Mark breathed a sigh of relief with satisfaction. Just as he was about to continue picking wild fruits, he suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the nearby bushes. The tiny sound was particularly clear in the silent forest, like an invisible venomous snake, quietly crawling into his cochlea. He looked around vigilantly. The dense forest blocked the sun, and the sunlight could only shine through the gaps between the branches and leaves, making the surrounding light dim. He clenched his fists, his knuckles slightly white, ready to deal with sudden dangers at any time. The mountain breeze blew, and the leaves rustled.
The bushes shook more and more violently, and the amplitude became larger and larger, as if some huge monster was about to break out of the ground. Mark's heartbeat accelerated involuntarily. He held his breath, stared at the bushes closely, squatted slightly, and was ready to dodge at any time. A strong fishy smell drifted with the mountain breeze, making him even more uneasy.
"Huff, huff..." A heavy gasp came from the bushes, and then a huge wild boar rushed out of the bushes and ran straight towards Mark. The wild boar was covered with black hair, with exposed fangs, and blood-red eyes flashing with fierce light, like an evil ghost from hell. Its huge body was like a hill, and it was shaking the earth and mountains when it ran, and it was fierce and aggressive.
Mark dodged the wild boar's attack flexibly by moving sideways. The wild boar's fangs almost brushed his clothes, and he could even feel the cold air emanating from the fangs. He quickly jumped back to distance himself from the wild boar, and at the same time, gravel splashed under his feet, making a "crackling" sound.
He mobilized the earth element energy in his body, quickly formed seals with his hands, and muttered something in his mouth. The earth-yellow light flashed in his hands and quickly condensed into a thick earth shield to block in front of him. The surface of the earth shield was rough, like a rock, exuding a heavy and stable atmosphere.
"Bang!" With a loud bang, the wild boar hit the earth shield hard. The earth shield vibrated violently and made a "buzzing" sound, but it finally resisted the wild boar's attack. The wild boar was knocked back a few steps by the huge recoil force, shook its head, and seemed a little dizzy. The surrounding trees were also rustling, and the leaves fell one after another.
Mark took advantage of the moment when the wild boar was knocked back to condense the earth element energy again. This time, the energy rotated rapidly in his hand, forming a sharp earth thorn. The surface of the earth thorn flashed with earthy yellow light, like a sharp dagger, exuding a dangerous breath. He stabbed the earth thorn at the wild boar fiercely.
With a "puff", the earth thorn accurately hit the wild boar's flank, and blood gushed out, dyeing the surrounding soil and grass red. The wild boar let out a painful howl, the sound was shrill, and echoed in the valley. It struggled to stand up, but eventually fell down powerlessly, and its body twitched a few times, and then there was no movement. The air around was filled with a strong smell of blood.
Mark did not chase after it. He knew that although the wild boar was huge, it had strong vitality. If he could not kill it with one blow, it would anger it and put himself in danger. He vigilantly observed the situation around him, sweeping his eyes over every tree and bush, and only walked slowly to the wild boar's body after ensuring that there was no other danger.
He squatted down and carefully checked the wild boar's wounds to confirm that it was completely dead. Then he stood up, patted the dust off his body, turned around and walked towards the fruit tree, and continued to pick wild fruits to fill his stomach. Picking a wild fruit, wiping it on his clothes, Mark took a bite, and the sweet and sour juice instantly filled his mouth.
"It tastes good." He whispered, and his expression relaxed.
Mark picked a few more wild fruits, stuffed them into his mouth, chewed them, and felt the sweet and sour taste of the wild fruits. He looked up at the sky. The sun had begun to set in the west. The sunlight shone through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on the ground.
"I have to find a place to spend the night." Mark said to himself, while reaching out to wipe the juice from the corner of his mouth.
He looked around and locked his eyes on a depression in the mountain wall. The depression was not big, but it was enough to shelter from the wind and rain. Mark walked quickly to the depression in the mountain wall, carefully checked the surrounding environment, and after confirming that there was no obvious danger, he took off the package on his back and put it on the ground.
He took out some hay and leaves from the package and spread them on the ground to make a simple bed. Mark sat down on the hay bed.
At this time, a sound of footsteps came from a distance, from far to near. Mark immediately became alert. He quickly stood up, clenched his fists, and looked vigilantly in the direction of the footsteps.
A man in leather armor walked out of the woods. The man was tall, with a beard, and a look of fatigue on his face. He saw Mark, paused slightly, and then continued to walk forward.
"Hello." The man walked in front of Mark, stopped, and said in a calm tone.
Mark did not relax his vigilance, but just nodded slightly as a response.
"My name is Moloch." The man introduced himself, "I'm lost. Do you know how to get out of this forest?"
Mark looked Moloch up and down, his eyes stayed on his leather armor for a moment, and then he said: "Go east along this road and you will get out of the forest." He pointed to a path behind him.
Moloch looked in the direction Mark pointed and nodded, "Thank you."
He turned his head to leave, but as if he remembered something, he turned back and took a small cloth bag from his waist and handed it to Mark, "I think you need this if you stay here overnight."
Mark hesitated for a moment, and finally took the cloth bag. The cloth bag was heavy in his hand, and it seemed to contain some hard objects.
"There are some dry food in it," Moloch explained, "It should be enough for you to eat for a few days."
"Thank you." Mark said again, this time his tone was slightly softer than before.
Moloch smiled slightly, turned around and walked east along the path, and his figure quickly disappeared in the dense woods.
Mark stood there, looking at the direction Moloch left, holding the cloth bag in his hand, with mixed feelings in his heart. He untied the rope of the cloth bag and took a look inside, which contained some hard biscuits and some dried meat strips.