Chapter 31: Ambush! Wild Boar King! A Three‑Hundred‑Jin Black Fiend Charges the Death Gorge!

A shiver rose in Lu Qingshan's heart.

He swiftly gestured a ready signal to Zhao Tiezhu and Liu Fugui perched in the tree.

His gaze was sharp as a blade.

A moment later, heavy footsteps and the huffing of soil being displaced echoed through the forest.

A massive adult male Wild Boar, its tusks snarling, its body cloaked in steel‑needle‑like black bristles, was the first to push aside the blocking brush and appear at the gorge entrance!

A ferocious glint flickered in its small eyes.

It twitched its nose warily, sniffing the faintly unusual scent in the air.

It paused briefly, as if sensing danger.

Immediately after, five slightly smaller sows and half‑grown piglets followed, snorting and squeaking.

Six in total!

They seemed even more reckless, bowing their heads in the snow, rooting for grass roots and bark, completely unaware that death's shadow had already fallen.

The Wild Boar herd was fully exposed before the ambush circle!

Lu Qingshan's heart leapt to his throat in an instant.

Adrenaline surged, yet his face remained unchanged.

He slowly raised the slingshot in his hand.

The cold steel bead snapped onto the leather pouch like a viper's fang.

He steadied his aim at the obvious leader, a male Wild Boar weighing roughly three hundred jin—the Wild Boar King!

Now!

"Act!"

Lu Qingshan let out a restrained yet powerful low shout, shattering the forest's silence!

His slingshot was already primed for release!

"Swoosh!"

A cold steel bead, bearing a razor‑sharp whine that tore the air, arrived before its sound!

It flew with pinpoint accuracy toward the male Wild Boar's small eye flashing with ferocity!

"Aaa—!"

The male Wild Boar was caught off guard!

Its eyes are among the most vulnerable parts of its body!

The steel bead hammered hard against its orbital bone!

Intense pain surged instantly!

Its thick eyelids absorbed most of the impact, preventing outright blindness, yet the searing pain made it erupt in fury instantly!

It jerked its head up, emitting a ferocious roar that shook the leaves loose.

The struck eye instantly flushed blood, turning bright red!

It fixed its gaze on Lu Qingshan at the gorge entrance, regarding him as a tiny being daring to provoke!

"Hmph! Hmph!"

The fully enraged male Wild Boar lost all Rationality!

It made no attempt to consider whether traps lay ahead.

Its sturdy four hooves dug into the ground violently, splashing a spray of mud and snow!

Its nearly three‑hundred‑jin massive body was like an uncontrolled black iron weight!

Carrying a strong scent of blood and earth, it brandished its gigantic tusks and thundered toward Lu Qingshan!

Unstoppable!

A sow behind and four half‑grown Wild Boars were also frightened by the leader's rage and roar.

As if receiving a charge order, they blindly followed the leader, rushing headlong into the narrow gorge!

"Here it comes! It's in the trap!"

Lu Qingshan let out a loud shout in his heart.

Instead of retreating, he raised the slingshot again.

Another steel bead flew toward the male Wild Boar's face, to draw its hatred!

Simultaneously, his feet moved as nimbly as a civet, using the trees for cover, darting sharply to his rear‑side.

He completely lured the entire Wild Boar herd into the trap's core area!

The leading male Wild Boar surged forward at astonishing speed.

In the blink of an eye it barreled into the first snare Zhao Tiezhu had set.

"Thump!"

It paid no heed to the sturdy vines, half‑buried by snow and blended with the surroundings.

Its front hoof was instantly caught tight!

The massive inertia caused its huge body to lose balance.

It let out a startled, angry snarl and crashed forward, falling down!

The few Wild Boars following behind could not recover in time.

They rolled like gourds, colliding with the leader ahead, or likewise becoming entangled in subsequent snares!

"Aaa!"

"Eek!"

"Hmph!"

In an instant, the narrow gully descended into utter chaos!

Pigs on their backs, pigs flipping!

The wild boars' roars, the anguished cries of those tripped, and the panicked grunts blended into a single cacophony!

The strong smell of blood and the piercing stench instantly spread everywhere!

The entire wild boar herd's charging formation collapsed instantly, plunging into utter chaos!

