Mutated Wild Boar

As the sun set behind the western hills, the sky gradually darkened, and stars began to fill the pitch-black night.

Shen Xiu concealed himself in a thicket near the medicinal field. By the bright moonlight, he kept his eyes on the field ahead, occasionally scanning the surroundings.

He was not alone. In the other two directions, two sturdy men from Li Family Manor were also hiding in the grass.

As time slowly passed, the night deepened, and a chill began to wrap around them.

Half an hour passed. Shen Xiu's body had grown somewhat stiff from remaining motionless for so long. Just as he thought the wild boar would not come today and they would return empty-handed—

A flickering flame suddenly rose from the south, swaying continuously in the night sky.

This was the signal sent by a man from Li Family Manor, using a torch to pass Shen Xiu a message without making a sound.

Seeing this, Shen Xiu quickly lightened his steps and crept in that direction.

When he arrived nearby, he saw a spot in the vast medicinal field where the thick, flourishing herbs were swaying strangely, as though something was moving within.

After crossing a stretch of ground, Shen Xiu finally saw the culprit ruining the medicinal field.

A huge, dark body was rolling amid herbs half a man tall. On either side of its enormous snout were two long, sharp tusks.

It looked exceptionally savage and ferocious, indeed much larger than an ordinary wild boar.

Shen Xiu focused and held his breath. His body lowered slightly, his feet gradually edging closer. His hand slowly settled on the hilt of his blade, gathering strength for a Thunderous Strike the next instant.

Yet the wild boar, which was feasting on the medicinal herbs, suddenly twitched its ears and stopped eating.

Its nose wriggled, and it abruptly raised its head toward Shen Xiu.

The next moment, the boar began scraping its hooves against the ground, rumbling from its throat as it assumed an attacking stance.

It had discovered him. This boar's nose was quite sharp.

Since he had already started, he might as well see it through. Shen Xiu drew his long blade and lunged forward, slashing at the wild boar in an instant.

But the boar was not willing to yield either. Its hooves flew as it charged madly toward Shen Xiu!

Clang!

The long blade carved an arc through the air. Amid flashing cold light, it grazed the great boar's scalp before striking its raised rump squarely.

The moment the blade landed, Shen Xiu sensed something was wrong. This huge boar's hide seemed far too hard; his strike felt as though it had hit leather.

It truly had mutated.

Still, beneath his tremendous strength, the strike tore open a bloody gash.

Riiip!

The great boar jerked, and a large spray of blood burst forth.

Stung by the pain, the great boar's eyes gradually reddened. After letting out a miserable cry, it charged at Shen Xiu again, its wounded backside still bearing the slash.

It truly was fiercely vigorous beyond compare.

Shen Xiu held his blade sideways to block, preparing to withstand the savage boar's charge. Yet halfway through its rush, the boar abruptly turned and ran in another direction.

It seemed to have decided Shen Xiu was not someone to provoke and immediately slipped away.

Faced with such a huge boar charging toward them, the two sturdy men were frightened pale and hurriedly moved aside. They could only watch helplessly as the great boar ran into the forest and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Though their first hunt had failed, Shen Xiu was not overly disappointed. Instead, he began thinking of ways to wait for a second hunt.

However, after encountering Shen Xiu and suffering that attack, the boar seemed to have grown wiser. For two consecutive days, it did not appear anywhere near the medicinal field.

And even when it did appear afterward, the moment it saw Shen Xiu show himself, it immediately turned back without lingering at all.

Such a slippery opponent left Shen Xiu with strength he had no idea where to use.

But a few days later, he came up with a method.

Shen Xiu found the man surnamed Li who had previously hunted the boar with him and explained his plan and the things he needed, bit by bit.

The more Shen Xiu spoke, the more the man first slapped his thigh in astonishment. Then, as he listened on, the look he gave Shen Xiu became increasingly strange.

"This method..."

"Can those things be prepared...?"

"Though it'll take some effort, it's not much of a problem. But we'll need to inform the steward first."

Not long afterward, the manager of Li Family Manor came over and listened to Shen Xiu's plan and the things that needed preparing.

He too looked at Shen Xiu with a rather strange expression, but still nodded to indicate that there was no problem.

Two evenings later.

Shen Xiu and several sturdy men from Li Family Manor once again hid near the medicinal field.

At that moment, in an open patch beside the field, a circle of the medicinal herbs the boar liked to eat had been piled up in the middle.

Beside the herbs, however, a snow-white sow was tied to a small tree.

The sow was snowy white, with a relatively slender body and a very delicate appearance.

"Do you think Brother Shen's method will really work?"

Watching the scene before them, one of the two sturdy men hiding on the other side asked his companion surnamed Li.

"Let's give it a try. They say even heroes cannot pass the beauty's gate. Could this beast possibly be any different? Still, it's incredible that brother could think of such a method. None of us thought of it before."

The man surnamed Li watched the scene in the medicinal field. He had no confidence in his heart and could only answer tentatively.

After all, they had neither tried nor seen such an operation before. Yet from the young man's explanation, it truly seemed quite likely to work.

Still, for such a young man to think of this method, he found it somewhat too strange. For a pig, it was truly sinister.

But he liked this tactic.

Night gradually descended. As the moon hung above the treetops, the chill in the air thickened.

A faint mist spread over the distant mountain peaks.

The people near the medicinal field all hid motionlessly in nearby thickets, watching the movement by the mountain's edge.

As time passed, a rustling sound suddenly drifted into everyone's ears on the wind.

They immediately looked in the direction of the sound.

At the edge of the dark layers of forest, a pitch-black figure appeared.

The instant the figure poked out its head, it remained quite vigilant, its eyes rolling as it surveyed the area around the medicinal field while its nose continuously sniffed at something.

Since they had discussed it beforehand, everyone on Shen Xiu's side remained perfectly still.

The boar was quite clever. It crept forward step by step, taking a few paces before stopping. After testing the area several times, it relaxed its guard and ran toward the pile of herbs they had prepared.

And as soon as it ran over, it spotted a snow-white sow tied by a rope to a small tree behind it.

The great boar's eyes immediately widened.

Yet the boar did not act. Instead, it swept its gaze around the area, then began feasting on the pile of herbs while keeping an eye on the white sow.

The sow also saw the strong, massive boar. With such a figure and such looks, he was like the handsome young man girls among humans longed for.

Unable to resist, she twisted her delicate body and edged toward him step by step. But the rope was too short, leaving her stranded halfway there.

How could a young and vigorous boar withstand such provocation?

Its huge eyes reddened. It gobbled down several mouthfuls of medicinal herbs, chewed a few times, then ran toward the white sow with a face full of excitement...