Chapter 56: Tiger Cub

Feng Chengmin and Wang An stuffed the pig's belly full of snow and left the pig right there.

When they returned home in the afternoon, they could just come back and haul it away.

As for the four dogs, they had already finished the pig liver and lungs Feng Chengmin had fed them.

At this moment, they were still drooling, staring intently at the female wild boar.

However, they didn't dare to step forward and bite into it themselves; they just watched.

Feng Chengmin said that this behavior in dogs is something that is "dragged out"—or more accurately, "beaten out"!

Because, setting aside the inherent importance of a hunting dog to a hunter, training a dog to be reliable is an immense drain on a hunter's time and energy!

Many times, a dog is brought out immediately, only to be kicked and trampled by mountain livestock due to a lack of experience!

Even if a dog is brought out, being kicked by mountain livestock is normal!

Especially when it comes to things like "Big Claws" or "Earth Leopards"—not to mention how rare those two things are.

Then there are black bears or regular bears; if you happen to run into one of those, the dog is as good as dead. As long as they get close, a hunting dog is nothing more than a toy to them.

One swipe can leave at least three deep gashes; if it swipes the dog's belly, it'll rip it wide open.

One heavy sit from them can crush a dog to death instantly!

However, as long as the dog doesn't go up to bite and instead just barks around them, these creatures generally won't pay the dog any mind!

It's as if they don't even look down on the dog!

Furthermore, a lead dog is very valuable. Everyone in the village knows whose lead dog is famous among the mountain hunters.

There will certainly be people with crooked intentions who might steal your dog to sell it, or people who have a grudge against you and want to poison your dog just because they can't stand to see you do well.

When facing such scum who are worse than livestock, what can you do? There's no way!

Therefore, you have to set rules for the dog: if the owner doesn't feed it, the dog cannot take the initiative to eat.

If it eats, it gets beaten; if it eats, it gets hit. After many times, it won't dare to eat on its own!

Even if a stranger feeds it, it's not allowed. You have to test it a few times; if it eats, it gets beaten!

Otherwise, if a stranger throws a piece of meat and the dog eats it, if there's poison involved, the dog is finished.

Of course, this might not work every time, but if it avoids trouble once, that's one time saved—there's no other way!

Hearing this, Wang An immediately thought of his three dogs and asked

"Uncle, what about my three dogs? If someone does that sneakily, won't they be finished?"

Feng Chengmin thought for a moment and then said, "Those three dogs are already settled. They should be fine. From the moment you took those three leashes, they recognized you as their master. However, they're probably useless in this regard, so you'd better keep a close eye on them yourself."

After a thought, he added, "Dogs aren't people. If people break rules, dogs certainly will. If a dog is starving, it'll eat whatever is fed to it! There's nothing to worry about."

Wang An thought about it and realized that was true. If he couldn't even hunt without dogs, what was the point!

The two continued strolling. Seeing that the dogs hadn't followed, appearing to still be staring at the wild boar, Feng Chengmin didn't even look back. He put his thumb and index finger in his mouth and let out a loud, sharp whistle.

Immediately, the four dogs came rushing up at high speed.

This scene left Wang An incredibly envious!

That was just too awesome!

Seeing the envy and surprise in Wang An's eyes, Feng Chengmin burst into laughter.

After laughing, he said, "Your three dogs can do that too, what's there to be envious of!"

Wang An became excited upon hearing this. Once he got the dogs up the mountain, he had to try it!

It's not like he doesn't know how to whistle! His whistle was quite loud too!

As they walked, Feng Chengmin shared various pieces of his experience with Wang An.

This wasn't limited to setting up dog enclosures, but also included how a group of hunters conducts a drive!

The jargon calls it a "battle drive," and there are also ice drives, snow drives, and pit drives, but they are all more or less similar.

It's essentially a group of people driving prey into a designated area!

Then, they find a way to kill the prey!

However, this method of driving is fine if a few people organize it a few times; they can agree on how to distribute the catch so there's no bickering afterward.

If there are too many hunters, it has to be organized by the village or the forest farm.

Otherwise, even if someone tries to organize it, no one will participate because it's hard work for little reward!

If some people catch a lot of prey and others catch very little, no matter how you distribute it, someone will think it's unfair, and who wants to deal with that nonsense!

Wang An realized that even if he hadn't learned hunting from Feng Chengmin, he could still participate in these large drives.

In fact, as long as your marksmanship is good, there's no problem; the main thing is to follow orders and be obedient.

As they walked and chatted, Feng Chengmin seemed eager to pour all his hunting knowledge and experience into Wang An.

Being sharp, Wang An naturally noticed this.

He couldn't help but ask, "Uncle, why are you telling me so much today? Aren't you afraid I won't remember?"

Even though Wang An had already memorized it all.

"If you can't even remember this little bit, then you're truly good for nothing," Feng Chengmin said disdainfully.

"Then teach me while we hunt. That way, I'll remember it even more firmly," Wang An said with a smile.

Feng Chengmin gave a "humph" and then said, "You've got quite the imagination! My older brother and younger brother are already impatient. We were planning to head deeper into these mountains..."

"To bag a few black bears, tiger cubs, or something. There are more of those things deep inside. These wild boars and roe deer we see every day aren't worth much!"

"Besides, mountain hunting is just this. Once you've learned all the basics, it all comes down to experience..."

Wang An understood. This meant the lesson was over, and his uncle was going to go make the big money!

His uncle was indeed a good man, taking the time to guide him and sharing everything he knew without holding anything back.

And it really had taken up a lot of his uncle's time!

Just then, all four dogs began barking wildly, staring in unison toward a patch of thicket.

They barked a few more times and then charged forward simultaneously, leaving both Feng Chengmin and Wang An stunned.

Because they couldn't see anything unusual in front of them.

But the dogs' barking was clearly not the coordinated response of finding prey; it was a simultaneous, frantic barking, as if they were facing a formidable enemy!

The moment they charged, they looked like soldiers rushing into battle, as if they had to kill whatever that unknown thing was!

Without hesitation, the two men ran after the dogs!

But humans can't run as fast as dogs!

Fortunately, the distance wasn't far. By the time the two arrived, panting heavily...

The four dogs had already surrounded the prey in the middle.

At first glance, the prey looked like a large cat, but it was many times larger than a domestic cat.

The big cat and the four dogs were facing off, baring their fangs!

It had a short tail, long hind legs, slightly shorter front legs, and two characteristic tufts of black hair on its ears.

There was a long tuft of hair on its lower jaw like a mustache, and its body was covered in grayish-white fur, with black spots decorating the fur from the shoulders down!

Looking at its fluffy body, it seemed quite cute!

But it was a creature the locals called a "Tiger Cub"—in other words, a Lynx!

The ferocity of a "Tiger Cub" was second only to the "Earth Leopard"!

If it weren't for the fact that its maximum weight was only about 60 pounds, even an Earth Leopard might not be its match!