Chapter 154: No Fangs but Still This Reckless?

Every couple of steps, Lin Heng had to stop and check on the white weasel’s situation.

This creature didn’t seem very alert—relaxed up in the branches, eating the ripe persimmons.

He’d heard from Tian Baishun and the others that when they hunted white weasels before, it was the same: after the worm climbed the tree, people would wait below, and the worm would just freeze on the branches, too scared to move.

This persimmon tree stood alone in the middle of the soybean field, with no other trees around. If the worm jumped down, Xiongba would almost certainly catch it.

So Lin Heng wasn’t overly cautious. After about ten minutes, he got within fifty meters and was spotted by the white weasel.

There was no avoiding it—the view from the treetop was too open. Even using the stone ledge to block its sight didn’t work.

After noticing Lin Heng, the worm froze for a moment. When Lin Heng kept creeping closer, it immediately darted to the highest branch.

Lin Heng had already reached the base of the tree. Xiongba silently guarded the spot, looking up.

Under the moonlight, Lin Heng could faintly make out the worm’s brown fur and its white-spotted face.

He notched an arrow, took aim, and without hesitation, released it.

The sharp arrow easily pierced through the persimmon leaves with a tsing and struck flesh.

A miserable howl followed as the white weasel jumped from the tree. The leaves partially blocked the arrow, so it didn’t kill the creature outright.

But Lin Heng had one last safety net—at the moment it landed, Xiongba lunged after it, pinning it within three meters, biting down twice before killing it and dragging it back.

“Good job,” Lin Heng said, patting the dog’s head, rewarding it for the daily meat feed.

“Awwooo~”

Xiongba rubbed against Lin Heng’s leg, then followed him quickly back.

“How much does it weigh?” Lin Yue asked excitedly before Lin Heng had even arrived.

“Not big, around fifteen to twenty jin,” Lin Heng answered, dragging the white weasel by its tail as Xiongba licked the fresh blood.

“That’s not small—white weasels are usually about that size,” Lin’s father said quietly.

“So are we still going to keep watch tonight?” Lin Yue whispered.

“Of course. We’re here, might as well wait,” Lin Heng said firmly. He was determined to take on these wild boars—didn’t believe they wouldn’t show.

By eleven o’clock, several gunshots rang out from the ridge on the opposite side of the river. No one knew what was being shot at.

Lately, many people had been hunting wild boars. For those who didn’t know how to track them, sitting and waiting was the simplest method.

At one a.m., the three were too discouraged to stay awake and fell asleep. With Xiongba around, they weren’t afraid of any sudden approach.

At five the next morning, a nearby gunshot woke them up, followed quickly by another.

“That’s from the wutong ridge to the east. Maybe the boars went there to feed?” Lin Yue asked.

Lin’s father nodded resignedly. “Most likely. It’s just two kilometers east from here. They might be eating there. But we don’t know who’s watching, or if anyone hit one.”

Lin Heng shook his head and muttered, “Damn beasts. Why come here to eat when they’re just going to get shot? Even if one dies, it’s bad luck for the boar. Getting shot over there—what’s the point?”

“Good thing we got that white weasel, otherwise we would have wasted two days waiting,” Lin’s father sighed. With gunshots now ringing out, there was no way to keep watching for wild boars here anymore.

Lin Heng stood up and stretched. “Enough waiting. Let’s head to Tongshugou to see if we can find any pheasants or something to hunt. If not, we’ll go home.”

“Sounds good. Maybe we’ll even run into an injured boar that wandered over here,” Lin Yue thought this plan was practical.

Lin Yue carried the white weasel, walking behind their father, while Lin Heng led with Xiongba at the front.

The early morning forest was cold and silent, the ground heavy with moisture and light mist hanging in the air.

Looking up, many leaves were already turning yellow.

They walked deep into Tongshugou but found no signs of game.

“Snake!” Lin Yue suddenly whispered.

Ahead, on a treetop, a tiny green snake about as thick as a finger flicked its tongue out, looking almost cute.

Lin Heng reached out and caught it, playing with it in his hand for a while. The green snake looked like a piece of jade carving—beautiful and smooth.

