Chapter 581: A Boar on the Throne Is a King (Part 2)

Chapter 581: Chapter 442: A Boar on the Throne Is a King (Part 2)

“Ah, that’s right!” Zhao Youcai’s eyes lit up. He had a hunch what this was about and couldn’t help but feel eager.

Just then, Hong Yuntao chimed in, “Yesterday afternoon around four, it was one of the sled drivers from the New Logging Camp, hauling logs back to the camp. A Big Cannon Egg jumped out halfway and took down two of them.”

“What?”

“Huh?”

Zhao Youcai and Li Dayong were both stunned. Li Dayong looked at Liu Jinyong beside him and asked, “It gored two men to death at once?”

“No,” Liu Jinyong said. “It gored one to death.”

Zhao Youcai frowned, turned to Hong Yuntao, and asked, “Didn’t you just say it took down two?”

“Right!” Hong Yuntao nodded, then explained to Zhao Youcai, enunciating each word. “It gored one, and scared the other one out cold.”

Hearing this, Zhao Youcai just pursed his lips and said no more. Li Dayong, however, shot Hong Yuntao a glare before asking Liu Jinyong, “Was it the same Big Cannon Egg? It gored another person to death?”

“Yeah,” Liu Jinyong said. “According to the sled driver who fainted, the Big Cannon Egg still had a snare on it. It should be the same one that killed the man on the 9th.”

At that, Zhao Youcai raised his left hand, holding up his index and middle fingers. He said to Liu Jinyong, “It’s only been three days, and it’s gored two people to death?”

“That’s right.” Liu Jinyong’s face was grim. “Yesterday’s victim… the boar’s tusk gored the main artery in his leg. He bled out. Just bled to death right there.”

“Tsk.” Li Dayong couldn’t help but shake his head upon hearing that.

Zhao Youcai also sighed, stubbed out his cigarette, and asked Liu Jinyong, “This sled driver… the Forest Farm has to take some responsibility for this, right?”

“Of course,” Liu Jinyong said. “The man was from Da Gui Village. After his body was brought back last night, people from his village came to our Forest Farm overnight. It got so bad that Secretary Zhou had to come back from home in the middle of the night.”

The circumstances of this man’s death were completely different from Niu Guoliang’s. Niu Guoliang had died while specifically out hunting. This man, however, was ambushed and killed by the boar while hauling logs. If the Forest Farm didn’t properly appease his family and village, things would get ugly.

Hearing this, Zhao Youcai slowly shook his head and said, “This Big Cannon Egg… it won’t be easy to hunt.”

This was a power play. First, you emphasize how difficult the task is, making them beg for your help, thus subtly raising your own status.

But what Zhao Youcai said wasn’t entirely false. Wild boars rarely attack people on their own initiative, let alone kill them.

A Black Bear, maybe, but Zhao Youcai had never in his life heard of a wild boar killing two people in a row.

Hearing Zhao Youcai’s words, Hong Yuntao nodded in agreement. “It’s not easy to hunt, you’re right. Otherwise, why would I come looking for you… COUGH, COUGH.”

As luck would have it, Hong Yuntao, who was smoking and talking at the same time, choked on the smoke. After a couple of coughs, he continued, “…looking for your son.”

The moment those four words left Hong Yuntao’s mouth, the smile on Zhao Youcai’s face vanished, replaced by a dark scowl.

Hong Yuntao, completely oblivious to the shift in mood, continued, “Last night when Secretary Zhou returned to the Forest Farm, he also called for Zhou Chengguo. This morning, ten of us from the security team went up there with Zhou Chengguo.”

Seeing Hong Yuntao trail off, Li Dayong asked, “And then?”

At this, Zhao Youcai’s interest was piqued. Although he didn’t look at Hong Yuntao, his ears were pricked up.

It was true that Zhou Chengguo had stumbled badly last winter while hunting Xiong Ba and was seriously injured. But his Spear Technique and skills were still considered among the best in the entire Forest Area.

But since Zhou Chengguo had already gone up the mountain, and Liu Jinyong and Hong Yunfeng had come to their door personally, it meant that not even Zhou Chengguo could take down that boar.

Just then, Liu Jinyong said, “We went up the mountain a little after five this morning, circled around the newly repaired path, and finally, above Class 43, right below Old Crow Cliff, we saw huge boar tracks.”

Hearing this, Zhao Youcai held up a hand and asked, “Those tracks must be a few days old, right?”

