Sold immediately after wearing it? I took my family and fled the famine.

When Ma Dadan limped up, clutching his chest, Jiang Xing was already squatting on the ground wiping his short knife.

The wild boar lay on its side at her feet, blood still gushing from the gash in its throat, staining the ground dark red. It weighed at least two hundred pounds.

Ma Dadan leaned against a pine tree and took a couple of breaths. He looked at the wild boar on the ground, then at Jiang Xing who was wiping his knife. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but before he could speak, he suddenly stopped.

Another howl came from the depths of the dense forest.

There was no echo; the bushes rattled as they were struck, and a dead tree, as thick as a bowl, snapped in half and fell to the ground, sending up a clump of dead leaves.

Then the thing rushed out from behind the bushes.

Ma Dadan had never seen a pig like this in his entire life.

It was a whole size bigger than the one on the ground, weighing at least 300 pounds, and its back was like an arched stone wall.

But what truly made him gasp was the thing covering its back, from its head to its spine and then to its hindquarters, a dense layer of sharp spikes, each as thick as a chopstick, gleaming grayish-white in the morning light.

The pig's eyes gleamed with a blood-red, menacing light beneath the spikes, and thick, rapid white smoke billowed from its nostrils.

"What the hell is this thing?" Ma Dadan subconsciously took a step back, his hand already touching the hilt of the knife at his waist.

He had worked in the county government for over ten years and had seen dozens of wild boars, but he had never seen one covered in thorns like this before.

Jiang Xing's expression also changed, like a porcupine.

This thing is much more troublesome than a regular wild boar; it's covered in thorns, and a head-on confrontation is tantamount to suicide.

The spikes on its back are usually flat, but when it gets angry, they stand upright with such force that they can be ejected by the roots.

Those spikes have barbs that pierce deeper and deeper into the flesh the longer you pull them out. They are also poisonous and can cause swelling and numbness in the wound. If not treated promptly, they can wear you down.

What's more troublesome is its size. A mature porcupine weighing around 300 pounds has thick skin and flesh, so it's impossible to pierce its vital organs with a few cuts.

The porcupine gave her no time to think. It pawed the ground twice, let out a low growl from its throat, and then charged towards the two of them like a rolling boulder.

The spikes on its back burst open as it runs, making a rustling sound.

"Scatter!" Jiang Xing roared, lunging to the side, his shoulder scraping the ground as he rolled, before quickly turning over and crouching up.

Ma Dadan reacted a beat too slow. He wanted to dodge, but the spot on his chest where the wild boar had kicked him was still painful, and his legs felt like they were filled with lead. By the time he took his first step, the porcupine was already in front of him.

He could only hold his broadsword horizontally in front of his chest to block the attack.

The fangs struck the blade, producing a piercing metallic clang.

Ma Dadan was sent flying, knife and all, tumbling through the air before his back slammed into a tree trunk. He slid down the trunk and collapsed to the ground, the knife flying far from his hand.

He coughed with his head down, his mouth filled with the smell of earth.

The porcupine knocked Ma Dadan away, its four hooves pausing on the ground for a couple of steps before it turned and saw Jiang Xing crouching on the ground.

It growled and charged again, its fangs shoveling along the ground, trying to lift her up along with her knife. Jiang Xing quickly rolled to the side, dodging the fangs, and picked up the sharp wooden stake she had previously sharpened.

The porcupine stopped and turned to charge again. Jiang Xing gripped the wooden stake tightly. When the porcupine was less than two steps away from her, she did not retreat. Instead, she took a step forward, squatted down, and pressed the lower end of the stake firmly against the ground, with the tip pointing diagonally at the porcupine's open mouth.

The porcupine charged with too much force and couldn't be stopped. The sharp wooden stake slammed into its mouth, piercing through the soft flesh inside its mouth and penetrating its cheek.

The porcupine let out a sharp, piercing scream, violently shaking its head. A piece of bloody foam flew out of its mouth along with the wooden stake. Blood was flowing from its mouth, and half of its face was stained red with blood, but it did not retreat. This porcupine was completely enraged.

Despite her 300-pound size, her charging power was still astonishing. Just as the tusks were about to pierce, Jiang Xing slashed diagonally to the porcupine's side, her right hand using the momentum of her spin to thrust her short knife straight into the porcupine's neck.

The blade pierced through the thick pigskin and got stuck in the gaps between the muscles and bones. Taking advantage of the porcupine's forward momentum, she twisted her wrist and the blade made a horizontal cut in the flesh. Blood gushed out from the cut and splattered on her face, neck, and the cotton-padded jacket on her chest.

The porcupine howled and struggled, its immense force throwing Jiang Xing away.

Her back slammed into a pine tree behind her, the impact of her spine against the trunk making her groan, and a metallic taste rose in her throat.

But she still held the knife, and before the porcupine could regain its footing, she pounced again, gripping the short knife with both hands, tip pointing downwards, and thrusting it downwards with all her weight.

The knife tip pierced through the gaps between the bones in the spine, passing through thick fat and muscle, and reaching the internal organs.

She fell onto the decaying leaves and rolled twice before the cotton clinging to the thorn on her shoulder finally snapped, and the thorn flew off and landed on the ground.

She stood up, supporting herself with the dagger, but slipped on her own blood.

The porcupine's four hooves were shaking, blood was still gushing from the knife wound on its neck, and the fatal wound on its back caused it to squeeze out more blood with every breath.

It took two steps back, blood spitting from the corner of its mouth, its cloudy eyes staring at Jiang Xing for one last moment before collapsing to the ground with a thud.

The weight of about 300 pounds slammed onto the withered leaves and soil with a deep, muffled thud.

Ma Dadan lay on the ground and saw it from beginning to end.

He saw Jiang Xing fight that beast alone, and he had personally experienced how strong that beast was.

He picked up the broadsword from the ground, sheathed it, and his eyes welled up with tears. He had worked in the government office for over ten years and considered himself a tough guy; he had seen all sorts of ruthless people.

But today he truly witnessed what "ruthless" really meant.

It wasn't that she wasn't afraid of death; it was that in that situation, any adult man would have collapsed long ago, but she didn't back down an inch.

As his sense of pain began to return, Jiang Xing stood beside the porcupine's carcass. After the adrenaline subsided, the wounds on his body felt like they had been licked by flames, surging up in waves.

The deepest cut on my arm, inflicted by the porcupine quills, stretched from the outside of my left arm all the way up to my wrist, tearing the skin and flesh apart.

But what's more troublesome isn't the depth of the wound; the area around it is already swollen, the skin has turned from its normal color to purplish-red, my fingers are numb to the touch, and my arm is noticeably thicker than normal.

Porcupine quills are poisonous and can cause local swelling and numbness. They are not fatal, but if not treated promptly, the swelling can obstruct blood flow and lead to tissue necrosis.

(The porcupine in this chapter is fictional for the sake of the plot. In reality, porcupines are not pigs and do not grow that big. We must protect wild animals.)