Rustle, rustle...
A wild boar weighing three to four hundred pounds begins to run, like a heavy motorcycle roaring to life, crushing the grass and shrubs along the way.
Chen Mo grips the machete tightly in both hands, his eyes firmly fixed on the charging boar, his heart racing, putting him in an adrenaline-fueled state of excitement.
In the instant the boar lunges toward him, Chen Mo suddenly dodges to the left, at the same time, the machete in his hand fiercely chops downward toward the boar's head.
With a long handle attached to the machete, it's perfect for exerting force; this strike seems practiced tens of thousands of times, forming muscle memory, and exerting full strength.
Squish...
The blade easily slices through the boar's skin, plunging into the flesh and blood, and a sense of resistance follows; the blade cuts through the flesh and blood, hitting the skull, unable to go further down.
"Not good..." Chen Mo's heart sinks because the machete is stuck in the boar's skull, and because he grips the machete tightly, the boar's full-speed collision throws him flying.
As he is thrown, the machete pulls out from the boar's head, spraying a mist of blood before it crashes heavily to the ground.
"Roar, roar..." The wild boar emits a brutal howl, the intense pain driving it into madness, it turns and charges at Chen Mo again.
Chen Mo's ferocity is also roused, possibly due to the surge of adrenaline, as he lays on the ground, feeling no pain at all, in the instant the boar rushes over, he rolls, and sweeps the machete toward the boar's underside.
Both front limbs are severed simultaneously with a swoosh, the boar's upper body immediately drops, its head smashing onto the ground, its body flipping upward, tumbling several times before crashing into a pine tree and stopping.
Chen Mo quickly gets up and walks over, finishing off the boar.
"Roar, roar, roar..."
The wild boar lets out a piercing, miserable cry.
This scene strongly resembles that of slaughtering pigs in the countryside.
As the blood drains out, the boar's cries grow weaker and weaker.
Once the boar loses consciousness, Chen Mo finally breathes a sigh of relief, but as he relaxes, he feels himself go faint, collapsing to the ground, a wave of pain coming from his back.
After a while, he regains his composure, reaching to touch his back, feeling sharp pain but finding no blood.
Looking at where he fell earlier, he discovers a stone — he must have hit his back on it when he fell.
Gazing at the now dead boar, Chen Mo grins, feeling a burst of joy, as his meat to enhance the Blood Nourishing Technique is acquired.
After resting for a while and regaining his strength, Chen Mo unscrews the machete handle, securing both the handle and machete at his waist, then drags the boar out with both hands.
He couldn't stay here long, as the fresh blood could attract other beasts.
As for why he drags it — the boar is too heavy for him to carry.
By the time he leaves the mountains, the sky has already darkened.
However, Chen Mo pauses, dragging such a big boar into the village would draw too much attention.
He takes out the machete, noticing a notch chipped on the blade.
He divides the boar into several pieces, digs a pit on the ground, retrieves one piece, puts the others in the pit, covers them with leaves, and buries them with soil, making a mark.
After doing this, it's already dark.
Chen Mo takes off his outer clothes, wraps a piece of boar meat in them, and heads towards the village.
He doesn't enter through the village entrance but deliberately takes a detour, entering from the west.
However, his actions are actually quite cautious.
The village is completely dark without any lights, and Chen Mo doesn't dare to walk fast, fumbling his way along, afraid of falling into a pit.
Upon arriving at his own courtyard, a cold wind blows, causing the bamboo gate of the courtyard fence to creak harshly in the night.
Chen Mo knocks on the door in the dark.
"Who is it?" Han Anniang's voice quickly comes from inside: "Is it Uncle?"
"Sister-in-law, it's me." Chen Mo says.
Inside, a light turns on, and the door opens.
"Sister-in-law." Seeing Han Anniang, Chen Mo's face breaks into a smile.
But in the next moment, Han Anniang rushes over and hugs him tightly.
Tears welling up in Han Anniang's eyes, she sobs: "Uncle, why are you only coming back now? I thought something had happened to you. If anything happens to you, how can I explain it to Mother-in-law, sob..."
Chen Mo: "..."
Holding meat in his hands, he's momentarily unsure whether to hug back or not.
Yet thinking of being outside and having a woman at home worrying about him, keeping him in her thoughts.
Chen Mo feels a warmth in his heart, making all the hardships worthwhile.
Just as he is about to set down the meat and embrace Han Anniang, she smells the blood on him and her expression changes.
Only then does she notice how much blood Chen Mo has on him, his hands trembling, and she cries even harder: "Uncle... why do you have so much blood on you, what happened, don't scare me, sob..."
Crying as she anxiously checks Chen Mo, trying to see where he is hurt.
"Sister-in-law, don't cry, this isn't my blood, it's the boar's blood, sigh, let's talk inside..."
Chen Mo pulls Han Anniang into the house and shuts the door.
"Sister-in-law, da-da-da..."
Chen Mo removes his clothing, revealing a large piece of boar leg meat underneath.
But Han Anniang doesn't even glance at the meat, instead she starts to strip Chen Mo's clothes, only feeling at ease after seeing with her own eyes that he isn't injured.
"Hey, sister-in-law... don't strip, I'll do it, I'll do it..."
This makes Chen Mo somewhat shy, taking off the inner cotton clothes.
After a thorough check, realizing apart from a bruise on the back, there are no other injuries, Han Anniang finally feels relieved: "It's good, it's good..."
Han Anniang pats her chest, showing a comforted smile.
"Sister-in-law, are you relieved now?" Chen Mo says.
"Yes, yes... ah..."
Han Anniang nods, but suddenly realizing it isn't right, she quickly distances herself from Chen Mo, her face blushing.
Previously, she had been too worried about his wellbeing to remember gender propriety.
"Uncle, hurry and... put on your clothes." Han Anniang says.
"It was sister-in-law who told me to strip them off, why blame me for not wearing clothes now, isn't that unreasonable." Chen Mo says.
"Ah, Uncle, don't make fun of me." Han Anniang's face turns red, she averts her gaze from Chen Mo, speaking softly: "Uncle, I am your sister-in-law."
Chen Mo's expression freezes, and after getting dressed, he says: "Sister-in-law, you first hide this piece of meat in the cellar, I have to go out a few more times."
"Ah, Uncle, what are you going out for?" Han Anniang quickly grabs Chen Mo's arm, her beautiful eyes filled with concern.
"Sister-in-law, didn't you realize I hunted a wild boar? This is just one leg piece, the others are still buried in the mountain." Chen Mo doesn't dare to wait until tomorrow to retrieve them, fearing for possible changes, bringing them back all at once tonight is more reassuring.
"Don't worry, Sister-in-law, they're buried on the outskirts of the mountain, I'll be back shortly." With that, Chen Mo enters the house, grabbing a tinderbox, it's too dark and without light, it's hard to find where the meat's buried.
"Sister-in-law, close the door." Giving Han Anniang a comforting smile, Chen Mo leaves.