The rain clouds that had been gathering for two days finally stirred tonight.
“Boom!”
The once pitch-black night sky instantly brightened as if it were daylight, a flash of lightning streaking across.
The thunder that followed was deafening, and soon after, fierce winds rose, causing the surrounding trees to rustle.
By the campfire, the flickering flames swayed left and right, with fallen leaves drifting into the blaze, turning to ash within seconds.
“Boom! Boom!”
Thunder roared one crash after another, waking the wild beasts slumbering deep in the forest.
A wolf howl echoed from far away.
Under the ear-piercing thunderclaps, Ye Lin couldn’t help but recall the moment she had been shipwrecked.
Her grip on the Stone Axe tightened instinctively.
Tonight, the forest felt far more terrifying than before.
***
Ye Lin instinctively edged closer to the wooden shelter.
***
The next moment, a hand rested on her shoulder.
She shivered all over and swung the Stone Axe reflexively.
Fortunately, Qin Tian reacted quickly and caught her arm just in time, preventing a disastrous injury.
Regaining her composure, Ye Lin hurriedly apologized, “Sorry, I… I get like this when I’m scared…”
“Come inside.”
Qin Tian cut her off, taking the Stone Axe without any hint of reproach.
They slipped into the wooden shelter, and Ye Lin sat beside Qin Tian, immediately feeling much calmer, no longer as fearful as before.
“Did I wake you?” Ye Lin asked softly.
“No.” Qin Tian shook his head, signaling her not to overthink it. “The thunder just startled me awake.”
As they spoke, large raindrops began to fall, gradually increasing in both quantity and intensity until a torrential downpour was underway.
A cold wind mixed with mist blew directly at them.
Both Qin Tian and Ye Lin shivered.
They exchanged a glance but said nothing.
Together, they pulled out the dried Wild Boar hide they had been sitting on and covered themselves with it.
That Wild Boar hide had been dried by the campfire earlier that afternoon — now it was finally coming in handy.
Still not enough, Qin Tian reached into the shelter and grabbed a dry piece of wood, tossing it onto the fire to make the flames burn brighter.
Though the campfire was outside the wooden shelter, Qin Tian had already prepared a rain cover yesterday when the sky was overcast, so there was no worry about the fire being extinguished.
“Patak patak.”
The rain fell heavier, drumming dully on the banana leaves that roofed the shelter, then running off down the sides.
Fortunately, the shelter completely resisted the onslaught of the storm.
The drainage ditch they had dug today worked perfectly, guiding the runoff safely away to one side.
Judging from the current situation, Qin Tian and Ye Lin had no cause for concern.
***
“I wonder how long this rain will last.”
Listening to the rain’s steady patter, Ye Lin suspected it would continue until at least dawn, if not longer.
“Won’t stop anytime soon.”
Qin Tian glanced at the wood and dried beef hanging behind them — things that needed to stay dry.
The shelter kept out the rain, but not the moisture.
If the rain lasted too long, those supplies might get damp.
Looks like he needed to build a proper storage area soon, Qin Tian thought silently.
Rainy days always affected one’s mood.
After a brief, simple chat, Qin Tian and Ye Lin fell silent, staring at the campfire outside without speaking.
Time slipped by unknowingly.
After growing accustomed to the rain’s rhythm, both began to feel drowsy.
Their eyes blurred and, unintentionally, their heads bumped together.
Qin Tian and Ye Lin fell asleep.
***
But less than a minute later, Qin Tian suddenly snapped his eyes wide open and pricked up his ears.
Amidst the clamor of rain, faint hoofbeats sounded in the distance, growing louder and louder until even the rain couldn’t drown them out.
A bad feeling gnawed at Qin Tian’s heart.
He hastily shook Ye Lin awake.
“Don’t sleep.”
“What’s wrong?”
Still groggy from being woken, Ye Lin was dazed.
Before Qin Tian could answer, she too heard the hoofbeats and immediately tensed.
At the same time, a few hundred meters away, black shadows burst out from the dense bushes, scrambling toward the direction of the camp.
Half a minute passed, and the hoofbeats grew louder.
At one point, Qin Tian’s face changed.
“Quick! Get out of here!” he shouted at Ye Lin.
That noise wasn’t anything else — it was the sound of Wild Boars charging!
***
“What?” Ye Lin was bewildered by Qin Tian’s sudden panic.
There was no time to explain.
Qin Tian planted both hands on the wooden beam and rose.
The shelter’s frame creaked as he stood, the roof lifting with him.
Because the roof was tied to the beams, it didn’t collapse entirely — if released, the shelter could be restored.
