Chapter 109: Wild Boar
Yun Jiao: "Silly turtle, you need to hide better. Don’t let anyone else catch you."
She had just let it go. If someone else caught it and sold it for money, she’d feel like she’d really lost out.
Just as Yun Jiao was about to look for fish or other edibles in the river, a crisis befell Yun Xiaojiu on the bank.
"Wild boars! Wild boars are coming down from the mountain!"
Along with cries of alarm, a chaotic thudding of heavy footsteps approached. Something was running toward them.
"Hey, kid! Get out of the way! Move!"
Yun Xiaojiu turned his head to see several wild boars, large and small, charging right at him.
Even a half-grown boar would be enough to seriously injure a boy of his size, let alone a whole herd.
"Brother Nine, jump in the water!"
Yun Jiao surfaced just in time to see the terrifying scene. Her body shot through the water like the fastest of fish as she yelled for him to jump in.
Yun Xiaojiu’s mind went blank. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn’t obey.
Through the chaos, he managed to hear Yun Jiao’s voice. His body reacted on instinct, and he threw himself into the river.
The instant he hit the water, the boars plunged into the river right after him.
Grabbing Yun Xiaojiu, Yun Jiao unleashed a burst of speed reminiscent of her past life—back when she was hunted by massive fish in the sea, before she became an apex predator herself. She shot to the side like an arrow.
The hooves of the first boar to leap in just barely missed them.
A second later, and that hoof would have trampled Yun Xiaojiu, leaving him severely injured.
"Cough... cough... cough..."
Yun Jiao’s burst of speed had been so fast that Yun Xiaojiu’s face was distorted by the water pressure. He couldn’t hold his breath and ended up choking on several mouthfuls.
But at least they were out of danger.
Yun Jiao glared furiously at the herd of wild boars.
"Brother, get to shore."
With that, Yun Jiao dove beneath the surface.
"Sister! Sister, where are you going? Come back! Cough, cough..."
Yun Xiaojiu was frantic, coughing until his eyes turned red.
By now, Yun Jiao had already dove down, found a large, sharp rock, and was swimming toward the herd of boars.
Meanwhile, the people chasing the boars hadn’t given up.
"Quick, circle around from the other side!"
"Think of all the crops these bastards have ruined! We can’t let them get away!"
As they chased the boars, a group of people armed with knives, hoes, and other tools had gathered.
There were a lot of them, and in their eyes, the boars were now just walking piles of meat. There was no way they were letting them go.
So, those who could swim jumped into the water, chasing right behind the boars.
The weaker swimmers took a detour through the shallows to get to the other side.
As the strong swimmers struggled to keep up with the boars, they suddenly saw a rock break the surface of the water.
The men: ???
"What is that?"
That, of course, was Yun Jiao.
Yun Jiao was the type to hold a grudge. She targeted the large boar that had nearly trampled her brother. Moving with agile stealth through the water, she closed in at lightning speed, raised the rock in her hands, and brought it crashing down on the animal’s head.
She struck with immense force.
The boar squealed in pain and began to struggle violently.
Yun Jiao surfaced, grabbed its tusks, and forced the roughly two-hundred-pound boar down into the water.
The men following behind were stunned. One of them even forgot how to swim and swallowed several mouthfuls of water.
"Holy shit, what the hell is that thing?"
"A... a Water Ghost?"
The boar, forced underwater by Yun Jiao, struggled for its life, but it was no match for her in the river.
With one hand, Yun Jiao dragged it deeper, while with the other, she balled her small fist and went BAM! BAM! BAM! against its eyes and head.
On land, a wild boar is like a walking tank—tough-hided and with immense charging power.
But in the water, its fighting ability was severely diminished.
Still, for any normal person, holding a two-hundred-pound boar underwater would be impossible.
"What are you all gawking at? Go after the other boars!"
Whether that thing was a Water Ghost or not, it wasn’t going to get in the way of their meal!
By the time the men had chased the other boars to the bank and started fighting them, a half-dead boar floated to the surface of the water.
Yun Jiao grabbed the boar by its one remaining tusk and swam toward the bank.
The other tusk, of course, had been snapped clean off during the struggle.
"Jiaojiao!"
Yun Xiaojiu swam over, his eyes red from crying with worry.
"How could you be so reckless?"
When he saw Yun Jiao force that boar underwater, Yun Xiaojiu had nearly died of fright.
Yun Jiao gave him a smile.
But with her face and body spattered with blood, the smile looked rather ghastly.
Yun Xiaojiu started crying again, but even through his tears, he didn’t forget to check Yun Jiao for injuries.
"Why is there so much blood? Where are you hurt? Let me see! *Sob...*"
"I’m such an idiot. Why am I so useless? I even made my little sister save me."
"*Sob...* Jiaojiao, you have to be okay."
Yun Jiao: "..."
"I’m fine, Brother Nine. It’s the boar’s blood."
"Are you sure? Let me see."
Yun Xiaojiu circled Yun Jiao, checking her arms, legs, stomach, and back.
Once he was sure she was unharmed, he pulled her into a tight hug.
His body was trembling slightly. "You scared me to death."
Thinking of how his sister had just saved him, Yun Xiaojiu secretly swore an oath. ’From now on, I’ll give my sister all the best things.’
Cheers erupted from the opposite bank.
They had killed three adult boars and captured two piglets. One large boar and three small ones had escaped.
But it was more than enough to make them happy.
Once the excitement died down, they started heading back with the boars.
It was then that Yun Linhai, Uncle Shen, and the others arrived at the riverbank.
The commotion had been huge, and upon hearing the news, Yun Linhai and the others had rushed over, worried about the children.
As they arrived, they ran right into the group of people returning with the wild boars.
From the smiles on their faces, it was clear they’d had a good hunt.
These boars were their spoils, and they wouldn’t even have to share them with the whole village or the entire production brigade.
These boars would be divided only among those who had participated in the hunt.
"They’re really wild boars! Where did you find them?"
"In the cornfield. The bastards ate a ton of it."
"With this much meat, you’ll all get a hefty share."
Those who had arrived late were both envious and annoyed. If they had heard the news sooner and rushed over, they might have gotten a piece of the pie.
"Jiaojiao! Little Nine!"
Yun Linhai and Shen Yunlian spotted Yun Jiao and Yun Xiaojiu. The others followed their gaze and were left stunned.
"I’m not seeing things, am I? That lying over there... it looks like a wild boar."
"I think it is!"
Everyone was curious—especially since a wild boar was involved—so the crowd followed behind Yun Linhai’s group.
"It really is a wild boar! Who killed it?!"