Chapter 14: Paying the Debt

The wild boar was hurt by the blow, shook its head, and charged angrily toward Chu Xiaoqi.

Chu Xiaoqi turned and ran desperately in the direction they had come from.

She planned to lure the boar into the poisonous mist and let it die from the toxins. Otherwise, with just the few of them, they wouldn’t stand a chance against the beast.

Ji Jingxuan and the others had run a good distance and, not hearing the boar behind them, finally stopped.

Gasping for breath, they stood still. “Stop running, that big guy didn’t follow us,” Ji Jingxuan panted, leaning against a large tree.

Ji Jingze and Ji Jinglan looked back and, seeing no sign of the boar, collapsed weakly onto the ground.

“I thought we were going to die on Yama Mountain today,” Ji Jingze said, hands on the ground, breathing heavily.

“That scared me to death…” Ji Jinglan looked as if she’d just survived a disaster, lightly patting her chest.

“Xiaoqi, are we still going to collect chestnuts?” Ji Jingxuan leaned his head back against the tree trunk, asking softly without turning his head.

“Xiaoqi?”

“Sister-in-law?”

The Ji siblings suddenly looked at each other in alarm.

“Where’s Xiaoqi?”

“Where’s sister-in-law?”

Ji Jingxuan thought for a moment and then slapped the tree trunk. “Damn it! We need to go back. Xiaoqi must have lured the boar away so we could escape!”

Without waiting for Ji Jingze and Ji Jinglan, he turned and ran back toward the chestnut trees.

When they got back, there was no sign of the wild boar under the chestnut tree, and Chu Xiaoqi was nowhere to be seen either.

“Xiaoqi… Xiaoqi…” Ji Jingxuan shouted anxiously in all directions.

“Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law!” Ji Jingze and Ji Jinglan followed suit.

They shouted for a long time but got no response. Ji Jingxuan forced himself to calm down and began analyzing the situation carefully.

Chu Xiaoqi hadn’t run west with them, so she must have gone in another direction.

He closely examined the tracks on the ground and saw that the boar had headed in the direction they came from. It looked like he finally understood what Chu Xiaoqi had been trying to do.

“Come on, let’s go…” he motioned for Ji Jingze and Ji Jinglan to follow him back.

“Go home? But we haven’t found sister-in-law yet,” Ji Jingze looked at Ji Jingxuan in confusion.

“Xiaoqi must’ve lured the boar toward the poisonous mist to kill it. We need to get there quickly and help her!”

Ji Jingxuan didn’t waste time explaining further. He ran toward the edge of the poisonous mist as he spoke.

Chu Xiaoqi had already lured the boar in two full circles through the mist and was nearly poisoned herself. The wild boar, however, still looked energetic.

She couldn’t take it anymore. Her head spinning and vision blurring, she ran out of the poisonous mist and lured the boar out with her.

After a while, she couldn’t run any farther. Spotting a large tree, she climbed up as fast as she could.

When Ji Jingxuan and the others arrived, they saw Chu Xiaoqi sitting on a branch, tightly hugging the tree trunk and gasping for breath.

The boar was stubbornly ramming the tree trunk, trying to shake her down.

“Xiaoqi!”

“Sister-in-law!”

Chu Xiaoqi looked in the direction of the voices and saw those fools waving and bouncing not far away, and suddenly felt utterly exhausted.

What, do they think she can fly or something? Just because they’re waving, she’s supposed to leap over like a bird?

She took a deep breath, held it in, and shouted at the Ji siblings:

“Lure this beast toward the mountainside. If you can’t outrun it, climb a tree!”

Ji Jingxuan and Ji Jingze exchanged a glance, then started hopping and shouting on the spot to draw the boar’s attention.

The boar heard the noise behind it, turned to glance at them indifferently, and then went right back to ramming the tree Chu Xiaoqi was in.

Still sitting on the tree, Chu Xiaoqi rolled her eyes. Were those two sent by the Monkey King or something?

“Can you pick up a rock and throw it at it?!” she yelled, completely exasperated.

Ji Jingxuan and his brother exchanged a look before finally bending down to pick up stones and throw them at the wild boar.

But the boar completely ignored them, even turning its back and flicking its tail smugly at them.

Perched on a branch above, Chu Xiaoqi rested her chin in her hand and looked down. These two weaklings… they might as well be giving the boar a massage. With their pitiful strength, even a child could do better.

She couldn’t bear to watch anymore and began slowly sliding down the tree trunk.

Seeing her descending, the wild boar got even more excited and rammed the tree trunk with greater force.

Still several meters from the ground, Chu Xiaoqi aimed for a clear patch of ground and jumped. When she hit the ground, she rolled twice to cushion the fall.

The entire motion felt unusually smooth and natural, as if she had always known how to do it.

The wild boar let out a few grunts, twitched its nose, and charged straight at Chu Xiaoqi again.

The Ji siblings chased the boar down the slope, trying to catch up.

By the time they reached halfway up the mountain, Chu Xiaoqi was utterly exhausted. Realizing she couldn’t keep running like this, she turned around, gripping her machete, and charged directly at the boar.

The boar hadn’t expected her to pull a sudden move like that. Caught off guard, it took a hard blow to the back from Chu Xiaoqi, who slashed it with all her strength, causing it to let out a sharp and piercing scream.

Because they were so close to the village, the villagers wandering nearby heard it.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah! Sounded like some kind of animal’s dying screech. Came from Yama Mountain, I think.”

“Yama Mountain? I saw a few of Ji Lao’er’s younger ones heading up there with baskets earlier this afternoon.”

“What?! Don’t tell me…”

“Hurry! Grab your tools and head up there!” the village chief shouted to the crowd.

The able-bodied men rushed back to grab their gear and then sprinted up Yama Mountain.

