Cleverly Killing the Mountain Boar, a Full Meal

Li Bufan's heart sank like a stone. Had the worst-case scenario come to pass? Had some beast, drawn by the cave's scent while he was away, tried to claim his den?

He cautiously poked his head out, using the last dim rays of the setting sun and the snow's reflection to hold his breath and focus, peering toward the cave entrance a hundred meters away.

There, beside the rocks that served as a natural barrier at the mouth, a massive black shadow paced restlessly, rooting around! The figure stood nearly half a man's height, covered in thick, snow-flecked, mud-spattered brown-black bristles. Its limbs were thick as pillars, muscles knotted, and its huge hooves impatiently pawed at the snow and frozen earth, emitting heavy, grunting breaths. Puffs of white steam billowed into the cold air, forming distinct clouds that stood out starkly and eerily in the silent dusk.

A Mountain Boar! And judging by its size, far exceeding an ordinary wild pig, along with the exposed, upward-curving, gleaming white tusks, this was no common beast. It was likely on the verge of becoming a demon, a ferocious creature teetering on the threshold of a monster!

Such a beast had thick hide and tough flesh, tenacious vitality, and a terrifying charge when enraged. Even seasoned hunting parties would set traps and brace themselves, unwilling to provoke it head-on.

It seemed drawn by the lingering scent of food Li Bufan had left inside the cave yesterday—perhaps crumbs from last night's meal—or the residual smoke from his fire. It was trying to force its way in to find food or claim the place for itself.

Li Bufan's face grew grim, his brows tightly knit. This cave was his lifeline for survival and hunting in the frozen wilderness over the next half-month, providing crucial shelter. He could not let this brute occupy or destroy it.

But how to deal with it? A direct confrontation was no good. This beast's charge likely carried a thousand jin of force. His waist knife and bow would struggle to inflict fatal wounds through its thick hide and muscle, and might only enrage it into a frenzied counterattack—far too risky.

Li Bufan took a deep breath of the bitingly cold air, forcing himself to calm down. His mind raced, analyzing the terrain, the opponent, and his own strengths and weaknesses.

He carefully observed the terrain and the boar's state. The beast grew more agitated and furious at being unable to squeeze through the relatively narrow cave mouth, repeatedly slamming its bulky body and shoulders against the rocks with dull, terrifying thuds, shaking loose snow that pattered down. Its attention was completely fixed on the cave.

Got it!

Li Bufan's eyes sharpened. A risky but feasible plan crystallized in his mind. He unbuckled the leather bag holding his prey and the heavier pack, gently hiding them in a snowdrift beneath a tree. He kept only his longbow, quiver, and the blade at his waist.

Then, like a ghost, using the undulating terrain and cover of dead trees and shrubs, he began circling the clearing's edge toward a broken slope above and to the side of the cave.

He remembered that slope was higher, with several large, seemingly unstable boulders—perfect for his purpose.

His movements were extremely light and slow, each step planted firmly, using the howling wind and the boar's own noise to mask his trail. His Grand Completion of Skin Refining allowed precise control over his strength, and he made no unnecessary sound.

Finally, without incident, he reached the top of the slope silently, crouched low, and looked down. The boar was still venting its fury at the cave mouth, utterly unaware of the approaching danger.

Li Bufan slowly drew three Armor-piercing Arrows, planting two firmly in the snow within easy reach and nocking the third.

This time, he aimed not at the boar's hardest skull or thickest shoulder blade—where arrows might glance off or fail to penetrate—but at its relatively vulnerable side-rear belly, which would enrage it more easily!

He needed to provoke it first, guide it precisely to the predetermined spot, not fight for life and death immediately.

"Swish!"

The arrow tore through the air and struck true! Though much of its force was absorbed by the thick hide and muscle, it still sank several inches deep!

"Ooo-ROAR!"

The boar let out a pained, enraged bellow, deafeningly loud. It spun around, its tiny, bloodshot eyes instantly locking onto Li Bufan on the slope!

