Encountering a Herd of Wild Boars

The shade and breeze brought rare coolness in the summer.

Since he had traveled this stretch of road back and forth many times already, Zhou Ye was no longer quite so cautious. Or rather, he was fairly relaxed.

However, when he was about to reach the Old Camp, Zhou Ye rounded a cluster of low trees and casually glanced to the side. He froze, immediately stopping in his tracks.

To his front right, more than thirty paces away, a fat, sturdy wild boar raised its head. Perhaps the beast was equally surprised to encounter a human. Man and boar immediately locked eyes.

Zhou Ye did not dare make any rash moves and maintained the stalemate. According to wilderness survival experience, when encountering wild beasts, one must never show fear, much less turn around and run. It would be best if this boar left on its own.

Cautiously, Zhou Ye stared tensely at the boar's movements. Without a sound, he drew a throwing spear from his back and slowly shifted his feet backward.

It was clear that the boar was hesitating as well. It kept letting out low growls and making threatening gestures.

Zhou Ye slowed his pace and continued backing away. If he could widen the safe distance, he absolutely did not want to fight this boar.

But unexpectedly, perhaps he had failed to consult the almanac before leaving home. When Zhou Ye took another step back, he happened to step on a dead branch lying on the ground. With a crack, the sound of snapping wood suddenly rang out.

The sudden noise instantly provoked the boar. With an Oink!, it pawed at the ground with its front hooves, lowered its massive head, and charged at him like a battering ram.

Seeing the boar rush toward him at high speed, Zhou Ye hurled his throwing spear without hesitation. He had no time to see whether it hit. He took several steps around the large tree behind him, nimbly changing direction.

With a Boom!, the tree shook violently from the heavy impact, its leaves raining down like droplets.

Using the tree as cover, Zhou Ye had already brushed past the boar. He began running for his life toward the Little Camp.

As he passed the boar, Zhou Ye caught sight of the spear from the corner of his eye. It had hit. But the boar's hide was thick, and his strength was too weak, so it had not sunk in deeply. It was like a hedgehog's quill growing straight out of the boar's body?

Though he knew this was not the time, the boar's ridiculous appearance nearly made Zhou Ye burst out laughing.

However, its injury had clearly enraged the boar.

The boar turned around, its eyes bloodshot as it let out an angry howl. Then it charged after the back of that "little bug." Following that howl, the cries of other boars nearby rose and fell one after another.

Hearing boars howling everywhere, Zhou Ye ran even faster. He had nearly forgotten there was a herd of wild boars nearby. He absolutely could not fall into the encirclement of those beasts!

But as he ran, Zhou Ye began to find something strange.

To be honest, he had underestimated the speed granted by Agility +5 combined with Basic Movement Mastery. Though he could not shake off the herd, they could not close the distance either.

Unable to catch him despite seeing him right there, the boars grew even more frenzied. They had no intention of giving up and continued pursuing him relentlessly.

Fortunately, the Old Camp was not far away now.

When Zhou Ye was about to reach the Old Camp's entrance, he even had the leisure to glance back.

Seeing that the boars were still dozens of paces away, Zhou Ye opened the camp gate and slipped inside in a flash. He hurriedly shut it, braced it with the prepared wooden post beside it, and wedged the other end of the post into a small pit dug in the ground.

With a Bang!, a boar struck the gate squarely. Then came Bang! Bang! Bang! as a herd of boars rammed the gate one after another.

The gate shook violently. Zhou Ye moved swiftly, bracing it with one wooden post after another and hauling over all kinds of heavy objects to pile behind it.

In truth, the wooden posts alone were enough to brace the gate. The gate had become increasingly sturdy, and under the herd's impacts, it did not budge an inch.

Wiping away cold sweat, Zhou Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief. Because they had previously had plenty of manpower, the Old Camp was even sturdier than the Little Homestead. Even the surrounding fence was basically made from waist-thick wooden stakes, buried in two layers, front and back.

Therefore, after their ramming proved fruitless, several boars went around to the fence at the side. But after trying to ram it a few times, they could only slink away in defeat...

In the dark of night, Zhou Ye slept in the little boss's wooden cabin. From time to time, he heard boars howling outside, along with the sounds of Bang! Bang! collisions.

Zhou Ye boredly rolled over. Ram away if you want. You can't get in anyway. Let's see which of us brothers can hold out longer? Pah, pah! You beasts are pigs. I'm a man!

Amid his wild thoughts, Zhou Ye slept soundly. When he woke during the day and discovered that the herd of boars had vanished without a trace, he could not help bursting into laughter.

But after laughing, Zhou Ye remained cautious.

This had truly been a lesson for himself. He had known there was a herd of wild boars near the Little Camp, yet he had gradually let down his guard. If he had continued scouting as carefully as he had at the beginning, perhaps he would not have encountered such danger.

Since that was the case, perhaps the herd had not gone far. He would wait another day, at least until he felt more at ease.

Taking advantage of the boars' absence, Zhou Ye went to the small vegetable garden nearby and searched through it carefully.

Fortunately, he had guessed correctly. There were still some things he had missed before. In the end, he found half a sack of potatoes, weighing more than ten jin, along with several radishes and carrots.

After putting away the food, Zhou Ye found suitable wood in the camp and carved another dozen or so throwing spears. As for the rest of his free time, naturally, he worked himself to the bone...

However, when night came, Zhou Ye's face darkened. He actually heard boars howling again? Though the herd had given up their useless ramming, were they still wandering around the Old Camp?

Zhou Ye cursed inwardly. You've got to be kidding. Have these boars become spirits? They must be especially vindictive. They never left at all and have been lying in ambush nearby?

Zhou Ye sucked in a cold breath. This time, he had truly messed up. How was he supposed to leave now?

Especially since he did not have much food beside him. It would not last more than a few days at all.

After thinking it over, Zhou Ye finally came up with another idea. He immediately found more wood and once again bent his head to carving...

The next morning, Zhou Ye stood on high ground and looked out over the area around the camp. Sure enough, the herd of boars had "disappeared" together again. But who knew whether they were actually watching the camp's movements? The moment he left, he might face the herd's pursuit.

But one thing was certain: the boars were currently relatively far away. At the very least, if he stayed close to the Old Camp, he would not encounter danger.

After thinking it through, Zhou Ye jumped down from the high ground. He carried the things he had prepared to the gate, then removed the wooden posts bracing it and carefully opened the gate...