071 A Rare Opportunity for Battle (Please add to your favorites and vote for recommendations.)

Chen Juanjuan spoke with reason and logic, “I know you’re trained, I know you have real skills, but this world is realistic. This is just a beautiful flower—so what if it’s poisonous? As long as I don’t eat it, how could I possibly get poisoned?”

In a way, her words made sense.

Chen Anquan couldn’t help but wonder if he was being overly anxious, or just too worried about Juanjuan’s safety. But then again, how much did her safety really have to do with him?

Not much, honestly.

He watched as Juanjuan walked up to the crimson blossom, pulled out her phone, opened the camera, and began taking pictures of the blood-red flower from every conceivable angle. After several shots, she switched to selfie mode, pouted her lips, and posed with a wide, happy smile.

Click!

One selfie after another, she captured them all.

To Chen Anquan, it felt as if he was witnessing a dazzling model posing beside a work of art, allowing the press and onlookers to snap photos to their hearts’ content. Her expression remained a gentle smile the entire time. The corners of her mouth lifted, revealing two shallow dimples. Her arms alternately stretched, bent, and raised high in the air.

At that moment, Chen Anquan silently took out his own phone. He wasn’t thinking about taking selfies, but rather, playing the part of a tourist admiring an art piece, snapping a few artistic shots of his own.

Noticing this, Juanjuan puffed out her cheeks and, with her long lashes shading her eyes, glanced over at Anquan. “Chen Anquan, are you taking pictures of me?”

She showed no embarrassment at all—in fact, she seemed downright gleeful at being the subject of his camera. Anquan’s actions only reaffirmed her beauty—after all, what beautiful woman doesn’t enjoy attention?

“Let me see!” Juanjuan cocked her head, stretching her neck so far it seemed to go on forever. She cast a glance at Anquan’s phone, and her smiling eyes instantly rounded like lanterns. “What kind of photos are those? You made me look awful!”

“Come here!” She reached out, grabbed him by the wrist, and tugged him closer. “Let’s take a few together!”

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Anquan replied, not at all interested in the idea, and refused outright.

“Hmph!” Juanjuan was visibly annoyed. She was already being so forward, yet this man still wasn’t willing to take a photo with her?

“Giving you a chance, and you don’t know how to cherish it,” she muttered under her breath.

“Fine, I appreciate it—happy now?” Anquan scratched the back of his head and reluctantly moved to her side.

As an honest man, he was never fond of taking pictures, let alone with such a beautiful woman.

Suddenly, Juanjuan pulled him a few steps to the side. He was surprised and puzzled, “What are you doing?”

She pointed indignantly at the red flower behind them, “You’re blocking the flowers! How are we supposed to take a proper photo together?”

“Alright,” Anquan said helplessly, making room so the flowers would show in the shot.

Click!

Soon enough, there were photos of the two of them together on Juanjuan’s phone. She made a trendy gesture with her fingers, while Anquan wore an expression as if he’d just been punched—clearly reluctant.

“All done. You can go now,” Juanjuan said coolly, glancing at him.

Anquan was speechless—tossed aside when she was satisfied?

Without another word, she pulled out a pair of scissors from her red hiking backpack.

“Don’t!” Anquan hurried to stop her.

It was one thing to forage for herbs on the mountain, but another entirely to destroy the trees and flowers—such behavior was unacceptable.

“These are all wild. If you can dig up medicinal plants, why can’t I pick a flower?” She wasn’t about to back down. Without waiting for his approval, she raised the scissors and snipped at the base of the plant.

The blood-red, regal bloom had stems like those of a rose, but without any thorns.

Woof! Woof! Woof!

Suddenly, the dog that had been lying on the ground, playing the part of a silent observer, leapt to its feet. It stared intently in the direction from which they had come and barked furiously, its voice loud and full of warning.

“What is it, pup?” Juanjuan, as the dog’s owner, immediately sensed her pet had detected some kind of danger.

Chen Anquan, possessing agility and alertness far beyond the average person, also sensed something was wrong. He couldn’t match a dog’s nose, but his hearing was nearly as sharp.

In the distance, the earth rumbled and there came the sound of thick branches being snapped apart. By his estimation, whatever approached weighed at least six or seven hundred pounds!

Six or seven hundred pounds?

Impossible. A wild boar typically weighed just over two hundred pounds. Even three or four hundred was rare.

The largest wild boar he’d ever seen was three or four hundred pounds, and that was already enormous.

“Could it be...?”

A bad premonition settled in his heart.

He didn’t believe they’d run into a long-extinct South China tiger or a leopard, but that didn’t rule out the possibility of a mutated beast.

Like a mutant wild boar, for instance.

Woof! Woof! Woof!

The dog’s barking grew even more frenzied.

Anquan turned and stepped protectively in front of Juanjuan. “Hold onto those flowers and plants. I think whatever’s coming is after them!”

No need to overthink it—this had to be a special plant, or else the beast wouldn’t have appeared at this moment.

“Okay.” The sudden noise had already frightened Juanjuan out of her wits. She obediently did as Anquan told her.

Crash!

Just then, the dense forest ahead began to shake violently. Three black figures burst out of the trees.

Three of them?

Anquan was certain: the largest was a mutant wild boar!

The trio charged like off-road motorcycles, bursting from the woods in the blink of an eye and appearing before Anquan.

Three wild boars, each with long, curved tusks, lowered their heads and fixed their beady eyes on Anquan and the dog.

Anquan saw that the middle boar stood at least two-thirds his own height, while the two on either side reached up to his hip.

A mutant behemoth of six or seven hundred pounds, flanked by two three-hundred-pound giants!

Woof!

The dog, fearless, charged one of the large boars.

The mutant boar and its companion barreled straight toward Anquan.

“Ah!” The sight terrified Juanjuan out of her mind. Instinctively, she clung to Anquan’s back with both hands, frozen like a drenched, frightened chick.

There was no way Anquan would face down nearly a thousand pounds of rampaging beasts head-on—that would be suicide!

Woof! Woof! Woof!

The dog didn’t wait for death, launching itself at its foe.

But in an instant, it was sent flying by the charging boar.

A howl of pain!

The fierce pit bull was tossed like a ragged tire, flung dozens of meters away and slammed to the ground.

It lay on its side, legs flailing desperately, unable to rise. All it could do was stare helplessly at Anquan and Juanjuan, whimpering, “Woof! Woof! Woof!”

Meanwhile, Anquan spun around, wrapped his arm around Juanjuan’s waist, and dashed to the side as fast as he could.

Luckily, Juanjuan weighed barely 110 pounds—compared to the six-hundred-pound boulder he’d trained with last night, she was as light as an inflatable toy!

There, in the woods, a girl in red and black sportswear found herself suddenly slung over the shoulder of a well-built man. Anquan showed no gentleness; he simply hoisted Juanjuan onto his shoulder and sprinted away.

Crash, crash, crash!

A swath of underbrush was uprooted by Anquan’s rapid charge.

In an instant, the two massive boars were upon them.

Their thick hides and dense muscle didn’t feel a thing as they plowed through the brush, tearing it up by the roots.

The next moment, Anquan, with Juanjuan over his shoulder, stopped and watched the two wild boars that had already come to a halt behind them.

He tried to steady his breathing, his emotions running high.

What a rare opportunity for a real workout—if not for the burden of Juanjuan, he could have enjoyed a true brawl!

As he carried her, Juanjuan was both frightened and grateful. She didn’t complain about his roughness; instead, she was thankful that Anquan had saved her life once again.

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