They had walked roughly another five hundred meters when rustling suddenly came from a low thicket to their front right.
Han Housheng raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop.
By then, he had quietly drawn the broad saber from his back, while Xun Haotian had also readied his weapon.
"Brother, I'll test it first."
Han Housheng nodded. Han Shusheng lifted the javelin in his hand above his right shoulder, leaning his body slightly backward.
"Whoosh!"
With a sharp sound as it tore through the air, the javelin traced a perfect arc overhead.
It landed precisely inside the thicket.
At once, the sounds from within the bushes disappeared.
Delight spread across Han Shusheng's face. Thinking he had hit his target in one move, he hurriedly pulled the upper rope tied to the javelin.
But when he tugged on it, he found that the other end felt strangely light.
Just then, a "snort, snort" reached everyone's ears.
A moment later, a massive wild boar suddenly leaped out of the thicket. The moment it landed, it charged straight at Han Housheng and the others like a speeding tank.
Judging by its size, it was nearly identical to the one they had caught a few days ago.
"Not good! Move back!" Han Housheng shouted.
Although the wild boar was still roughly thirty meters away, one had to remember that a wild boar could charge at forty-five kilometers per hour—in theory, reaching a speed of fifteen meters per second.
A distance of over thirty meters was only a matter of a few seconds for it.
Han Shusheng immediately climbed the nearest tree, moving with the agility of an ape.
Han Housheng and Xun Haotian took up positions on either side, using the surrounding trees as cover.
Seeing that the wild boar was about to charge over, Han Housheng threw the hemp rope that had been hanging from his shoulder toward Xun Haotian.
Xun Haotian immediately understood his intention. He grabbed the other end and gave it a hard pull.
The hemp rope instantly went taut, forming a perfectly straight line.
"Hold tight!" Han Housheng shouted.
Xun Haotian had originally planned to wrap the rope around a tree several times, but there was no time. He could only drop to one knee and grip the rope tightly with both hands.
The hemp rope was barely a centimeter above the ground.
At that moment, the wild boar charged over.
Without noticing the rope beneath its feet, it was instantly tripped.
However, the tremendous force of its charge also sent Xun Haotian and Han Housheng flying several meters before they crashed heavily to the ground.
From his position in the tree, Han Shusheng seized the opportunity. He aimed the javelin he had retrieved at the overturned wild boar and hurled it with all his strength.
"Eek!"
The wild boar let out a miserable squeal. The javelin had actually struck home, piercing its rear. Though it had gone only about five centimeters into the flesh, the pain still made the wild boar howl.
Seeing this, Han Housheng hurriedly climbed to his feet, grabbed his broad saber, and moved to hack at the wild boar.
But he had still underestimated the boar's reaction speed.
Before his slash could land, the wild boar rolled to the side.
Enduring the agony, it also tore itself free of the javelin.
Realizing the situation was unfavorable, it immediately fled in one direction.
Zhao Youjia, who had been in the rear with his bow already raised and aimed, quickly loosed an arrow when he saw it trying to escape.
The arrow tore through the air, but unfortunately missed, striking the trunk of a pine tree instead.
"It's wounded. It can't have gone far. Let's chase it!"
The three at the front immediately pursued the wild boar in the direction it had fled.
The others behind them also hurried after them when they saw this.
Having landed a blow and wounded the wild boar, they felt much less tense. Confidence and relaxation replaced their earlier nervousness.
They followed the trail all the way and soon reached a long, narrow valley.
Han Housheng crouched down and examined the traces of blood left on the ground.
"It can't have gone much farther."
"Shusheng, you've rendered great service again this time." Han Housheng turned to his younger brother.
Han Shusheng chuckled, pride spreading across his face.
At the back, Liu Shan and the others were beaming with delight.
"I told you. A mere wild boar is nothing to worry about." Liu Shan looked smug and arrogant, as though he had been the one to wound it.
Xun Ruobing could not even be bothered to mock him.
"This time, it looks like I won't need to do anything either. My boar-beating stick probably won't get any use."
Liu Shan once again displayed his talkative nature, chattering nonstop.
At that moment, they had no idea that a wild boar had already been following them for a long time.
"Snort, snort."
The sound was extremely faint. Without listening carefully, it would have been difficult to notice.
Han Fei had rarely spoken to them along the way, which had allowed him to keep his mind focused.
The moment he detected that faint grunt, his spirit tensed.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Liu Shan asked in confusion.
"The wild boar!" Han Fei lowered his voice.
"A wild boar? How could there be a wild boar here? Isn't it up ahead?"
Han Fei's brows drew tightly together, his eyes darting rapidly. He did not dare take any chances.
Even if he had heard wrong just now, he had to assume it was real. Better safe than sorry.
"Run!"
Han Fei did not want to waste time explaining. He immediately sprinted away. With only the few of them, they had no means of resisting a wild boar.
Xun Ruobing was quick-witted as well. Without bothering to think twice, she ran after Han Fei.
Only Liu Shan remained standing foolishly behind them.
"Why are you running?"
The wild boar that had been following them saw them trying to flee. Its ferocity erupted instantly. It stopped hiding and charged out of a secluded patch of woods.
Compared with the wild boar they had encountered earlier, this one was even stronger.
The tremendous commotion made Liu Shan turn around instinctively. When he saw the wild boar charging straight at him, he was instantly drenched in cold sweat.
How could he dare linger? He ran forward with every ounce of strength he had.
As he ran, he shouted, "Help!"
It had to be said that he was quite skilled at running away. Before long, he caught up with Xun Ruobing, who had set off before him.
The sound of Liu Shan's shouting soon reached the ears of those ahead.
Fortunately, there were many obstacles along the way. If they had been in open, unobstructed ground, the wild boar would have caught them already.
"Boom!"
As the wild boar charged through everything in its path, it startled a flock of birds in the forest.
At the front, the three who had noticed the commotion stopped moving forward and focused their gazes on the source of the sound.
"Not good. They may have run into a wild boar." Han Housheng frowned.
"No, I have to go over there. My sister is with them."
After hearing that commotion, deep worry appeared on Xun Haotian's face.
Han Housheng said, "We shouldn't go any farther for now either. The wild boar can't have escaped far. Let's head back and regroup with them. Keeping everyone safe is what matters."
"We're doomed! We're doomed! We're doomed!"
Liu Shan saw that the wild boar was already close behind them, but his legs were nearly exhausted.
"Liu Shan, didn't you say you were going to use your boar-beating stick to fight the wild boar one-on-one? Go on, then." Xun Ruobing panted as she spoke.
"Big sister, I was only joking."
"Think of something, quick!"
Liu Shan looked toward Han Fei. Faced with this situation, he could no longer worry about saving face and hurriedly pleaded for help. "Brother, do you have any ideas? If you do, spit them out quickly. I'm almost out of strength."
"Climb a tree."
Liu Shan's face turned bitter. "I can't."
"Even if you could, it's too late." Xun Ruobing gave a bitter smile.
The wild boar was already less than fifteen meters from them. Even if they knew how to climb trees, by the time they stopped to climb, the wild boar could knock them flying in an instant.
"We'll leave it to luck. Split up and run." Xun Ruobing spoke calmly.
What she meant was that one of the three of them was bound to suffer.