Wang An followed Feng Chengmin, passing by two yellow weasels without even glancing at them.
Soon, the two reached the sow, but Feng Chengmin didn't fire his gun.
Instead, he flipped out the bayonet attached to the muzzle.
Wang An’s eyes widened at the sight; this was going to be a knife hunt!
A knife hunt, as the name implies, involves using knives, axes, spears, or other sharp weapons.
You stand right in front of the prey and fight it head-on!
Early hunters, lacking the advanced weapons of today, relied on knife hunting!
However, the targets for knife hunting were mostly deer, roe deer, Mongolian gazelles, badgers, foxes, and other animals that were either less dangerous or smaller in size!
Knife hunting a wild sow was already quite dangerous, but if it were a boar, no one would even dare to try—that wouldn't be hunting; that would be suicide!
Of course, there were also bows and crossbows.
But for the average hunter, a bow was essentially useless; the requirements were just too high.
First of all, a good bow was extremely difficult to craft!
It required high-level craftsmanship and a complex production process. The materials weren't hard to find—Southern yew was the best!
Northern woods like mulberry or osage orange were also quite good!
But even if you made one, the requirements for the archer were not low; arm strength and accuracy were just the basics!
Without years of bitter practice, you wouldn't hit a thing!
Moreover, the lethality of a bow was limited, excluding ancient bows and modern compound bows.
A modern person using a standard bow could hit or injure prey at about 50 or 60 meters, which was already impressive!
Even for a rabbit, the chance of killing it instantly was slim; you’d still have to finish it off!
Bows and arrows were indeed lethal to deer and roe deer.
But deer are considered spiritual creatures. As the old saying goes, "A deer has a thousand-year lifespan, and every step is filled with worry."
A deer’s sensitivity and alertness are second to none, and their sense of smell is even sharper than a wild boar’s!
It is basically impossible for a human to get within 100 meters of one!
Even the leopard, with its incredible explosive power, speed, and agility, rarely manages to catch a deer!
Compared to a deer, a bow and arrow are basically useless!
The same goes for roe deer. Although they aren't as alert as deer, the idea of getting within 50 or 60 meters to draw a bow and fire—well, you couldn't say it never happened, but it was mostly nonsense!
As for wild boars with their "armor" and black bears with their thick hides, whether an arrow could even penetrate was one thing.
Even if it did, it would be no more than a scratch to them!
And don't even get me started on crossbows; they were even more complex to make and had a high failure rate!
They were either massive, requiring several people to carry, like the siege crossbows fixed in place!
Or they were small, used for sneak attacks at a distance of three to five meters. Any further, and they had no power, and because they lacked fletching, they had no accuracy either!
So, for a hunter, knife hunting tested both their psychological fortitude and their technical skill!
In any case, Wang An wouldn't dare do it right now!
For Wang An, even gutting an animal was a struggle!
And a wild boar wouldn't just stand there obediently and let you stab it!
Feng Chengmin, however, was exceptionally brave. He stood to the side of the boar. The boar’s ferocity flared, but its two hind legs were crippled.
It could only drag itself forward with its front legs; otherwise, it would have surely gored Feng Chengmin to death!
Taking advantage of the boar’s distraction, Feng Chengmin thrust the bayonet into the boar’s armpit. *Puchi!* It went right in!
The boar let out a miserable howl and thrashed its upper body violently, trying to attack Feng Chengmin!
Feng Chengmin dodged back, and as he pulled the bayonet out, blood sprayed out—yes, it sprayed!
The blood nearly hit Feng Chengmin’s pants, but he couldn't avoid it entirely; a bit splattered onto his shoes.
Feng Chengmin didn't care; he thrust the bayonet in again.
The scene made Wang An’s blood boil and his adrenaline surge!
Before long, the boar, severely wounded and bleeding profusely, began to wilt.
Wang An’s hands grew itchy. He flipped out the bayonet on his Type 56 semi-automatic rifle and stabbed it into the other armpit of the boar, which was already wilting and nearing its end!