It had no smell or venom, and was very docile. Holding it felt cool and strangely comforting.

After a moment, Lin Heng casually released it and kept searching for prey.

There were some fields in the valley, but the crops had been harvested. Lin Heng followed the trail along the edge of the fields uphill.

Just as he reached a stone ledge, Lin Heng suddenly stepped back and whispered, “Shh! There are some pheasants.”

He quickly opened his bow case and took out his compound bow, quietly peeking.

Two grayish-brown female wild pheasants were scratching for bugs under some bushes above the ledge, unaware of their presence.

Only about thirty meters away and armed with a modern compound bow, Lin Heng didn’t take much aim before releasing the arrow.

“Gak gak gak!!!”

The arrow pierced through the biggest female pheasant’s rear, pinning it to the ground. The other two screamed and flew away without looking back.

“Impressive, little brother. You never miss, huh?” Lin Yue gave a thumbs-up.

“When we get back, I can teach you archery. My bow’s just sitting there unused anyway,” Lin Heng said.

“Sounds good,” Lin Yue nodded, no longer refusing. He thought once he learned, he could hunt with Lin Heng in the mountains instead of just watching from behind.

They walked over to retrieve the pheasant. Lin Heng hesitated to pull the arrow out—it would surely drag out the innards.

“The power of your bow is really terrifying. This pheasant was pierced clean through, and the arrow stuck several centimeters into the ground,” Lin’s father remarked.

Lin Heng smiled, “That’s not even the maximum power yet.”

He’s currently using a draw weight of forty pounds, but this bow can be adjusted up to seventy pounds—around sixty-eight or sixty-nine jin.

For him, this current draw weight is actually a bit strenuous; even with the pulley system easing the effort, it still requires about thirty jin of force.

But he’s deliberately training himself this way—he needs a strong body.

After handing the pheasant over to his father, Lin Heng continued to search for other prey, though after that shot earlier, he didn’t have much hope left.

Xiongba wandered around aimlessly as they made their way further up Tongshugou.

By the time they reached the very top, it was past seven, almost eight. Apart from a tree full of wood ear mushrooms, they hadn’t found anything else.

The three of them washed their faces at a clear water pool and sat on some rocks to rest.

“The sun’s up; there’s no hope now. At least we can go home and cook the white weasel—we didn’t come back empty-handed,” Lin’s father sighed, clearly satisfied.

“I want to know if the people who fired those shots this morning actually hit anything,” Lin Heng nodded. It was time to head back.

The dew gradually evaporated, and the sun climbed high in the sky. From the distant woods, the line of sunlight was quickly spreading toward them.

“Let’s go, Xiongba,” Lin Heng called back.

Turning his head, he saw Xiongba had startled and run up to the ridge top.

“Woof! Woof!”

Xiongba didn’t come back but instead barked toward Lin Heng.

“What’s up?” Lin Yue asked, puzzled.

Lin Heng shook his head, “I don’t know. I’ll go check.”

He guessed the dog had found some mushrooms or something.

After a few minutes of climbing, Lin Heng reached Xiongba and suddenly froze in alarm. “It’s blood!”

“What?”

Lin’s father and Lin Yue heard this and hurried over.

“Look, this is probably the blood of a wounded wild boar, and here are footprints. They’re heading toward Baishigou,” Lin Heng pointed to the tracks on the ground.

Clearly, the boar was shot but not killed, and managed to escape.

“The footprints aren’t very big. Let’s try to follow them. No one else is tracking anyway,” Lin’s father said thoughtfully.

“Yes. It’s wild game, so whoever shoots it owns it. If someone else finds it, they can share. We might as well try to track it,” Lin Yue agreed.

“Alright then, Xiongba, you lead the way.” Lin Heng gave the command, and the group followed the blood trail.

The gunshots were from just after five a.m., and now it was past eight—no one else had come. He guessed they’d lost the trail and couldn’t find the boar.

The three followed Xiongba along the bloodstains, quickly crossing two mountain ridges.

