7
The birds and beasts in the area had long since scattered. Aside from the beast king and the wolf pack, no other animals remained.
Just as she was staring at the cub, the tigress noticed her gaze. She turned her head, her blood-red tiger eyes locking onto He Tian, murderous intent radiating from them. However, she didn’t make any rash moves, merely glaring at her, hoping she would retreat on her own.
He Tian: “…”
The wolf king, observing the situation from a high vantage point and directing the battle, also noticed the sudden appearance of He Tian and looked over at her.
As if sensing a threat, the wolf king’s green eyes fixed intently on her.
“Owww—!”
The wolf king suddenly barked at her, attempting to drive her away.
He Tian shifted her gaze from the little cub behind the tigress to the wolf king.
She looked at it calmly, completely unmoved.
The wolf king keenly sensed the challenge and unease. Animals were, after all, animals, not particularly rational. Moreover, after fighting for so long, the bloodlust was already overwhelming. It was determined to claim this prey, especially now that success was imminent.
It bared its teeth at He Tian. Seeing that she still didn’t move, it pawed the ground with its front claws, then suddenly threw its head back and howled again. Soon, a single wolf charged towards He Tian.
He Tian cast a faint glance at the wolf king. As the wolf sent to attack her reached her, she leaped, dodging its assault while simultaneously grabbing the scruff of its neck and executing a solid over-the-shoulder throw.
Bam.
The wolf crashed heavily into the hollow, producing a loud thud.
It didn’t even have time to yelp before it lay lifeless. He Tian landed steadily and once again looked at the wolf king.
Her gaze remained indifferent, but this time, it carried a hint of coldness.
She hadn’t released the slightest hint of aggression; she was just passing by to take a look, and yet this wolf king wanted to kill her. How unreasonable.
In He Tian’s worldview, there was no such thing as magnanimity or forgiveness.
If someone wronged her, she would definitely make them pay.
Whether it was a wolf or anything else, in her eyes, it was all the same.
The wolf king and the pack were clearly taken aback by this turn of events. While momentarily intimidated, they were also enraged. The wolf king, in particular, had eyes that shifted from green to a reddish hue. Adopting a charging posture, it raised its head and howled fiercely once more.
This time, a squad of five wolves charged at He Tian, attacking her from different directions.
He Tian didn’t even twitch an eyebrow. She targeted one wolf, leaped up just as before, grabbed the scruff of its neck, and hurled it away to clear a path. Simultaneously, she vaulted into the air and landed on a large rock not far away.
The wolves had missed their target and immediately turned around to attack again.
He Tian was starting to get annoyed.
She had evaded those two attacks, requiring immense explosive power and depleting a significant amount of her energy. She could clearly feel her strength waning.
The enraged wolf king howled once more, and two more squads of wolves joined the fray, clearly intent on quickly dispatching this uninvited guest, He Tian, before resuming their nearly victorious battle with the beast king.
In the past, whether it was forty wolves or four hundred, even four thousand, He Tian wouldn’t have batted an eye.
But this was not the past. Her current body had very limited endurance and pitifully weak explosive power. Against these forty or so wolves, if they attacked in waves, she truly would exhaust herself.
She certainly wouldn’t allow them to wear her down through successive attacks. Gazing at the ring of wolves below, their eyes glowing with green light, He Tian pulled the axe from her waist.
One wolf, noticeably stronger and more agile than the others, leaped from an extremely tricky angle, aiming to bite He Tian’s calf and drag her down from her elevated position.
He Tian noticed but she didn’t move. In the instant it was about to sink its teeth into her leg, He Tian struck. The axe flew from her hand, wrapped in a sharp, murderous aura—
Thwip. The sound of a sharp tool piercing flesh and muscle.
Then, thump…
The wolf king in the distance tumbled down from its high vantage point.
All the wolves turned their heads to look at their fallen king.
Simultaneously, He Tian leaped from her spot. Using the rock for leverage, she jumped onto a large tree nearby, dodging a sneak attack from the wolves.
The wolf pack was briefly in chaos, but soon a young wolf took the wolf king’s place and continued directing attacks against He Tian.
It raised its head, about to issue its first command as the new wolf king, when He Tian pulled the rusty bone-cleaver from her basket and hurled it with all her might at its head.
Another thump.
The new wolf king fell from its height without a sound, lifeless.
The wolf pack fell into complete disarray.
Though they were still frenzied with bloodlust, they now keenly sensed the danger He Tian posed. They hesitated, afraid to launch another reckless attack. This included that strong, agile wolf.
A few others whimpered and retreated a few steps, wanting to flee.
After a short while, the wolf that had just attempted the sneak attack could no longer contain itself. It decided to go after He Tian. It howled, rallying the wolves to ram the tree, intending to knock it down and force He Tian down.
He Tian gripped the trunk firmly with one hand while quickly snapping off several branches with the other. Taking a deep breath, she shot the branches like arrows towards the attacking wolves.
