PCJ – Chapter 133 Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road

Zhang Jiaohua continued to slowly and carefully clear the soil around the wild ginseng. The reason he was so slow was not because he was overly bold, but because he was worried about damaging the wild ginseng. Although wild ginseng is not a particularly delicate plant, it has many fine roots that can easily be damaged, affecting its medicinal properties. After finally finding a wild ginseng, Zhang Jiaohua naturally didn’t want to damage it in any way. As for why he didn’t temporarily give up on this wild ginseng and come back to dig it up later, the reason was simple. The soil here had already been disturbed, and although it might not attract people, animals are also curious about such disturbed soil. If some animal ate the wild ginseng, Zhang Jiaohua would be too late to cry.

But the creature crashing through the underbrush was not so polite as to wait until Zhang Jiaohua finished digging up the wild ginseng before causing trouble. It was moving extremely fast, closing the distance from several dozen meters away to just ten meters in the blink of an eye. Zhang Jiaohua could even hear its heavy breathing.

“Woof, woof, woof…” Zuan Shanbao rushed forward without hesitation. It wasn’t foolish and knew that its not yet fully grown body wouldn’t be able to stop the menacing intruder. Even when fully grown, it wouldn’t be able to stop it.

Shanbao’s barking finally slowed the charging creature slightly. Shanbao rushed into the underbrush, fearlessly blocking the creature. The creature turned out to be a massive wild boar. Shanbao looked up and thought, “Oh my, it’s an old acquaintance, no, an old pig.” It was the same wild boar they had encountered before in the mountains with Zhang Jiaohua. Last time, it had almost cost both their lives. Of course, Zhang Jiaohua had also nearly trapped the wild boar last time. What a small world!

Jin Hu and the others didn’t dare to get too close to the wild boar because its vitality was too strong. Getting too close would harm them. Unless they had been cultivating in the spirit realm for decades and their spirits had condensed into ghost soldiers, they wouldn’t be able to withstand such strong vitality.

The old boar stopped, looked closely, and saw that the creature blocking its path was just a small one. But why did it look so familiar? Shanbao was now twice the size it was when it last encountered the boar. The boar’s nose wasn’t that sensitive, and its eyesight wasn’t great. Regardless of whether Shanbao was bigger or smaller, it was still small in the boar’s eyes. But the boar recognized Shanbao’s voice. It had found this place by following the familiar sound of Shanbao’s bark.

“Roar!” The wild boar charged at Shanbao, but Shanbao was much quicker and more agile, easily dodging the charge. As the boar passed by, Shanbao leapt up and bit the boar’s tail.

“Yow!”

The boar’s tail was almost bitten off by the sharp-toothed leopard, causing it to squeal in pain. The boar thrashed its tail, but Shanbao had already let go, leaving the boar to swipe at empty air. The boar was completely enraged. It turned and charged at Shanbao again, but Shanbao moved like a spirit through the underbrush. The boar’s large size made it difficult to navigate the dense undergrowth. Although it could ignore the bushes, it couldn’t ignore the resistance they caused.

Shanbao skillfully avoided the boar’s attacks, occasionally darting in to bite the boar, not to injure it but to keep it in a state of rage. The boar became completely berserk. It couldn’t catch Shanbao, which seemed to be everywhere and always found the most painful spots to bite. First, it bit the tail, then it bit the ear…

The distraction gave Zhang Jiaohua ample time to dig out the wild ginseng completely. The ginseng was in excellent condition, with almost every root intact. Zhang Jiaohua happily wrapped it in a newspaper he had prepared and placed it at the bottom of his bamboo basket, carefully covering it with other herbs. He then turned his attention to Shanbao.

Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t worried about Shanbao getting hurt. He had already realized that the intruder was a wild boar. A green wolf wouldn’t make such heavy breathing sounds. He just didn’t know it was the same wild boar that had chased him all over the mountain last time.

Zhang Jiaohua took off his bamboo basket and handed it to Gouwa and Xiaosuan to hold. To others, it looked like Zhang Jiaohua’s bamboo basket had flown into the air by itself.

Without the burden of the basket, Zhang Jiaohua felt light and quickly walked towards the source of the boar’s roars and Shanbao’s barking.

From a distance, he saw the large figure and was startled. It seemed he had a destiny with wild boars, encountering them twice and both times it was this big boar.

Zhang Jiaohua whistled, signaling to Shanbao that the task was done and it could retreat.

Shanbao understood, dodging another of the boar’s charges and biting its tail again, reigniting the boar’s rage.

“Yow…”

Zhang Jiaohua winced at the sight, feeling sorry for the boar. Shanbao’s bites were brutal, and he could see the boar’s tail was already torn and almost severed.

After biting the boar, Shanbao swiftly disappeared into a dense thicket. The boar charged after it but soon found itself unable to move forward. The thicket was made up of densely grown wild tea trees, as thick as a child’s arm, forming an impenetrable barrier that blocked the boar’s path.

“Roar!”

The boar went mad with rage, having taken such a beating only to have its enemy escape without a trace. It drove it wild with frustration.

Zhang Jiaohua quickly ran towards the way out of the mountain, not worried about losing Shanbao. Jin Hu and the others quickly followed.

Sure enough, Zhang Jiaohua hadn’t gone far when Shanbao caught up.

To Zhang Jiaohua’s surprise, the boar had found another way and was chasing them from behind.

“How can a pig have a nose as sensitive as a dog’s?” Zhang Jiaohua couldn’t help but complain inwardly.

But it wasn’t the boar’s fault. After suffering losses here last time and being mocked again, the boar had pursued them without hesitation.

Now running on an obstacle-free path, the boar’s speed picked up, making it impossible for Zhang Jiaohua to outrun it even if it couldn’t catch Shanbao.

“Damn!” Zhang Jiaohua frowned as he heard the boar’s heavy breathing getting closer.