“This boar runs far, even injured. It’s almost at Baishigou already,” Lin Yue exclaimed in shock.

“The more injured, the farther they run. I’ve heard villagers once chased a boar across seven or eight mountains,” Lin’s father chuckled.

Lin Heng said nothing, knowing firsthand how far a boar could run. All he could do was quietly keep tracking.

After crossing another ridge, the blood trail grew thinner and more sporadic.

“Looks like the injury isn’t fatal. Not sure if we still have a chance.”

Lin Heng sighed. If they didn’t catch it, all this mountain climbing would have been for nothing.

A few steps later, the blood trail almost vanished. The three men and the dog were stunned.

“What now? Could we really lose the trail?” Lin Yue froze.

All four had been chasing on empty stomachs, their bellies already growling, but they’d been holding out.

“Let’s eat an August melon and take it slow. I think the blood’s still there, just too little and hidden by leaves,” Lin Heng said calmly, spotting an opened August melon vine nearby. He picked one and shared it with his father and brother.

“Slow and steady,” Lin’s father said, taking a bite.

Though full of seeds, these melons were very sweet. The sugar lifted their spirits, and they regained confidence to continue.

After searching around, Lin Heng spotted fresh blood on a leaf. “Come quick, the boar’s running this way.”

“I have blood here too,” Lin Yue called out.

“Ah, then let’s split up and check both trails,” Lin Heng said, slightly surprised. Could the boar be confused and circling here?

He continued tracking with Xiongba, confident his trail was correct.

“Footprints!”

Lin Heng examined the prints and looked toward a distant rocky cliff. He guessed the boar was hiding somewhere in those rocky cliffs.

Soon, his father and brother caught up.

“The blood on our side disappeared halfway. Probably a false trail,” Lin Yue reported.

Lin’s father looked at Lin Heng seriously, “Be careful. It’s probably nearby. Injured boars get aggressive and bite easily.”

“Got it.” Lin Heng nodded, drawing his bow and readying an arrow.

They reached the scree slope, and after a few steps, spotted signs of the boar near a cave.

It wasn’t big—a young wild boar weighing about seventy or eighty jin, probably just one or two years old.

The boar limped backward, trying to run when it saw them. But Lin Heng was ready with his bow, releasing the arrow almost instantly.

“Awwooo!!”

With a sharp, agonized howl, the arrow struck the boar’s rear hip, penetrating five or six centimeters. The three-edged broadhead caused severe damage, and blood gushed out.

“Watch out!!”

Lin Heng shouted as he stepped back, searching for a weapon. The arrow had made the boar furious, and it charged straight at them.

A moving target was tough enough, and with such limited aiming time, Lin Heng couldn’t guarantee a lethal hit.

“Woof! Woof!”

Xiongba rushed forward to bite the boar, but it ignored the dog and kept charging at Lin Heng.

“Hey, you’re not even a few hundred jin, and you’re still this crazy!”

Lin Heng grabbed a wooden stick and swung it at the boar’s head. The stick snapped with a crack, and the boar’s head reeled.

It shook its head violently and charged again.

Xiongba bit the boar’s tail once more. Taking advantage, Lin Heng kicked with both feet, knocking the boar down.

The three-hundred-jin boar with long tusks they encountered earlier was intimidating because of its size and fierceness—they didn’t dare confront it head-on.

But a wild boar weighing only seventy or eighty jin without tusks dares to come shove me? Lin Heng charged straight at it.

“Awwooo!!”

Lin Heng knocked the boar down, and Xiongba immediately pounced. His father and older brother rushed over too—one holding the boar’s head, the other pinning it down. The boar let out a pitiful howl.

“Hurry up and kill it! It’s really hard to hold down!” Lin’s father urged anxiously.

Though Lin Heng had never killed a pig before, as a man, he hesitated no longer. He drew his tempered steel dagger from his waist, rushed in, and plunged it into the boar’s neck.

Puchi!!
As he pulled out the dagger, bright red blood sprayed over a meter away, instantly staining Lin Heng’s hand and one of his shoes.

“Awwoo!!”

Xiongba eagerly lapped up the blood.

