boar shouldn't be far now."

Everyone silently recovered their stamina, with only Chen Guoqiang's heavy breathing audible.

"Old Chen, you should exercise more often. We've only been walking for a little while and you're already panting like this."

"I'm getting old, can't help it," Chen Guoqiang said, waving his hand as he leaned against a large tree to rest.

Chen Guoqiang was only forty this year, about the same age as Du Kangguo, but one had spent years walking the mountains while the other sat in an office; the difference in physical fitness was naturally significant.

"Alright, let's move out."

They had originally planned to rest for ten minutes, but seeing Chen Guoqiang had only just caught his breath, Du Kangguo let them rest for another ten.

"Eh? They aren't at the Salt Mine Cave?"

This was a place Du Kangguo and the others had discovered by accident; many Wild Boar would linger here, and later investigations revealed it was an earthen cave containing salt ore.

Du Kangguo looked at the sky; it was already around four in the afternoon.

"Let's head to the temporary resting point first and continue searching tomorrow morning."

Under Du Kangguo's lead, the group arrived at a wooden cabin half an hour later; it was somewhat similar to a cellar in Beijiang, semi-underground, but the area was quite large, nearly thirty square meters.

"This is our stopover point for mountain patrols; everyone will have to make do here tonight."

There were pots, bowls, and ladles here, and an earthen stove outside; everyone ate some dry rations, lit the earthen wall stove, and went to rest.

The next morning, Zhang Ping'an got up early as usual and took a simple stroll around the area, discovering it was truly a paradise for fungi; Zhang Ping'an picked a few he recognized, like hazel mushrooms, lingzhi, monkey head mushrooms, and so on...

"Brother Zhang, up so early?"

"I'm used to it at home."

"Mm, not bad, good habit."

Du Kangguo was very appreciative; he felt that one should cultivate good habits while young so that the body could remain healthy in old age.

"Captain, there are still no traces of Wild Boar over at the Salt Mine Cave."

"These beasts, they've learned to be clever. Everyone, pack up and get ready to move out."

After another morning of tracking, they finally discovered marks left by Wild Boar rubbing against trees.

"Damn it, they've run too deep. If there's nothing at the next resting point, we're heading back."

The group gained nothing in the afternoon, though Zhang Ping'an secretly collected some medicinal herbs and rare tree saplings.

"Old Chen, Brother Zhang, the three of you stay here to start a fire and cook; we'll head a bit deeper."

The deeper they went, the more dangerous it became; Zhang Ping'an and the others were not professional forest rangers after all, and Du Kangguo wouldn't let them take risks.

"Alright," Chen Guoqiang was already limp. He had thought there would be a harvest like before at the Salt Mine Cave, but who knew they would have to go this deep.

"Brother Chen, you rest for a while; Dongxu and I will handle it."

"Done," Chen Guoqiang really had no strength left and didn't want to get up once he lay down.

"Dongxu, you start the fire and cook; I'll go see if I can bag some game."

"Alright, Uncle, be careful."

"Alright."

Zhang Ping'an walked in the opposite direction of Du Kangguo and the others, running at high speed for half an hour before stopping; with a wave of his hand, the tiger family of five appeared before him.

"Roar."

"Damn, what are you roaring for? Stay here honestly from now on, don't get close to humans, I'll come see you again if I have the chance. Go on." Afterward, Zhang Ping'an rubbed each of the tigers' big heads a few times.

"Roar." The male tiger, weighing over three hundred kilograms, let out a low growl and rubbed against Zhang Ping'an before taking the family of four away.

Zhang Ping'an was very at ease with them; according to the information Zhang Ping'an knew from his past life, there didn't seem to be any tigers with a body length exceeding three meters.

Zhang Ping'an had specifically measured them; both the male and female were over three point three meters long, and when they lay down, they were almost twice his height, so they could be called the overlords of this place.

Plus, with Zhang Ping'an's occasional teaching to run when they saw people, there shouldn't be anything here that could harm them.