Even though Chu Xiaoqi had used all her strength, that slash was hardly more than a scratch to the boar.

But her attack completely enraged it. The wild boar launched into an even more violent assault.

Chu Xiaoqi had no choice. Disoriented and unable to tell which way to run, she darted off aimlessly.

The Ji siblings trailed behind, flailing and yelling to get the boar’s attention.

Unable to run any farther, Chu Xiaoqi climbed another large tree and clung to the trunk for dear life.

The boar rammed the tree repeatedly, making it shake and sway dangerously.

But as it kept ramming, its force seemed to weaken.

Chu Xiaoqi looked down and saw the boar wobbling like a drunk, staggering as it half-heartedly butted the trunk.

Huh… Did it knock itself out? Or is the poison taking effect?

Whatever the case, this was the moment to strike.

She dropped her machete to the ground, pulled the dagger from her waist, and with a burst of energy, leapt down onto the boar’s back. She wrapped her arm around its neck and plunged the blade deep into its throat.

Pig’s blood sprayed like a burst pipe, drenching Chu Xiaoqi completely.

Just as this gory scene unfolded, the villagers arrived and froze in shock, completely stunned and speechless.

The wild boar, stabbed and furious, thrashed its body violently and threw Chu Xiaoqi off its back. Then, staggering unsteadily, it charged at her once again.

Chu Xiaoqi rolled twice on the ground, grabbed the machete, and when the boar got close, slashed its throat with all her might.

The boar stood for a moment, shaking its head, swayed a few times, and with a loud THUMP, collapsed beside Chu Xiaoqi.

Chu Xiaoqi was utterly spent. The insides of her thighs were covered in bloody scrapes from the boar’s bristly hair, and the pain was nearly unbearable.

Seeing her lying there covered in blood and not moving, none of the villagers dared approach or make a sound.

The Ji siblings, however, howled and cried as they rushed over.
“Xiaoqi!”
“Sister-in-law!”

Ji Jingxuan scooped Chu Xiaoqi into his arms and held her tightly, overwhelmed with grief—

Ji Jingxuan sobbed, “Xiaoqi, Xiaoqi…”

Chu Xiaoqi, using all her remaining strength, pushed him away. “What are you doing? Trying to smother me?”

“Xiaoqi, you’re okay?!” Ji Jingxuan, hearing her voice, didn’t even have time to wipe away his tears. Overjoyed, he quickly helped her sit up on the ground.

The villagers, having just witnessed such a ferocious scene, were too scared to approach. Only the village chief hobbled over with a cane.

“She still alive?”

Chu Xiaoqi tilted her head to look at him. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Oh good, just making sure. I was just getting excited thinking I might get to attend a funeral feast.”

Chu Xiaoqi rolled her eyes. “I’ll live to a hundred, thank you very much.”

“Tch, I thought maybe you were tired of living, running up Yama Mountain to duel a wild boar,” the village chief joked, stroking the little goatee on his chin.

Chu Xiaoqi stretched and said, “Tch… Old man, you should be thanking me properly.”

“If I hadn’t dealt with that beast, it might’ve stormed into the village. Who knows how many crops and people would’ve been harmed?”

With that, she stood up with a “whoosh,” patted her chest proudly.

The village chief was momentarily speechless. He had to admit she had a point.

That wild boar was huge. Even if all the village’s men worked together, someone was bound to get injured.

“Fine, fine, I don’t want to argue with you. What are you planning to do with the boar?” he quickly changed the topic.

Chu Xiaoqi glanced past him toward the gathered villagers. Each one was holding a tool—clearly, they’d rushed up the mountain after hearing the boar’s cries, hoping to help.

People in ancient times really are simple and honest, she thought.

One person in trouble, the whole village comes to help.

She took a step forward and said loudly, “Back when my family was in trouble, it was thanks to the kindness of our neighbors that we made it through.

So how about this:

Our family owes nearly every household in the village some grain. I’ll butcher this wild boar and use the meat to pay off our debts.

In the market, mid-grade grain is 50 wen per liter. Pork is 70 wen per jin (500g). Wild boar meat is even more expensive than domestic pork.

To thank all of you for coming up the mountain to help, I’ll count the wild boar meat at 50 wen per jin—same as grain—to repay the debt.

If anyone doesn’t want meat as repayment, I’ll sell the boar in town and buy grain to repay you later.

What do you all think?”

The villagers didn’t even hesitate and agreed immediately.

Getting wild boar meat at grain prices? That was a great deal.

Besides, the Ji family had owed them grain for a long time. There was always the risk they’d never pay it back. Better to settle now.

“Alright then… Everyone lend a hand and help me carry the boar back.”

“Got it!” the villagers responded cheerfully and began tying up the boar with many hands working together.

Chu Xiaoqi turned to Ji Jingze. “Xiao Ze, you’re quick on your feet. Run to the county right now and ask the butcher shops if they want to buy wild boar meat.

Tell them I’m selling one half for 60 wen per jin.

If one of them agrees, have them come pick it up.”

Ji Jingze, still teary-eyed, nodded and ran straight down the mountain.

Chu Xiaoqi remembered something and shouted after him, “Make sure to ask a few shops!”

“Got it!”

She then turned to Ji Jinglan at her side. “You head home first and tell Father and Mother to get the debt ledger ready so we can match the meat to the debts.”

Ji Jinglan nodded and dashed down the mountain.

Ji Jingxuan watched as Chu Xiaoqi gave clear, confident orders. He felt so overwhelmed it was like a flood bursting through his heart.

He truly hadn’t expected that Chu Xiaoqi would use a boar she fought and killed herself to help pay off their family’s debts.

At that moment, his feelings for her weren’t just gratitude anymore… There was something else too—something new and unfamiliar.