With that one sentence, Zhao Youcai got to the heart of the matter. In the autumn, with no snow on the ground, a boar could only leave tracks like that if it had rained.

And in the past few days, it had only rained heavily on the afternoon of the 9th. Therefore, the tracks could only have been left on that day.

At this, Li Dayong chimed in from the side, “How do you know it was that Cannon Egg?”

“Ah,” Liu Jinyong replied. “Didn’t it break the snare? It’s still got half a steel-wire snare dangling from its body. It even left a drag mark in the mud.”

“Mm,” Zhao Youcai nodded, then pressed, “And then what?”

“Then, we hadn’t gone much further down,” Liu Jinyong stubbed out his cigarette as well and continued, “when we startled a boar. But we never got a clear sight of it, so we couldn’t get a shot off.”

At this point, seeing Zhao Youcai and Li Dayong remain silent, Liu Jinyong added, “From the sound of it, it was a big solitary one. We started trailing it, but this boar is damn cunning. It runs toward wherever there’s dense brush. As soon as anyone from our security team moved, the branches scraping against our clothes made a SWISH, SWISH sound, so Zhou Chengguo told us not to follow anymore.”

This group was supposed to be stalking it, sneaking up on the boar without making a sound. But once branches started scraping, of course the boar was going to run.

Hearing Liu Jinyong’s explanation, Zhao Youcai asked again, “And after that?”

Hong Yuntao chimed in from the side, “After that, he went after the big solitary one by himself with his rifle. But he chased it for over an hour and still couldn’t catch up.”

“Yeah.” Liu Jinyong said to Zhao Youcai, “Zhou Chengguo said that the one we were trailing was most likely the big solitary one. But the boar is too cunning; it bolts at the slightest sound. We can’t keep up. He said we need hunting dogs. Then he told us to come find your Zhao Jun.”

“Right!” Hong Yuntao added, trying to smooth things over. “Elder Zhao, if your Zhao Jun goes, what wild boar couldn’t he hunt down?”

It was meant as a compliment, but Zhao Youcai felt a bit displeased hearing it. He immediately said, “Zhao Jun went to Lingnan. I don’t know when he’ll be back. If you’re not in a hurry, you can wait for him.”

“This…” Hearing Zhao Youcai’s words, Liu Jinyong quickly shot a look at Hong Yuntao, signaling him to watch what he said. Then Liu Jinyong turned back to Zhao Youcai. “Master Zhao, before I came in, I saw your yard is full of dogs. Since Zhao Jun isn’t home, what do you think… could you lead the dogs up the mountain and take down this Cannon Egg?”

“Lead the dogs…” Zhao Youcai instinctively glanced outside. He knew all the dogs out there, but he had never taken them up the mountain himself. ‘Putting aside whether the Dog Gang would even work for me, it’s questionable if they’d just run back home once they’re in the mountains.’

“That’s right!” Hong Yuntao interjected again. “Elder Zhao, it’d be fine if you go too! It doesn’t have to be your Zhao Jun, right?”

As soon as Hong Yuntao said this, the dark look on Zhao Youcai’s face softened slightly. Liu Jinyong quickly asked, “Master Zhao, what do you think? Will you lead the dogs and go with us?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Before Zhao Youcai could speak, Hong Yunfeng chimed in with some clumsy flattery, “What’s that saying? ‘Why use an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken?’ Having Elder Zhao is enough, you don’t need his son.”

After Hong Yunfeng finished speaking, he saw Zhao Youcai turn to look at him. For a moment, Hong Yunfeng felt an unnerving chill in Zhao Youcai’s gaze.

“Numbskull, what are you talking about?” Li Dayong, annoyed, blurted out Hong Yunfeng’s nickname in his frustration.

Hong Yunfeng was a bit of a numbskull. He spoke bluntly and acted bluntly. But he was a straight-shooter and never meant any harm. Relying on his tough physique, he’d worked his way up to deputy leader in the security team.

“Master Zhao,” Liu Jinyong, seeing the atmosphere turn sour, quickly said to Zhao Youcai, “Please, just lead your dogs and help our Forest Farm out. When we were leaving, Zhou Chengguo said that this Cannon Egg hasn’t established its territory yet. We have to take it down with a tough pack of dogs. Otherwise, if we wait until it establishes its territory, it’ll become a Wild Boar King, and then it won’t matter how many dogs we bring, we’ll never be able to take it down.”