Chapter 21 Entering the Mountains (1)
Li Xiaoxiao quickly arrived at the foot of Qifeng Mountain.
Because everyone in the village was busy working in the fields, there was no one at the foot of the mountain.
That suited her perfectly.
She grabbed her machete and headed into the mountains.
At the foot of the mountain, there was a path worn out by villagers who gathered firewood and herbs. She walked along the path and soon reached its end.
Ahead lay the deep mountains, a place she had been repeatedly warned not to venture any further.
But she didn't stop. Since there was no road, she used a machete to cut a path through it.
Actually, saying she was chopping wood was just a pretext; she came here to hunt.
To unlock the necklace, she needs superpowers; to restore them, she must absorb enough energy, but ordinary food cannot provide enough.
But animal blood is acceptable.
This was because she had just transmigrated to this world; her body was broken, her supernatural abilities were almost gone, and she could barely stand. She was penniless and starving, and thought she would die in the flood and torrential rain.
She vividly remembers barely managing to get ashore when a wild boar crashed into her field of vision.
Amidst the patter of rain, her teeth pierced the wild boar's throat, and warm blood flowed into her throat, gradually calming her racing heartbeat.
Later she learned that animal flesh and blood could provide her with energy, but cooked food was far less effective than live food.
But in this world, eating raw meat and drinking blood is not allowed; one would be considered an outcast. Moreover, she drinks blood to survive, and she doesn't want to attract attention.
But she had to do it to open the necklace; the deep mountains were the best cover.
Li Xiaoxiao carefully observed her surroundings and searched for a long time before finally discovering the animal's droppings.
She squatted down to examine it closely; the droppings varied in size, indicating that it must be a litter of wild boars.
She followed the feces all the way, and after walking for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, she finally heard the pig's grunting.
She hid behind a big tree and cautiously peeked out.
It was a black sow, followed by seven or eight wild boar piglets foraging for food. Each piglet weighed only three or four pounds and was probably less than a month old.
She hid behind the tree, motionless, while the piglets grunted and squeaked as they foraged for grass around their mother. One of them gradually moved toward her.
The sound of tiny feet crunching on the grass grew closer and closer. She slowed her breathing, and sure enough, a little black pig rooted its way up to her. Seeing the enormous creature before it, the pig even looked up at her curiously.
Li Xiaoxiao moved with lightning speed, quickly pinching the pig's jaw and silencing its scream.
Before a cup of tea could be brewed, the piglet became still. Li Xiaoxiao wiped the blood from her mouth and gently placed the piglet on the ground.
The sow's footsteps faded into the distance, and she quietly followed, repeating the same method.
Gradually, the sow walked further and further away, but then she realized something was wrong. Why were there only four piglets left out of her seven or eight?
It immediately panicked, making little noises as it ran frantically back the way it came.
At this moment, Li Xiaoxiao had already strung the four piglets together with a vine and hung them around her waist, then climbed up a big tree.
The sow was so anxious that she didn't notice anything happening in the tree when she led the remaining piglets past it.
One trip, two trips, three trips—the sow tirelessly ran back and forth, searching for her missing piglets.
Li Xiaoxiao knew she couldn't attract its attention at this time. The sow, having lost her piglets, was incredibly aggressive, and she couldn't possibly digest so many wild boars at once. She didn't plan to kill it today.
The sow ran around in circles several times before finally accepting the fact that her piglets were gone. She immediately stretched her neck and squealed, her voice long and mournful.
A moment later, a rustling sound came from the bushes ahead, and an even larger wild boar appeared in Li Xiaoxiao's sight.
This pig has long tusks, a more robust and powerful physique, strong limbs, and weighs about three or four hundred pounds. It is a male pig.
Great, the couple is reunited.
The two pigs bumped heads and paced back and forth under the tree, searching and trampling almost all the weeds in the field, but they still couldn't find the four missing piglets.
Finally, they gave up, chirping softly as they surrounded the remaining four cubs and slowly headed deeper into the forest.
Li Xiaoxiao still didn't move.
She had killed a boar beast in the apocalypse. That creature's mutated form was probably a wild boar, extremely agile, and known for its tendency to launch surprise attacks. She wanted to see if this boar would have the same trait.
She waited quietly in the tree, while feeling her dantian slowly begin to heat up, her long-dormant superpowers beginning to stir.
She closed her eyes.
As the sun began to set, Li Xiaoxiao opened her eyes. There was no more movement under the tree. So much time had passed; the two pigs should have long since gone far away.
She jumped down from the tree, and the four piglets hanging from her waist bounced as she landed.
It was getting late, and she had to go back.
No sooner had she turned around than she heard a loud snapping sound of grass and trees breaking behind her, followed by the whooshing of wind.
She didn't look back, but ran two steps forward and then sprinted back, using the momentum to run a few steps up the tree trunk. She leaped up, grabbed a branch, and swung around, thus dodging the boar's swift attack.
The boar missed its target, panting heavily. It quickly turned its head and pawed at the ground with agitation and anger, preparing to strike Li Xiaoxiao a second time.
With a powerful swing of her arms, Li Xiaoxiao spun around and jumped onto the tree, standing on a branch and looking down at the angry pig.
They're quite patient; they actually waited this long.
However, she can't drink anymore today, so why don't we just tie this boar up here and come back tomorrow?
Li Xiaoxiao sensed her dantian and felt that after drinking blood for another four or five days, she should be able to store enough energy to open the necklace.
The boar pawed at the ground, looked up at Li Xiaoxiao in the tree, and, filled with rage, charged straight at the tree.
