Chapter 604: The Birth of the Wild Boar King (Part 2)

With two parallel rows of traps set on the narrow path, there was a good chance of catching a roe deer.

Besides, roe deer were known for looking out for their own; if one was caught, the others were sure to turn back to check on it. That meant there was a chance for an even bigger haul.

After setting all nine traps, Zhao Jun stood, blinked, and shook his head. He pointed ahead and said to Jie Chen, “If we had a few more Cans to set up in three rows, we’d be guaranteed not to come back empty-handed.”

Jie Chen knew Zhao Jun’s family was out of empty Cans, so he laughed. “Didn’t Ruhai say yesterday? He can drink as many as you need.”

“HAHAHA…” Zhao Jun let out a loud laugh, not dwelling on Li Ruhai. “You know how roe deer are,” he said. “They pass through here in the morning and come back at night. We’ll swing by around nine tomorrow morning. If we catch anything, we’ll head home and drink some of those Cans ourselves.”

“Sounds good!” Jie Chen agreed with a smile and followed Zhao Jun down the slope.

When they reached the truck, Zhang Yuanmin climbed down from the bed and asked Zhao Jun, “Brother, where to next?”

“Well…” Zhao Jun hesitated at Zhang Yuanmin’s question. All his previous trips into the mountains had been for a specific target; they would just head straight for it.

Today, however, running into a mountain beast would be purely a matter of luck.

With that in mind, Zhao Jun said to Zhang Yuanmin, “Brother, give Jie Chen directions. We’re heading behind Forest Class 54, toward…”

Zhao Jun paused, thinking for a moment before continuing, “You know Elder Shao’s shack?”

“I do, I do,” Zhang Yuanmin said, nodding repeatedly.

Zhao Jun said, “Just past his shack, there’s Zhaoshu Ridge, right? Let’s go there.”

“Aye, you got it!” Zhang Yuanmin replied. He waved Jie Chen over, and the two of them got into the cab. Zhao Jun, meanwhile, hopped into the truck bed by himself. Seeing Little Bear lying there licking its paws, he ambled over and stroked its head.

At Zhao Jun’s touch, Little Bear lifted its head and rubbed the back of it against Zhao Jun’s palm.

Zhao Jun chuckled. “Little Bear, it’s all up to you today.”

“WOOF WOOF…” Suddenly, a string of barks erupted from behind, making Zhao Jun jump.

He didn’t even have to look; he knew that bark. Zhao Jun, still squatting, twisted around to see Black Tiger nosing its big head toward him.

…

Meanwhile, outside Yong’an Village, Zhao Youcai and Wang Qiang walked side-by-side.

Surprisingly, Zhao Youcai wasn’t heading toward the small commuter train for the Forest Farm. Instead, he was walking straight into the mountains.

As the two of them hurried toward the New Logging Camp, Wang Qiang muttered, “This was on his way. Why didn’t we get Shunzi to give us a ride?”

Zhao Youcai walked on briskly, saying nothing.

Seeing his silence, Wang Qiang paused, then hurried to catch up, grabbing Zhao Youcai’s arm. “Brother-in-law, you took time off work to go hunting… Did you tell my sister?”

Hearing this, Zhao Youcai gave Wang Qiang a long look. He then tilted his head up slightly, gazing at a distant peak, and said flatly, “We’ll tell her after we’ve bagged that Big Cannon Egg and have the two hundred yuan in hand.”

…

While Zhao Youcai and Wang Qiang were still making their way through the mountains, Zhao Jun’s party had already arrived.

Jie Chen parked the truck on the side of the road. Still in the back, Zhao Jun untied the dogs one by one and let the Dog Gang down.

The moment they were off the truck, the dogs scattered in every direction, smelling, sniffing, and urinating.

Zhao Jun slung his rifle over his back and blew a sharp whistle. Instantly, every dog, no matter where it was, converged on him.

Zhao Jun started up the slope. The moment he moved, the dogs surged ahead of him, leading the way.

Once on the slope, Zhao Jun led the way, with his men and dogs following him up along the ridge.

But they walked for the entire morning.

And came up with nothing.

In truth, this was the reality of hunting. The reason Zhao Jun had managed to encounter prey every single time before was because he’d always had a clear target.

Today, however, Zhao Jun was searching for a place he remembered as an “old boar den.”

Wild boars build their own dens.

They snap off branches and twigs, breaking them into pieces to build their lairs.

Sows, in particular, would build very neat and orderly dens when they were about to give birth.

If a location had several such boar lairs, even if the original sounder had left or died, any other boars passing through would gladly take advantage of the ready-made homes.

Therefore, such places often harbored wild boars and were known to hunters as “old boar dens.”

