Hunting 81: Gathering Goods in the Mountains, I Spoil My Ex-Wife to the Extreme

Nine hunters from Guapigou Village, rifles in hand, followed the wild boar's tracks with steady steps.

However, tracking wild boar herds in these snow-covered, deep forests is no easy task.

Although the mountains are now bare, without the cover of thorns and weeds, you can lock onto the target as soon as you spot a wild boar, the snow on the ground is also thick, and when you step on it, it's up to your ankles.

After walking in the snow for a long time, snow would stick to your face and shoes, layer by layer, and soon it would clump together under your feet, making every step difficult.

This meant that Li Yunshan and his group had to stop every so often to clear the snow from under their shoes before they could continue.

Although this takes up time, there's nothing we can do about it.

As a hunter, going into the mountains to hunt means you may encounter all sorts of hardships and difficulties, even life-threatening situations. If you can't even overcome these difficulties, then you shouldn't be a hunter and you shouldn't go into the mountains to hunt.

"The wild boar tracks are very dense. The hoof tracks on your mountain... here... here... and over there, the hoof tracks are almost the same size, which proves that we guessed correctly. This is a group of large wild boars that are all about the same size."

While following the tracks left by the wild boar, Uncle Zhou also took the opportunity to pass on his hunting experience to the young hunters in the village.

Li Yunshan and Cai Er listened and nodded.

On the way, they encountered a nest of wild rabbits that had sprung out of a snowdrift, as many as four or five of them.

But none of Li Yunshan and his men paid any attention, and no one fired a shot at the wild rabbit.

Because their purpose in going into the mountains to hunt was to target large prey, such as wild boar, red deer, and sika deer.

Those wild rabbits that darted out of the snowdrifts weren't very big; even if you killed them all, they wouldn't weigh much meat.

Moreover, those wild boars might still be hiding somewhere. If a gunshot is fired, it might alert them and scare them away.

Therefore, Li Yunshan and his men would not fire their guns indiscriminately until they found their target prey.

So they followed the wild boar's tracks, crossing two mountain ridges and three ravines, and continued for a long distance until Li Yunshan and his men finally heard a different sound.

That's the sound of a wild boar.

However, mixed in with the cries of the wild boars were several gunshots.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out, followed by the scream of a wild boar.

"Bang!"

Five shots were fired, and Li Yunshan and his men heard a total of five screams from the wild boar.

"Could it be that someone beat us to it and intercepted the wild boar?"

Li Baotian looked at Uncle Zhou, his eyes full of suspicion.

However, it's not impossible, because at this time of year, it's not just hunters from Guapigou Village who go hunting in the mountains; there must be hunters from other villages as well.

However, the chances of encountering hunters from other villages hunting in the vast, deep mountains and forests are extremely slim.

However, this time they unfortunately ran into each other.

"Regardless of whether it's hunters from another village who intercepted those wild boars, let's go check it out first. However, I remind you, don't get into a conflict with the other party just because their prey was shot, understand?"

After Uncle Zhou finished speaking, he gave a serious reminder.

Because they had been following the wild boars from near their camp, but someone had gotten there first and intercepted them, Uncle Zhou was worried that Li Yunshan and Cai Er, being young and impetuous, might clash with the other party when they met.

After all, watching a group of wild boars that you've been tracking for so long end up as someone else's prey is something that would be hard for anyone to accept.

"What? Didn't you understand?"

Li Baotian's voice turned somber.

As one of the few veteran hunters in the village, Li Baotian is usually honest and kind, often smiling and giving the impression that he has no temper. However, when it comes to crucial moments, Li Baotian's words carry a lot of weight.

After hearing Li Baotian's words, everyone's minds immediately became clearer.

"Uncle Zhou Wu, Uncle Baotian, we've got it."

Li Yunshan and the others nodded quickly.

But upon closer reflection, Uncle Zhou and Li Baotian were right; they couldn't afford to get into a conflict with someone just because that person had caught the prey they had been chasing for so long.

After all, they went into the mountains to hunt for money and to make a living.

If they were chasing a wild boar and someone intercepted them halfway, they could still rightfully fight for it and try to take it.

But they haven't even seen a glimpse of the wild boar yet. If they were to fight over or steal it because someone else had shot the wild boar they were chasing, it wouldn't make sense, either morally or logically.

"Okay, let's go take a look."

After the young hunters nodded in agreement, Uncle Zhou waved his hand and strode off in the direction from which the wild boar's screams were coming.

"I wonder who shot down those wild boars. I'm so envious."

"I've been tracking this for so long with such care, I'm a little unwilling to give up."