"Phew~ I need to leave quickly too; that tiger roar just now probably startled Du Kangguo and the others." He casually caught two wild chickens before returning quickly.

Inside the camp cabin, Chen Guoqiang had been half-asleep, but was shaken awake by a tiger roar and hurriedly ran out of the cabin.

"What's the situation?"

"Don't know, judging by the sound, it should be a tiger," Jia Dongxu's voice was somewhat worried.

"Where is Brother Ping'an?"

"Uncle is nearby, he'll be back soon."

Soon, Zhang Ping'an and Du Kangguo's group returned one after the other.

"You heard it too just now?"

"Mm."

"That was a tiger's roar, and an adult one at that. Let's rest for the night and leave as early as possible tomorrow morning."

Du Kangguo didn't say that it was the most piercing tiger roar he had ever heard; his body had trembled subconsciously.

"Alright," Chen Guoqiang also saw the gravity in Du Kangguo's eyes.

The group sat around the campfire, drinking chicken soup; everyone tacitly remained silent, chewing their dry rations. It seemed the evening tiger roar had quite an impact on them.

In the morning, Zhang Ping'an got up early as usual, walked around a few times, collected quite a few rare medicinal herbs, and also discovered many trampling marks nearby; it looked like Wild Boar.

In the morning, the group ate breakfast and returned quickly, arriving at the first resting point by one in the afternoon.

"Captain, a lot of Wild Boar have gathered at the Salt Mine Cave, at least twenty of them, big and small."

"Good, it seems yesterday's tiger roar scared these beasts out. Let's prepare and try to eliminate half of them."

The group crept over, and following Du Kangguo's gunshot, the others opened fire one after another.

Wild Boar have thick skin and flesh, especially that thick mud armor; unless you hit a vital spot, it's hard to kill them outright.

Zhang Ping'an stood guard below; he could basically take down one large Wild Boar with a single shot as they panicked and ran past, and he didn't shoot the small Wild Boars, just as they had agreed upon beforehand.

"What fine marksmanship," Du Kangguo praised inwardly.

In the end, seven large Wild Boars were left behind, along with two small ones weighing about a hundred catties that were accidentally injured; it could be said that the grudge for ruining the crops had been settled.

"Hahaha, a great harvest! Quickly pack up, two people per boar, let's get down the mountain quickly, the smell of blood here is too strong."

"Yes, Captain."

"Captain Du, let me carry these two."

"Alright, we'll switch if we get tired."

"Deal."

It was already nearly three o'clock, and it would likely be midnight by the time they reached the foot of the mountain, but there wouldn't be any issues once they reached the outer perimeter.

"Everyone, put in some effort; we'll each get ten catties of meat when we get back."

Along the way, Du Kangguo kept cheering everyone on without stopping, because once they lost their momentum halfway, it would be difficult to get going again, so everyone was gritting their teeth and pushing through.

After eight o'clock, the nearby mountain patrol saw them and hurriedly called everyone over to help, which finally allowed them to be relieved.

"Seal everything up, we'll distribute it tomorrow morning; everyone go wash up, drink some hot soup, and get some rest."

"Brother Zhang, today was all thanks to you," Du Kangguo said, still panting heavily, as he patted Zhang Ping'an on the shoulder.

"It's nothing, I'm young and have plenty of strength, and I'm used to doing heavy labor at home."

The next morning, Du Kangguo got up early to prepare to distribute yesterday's spoils; Zhang Ping'an had killed five large Wild Boars by himself, which meant he was entitled to two and a half.

"Ahem, Brother Zhang, you must take the meat later; if you don't want it then, it's fine to sell it to me," Chen Guoqiang whispered.

"Deal, Brother Chen, I'll leave at least one and a half for you."

"Good."

Zhang Ping'an didn't mind; he hadn't planned on hauling it back anyway, so it would be good to exchange it for something here.

Before long, the fifteen people from yesterday gathered in front of the warehouse.

"Brother Zhang, you killed five yesterday, which means two and a half are yours; since you didn't haul back those two from yesterday and they were discarded, we'll give you one more."