Liu Ruoling walked around the peach tree, but found nothing except some wild vegetables, so she returned to the peach tree.
Upon reaching the peach tree, Liu Ruoling put down the wild vegetables she was carrying and told Li Ling to rest for a while while she picked peaches herself. Li Ling accepted the offer, as she was also quite tired.
Before long, Wang Lun had picked all the peaches he could from the tree; the rest were out of reach. The three of them sat under the tree, each eating a peach and resting for a while. They had walked for so long; it was time to rest. Wang Lun looked at his baskets and saw that the harvest wasn't much. He figured the other direction was probably similar, so he discussed with Li Ling, "How about we don't go back for dinner today? Let's walk a little further ahead?" Li Ling and Li Ling had considered going back for dinner, but seeing their current harvest was indeed rather meager compared to yesterday. After all, with the peaches, they could now fill two baskets; yesterday at this time, all three baskets were full, and they were almost heading back. Li Ling said, "How about we walk a little further, and when our baskets are almost full, we turn back and take another route?" Wang Lun thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let's try to find as much as possible then. It's been a bit hard to find anything today." Liu Ruoling said, "Yeah, the temperature's risen, and the meat's starting to spoil." Li Ling said, "A lot of it's been eaten, leaving only scraps. Luckily, those animals don't eat wild vegetables, otherwise we wouldn't have any to eat." Wang Lun interrupted their discussion and said, "Let's go, let's try to get back as soon as possible so we don't have to eat that dried fish. We can eat the meat Liu Ruoxi cooked when we get back. Good luck!" Wang Lun gave the two of them some chicken soup, then helped them up, put their baskets back on their backs, and continued on their way.
Unbeknownst to them, trouble had broken out at the camp. While Liu Ruoxi was gathering wild vegetables, she heard a loud commotion in the grass below. Grabbing a knife and a spear, she crouched low and stealthily approached the earthen cliff. When she saw the source of the noise, she was startled – it was a colossal creature, the very same wild boar described in the saying "first the boar, second the bear, third the tiger." The boar was over two meters long, over a meter tall, and weighed approximately two to three hundred kilograms, its head bowed as it munched on something.
Liu Ruoxi couldn't recall anything edible there. Internal organs were usually buried across the stream, and as for leftovers, that was even more impossible; there were never any leftovers each day. Leftovers? Inedible? Wasn't that the poisonous mushrooms Liu Ruoling had cooked yesterday morning? Could the wild boar be eating poisonous mushrooms? Liu Ruoxi thought to herself, the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed, so she quietly continued watching. Seeing that the wild boar had finished eating but still wouldn't leave, Liu Ruoxi became worried. If this guy wouldn't leave, what if Wang Lun and the others returned and hurt them? No, she had to think of a way—either drive the wild boar away or kill it. Drive it away? What was a wild boar afraid of? Scare it? It would probably charge and bite Liu Ruoxi; with her hundred-odd pounds of body, she'd probably be enough for the wild boar to eat for several meals. Since there was no way to drive it away, then she had no choice but to kill it. Liu Ruoxi made up her mind and gripped the spear in her hand even tighter.
After making up her mind, Liu Ruoxi didn't rush in. Instead, she quietly went to secure the camp gate, then went back to the house to cook all the remaining poisonous mushrooms. To make the wild boar pay the price, Liu Ruoxi used all the poisonous mushrooms Wang Lun had collected. To make the boar eat the mushrooms, Liu Ruoxi added a fish to the pot, and then, feeling one fish wasn't enough, added another. To ensure the boar was poisoned, Liu Ruoxi also cooked the mushrooms until they were only half-cooked.
Just as Liu Ruoxi was about to finish cooking, the wild boar seemed to have smelled the aroma and started banging against the earthen cliff. Hearing the noise, Liu Ruoxi quickly brought out the half-cooked mushroom and fish stew. Seeing the boar still banging against the cliff, she closed her eyes and dumped everything in the pot into it. Liu Ruoxi heard the boar squeal, seemingly burned, but she didn't dare look. Her legs were weak, but fear drove her back into the house. She closed the door, then used her body to brace it, causing the pot to fall beside the door.
Liu Ruoxi paused for a moment. It seemed the wild boar hadn't charged at her; it appeared to be eating the poisonous mushrooms, as she could hear it grunting again. After waiting a while longer without any further movement, she cautiously opened the door and peeked out. There was still no sound. So she carefully approached the earthen cliff.
As Liu Ruoxi approached the earthen cliff, she saw the wild boar still there, grunting and munching away. She watched it eat until it finished, but the boar showed no sign of leaving, circling the bottom of the cliff a few times. Liu Ruoxi assumed it was gone and relaxed. But before she could even stand up, the boar came running back towards the cliff from afar. Reaching the edge, it continued pacing back and forth. After a while, seemingly tired, it lay down and remained motionless.
Liu Ruoxi watched for a while longer, but seeing that the wild boar still didn't move, she made up her mind to check on it. Holding her spear, she walked to the earthen cliff above the boar. Still no movement, she mustered her courage and poked the boar with the spear, but it still didn't move. Liu Ruoxi then made up her mind: she had to kill this boar. This boar probably thought this place was its canteen, that it could find food here. But such a good thing was impossible. What if the boar woke up when Wang Lun and the others returned and hurt them? Rather than take the risk, she'd rather kill the boar while it was still asleep, or perhaps poisoned by the mushrooms.
The more Liu Ruoxi thought about it, the stronger her murderous intent became. So, she tightened her grip on the spear, aiming the tip at the wild boar's eye. Liu Ruoxi had taken anatomy classes in university, and her professor had told them that in almost all mammals, the brain could be injured through the eye, a fatal wound. Liu Ruoxi had memorized that, and now it came in handy. Seeing the spear tip aimed at the eye, Liu Ruoxi used all her strength, combined with the force of her hundred-pound body squatting down, and the spear plunged into the wild boar's eye, penetrating more than twenty centimeters. The wild boar seemed to be stimulated by the pain, its whole body trembling. Seeing the boar move, Liu Ruoxi quickly released the spear and drew her knife from her waist. However, the wild boar only convulsed for a moment and then became still. Fearing the wild boar was playing dead, Liu Ruoxi didn't immediately rush forward. Instead, she reached out and grabbed the spear, shaking it slightly, but the wild boar still didn't move. Liu Ruoxi felt a little relieved, but she still didn't dare to go and look right away. Instead, she went to the eaves and got another spear. Luckily, Wang Lun had made a few extra spears when he had free time, so she had one to exchange. Otherwise, Liu Ruoxi would have had to find a long stick in the woodpile.
Liu Ruoxi poked the wild boar again with her spear, but it still didn't move. So she aimed the spear tip at the other good eye and pushed it in a few centimeters, but the boar still didn't move. That meant the boar was truly dead this time. Liu Ruoxi had killed the wild boar single-handedly.
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