"What? You filmed a video?"

"What video?"

Jiang Cai’Er then showed everyone the video she had recorded.

Everyone was shocked once again. A group of grown men crowded around the phone, watching it over and over, speechless for a long time. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

’Is this guy even human? It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was a Celestial God descended to earth.’

Even a tiger couldn’t have taken down a wild boar that cleanly.

Besides, this boar had "armor," and tigers usually wouldn’t dare provoke one so easily.

From the tracks at the scene, everyone had already pieced together what must have happened. Li Xiang was certainly incredible, but the reality of the scene was even beyond their imagination, far more shocking.

Just then, Li Xiang returned. Everyone crowded around him, showering him with praise, but they all fell silent when they saw his spirits were low.

The village chief, Li Jinyu, asked, "What do you plan to do with this boar?"

Li Xiang said, "I’ll have to trouble a few of the uncles to help me butcher this pig. Let’s divide the meat among the villagers."

He knew that everyone was running low on supplies, especially meat. This boar was so large it would be perfect for giving each family a share.

Village Chief Li Jinyu shook his head. "We can help you butcher it, but as for the meat, each family can take two pounds at most."

This was all Li Xiang’s prize, so the lion’s share naturally had to be left for him. Two pounds was already a lot; they would be too embarrassed to ask for more.

As for the rest, Li Xiang could cure what he couldn’t eat. It wasn’t far from the New Year, so this could be considered his New Year’s pig.

Right, Li Xiang’s family didn’t raise pigs, so this counted as an early New Year’s butchering.

Everyone got excited and sprang into action. Some went to boil water while others rushed home to grab tools: scrapers for the bristles, small cleavers for deboning, large choppers for breaking bones, iron hooks, a butchering rack, iron skewers, and so on.

Since the boar’s head was already chopped off, the small knives used for slitting the throat and bleeding it out were unnecessary.

The village often butchered a pig for the New Year. Although many of these elders were quite old, they had been the main hands in their youth and were very experienced. Now, they were just dealing with a dead pig, which greatly reduced the difficulty. The only thing everyone regretted was that most of the pig’s blood had already drained out and gone to waste.

Otherwise, they could have made a pot of spicy pig’s blood. On a snowy day like this, the numbingly spicy and savory dish would have been an incredible accompaniment to rice.

When the news spread, it caused a sensation in the village. Everyone came to Li Xiang’s backyard to watch the excitement. They became even happier when they heard that every household would get two pounds of wild boar meat.

For twenty-some households, that would be about forty or fifty pounds of meat.

The joyous atmosphere diluted the earlier sorrow. Only Er Huang remained curled up alone in the doghouse, having lost all his usual playful energy.

This armored boar was even harder to process than a regular one. A thick "Armor" of mixed pine resin and mud was caked onto its hide, making it extremely difficult to work on. Even in such cold weather, everyone was sweating from the effort. Thankfully, they managed to get it all cleaned off in the end.

When the work was done and the crowd dispersed, everyone happily took their pork home. The village chief had overseen the distribution, ensuring it was absolutely fair. Besides, this was a free gift from Li Xiang, so no one could be too picky about whether their cut was a bit fattier, leaner, or from a less desirable part. Everyone was quite happy.

Some of the offal that Li Xiang didn’t want was also given to the elders who had helped with the work.

Third Granny didn’t take any pork. She was already living and eating at Li Xiang’s house, so what need did she have for it? Everyone laughed, saying that although Third Granny’s house had collapsed, she was now living in comfort.

Third Granny quickly agreed, saying she felt like she had clearly gotten fatter in the few days she’d been at Li Xiang’s.

Everyone else had noticed it too. Third Granny’s face had filled out a bit, no longer just skin and bones like before. She even seemed sturdier. That’s why they had been joking around earlier.

Li Xiang gave the ferocious-looking boar’s head to Jiang Jianguo, because he knew Uncle Jiang liked to eat pork head meat. When he was little, Uncle Jiang would often come over to drink with his father, and their favorite bar snack was always pork head meat.

