"That's not a wild boar, it's a wild boar monster. It isn't that the wild boar is frightened, but that the boar monster is running amok. The Calm Heart Talisman can soothe a scared wild boar, but it can't stop a wild boar that's going mad," Thomas grabbed Zheng Qing, who was raring to go, and seriously warned him, "Wizards never act rashly, do you know what kind of monster you're facing?"
"Boar... Monster!" Zheng Qing felt his scalp tighten slightly.
In countless literary works, monsters mostly play the role of brutal and bloodthirsty characters.
When Zheng Qing was a child, he always thought that monsters lived in caves, raised a group of jackal, wolf, tiger beasts, kidnapped some beauties for amusement, caught a few pedestrians or merchants for meals when hungry. A few monsters would occasionally argue about how to cook human flesh —whether to steam it for tenderness, or stir-fry it for chewiness.
As Zheng Qing gradually matured he realized those stories were just stories from books.
Later on, he accompanied his teacher to Hui Zi Ji.
After returning from Hui Zi Ji, Zheng Qing once asked his teacher if monsters existed in the world.
The teacher said, yes.
Do monsters eat people? Zheng Qing persisted in asking.
The teacher said, yes.
What should one do if encounter a monster? Zheng Qing then felt as if the whole world had dimmed.
The teacher, surprised by his question, naturally responded, "Of course, if you encounter a monster you run! You are just a feeble scholar; if you don't run, are you going to play the role of the Buddha who sacrificed himself to feed the eagle?"
As for what monsters looked like, Zheng Qing asked many times and each time, the teacher's answer was different.
Sometimes the teacher would say that monsters had green faces and long fangs, were hundreds of feet long, with thick smoke rolling from their eyes, and molten lava flowing from their mouths.
Sometimes, the teacher said that monsters were a swarm of small insects that were endless and annoying.
The teacher also said that monsters looked just like humans. You wouldn't even know it was a monster if it didn't eat people.
On the street of Four Seasons Pavilion, Zheng Qing carefully examined the agitated wild boar monster not far away, murmuring to himself, "Monsters look like pigs! The teacher is always lying."
The wild boar monster roared, brandishing a pair of pale tusks, and heavily rushed towards a magic supplies shop.
The wooden sign hanging at the entrance of the shop was directly knocked off by it, and behind the sign, a huge furnace was overturned by the tusks, tumbling down the road.
Stopping in its tracks, shaking off the wood chips from its head, the wild boar, with red eyes, headed towards the next shop.
"Is it brainless?" Zheng Qing watched the wild boar monster, running wildly around the street. Its image was far removed from the fierce and violent one he had imagined.
"This is a newly transformed wild demon. Its actions are entirely based on instinct. It could also be understood as 'brainless'," Standing in the magical barrier, Thomas looked very relaxed, and casually explained to Zheng Qing.
"What's a wild demon?"
"The lowest level of monsters. Except for the Demon King in the wild demon group, wild demons generally aren't intelligent. They are like a group of greedy hyenas, chasing the joy of blood and flesh. Wizards are their favorite prey."
"But there are so many wizards on the road, why is this wild boar just running around?" Zheng Qing thought that even a mad dog on the street would chase and bite pedestrians. A mad monster should act more bloody.
"Then you also know that we're wizards." Thomas pointed to the faint blue barrier above their heads and laughed, "What do you think this barrier is for?"
Zheng Qing had a sudden revelation.
The wild boar monster had already run to a place not far from them.
Zheng Qing could clearly see the milky white fluid flowing from the boar monster's mouth and nostrils, and its fierce and cruel, blood-red eyes.
Then he saw a greasy Da Lian hanging on the monster boar's neck.
This Da Lian looked familiar.
Zheng Qing squinted at the wild boar monster with white and black fur.
The monster's bald pig head, devoid of a single hair, looked as if it had been scalded by boiling water, bright and red.
The fat on its cheeks inflated, causing layers of thick folds on its small pig face, making its blood-red little eyes appear even deeper.
One, two, three.
The fat between the pig's face and neck squeezed out three clear folds.
"This pig looks similar to the fat man we met before." He laughed and said to Thomas, "The fat man we encountered at Cloud Think Boutique and Shangyuan Bookstore, who has a head like an ostrich egg, a triple chin, and carries an oily Da Lian over his shoulder."
Thomas did not speak, his expression becoming serious.
The wild boar monster snorted restlessly outside of the light shield, occasionally making sharp roars.
Zheng Qing stopped laughing.
All of a sudden, he felt his mouth drying up.
He looked at the boar monster again and a scary thought crossed his mind.
"The fat man didn't actually turn into a pig, did he?" he mumbled.
"It's indeed complicated for a wizard to transform into a pig, as it involves sophisticated transmutation spells," Thomas's voice seemed somewhat grave. "But to be forced to turn into a boar demon is quite simple for a wizard. Getting bitten by a demon will do."
"Bitten!" Zheng Qing felt a chill.
Outside the light shield, the wild boar demon raised its head, snorted, and gradually backed away.
Zheng Qing clutched the Tranquility talisman in his hand tightly, and carefully edged closer to Thomas.
"Very sensitive." There was laughter in Thomas' voice, but his eyes were fixed on the slowly retreating boar demon. "Excellent intuition. Maybe I should recommend you for the unrestricted freestyle fight competition at Starry Sky College."
Zheng Qing swallowed hard, his face turning somewhat pale.
It was not because of Thomas's suggestion for him to participate in the damned fight competition.
But because of the boar demon outside.
The wild boar monster, with its crimson eyes fixed on the two people inside the light shield, snorted harshly. Its sharp hooves clanged on the stone pavement of the Four Seasons Pavilion, making a Dong Dong noise.
"Why do I feel it can see us?" Zheng Qing asked in a trembling whisper.
Thomas silently flipped through his Law Book, staying quiet.
"Roar!" The wild boar monster roared shrilly and charged at them on its short stout legs, heading straight for the two beneath the light shield.
Before Zheng Qing could scream, he saw Thomas' Law Book floating in the air, the pages flipping quickly, and three symbols slowly floated out of the pages.
Zheng Qing recognized these three words.
"Yin Qi Lei!"
A breeze suddenly blew through the quiet street.
The breeze lifted a few leaves and struck the wild boar monster.
Zheng Qing held his breath, his face pale as he dumbly watched the charging boar demon.
The sharp tusks were even paler than his face.
Zheng Qing heard the screams of other wizards nearby.
It seemed that no one realized that the boar monster could see through the light shield.
This light shield was one of the standard spells released by the Alliance of Wizards, and it was at the top of the widely circulated safety spells.
A countless number of wizards have proven the effectiveness of this curse with their own experiences.
But now, under the gaze of more wizards, two figures protected by this curse were about to face a raging wild demon.
Thomas took a deep breath and looked expressionlessly at the white tusks not far away.
His left hand held the Law Book, while his right hand formed sword fingers, pointed at the boar demon, and chanted loudly,
"Yin Qi Lei, stand forth before this tusk!"