Chapter 409: The Injured Black Tiger
Chapter 409: Chapter 409: The Injured Black Tiger
Seeing Fan Yuqian’s smug expression, Su Qing’s face turned cold. It wasn’t just that Cheng Beize liked Li Huan, or that he might one day become her cousin-in-law. Based on his character alone and the way he had always looked out for her, Su Qing absolutely could not tolerate someone trying to harm him like this.
Besides, this was the same Fan Yuqian who had used underhanded tricks to harm Li Huan at the wedding banquet. Su Qing still had a score to settle with her.
However, it was obvious Fan Yuqian had a master backing her. Su Qing wasn’t sure if it was the so-called Master Ning, but this person definitely needed to be rooted out.
’You have to pull out a weed by its roots.’ That was an immutable truth.
Just then, Su Qing saw Fan Yuqian stand up again. She circled November 20 on the desk calendar and added a special mark to emphasize it.
’It seems the time Fan Yuqian arranged with that master is November 20th.’
Su Qing did a quick calculation. Today was October 21st, which meant she had exactly one month. She quietly retracted the climbing vine from Fan Yuqian’s windowsill and slipped out of the wealthy district without a sound.
That very night, Su Qing checked out of her hotel room. She traveled back to Guang Province under the cover of darkness, then took a full-day car ride to Yun Province, heading straight for Da Hu Mountain.
This time, Su Qing’s goal on Da Hu Mountain was the Ancient Forest, so she moved quickly and encountered no one. That is, until she ran into A Jin partway up. Seeing that A Jin was determined to follow her, Su Qing decided to simply bring him along to the Ancient Forest.
The moment she stepped into the Ancient Forest, a dense wave of Spiritual Energy washed over Su Qing. She let out a sigh of comfort. ’Sure enough, the Spiritual Energy is richest here.’ While absorbing the energy, she began her search for Purple Danshen within the forest.
A Jin didn’t know what Su Qing was looking for, but the forest’s atmosphere delighted him, and he frolicked about everywhere. Whenever he found something good, he would even lead Su Qing to it to pick. In this way, the human and tiger duo wandered the Ancient Forest for four or five days. They found quite a few precious herbs, but there was still no sign of the eight-hundred-year-old Purple Danshen.
"ROAR!"
"ROAR—"
One day, as Su Qing continued her search for Purple Danshen in the Ancient Forest, A Jin, who had been following obediently by her side, suddenly bolted off in one direction. A moment later, Su Qing heard A Jin’s roar, accompanied by the threatening roar of another tiger.
’There’s another tiger in the Ancient Forest!’
This was something Su Qing hadn’t expected. After all, when she had come here specifically to raise her superpower level last time, she hadn’t encountered any large wild animals in the Ancient Forest. But then again, the forest wasn’t small; she had probably just not crossed paths with it before.
With no time for further thought, Su Qing immediately ran toward the direction of the roars.
Soon, Su Qing saw A Jin in a standoff with a massive black tiger. This Black Tiger was a full size larger than A Jin, its body entirely pitch-black except for the golden rings around its eyes and on its four paws. It was currently standing guard under a wild pear tree, roaring menacingly at A Jin, as if warning him not to come any closer.
A Jin refused to back down. Despite being a size smaller than the Black Tiger, he adopted an aggressive stance and roared right back.
The two tigers faced each other, locked in a standoff. Neither moved, each eyeing the other warily.
Su Qing’s sharp eyes, however, noticed that one of the Black Tiger’s legs looked somewhat wet and was trembling slightly. It was clearly injured.
When it saw Su Qing approach, the Black Tiger clearly paused, giving her a puzzled look. Su Qing, in turn, was rather astonished. She wondered if it was her imagination, but she could have sworn she saw a flicker of confusion in the Black Tiger’s eyes.
When A Jin saw Su Qing arrive, he kept a wary eye on the Black Tiger while lifting a paw to gently nudge her behind him. Su Qing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’Good grief,’ she thought, ’He’s squaring up for a fight with another tiger and telling me to stay out of it, isn’t he?’
Su Qing patted A Jin’s head, then turned to the Black Tiger and asked, "You can understand what I’m saying, can’t you?"
The look in the Black Tiger’s eyes had simply been too human. Su Qing couldn’t help but consider the possibility. After all, the mutant beasts of the apocalypse were far more intelligent and human-like, some with intellects rivaling humans. If this Black Tiger had lived its whole life in the Ancient Forest, with its incredibly dense Spiritual Energy, it wouldn’t be surprising if it could understand human speech.
What Su Qing hadn’t expected was for the Black Tiger to actually nod its head.
"Since you can understand me, I won’t beat around the bush." Seeing that the Black Tiger could truly communicate with her, Su Qing pointed first to A Jin and then to herself as she continued, "We’re just here looking for something. He’s my companion. We have no intention of trespassing on your territory or fighting with you. Also, are you injured? I can help heal you."
After hearing Su Qing’s words, the Black Tiger’s defensiveness clearly lessened, though it still watched A Jin warily. Its roars, however, had quieted down significantly.
Su Qing patted A Jin’s back. Though A Jin wasn’t as intelligent as this Black Tiger, he could still understand her simple commands. He shot the Black Tiger one last resentful glare before obediently lying down at Su Qing’s feet.
Seeing that A Jin was no longer posturing for a fight, the Black Tiger let out a breath of relief. Normally, it wouldn’t have been afraid of A Jin, but it had been injured by a falling rock while hunting earlier that day, impairing its mobility. That was why it had been so guarded upon seeing A Jin.
Su Qing had A Jin stay put and walked toward the Black Tiger. She wasn’t at all afraid that it might suddenly attack her; even if the Black Tiger did make a move, it posed no threat to her.
As she drew near, the Black Tiger indeed did not attack. Instead, it sniffed her gently. There was something about Su Qing’s aura that made the Black Tiger feel a sense of closeness. It let out a soft rumble and then lay down on the ground.
Su Qing looked at the Black Tiger’s injured leg. It was clearly a crushing injury from something heavy. She gently touched the wound. ’Thankfully, the bone isn’t broken.’ The pain from her touch made the tiger flinch, and it let out an involuntary, pitiful whimper.
A stream of green mist flowed from Su Qing’s palm, enveloping the Black Tiger’s injured leg. Instantly, the tiger felt the pain in its leg subside. Its eyes grew brighter, and it stared at Su Qing with a fervent gaze. It then struggled to its feet, took the hem of Su Qing’s clothing in its mouth, and gave it a gentle tug.
Seeing this, Su Qing asked, "You want to lead me somewhere?"
The Black Tiger nodded eagerly and tugged at her clothes again.
"All right, lead the way." The Black Tiger’s injury hadn’t damaged bone or sinew, and after Su Qing’s treatment with the green mist, while not instantly healed, it could now walk without issue.
But when Su Qing followed the Black Tiger to a cave and saw the scene inside, she froze in astonishment.