The beast with bristling quills and sharp canine teeth was now less than 100 meters away from Shen Zhihuan.

Run? She had two legs; it had four.

Fight? At barely 80 pounds soaking wet, she was no match for the 500-pound beast. If it lunged on her, it would flatten her-and her insides might just spill out.

And those fangs? They were thicker and longer than chopsticks. If one pierced her small frame, it would easily go clean through.

Running and fighting were both out of the question. That left hiding.

“Run this way!” a terrified male voice shouted from her left.

Shen Zhihuan turned her head instinctively, her thoughts flooded with curses.

Why didn’t I check today’s fortune before leaving the house?!

The wild boar, angered that its dinner was trying to escape, roared furiously and charged after her.

Seeing Shen Zhihuan running in the opposite direction, Su Ziyu, who had shouted the warning, sprinted after her. Despite his training as an elite soldier, the distance and the desperation of the chase made it difficult to catch up with the girl and the enraged boar.

As the gap between the boar and Shen Zhihuan narrowed, Su Ziyu’s eyes turned red with urgency. He charged forward recklessly, determined to intervene.

Just as the wild boar was about to reach her, there was a sudden thud.

The charging boar disappeared into a pit, its triumphant roars turning into enraged snarls.

Shen Zhihuan collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. Her face, pale from exhaustion, now had a faint blush from exertion.

When she saw the boar thrashing in the pit, Shen Zhihuan angrily picked up a fist-sized rock and hurled it at its head.

Thud! The rock hit its mark.

The boar let out a pained roar, turning its fury toward the side of the pit where Shen Zhihuan sat. It began ramming the walls of the pit violently, as if vowing to tear her apart.

Her legs was still weak from running, Shen Zhihuan wasn’t about to let it intimidate her. She grabbed a larger rock, the size of a bowl, and aimed for the boar’s snout.

The throw missed slightly, hitting the boar between its eyes instead. In an instant, the once-ferocious creature fell silent and slumped to the ground.

Its chest, which had been heaving moments earlier in rage, now barely moved. Blood trickled from its nose, mouth, eyes, and ears.

Seeing the lifeless boar in the pit, Shen Zhihuan froze in shock.

“Are you alright?” Su Ziyu asked, his voice calm but tinged with concern. He scanned her from head to toe, relieved to find no visible injuries.

“You should be asking it if it’s alright,” Shen Zhihuan muttered, nodding toward the pit.

“It doesn’t look as good as you,” Su Ziyu replied with a faint smile, his gaze flicking between the bloodied boar and the rocks Shen Zhihuan had thrown.

“This is your problem now. I’m leaving…” Shen Zhihuan grumbled, using a nearby tree for support as she tried to stand. But her legs, still weak from running, refused to cooperate.

“I’ll help you,” Su Ziyu offered, stepping closer.

“No need! I’ll just…” Before Shen Zhihuan could finish refusing, she felt herself being lifted off the ground.

Frowning, she glared up at him in irritation. “Su… um…”

“Ziyu,” he said with a chuckle.

“Su Ziyu! Put me down!” she hissed, keeping her voice low to avoid drawing attention from the villagers at the base of the mountain.

Her soft yet angry tone was laced with a sweetness that Su Ziyu found amusing. He carefully placed her on a flat rock, then knelt to prop her leg on his knee.

“If you want to walk tomorrow, you’d better stay still,” he warned.

“We’re not even close to being friends. Why do you care if I can walk or not?” Shen Zhihuan retorted, pulling her leg back and forcing herself to stand.

Alone in the dense mountain forest, their situation was far from appropriate. If anyone saw them, tongues would wag, and her reputation would be ruined beyond repair.

Watching her wobble away, Su Ziyu gritted his teeth and muttered, “Stubborn.”

Shen Zhihuan rolled her eyes. Stubborn? If he hadn’t shown up, would she have been chased across the entire mountain by a wild boar? If she had been a second slower, wouldn’t she have been skewered by its fangs?

She shuddered at the thought and began picking up the wild vegetables that had scattered from her basket.

“Zhihuan!” A familiar, tearful voice called out from the mountain path.

“Third Sister!” Xiao Weidong’s voice followed, along with the sound of hurried footsteps and worried murmurs.

Before Shen Zhihuan could think of an excuse, Li Qiuhua rushed over and smacked her several times on her backside.

Her ears burned red with embarrassment. “Mom…” she whispered, hoping Li Qiuhua would show her some mercy.

“If you dare go up the mountain again, don’t call me your mother!” Li Qiuhua cried, pulling Shen Zhihuan into a tight embrace.

The sound of wild boar snarls from halfway up the mountain had terrified her. Dropping her sickle, she had raced uphill, fearing the worst. She couldn’t even count how many times she’d tripped on the way.

Seeing her daughter unharmed, Li Qiuhua’s fear quickly turned to anger.

“Mom, don’t cry. I promise I won’t go up the mountain again,” Shen Zhihuan said softly, patting her mother’s back to comfort her.

Wang Tiezhu, who had followed behind Li Qiuhua, froze when he saw Su Ziyu in his crisp white shirt. His expression grew complicated. “Ziyu, what are you doing here…?”

A man and a woman alone in the forest -it didn’t look good.

Others who had caught up exchanged knowing glances.

“My mother wanted some wild vegetables, so I came to gather some. Just as I reached the mountain, I saw Shen Zhihuan being chased by a wild boar. I tried to help, but before I could get close, she had already killed it.” Su Ziyu gestured toward the pit behind him.

Shen Zhihuan killed a wild boar?

The onlookers stared at her, their eyes moving between her delicate, fair complexion and the massive, bloodied beast in the pit. They could barely believe their ears.