Uncle Jiang was a little touched. ’This kid is thoughtful,’ he thought. ’He still remembers I have a taste for this.’

Night fell, and Er Huang still hadn’t eaten. Grandma felt sorry for him and had replaced his food with a warm meal several times, but he had no appetite.

Grandma was comforting him with a sigh when Li Xiang came over with a large bowl of pork and vermicelli stew. He poured it into the dog bowl and said to the dog, "The meat in here is from that wild boar. It killed your big brother. Us eating it is a way of getting revenge for Dahuang!"

Er Huang was very Spiritual and seemed to understand Li Xiang’s words. His eyes immediately lit up, and he jumped up and pounced on the bowl, gobbling down the food.

Li Xiang patted his head, then helped Grandma back inside the house.

「Early the next morning」

Li Xiang grabbed a shovel and started building a wall in his backyard.

He planned to use the materials on site to build an Ice and Snow Great Wall that would enclose the entire backyard.

For one, it would be a scenic feature. For another, the heavy snow was expected to last for another ten days or so, and the wall could serve as a barrier. Once frozen, the Ice and Snow City Wall would be incredibly hard, so even if another wild boar appeared, it probably wouldn’t be able to break in easily.

There was a massive amount of snow piled up in the backyard; it would be a waste not to use it. As for a real wall, that would have to wait until the weather cleared and the snow melted.

He circulated his Breathing Technique and used his Body Techniques, turning the labor into a form of Cultivation.

Shovel by shovel, he piled up the snow, compacted it, and then began to sculpt it once the volume was large enough. Who would have thought that one could build an Ice and Snow Castle with natural snow south of the Yangtze River?

Meanwhile, Grandma was processing the pork. Li Xiang had already chopped it into strips the previous night, and today Grandma began to cure it. In a few days, she would smoke it with pine branches to make smoked pork.

Even after giving some to the villagers, they still had over three hundred pounds left at home. It was more than they could eat, way more.

Li Xiang planned to take fifty pounds to his Little Aunt when he had time, so she wouldn’t have to buy meat for the New Year.

As for his other two aunts, he wouldn’t bother.

After hearing this, Grandma was silent for a moment, then decided not to interfere, letting him handle it. She felt that her grandson had grown up and was now the one making the decisions for the family.

Li Xiang was saddened by the death of his loyal dog, Dahuang, but not overly so. It wasn’t that he was cold-hearted, but because he had come from the Apocalypse and had been through far, far too much. During the Apocalypse, a population of nearly ten billion had been reduced to less than one hundred million. Not even one in a hundred survived, a testament to its cruelty.

No one ever knows whether tomorrow or an accident will come first.

Jiang Cai’Er ran over excitedly. The video of Brother Xiang slaying the wild boar with a single strike had gone viral. His follower count was skyrocketing, gaining over 200,000 in less than a day. Combined with his previous followers, he now had over 400,000. Breaking the 500,000 mark was just around the corner, and it was possible he could even reach seven or eight hundred thousand.

She came over to share the good news with Li Xiang, but her smile vanished when she saw he was looking dejected.

Although Jiang Cai’Er was also sad and regretful about Dahuang’s death, he wasn’t her dog, so after a brief period of sorrow, she moved on. But the impact on Li Xiang would undoubtedly last longer.

"I know. I saw the comments," Li Xiang said flatly. The account was his, so of course he knew about the surge in followers. But with the incomparably loyal and brave Dahuang dead, there was no way he could feel happy about it.

"Mhm, mhm, Brother Xiang, let me help you build the Ice and Snow Castle! When it’s done, I’ll be Elsa and sing a song—’Let It Go’..."

It had to be said, Jiang Cai’Er was like a playful little pixie. Her arrival and companionship started to lift Li Xiang’s spirits.

The dead are gone, but the living must go on.