"Not here!?"
There was no disappointment in his eyes. He rose from the bushes, his figure darting backward as he rushed swiftly in the opposite direction.
Though he had not merged with the White Ape and could not enjoy the White Ape's Agility Boost, under the powerful Strength Augmentation of Strength Boost 2, his speed when he went all out was still extremely fast. He simply could not sustain it for long, and his agility was somewhat lacking—but it was more than enough for the situation at hand.
The Tusk Mountain Boar roared without end. Its thick hind legs bent, then suddenly exerted force, launching it several yards away in a single leap.
Its two massive tusks instantly pierced through a hunter's abdomen and hoisted him up. Its blood-filled maw opened, biting away half the wildly struggling hunter's body in one gulp. Soon came another bite, and a living man vanished completely.
Suddenly, its fist-sized eyes seemed to sense something. It abruptly turned its head toward the forest several dozen meters away, where a figure flashed past at high speed.
Roar!
The Tusk Mountain Boar let out an angry roar, but upon seeing the greater number of hunters nearby, it ultimately ignored that figure.
Seeing that the Tusk Mountain Boar was not focused on him, Lin Sheng inwardly thought, Just as expected.
With nothing left to hold him back, he continued racing forward.
Elsewhere.
Another Tusk Mountain Boar was continuously screeching as it rampaged through the hunters.
Several hunters had already died beneath this Tusk Mountain Boar's jaws.
At the front of the crowd, Wang Sanyang's expression was as dark as water. Two tusks were strapped to his back, and as he listened to the screams behind him, his brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
"How could there be three Tusk Mountain Boars?"
He truly could not understand it. Including the one he had killed, how could three Tusk Mountain Boars have appeared in this area?
As far as he knew, Tusk Mountain Boars were not herd animals. By all rights, they should not have appeared at the same time.
Unable to make heads or tails of it, he knew now was not the time to dwell on it. With his strength, he could naturally protect himself, but the others in Ninth Squad would not be so fortunate when facing such a vicious Tusk Mountain Boar.
For a moment, hesitation appeared on Wang Sanyang's face. The screams behind him continued without pause, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and removed the tusks from his back, driving them into the ground.
He then pulled an iron spear from his clothes, turned, and headed toward the Tusk Mountain Boar.
"Zhang Ding, Wang Mao, stop running! Come with me and kill this beast!"
As soon as he spoke, he gathered all his strength and viciously hurled the iron spear.
Pssh...
The iron spear sank into the Tusk Mountain Boar's body, but not very deeply. This arm-thick iron spear was like a toothpick to the Tusk Mountain Boar. Unless it struck a vital point, it could not inflict much damage.
However, the sudden attack made the Tusk Mountain Boar stop pursuing the other hunters. It roared in fury and charged at Wang Sanyang.
Seeing this, Zhang Ding and the others also stopped. Fierceness appeared on their faces as they drew their weapons and followed Wang Sanyang toward the Tusk Mountain Boar.
Before long, they had blocked the Tusk Mountain Boar. Seeing this, most of the hunters who had been fleeing in all directions stopped running and raised their weapons as well.
With Wang Sanyang, a Muscle Forging realm martial artist, holding the front line, along with several Body Tempering martial artists and the rest of them, they might not be without a chance to deal with this Tusk Mountain Boar.
While they still had some strength left, it was better to stake everything on one fight than be slowly devoured by the Tusk Mountain Boar.
Yet a few people took advantage of the moment when the Tusk Mountain Boar was held up and vanished into the bushes without looking back.
Only after the time it took to burn an incense stick did two swiftly moving figures come to a stop.
"I can't go on, Brother Liu. Let's rest before we keep moving."
Ma Qiang panted heavily, his face flushed red as he spoke.
"Fine. With fools like Wang Sanyang holding back the Tusk Mountain Boar, we can count ourselves out of danger."
Liu Jie was somewhat out of breath as well.
When he had seen the two Tusk Mountain Boars appear so suddenly, he too had been badly frightened.
If he had not feared being held accountable by Ma Qiang's older brother for abandoning Ma Qiang, he would have fled long ago. Why would he have bothered caring about Ma Qiang?
Fortunately, Wang Sanyang had stepped forward at the critical moment. Otherwise, it would not have been so easy for them to escape the Tusk Mountain Boar.
After resting for a while, Ma Qiang finally felt somewhat better. He looked behind him, lingering fear still on his face.
He had not felt much while he was up in the tree before, but witnessing several hunters being swallowed by the Tusk Mountain Boar with his own eyes had terrified him badly.
"Brother Liu, isn't it a little wrong for us to just run away like this?"
"What's wrong with it? Without sleeping drugs or traps, dealing with a Tusk Mountain Boar isn't that easy. Even with Wang Sanyang there, those people will surely suffer grievous casualties. Are we supposed to stay behind and die alongside those fools?"
Liu Jie waved his hand dismissively.
Hearing that, Ma Qiang said nothing more, but then he seemed to recall something and suddenly slapped his forehead.
"What a pity that kid didn't go with them. Otherwise, we could have dealt with him along the way."
"No matter. That kid hasn't even entered the Body Tempering realm. Facing a Tusk Mountain Boar, he has no hope of survival."
A cold sneer appeared on Liu Jie's face.
"It's just a pity we couldn't deal with that kid ourselves and give you a proper thrill, Brother Ma."
"Yeah. But as long as that kid dies, it's fine."
A smile appeared on Ma Qiang's face as well.
"That kid seemed to have an older brother and two old geezers in the city. We can pay them a visit when we have time..."
"Oh? In that case, count me in. Since that kid died on this mission, there might be compensation money. We can use it for a little entertainment."
The moment he heard this, Liu Jie became interested. Greed flashed across his face, though he quickly restrained it somewhat. Hearing the distant roars of the Tusk Mountain Boar behind them, he immediately said,
"Enough. Let's head back first. With just the two of us in Yangping Mountain at night, it's still somewhat dangerous."
"Alright."
The two did not delay any longer. After a brief rest, they headed down the mountain.
The two walked one after the other, with Liu Jie clearing the way in front, occasionally using the steel blade in his hand to push aside the bushes and weeds blocking their path.
But then hurried footsteps suddenly sounded behind them, making both men stop and turn around.
They saw a lean figure rapidly approaching from behind, finally stopping a little over ten meters away from them.
"Finally found you. Good thing this trip wasn't for nothing."
The lean figure's gaze fell upon the somewhat dumbfounded Ma Qiang and Liu Jie. He smiled, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
"It would have been too cheap for you if you died at the hands of the Tusk Mountain Boar."
The lean figure dragged a black iron spear along the ground as he stepped toward the two men.
The newcomer was none other than Lin Sheng, who had pursued them all the way at full speed.
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