Chapter 31
During the day, the accumulated snow that the entire village had worked together to haul out was now being pushed back toward the outskirts of the village bit by bit by large wild boars, using a snowball-rolling method.
Massive snowballs nearly a meter in diameter were shoved and rammed down the slope, crashing into the village’s earthen wall.
More than sixty large wild boars were rolling snowballs across the snowfield with unrestrained glee.
The flat ground, over ten zhang wide, was quickly filled seven or eight tenths full by these huge snowballs.
Worse still, more than a dozen wild boars of varying sizes were approaching Blackstone Village from the cover of the night…
There were already over eighty wild boars.
And the number was still increasing.
Time crept past ten o’clock.
Outside the village, the snowfield had been built up to nearly a meter high. From the highest point of the earthen wall, there was only a one-meter gap left. The wild boars could charge straight over as if walking on flat ground.
The only problem for them was that the snow was still relatively loose. When wild boars weighing several hundred kilograms stepped on it, each foot sank into a deep pit.
The clever boars soon found a solution…
They chose to compact the snow with their bodies.
One large wild boar after another grew excited.
They were like roaring miniature steamrollers.
Once compacted, the snowfield was no different from ordinary ground.
Thus, the villagers of Blackstone Village watched as a group of large wild boars rolled and frolicked across the snow, drawing closer and closer to the earthen wall…
Although the snow surface sank by roughly thirty centimeters, everyone’s expressions turned extremely grim.
Including Zhao Heiniu. A heavy gloom filled his eyes.
The village had become even more dangerous.
“These beasts…”
“We can’t let them push the snow right up to the wall!”
Zhao Heiniu shouted loudly:
“Use arrows first to suppress them and delay for time. Everyone, conserve your arrows, control your firing rate, control your accuracy, and try to hit their faces, necks, and legs.”
With the captain’s permission to open fire, Su Wangchuan was instantly energized. He took fierce bites of wolf meat jerky, rapidly clearing his current Hunger, then nocked an iron arrow and aimed at a wild boar ten steps away.
WHOOSH!
The others, who had been holding back for a long time, began drawing their bows one after another.
The wild boars in the snow were clear targets. Their bodies were far larger than wolves’, making them easy to hit.
But…
Wild boar hides were rough, and their layers of fat were thick.
Beyond twenty steps, iron arrows had already lost their edge, only able to break the surface of the skin.
Within ten steps, they still carried some deterrent force, with solid momentum.
Yet even when an arrow pierced into a wild boar’s body, it caused only a very minor wound. To the boar, it was like being viciously bitten by a slightly larger insect.
Painful, but not fatal.
Even Zhao Heiniu only managed to hit a wild boar’s ear, shooting clean through it and drawing out a short, furious roar.
As for Su Wangchuan, his arrow struck the boar’s chest and was shaken loose immediately.
In the next instant, all the wild boars seemed to be enraged, erupting into restless, furious roars.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
More than eighty wild boars united in fury, accelerating their charge toward the earthen wall.
The momentum was terrifying.
The militiamen and hunters atop the wall turned pale, wishing they could turn and flee.
Fortunately, the snow near the earthen wall was extremely loose. When the wild boars charged over, every single one of them sank into the snow, struggling to pull their front legs free.
Su Wangchuan’s eyes lit up.
At this moment, most of the wild boars were facing the earthen wall, directly beneath the rain of arrows.
A perfect opportunity!
Without the slightest hesitation, Su Wangchuan drew his bow and fired.
WHOOSH!
Within ten steps, the nearest unlucky wild boar had its eye socket pierced straight through by an iron arrow. The shaft buried itself halfway in, drawing out a hysterical scream of pain.
“Shoot!”
“Shoot now!!”
Zhao Heiniu shouted as he drew his bow again.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
At this moment, the wild boars found it hard to withstand frontal, close-range firepower. One after another, they were struck by arrows.
Arrows to the face brought not only pain, but terror.
Su Wangchuan moved swiftly.
In the span of a single breath, he drew and fired three times in succession.
All three arrows hit.
Two arrows pierced through eye sockets.
One arrow drilled straight in through the mouth, followed by a fountain-like spray of blood across the snow.
The wild boars’ shrieks were filled with despair and rage.
Su Wangchuan summoned the Status Panel and glanced at it.
The progress of Archery had indeed increased.
Three highly lethal arrows directly raised his experience by three points:
Archery: 50/100.
The wild boar was not dead yet, and the experience had already increased. This meant its strength tier was above that of a wolf.
Su Wangchuan was instantly thrilled.
Such an opportunity was rare. He dismissed the Status Panel and began firing rapidly in succession.
Arrow after arrow flew, aimed specifically at the eyes and mouths of the wild boars trapped in the snow.
The wild boars wised up. They swung their massive heads to dodge the incoming arrows while struggling desperately to pull their legs free from the snow…
Several wild boars simply rolled in the snow and broke free.
Many arrows missed, or only sank in shallowly, causing superficial wounds.
Those uninjured wild boars seized the opportunity, snorting heavily as they rushed straight to the base of the earthen wall and slammed into it with full force.
Although the wall was not tall, only two meters high, it was extremely thick, wide enough for two people to stand side by side.
Several militiamen stabbed downward with all their strength. Their spears punched through the wild boars’ bodies, drawing out shrill squeals as blood splattered across the snow.
The snowfield held them back in front;
The earthen wall held them back behind.
More than forty wild boars had already been injured.
For the moment, the boars were unable to break through the wall.
Militiamen wielding spears worked together with the hunters’ arrows, turning the area outside the village into a scene of carnage.
Su Wangchuan ignored everything else.
At this moment, he focused solely on drawing his bow, sending arrows relentlessly into the wild boars’ most vulnerable points.
Several times, his arrows pierced into torsos or limbs, but the damage was negligible, and the experience value did not budge.
He immediately understood:
Only hits to relatively vital areas granted experience.
After emptying his first quiver, he did not pause for a moment before yanking over a second one…
Continue!
Su Wangchuan unleashed his full firepower.
Wild boar snouts;
Wild boar faces;
Wild boar eyes… mouths…
These arrows could injure, but not kill.
Only Captain Zhao Heiniu, once the wild boars closed within ten steps, switched to Armor-Piercing Arrows. Even hits to the torso bit deep into flesh.
As more and more wild boars were stirred into savage frenzy, they hurled themselves at the earthen wall without regard for their lives, slamming and leaping, shaking loose clods of earth and broken stones as the wall shed dirt and stone.
A militiaman stabbed down with a bloodstained spear with all his might. The moment it pierced the boar’s body, the force dragged him off balance, and he tumbled from the top of the wall.
“Old Liu!”
Amid cries of alarm, everyone rushed to try to save him.
But a wild boar charged in viciously, ramming the panicked militiaman Old Liu against the earthen wall as he struggled to get back up…
Its sharp tusks were like twin blades, piercing straight through Old Liu’s chest and slamming hard into the wall behind him.
Blood gushed from the wounds, pouring like a small waterfall, quickly dyeing the snow red and pooling into a large, spreading puddle.
“Old Liu!”
“Kill that beast!”
“Avenge Old Liu!!”
Several hunters’ eyes instantly turned red as they swarmed forward.
The man-killing wild boar immediately became the focus of all fire. Arrows covered its entire body, and its head was riddled like a honeycomb.