Night Hunt

After dinner, the sun had already set, and a half-moon was rising.

Chen Yongqiang changed into a pair of black rubber boots, put on a headlamp, tucked a hunting knife into his waistband, and slung a shotgun over his shoulder, ready to patrol the mountain.

Most of their prey are nocturnal.

He instructed Lin Xiulian, "Close the doors and windows, I'm going out to patrol."

Lin Xiulian responded, cleared away the dishes, and quickly walked to the door: "Brother-in-law, the mountain road is difficult to walk on at night, please be careful."

The beam of Chen Yongqiang's miner's lamp illuminated the darkness and quickly disappeared outside the courtyard gate.

The night in the village was exceptionally deep, with the occasional bark of a dog echoing in the distance.

Chen Yongqiang stepped onto the grassy ridge and returned to the vegetable garden where he had found the wild boar footprints during the day.

As the light swept across the grass along the edge of the field, it suddenly focused on a gray shadow—a wild rabbit, squatting by the vegetable patch, munching on grass.

Chen Yongqiang instinctively raised his gun and aimed it at the unsuspecting prey.

His finger had just touched the trigger when he immediately released the pressure.

The muzzle of the musket slowly drooped down.

"We're going to hunt wild boar tonight, we can't let a small thing ruin everything!" he muttered to himself.

The sound of gunfire would inevitably alert any wild boars that might be lurking nearby.

It's not worth alerting the enemy just for a rabbit.

The hare seemed to sense something and immediately darted into the grass and disappeared.

Chen Yongqiang ignored them, switched his headlamp to diffuse mode, and carefully examined the tracks on the muddy ground.

Sure enough, several fresh hoof prints were found at the edge of the vegetable garden. They were deeper and clearer than those seen during the day, and still covered in damp soil. The beast must have been here tonight.

Chen Yongqiang walked to the edge of the field, behind a large rock that was taller than a person, and turned off his headlamp.

The surroundings instantly darkened, and by the moonlight, visibility was reduced to only a few meters.

All I could hear were the chirping of insects and the occasional croaking of frogs from the ditch.

He sat down against the stone, placed the musket flat on his lap, and blended into the shadows.

Hunting is all about patience.

Chen Yongqiang recalled the last time he hunted a wild boar. That was three years ago.

Four or five hunters from the neighboring village, along with seven or eight hunting dogs, chased and intercepted the wild boar for several days before finally managing to bring it down.

In the end, all that was left for me was a few dozen kilograms of meat.

This time is different. Although going alone is risky, if he really falls down on his own, it will all be his responsibility.

Chen Yongqiang was calculating in his mind: domestic pork can sell for six or seven cents a pound, and wild boar meat can sell for at least seven or eight cents a pound.

If you can really hunt a wild boar weighing over 100 pounds, after removing the bones and internal organs, you can get at least 67 pounds of meat, which can be sold for 30 or 40 yuan.

He Jun works as a cook at a restaurant in town, earning 36 yuan a month. A wild boar is worth the same amount as He Jun's monthly salary.

As time passed, the crescent moon that had been hanging in the sky silently disappeared into the thick clouds.

Visibility in the fields suddenly dropped, and it was almost pitch black, with only the chirping of insects continuing.

Just then, a faint rustling sound came from afar. A thought flashed through Chen Yongqiang's mind: "Is it a wild boar?"

The sound was intermittent, but it seemed to be moving towards the direction where he was hiding.

He held the gun, determined to get closer to the target before making his move.

A blurry black shadow appeared between the ridges of the fields, its outline moving slowly in the extremely low field of vision, gradually entering the effective range of the musket.

Just as Chen Yongqiang raised his gun, ready to pull the trigger, the moon happened to peek out from a gap in the clouds.

The light illuminated the dark figure, which was clearly a person crouching down!

"Who?!" Chen Yongqiang lowered the muzzle of his gun and shouted in surprise.

Almost simultaneously, a woman's startled gasp came from the other side: "Ah!"