The sting in its belly, though not fatal, ignited its savagery and fury to the fullest!

"Huff!" It roared, nostrils blasting thick white steam, pawing the ground, sending up clumps of snow and dirt. Lowering its head, it bared those gut-ripping tusks, and like an out-of-control war chariot, charged at Li Bufan's slope with devastating momentum!

The very earth seemed to tremble beneath its hooves, the spectacle terrifying.

Li Bufan's heart pounded like a drum, blood racing, yet he was eerily calm. He stared fixedly at the charging boar, calculating distance, speed, and slope.

Just as the boar reached the base of the slope and began surging up the steep incline with brute force, he suddenly dropped his longbow, sidestepped, and with all his might, kicked viciously at the base of the large boulder he'd spotted earlier, half-embedded in the frozen gravel!

"Get down there!"

The power of Grand Completion of Skin Refining exploded. The frozen earth and gravel at the boulder's base cracked and shattered. The massive rock groaned, broke free, and tumbled down the steep slope with a roar, accelerating, kicking up a cascade of snow and debris!

The boar, head down and charging with reckless ferocity, never expected a boulder to fall from the sky. Caught off guard, it was struck squarely by the rolling rock! The impact hit its front shoulder and the side of its head!

"THUD!" A heavy, dull crunch, accompanied by the sickening sound of snapping bones!

The boar's wild charge came to an abrupt halt. It let out an even more piercing, agonized wail, tinged with disbelief. Its massive body, struck by the boulder's force, lost balance, tumbled sideways, and crashed heavily at the slope's base, kicking up a huge cloud of snow.

It struggled to rise, but its forelegs seemed broken, its head streaming blood. It could only thrash its hind legs futilely, letting out pained grunts.

Opportunity!

A fierce glint flashed in Li Bufan's eyes. Without hesitation, he grabbed the two remaining Armor-piercing Arrows, leaped down the slope from a gentler side, and sprinted to the boar's side as it writhed in agony, mostly incapacitated.

Calmly avoiding its wildly kicking, powerful hind hooves, he aimed for its bloodshot, unfocused eye socket—a vital point—and with all his strength and body weight, drove the two sharp arrows in one after the other, deep, all the way to the fletching!

"Ooo-woo—"

The boar let out a brief, despairing cry. Its massive frame convulsed violently a few times, then went completely limp in the snow. Blood gushed from its eye sockets, ears, mouth, and nose, quickly staining and melting a large patch of white into a shocking red pool.

Li Bufan panted heavily, releasing his grip on the arrow shafts with whitened fingers, his arms trembling slightly from exertion. Staring at the enormous, lifeless prey before him, a surge of elation filled his heart.

But now was no time to let his guard down. The sky was almost pitch black, the last faint light fading fast, the cold biting to the bone. The thick smell of blood, like a stone thrown into still water, sent ripples spreading rapidly through the dark forest, likely attracting uninvited guests at any moment.

"Must process this quickly!" Li Bufan suppressed his excitement, his eyes sharpening again with focus.

First, he hurried back to the dead tree where he'd hidden his pack, scanning his surroundings warily. Confirming no immediate danger, he quickly shouldered the leather bag and pack again. Then he returned to the boar's carcass.

Facing this behemoth, carrying it away whole was impossible. He could only take the best parts. Drawing his waist knife, using the faint light reflected off the snow, he began working against the clock.

His primary target was the pair of vicious tusks. With some effort, using the knife to pry and a rock to smash, he separated the two curved, bloodstained, iron-hard tusks from the jawbone. These were the most valuable part. He wrapped them carefully in thick cloth and stowed them deep in his pack.

Next, he tried to skin it. But the boar's hide was thick, with a heavy layer of fat beneath. In the dim light and under time pressure, peeling it whole was extremely difficult. He settled for cutting a large, relatively intact section of thick hide from the back, bristling with coarse hair. He hacked it off with difficulty, roughly wiped it with snow, rolled it up, and tied it.

