The wild boar had struggled, but its thrashing only caused the Steel Wire Rope to cut deeper into its flesh.
Because of this, any movement was intensely painful, so the boar temporarily gave up the struggle and fell still.
Just then, the boar caught the scent of a human. It lifted its head slightly, its nostrils twitching as it made a "SNIFF, SNIFF" sound.
When Zhao Qingzhu appeared, the boar swung its head, lowered its snout, and the bristles on its back stood up instantly.
Seeing this, Zhao Qingzhu froze, and the hand gripping his knife began to tremble.
The boar lunged forward violently. The Steel Wire Rope snapped taut, and the snare cinched tight, drawing blood from its flesh.
"AWOO!" The great boar let out a pained squeal and quickly retreated, slackening the Steel Wire Rope to ease the pain.
The boar’s lunge had nearly scared the piss out of Zhao Qingzhu. But seeing it retreat, he calmed his nerves slightly and began to walk forward slowly.
"GRR... GRR..." The great boar made threatening noises, a clear show of force toward Zhao Qingzhu, but it had learned its lesson and didn’t charge forward again.
Zhao Qingzhu’s eyes lit up. He raised his long-handled Invasion Blade and shuffled forward in tiny steps.
"Brother-in-law!" Suddenly, Niu Guoliang’s voice called out from behind a linden tree just past the boar.
Zhao Qingzhu stopped short, realizing that if he took another step, he would be within the boar’s attack range.
Hearing the voice behind it, the great boar turned its head and glanced back. But Niu Guoliang remained hidden behind the tree, so the boar turned back around, its small eyes fixed tightly on Zhao Qingzhu.
At that moment, Niu Guoliang slipped out from behind the large linden tree and gestured to Zhao Qingzhu. Understanding the signal, Zhao Qingzhu lifted his Invasion Blade and ran to the left.
As he ran, the great boar unexpectedly followed him to the left, only stopping when the rope pulled taut.
The moment the boar stopped, Zhao Qingzhu stopped as well, then turned and ran back to the right.
Zhao Qingzhu ran right, and the boar followed. Just like that, Zhao Qingzhu led the boar in a back-and-forth chase.
They ran and stopped, ran and stopped. This went on for nearly an hour, and slowly, the boar began to tire.
Normally, an autumn boar would be fattening up for the winter, at the peak of its strength and weight, full of brute force.
But this boar had been trapped here for two or three days. It had already gnawed away all the grass and tree bark within its reach. With an empty stomach and starving, what strength could it possibly have left?
Zhao Qingzhu, on the other hand, had arrived by cart, well-fed and rested. And this being his first hunt ever, once his initial fear subsided, he actually felt a little excited.
And so, Zhao Qingzhu continued his stop-and-start taunting for nearly another hour. Only when he saw the boar’s snout opening and closing, white foam gathering at the corners of its mouth, did Zhao Qingzhu finally stop and shout to Niu Guoliang, "Liangzi! It’s about time!"
Hearing this, Niu Guoliang agreed the time was right. He emerged from behind the tree, raising his blade to approach the boar from behind.
But just then, high on adrenaline, Zhao Qingzhu suddenly got cocky. He took a step forward and thrust his blade toward the boar!
In his mind, he was already outside the boar’s attack range, and the handle of his Invasion Blade was a good two meters long. He could stab the boar, but the boar couldn’t touch him.
So, Zhao Qingzhu decided to go for the thrill.
As the blade came thrusting in, the boar instinctively tilted its head, and Zhao Qingzhu’s strike landed on its shoulder.
This was the toughest part of a boar’s body—what the Hunters called the "shoulder shield."
CRACK!
With that sharp impact, the handle of Zhao Qingzhu’s blade snapped. He had been pushing forward with all his might and couldn’t stop his momentum, causing him to stumble two steps forward.
"AWOO!"
The stabbed boar shrieked and charged straight for Zhao Qingzhu.
By now, Zhao Qingzhu had regained his footing. Seeing the boar charge, he turned tail and ran!
Thinking he was out of the boar’s attack range, Zhao Qingzhu was just about to look back to see if Niu Guoliang had finished it off. But when he turned, he saw the great boar charging right at him.
"Brother-in-law!"
Just like before, the boar should have been stopped by the tether after running less than two meters. But as Zhao Qingzhu had taunted the boar, making it run left and right, the Steel Wire Rope tethering it had been twisted back and forth repeatedly. Now, one spot was worn down, held together by only a few thin strands.
Just then, the boar lunged forward, and with a SNAP, the Steel Wire Rope broke.
"Holy crap!" Niu Guoliang had already raised his blade, never expecting Zhao Qingzhu to pull a stunt like that and completely enrage the boar.
His thrust, which should have struck the boar’s front Haraba, instead stabbed it in the hindquarters as it broke the wire snare and lunged forward.
