[Wish Fulfilled: Hunt to Your Heart’s Content, how dare any Wild Boar flaunt itself before State Two? (Initially, the villagers of Changxi Town also thought it was just wild boars, but wild boars never venture out alone... they have become rampant)]
"Does the Xia Dong Region... also have wild boars?" Ansheng, sitting on Lai Foo, looked at what Old Chen was pondering before sleep, and couldn’t help but show a mix of surprise and uncertainty.
Of course, what surprised Ansheng was not whether wild boars existed in the Xia Dong Region.
Wild boars exist all over Xia Country, but what really amazed Ansheng was that all the mountains and forests in Jiule City are classified as economic crop areas, and the land has been developed with large-scale irrigation systems.
Here on Tea Mountain, it’s far from an uninhabited place; in fact, every mountain has tea farmers stationed at its foot.
The incident at Skinny Dog Creek on the hillside... oh no, causing trouble with wild boars really surprised Ansheng.
What kind of wild boar has the audacity to run onto the land the tea farmers rely on for a living, causing havoc?
Aren’t they afraid the tea farmers will get angry enough to bring out some makeshift bombs and blast you to smithereens?
They need years of careful nurturing. If a mother tree used for tea wins a prize at a tea competition,
then branches used for cuttings or layering can fetch much more than just hundreds of bucks.
It’s a matter of hundreds, even thousands of big bucks for a single cutting.
If wild boars really ruin those tea trees, the farmers contracted to Skinny Dog Creek will be truly furious.
No wonder Old Chen keeps pondering the tea fields of Skinny Dog Creek even in his sleep.
Of course, there are many ways to deal with wild boars, for instance, the Hunter Squad authorized by the Security Bureau was specifically formed to handle such issues; they take care of any wild animal that poses a threat to humans.
But the Hunter Squad is not a formal organization; they comprise skilled countryside hunters and some who have retired from local positions, essentially working part-time.
Usually, it’s when a ferocious animal is noticed locally, reported to the Security and Forestry Bureaus, after judging whether it’s a protected animal, that they decide whether to trap it or directly barricade the mountain and use firearms to kill it.
After these steps, they gather those experienced outlaw countryside men, don them in official hunter gear, and head out into the mountains for a wild hunt...
Precisely... Ansheng prefers to call them "jungle adventurers."
In his past life, when Ansheng was trekking through the mountains, he once saw a local shoot a black bear through the heart with a single arrow.
Even though there are no air rifles now, with compound bows in play, those countryside wild kings are fiercer than ever.
But as the village chief of Changxi Town, Old Chen has much more to consider; he would never invite those countryside wild kings unless absolutely necessary.
Firstly, it’s non-compliant.
Secondly, it’s damn illegal!
The high-poundage compound bows, plus the arrows that can pierce wild boars, are all modified to explode.
And going through the procedures, gathering a team of part-time hunters, even at the fastest, takes a week.
"Hey.... for other ferocious animals, I might have to think about it."
"But for wild boars... it’s doomed! I told you!"
"Old Chen, how can you sleep easy? There’re still wild boars causing trouble on the mountain; get up and show me the way!"
Ansheng commanded Lai Foo to run to the iron gate of Old Chen’s house, having Lai Foo use its water hunting dog iron tail.
Lai Foo’s iron tail banged on the iron gate, shocking the just-fallen-asleep Chen Fengshui awake, though he wasn’t too flustered, he grumbled: "Who is it!"
As the respectable village chief, Old Chen occasionally deals with quarrels between couples and the ensuing family brawls, requiring him, a senior of the Chen clan, to step out and mediate and calm things down.
So, Old Chen was pretty composed and, deep down, slightly resigned.
Old Chen’s wife also came out from another room to go out together.
Their age has caught up; sleep quality has long been less than before, easily disturbed by a partner turning or snoring.
For older people, sometimes sleeping in separate rooms might be a better choice.
Old Chen walked out from the house, but didn’t see an angry mob outside the iron gate. Slightly puzzled, he approached the front gate and looked through the bars.
"....Master Fox, what brings you here?"
Old Chen walked up to the gate, seeing a small fox riding atop a white Labrador, he was speechless but opened the gate to let the Labrador and another black-and-white shepherd dog inside.
Ansheng dismounted the dog, pointed at the two dogs, looked at Old Chen’s wife, pointed at himself, then pointed at the mountain direction.
Old Chen looked at Master Fox, silent for a moment, took a phone from his pocket:
"Master Fox... I’m but a humble mortal; please grace us with your small fortune!"
Old Chen could see that Ansheng intended to leave the dogs at home, then do something unknown with him up the mountain.
Having an experience of going on a house-wrecking spree with a fox, Old Chen feared Master Fox intended to do something illegal again.
[I just heard from the village dogs that there’re wild boars causing trouble on the mountain? I’m worried about Ah Qing’s tea fields.]
[The world is in tatters, and only this little fox diligently tries to mend it bit by bit; without me, Changxi Town would be scattered.]
[Give me two valiant generals, bring out the food and drink, Old Chen shall join me in slaying the wild boars on the mountain!]
Ansheng took the phone, painstakingly typed a few lines using his one-finger technique, and handed it back to Old Chen.
After receiving the phone and reading all the words, Old Chen inhaled sharply, hesitantly looking at Master Fox:
"Well.... Master! It’s not that I doubt you, just there’s quite a weight difference between you and a wild boar; how about we..."
From the villagers’ estimation, the wild boar in Skinny Dog Creek seemed around two hundred pounds, not a little piglet.
A two hundred-pound big wild boar, let alone for a fox, is tough for seven or eight unarmed adults.
Facing Old Chen’s skepticism.
Ansheng didn’t mind; standing up, he kicked Old Chen’s shin.
"Tsk—" Old Chen jumped, inhaling sharply with a foot painful from the fox’s kick.
Master Fox... whether it can handle the troublesome boar on the mountain might be a question,
but single-handedly beating him down? Certainly easy as pie. Old Chen grimaced: "Master Fox, stop showing off your powers!"
"Can’t this old fellow just accompany you?"
Ansheng showed an expression as if teaching an eager student, nodding to Old Chen, signaling him to accompany him up the mountain.
Ansheng looked towards the hillside, a sneer on his face, inner pride emerging uncontrollably.
If it were.... some other ferocious beast on the mountain, Ansheng might not have bothered to chase it away for just 1 point of Wish Power Value.
But wild boars are different!
Ansheng detests them!
In the past when working in sales, he harbored more grievances than a ghost long dead; going on a business trip to Jinling, he was wildly jabbed in the butt by a little wild boar’s snout on a bus.
Going to the Port District for an exhibition, Ansheng was almost knocked flying by a madly charging wild boar on the subway.
Even now, Ansheng wonders why, in such a modern city, wild boars exist at all?
Do the locals love wild boars?
If not, why else teach them to take buses or beep their Octopus cards?