My 1995 Small Farm.

As night deepened and all was quiet, the hustle and bustle of the county town subsided, and the snow stopped.

All that remained was the whooshing sound of the wind whistling past the eaves, carrying scattered snowflakes.

After glancing at his sleeping wife and children, Chen Ling slipped into the cave.

In the cave.

The wild boar king was confined to a newly cleared desert area and protected by a barrier.

They also moved in some shrubs and pine trees.

Let it live here alone, so that the big guy won't harm other creatures.

Of course, the source of life is essential, and the spiritual spring water is drawn from a small stone pool in the pine forest.

The wounds on the beast's body had scabbed over, and the bloodstains had been washed away somewhat by the spiritual spring water, but its ferocious aura remained undiminished.

As soon as Chen Ling appeared, the wild boar king roared and charged at him from a great distance!

The two rows of pine trees, which had just been transplanted, were hit by it, making a "crunching" sound and sending wood chips flying everywhere.

Two large, blood-red eyes stared intently at Chen Ling, their fangs gleaming coldly in the soft light of the cave.

"Tsk, still as ferocious as ever."

Chen Ling shook his head, not getting any closer, but standing at a distance, holding a handful of freshly sprouted corn still covered in dew, waving it in front of the wild boar king's nose before tossing it into the feeding trough by the stone pool.

The sweet aroma of corn mingled with the unique scent of the spiritual spring water wafted by.

The wild boar king twitched its nostrils and made an anxious "grunt" sound in its throat, clearly attracted, but its vigilance did not diminish at all, and it rammed into the barrier even more fiercely.

"You idiot, I'm giving you the chance to eat your fill every day and you don't even appreciate it. I can't be bothered with you anymore."

Seeing its stubborn appearance, Chen Ling knew that subduing this big guy wouldn't be a matter of just a day or two.

This thing is wild and untamed, and it's single-minded. You have to train it slowly, like you're training a hawk.

Most importantly, it truly was once the king of beasts.

It roamed the mountains and ravaged everything in its path, showing no regard for anything weaker than itself.

"You should stay here and reflect on your actions."

"I'll give you half a month. If you're still this disobedient, I'll send you back to the mountains and let Huang the Mountain Tiger deal with you again..."

"That bastard really doesn't know what's good for him."

Chen Ling snorted twice and waved his hand, sending the barbaric and brainless guy levitating into the air.

Without wasting any more time on this fool, he slipped out of the cave.

Taming this big guy can't be rushed; it takes time and patience.

……

The next day, just after noon, Mountain Cat and Zhao Dahai, wrapped in cotton-padded coats, came to the door, trudging through the half-melted snow and mud.

As soon as you enter, you smell the delicious aroma of meat. The stove inside is burning brightly, with a large pot of ribs stewing on it. There are also slices of pork head meat on the cutting board, glistening with oil.

"Wow, Mr. Chen, you're living the good life!"

The lynx rubbed its hands together and went to warm itself by the fire.

Zhao Dahai chuckled, his eyes glancing intently at the meat pot.

"Sit down, sit down, get your own chopsticks."

Chen Ling called out, bringing out a small stove to heat up some corn liquor, and then slicing up a plate of pig's head meat, "It's fresh out of the pot, have a taste."

After a few cups of warm corn liquor, the chill dissipated, and the conversation flowed freely.

“Fugui, the commotion in the mountains yesterday… was quite frightening.”

The lynx lowered its voice, "Did you blast up the mountain? Did you catch that thing?"

Chen Ling picked up a piece of pork rib, gnawed on the meat, sucked on the bone, and then shook his head.

"We didn't catch the main culprit, but we angered the wounded wild boar king. That guy went crazy and almost died in the mountains. In the end, we had no choice but to set off firecrackers to scare it away."

He said it half-jokingly.

"The Wild Boar King?!"

"You're not mistaken, are you? How could something like this appear again?"

Zhao Dahai's eyes widened. "What kind of thing is it? Is it even bigger than the one in the Miao village?"

"Pretty much, its power is strange."

Chen Ling took a sip of wine, paused, and his expression became somewhat complicated. "However, that wild boar king was also being chased away; it wasn't the real target."

"what?"

Both Lynx and Zhao Dahai were stunned.

Chen Ling put down his wine glass and straightened his expression: "The really powerful one was the one that chased the wild boar king. I saw it; it was yellowish-brown, like a lynx, but ridiculously large, not much smaller than a tiger. It moved as fast as a ghost, disappearing in the blink of an eye."

He described the creature's appearance, especially the distinctive tuft of black hair at the tips of its ears.

"It's very much like the 'Over-the-Mountain Yellow' from folklore, fiercer than a leopard and more cunning than a fox. The wild boar king was chased by it when it saw blood."

Over-the-Mountain Yellow, Old Monkey Spirit, Gluttonous Laughing Ghost, Donkey-Headed Wolf...

This is a spirit that has come to life in the mountains; it's almost like a ghost.

"Over-the-mountain yellow?"

The lynx pondered the name, its expression turning somewhat grave. "This thing... it sounds terrifying. Does it hurt people?"

"I don't know."

Chen Ling shook his head and told the truth.

"I tried to lure it with pheasants and rabbits, but it didn't even lift an eyelid. It just groomed its fur and slipped away. It was incredibly fast; I reckon I couldn't even hit it with a gun. These things are too clever. If I angered it and missed, it might set its sights on the villagers... that would be a real problem."

He sighed inwardly.

Despite his desire to tame the mutated lynx, he knew he couldn't hide it, nor was there any need to.

Let's get some fresh air, keep an eye on things, and don't wander into the deep mountains and forests recklessly. If you see a yellow shadow, stay far away. This thing isn't something ordinary guys can handle.

