Danger

This time, the haul was good, and the snares they had set yielded something too. It was not much, but at least they had caught something. They would not go hungry in winter.

The next day, the sky was still clear, and white snow blanketed the ground. Wenlong took Shitou and the other three with him, heading first to the mountain behind them to check the trap enclosure. They could hear the commotion there from far away.

They quickened their pace and reached the enclosure, where they found a large wild boar trapped inside, with several little boars beside it.

Everyone was overjoyed. The big boar weighed nearly four hundred jin. If they could bring it down, it would feed them for a long time.

Wenlong did not dare let his guard down. He hurriedly shouted, "Shitou, Linzi, Daniu, reinforce the fence! Xiaoniu, go tell the adults to come quickly! This boar is too fierce. Everyone, be careful!"

He quickly lashed the Dagger to a wooden pole. Only once he saw that they had nearly finished reinforcing the fence did Wenlong swing the pole with the Dagger attached and strike the big boar.

Pain drove the big boar into a frenzy. It began ramming the fence, making it sway and shake.

Shitou and the others attacked the little boars, driving the big boar to ram the fence even more wildly. Long'er sped up his attacks, afraid the fence would not withstand the impacts.

Under the attacks of Shitou and the others, the little boars soon fell and did not get up again. Ignoring its wounds, which were already pouring blood, the big boar threw even more force into ramming the fence.

This time, the fence teetered on the verge of collapse. It looked unlikely to hold, and everyone attacked the big boar together.

By now, the big boar was swaying too. Wenlong shouted, "Hurry, hit the big boar! It can't hold out much longer either!"

Just then, the boar lunged toward Long'er, smashing a great hole through the fence.

Wenlong reacted in a flash, striking the boar in the neck. Even as it pushed forward, he clung tightly to the pole, bracing it against the boar.

Though the boar bled without stopping as it went, Wenlong did not forget to shout for everyone to get away.

If it broke free of the Dagger he had driven into it, and struck any of his young companions, they would surely be killed or injured on the spot.

Pushing against the pole, the boar charged wildly forward, dragging Wenlong along. Even now, Wenlong did not dare let go, afraid he would not survive a blow from the boar once he released it.

Seeing that the boar was losing strength, Long'er was delighted. What he did not know was that he had already reached the edge of a cliff.

The boar stumbled and fell in the midst of its headlong charge. The pole slipped from Long'er's grasp, and he was flung into the air.

Shitou and the others, following behind, all shouted for him to let go, but it was already too late.

The instant Wenlong was thrown into the air, he too realized he had reached the cliff's edge. By then, his body was beyond his control.

As he fell, he spotted vines hanging down.

He hurriedly reached for them, but how could he hold on? The weight of his falling body dragged him downward. Wenlong grabbed at the vines several times, but could not keep his grip.

I'm really done for this time, he thought. With a tremendous crash, he sank into darkness.

Up on the cliff, the clanspeople had arrived, only to find Shitou and the others sobbing loudly.

Long'er's mother froze. Looking in the direction of the dead boar, she walked forward, step by step.

Shitou's mother caught hold of her. Long'er's mother murmured, "I have to find him. I have to find him," struggling all the while to rush toward the cliff.

The women behind her were horrified. They hurried forward, held her firmly, and pulled her back.

"Long'er, are you trying to take your mother's life? Oh, Long'er, without you, I can't go on living either! Heaven, I hate you! You took my eldest and my second, and now you want to take my third as well! I hate you!" Long'er's mother struggled for a while, then fainted.

All the clanspeople wept in anguish. Wenlong had solved their food problem, yet this time he had lost his life for it.

How could they not be heartbroken? This should have been a happy occasion, with such a plentiful haul, but after what had happened to Wenlong, everyone was overcome with grief.

The clanspeople's anguish was easy to imagine. Tears streamed down their faces as, sobbing, they carried Long'er's mother on their backs and dragged the boar along.

Shitou and the others stared at the cliff, desperately crying out Wenlong's name through their tears, but no matter how they called, they would never hear his answering voice again.