When he was little, wild boars had been common in the surrounding countryside. Chen Jue remembered that when he was six or seven, electric wire fences had been set up around all the fields in Chen Village specifically to keep these creatures from coming out and ruining the crops.
On several occasions, large wild boars electrocuted by the fences had even been dragged to the village entrance to be butchered and sold. The entire village had gathered to watch, leaving a deep impression on the young Chen Jue.
Back then, however, wild boars had been dangerous beasts that everyone wanted driven off or killed. As times changed, they had transformed into nationally protected Class II animals. Hunting them now would be against the law.
He had thought wild boars had all but vanished from the countryside these days. He never expected to come face-to-face with a whole family of live ones after so many years. It showed just how well the environment around Chen Village Reservoir had been preserved!
"Oh, crap! I didn't bring my phone. Otherwise, I could at least scare them off with the flash." Chen Jue stood still. His martial arts training had made him considerably braver than the average person.
Rather than screaming and turning to run at the sight of the wild boars, he met the lead boar's gaze.
Under the dim streetlight, Chen Jue could just make out a row of sagging teats along its belly. It appeared to be a sow.
"Hey, buddy, how about we make a deal? You go your way, and I'll go mine. Sound good?"
"Don't worry! I won't hurt you!" Chen Jue tossed out a few lighthearted remarks.
But the sow at the front clearly could not understand human speech. Perhaps she was anxious to protect her young, because she huffed at Chen Jue several times, then let out a piercing squeal. Soon afterward, she turned and led several piglets into the weeds beside the road.
Chen Jue thought that had settled things, only for the grass on his right to rustle suddenly. Another wild boar burst out, this one an even larger male.
The male clearly belonged to the family that had just fled. Hearing the sow's cries, he had apparently thought they were in danger. The moment he emerged from the grass, he charged straight at Chen Jue like a mad thing.
Startled, Chen Jue hurriedly employed the footwork of the Eight Immortals Stance and darted aside.
But the boar refused to give up. When his first charge failed to strike anyone, he wheeled around and lunged again with astonishing speed.
This time, Chen Jue had no room to dodge. His body tensed, every pore instinctively closed, and he raised his right foot to deliver a full-force kick.
Thud!
Chen Jue's all-out kick cracked like a long whip against the boar's flank, drawing a shrill, agonized squeal from him. His body, weighing over three hundred jin, flew toward the roadside like a giant ball. After the dull impact, he tumbled across the ground, rolling and bouncing four or five meters before finally coming to a stop.
Yet the creature was so tough-skinned that even being kicked that far seemed to have done little to him!
After huffing a few times on the ground, the boar limped to his feet. He raised his head and looked at Chen Jue, who had stayed back rather than pursuing him. The ferocity in the boar's eyes gave way to fear, as though he had encountered his natural nemesis. Instead of attacking again, he turned and plunged into the grass, fleeing the scene as fast as he could.
Seeing the boar run off, Chen Jue quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He realized that throughout those brief few dozen seconds, his heart had been pounding furiously. Clearly, the encounter had frightened him.
Although he had trained in martial arts and boxing, Chen Jue realized that he was still an ordinary person at heart. His body still had a normal stress response when faced with a dangerous beast; he was simply much calmer than most people.
I've been introverted and prone to nerves since I was little.
Looks like I still need to find opportunities to build up my courage and willpower!
As these thoughts ran through his mind, Chen Jue lowered his head to examine his right leg. He found that the kick had worn right through his trouser leg and scraped some skin underneath. Clearly, it had been caused by friction against the boar's stiff bristles.
He also went over to inspect where the boar had landed and found a few drops of dark red blood. His kick had probably inflicted internal injuries on the male.
Chen Jue had now fully mastered bright force, and both his physical condition and strength far exceeded those of an ordinary person. Kicking away a wild boar weighing over three hundred jin was naturally well within his capabilities.
But with its thick hide and protective coat of stiff bristles, the boar could withstand an extraordinary amount of punishment. Its ability to remain so resilient after taking a direct kick from Chen Jue showed just how formidable these wild beasts were.
"I hope you wise up, boar buddy. From now on, hide when you see people!"
Chen Jue walked around the area once. Only after confirming that the boar family had truly gone far away and would not come back out to hurt anyone did he leave with peace of mind.
After that commotion, Chen Jue no longer felt like continuing his training on the reservoir dam, so he simply headed straight down the mountain.
Once home, he changed his trousers, rinsed and disinfected the scrape on his calf, then sprayed some Yunnan Baiyao onto it.
His right hand had yet to heal completely, and tonight he had picked up another injury. Although it was only a scrape, with barely a little blood seeping out, Chen Jue silently resolved to make upgrading the Shaolin Body Conditioning Skill his first priority tomorrow.
With this hard-body skill, his ability to withstand blows and resist injury would improve considerably. When unexpected situations like this arose in the future, he would be less likely to suffer minor cuts and scrapes.
With that in mind, Chen Jue jumped onto the Solid Wood Square Table in the living room and began practicing the Eight Immortals Stance at home.
He had spent quite a few free attribute points upgrading the Twelve Forms of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic during the day, so he needed to earn them back through stance training. Besides, the injury to his leg was minor and would not interfere with his practice.
After two hours of training, he had earned 0.04 free attribute points. Only at nine that evening did Chen Jue stop, wipe the sweat from his body with hot water, and go to bed.
As usual, he watched an episode of Legend of Martial Arts before closing his eyes and going to sleep on schedule.
When he got up the next morning, Chen Jue found that his health index had recovered to 99%. The hairline fracture in his right hand had healed completely, with no trace of the dull ache remaining. Even the scrape on his right leg had healed overnight, leaving fresh skin behind.
"My constitution reached 1.91 without me even noticing!"
"This recovery ability is getting more and more ridiculous!" Removing his bandages, Chen Jue felt increasingly superhuman.
He loosened up his arms and legs, strapped on his weights, and headed up to the reservoir for his morning training as usual.
Keeping his pores closed, he practiced boxing and stance training for two and a half hours, bringing his accumulated free attribute points to 0.27. He then went down the mountain for breakfast and returned home to put the Ten-Ingredient Tonic Decoction on to simmer.
Chen Jue intended to upgrade the Shaolin Body Conditioning Skill that very day.
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