At four in the morning, Li Long opened his eyes.
Faint tremors came through the ground, and soft grunting drifted through a gap in the window paper.
This herd of wild boars made quite a commotion as it passed.
Li Long got up, lifted the window paper, and looked outside for the boars.
It was the darkest hour of the day. Even with eyesight far better than most people's, Li Long could only make out a dark mass moving northwest through the distant mountain woods. It moved fast and made plenty of noise.
It was a sizable herd, thirty or forty strong.
Li Long did not go out right away. He watched for quite a while, then returned to his bed and lay down again once all the boars had vanished from view. He could still feel the ground trembling as he lay down. Several minutes later, the tremors finally faded, and peace returned to the area.
Li Long was about to doze a little longer when he heard a creak. The door of the neighboring cabin had been gently pushed open.
Li Long sighed and sat up.
Sun Jiaqiang had been waiting in the Small Wooden Cabin. He had heard the boars passing too, and his taut nerves had relaxed. Once the boars left, he immediately went to tell Li Long.
He had just reached the door of the larger cabin and was about to knock when Li Long's voice came from inside.
"Xiao Sun, go back and rest a little. I'll call you later, and we'll go lie in wait where the boars passed up ahead.
"There's no rush. That herd was in a hurry to find food. They won't be back for a while."
Sun Jiaqiang lowered his raised hand. So Li Long had been keeping watch