"Not happy? Don't do anything rash later, and don't get into a conflict with them."

"No, I was just saying it casually, venting my frustrations. I know what I'm doing, don't worry."

On the way there, Cai Er, Wang Laojiu, and several other young hunters from the village were whispering among themselves.

Although Cai Er and Wang Lao Jiu were somewhat unwilling, they also knew the rules and boundaries.

Soon, after crossing another ridge, they found seven hunters, some wearing sheepskin coats and others wearing cotton-padded coats, in a forest covered with snow up to their ankles.

They were carrying either hunting rifles or bows and arrows.

Not far in front of them lay several wild boar carcasses.

"Damn, five wild boars, they're rich now."

Upon seeing the several wild boar carcasses lying on the ground, Wang Laojiu silently counted them in his mind and then cursed under his breath.

Those five wild boars all looked quite large, probably weighing over 200 pounds each.

There are five wild boars here, with a total of over a thousand kilograms of wild boar meat.

If you take them back and sell them, you can make several hundred yuan.

On average, each person can get at least a hundred dollars.

For both hunters and ordinary farmers, this is a considerable income.

Although Uncle Zhou warned them not to cause trouble, it would be a lie to say that the young hunters in Guapigou Village weren't envious when they saw other people making money.

"What are you envious of? The tiger we hunted, they would have to hunt at least thirty wild boars to earn back. Why envy them? What we need to find are high-value prey, such as tigers, bears, leopards, or even red deer and sika deer. That's better than hunting wild boars, and the price is higher."

Seeing Wang Laojiu, Cai Er, and the others looking enviously at the wild boars that others had hunted, Li Yunshan smiled and said.

When hunting in the mountains, morale is very important. It would be bad if Cai Er and Wang Lao Jiu became impatient because others had killed a few wild boars.

"Yunshan is right. We came into the mountains to hunt this time for game that can fetch a high price. We don't even want wild boar anymore."

Li Baotian also affirmed Li Yunshan's statement.

As a hunter, who wouldn't want to hunt prey that can be sold for a high price?

Hunting tigers, bears, and leopards is unrealistic, as these carnivorous predators are already rare, and encountering one would be considered lucky.

To hunt one is even more of a matter of chance, and not something that can be sought after at all.

Even Li Yunshan himself dared not say that he was lucky enough to encounter tigers, bears, and other high-priced prey every time he went hunting in the mountains.

Previously, Li Yunshan had hunted a tiger in the Hongxing Forest Farm, killed a bear that had entered the village, and later killed another bear and captured a bear cub in the Hongxing Forest Farm. He felt that this was all due to luck, that his luck had suddenly come together at a certain point in time, which was why he had been able to hunt such high-priced prey one after another.

But as a hunter, who wouldn't want to catch prey that fetches a high price?

Li Yunshan's words were actually meant to encourage Cai Er and the others.

Sure enough, after Li Yunshan finished speaking, Cai Er and the others fell silent for a moment.

Yes, they even hunted a tiger before. The money they received was probably more than what others made from selling those five wild boars.

So what are they envying about others?

Thinking about it, there's really nothing to envy.

Thinking of this, Cai Er and the others couldn't help but laugh at themselves, realizing that their vision was too narrow, and they could only see the petty gains in front of them.

At this moment, the hunters on the other side also spotted Li Yunshan and his group.

Upon discovering Li Yunshan and Uncle Zhou, they all stared at Li Yunshan and his group with hostile eyes, their gazes filled with vigilance.

"They seem to be hunters from Guapigou Village. The one leading them is Zhou Laowu, and the one next to him is Li Baotian..."

"The hunters in Guapigou Village have made a fortune this year. I heard that a tiger entered their village a while ago, so they set traps and baited it to lure the tiger in, and finally shot it to death."

"It's said that the tiger sold for several thousand yuan, and each of the hunters in their village received several hundred yuan."

"Damn it, why doesn't this kind of good thing happen to us?"

Meanwhile, the hunters who had shot down five wild boars, while keeping a wary eye on Li Yunshan and his group, couldn't help but whisper amongst themselves after recognizing them as hunters from Guapigou Village, their words tinged with envy.

A tiger wandered into Guapigou Village and may have wandered into several nearby villages. Hunters in the nearby villages received notices from their respective village offices, and every household in each village closed their doors and windows. The hunters in each village were busy for quite some time.

In the end, it was the hunters from Guapigou Village who caught the tiger, making hunters from several nearby villages work for nothing for several days.

Later, the news that the tiger hunted in Guapigou Village had sold for several thousand yuan spread, making hunters in several nearby villages green with envy.