Once Xun Ruobing finished speaking, the three of them ran off in different directions.
Liu Shan was truly unlucky. That boar seemed to have singled him out and stubbornly refused to stop chasing him.
"Eek!"
Hearing the boar's squeals behind him, Liu Shan felt utterly miserable.
"Fuck!"
Liu Shan couldn't help but curse.
After running at full speed for so long, his legs already felt as though they had been filled with lead.
Now, he was sprinting solely on his will to survive.
But human strength had its limits. As time passed, his speed gradually slowed.
The boar chasing him relentlessly remained extremely fast. The closer it got to Liu Shan, the more excited it became, squealing wildly.
At that moment, the fear of death surged fiercely through Liu Shan's heart.
Suddenly, Liu Shan stumbled and fell to the ground.
He sat limply on the ground, staring at the boar about to charge into him, cold sweat pouring down his face.
"It's over. It's completely over."
Fear, regret, sorrow, and countless other emotions surged into his heart all at once.
Just as he thought he was about to be smashed to pieces, an arrow suddenly shot from behind him, flying straight toward the boar.
The boar seemed to sense the danger. It immediately braked and leaped to the side, dodging the arrow.
Zhao Youjia was furious when the boar dodged his arrow yet again.
He had clearly predicted the boar's direction, but it had still managed to evade him.
Seeing that he had been saved, Liu Shan burst into tears of joy.
He scrambled to his feet and ran toward where his brothers were.
When he reached Zhao Youjia, he threw his arms around him before he could say anything.
He sobbed, "Old Zhao, thank goodness you came. Otherwise, your brother here would've died out there."
"What about the others who were with you?" Lin Yuan asked.
Liu Shan steadied himself and answered honestly, "They ran in other directions. That boar was chasing all three of us, so we decided to split up."
While they were talking, the Han brothers and Xun Haotian also arrived from ahead.
Seeing that only Liu Shan was there, Xun Haotian anxiously asked, "Where's my sister?"
"Brother Tian, don't worry. Ruobing ran in another direction. The boar was chasing me, so she should be safe for now."
But Liu Shan's words did not reassure Xun Haotian.
Anything could happen within the boar's territory. If there could be one extra boar, there could just as easily be a second.
"No, I have to find my sister. Which direction did she run?"
The instant Xun Haotian finished speaking, a scream came from the north.
"That's Ruobing!"
A moment later, Xun Ruobing burst out of the woods, with a boar hot on her heels.
At the same time, Han Fei suddenly appeared from the south.
Another boar was chasing him as well.
When the two saw their companions gathered ahead, their exhausted bodies somehow squeezed out another bit of strength, and they sped up.
Almost simultaneously, Lin Yuan and Xun Haotian charged off in separate directions.
Seeing this, the two boars abruptly stopped and no longer continued their pursuit.
Animals instinctively sought advantages and avoided danger. If an unknown creature that wasn't afraid of them charged toward them, they would hesitate even if it appeared weak.
But if you ran the moment you saw them, they would show you no mercy.
"Ruobing, are you hurt?" Xun Haotian asked with concern.
Xun Ruobing gasped for breath, her face showing the relief of surviving a disaster. "No. I was just scratched by some branches a few times."
Over on the other side, Han Fei was equally shaken.
"A Yuan, thank goodness you came. Otherwise, I almost would've died out there."
"First, get back to the others."
Han Fei nodded.
At that moment, all eight of them gathered together again.
Although they felt somewhat safer, the situation was still extremely dire.
Three boars stared menacingly at them from the south, north, and west.
Judging by their builds, all three were at least a size larger than the first boar they had encountered. Han Housheng estimated that each weighed at least three hundred pounds.
"Snort—"
"Snort—"
"Snort—"
The three boars did not attack immediately. Instead, they raised their heads and let out loud cries.
Just as everyone was wondering what was happening,
an even louder cry suddenly rang out from the east, echoing throughout the mountain forest.
Everyone looked toward the sound. On the hillside, three boars had appeared at once, one of them the injured boar from earlier.
