Chapter 632: Black Tiger Ventures into the Shitang Belt Alone

Zhao Jun remembered that when he first bought Cyan Dragon, the seller told him the dog was born on the third day of the twelfth lunar month.

Last year, the third day of the twelfth lunar month was January 2nd, 1987. That meant Cyan Dragon was now a full eight months old.

For a half-grown pup like this, the first step to becoming a hunting dog was to “open its mouth.”

For a hunting dog, “opening its mouth” meant one thing: biting prey.

It didn’t matter what it bit, from big game like wild boars, black bears, roe deer, and stags, to smaller prey like wildcats, badgers, and yellow foxes. As long as a dog bit its first prey, it had taken the first step toward becoming a true hunter.

Coincidentally, when Zhao Jun got Cyan Dragon in his past life, the dog was already almost three years old.

Back then, Cyan Dragon wouldn’t go after wild boars or black bears; he was only interested in roe deer. The first time Zhao Jun took him into the mountains, he immediately took off after one.

But it wasn’t early spring then; it was the middle of winter.

Roe deer are known for being incredibly fast in the snow. Once they got going, what dog could possibly catch them?

And so, Cyan Dragon chased and chased until he got himself completely lost.

He lost his dog before the mission even began.

Luckily, Wang Fu, who owned the small convenience store, had been heading up the mountain on his sled to haul wood for growing mushrooms. He saw Cyan Dragon lying by the side of the path and brought him back.

And that’s how he went on to become the lead dog in the later bear hunts.

Recently, Zhao Jun had been taking Cyan Dragon into the mountains mostly to hunt wild boars. And Cyan Dragon had eaten his fair share of boar meat.

So, Zhao Jun had always assumed that in this life, Cyan Dragon’s first bite would be a wild boar.

He never expected that, even in this life, Cyan Dragon’s first bite would still be a roe deer.

Seeing the happy expression on Zhao Jun’s face, Li Baoyu grinned. “Surprised, brother? Cyan Dragon opened his mouth!”

Zhao Jun turned back and asked, “What happened?”

Li Baoyu said, “I brought the dogs back, and as soon as they got in the yard, the whole pack started barking at the storeroom. Your mom and I tied up the big dogs, but we never thought Cyan Dragon would be the one to do it. The moment we opened the storeroom door, Cyan Dragon lunged in and bit.”

“That’s right,” Jie Chen added from the side. “Those two roe deer were making a racket ever since we got them back. We didn’t expect a bite from Cyan Dragon would be enough to make them behave.”

“Yep,” Li Baoyu said with a laugh. “As long as Cyan Dragon is lying here, those two roe deer stay quiet. But if he goes out to pee or something, they start their damn bleating again. Then, as soon as Cyan Dragon comes back, they shut right up.”

Hearing this, Zhao Jun let out a laugh. He closed the storeroom door and walked Zhang Yuanmin out of the yard with Li Baoyu and Jie Chen.

Once outside the yard, Zhao Jun said to Zhang Yuanmin, “Take it easy, Big Brother.”

“I’m fine,” Zhang Yuanmin said, waving his hand. “You all head back inside.”

“Okay.” Zhao Jun waved back at him. “Big Brother, we’ll come to your house to pick you up at eight tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good!”

After watching Zhang Yuanmin leave, the three of them went their separate ways to wash up and go to bed.

The next morning, Zhao Jun sensed Jie Chen getting dressed beside him. He opened his eyes and asked what time it was. When Jie Chen said it was almost five, Zhao Jun got out of bed too.

When the two of them came out of the west room, steam was already rising from the large pot on the stove in the outer room. A glance at the nearby dough board suggested someone had just started steaming buns for the trip.

Zhao Jun and Jie Chen headed outside to pump water from the well to wash their faces, only to see Zhao Youcai standing in the yard, using a small scoop to add food to Black Dragon’s bowl.

Zhao Jun glanced around and saw all the other dogs staring intently at Zhao Youcai. He knew right away that his father had fed Black Dragon first, before any of the other big dogs.

Then, he watched as Zhao Youcai, holding the dog food, crouched beside Black Dragon. He looked at the eating dog with a tender expression and said gently, “San Hei, eat up. Get nice and full now.”

“San Hei?” Zhao Jun furrowed his brow in confusion and called out to his father, “Dad, what are you doing?”

“Oh, jeez!” Zhao Jun’s sudden voice startled Zhao Youcai, who had been completely absorbed in his interaction with Black Dragon.

Zhao Youcai turned his head. Seeing Zhao Jun and Jie Chen standing there, he said, “You’re up?”

Zhao Jun and Jie Chen both answered. As Zhao Youcai carried the food bowl over to feed White Dragon, Zhao Jun pointed at Black Tiger and said, “Dad, for Black Tiger, just feed him until he’s half-full.”

“Huh?” Zhao Youcai looked up at Zhao Jun. “You’re going up the mountain again today?”

As he spoke, Zhao Youcai brought the food bowl over to Zhao Jun, tilted his head toward Black Tiger, and said, “A dog can’t go into the mountains three days in a row. Don’t you know that?”

During a hunt with a dog pack, the dogs have to fight the prey, which drains their mental and physical energy. It’s much more exhausting for them than for the hunter.

Generally, after two consecutive days of hunting, a dog loses its excitement on the third day. If it’s forced into another fight, it will become listless and exhausted.

This not only leads to a failed hunt, but also makes the dogs more susceptible to injury.

Therefore, to protect their dogs, hunters who use packs almost never take them to the mountains for three consecutive days.

Zhao Jun naturally understood this, but he explained to Zhao Youcai, “We’re not planning on hunting anything today. We’re just going to check the traps. After that, we’ll go drag back the Red Dog we got yesterday.”

“Then why are you taking my Da Hei…?” Zhao Youcai started, but he caught himself halfway and corrected his words. “I mean, why are you taking Black Tiger up the mountain?”

“Da Hei?” Zhao Jun looked at his father with a scrutinizing gaze. ‘This old man… one minute it’s San Hei, the next it’s Da Hei. Looks like he’s up to something this morning,’ he thought.

“Ahem.” Zhao Youcai sensed something was off about the way Zhao Jun was looking at him. He hurriedly carried the food bowl over to Black Tiger and dumped a large scoop of boiled potatoes into its bowl.