Old Ox Back.

The sky had just begun to lighten when Qin Fang arrived at the foot of the mountain. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

His eyes glinted as he gazed at the great mountain before him.

He had scouted it once yesterday, but he hadn’t noticed anything unusual on the back side while going up or down.

This time, he planned to ascend from the side, which would make it easier to observe the hidden cave on the front cliff face.

Xiao Qi wasn’t with him this time, and since it was just a straight climb up, Qin Fang didn’t hold back.

He took a deep breath, then pushed off with his legs, launching himself straight up.

His body was incredibly nimble. A single leap carried him five or six meters high. He would pause on a tree to find his footing, then push off again to jump to an even higher one.

This method was far faster than climbing from the ground.

The fruits of his months of arduous training were on full display. His movements were fluid and natural, like a Spiritual Ape, using both hands and feet to ascend via the trees on the mountainside.

During this process, his longest vertical leap even exceeded seven or eight meters!

That was almost the height of two of the Long Family’s courtyard walls.

It was a testament to the terrifying scale of his improvement over the past six months.

...Back when he killed Wang Long, he had to put in a herculean effort... ’Thinking about it now, I was in a pretty miserable state back then.’

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH...

As he climbed ever higher, Qin Fang’s eyes scanned the mountainside, searching for any obvious traces.

After all, that boar weighed well over a thousand pounds. If it had been here, it would have most likely left some tracks.

However... it had been over two months, and now, in the vibrant heart of spring, the plants were growing so fast that any traces left behind would likely have been covered up.

But Qin Fang had no other choice. He could only hope to find something.

’Otherwise... I’ll have to take a risk.’

As he thought this, his hands and feet never stopped moving. This was probably the first time he had so freely unleashed his full strength, and the feeling was exhilarating.

In less than twenty minutes, he had already reached the mountainside, countless times faster than the day before.

At this rate, it would take ten more minutes at most to reach the summit.

The summit was drawing closer, but he still hadn’t found any suspicious traces. Qin Fang’s brow furrowed slightly. Just as he was wondering if he should risk descending from the top, his gaze suddenly sharpened, and he quickly came to a halt on a tree branch.

His eyes narrowed, focusing on a spot below.

He was looking at a large tree growing on the slope, so massive it would take a person’s full embrace to circle its trunk.

But that wasn’t the crucial part... The crucial part was that the bark of this great tree bore the distinct marks of having been rubbed by something.

His eyes lit up at the sight. With a flash of movement, he flitted past several trees and arrived at the base of that one.

He touched the markings on the trunk. Then, squinting, he plucked a coarse black hair from a piece of bark that resembled a dragon’s scale and hadn’t yet fallen off.

...He was very familiar with this black hair.

After all, he had personally butchered half of a Wild Boar King.

...Including shaving its bristles!

This was undoubtedly the bristle of the Pig King.

And the marks, needless to say... were definitely from that Wild Boar King rubbing against it!

Wild boars love rubbing against trees. Their hides are full of parasites like fleas and ticks that bite them constantly. Rubbing against trees not only relieves the itch, but the resin from many trees also acts as a natural insect repellent.

Another reason is to enhance their defenses... By rubbing their hides, they make their skin thicker, tougher, and more resilient.

...Similar to Qin Fang’s own Training Method.

An adult wild boar doesn’t even fear a tiger, precisely because of the solid armor it acquires from rubbing against trees.

The appearance of this tree meant that the Wild Boar King frequented this area.

Qin Fang carefully observed his surroundings, and soon his eyes lit up again... because not far away, he saw another tree that had been rubbed.

’That’s right,’ he thought. ’Boars also rub against trees for another reason: to mark their territory!’

’It seems I’ve found its territory.’

Without hesitation, Qin Fang followed the trail of marked trees.

He then discovered that it wasn’t a direct path upward, but a trail that spiraled up the mountain.

This made Qin Fang even more expectant. It seemed he had finally found it.

After another ten minutes or so, Qin Fang finally stopped... A cave had appeared before him.

This cave was impossible to see from below, as it was completely obscured by a dense tangle of weeds, thorns, and trees.

Qin Fang had followed the Wild Boar King’s tracks through a long stretch of thorny brush to get here.

...A huge, round tunnel had been bored through the brush, and many of the thorns were snagged with black bristles, indicating that the Wild Boar King frequently squeezed through.

Seeing the cave, Qin Fang let out a long breath. He held a knife in one hand and took out his Darts with the other, then carefully stepped inside.

As he entered the cave, he immediately felt a bone-chilling cold. The entrance was not very high, only about two meters, and the inside was pitch-black.

Qin Fang hadn’t prepared a torch or anything of the sort. He simply stood at the entrance for a moment, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light, before slowly heading deeper inside.

...A torch, in truth, has a very limited range of visibility. Moreover, if it goes out, it can leave a person momentarily blind, and it takes a long time for their vision to recover.

If many people were entering a cave at once, a torch would be necessary... The combined light of multiple torches would greatly expand the visible area.

But for a single person entering a potentially dangerous, unknown area, it was actually better to rely on one’s own eyes.