Into the Mountains After the Rain

When he got home, lunch was on the table. "We're going to work in the vegetable patch this afternoon. Don't go running around," Mom said.

"I'm going into the mountains. I'll check the orchard first, then see how things are farther in." Ye Huan didn't agree.

"It's only just stopped raining. The mountains are dangerous," Dad said.

"It's fine. I'll take Disco and Saihu along, just to check things out." Ye Huan shoveled rice into his mouth. Disco and Saihu, too, swept through their food like a gale scattering clouds, polishing off a basin of rice mixed with meat.

"Be good, Jingjing. Stay home and watch TV with Great-Grandpa."

"Okaaay~"

Ye Huan changed into camouflage clothes, put on high leather boots, and secured his leg wraps. Grandpa personally helped him put on his hat and reminded him to be careful.

Ye Huan tucked two daggers beside his leather boots. They were ones Grandpa had used before. Carrying that specially made, enormous machete, with a water bottle and backpack on his back as cover, he set out with the wild wolf Disco and Saihu following him.

Although Xiaobai had grown a little inside the space, it still wasn't ready to enter the mountains under these conditions. Ye Huan left it at home to play with Jingjing.

As soon as they entered the mountain behind the house, Ye Huan put the unnecessary gear into his space. Then the man, wolf, and dog sped through the mountain forest, and Lu Huan let his speed loose completely.

He hadn't expected that once he cut loose, Disco and Saihu would actually lose him. This speed was far too fast, especially considering he was in a forest.

He stopped and waited a while. When Disco and Saihu arrived, they looked at him as though he were a beast.

Ye Huan wanted to test his abilities after reaching level five. Spotting a branch roughly two meters above the ground, he gathered his breath and pushed off with both feet. Then, before his own disbelieving eyes, he leaped onto the branch.

He stood on the branch in a daze. "Holy shit, am I this badass now? I've only just gotten started with the Lightness Skill, and I can already do this?"

He was dumbfounded himself.

After finally accepting that he had become stronger, he jumped down from the branch and continued onward with the wolf and dog. He didn't run this time. They were no longer in the outer mountain area, so he began scanning his surroundings, pulling up any unfamiliar saplings and the like he spotted and tossing them into his space.

He gathered as he walked, including fungi. Those were plants too. Whatever-he would toss them all into his space first and plant one of each variety later.

Ye Huan was all too familiar with that grunting sound. "Disco, get ready. Wild boars!"

He stopped looking for plants, drew his machete, and moved toward the sound. The wild wolf Disco went into hunting mode, and Saihu followed it as they slowly approached.

Ye Huan jumped into a large tree and spotted a pool of water. An enormous wild boar with two unnerving great tusks was rolling in the mud with another boar a full size smaller and three tiny piglets.

Perhaps it had heard something, or perhaps it was a boar's sixth sense. The enormous boar, which Ye Huan estimated weighed over 350 kilograms, suddenly stopped rolling, got up, and took a charging stance toward the wild wolf.

The wild wolf was an old professional too. Taking in the situation, it knew the boar had spotted it, so it stopped sneaking and swaggered out of the woods with Saihu, coming to the edge of the pool.

They were roughly 200 meters apart. Ye Huan stood in the tree, waiting to see how things developed. He knew that if a real fight broke out, the wild wolf and Saihu would be no match for this fellow. It was too big.

If he hadn't leveled up and tested his strength, he wouldn't have dared come over either. At the sight of this fellow, he would have had to turn tail and run.

A huge wild boar of this caliber was a vicious brute that dared clash head-on with wild bears and tigers. Ordinary people really wouldn't dare provoke it.

Seeing the whole family enjoying themselves, Ye Huan had originally intended for everyone to bid each other farewell and go their separate ways. Unexpectedly, this fellow suddenly launched a death charge at the wild wolf and Saihu.

Perhaps it thought those two were no match for it, or perhaps it wanted to display its macho prowess before the sow. In any case, it charged.

Saihu and Disco began running circles around the pool. The boar was too massive to match Disco and Saihu in agility. When its charge ended, it discovered that its enemies had vanished. Turning around, it found Disco and Saihu on the opposite side, staring back at it across its family.

The wild wolf Disco was quite feral itself. Unhappy about being chased for no reason, it launched a charge of its own toward the piglets. The sow squealed as she protected her young, and the big fellow grew frantic too.

Grunting, it charged at the wild wolf again. Disco teasingly swatted the sow on the head with one paw, then turned and began running circles again.

The huge boar stopped when it reached its family. It had figured things out: it couldn't catch these two, and its three little piglets were its weak spot. So, with a few grunts, it gave in.

Just as it was about to leave with its family, Ye Huan sprang over from the tree. "Leaving just like that? Aren't you going to apologize?" He pointed the enormous machete in his hand at the huge boar.

The Beast Taming Skill let the huge boar roughly, perhaps, possibly understand what he meant. It grunted, and Ye Huan understood. It meant, "None of you got hurt. Don't swindle a pig."

"I don't care. You tried to kill my pets twice. You have to pay up..." Ye Huan said, holding back his laughter.

"Grunt, grunt..." The huge boar wished it could ram this two-legged fellow to death, but it wasn't stupid. It sensed danger. Relying on that strange sixth sense of its, this fellow had escaped death many times.

"All right, I'll go see what it is. If it's valuable, we'll call it even. If it isn't anything good, hmph, I don't mind lighting a fire and setting up a pot to stew some pork," Ye Huan said with a smile.

"Grunt, grunt." The huge boar was utterly helpless too. If it weren't for that strange feeling, just see whether I'd gore you or not. Come on, I'll take you to see the treasure.

Ye Huan smiled as he followed the huge boar. The wild wolf Disco and Saihu gave their owner strange looks, then followed along.

They arrived near a valley, probably the boars' home. There were many pools inside, all filled by this downpour.

The boar didn't go in. Instead, it led Ye Huan straight to a sheltered spot nearby, then grunted and rooted around. To his delighted surprise, Ye Huan discovered a few leaves.

"Haha~ Good, we're even. We'll let today's incident go." He immediately went over and touched the leaves with his fingers, smiling with great delight.

The huge boar grunted twice. Ye Huan waved his hand. "All right, we're friends from now on. I'll accept this gift. You offered it to me as compensation of your own accord, you know."

Only then did the huge boar leave with its family. Hmph, this good stuff-I should have eaten it earlier. Now it's gone.

Ye Huan was all too familiar with these leaves. As a child, he had followed Grandpa around and watched him dig them up. Later, after returning home himself, he had dug up quite a few too. Even now, his space held plenty that were a few years old or over a decade old.