Possessed No More: The True Star Returns to Claim Her Throne

Chapter 203: Wild Boar

[That’s so weird. The snake just left on its own in the end. It was like it ran into something it was scared of.]

[A snake’s natural predator is a hawk. Are there any hawks here? It probably just thought there were too many people to mess with and decided to leave.]

[Oh, so it was a pragmatic snake.]

[Hahaha, you guys should listen to yourselves.]

The four of them continued up the mountain and soon came across a wild pomelo tree.

The tree had over a dozen yellow pomelos, though they weren’t growing very well. Each was only a little larger than a man’s fist, but you could still smell the faint, distinct fragrance of pomelo.

"Let’s pick a few and try them. I have a feeling they won’t taste very good."

Samuel Hughes was already twisting a pomelo off its branch.

The pomelo rind was very thick, so Riley Perry handed him a small dagger. Samuel Hughes took it, made a light cut on the pomelo, and handed the dagger back to her.

Riley Perry put the dagger away and watched him peel the rind. As expected, there wasn’t much fruit inside. Samuel Hughes gave half to Riley Perry, who then divided her portion to share with Felix Sherman and Roxanne Fulton.

Three seconds later, all four of them grimaced in unison. "So sour."

"It’s so sour I can barely open my mouth. Riley, how are you still eating it? Doesn’t the sourness bother you?"

Riley Perry finished her small piece before replying, "It’s alright. It’s definitely sour, but at least it’s not bitter. It’s edible."

After saying that, she picked another pomelo and put it in her backpack.

"Go on, pick them. It’s perfect that they taste bad. We can trade them with Director Warren for points."

Roxanne Fulton put a finger to her lips with a "shhh." "Did you forget? Director Warren can see us."

Riley Perry glanced at the camera following them. "It’s fine. I want him to hear me. Besides, we’re not breaking any rules. Even if he hears us, is he going to refuse the trade?"

Roxanne Fulton immediately fell silent. "You have a point... Well then, everyone, hurry up and pick them! Don’t leave a single one. We’ll trade them for supplies when we get back."

Once she had put them away, the four continued their ascent.

They walked for nearly two hours, gathering more things along the way, but Felix Sherman and Roxanne Fulton were clearly getting tired, and they still hadn’t found a cave to shelter in.

Samuel Hughes frowned, looking around. "Let’s go for another half hour. If we still can’t find anything, we’ll have to head back down."

’How strange,’ he thought. ’In the past two seasons, the production team always left food drops on the mountain, but this time there’s nothing.’

They had seen wild pheasants and rabbits, but those were off-limits.

Just then, a rustling sound came from the woods. The group looked up to see six wild boars—two large and four small—appear in their line of sight.

[Ahhh! Run! It’s wild boars!]

[Help! Wild boars! Those things don’t care how famous you are or how pretty you look. They’ll attack without warning! And they’re omnivores!]

[What does that mean? They don’t eat people, do they?]

[To the person above, can you not be so alarmist? I know you’re worried, I’m worried too.]

[The moment the boars appeared on screen, I got goosebumps all over. Production team, hurry up and save them!]

The hairs on Samuel Hughes’s arms stood on end. The other two were just as terrified; Felix Sherman clamped his hands tightly over his mouth to keep from making a sound.

Riley Perry, however, simply grabbed both of them, pulled them behind her, and tapped her watch to call Director Warren.

The moment the wild boars appeared, Director Warren nearly lost his mind.

"Explain yourselves! How did you scout this location? I’m not surprised there are snakes on this mountain, but how did wild boars show up too? If something happens to the guests, we’re all getting fired!"

Just then, his phone rang.

Director Warren saw that Riley Perry was the one calling and quickly answered. "For crying out loud, just run! Why are you calling me? Run!"

"I’m just calling to confirm—there’s no problem with killing the wild boars, right?"

"You were right before! These things are an invasive species, so killing them for meat isn’t illegal! Besides, killing them now would be self-defense. What problem could there be?! Oh, for goodness’ sake, what time do you think this is to be asking about rules? Just run! I’ve already sent staff to rescue you, but I’m afraid they won’t make it in time!"

Riley Perry: "As long as it’s not a problem. You can tell them to turn back."

The call ended.

Riley Perry took two steps forward, and a silent, invisible wave of Spiritual Power washed over the boars. The two large boars reacted first, letting out comfortable grunts. They lifted their hooves as if to charge toward her, and the two people behind Riley Perry yelped, trying to pull her back.

But they couldn’t budge her.

Riley Perry waved a hand. "Go on, go on. Follow me down the mountain."

Felix Sherman and Roxanne Fulton thought she was talking to them and were about to say their legs were too weak to move when they saw the six boars—two large and four small—turn and trot away down the mountain path.

After running a short distance, they stopped and looked back. Seeing Riley Perry following, they continued onward.

Her companions were stunned!

"Riley, what’s going on? Are they really leaving?"

Riley Perry put an arm around Felix Sherman. "Don’t be scared. It’s fine now. You should be happy that a huge pile of meat just delivered itself to our doorstep."

In the silent woods, Samuel Hughes could hear his own breathing. From his position, he could only see Riley Perry’s profile, but even just her profile was utterly captivating at that moment.

It wasn’t a charm born of her looks, but of her aura.

She possessed a confident and powerful presence, so powerful that it dazzled him.

’I think I like her even more now,’ he thought suddenly.

’But I can’t.’

The image of that shaking nanny van surfaced in his mind, and a sense of suffocation tightened in his chest. The flutter of excitement he’d just felt seemed to be blown away by the forest wind, vanishing without a trace.

"OINK~" A squeal from one of the boars snapped all four of them back to reality. It turned out the large boar had gotten impatient from waiting.

Riley Perry couldn’t help but chuckle. "Let’s go, or they’ll get annoyed."

Samuel Hughes: ’I’ve lived this long, and this is the first time I’ve ever been waited for by a pig. This feeling is... novel, to say the least.’

Of course, he wasn’t the only one who found it novel. The tens of millions of viewers in the livestream chat found it even more bizarre!

[I told you! As long as you’re watching Riley Perry’s stream, you’re guaranteed to see something wild. I was right!]

[But she didn’t even do anything! How did those boars act like they understood her? Seriously, I don’t get it.]

[LMAOOOOOO~]

[Riley Perry really has something up her sleeve. The title ’Master of Unconventional Arts’ is well-deserved.]

Originally, "unconventional" was used to describe improper methods or paths.

But in Riley Perry’s case, she was good at everything *except* her main job of acting, which is why netizens started calling her the "Master of Unconventional Arts."

OINK! One of the boars squealed again from up ahead. Riley Perry quickened her pace to lead the way for them. After all, they were just animals; you couldn’t have expectations that were too high.

A little over an hour later, the four of them returned to their temporary camp.

Riley Perry herded the boars over to find the director and trade them for points.

At that, the group’s two ’delicate’ members were no longer tired and immediately followed her. Samuel Hughes sighed, hefted his full backpack, and went to trade for points as well.

When Riley Perry appeared before Director Warren with six wild boars in tow—two large and four small—he wanted to grab a broom and hit her with it.

"Riley Perry! What do you think you’re doing?"