But Qin Tian had no intention of putting it back together.
He grabbed Ye Lin’s hand and pulled her out without a word.
Without any protection, Ye Lin was exposed to the pouring rain.
Then Qin Tian kicked down one of the posts and dropped the roof, causing the entire wooden shelter to collapse.
“Qin Tian, what are you doing?!”
Ye Lin was caught completely off guard.
Qin Tian didn’t answer.
After finishing, he dragged Ye Lin to a nearby tree, crouched down, and said urgently, “Quick! Climb up!”
Sensing Qin Tian’s tension, Ye Lin hurriedly placed her foot on his shoulder.
At the same time, Qin Tian gritted his teeth, stood up, and helped Ye Lin scramble up into the treetops before climbing up himself.
***
The bushes around the camp stirred.
Looking in the direction of the noise, both wore grim expressions.
Under their watchful eyes, several wild rabbits hopped out, followed by a few spotted deer.
Then the bushes fell silent again.
Ye Lin exhaled in relief, thinking it was just some harmless animals.
But the next second, Qin Tian shouted low, “They’re coming!”
Not knowing what he meant, Ye Lin scanned the darkness.
Pairs of glowing red eyes appeared, causing her to hold her breath in fear.
In the firelight, they could see a herd of Wild Boars.
There were over twenty of them — obviously several groups had joined forces.
For some unknown reason, the boars charged straight toward the camp, undeterred by the firelight.
The Kiln, stone stove, and even the freshly made pottery were trampled into fragments by the herd.
If the wooden shelter was still standing, it would have suffered the same fate.
Like a gust of wind, the boars ran off after a few seconds.
Only the campfire remained.
***
When the boars had passed, Qin Tian and Ye Lin let go of each other and breathed deeply.
During the boars’ attack, both had instinctively covered their mouths.
Dazed, from the moment Qin Tian woke her, tore down the shelter, to the arrival of the boar herd — the whole ordeal lasted less than two minutes.
Ye Lin was completely stunned.
In truth, not just Ye Lin — Qin Tian’s mind was also blank.
He had no idea why a group of Wild Boars were awake and rampaging in the middle of the night.
“Qin, Qin Tian, what the hell just happened?” Ye Lin asked, trembling with lingering fear.
If not for Qin Tian’s quick reaction and timely escape, they would have been dead under the boars’ charge.
“I don’t know.”
Qin Tian shook his head.
Silence returned to the camp, filled only by the rain’s noise.
The rain kept falling, soaking Qin Tian and Ye Lin through and through.
But both were too anxious and fearful to notice the cold.
***
The danger wasn’t over yet.
Minutes later, footsteps came again, but this time the noise was much lighter, hardly comparable to before.
Still, Qin Tian and Ye Lin remained tense.
After a moment, three Wild Boars dashed out from the bushes.
At first, Qin Tian thought they’d join the others, but they did not.
Once clear of the bushes, the three boars slowed and settled at the edge of the campfire’s light, as if warming themselves.
Qin Tian and Ye Lin stared blankly.
Could it be that Wild Boars these days weren’t afraid of fire?
Seeing this, Qin Tian almost turned and ran.
The distance between them and the boars was only a few meters.
With their keen sense of smell, the boars could find them easily.
But then Qin Tian remembered the rain.
All the scents would have been washed away by the downpour.
Only if they stayed silent could they avoid detection.
Understanding this, Qin Tian signaled Ye Lin to stay quiet, and she nodded in response.
***
The three boars lingered there for half an hour.
During that time, the rain gradually subsided.
The three boars lay motionless like corpses, only their rising and falling bellies proving they were alive.
Seeing this, Qin Tian grew bolder, craning his neck to examine them, hoping to find out why the boars were acting so strangely.
What he saw caught his attention.
All three boars were wounded.
He hadn’t noticed before, but now, looking closely, their bodies were stained deep red with blood.
Unlike the wounds on the Tusks Boar he’d fought earlier, these injuries were gruesome — skin torn open, resembling the cracks on a watermelon dropped from a low height.
The injuries were terrifying.
No one knew what caused them, but one thing was certain: these boars were close to death.
Even so, Qin Tian dared not let the boars detect them.
After all, the Tusks Boar he’d faced before was also badly wounded — yet it chased him relentlessly for a long distance.
No matter how near death these boars seemed, who knew how ferocious their final counterattack would be?
Perhaps their current state was just a bluff.
“Too bad the Recurve Bow isn’t ready.”
Qin Tian sighed.
If he had the Recurve Bow in hand, he could have easily picked off these three from this distance.
No need to hide like this.