The tree, which was as thick as a human body, was shaken by the impact. However, the boar had obviously overestimated its impact and was bounced back. It squealed in pain, but it did not give up and charged at the tree again.
The tree shook again, and after its two violent impacts, a crater the size of a bowl was actually punched into its trunk.
Li Xiaoxiao was a little surprised: "So unwilling to admit defeat? That's interesting."
This boar must have never had its authority challenged before, which is why it's so angry. However, the blood of such a ferocious beast should be much more effective in restoring her powers than that of a piglet.
Li Xiaoxiao watched calmly as the boar kept ramming the tree. As the gap in the trunk grew larger and the tree began to shake violently, the boar became more and more confident, determined to knock down and kill the murderer that had killed its own offspring.
Finally, the tree was broken, and Li Xiaoxiao jumped down before it broke.
The boar glared angrily at the four piglets around her waist and suddenly charged at Li Xiaoxiao.
Li Xiaoxiao didn't move, but punched the nose that was charging at her.
With a bang, the attacking boar was hit squarely, its three or four hundred-pound body suspended in mid-air before crashing to the ground and remaining motionless.
The force of its impact propelled Li Xiaoxiao nearly half a meter, leaving a deep mark on the ground.
It had already used up so much of its strength hitting the tree, yet it still had such power left; it was truly not to be underestimated.
Her hands were covered in the boar's nosebleed, but she shook them off indifferently. She then grabbed several old vines from around her and tied the boar up securely.
Even their mouths were bound tightly shut.
Instead of killing it, she knocked it unconscious, intending to use it as a blood bank for the next few days.
Drinking wild boar blood for several days in a row should accumulate enough energy to open the necklace.
After nearly two months of enjoying delicious cooked food here, she was now feeling physically nauseous at the prospect of returning to a life of raw meat and blood. But what could she do? She was determined to get the medicine to save Magistrate Meng.
She hid the wild boar, bound hand and foot, in a bamboo grove to prevent it from being eaten by other creatures. She decided to bring a small knife tomorrow to draw its blood, and drink it for four or five days, which should be enough.
After settling the boar, she clapped her hands in satisfaction, glanced at the sky and saw that it was getting late, before setting off towards the foot of the mountain.
She had gone quite deep into the area, and it took her almost an hour to reach the foot of the mountain. It was already getting dark. The village chief, with his two grandsons, was craning his neck to look towards the mountain. Seeing her finally emerge, the village chief breathed a sigh of relief: "Young lady, why did you stay in there for so long—"
His voice trailed off after he saw the four wild boar piglets hanging from her waist. After a long while, he exclaimed in surprise, "These are wild boar piglets! How dare you catch them?"
His tone became urgent: "These piglets are so small, if the sow finds out, she'll definitely chase after them relentlessly. You're too bold, young lady."
Li Xiaoxiao didn't seem to care: "It's nothing. I only stayed up this late to avoid being tracked by the sow. Have you run out of cows?"
She glanced at the bundle of firewood tied up on the oxcart, and three bunches of tender grass, enough for the old ox to eat.
The village chief hurriedly said, "We've used it all, the firewood and straw are all ready. Are you coming again tomorrow?"
Today, Li Xiaoxiao lent him her ox for a day, and he plowed three acres of land several times faster. The villagers were extremely envious and said that if it was just a hundred catties of firewood and three days' worth of hay, they would also rent an ox.
Li smiled and said, "Come on, I'll be back for at least three more days. Do you still want to rent cattle?"
The village chief was overjoyed: "Yes, yes, even if my family finishes plowing our land, others will still want to rent it."
Li smiled and said, "Okay, it's settled then. I'll come over around the same time tomorrow."
The village chief nodded vigorously: "Okay, I'll talk to the villagers right away and let them take turns using it for half a day." One hundred catties of firewood and three days' worth of fodder is not a difficult task for the villagers. If they only need to rent it for half a day, each person only needs to contribute fifty catties of firewood and one and a half days' worth of fodder, but they can plow at least one and a half acres of land, saving a lot of effort.
Li Xiaoxiao jumped onto the oxcart and cracked the whip: "Old ox, let's go home."
Back in the backyard of the county government office, the sun was almost setting. When Madam Mao saw that she had only brought back 100 catties of firewood and three days' worth of fodder after a day's work, she couldn't help but wonder: "Will this little bit of firewood take so long?"
Li Xiaoxiao smiled and handed her the four piglets: "Mommy Mao, let's roast suckling pig!"
Mao's mother was taken aback: "Where did you come from?"
Li smiled and said, "I encountered them while I was gathering firewood. I caught four, and four escaped."
Mama Mao happily held the piglets, looking them over from left to right, forgetting to scold Li Xiaoxiao for spending the whole day there: "Such small wild boar piglets are always watched by their mothers. How did you manage to catch them without their mothers?"
Li smiled and said, "I ambushed them one by one without letting them notice. By the time they realized it, I had already run far away."
Only she had the courage to do this. Mother Mao was amazed. Suckling pigs were easy to find in the capital, but they were really rare in Biyang County. Mother Mao immediately boiled water, slaughtered the pig, scalded the hair, and prepared honey and other spices to roast it.
Mother Mao cut open the pig's belly and exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, the blood has been drained completely. There's not a trace of blood left in the internal organs and meat. I thought you didn't know you were supposed to bleed it."
Li Xiaoxiao didn't reply, but threw a piece of firewood into the stove.
Madam Mao was just saying it casually. It was getting late, and she had already prepared other food, but now that there were four suckling pigs, she was in high spirits and roasted them until they were golden brown in less than half an hour: "Give one to Madam, one to Aunt, and one to Miss. How about we two eat the last one?"
A note from the author:
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