Chapter 630: Filial Son, Cyan Dragon Speaks

This day had really worn Zhao Youcai out.

He had started at dawn, following Xue Baojun’s instructions to set an ambush and block the boar’s path. This went on until Xue Baojun, chasing the wild boar, found Zhao Youcai and told him the ambush had failed.

Then, Zhao Youcai and Wang Qiang joined Xue Baojun to stalk and flank the wild boar.

They chased it all the way until noon, but the boar never stopped.

Around then, feeling his stomach growl, Zhao Youcai remembered that he and Wang Qiang hadn’t brought any rations. The food they had bought on credit from the village store on their way out had all been given to Xing San.

So, Zhao Youcai suggested they head back to the New Logging Camp for a meal. But just then, Xue Baojun pulled a newspaper-wrapped bundle from his satchel. Inside were five large flatbreads.

Xue Baojun said he had more or less figured out the boar’s patterns. The three of them should have a quick bite, then team up for an encirclement hunt. Wang Qiang would drive it, Xue Baojun would block it, and Zhao Youcai would cut off its escape.

The moment Zhao Youcai heard this, he snatched all five flatbreads without a second thought. He gave two to Wang Qiang, kept two for himself, and left only one for Xue Baojun.

Xue Baojun was immediately against this, but Zhao Youcai retorted, “You’re on blocking duty. You just have to squat there without moving. Why do you need to eat so much? My brother-in-law and I are driving and intercepting—that’s hard physical labor. Shouldn’t we eat more?”

At this, Xue Baojun was speechless. But he had left in such a hurry that he hadn’t even brought along any pickled vegetables. The three men just washed down the flatbreads with the cooled boiled water Xue Baojun had brought.

The flatbreads were all made from cornmeal.

And food made from corn has a peculiar quality. When you first eat it, you don’t feel full. The feeling of satiety only kicks in an hour or two later.

That’s why in the countryside, many people feel like they can’t get full when eating corn flatbread, steamed corn buns, or corn grit porridge. But after they’re done eating, the food keeps hunger at bay for a long time.

Zhao Youcai ate two flatbreads and felt as if he’d eaten nothing at all. But for the sake of the two hundred yuan reward, he teamed up with Wang Qiang and Xue Baojun to go after that “cannon eggs.”

But by the end of the afternoon, the three men had to admit defeat. This “cannon eggs” was just too cunning. It led the three of them on a wild goose chase, running in circles back and forth on either side of the Wood Transport Route.

Even with the three of them coordinating their efforts to block and intercept it, the boar would just detour and dodge whenever they got close. Then it would take off running without a break, heading straight for any patch of thorny thicket it could find.

But even so, Zhao Youcai and the others didn’t give up. They kept after it until well after four in the afternoon.

According to a wild boar’s habits, it was time for them to “release food.”

“Release food” is the term used in Lingxi Hei Province, while in Lingnan Jisheng, they call it “releasing grass.” But regardless of the name, it means the animal forages as it walks.

Since the boar needed to forage, it wouldn’t be moving too quickly.

And so, Zhao Youcai, Wang Qiang, and Xue Baojun switched from a driven encirclement to a stealthy stalk, quietly following its tracks and creeping closer to the boar.

In theory, this trio was a formidable combination. The fact that Zhao Youcai and Xue Baojun had been selected for the tiger-hunting team back in the day was proof enough of their skill.

As for Wang Qiang, he had spent all these years doing nothing but stalking hunts, and it was his specialty. His stalking technique was no less than Zhou Chengguo’s, though his Spear Technique was somewhat lacking in comparison.

Even so, as the three men crept forward, following the boar’s tracks, they managed to get close to it several times.

But the forest was too dense, and with branches and leaves in the way, none of them could see the boar, even when they were only thirty or forty meters away.

Their only proof that the boar was nearby was the sound of it chewing on acorns.

Yet every time they tried to creep closer, the boar would sense them and bolt.

The crucial part was, the three men were watching each other, and none of them had made a sound. So how did the boar keep detecting them?

After this happened three times in a row, Wang Qiang stopped Zhao Youcai and Xue Baojun. He leaned in, sniffed at them both, and said, “You two smell like smoke. The boar most likely smells that and runs.”

Hearing this from Wang Qiang, Zhao Youcai and Xue Baojun stared at each other, nonplussed.

Their fathers had been Hunters as well, and most of the old Hunters of that generation had hunted Tigers.

These old Hunters had all told the younger generation that if you wanted to hunt a Tiger, you should smoke a pipe of tobacco at home the day before, then take a bath and change into freshly washed clothes.

After bathing and changing, you couldn’t smoke again.

This was because the smell of smoke would alert a Tiger to a person’s approach.

Moreover, back then, the old Hunters used foreign firearms for their hunts—what were known as Bird Guns.

Therefore, when going up the mountain to hunt a Tiger, the gunpowder had to be sealed tightly to prevent its smell from leaking out.

In truth, most wild animals have a keen sense of smell, and they can detect the scent of tobacco and gunpowder.

It’s just that sometimes, they don’t realize that this scent could mean their death.

As for this “cannon eggs,” the first person to injure it was Niu Guoliang.

Niu Guoliang was a trapper and always smelled heavily of smoke, a scent the boar remembered clearly.

So, when the boar caught the scent of smoke on Zhao Youcai and Xue Baojun, it panicked.

And a panicked boar’s first instinct is to run.

After hearing Wang Qiang’s explanation, both Zhao Youcai and Xue Baojun felt it made sense, so they stopped the chase.

Having given up, Xue Baojun said his goodbyes to Zhao Youcai, telling him he had to return to Lingnan the next day.

Even though the autumn weather was clear and crisp, Xue Liwei’s body couldn’t be left here any longer.