Life and Death Crisis

After Xun Ruobing finished speaking, the three of them ran off in different directions.

If Liu Shan was unlucky, that wild boar seemed to have fixated on him, relentlessly chasing him.

"Squeal!"

Feeling the wild boar's sounds coming from behind him, Liu Shan felt utterly miserable.

"Son of a bitch!" Liu Shan couldn't help but curse.

The prolonged, rapid running had made his legs feel like they were filled with lead.

Now, he was running purely on the will to survive.

But human strength has its limits. As time went on, his speed gradually decreased.

The wild boar, however, remained very fast, and the closer it got to Liu Shan, the more excited it became, letting out loud squeals.

The fear of death, at this moment, was incredibly strong in Liu Shan's heart.

Suddenly, with a stumble, Liu Shan fell to the ground.

He slumped on the ground, watching the charging wild boar, breaking out in a cold sweat.

"It's over, it's completely over."

Fear, regret, sadness – a multitude of emotions surged into his heart all at once.

Just as he thought he was about to be smashed to pieces, an arrow suddenly flew from behind him, heading straight for the wild boar.

The wild boar seemed to sense danger, immediately slamming on the brakes and lunging to the side, dodging the arrow.

Zhao Youjia, seeing his arrow dodged again by the wild boar, was extremely annoyed.

He had clearly predicted the boar's direction, yet it had still managed to evade it.

Liu Shan, seeing that he was saved, immediately wept with joy.

He scrambled to his feet and turned to run towards his brothers.

Reaching Zhao Youjia, before he could even speak, Liu Shan hugged him tightly.

He cried, "Old Zhao, thank goodness you're here. Otherwise, your brother here would have perished."

"Where are the others with you?" Lin Yuan asked.

Liu Shan steadied himself and explained everything: "They ran in other directions. We were being chased by this wild boar, so the three of us decided to split up."

While they were talking, the Han brothers and Xun Haotian also arrived from the front.

Seeing only Liu Shan, Xun Haotian anxiously asked, "Where's my sister?"

"Brother Tian, don't worry. Ruobing ran in another direction. This wild boar was chasing me, so she should be safe now."

However, Liu Shan's words did not reassure Xun Haotian.

Within the territory of these wild boars, anything could happen. If there was one more boar, there could be a second.

"No, I need to go find my sister. Which direction did she run?"

As soon as Xun Haotian finished speaking, a scream came from the north of everyone.

"That's Ruobing!"

Immediately, Xun Ruobing burst out of the woods from that direction, with a wild boar relentlessly chasing her from behind.

Just then, Han Fei also appeared from the south.

A wild boar was also chasing him.

Seeing their teammates gathered ahead, the two, though exhausted, found a surge of strength and quickened their pace.

Almost simultaneously, Lin Yuan and Xun Haotian split up and charged towards them.

The two wild boars, seeing this, actually stopped in their tracks and no longer continued the chase.

Animals, by instinct, seek to avoid harm. If an unknown creature fearless attacks them, even if it appears weak, they will hesitate.

Conversely, if you flee upon seeing them, they will show no mercy.

"Ruobing, are you hurt?" Xun Haotian asked with concern.

Xun Ruobing panted heavily, her face showing relief, and said, "No, just a few scratches from branches."

On the other side, Han Fei was also thoroughly scared.

"A Yuan, thank goodness you guys came. I almost met my end here."

"Let's retreat back to everyone else."

Han Fei nodded.

At this point, the eight of them had gathered together again.

Although they felt a slight sense of security, the current situation was undeniably dire.

Three wild boars, from the north, south, and west, were watching them menacingly.

Judging by their size, they were all significantly larger than the one they had encountered initially. Han Housheng estimated them to be at least over 300 jin.

"Hmph, hmph--"

"Hmph, hmph--"

"Hmph, hmph--"

The three wild boars didn't rush to attack. Instead, they tilted their heads back and let out loud snorts.

Just as everyone was confused.

From the east, an even louder snort suddenly rang out, echoing through the entire mountain forest.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound. On the mountainside, three wild boars appeared simultaneously. One of them was the one that had been injured earlier.

