Chapter 29

Since the plan was set, there was no time to waste. Under the accompaniment of Daixi Guozhi and Tsuda Masaharu, Masahiro gathered 11 archer foot soldiers and, led by Shinzo and three other experienced hunters, entered the forest southwest of Yadaka Village.

This was Masahiro's first time entering this area. Along the way, he saw low shrubs and wild grass. Masahiro carefully observed the surrounding soil, noting that due to the accumulation of fallen leaves over the years, which gradually mixed with the soil, the land here was quite fertile and easy to cultivate. A single fire would be enough to clear the shrubs and wild grass, after which cultivation could proceed. Moreover, several streams flowed through the area, making it possible to transform it into paddy fields. Masahiro silently decided that, after dealing with the wild boars, this area would be a priority for future cultivation.

After walking for nearly half an hour deeper into the forest, the surrounding trees gradually changed from shrubs to larger trees, though they were not very old and could be cleared with some effort. With sufficient manpower, the residents could also be organized to cultivate the land.

After about an hour of intermittent walking, they finally reached a small hill.

"Sir, look," Shinzo stood beside Masahiro and pointed to a small hill covered with dense trees in the distance, "The wild boars' den is right there."

Masahiro followed the direction of Shinzo's finger. About a mile away, there was a small hill that was much higher than the surrounding mountains. The area around the hill was covered with dense forests. The hill was located at the transition zone between tall trees and shorter shrubs. From its position, there were no other high points around the hill, making it difficult to use the terrain for a hunt.

Masahiro frowned and asked softly, "Are the wild boars only in this den?" If their daily activity range was near the hill, it would indeed increase the difficulty of the hunt.

Shinzo thought for a moment, then looked up at Masahiro and replied, "Sir, we tracked these wild boars for a day yesterday. According to their tracks, they mostly stay near their den, but at noon, they go to a pond to drink water."

"Hmm?" Upon hearing Shinzo's report, Masahiro immediately recalled that wild boars like to bathe in mud in hot weather. Looking at the distance to the pond, it was about a mile to the left of the boars' den, a distance that wild boars could cover in a short time.

"Let's go and take a look," Masahiro decided to go to the pond.

The group of over ten people quietly crossed the shrubs and arrived near the pond. The pond was located between three small hills, formed by the convergence of streams from the mountains. There were three entrances to the pond, one of which faced the direction of the boars' den.

"Which entrance do the wild boars usually use to enter the pond?" Standing near the entrance facing the boars' den, Masahiro observed the surrounding terrain while asking Shinzo.

"Sir, the wild boars entered from this entrance yesterday, and from the condition of the plants along the way, they usually use this entrance," Shinzo pointed to some small shrubs that had been broken and were regrowing leaves.

"Good. That's enough for today. Let's go back," Masahiro looked at the sun, noting that it was already close to noon, and the wild boars would soon arrive. He quickly called the group to leave.

Back at the domain, Masahiro immediately issued several tasks. First, he ordered the construction of two triangular barriers, each about 5 meters long and 1 meter high, with a row of wooden spears bound to one side. Second, he ordered the collection of a large amount of wild fruit that wild boars like, along with enough dry grass. Finally, he personally led the spear foot soldiers to practice the square spear formation with the barriers. Everyone knew that the lord was preparing to deal with the wild boars and was very excited, putting aside their farm work to join the preparations in the afternoon.

Soon, all the preparations were complete. That night, nothing happened. The next morning, Masahiro and Tsuda Masaharu led 12 spear foot soldiers, 11 archer foot soldiers, and six experienced hunters back into the forest. Each person carried, in addition to their weapons, the two barriers, some wild fruit, dry grass, several shovels, and three small fishing nets disassembled from the domain's only long drag net.

The remaining foot soldiers were led by Daixi Guozhi to guard the domain and prevent bandits. Aizawa Heiji also stayed behind to manage the domain's daily collective work.

After an hour of trekking, they finally reached the pond, which was already around 9:30 in the morning. Fortunately, they did not encounter any wild boars on the way, as wild boars generally forage in the morning and evening, staying near their den at other times.

Before entering the pond, there was a section of about 50 meters with steep slopes on both sides, with a road width of about 5 meters between the slopes. Masahiro first had people dig a pit 2 meters deep, 5 meters long, and 3 meters wide at the narrowest point near the pond. The bottom of the pit was lined with short, thick bamboo spears, and then covered with branches, leaves, and mud from the roadside. Since wild boars have a keen sense of smell, the mud was mostly mixed with the scent of wild boars to avoid detection. After setting up the pit, several similar but narrower pits were set up along the edges of the slopes, away from the middle of the road.

The two barriers were smeared with mud and placed in the shrubs near the road on the side closest to the boars' den. Finally, wild fruit was scattered along the road leading to the pond, with more fruit closer to the pond. The wild fruit was wrapped in mud to mask the human scent.

After all the preparations were complete, the group was divided into several teams according to Masahiro's instructions. The archer foot soldiers were divided into two teams and climbed to the tops of the small hills on both sides. Once the battle began, they would use their bows and long bamboo spears to block the wild boars if they tried to climb the slopes to escape. The three experienced hunters were smeared with thick mud and hidden near the barriers. Masahiro and the rest of the group were smeared with a lighter layer of mud and hid in the shrubs about 200 meters away with dry grass.

Wild boars have an extremely sensitive sense of smell, able to distinguish the ripeness of food and even find a walnut buried under 2 meters of snow. Male boars can also determine the location of females by smell. Therefore, Masahiro was not worried that the wild boars would not find the wild fruit, but he was concerned that his group might be detected. To ensure safety, he took the above measures to hide.

The wait was long. After nearly an hour, the characteristic "oink" of wild boars could be heard from a distance, and finally, the wild boars appeared. The boars moved toward the pond, digging up the wild fruit along the way. One of the larger boars occasionally lifted its head to look around, showing great vigilance.

Masahiro carefully counted the boars. There were at least 13 adult wild boars, with the largest weighing over 300 pounds. There were also about 10 piglets with yellow and white fur, likely less than 6 months old.

The wild boars happily moved toward the pond, eating the wild fruit along the way. After 10 minutes, just as the last few boars were about to pass the designated blocking point, a dangerous situation arose. A small boar ran toward a pit on the side of the road. Masahiro immediately became tense. If the small boar fell into the pit, it would surely alarm the other boars. At this point, the main group of boars was too close to the blocking point. If they were startled and ran back, even if the three experienced hunters used the barriers to block them, most of the boars would escape. If this happened, his plan would fail.

As the small boar approached the pit, the atmosphere became tense.