Yue Rin waited slightly this time, and as the boar neared, she dodged, letting its tusks get slightly stuck in the tree, before she ran toward the tree that had the vine, and with her sword, she cut a long section of it off.
Looking back and seeing the boar was about to free itself, she began wrapping the middle of the vine around the hilt of her sword, and by the time she finished, the boar was already on her. She dashed aside, and with a slight reflex, she used Needle Draw on its eyes, trying to blind both of them.
But she got too greedy by trying to kill two birds with one stone. As her sword was about to slash the boar's eyes, it hit its right eye skin first, and although that wouldn't have made her slash fail normally, it gave the boar half a breath to tilt its head just slightly, making her sword pass a hair from its eyes.
Yue Rin, seeing it fail, immediately backed away.
"Tsk… I really am growing overconfident. If that was another cultivator, I would be punished for that by now."
Seeing the boar bring up dust and about to charge again, Yue Rin couldn't help but sigh at how simple it was. It almost made it seem cuter than that huge turtle.
As she listened to the ground and dodged, this time she didn't get greedy and only took one of its eyes in a single slash. As half of its vision vanished, the boar grew frenzied, and the other eye slowly turned red, but its attacks remained predictable, just more dangerous.
After a few moments, its other eye got taken out too, leading it to smash into the ground, giving Yue Rin the time she needed to implement her plan.
She went to a tree, put down her sword in front of it, then grabbed one end of the vine around the tree to the back, before doing the same for the other end of the vine. She then held them both and used them to lift her sword that was on the other side of the tree above the ground, just below her chest level, and tied both ends securely.
By the time she did, the boar had already stood up, but due to losing both eyes, it couldn't locate her. So instead it used its hearing.
Yue Rin knew that, so she slowly walked from behind the tree, speaking toward it.
"Pspspsps."
The boar located her through the noise and charged at her, but Yue Rin dodged, then walked as far away from the tree holding her sword and spoke again.
"Pspspsps."
The boar stopped, then charged again, frenzied, and it yet again missed.
This time Yue Rin ran in front of her sword and said, "Charge at me to die!"
The boar, not understanding her, charged as always. And as Yue Rin dodged, her sword, due to how fast the boar was running, especially in its frenzied state, smashed its tip through its skin, then skull, stabbing its brain and killing it.
She clicked her tongue. "You should have been smarter than that, Mr. Boar. Who runs headfirst into a sword?"
Her voice was followed by a large thud as the boar fell on its side, ripping the vines the sword was bound to, and taking it with it.
Yue Rin grabbed it by the hilt and dug it out of the boar. Seeing the sludge on its tip immediately made her regret that and she heaved. She wiped it on the ground, and even after none of that smudge remained, she didn't think it was enough. She set her bag down, grabbed her waterskin, and used some water to rinse the blade.
After the cleaning was done, she looked at the boar, and immediately smacked her head, realizing she should have bought a knife. Though her sword could work fine, it will make things more troublesome.
Remembering the process, Yue Rin still felt herself resisting the idea even after she'd done it multiple times before, but she reminded herself she didn't need to gut the animal or anything.
So she kneeled in front of it, and using her sword, she dug it deep below its neck until it reached the skin, then slashed its throat and let the blood drip out.
Usually you would hang the animal from its leg upside down so gravity can speed up the drainage, but looking at the big boar in front of her, Yue Rin abandoned the idea and decided to do other things while it drained.
She went around and found a big stone that could serve as a table, then dragged it closer to the boar. She collected smaller rocks and used them to circle the stone, then grabbed fallen branches and broke them down into smaller ones before stacking them in the ring.
She went back to her bag, and as her hand reached for the flint and steel, she saw the smoke pearl bottle and remembered she'd put one in her pocket earlier.
…Yeah. That was stupid. A blind boar couldn't see anyway.
Still, instead of returning it, she kept it in her pocket, then took the flint and steel. She lit a few dry leaves and fed them into the branches until the fire caught, after that, she figured the boar had drained enough and went back to it.
This time she pressed the sword into the middle of its belly skin, cut it open, then pushed the blade under the hide and began to peel it back.
After some time, her hands felt tired, so she stopped. She had torn away a big patch of skin, and meat showed beneath it. The stench that wafted out made the drool that wanted to seep out retreat instantly. And she began breathing through her mouth instead.
Then she cut small chunks out, using the back of the stripped hide as a place to set them on.
After she decided the amount was enough, she rinsed her hands, grabbed some branches, cleaned them, and skewered the meat. Then she returned to the fire. By now, the flames had faded into charcoal. She used the surrounding stones to prop the skewers so the meat could cook over the coals.
Why not a normal fire? Because Yue Rin had learned that due to the inconsistent heat of open flame, it might not cook the meat fully, unlike charcoal which held steady heat.
After skewering more, she decided this was enough. It would serve her current meal.
As for the rest of the boar? She can't do much about it, make jerky? Yue Rin did think of that, but she'd never learned how to make proper jerky, so she didn't do it.
As for the blood and meat attracting danger, Yue Rin shook her head. Spirit beasts were highly territorial. If a spirit beast sensed another spirit beast entering its territory, it would immediately go to kill it or drive it off, especially those of another species. And the fact this boar had stayed here long enough to guard something meant stronger ones probably weren't nearby. As for normal animals, they usually avoided cultivators entirely.
Speaking of what the boar was guarding, Yue Rin still hadn't found anything unusual while gathering stone and branches. A spirit beast could guard whatever it personally deemed valuable, so it could be something useless too.
"Yawn…"
Yue Rin stretched, then flipped the meat again. She had thought she could skip sleeping and continue walking, but honestly, what was there to rush? There were still around 28 days left until the secret realm closes. Plus, once she woke up, the sun would be up and she could search properly for whatever this boar had been guarding.
As the smell of cooked meat began to spread, Yue RIn picked up one skewer to inspect it. Seeing no pink inside, she decided it was enough and bit down.
Instead of bland disappointment, a rich taste spread across her tongue.
She was glad she didn't have one of those 'I miss spices' moments as a transmigrator.
That was still true for normal animals, but spirit beast meat was just delicious in its own way.
As she ate, she grew thirsty and drank from her waterskin.
After she finishes, she should climb a farther tree from the here so the smell wouldn't cling to her, and sleep on one of its branches.