Although the giant boar was tranquilized, the crisis was far from over. It would automatically wake up in three minutes. Furthermore, tranquilization was not a hard crowd-control effect like freezing or stunning. If subjected to outside interference—like a splash of cold water or a heavy punch—the sleep effect would instantly break. Therefore, Bai Mu rushed to the ruins, shoved aside the collapsed, burning wooden frames with his shoulder, and reached out to pull the two girls trapped inside to safety.
Even when collapsed, these crude thatched huts would not cause too much harm to the people inside. Though their faces and clothes were covered in soot and their long hair was completely disheveled, the two girls managed to stand up on their own.
"Can you still walk?" Bai Mu asked.
The two young women froze for a moment, staring at his face in a daze, seemingly unable to understand a word he said.
At this moment, Bai Mu realized another frustrating problem: he could not understand their language. Communicating through speech was going to be difficult. The era of this Script was simply too ancient. Moreover, he had not received a new identity upon entering, which meant he did not gain a temporary skill for universal translation like he had in Mount Massive Asylum.
To the two girls, his words probably sounded like meaningless syllables. Abandoning verbal communication, he pointed toward the herd of deer outside the village, patted their backs, and gave them a gentle push, gesturing for them to flee in that direction.
Body language was much easier to understand, especially during this tense, life-or-death moment of survival after disaster. Although the giant boar had toppled over, those black, snake-like appendages on its body were still writhing. It exuded a heavy stench of blood and rotting flesh—undeniable symbols of lethal danger. Following his gesture, the two sisters hurried out of the village.
However, they turned their heads back several times to look at Bai Mu, as if worried about why their savior was not fleeing with them. Bai Mu waved them off. He was not sure if they understood his gesture, but after watching them run a safe distance, he turned away to search for other surviving villagers.
He lightened his steps, maintaining a quiet pace to keep his distance from the fallen giant boar. At the same time, he kept a close eye on the countdown in his quest log. With that timer, he could precisely track exactly when the beast would wake up.
So far, only thirty-six seconds had passed. There were still two and a half minutes of tranquilization left, making the situation extremely tight.
Fortunately, this village was small enough. Counting them all, there were only a few dozen thatched huts. The total population living here likely did not exceed three hundred people.
Bai Mu walked past the area directly impacted by the giant boar's initial charge, which he had witnessed in the opening cutscene. The people who had originally tried to stop the massive beast were completely crushed. Severed limbs were scattered everywhere, and blood soaked the soil a deep crimson. Bone-white splinters poked out from the gruesome mounds of shredded flesh.
Almost all the men in the village had died in that first wave of impact. The fortunate survivors were mostly the elderly, women, and children. Relying on the vision provided by his mobile ward, Bai Mu rescued a few more women and children from the ruins and pointed them in the direction of escape.
However, one woman had injured her leg and could not walk on her own. Before Bai Mu found her, she had been pinned beneath a collapsed hut, her knee crushed by a fallen roof beam. Even though Bai Mu lifted the heavy debris off her, she still had no way to stand up by herself.
Bai Mu saw her legs trembling from fear. The agony and the looming shadow of death ravaged her nerves, yet there was no panic on her face—only an expression of profound, maternal tenderness.
The woman kissed the forehead of her crying infant, who was still wrapped in swaddling clothes. Then, with a gaze that seemed to entrust him with her entire world, she offered the child to him and spoke a few words in a language Bai Mu could not understand.
It probably meant something along the lines of 'Please take this child and run.' Without changing his expression, Bai Mu took the baby into his arms. Then, he retrieved a bottle of Painkillers from his inventory, popped out a pill, and shoved it directly into the woman's mouth.
As an item from Paradise, its effects were instantaneous. He supported the woman as she stood up and handed the baby back to her. The woman stared at Bai Mu with absolute disbelief and wonder, her gaze now carrying a certain reverence and awe.
After all, the agonizing pain in her body had vanished in an instant. To a woman living in a primitive society, this was nothing short of a miracle. Truth be told, when Bai Mu effortlessly shoved aside the heavy walls made of mud and wood earlier, her eyes were already filled with shock.
It seemed there was no one in this village with the strength to pull off such a feat.
It completely shattered her worldview. When Bai Mu gestured for her to flee in a specific direction, she obeyed the command like a loyal disciple.
By now, the tranquilizer's duration was nearly depleted. With only a dozen seconds left, the giant boar lying in the center of the village was about to wake up. Bai Mu had already recalled his Guard Mushroom. To minimize Mana consumption, he adopted a strategy of rescuing one person, then using the vision tool once. After saving the mother, he cast his mobile ward into the sky again. Just then, Bai Mu noticed the silhouettes of the deer herd appearing on the hills outside the village.
The villagers he had saved had not fled for their own lives. Instead, they had returned, and this time, they were clutching weapons.
Although the remaining survivors were almost exclusively young women, they refused to abandon their companions. They retrieved bows and arrows from the deer and quickly reorganized their ranks.
These people, living in the unforgiving embrace of nature and fighting for their survival every single day, possessed a terrifying resilience.
Seeing the woman running toward them with her child, a young girl riding a deer rushed over and quickly pulled them both onto its back. But their village had already been reduced to a sea of flames. Plumes of black smoke curled into the moonlit sky. The moon hung high and bright tonight, illuminating everything in a silvery-white hue that looked like a layer of fresh frost.
With expressions of deep sorrow, they stood atop the hill, looking down at their ruined home.
The tranquilizer's effect finally wore off. The giant boar stood back up, unleashing a deafening, furious roar.
It seemed to realize that something had forced it into a slumber, which only drove it further into madness. It thrashed wildly, smashing into everything in sight.
Truthfully, Bai Mu wished those girls had just focused on running away, because their return immediately made them the giant boar's target once again. The berserk monster gathered all its strength and charged straight toward the deer herd and the girls on the hill.
It completely ignored Bai Mu, who had not yet left the village. Its attention was entirely captivated by the crowd.
Helpless, Bai Mu could only pull out a Cherry Bomb and hurl it directly at the boar.