As the depths of winter approached, sunny days became few and far between, and the temperature dropped lower each day.
The wild boars had already ventured into town, and to eliminate this hidden danger, Lin Yu braved the cold to intensify his investigation of Xīlǐng Āo.
He even set traps in several hidden spots on the way down the mountain.
Laboriously, he dug several large pits and inserted sharpened bamboo poles into them.
On top, he scattered dry branches and fallen leaves.
A seemingly casual trap was set.
As long as a wild boar stepped into the trap, it would certainly not escape unscathed.
Besides setting traps and waiting for prey to take the bait, Lin Yu increased the frequency of his investigations and expanded the search area, preparing to take the initiative.
Three days later, traces were found in a trap to the northwest of Lin Yu's position in Xīlǐng Āo.
A large section of the dry branches on the trap was broken, and the surrounding bushes were quite disturbed, indicating that an animal had passed through.
And it wasn't just one.
Carefully observing the tracks, he pursued them until he discovered two large and one small wild boar in a dense forest about three miles away.
The two adult wild boars were rooting the ground with their snouts, digging for wild yams with their sharp tusks.
Among them, a small wild boar, not yet grown tusks, was eating wild yams to the side.
Lin Yu dared not get too close.
He wanted to take them down one by one but struggled to find an opportunity.
Before long, the wild boars had dug up quite a few wild yam chunks.
As their meal was nearing its end, Lin Yu decided to seize the moment and launch an attack while they were unprepared.
To catch the leader first, he decided the small boar, posing the least threat, could be dealt with later.
So Lin Yu instantly activated his Water Element Ability, conjuring two ice arrows and shooting them towards the eyes of one of the wild boars.
Startled by the sudden attack, the wild boar squealed and quickly charged towards the incoming ice arrows.
It instantly appeared before Lin Yu. Before he could fire a second ice arrow, he was unable to dodge and was gored in the calf by the other wild boar, which hadn't been attacked.
The power of the wild boar's tusks was no joke. Lin Yu felt a piercing pain, likely injured.
His skin was probably broken, and it was bleeding. But Lin Yu didn't have time to tend to his wound.
Because the two wild boars were right in front of him.
With no other choice, Lin Yu had to quickly scramble up a nearby pine tree and cling to its upper branches.
Fortunately, one of the first ice arrows had hit one of the wild boar's eyes, impairing its movement.
Then, Lin Yu fired two ice blades at the wild boars separately. The wild boars, with their thick hides, endured the two ice blades and cried out in pain, launching an even more ferocious attack at the pine tree where Lin Yu was perched.
The pine tree, over three meters tall but not very old, soon swayed uncontrollably, unable to support him.
Lin Yu steadied himself and fired two more ice arrows towards the eyes of the other wild boar.
This time, his aim was good. The other wild boar's eyes were both injured, and bright red blood flowed out.
As if enraged, the wild boar, disregarding everything else, fiercely rammed the pine tree with even greater intensity.
Forced into a corner, Lin Yu decisively jumped down from the pine tree.
Unfortunately, his injured leg was not cooperating, and he lost his footing. By then, the wild boar was already upon him.
Lin Yu broke out in a cold sweat from fear.
He steadied himself, focused his spiritual energy, and conjured two ice blades, firing them in rapid succession towards the wild boar's neck.
At the same time, he quickly took out the cleaver from his space, using almost all his strength, and fiercely chopped at the other wild boar.
While swinging the cleaver, he conjured four more ice arrows in rapid succession, pinning the wild boar with the injured neck in place.
The wild boar let out a tragic howl and collapsed, panting intermittently.
It had lost its mobility.
At this point, only one adult and one young wild boar remained.
And one of them was already injured, no longer agile.
Lacking intelligence, the beasts' rage reached its peak. Disregarding their leg wounds and bleeding eyes, the large and small wild boars charged towards Lin Yu.
Lin Yu stood up, spread his legs, and half-crouched, quickly adjusting his stance.
Swinging the cleaver, he sidestepped and desperately chopped at the wild boars.
It was this chop that dealt a fatal blow to the wild boar, which could no longer fight and fell to the ground, groaning incessantly.
The last small wild boar was no longer a threat. Lin Yu finished its short life with two ice blades.
Fearing that the pooling blood might attract other wild boar packs, Lin Yu cleaned up the scene.
He fired several ice blades at each wild boar, ensuring they were completely dead, and then threw them all into his space.
Then, he rinsed the bloodstains slightly, covered them with some soil, and quickly descended the mountain, heading home.
It was already dark when he returned home. The temperature grew colder, and the wind did not stop.
Perhaps from sweating, a gust of wind blew, and Lin Yu shivered uncontrollably.
He quickly boiled water, washed himself, then took out iodine and bandages to disinfect the wound on his calf and wrap it securely.
Fortunately, he was wearing thick winter clothes, so Lin Yu's calf was not seriously injured, leaving only a shallow wound.
The frantically beating heart gradually calmed down, and his overly tense nerves relaxed.
Lin Yu quickly started a fire and cooked a large pot of steaming tomato and egg noodles.
He and his grandfather ate and then went to sleep.
During this time, his grandfather asked why Lin Yu was so late returning home, and it was clear his grandfather was very worried about him.
Lin Yu casually made up an excuse, saying he wanted to go fishing in the pond but no fish were biting after a long wait, so he was reluctant to go home.
His grandfather found Lin Yu's playfulness both amusing and helpless, and dotingly took out his savings, telling Lin Yu to buy fish if he wanted any.
Lin Yu was speechless, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Lying in bed, Lin Yu replayed the events repeatedly, still feeling a surge of fear from his reckless actions today.
And he had been injured.
He summarized the reasons for his injury: first, he overestimated his own strength.
Second, he lacked combat experience.
He not only lacked understanding of the wild boars' combat capabilities but was also ignorant of both himself and his opponent.
Fortunately, his instant cast and consecutive skill abilities were good, and he promptly adopted a close-combat tactic by taking out his cleaver.
This prevented him from having to flee while injured.
Spending all his time in isolation, although he had reached a certain level in controlling his abilities, applying them in actual combat was not yet smooth.
His previous practice sessions were all one-on-one, not very difficult, but the two wild boars today presented a considerable challenge.
Besides relying on his abilities, the few chops from the cleaver greatly assisted him, almost reversing the tide of defeat and playing a decisive role in the entire battle.
If he had to deal with just one wild boar, Lin Yu could have managed with ease, and his control over abilities, whether ice arrows or ice blades, would have been sufficient.
It seemed that practicing with cold weapons would also be essential, with both accuracy and power being very important.
Elders with abilities generally have good physical conditioning, and combined with the cleaver, their close-combat power is considerable.
After much thought, Lin Yu was physically and mentally exhausted. He pulled up the soft, thick cotton quilt and soon drifted off to sleep.