"AWOO..." The boar wailed. It put power into its hindquarters and bucked its rear to the side. With a loud SNAP, the Invasion Blade broke.
A two-inch tip of the blade was left embedded in the boar’s rump, while the rest of the broken Invasion Blade, still attached to its handle, remained in Niu Guoliang’s hands.
WHOOSH...
The boar spun around fiercely and swung its head sideways at Niu Guoliang. Gripping the handle with both hands, Niu Guoliang raised it to block!
CRACK!
The handle, carved from larch wood, snapped in two. The boar’s snout continued its trajectory, slamming into Niu Guoliang’s hip.
Niu Guoliang was knocked to the ground. The boar closed in, lowered its head, and gored him. Niu Guoliang let out a bloodcurdling scream as his entire body was flung straight into the air. He crashed back to the ground, only to be gored and tossed again!
Just then, Zhao Qingzhu charged toward the boar’s back. Even though he was only holding half a broken handle, that was his brother-in-law, and he had to save him.
Zhao Qingzhu raised the makeshift club and brought it down hard on the boar’s lower back. The moment the boar turned its head, Zhao Qingzhu spun around and ran.
Zhao Qingzhu ran, and the boar gave chase. This time, Zhao Qingzhu ran with every ounce of strength he had. Reaching a large tree, he suddenly spun around and hid behind it.
But the furiously charging boar couldn’t stop in time. It rushed past the tree and plunged straight down into a gully.
"Liangzi!" Zhao Qingzhu scrambled to Niu Guoliang’s side. He found him lying flat on his back, gasping for breath.
But with every breath Niu Guoliang took, a soft "phut, phut" sound came from under his arm.
Zhao Qingzhu looked and saw that the boar’s tusk had pierced right through Niu Guoliang’s ribcage, creating a sucking chest wound!
A chill shot through Zhao Qingzhu’s heart. He quickly took off his jacket, tore the tank top he wore underneath into strips, and bandaged Niu Guoliang’s wound. Then he hoisted him onto his back and ran for the horse cart.
By the time they reached the cart, as Zhao Qingzhu was helping Niu Guoliang aboard, he saw that his brother-in-law’s eyes were tightly shut and his face was deathly pale.
Zhao Qingzhu pried open one of Niu Guoliang’s eyelids and saw a vacant stare. His pupils were already starting to dilate.
"Liangzi, hang on!" Tears streamed down Zhao Qingzhu’s cheeks, but he didn’t even have time to wipe them away. He whipped the horse and raced toward the Yong’an Forest Farm.
Over an hour later, the horse cart arrived at the main gate of the Yong’an Forest Farm, where it was immediately stopped by Elder Yang.
"Stop... huh? Zhao Leader?" Elder Yang hadn’t expected to run into him here.
"Uncle Elder Yang!" Zhao Qingzhu cried out. "Where’s the infirmary?"
By now, Elder Yang had seen Niu Guoliang lying in the cart. With a life on the line, he couldn’t be bothered with anything else. He just pointed inside and said, "Follow the road straight in, all the way to the end!"
Hearing this, Zhao Qingzhu didn’t bother replying. He just whipped the horse and charged inside.
Under normal circumstances, the Forest Farm’s infirmary was only open to its employees.
But when someone’s life was in danger, the Forest Farm infirmary wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing. Still, the small clinic couldn’t handle major medical issues; at best, it could treat some external injuries.
Niu Guoliang’s case qualified as an external injury, but by the time he reached the Forest Farm infirmary, the man was already cold. There was no need for treatment.
Zhao Qingzhu collapsed to the ground, wailing uncontrollably. The onlookers stood by, some sighing, others murmuring in sympathy. After all, a human life had been lost.
Meanwhile, Zhao Jun, Zhang Yuanmin, and Jie Chen were still in the forest, digging for Ginseng.
In the past three hours, they had found one plant with fourth-grade leaves, two Lantern Platform plants, and one plant with fifth-grade leaves.
Suddenly, Zhao Jun, who was parting the grass with his rope-pulling stick, froze. He instinctively planted the stick in the ground in front of a ginseng seedling and shouted, "Ginseng!"
Hearing his cry, Zhang Yuanmin and Jie Chen both ran up behind him. At this point, someone was supposed to shout and ask what grade the leaves were.
But when they got closer and saw the ginseng plant, both of them were stunned into silence.
This Ginseng plant had no leaves, only a single, straight stem with two red ginseng berries hanging from the top.
Seeing that neither of them was speaking, Zhao Jun jabbed Jie Chen with his elbow. Jie Chen snapped out of his daze and shouted, "What grade leaves?"
Zhao Jun burst out laughing and roared in reply, "Sixth Grade Leaves!"