As the blood flowed out, the wild boar gradually lost its breath.

“Awesome! Little brother, you’re fierce!” Lin Yue exclaimed, shocked. He was stunned by Lin Heng’s actions.

Not running, but charging straight in—what guts!

Lin’s father shook his head and warned, “Don’t do that next time, it’s too reckless.”

Lin Heng smiled, “I know my limits. This boar’s small and injured—not that dangerous.”

This wasn’t recklessness but calculated strategy. With Xiongba slowing the boar down, if he didn’t step in now, then when?

Still, he was a little excited—killing a boar with his own hands was pretty intense.

Xiongba, meanwhile, had drunk so much blood his belly was round; they’d have to treat him for parasites once they got home.

Wiping his hands clean with a leaf, Lin Heng sat down to rest.

Looking at the fallen brown-furred boar, this was already the fourth wild boar he’d taken down this year—or the sixth if you counted the piglets.

Now he wanted to hunt more valuable prey—like takins, clouded leopards, or black bears. If not, at least musk deer or muntjacs.

But compared to wild boars, those animals were much rarer and found deeper in the wilderness.

If he were to go into the deep mountains, he’d probably have to wait until the leaves had all fallen—right now it wouldn’t make much sense. Plus, he still had to supervise the fish pond construction nearby.

After resting enough, the three men cut vines and sticks to tie up the boar and carried it back.

“What place is this? What’s the shortest way back?” Lin Heng looked around, already losing track of where they were after chasing the boar.

They weren’t exactly lost—they could just return the way they came, but he wanted to find a shortcut.

“I know the way, follow me,” Lin’s father said, carrying the boar with Lin Yue and heading ahead.

Lin Heng followed behind, carrying the white weasel and the pheasant.

After more than three hours winding through the woods, they finally found the trail.

They got home past three in the afternoon.

“Well, you’ve got a big haul—white weasel, pheasant, and a big wild boar,” Liu Kai, a middle-aged man carrying a hoe, said in surprise.

“Uncle Liu, did anyone else in the village catch a wild boar?” Lin Heng asked with a smile. Liu Kai was the father of his childhood friend Liu Sheng.

“Yes, Wang Kaidian and the others brought back a two-hundred-jin wild boar this morning, carried by three or four people. They’re probably still dividing it now,” Liu Kai nodded.

“Oh, impressive,” Lin Heng acknowledged. No wonder no one was tracking their boar—everyone’s attention was on the big one.

But that worked out well. With no one tracking them, this boar was theirs—no sharing needed.

“Yours may be small, but the meat’s tender. Even better than that big boar,” Liu Kai added.

“Not at all! The bigger one’s definitely better,” Lin’s father laughed and shook his head.

After a brief chat, the three hurried inside.

Along the way, their catch made many envious and admiring.

Lin Heng’s record of killing another wild boar spread quickly through the village.

He’d already taken down three big wild boars this year, stirring jealousy. His skill and luck were undeniable—people really envied him.

“Another wild boar and a white weasel?” When Liu Lan, Jin Yan, and others heard, they were speechless.

They knew Lin Heng had just recently dug up black truffles. How could one person be so good?

Every woman Lin Heng’s age in the group secretly regretted not marrying him, letting a woman from another village have him instead.

Just as Lin Heng and company reached the doorstep, Lin Tao shouted, “My dad and second uncle are back!!”

The three carried the boar into Lin Heng’s house, where Lin’s mother Liu Juan and others hurried over.

Seeing the father and sons gone all morning, they already guessed they’d caught something.

When they saw not just the boar but also the masked palm civet, they were amazed—the haul far exceeded expectations.

“You guys are amazing, catching two animals at once!” Lin’s mother exclaimed.

“How did you get such a big catch?” Liu Juan looked astonished.

“Dad’s so awesome!” Xiaoxia danced around excitedly.

Xiulan went inside to serve food, knowing everyone must be starving.

Knock, knock, knock!!

At that moment, someone knocked at the door.

Lin Heng and the others froze—could it be someone coming right now to ask for a share of the pork?
(End of chapter)