"Tiezhu! Up! Get them!"

Lu Qingshan seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and roared hoarsely.

"Ha!"

Zhao Tiezhu had been waiting for a long time!

His eyes widened, veins bulged, he let out a furious roar, like a mountain god descending!

He swung the heavy elm-wood staff in his hand, infused with all his strength.

With a howling evil wind, he fiercely smashed the back of the head of a half-grown wild boar that had been tripped and was struggling to get up.

"Boom!"

A dull thud that made teeth ache and bones feel like they'd crack!

Like a heavy hammer smashing rotten wood!

That wild boar couldn't even utter a second cry before its head collapsed inward.

Blood mixed with white brain matter spurted out.

Its limbs twitched twice, then it fell completely still.

Zhao Tiezhu didn't pause, turning to charge at another sow whose hind legs were tightly entangled by vines, wildly roaring and struggling.

The hunting fork in his hand was like a venomous snake's fang thrusting out of the darkness!

"Pfft!"

A muffled sound, it pierced precisely into the sow's relatively soft side of the neck with great force!

The sharp prong went in and came out again!

It made three bloody holes!

"Pff—!"

Scalding blood gushed out like an opened faucet, drenching Zhao Tiezhu from head to toe!

The sow emitted a shrill wail, its struggling strength rapidly fading.

Liu Fugui up in the tree also finally found an excellent opportunity!

He clenched his teeth tightly, suppressing the fear and nausea in his heart.

His slingshot fired like a machine gun, shot after shot!

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Remembering Lu Qingshan's order, he aimed the stones specifically at the struggling wild boars' eyes, ear bases, noses and other vulnerable spots!

Although he couldn't kill with a single blow like Tiezhu, each hit caused intense pain and disruption.

This made the already chaotic wild boars even more frenzied and disoriented!

"Whoo!"

A boar was struck hard in the ear by a stone, the pain making it wildly shake its head and spin in place.

Instead, it slammed into the nearby earthen slope, leaving it dazed and temporarily harmless.

However, the leading wild boar king was the most ferocious!

Although it was tripped by the first snare, it relied on its bronze-skin, iron-bone-like defense and terrifying brute strength.

It rolled on the ground, roaring, and actually broke two vines as thick as a baby's arm with its tusks and forehooves!

It shook its massive head!

Its swollen eye was filled with bloodshot veins and mad hatred!

It locked its gaze firmly onto Zhao Tiezhu, who was fiercely pounding another boar with his staff!

It let out a low growl like distant thunder.

Its massive body surged forward again, like a cannonball leaving the barrel, charging straight at Zhao Tiezhu's back!

Its gleaming, icy-cold sharp tusks were aimed at Zhao Tiezhu's waist and ribs!

If this blow landed true, Zhao Tiezhu might not die, but he would certainly be ripped open on the spot!

"Tiezhu! Watch your back!!"

Lu Qingshan's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpricks!

His heart skipped a beat, and he shouted loudly!

At the same time, he pulled his slingshot to full again!

The steel pellet carried all his strength and the precise foreknowledge granted by Mountain Wild Heart!

He slammed it hard toward the other eye of the boar on its charge path!

"Whoosh!"

"Whoa!"

The steel pellet struck the eye socket precisely again!

Although it still didn't blind it, the intense pain caused the boar's charge to veer sharply!

Zhao Tiezhu also felt the deadly foul wind reeking of strong blood and stench behind him!

Although he was honest and simple, years of scrambling in the mountains had etched life-and-death reflexes into his bones!

Upon hearing Lu Qingshan's warning, he didn't even turn his head!

With a roar, he not only didn't panic and retreat, but instead he thrust the heavy pole in his hand hard into the frozen ground before him!

Using that recoil, his whole body, like an agile fat bear, rolled hard to the side!

Rip—!

The Wild Boar's razor-sharp tusks scraped almost against Zhao Tiezhu's back!

His thin cotton jacket was instantly torn open with a huge rip!

Grey-black cotton fluff flew out everywhere!

The freezing air instantly touched his skin, instantly chilling him, raising gooseflesh all over!

The wind kicked up by the tusks' slash made his back sting!

If he had been slower by even a tenth of a second, he would now be lying on the ground with his intestines ripped out!