Finally, the meat. He chopped off the two thickest hind legs, each weighing dozens of jin. Then he sliced several large strips of lean meat from the sturdy shoulder. Boar meat was gamey, but rich in blood and qi, a tonic for a Warrior—not to be wasted. He wrapped the meat carefully in several layers of oilcloth he carried, minimizing scent leakage.

As for the remaining massive skeleton and organs, he had neither the strength nor the means to deal with them. He had to leave them behind with regret.

All this took less than half an hour, but he was sweating again from exertion. Not daring to linger, he gathered as many valuable spoils as he could carry, holding the heavy meat in one hand and his knife in the other, alert. He walked quickly back to the tree where his pack lay, retrieved it, and headed for the cave mouth.

The area around the entrance was a mess, covered in signs of struggle and splattered blood. Li Bufan carefully checked the cave mouth, confirming the boar hadn't managed to break in, then crouched and slipped inside.

The familiar scent of earth mixed with the faint smoke from the earlier campfire hit him, now feeling incredibly reassuring. He stashed his heavy haul deep in the cave, but instead of resting first, he immediately moved the natural rocks near the entrance, blocking it as tightly as possible, leaving only a narrow gap for ventilation—to keep out the smell of blood outside and ward off any beasts that might follow the scent.

Only after sealing the entrance did he truly let out a sigh of relief, a wave of exhaustion crashing over him.

But the hunger in his belly was even fiercer. A full day of high-intensity hunting and life-or-death combat had burned through the meager dry rations he'd eaten that morning.

He carefully lit a small campfire in the lee of the entrance—the flames were hidden by the piled rocks, unlikely to leak out. The orange glow brought warmth and light once more, driving back some of the cave's chill and darkness.

He set his waterskin near the fire to warm, then eagerly pulled out a piece of Mountain Boar hind leg. The meat was deep red, streaked with white fat. He sliced it into thick pieces, sharpened a few branches into skewers, and roasted them over the fire.

Soon, a rich meaty aroma replaced the earlier stench of blood, filling the small cave. Fat dripped into the flames with a sizzle, mouthwateringly tempting. Even without salt or seasonings, this primal scent was an unmatched delicacy to his starving body.

The meat was charred on the outside, tender within. Li Bufan couldn't wait for it to cool, tearing into it with big bites. The texture was coarse and chewy, carrying a wild, gamey tang, but with every chew, he felt a faint but real warmth spread from his stomach through his limbs, slowly replenishing his spent strength.

"This really is something good!" Li Bufan's eyes lit up, and he ate with even more gusto. He washed down several large skewers of fragrant Mountain Boar meat with hot water, his belly full and his whole body warmed.

After the feast, exhaustion surged like a tide. But he forced himself to stay alert, sorting and organizing all his gains from the day: the Snow Fox pelt, the mountain chicken, the snow hare, and the most valuable—the Mountain Boar's tusks, hide, and meat. He stored them carefully in the driest corner of the cave.

Then, he double-checked the blockage at the entrance, added a few more slow-burning logs to the fire, and placed his waist knife within easy reach.

Outside, the wind howled louder, and faintly, he could hear distant, mournful wolf howls that sent chills down the spine.

But inside the cave, Li Bufan leaned against the cold stone wall, feeling the growing heat in his body from feasting on beast flesh, listening to the crackle of the fire, his heart filled with an unprecedented sense of security and satisfaction.

That day, he hadn't just survived—he'd reaped rich rewards. The path of martial arts was about fighting in danger and pushing forward through hardship.

He closed his eyes, but didn't fall asleep immediately. Instead, he replayed every detail of his battle with the Mountain Boar in his mind, summing up gains and losses. The [Heaven Rewards Diligence] fate glowed faintly, not only aiding his cultivation but also sharpening his insights from life-and-death struggles.

After a long while, lulled by the campfire's protection, he sank into a deep sleep, gathering strength for whatever greater challenges tomorrow might bring.