The next morning, when wisps of smoke rose from every household in Zhangjia Village, Xiao Ping'an, who had a good night's sleep, jumped up from the kang with a start, rubbed his eyes, and looked at the couple who were sleeping in in surprise.

Zhang Guoqing had woken up long ago. He suddenly opened his eyes and smiled at his son. "Why are you up so early? Sleep a little longer."

Ping An looked out the window in confusion. "Is it early? There's no bugle call here. I'm not used to it."

Zhang Guoqing was about to reply when he felt his wife move uneasily in his arms. He patted her gently and saw that she went back to sleep. He tiptoed down from the kang and carried his son out of the room.

Standing in the living room, the father and son exhaled at the same time and patted their chests at the same time.

Zhang Guoqing was so happy looking at his little son on the ground!

"Dad, are we going up the mountain today?"

Zhang Guoqing raised his eyebrows and said, "We have to pick the lettuces and cucumbers in the backyard this morning. If we don't pick the crab apples, they will be wasted."

Ping An frowned at him and counted on his fingers for him to hear, "A pound of wild boar meat can be sold for one dollar, and how many cents are vegetables? Ten pounds of meat can buy a hundred pounds of vegetables. Can I ask Brother Xizi and the others to help before dinner?"

Zhang Guoqing stroked his short hair and said, "Then hurry up. Let's go early and come back early."

"dad?"

"Shh," Zhang Guoqing pointed to the inner room, "Your mom doesn't like us going up the mountain, so keep your voice down. Dad is being punished by your mom, so you have to help him bear the consequences."

Xiao Ping'an nodded happily.

The father and son rushed to the yard and washed up quickly. They leaned over the window to listen and saw that there was no movement in the inner room, so they clapped their hands happily.

Zhang Guoqing picked up the basket from the west wing, picked up his son, closed the door, and left. It was just dawn, and the father and son didn't have far to go. If they took a walk, they could be back by noon.

After leaving the house, Ping'an was not worried about being stopped by his mother. On the way up the mountain, he looked at the members of the commune who were going to work in the fields in the distance. The little guy shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Guoqing patted his head, followed his gaze, and understood. He ran forward quickly, patting the child comfortingly.

Zhang Guoqing hadn't planned on hunting any wild game this time. Without Zhou Jiao, it would have been inconvenient to carry the animals down the mountain, and his goal was to get his son more familiar with the environment.

The forest was still covered in dew in the early morning, and in some places, there was still a white mist. He ran around like a kangaroo, with his son strapped to his chest and a basket on his back. Whenever he encountered a special situation, he would explain to the child how to deal with it.

The "kangaroo doll" in front has a serious face, his lips tightly pursed, holding a small stone in his hand, concentrating with his eyes slightly squinted, listening carefully to his father's instructions.

Without Zhou Jiao to distract him, Zhang Guoqing moved very quickly. The father and son didn't even bat an eyelid when they encountered a wild rabbit scurrying through the bushes.

Ping An understood his father's words about Daqing Mountain being his backyard. With his father's ability, his family could live in the village without worrying about not having enough meat to eat or having a rough life.

The father and son spoke patiently, the other listening attentively. Time passed unnoticed, and it was two hours later when Zhang Guoqing reached the outskirts of the deep mountains.

He looked ahead and whispered, "Going further in is deep into the mountains. If you don't have some skills, you'll basically never be able to return. Your great-grandfather took me in there when I was eight. There are all kinds of wild animals in there, and the most dangerous ones are not the big beasts, but the maze forest.

If you walk about an hour or two from here, you'll come to a maze. Dad has only been out of this maze twice; no one dares go any further. Those two times were once with your great-grandfather and his group, and once a few years ago with your great-grandfather Wang and his group.

Ping An rolled his eyes, gazing into the distance with shining eyes. "Dad, why don't you dare leave? Is it more dangerous in there than the maze? Has anyone been there before?"

Zhang Guoqing patted him on the shoulder and said, "I heard from your great-grandfather that a long time ago, someone went in, but unfortunately no one ever came back alive. In the past, the Taoist priests in the Taoist temple halfway up the mountain were all skilled in martial arts, so they didn't dare to go in and rescue people easily.

One year, several men went into the mountains together and disappeared. Their families sought help at a Taoist temple halfway up the mountain. The Taoist priest sent ten disciples in, but after several days, only half of them returned alive. Since then, our family has passed down the tradition that once you pass through the maze forest, you can no longer go any further.

"Dad, I will remember this."

Zhang Guoqing smiled and patted him. He had deliberately exaggerated the facts because he was worried that the child would grow up and become curious and go in.

The last time he followed Grandpa Wang inside, he could hear the movements of many large animals not far away in the middle of the night. Going further in was very risky. Even without an ancestral agreement, the risk factor was very high.

"Let's stop here for today. How about we go back first? Your mom should be waking up and preparing lunch by now."

Ping An hugged his father's neck again and said, "Okay, you can take me in next time."

"Good son!" Zhang Guoqing kissed the child in his arms and was about to run. Suddenly, he heard a loud noise coming from the direction of the valley in front of him. His face changed immediately and he immediately jumped up a big straight tree behind him.

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Guoqing had already stood on the tree branch, observing the movement in front of him, but unfortunately he could only hear the sound and didn't know the situation. He glanced at the child in his arms with worry.

"Are you afraid?"

Ping An had also noticed the unusual movement a moment ago. He shook his head excitedly and asked in a low voice, "Dad, there are wild boar sounds. What else is there? We can't see it from here."

Zhang Guoqing didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was truly a newborn calf, fearless as a tiger! Those were black bears and wild boars. He prepared his weapons and sleeping pills while keeping an eye out for the roars and crashing trees ahead.

"Pay attention to this sound. Dad will take you to the front to check the situation. Don't make any noise next."

As he spoke, he glanced at his son who was covering his mouth in his arms, and immediately got down from the tree. He took a detour, passed through the old forest, and climbed up a large bluestone mountain.

Looking at the beast fighting for its life under the rock, even Zhang Guoqing, who had hunted a lot of prey over the years, couldn't help but gasp.

One pig, two bears, and three tigers!

In that forest, two bullies were killing each other fiercely.

Fortunately, he heard the unusual sound and was standing upwind. If he had been careless and didn't climb the rocky mountain, he would have been hit by these crazy guys and would have been badly injured.

Ping'an pulled him and pointed to a pile of old yams that were arched up in the distance.

Zhang Guoqing smiled appreciatively and nodded.

There was only one black bear in the small valley, and the wild boar group should be a family. A sow weighing more than 300 pounds and several pig sons weighing about 200 pounds were fighting each other in the valley.

The cause of the incident should be this pile of old yams.

It was probably a group of wild boars grunting and chewing on the nutritious and delicious yams. At this time, the black bear happened to come across them and saw the yams all over the ground. Taking advantage of his fat body and covered in bear bile, he wanted to take advantage of it.

Maybe it was not easy for the wild boar, as the whole family was short of food. One of them was not happy, and the two sides had a decisive battle for these few broken yams.

At this time, the bloody murder caused by yam was in full swing in the valley. The battle was very brutal. Both the black bear and the wild boar had thick skin and tough flesh, and were extremely powerful. Now both sides were injured, and it was obvious that they were really fighting.