This feeling—it was thrilling! Extremely thrilling!
He pulled it out and stabbed again. When he pulled it out a second time, the boar swayed and collapsed onto the ground. It took a few shallow breaths, let out a few grunts, and stopped moving!
Wang An and Feng Chengmin stood there, still looking unsatisfied.
I have to say, the feeling of a knife hunt is truly exhilarating! Much better than just blasting those seven people to death!
Seeing Wang An join in, Feng Chengmin hurriedly said, "Don't you go messing around like this in the future! Don't just decide to go knife hunting on a whim! If you aren't careful, you'll end up seriously hurt!"
Wang An put away his excited expression and replied, "That won't happen. You were right there, Uncle-in-law, and besides, this boar was already so weakened by your stabs that I dared to use the knife!"
Feng Chengmin nodded and asked with a smile, "Thrilling, isn't it?"
Wang An replied, "It’s thrilling, alright, but this isn't something you should try lightly—it’s easy to get addicted!"
Feng Chengmin laughed heartily and said, "You're right. I only tried it once when I ran out of bullets and had no other choice. After that, I always wanted to do it again! Today, I finally got my fix!"
He then added with a serious expression, "But you must never mess around like this again. It’s no different from gambling with your life!"
Wang An nodded repeatedly.
Feng Chengmin took out his skinning knife to gut the sow, and Wang An walked over to the two yellow weasels to gut them as well!
Once Feng Chengmin finished gutting the sow, he took over the work from Wang An and told him to go get the sled!
Wang An nodded and agreed. By the time he returned with the sled, Feng Chengmin was already sitting on the snow, smoking his long-stemmed pipe!
The two worked together to drag the boar onto the sled and headed straight down the mountain!
When they reached the area where they had set the snares that morning, they tied the horse to a tree once more.
The two walked on foot to check if they had caught any lynx in the snares.
I have to say, Feng Chengmin’s skill with snares was truly impressive.
In less than a day, he had caught five lynx!
They didn't collect the empty snares. Feng Chengmin said they would come back to check them again tomorrow morning; there should be more to catch!
The two walked on to where they had set the traps. They didn't catch any pheasants, but they did catch two hazel grouse and two Siberian grouse!
They didn't collect the empty traps either; they could come back tomorrow night to check them!
This part of the mountain was already deep in the wilderness, and people rarely came here. Even if they did, they would be hunters, and hunters generally didn't touch other people's snares or traps.
They wandered over to where they had set the three large traps, and as expected, they caught nothing.
The two carried the lynx, Siberian grouse, and hazel grouse back to the sled.
Once they reached the sled, they didn't delay and headed straight back to Feng Chengmin’s house.
On the way back, Feng Chengmin insisted on splitting the prey in half, but Wang An absolutely couldn't agree to that!
According to the rules of the mountain, Feng Chengmin should take four shares, and Wang An should take three.
But since Wang An was still learning, he couldn't take that much; otherwise, it would be rude—it would be considered seriously shameless!
So, Wang An only took one large roe deer, one small roe deer, one yellow weasel, and additionally, two lynx, one Siberian grouse, and one hazel grouse!
As for the 260-270 pound sow, Feng Chengmin insisted on cutting half for Wang An, but Wang An refused to take it no matter what.
Back at his uncle-in-law’s house, his aunt, Wang Yulian, naturally wouldn't let him leave, insisting that Wang An stay for dinner and spend the night.
But Wang An used the excuse that it wasn't far and it was getting dark, so he hitched up the sled with the prey and headed home!
Just as Wang An was about to leave with the sled, Feng Chengmin threw the other Siberian grouse and hazel grouse onto his sled.
He claimed that these things didn't have much meat and they ate them often anyway, telling Wang An to take them back to make a dish.
Wang An smiled and didn't refuse, saying he would come over early tomorrow morning, then drove the sled home!
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(End of chapter)