An old man can't rely on brawn alone, and Elder Tao was seventy-three. In both of his lifetimes, this was the first time Zhao Jun had ever seen a Mountain Runner of such an advanced age.
Just think of Xu Changlin, who at only fifty-nine could no longer handle the mountains.
And this Elder Tao was a good ten years older than Xu Changlin.
According to Elder Tao himself, he had come up on a horse-drawn sledge and had run into Zhao Jun just a few steps after getting off.
He struggled to climb slopes even when his legs were healthy. Now, with a sprained ankle, just walking was a challenge.
The roughly two-meter-long larch staff from before was now in two pieces. Zhao Jun had used one half to poke the wild boar's backside, and Elder Tao was using the other half as a walking stick.
But leaning on the staff, Elder Tao moved far too slowly. It took him ages just to shuffle forward about ten meters.