Huang is too clever, or rather, very clever and cunning.

Lynxes are elusive creatures, and even foreign documentaries have found it difficult to capture their presence on film.

Throughout the winter, you can often only see its footprints on the snow, but it is very difficult to see its true form.

Even ordinary lynxes are already so mysterious and rarely seen.

Such a mutation is truly equivalent to becoming a spirit.

You can imagine how difficult they are to deal with.

Chen Ling was not alone. Considering his family and friends, he dared not easily provoke this elusive, intelligent, and vengeful mutant creature with guns.

Mountain Cat and Zhao Dahai exchanged a glance, both understanding Chen Ling's meaning.

This thing isn't a pack of wolves; you can just drive it away. It's too clever and cunning, and its desire for revenge might be even stronger. Taking forceful action will only bring trouble.

"After the Lantern Festival, we'll go to the county government to publicize this matter and warn everyone not to wander around in deserted places."

"That's true, it'll give everyone something to be afraid of, so they won't run around recklessly."

Zhao Dahai nodded, then asked curiously, "So... what do you plan to do? Just let it take over the mountain?"

Chen Ling smiled but didn't answer directly:
"Let's take a look first. This thing is rare. If we can really get it... hehe, we can build our own mountain later, wait for the wolf to bring it back, and then we can fence off all these mountain spirits and monsters for people to see. That would be quite interesting."

He gave a heads-up about the zoo situation.

The lynx's eyes lit up: "A zoo? What a great idea! That's something else!"

Zhao Dahai nodded repeatedly.

The three of them sat by the fire, eating hot meat and drinking warm wine, and recounted in detail the dangers of the mountains and the eerie nature of the "mountain yellow" (a type of poisonous insect).

The cold wind howled outside, while the warmth inside dispelled some of the fear of the mountain spirits.

……

Time flies, and it's already the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

The heavy snow had stopped long ago, and the snow in the county town had been swept to both sides of the road and compacted firmly.

As soon as it got dark, the whole county town came alive.

Red lanterns of all kinds, including paper lanterns, gauze lanterns, and bamboo lanterns, hung on both sides of the street, making the street look red.

The shouts of vendors, the laughter of children, and the banging of firecrackers, mixed with the aroma of roasted chestnuts and fried cakes, created a lively atmosphere that could lift the roof off.

This year's temple fair is even more popular than in previous years.

Things from the mountains don't affect the county town, so everyone's worries were a little relieved, and the festive spirit was especially strong.

The dragon and lion dance troupes weaved through the crowded streets, their drums beating loudly.

Zhao Yubao and Professor Zhong also became unusually interested, and wrapped themselves in thick cotton-padded coats to join the crowd and watch the excitement.

Wang Susu held Rui Rui, who was wrapped up like a little bear, and pointed at the fireworks in the sky and the lanterns on the ground. The little boy's eyes were too big to take it all in, and he kept making "wa wa" noises.

As for the two younger babies, they stayed at home and were cared for by Du Juan and the others.

Chen Ling stood guard over his wife and children, with Heiwa and Xiaojin following closely behind, warily scanning the overly crowded surroundings.

Actually, the two big dogs were already experienced in dealing with such noisy scenes. They weren't afraid of anything else, except that Rui Rui would run around.

"Dad, the rooster!"

Just as Rui Rui was pulling Wang Susu to a stop in front of a sugar figurine stall, a discordant commotion suddenly came from behind them, mixed with a few strangely accented words of Mandarin.

"Excuse me...excuse me...are you Mr. Chen Ling? Mr. Chen Ling!"

Chen Ling frowned and turned around, only to see three or four foreigners wearing thick but clearly Western-style coats struggling to push through the crowd toward him.

The leader was an elderly man with gray hair, wearing glasses, and his face showed the fatigue of a long journey and an undisguised anxiety.

Behind him were two younger men and women, who were also travel-worn, their eyes filled with urgency and even a little fear.

These few people stood out conspicuously among the brightly lit and decorated crowd, all of whom had black hair and yellow skin.

"I am Chen Ling, and who are you?"

Chen Ling hugged Rui Rui into Wang Susu's arms, signaling Heiwa and Xiao Jin to calm down, and frowned at the uninvited guests.

Seeing Chen Ling admit it, the old man, as if grasping at a lifeline, rushed forward and, ignoring the curious gazes of those around him, spoke hurriedly in heavily accented Mandarin:

"Mr. Chen! We've finally found you! Please help us! Our...our companion has gone missing in the mountains west of your county! It's been two days! Please, please help us!"

Chen Ling immediately realized who they were: the foreign team searching for the ancient divine dog 'Purple Qilin'.

There are overseas Chinese, as well as many foreigners from other countries.

This group of people was led into the mountains by Eva, a foreign teacher from Southern Taiwan University, who acted as their translator.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, in Fenglei Town, Yaowang Village, he accompanied Wang Susu back to her parents' home...

We happened to run into this group of people who were going on an adventure in the mountains.

and.

I heard from Yu Qi'an that these people had contacted him a long time ago.

I never expected them to come looking for me again.

He scanned the crowd, noticing the lingering fear and panic on their faces, but he didn't see the familiar figure among them, and his brow furrowed immediately.
"Is Eva among the missing people?"

"No, no, your friend Ms. Eva was injured in Wind and Thunder Town. She's the one who sent us to ask you for help. She's heard many of your legends during this time!"

"They say you are the king of hunters in the mountains, that one person can rival a huge pack of wolves, that you are incredibly powerful."

The old man gave two thumbs-up and praised eagerly.

"Please help us, Mr. Chen. We can give you money."

"..."

Chen Ling shook his head: "I can't help you with this in a short time, but I can call for backup..." (End of Chapter)