What shocked them even more was the enormous creature slowly walking behind the three boars.
The three boars moved aside, fully revealing the other boar.
It was at least twice the size of the surrounding boars. Its entire body was glossy black, as if covered in a layer of dark armor. A pair of sharp tusks jutted from the corners of its mouth, making their hearts tremble. There was a scar at the corner of its eye, beneath which a deep-red eye was fixed on the people below.
"Boar King!" Han Shusheng said, his voice trembling.
Seeing this, Han Housheng immediately understood as well.
"We fell into their trap. We were actually deceived by a group of boars."
"The boar we encountered earlier was bait. It deliberately lured us here."
"The moment we stepped into this valley, we had already fallen into their trap."
Liu Shan looked at the boars and swallowed. "These boars have become spirits."
Pigs had never been stupid animals. On the contrary, they were clever and knew how to cooperate as a group.
In the wild, hardly any species dared to provoke a herd of boars. Even tigers, known as the kings of the forest, had to avoid their edge.
"Brother Han, what do we do?" Xun Haotian asked anxiously.
Han Housheng was silent for a moment before saying in a low voice, "Everyone, leave it to fate. This is my fault. I was too careless."
His words were filled with pessimism.
"Uncle, don't say things like that. I still want to live."
Liu Shan pulled a long face. He had barely escaped one disaster, only to find himself trapped again.
"Uncle, you must have a way, right? Get us out of here. I'm still young. I don't want to die." Liu Shan stepped forward and grabbed Han Housheng's clothes, speaking almost pleadingly.
When Han Housheng continued to say nothing, Liu Shan simply collapsed onto the ground.
"If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have come. Why did I come looking for excitement? I'm only in my twenties. There's still so much I haven't enjoyed..."
Liu Shan kept muttering on the ground, while bitter expressions filled everyone's faces.
"Liu Shan, don't be like this," Zhao Youjia said.
"Don't fucking tell me not to be like this! You're the bastard who called me here!" Liu Shan roared.
Zhao Youjia was enraged by his words and kicked him.
"Damn it, Liu Shan! If I hadn't just saved you, you'd already be meeting King Yama."
"What good was saving me? We're still going to die."
Zhao Youjia was momentarily left speechless.
"Is there really not even the slightest hope?" Zhao Youjia turned to Han Housheng.
"Climb the trees." Han Housheng sighed and finally offered a plan.
"Will that work?"
"We'll delay them for as long as we can. Once one of you gets up there, call the police for help. There might still be a chance."
"But some of us can't climb trees," Xun Haotian said.
"Who can't climb?"
"Me." Liu Shan was the first to speak from the ground. Xun Ruobing and Zhao Youjia also shook their heads.
Upon hearing this, Han Housheng seemed to make a difficult decision.
"See those sturdier trees nearby?" Han Housheng pointed toward them. "Tree Sheng, you help Liu Shan. Haotian, you help your sister. Lin Yuan and Han Fei, help Zhao Youjia."
"When I give the order, run toward those trees and climb up as quickly as you can."
Everyone nodded.
"Brother, what about you?" Han Shusheng asked.
"I'll buy you time. Once those boars see us climbing the trees, they'll definitely attack. If I don't draw their attention, none of you will get away."
Han Shusheng immediately refused.
It was obvious that Han Housheng intended to trade his own life for everyone else's chance to survive.
With tears in his eyes, Han Shusheng said, "Brother, don't! At worst, we can leave them and run on our own. The two of us can definitely escape."
Hearing this, Han Housheng raised his hand and slapped him hard across the face.
"Did all the principles Grandfather taught us go straight into a dog's stomach?"
"Brother!"
"If anything happens to me, take care of Mom and Dad."
"All right, stop crying. Follow the plan when the time comes."
Han Housheng's actions unmistakably earned everyone's respect.
"Anything could happen next. Even with me drawing their attention, I can't guarantee your safety. So from this point on, use everything you have and climb those trees for your lives."
"As for whether you can hold out until people from outside come to rescue you, that will be up to fate."
Before you continue