What surprised them even more was that behind these three wild boars, a colossal figure was slowly approaching.

The three wild boars parted, and the appearance of that boar was fully revealed to everyone.

Its physique was at least twice as large as the surrounding boars. Its body was glossy black, as if it were covered in a layer of dark lacquer. The sharp tusks at its mouth were terrifying, and there was a scar near its eye. Beneath the scar was a deep red eye, which was now staring intently at the people below.

"The Boar King!" Han Shusheng said, his voice trembling slightly.

Han Housheng, standing beside him, also reacted instantly upon seeing the situation.

"It's a trap. We were actually tricked by a pack of wild boars."

"The wild boar we encountered earlier was bait, deliberately leading us here."

"The moment we stepped into this valley, we fell into their trap."

Liu Shan looked at the wild boars, swallowed, and said, "These wild boars have really become intelligent."

Pigs are by no means stupid animals. On the contrary, they are very smart and understand teamwork.

In the wild, packs of wild boars are almost never provoked by any other species. Even tigers, known as the kings of the forest, have to avoid their might.

"Brother Han, what should we do?" Xun Haotian asked anxiously.

Han Housheng was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Everyone, let fate decide. This is my fault for being too careless."

His words were filled with despair.

"Uncle, don't say such discouraging things. I still want to live."

Liu Shan's face crumpled. He hadn't expected to escape one danger only to fall into another.

"Uncle, you must have a way, right? Take us out. I'm so young, I don't want to die." Liu Shan stepped forward and grabbed Han Housheng's clothes, his tone almost pleading.

Seeing that Han Housheng remained silent, Liu Shan slumped to the ground.

"If I had known, I shouldn't have come. Why did I have to look for excitement? I'm only in my twenties, there's so much I haven't enjoyed..."

Liu Shan babbled incessantly on the ground, and everyone else wore bitter expressions.

"Liu Shan, don't be like this," Zhao Youjia said.

"Don't you dare tell me not to be like this! It was you, you bastard, who got me here," Liu Shan roared.

Zhao Youjia was angered by his words and immediately kicked him.

"Damn it, Liu Shan! If I hadn't saved you just now, you'd be dead already."

"What's the use of saving me? We're still going to die."

Zhao Youjia was momentarily speechless.

"Is there really no hope at all?" Zhao Youjia turned to look at Han Housheng.

"Let's climb trees," Han Housheng sighed, finally suggesting a plan.

"Will that work?"

"We can stall for time. Whoever climbs up first should call for help. Maybe there's still a chance."

"But some of us don't know how to climb trees," Xun Haotian said.

"Who doesn't know how to climb?"

"Me," Liu Shan, still on the ground, spoke up first. Xun Ruobing and Zhao Youjia also shook their heads.

Hearing this, Han Housheng seemed to make a difficult decision.

"See those thicker trees nearby?" Han Housheng pointed to them. "Shusheng, you help Liu Shan. Brother Haotian, you help your sister. Lin Yuan and Han Fei, help Zhao Youjia."

"When I give the order, charge towards those trees and climb up as quickly as possible."

Everyone nodded.

"Brother, what about you?" Han Shusheng asked.

"I'll stall them. When the boars see us climbing trees, they'll definitely attack. If I don't attract their attention, none of you will be able to escape."

Upon hearing this, Han Shusheng immediately refused.

This was clearly an attempt to trade his life for their survival.

Han Shusheng said with tears in his eyes, "Brother, no! At worst, we can abandon them. If it's just us, we can definitely escape."

Han Housheng raised his hand and slapped him hard across the face.

"Did you throw all the lessons Grandpa taught you to the dogs?"

"Brother!"

"If anything happens to me, take care of Mom and Dad."

"Alright, stop crying. We'll proceed with the plan in a bit."

Han Housheng's action undoubtedly earned everyone's solemn respect.

"Anything could happen from now on. Even with me here drawing their attention, I can't guarantee your safety. So, from here on out, use all your skills and climb up that tree for your lives."

"As for whether you can hold out until help arrives from the outside, that will depend on fate."