"Hmph, don't even think about tricking me."
Zhang Shu almost laughed out of anger. She had just used this exact same trick on Fang Yue.
How long had it been? Now he was trying to use the same trick on her. She wasn't going to fall for it.
"Zhang Shu, get out of the way!"
Fang Yue's expression was grave as he looked at the figure swimming toward them, only its massive head visible above the water.
He quickly got to his feet, picked up a watermelon-sized rock, and hurled it at the behemoth in the water!
Without even looking to see the result,
he lunged forward, grabbed Zhang Shu's arm, swept her up into his arms, and turned to run back toward their camp.
At first, Zhang Shu was stunned to be held like that.
Then she couldn't help but let out a cry. 'A scoundrel! A lecher! This little pauper is actually that kind of person!'
Zhang Shu was furious. Burning with rage, she raised her fist, ready to teach Fang Yue a harsh lesson.
"ROAR!"
Just then, a tremendous roar suddenly exploded through the air.
Following that, Zhang Shu saw a colossal figure burst out from the river behind them.
It was a giant tiger, over a zhang long, with limbs as thick as an elephant's legs and brown fur as stiff as steel needles. It opened its gaping, bloody maw and chased directly after them.
Its teeth were sharp and pointy, glinting with a chilling, sinister light.
'There really is a tiger!'
'Fang Yue hadn't been lying to her!'
"ROAR~"
The giant tiger clambered ashore and immediately gave chase to the fleeing Fang Yue and Zhang Shu.
~~~~~~
'A tiger this big? Has it become a demon?'
Fang Yue glanced at the giant tiger behind them. Not including its tail, the tiger was nearly five meters long and almost two meters tall, like a small car.
It was much larger than even the Siberian tigers of his previous life, the biggest tigers he knew.
As it pounced toward them, it stirred up a foul-smelling wind so strong it felt like it could kick up sand and stones.
Clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger.
'This tiger can't actually summon a gale, can it?'
'Is this a tiger?'
'Can tigers in this world grow this big?'
'It couldn't be a Tiger Demon, could it?!'
The giant tiger leaped, covering several zhang in a single bound, and was about to catch up to Fang Yue and Zhang Shu in the blink of an eye.
Fang Yue could even smell a putrid stench.
It was right on top of them!
One more pounce, and the giant tiger would kill them both.
In an instant, Fang Yue found himself in a life-or-death crisis.
The giant tiger was too fast. It was clear the two of them couldn't escape.
"Go! Get Mr. Fang!"
He took a deep breath, forcing his trembling body to calm down in the face of death, and then threw Zhang Shu forward from his arms.
In that brief moment, the giant tiger behind him pounced again.
The tiger was so massive that its leap sealed off all of Fang Yue's possible escape routes.
Seeing this, Fang Yue steeled his heart.
Instead of continuing to flee, he turned and charged directly at the ferocious tiger.
He slid!
He shot right under the giant tiger's body.
The giant tiger's pounce missed, and it swapped positions with Fang Yue.
"ROAR~"
Feeling that it had been tricked by its prey, the giant tiger roared furiously and spun around, ready to tear the creature before it to shreds.
"Foul beast, die!"
Just then, Fang Hu's voice rang out.
Faster than his voice was the sharp WHIZZ of something splitting the air.
THUD!
Fang Yue heard a dull thud. He then saw an arrow buried halfway into the giant tiger's body, the remaining shaft still trembling.
Crimson blood immediately began to flow from the wound.
Struck and in pain, the giant tiger let out a series of roars.
It turned and charged at Fang Hu, who had shot the arrow from behind it.
However, faced with the giant tiger's charge,
Fang Hu did not dodge or evade. He just kept drawing and firing his bow.
Arrow after arrow let out a piercing hum as they cut through the air, continuously striking the giant tiger's massive body.
Each one sent a spray of blood into the air.
The giant tiger's furious roars gradually turned into agonized howls.
「A moment later,」
"Mr. Fang... Master, is the tiger dead?!!"
Staring at the giant tiger's corpse, he saw that it had finally been killed by an arrow shot through its eye, piercing its brain.
There were seven other arrows still stuck in the tiger's body.
Blood was still gushing out, staining a large patch of ground red.
"It's dead. You did very well today. Remember, when you encounter a wild beast in the wilderness, you must stay calm. Never panic."
As he spoke, Fang Hu took out a knife and began to butcher the tiger's body.
He also started an on-the-spot lesson: where a tiger's weak points are, which parts are valuable, which can be used for medicine, where to make the first cut when butchering it, and so on.
Fang Yue listened and learned attentively.
Later, he even had Fang Yue try it himself.
Holding the knife and cutting into the tiger's hide and flesh, Fang Yue discovered that its skin and muscle were incredibly tough.
Even with his strength, it was a struggle.
"It's a good thing you only ran into a cub today. It's not even that big. If it were a full-grown tiger, I'm afraid you two wouldn't have lasted until I arrived."
Fang Hu said this after seeing that Fang Yue had grasped the butchering technique.
"Master, you're saying this was just a cub?"
Fang Yue looked at the enormous tiger carcass, its body as huge as an elephant's.
'A creature this size is just a cub?'
'How is that possible!'
'If this is just a cub, how big is a full-grown one?'
'Could there really be Tiger Demons?'
In that moment, Fang Yue felt as though another layer of mystery had been draped over this world.
Fang Hu, of course, didn't know what was going through Fang Yue's mind. He continued, "Once you learn the White Tiger Fist and go through Training Strength, you'll be able to kill a cub like this yourself."
"And if you reach Great Success in Skin Cultivation, you'll be able to handle a full-grown giant tiger, as long as you're careful."
Hearing this, Fang Yue could only nod numbly.
"You little pau—... Junior Brother Fang Yue, what's wrong with you? Don't tell me you're scared stiff. It was just a little tiger, and it's already dead. Are you still afraid? What a coward."
Zhang Shu teased him. She had been about to call him a "little pauper," but stopped herself when she noticed Fang Hu and Fang Ergou were nearby.
Besides, Fang Yue had just saved her, telling her to run while he stayed behind to face the tiger alone.
'Yes, he did save my life. I guess I shouldn't call him a little pauper anymore.'
"Senior Sister Zhang Shu, how can you say that? This is Zhi's first time seeing a tiger. The first time I saw a tiger when I followed my dad into the mountains, I was so scared I wet my pants," Fang Ergou argued indignantly, seeing Zhang Shu 'mocking' Fang Yue.
It's only natural for people to feel fear when facing a giant beast.
"Alright, hurry up and pack. We need to leave this place before the smell of blood attracts other beasts."
Hearing his son say that, Fang Hu's face instantly darkened.
'Who airs their own dirty laundry like that!'
'What a foolish son!'