Chapter 33: The Wild Boar Must Die (Please Favorite, Monthly Votes)

[Wish Fulfilled: A satisfying hunt. Do mere wild boars dare to run rampant before a Grade-2 entity? (At first, the villagers of Changxi Town thought it was just a wild boar, but wild boars are not creatures that travel alone... they have infested the area.)]

"Xiadong Region... also has wild boars?" Sitting atop Laifu, Ansheng felt a wave of bewilderment as he considered what Old Chen had been pondering before bed.

Of course, it was not the existence of wild boars in the Xiadong Region that surprised Ansheng. Wild boars could be found all over the Xia Kingdom. What truly astonished him was that all the high mountain forests in Jule City were classified as economic crop zones, with the land reclaimed and equipped with large-scale irrigation systems.

The tea mountains here were not remote, uninhabited places; in fact, tea farmers were stationed at the foot of every mountain to keep watch. For something like a wild boar infestation to occur at Shangpo Mountain—or rather, Slim Dog Ravine—was truly baffling to Ansheng.

What kind of wild boar would be so bold as to run onto land that tea farmers relied on for their livelihood to cause such destruction? Weren't they afraid the tea farmers would get so desperate they’d dig out some homemade blunderbusses and blast them to kingdom come?

These were tea trees! They were perennial plants that required meticulous care for many years. If the mother tree used for producing tea won a grand prize at a tea competition, the branches used for cuttings and layering were not worth just a few coins. A single cutting could be worth hundreds or even thousands. If a wild boar were to trample those tea trees to death, the farmer who contracted Slim Dog Ravine would be absolutely livid.

It was no wonder Old Chen was still thinking about the tea fields at Slim Dog Ravine even as he tried to sleep.

Naturally, there were many ways to deal with wild boars. For instance, the specially approved hunter squads organized by the Public Security Bureau were dedicated to handling such matters. They would clear out fierce beasts that posed a danger to people. However, these hunter squads were not official organizations; they consisted of skilled local hunters and those retired from local service, essentially working on a part-time basis.

Usually, when locals spotted a fierce beast, they would report it to the Public Security Bureau and the Forestry Bureau. After a determination was made as to whether the animal was protected, they would decide whether to set traps or seal off the mountain to hunt it with firearms. Only after those steps were completed would they summon those experienced, lawless local outlaws to don official hunter gear and head into the mountains to go "jungling"... Yes, that was what Ansheng preferred to call it.

In his previous life, while trekking through the mountains, Ansheng had seen a local kill a black bear with a single arrow, piercing its heart. Although high-powered air rifles were no longer available, with the advent of compound bows, those local wild kings were much fiercer than before.

But Old Chen was the village chief of Changxi Town, and he had much more to consider. He would never summon those local wild kings unless absolutely necessary. Firstly, it was against regulations. Secondly, it was damn illegal! Those high-draw-weight compound bows, combined with arrows that could pierce straight through a wild boar, were all heavily modified. Following the official procedure and waiting to assemble the part-time hunters would take at least a week at the fastest.

"Heh... if it were any other beast, I might have to think about it," Ansheng thought. "But if it's a wild boar... it's finished! I said so!"

"Old Chen, how can you sleep? The wild boars are still running riot on the mountain! Get up and lead the way, you old fogey!"

Ansheng directed Laifu to run in front of the iron gate at Old Chen’s house, telling Laifu to unleash his "Water Hound Iron Tail."

*Clang, clang, clang!*

Laifu’s iron tail slammed against the gate, jolting Chen Fengshui, who had just fallen asleep, into a start. He wasn't overly panicked, though; he just grumbled, "Who is it?"

As a highly respected village chief, Old Chen occasionally dealt with couples fighting or families clashing, requiring him to step in as a mediator to stabilize the situation. Because of this, he was generally composed, even if a hint of helplessness lingered in his heart. His wife stepped out from another room to join him. At their age, their sleep quality had long since declined; they were light sleepers, easily awakened by a spouse turning over or snoring. For elderly people, sleeping in separate rooms was sometimes the better choice.

"Who is it?" Old Chen stepped out of the house. Not seeing an angry mob outside the iron gate, he approached the front door with slight confusion and peered through the fence.

"...Master Fuli? What are you doing at this hour?"

Seeing the little fox riding on a white Labrador, Old Chen unlocked the gate with a speechless expression, letting the Labrador and the other black-and-white sheepdog inside.

*Ying, ying, ying—*

Ansheng hopped off the dog, pointed at the two canines, looked at Old Chen’s wife, then pointed at himself, and finally pointed toward Shangpo Mountain.

Old Chen looked at Master Fuli, remained silent for a moment, and chose to pull out his phone. "Master Fuli... I’m just a mortal man. You’d better use your own golden paws for this!"

Old Chen could tell that Ansheng wanted to leave the two dogs at home and have him accompany it up the mountain for some unknown purpose. Having had the experience of dismantling a house with a fox, Old Chen was afraid Master Fuli was planning something illegal again.

[I heard from the village dogs that there are wild boars on the mountain. I’m worried about A-Qing’s tea fields.]

[The world is in shambles, and only this little fox is working hard to patch things up. Changxi Town would fall apart without me.]

[Give my two great generals some food and drink, then come with me up the mountain to slaughter those boars!]

Ansheng took the phone and, using his "Fox Zen," slowly tapped out a few lines of text before handing it back to Old Chen. After reading the entire message, Old Chen gasped, looking at Master Fuli with a face full of hesitation.

"Well... Master, I don't mean to question your authority, but there’s quite a significant difference in weight class between you and a wild boar. How about..."

Judging by the villagers' estimates, the wild boar in Slim Dog Ravine should weigh about two hundred pounds; it was no piglet. A two-hundred-pound wild boar, let alone a fox, would be hard for seven or eight grown men without firearms to handle.

Facing Old Chen’s skepticism, Ansheng didn't mind. He stood up on his hind legs and kicked Old Chen in the knee.

"Sss—" Old Chen jumped up, clutching his pained leg and gasping.

*Master Fuli... whether he can deal with the mountain pigs is one thing, but beating me up with one hand? That’s easy for him!* Old Chen cried with a dejected face, "Master Fuli, please, stop your sorcery! This old man will go with you, alright?"

*Ying, ying, ying—*

Ansheng showed an expression of "a child who can be taught," nodding at Old Chen to signal him to lead the way up the mountain.

*Hmph, hmph, hmph—*

Ansheng looked toward Shangpo Mountain with a cold sneer, unable to suppress a triumphant feeling in his heart. If it were any other beast, he might have been too lazy to run up and down for a mere 1 point of wish energy. But wild boars were different!

Ansheng hated them! Back when he worked in sales, his grievances were heavier than a ghost who had been dead for years. Once, while on a business trip to Jinling, he was shoved in the rear by a wild boar's snout on a bus. When he went to an exhibition in the port area, he was almost flattened by a charging wild boar in the subway. To this day, Ansheng couldn't understand why there were wild boars in such a modern, massive city. Did the locals love wild boars? Otherwise, why would they teach them how to take the bus or swipe a transit card?