078 Joint Realignment Technique (Supplemental)

In the darkness of night, Chen Juanjuan sat with her legs pressed against the surface of a stone, her head lowered, forehead resting on her knees.

Had she fallen asleep?

Chen Anquan suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Here was a young woman, spending the entire night with him in the desolate wilderness.

He walked to the front of her legs, reaching out to caress her lustrous black hair.

Chen Juanjuan’s head swayed from side to side, then slowly lifted, revealing a drowsy expression. She murmured, “Are you... finished exercising? Is the dawn... coming soon? Ah...choo!”

She’d gotten chilled.

Chen Anquan placed his palm gently atop the back of her hand—it was cold as ice.

This foolish woman...

He shook his head, gazing at her with a mixture of tenderness and exasperation, then wrapped her in his arms.

At first, Chen Juanjuan was stunned, her body stiffening as though struck by lightning.

She raised her cold right hand, instinctively wanting to strike his back, urging him to let her go.

But Chen Anquan’s arms held her firmly, and, like an agile antelope, he bounded across the rugged, stony ground, carrying her with him.

Her eyes widened in astonishment, feeling as if she were riding a roller coaster—soaring skyward one moment, plunging into the valleys the next.

It was both thrilling and moving. Quietly, she lowered her raised hand and, with a shy smile, embraced his back as well.

Chen Anquan felt a softness and warmth pressing against him, marveling silently at the impressive peaks before him.

Was it a C, or a D?

Just as his mind wandered, a sudden rumble of stones behind him made him prick up his ears.

Was it possible the quarry, abandoned for so long, had finally given way, and the exposed boulders atop the half-split mountain had begun to roll down under wind and rain?

Instinctively, Chen Anquan tightened his grip around Chen Juanjuan’s waist, his fingers digging into her flesh. He had no time to savor the softness of her skin; his legs exploded with strength, and he shot forward like a leopard, covering dozens of meters in an instant.

Regardless of whether the danger behind was a stroke of fate or something unpredictable, Chen Anquan was determined to ensure their safety.

Chen Juanjuan, her head still bowed, glanced at her waist out of the corner of her eye, amazed at how tightly he held her. It reminded her of the time in college when the girls in her dorm would lock their door, watching as the male protagonist fought desperately to express his love.

A little embarrassed, but mostly a comfort she could barely describe—a sensation almost addictive.

Yet in the next moment, she sensed something was wrong.

She lacked Chen Anquan’s acute perception; only as he carried her in a wild dash did she suddenly realize there was real danger behind them.

But...

“What is that?”

Looking ahead, she spotted three dark silhouettes at the foot of the distant mountain.

Above each shadow were two faint yellow lights, like six people shining flashlights from afar.

But she doubted they were just three farmers out at night with flashlights, tending their fields.

Chen Anquan halted, but showed no sign of releasing her.

Holding a woman weighing more than a hundred pounds was not only good exercise, but also a pleasant, intimate experience. Unless she asked to be set down, he’d be a fool to let her go.

It seemed Chen Juanjuan’s attention was no longer on the fact that her tofu had become dried tofu; she pointed ahead. “Anquan, look, I suspect those three wild boars have followed us.”

Chen Anquan frowned. He’d fought with those three wild boars earlier today, ultimately prevailing.

If not for Chen Juanjuan’s uncanny ability to communicate with them—and their willingness to share half the herbs—they would have been slaughtered with his sickle.

“What are they doing down here? Aren’t they afraid of being seen?”

“I find it strange too!” Chen Juanjuan replied. She knew wild boars were now protected, but everyone living in the countryside understood that secretly hunting one or two was no big deal, as long as it wasn’t openly sold.

She herself had eaten plenty of wild boar meat.

“You can talk to them a little. Why not call them over? I’ll slaughter a small one, and our families can share the meat.”

“Hmph!” Chen Juanjuan pouted, tugging at his shoulder. “How could you bear to eat such adorable piglets?”

“Just kidding.” Chen Anquan had tasted wild boar meat before, but these three were obviously close to Chen Juanjuan—perhaps they’d become her pets. Why trouble her?

The three dark silhouettes remained motionless, their yellowish glow unextinguished.

“Come over here, you three!” Chen Juanjuan called. She glanced at Chen Anquan’s nonchalant face, pouted further, and complained, “Aren’t you going to put me down? You’re enjoying this tofu too much!”

Was she being too forward?

She looked at his honest demeanor, but sensed he wasn’t as simple as he appeared.

She’d been kidnapped by criminals, nearly suffering unspeakable harm, but Chen Anquan rescued her. Terrified, she’d clung to him—not out of love at first sight, but from sheer fear, like stumbling into a bright bonfire on a freezing winter night, just before succumbing to the cold.

Chen Anquan was the arm of safety that reached out when her life teetered on the edge of darkness, pulling her back from the abyss.

Later, they’d climbed mountains together—no, gathered herbs side by side—experiencing much together, becoming close friends.

“In my eyes, you’re a good friend,” Chen Juanjuan kept reassuring herself, stepping a few paces toward the three dark shapes. Confirming they remained unmoving, she continued forward.

Perhaps it was because they were the same age, or because most of the young people from Aobei Village worked elsewhere, leaving Chen Juanjuan with only Chen Anquan as a peer to talk to at home.

“Be careful,” Chen Anquan called after her, watching her silhouette advance.

He wasn’t worried about the boars suddenly attacking her. When it came to gratitude, beasts were often more faithful than many heartless humans. Especially since Chen Juanjuan had used a precious blood-red flower to save one mutated boar’s life earlier—so the likelihood of her being gored was even lower.

In the pitch-black night, Chen Juanjuan turned on her phone’s flashlight, cautiously navigating the jagged stone path.

She lowered her head, watching the stones by the roadside, moving slowly.

“Ah!” Suddenly, she cried out in pain, her body twisting as she fell.

Oink...

At that moment, both heard the raucous noise from the pigpen.

It turned out the three wild boars had seen her fall and were reacting.

Chen Juanjuan sat down hard on a stone, stretching her sprained leg, clutching her thigh with both hands, staring at her ankle in agony.

Chen Anquan leapt lightly, like a Tibetan antelope, and in a few strides reached her side. He squatted, both hands gripping her thigh.

Knowing he was a rehabilitation therapist, she did not refuse but looked at him earnestly. “Help me over—I want to speak with the piglets.”

Such a foolish woman!

Chen Anquan thought, after all, they were just three beasts—was it really necessary for her to go herself?

“You three useless things, get over here!” he shouted at the boars.

“Oink oink oink...” The three shadows, startled, retreated several steps.

The two smaller boars were just about to flee when the mutated one’s warning cry stopped them.

Chen Anquan watched, astonished—were they really becoming intelligent?

“Anquan, don’t yell at them,” Chen Juanjuan said, her brows drawn in pain.

He withdrew his gaze, looking down at her thigh.

Black stockings, smooth and gleaming.