Jiang Kai succeeded as expected. Under the effect of the neurotoxin, the Venomous Wild Boar didn't run far before it started convulsing and collapsed, soon breathing its last.

Jiang Kai immediately recognized it by its amber eyes, despite the fact that dozens of its steel quills were missing.

It wasn't just a coincidence; Jiang Kai had been looking for the Venomous Wild Boar and deliberately headed in the direction of the one that had once chased him.

[Killed Venomous Wild Boar, gained 2 experience points]

[Acquired item "Venomous Wild Boar's corpse"]

Yuan Zhu came running over excitedly, "Hey, when did you get this good? You weren't even that accurate when we played basketball."

Throwing barehanded from ten meters away and hitting the target was something not everyone could do without practice.

Jiang Kai, busy collecting the steel quills, replied irritably, "Stop babbling and help pluck the quills."

Su Nuannuan also came over to help, and the three of them collected over a hundred steel quills.

These quills were naturally paralyzing, and while not extremely toxic, they were more effective than bare quills.

"Nuannuan, how many quills can you coat with snake venom?"

"About 40."

Jiang Kai nodded, "Then coat 40 of them."

Su Nuannuan hesitated for a moment and said, a bit embarrassed, "They need to be cleaned first because I don't know if the paralyzing toxin will conflict with the snake venom."

"Then let's go to the river to clean them."

...

After cleaning and processing, 42 quills were coated with venom.

"Fourteen each," Jiang Kai said.

Yuan Zhu shook his head, "I think Nuannuan and I should just keep one each for self-defense. You take the remaining 40. We don't need that many; we can't do long-range attacks. What do you think, Nuannuan?"

Su Nuannuan nodded, "I agree, one is enough for close combat."

Stolen story; please report.

Jiang Kai frowned. If he killed the beasts, the experience would be his.

"Isn't that unfair? Aren't you two going to level up?" Jiang Kai didn't want to take advantage.

Su Nuannuan smiled, "You leveling up first is the same. Once you're stronger, you can help us level up faster."

That made sense, but Jiang Kai was determined to give them opportunities to make kills whenever possible.

The three divided the quills, with Yuan Zhu and Su Nuannuan each getting one venom-coated quill, and Jiang Kai receiving 40 venom-coated quills and 74 paralyzing quills.

He made three simple quivers from animal hide, one for the venom-coated quills and two for the paralyzing ones.

Yuan Zhu temporarily helped Jiang Kai carry one quiver to avoid restricting his movement.

As the three were discussing their next move, Zhu suddenly let out a strange cry.

Jiang Kai and Su Nuannuan were startled by his sudden outburst. Jiang Kai slapped Yuan Zhu on the back, "What are you doing, making a fuss? You'll attract beasts!"

Yuan Zhu's eyes widened in fear as he pointed at the river, "What... what is that!"

Jiang Kai sensed something was wrong and immediately became alert, turning to look at the river.

In the river, a shadowy figure was faintly visible... Before long, the shadow emerged from the water.

A man dressed in black with long hair walked out of the river!

At that moment, Jiang Kai heard human laughter from behind!

Hearing the voices, the three quickly turned around.

Three figures emerged from the dense forest.

The three surrounded them from different directions, and with the man from the river, Jiang Kai and his friends were encircled!

They were all Asian men, around 1.75 meters tall, with sinister smiles on their faces.

Dressed in black long clothes and pants, they held weapons like scimitars and long knives, advancing menacingly towards Jiang Kai and his friends.

Seeing these four, Jiang Kai's heart sank.

Judging by their attire, they were likely stowaways.

Newcomers couldn't possibly have clothes or proper weapons!

"Stowaways!" Su Nuannuan realized this too and said in a trembling voice.

The three stood back-to-back, forming a circle, clutching the Venomous Wild Boar's quills, nervously watching the men.

"Hahaha, we really caught some stragglers," one stowaway said in broken Chinese, laughing, "And there's a pretty girl too!"

As they spoke, they continued to close in, tightening the circle.

"I must say, I love being a stowaway. Every time we kill newcomers from China, it's such a delightful experience!" a man with a black mole on his nose sneered.

His companion laughed, "You're lucky to have met us."

"Earlier, we caught three newcomers and threw them into a pack of Shadowless Wolves. Just as they were about to be bitten to death, we saved them, only to have the Six-Clawed Golden Monkey tear their bodies apart and rip open their chests!"

"They begged us to kill them in their agony, even offering us money."

"Tsk tsk tsk, begging us to kill them and offering money, are all you Chinese this pathetic?"

The man with the black mole burst out laughing, "How can you say that? It's generosity, but they lack courage. They should learn from our samurai spirit and commit seppuku."

"They'd like to, but they can't move because their limbs are chewed to a pulp," his companion laughed.

Hearing this, Jiang Kai narrowed his eyes slightly.

He knew stowaways would come to obstruct the newcomer trials from China, but he hadn't imagined they would use such cruel methods!

Beside him, Su Nuannuan whispered, "Don't listen to them. They're trying to scare us and break us down mentally!"

Zhu whispered shakily, "Kai, I'm... I'm scared... I don't want to die!"

Jiang Kai took several deep breaths to calm himself quickly.

"If you don't want to die, fight them!" Jiang Kai said.

"Listen to me, I'll count to three. Zhu, you block the enemies on the left and in front, Nuannuan, you run to the right and hold off the one there. That way, I have a chance to escape!" Jiang Kai whispered to his companions, "You must wait for me!"

"Split up... okay." Zhu didn't want to separate from his companions, but now wasn't the time to argue.

Su Nuannuan glanced at Jiang Kai beside her.

After all they'd been through, surviving together and clearing snake nests, she no longer doubted that Jiang Kai wouldn't leave them behind.

"Three, two, one, run!"

At Jiang Kai's command, Yuan Zhu and Su Nuannuan moved simultaneously.

Zhu charged forward to the left, his large frame needing two people to stop him.

Su Nuannuan dashed to the right.

The two successfully diverted the attention of three enemies.

Jiang Kai took a few steps to the right, and almost simultaneously, the man from the water leaped up, "You think you can run, you trash?!"

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Kai made a sharp turn and dashed toward Yuan Zhu's direction.

"Kai, run!" Yuan Zhu covered for Jiang Kai, crashing into the enemy.

Jiang Kai's high agility and sudden change of direction caught the enemy off guard, allowing him to slip into the underbrush!

Seeing someone escape right under their noses, the man with the black mole shouted at his soaking wet companion, "Baka, how dare they mock us, go after him!"

"Catch that guy, I want to torture him for two days!"

[Author's Note]: Fourth update, please vote!