Branches weren’t knives; their offensive power was limited, and her strength hadn’t fully recovered. She didn’t expect to kill these wolves with a few branches. Rather…
All the branches were aimed at the wolves’ eyes.
In a short moment, howls of agony erupted on all sides, echoing continuously through the valley—shrill and terrifying.
This finally cowed the wolf pack completely. Not a single one dared to attack He Tian any longer. They retreated one after another, fleeing.
After the wolves had fled into the distance, He Tian still didn’t immediately climb down from the tree. Instead, she casually wiped her hands on her clothes, then took out some of the freshly picked tree grapes from her basket. Grabbing a handful, she finished them in one go. After eating three handfuls, replenishing about half the energy she had just expended, she finally jumped down from the tree.
The wolf pack had scattered, but there remained this one—a beast king, utterly enraged and nearing death.
Nearing death, and a new mother. With these multiple layers stacked together, He Tian didn’t believe this severely wounded tigress would be any easier to deal with than the wolf pack.
On the contrary, because of these factors, she felt this tigress was even more dangerous than the wolves.
After jumping down from the tree, the tigress, which had been watching her intently without making a move, let out a warning roar, trying to drive her away.
He Tian paused mid-step, but after a moment, she still lifted her foot and walked toward the tigress.
The tigress was instantly enraged. It crouched low, poised to attack He Tian at any moment.
It bared its teeth, its tiger eyes bloodshot, radiating murderous intent and overwhelming dominance.
He Tian took only two steps toward it before stopping.
She didn’t want to waste any more of her energy, and there was no need, because she had no intention of fighting the tigress at all.
She had eaten the tree grapes just now as a precaution. After all, the tigress was already agitated, and an animal’s survival instinct was tenacious. Her current body was too weak if she got injured, it would be very troublesome.
Standing at a distance from the tigress, she met its eyes directly, eyes that were constantly releasing dominance towards her.
In the next moment, the same kind of dominance burst forth from He Tian.
The tigress was visibly stunned, but quickly sensed the immense danger. It instinctively shifted its body to shield the cub behind it more securely.
However, He Tian made no other move. She simply looked up, peering through the dense forest at the sun overhead. It was time to go home for lunch.
She withdrew her gaze, looked calmly into the tigress’s eyes, and stated flatly, “You’re going to die.”
The tigress: “…”
“Give me your body, and I’ll raise your child for you.”
As if it understood her words, the moment she finished speaking, the cub, which had been fiercely guarded and kept behind the tigress, struggled to poke its head out from behind its mother once more.
Though small, it was not without caution. Its still pure and clear eyes stared fixedly at He Tian.
Unlike how it had looked at the wolves just now, the cub’s gaze towards her wasn’t fierce.
It even seemed a little curious.
He Tian shifted her gaze from the tigress to the cub.
The human and the cub stared at each other for a moment, then the cub suddenly opened its mouth wide: “Rawr~ rawr~”
Its voice was milky and soft, like a kitten’s.
For some reason, He Tian suddenly felt a very strange sensation, as if something was tickling her, causing a faint itch. Looking at the cub, she suddenly smiled, then looked back at the tigress: “I don’t have much time.” She was hungry and had to hurry home to cook a meal.
The tigress wouldn’t live much longer. If she left now, the two-month-old cub would have no chance of survival.
As she spoke, she reached her hand out towards the tigress.
The tigress remained wary of her, but it no longer growled.
Silence.
A deathly silence so profound that, were it not for the occasional mountain breeze, this entire area might have seemed frozen in time.
Though it was a transaction, the tigress clearly had no choice.
After a long while, the tigress suddenly moved. As if it were a signal, the next moment its limbs gave way, and it collapsed heavily to the side with a loud thud.
Its massive head rested on the ground. It tried to lift it but couldn’t, only staring straight in He Tian’s direction, letting out whimpering, mournful cries, as if responding to He Tian.
There was also a faint hint of pleading hidden within.
The little cub seemed to sense something. It raised its head and let out a cry, then stumbled and staggered as it rushed towards its mother.
But it was too small. Although it had been well-protected during the fight just now, it had still expended energy. It would fall after just two steps. Though it had been right behind its mother, it took considerable effort to finally reach her. It nestled against her, letting out immature, yearning roars towards its mother.
But the tigress could no longer respond to the child she had protected with her life.
She was dead.
He Tian’s face showed no particular expression. On her way over, she had already sensed that the tigress was beyond saving.
She calmly stepped forward and reached out a hand towards the cub, who was still trying to burrow into its mother’s chest. “Come here.”
The cub noticed He Tian. It stopped its burrowing motion, its large head and round eyes looking at her, bewildered and uncertain.
He Tian gestured to it again. “Come here. I’ll raise you from now on.”
The cub’s clear eyes reflected He Tian’s calm face. It stared at her blankly for a moment, then looked back at its mother, who had already stopped breathing. After hesitating briefly, it rubbed against the tigress’s head, then trotted over to He Tian on its short little legs.
**