With no specific target today, Zhao Jun figured he’d sweep through the old boar dens. But so far, he hadn’t seen so much as a single bristle.

The sun was high overhead, well past noon. Zhao Jun and the others found a shady spot, built a fire, and warmed two lunch boxes by the flames. One box held steamed buns and cornmeal cakes. The other was filled with sliced luncheon meat.

Zhang Yuanmin also took out two lunch boxes. One held steamed buns, and the other contained small fried fish.

The fish were a type called “boat nails,” and Yang Yufeng had coated them in batter and fried them until they were exceptionally crispy.

Seeing their masters about to eat, the Dog Gang came trotting over. They didn’t push forward, but simply lay nearby, wagging their tails and watching Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun picked up a cornmeal cake, broke it into pieces, and distributed them among a few of the dogs.

Just then, Zhang Yuanmin was taking small twigs and skewering the steamed buns he’d brought from home. He then stuck the twigs in the ground around the fire to toast them.

Seeing Zhao Jun feeding the dogs with the cornmeal cakes, Zhang Yuanmin chuckled. “Brother, you’re the one who thought ahead, bringing a couple of cornmeal cakes just for the dogs.”

In Zhang Yuanmin’s eyes, Zhao Jun couldn’t bear to feed the dogs white-flour steamed buns, so he’d deliberately brought the cornmeal cakes instead.

He wasn’t wrong to think so. Even though living standards had improved, feeding steamed buns to dogs was still considered a bit extravagant in those days.

What Zhang Yuanmin didn’t know, however, was that those two cornmeal cakes had been steamed by Lin Xiangshun’s wife and had passed through several other households before finally ending up in the dogs’ bellies.

Once the buns were toasted, Zhao Jun showed Zhang Yuanmin and Jie Chen how to stand one on its end, break it open down the middle, and stuff it with luncheon meat and fried fish. And just like that, a 1987-style hamburger was born.

Just as Zhao Jun’s group was enjoying their lunch, far away, up past Class 43, five dogs were chasing a massive wild boar down a ridge.

Around the back of its neck hung a loop of Steel Wire Rope, and half a knife blade was still embedded in its hindquarters.

Fortunately, it had rained the day it was injured. The cannon egg must have rolled around in a mud puddle, because none of its wounds—neither the gash from the knife nor the one from the Steel Wire Rope—had festered or rotted.

Several days had passed since the boar had broken free of the snare. In that time, it had found plenty to eat, and its stamina had returned to its peak.

Most importantly, when the pack of dogs cornered it, it had already left its den for the day. After a full night’s rest, it had woken up, emptied the bladder it had been holding all night, and was now at its peak morning strength, full of both stamina and vigor.

The boar moved along the contour of the slope, eventually arriving at the very spot where Zhao Youcai’s party had given up the chase the day before.

Below the slope lay the Wood Transport Route leading to Class 43. Every winter, after the snow fell, the daily passage of trucks and sleds would pack the snow down hard on the route.

This made the road slippery, and both trucks and sleds were prone to sliding off course.

To prevent accidents, dirt had to be spread on the road. This not only made the road less slippery but also increased traction.

But during a Northeast winter, night temperatures in the mountains could drop to more than thirty degrees below zero. During a deep freeze, it could even reach forty below.

This severe cold froze the Northeast Land solid, freezing the topsoil. To dig up any nearby earth, you had to first thaw the ground by lighting fires in pits.

So, every winter, the Yong’an Forest Farm would hire a large number of road maintenance workers.

Every morning, these workers would head into the mountains. On the slopes beside the sections of road needing maintenance, they would gather firewood and light fires. Once the ground was thawed through, they would use spades to dig up the earth and carry it down to the Wood Transport Route.

This was the process of road maintenance.

Last winter, to maintain the Wood Transport Route below, the workers had dug fire pits and excavated earth right on this slope.

But the deeper they dug, the harder the frozen ground became. As a result, the pits weren’t deep, but they were wide.

After last year’s road work, an earthen pit was left behind—about a meter deep, three to four meters long, and two meters wide.

On the slope, the five hounds harried the boar, fighting on the move and steadily draining its energy.

But unexpectedly, when it reached the earthen pit, the boar plunged straight in and immediately spun around.

Just then, a Yellow Dog came charging straight for it. But with the pit directly ahead, the Yellow Dog screeched to a halt at its edge.

At that exact moment, the boar lunged upward and struck with a vicious swing of its head.

CRACK!

The Yellow Dog was sent flying. It died the moment it hit the ground.

The boar’s single strike had completely shattered every bone in the Yellow Dog’s snout!

“ROAR! ROAR!” From within the pit, the wild boar shook its body, its bristles standing on end. It propped itself up on its two front legs, sank its rear end down, and its eyes glinted with a cold light!

This was the Boar’s Throne!