Chapter 36: The Tigress
The three were camping outside near Xiangyang after three days of riding as Dian Wei's horse couldn't keep u0 the pace of Thunder and Huntress making Yun rethink if he should have bought a better horse back then.
Dian Wei was surprised that Diao Chan was fine with camping outside as Shadow was hunting for their dinner while Yun made the campfire. Yun was quite attentive to everything around him as he didn't want wildlife to attack the while camping here.
He heard a rumor of a man-eating Tiger that lived around the area. Yun knew that Tiger would only feast on a human if he was desperate for food after giving birth or when a human enters his territory. Both probabilities are possible in this situation and Yun didn't want to find out even if he would like to get a kitten for Qing.
He heard the bushes around them and he throws his spear into the bush surprising both as Dian Wei stands up taking his halbert that was laying beside him. Yun walks towards the bush and takes his spear that was sticking out. He pulls and has a hare on it making Dian Wei sigh in relief because he heard the same rumor as Yun.
Yun turns around as he removes the hare from his spear holding it by its leg with a smile as he says, "Well, at least it won't be only dried-up food tonight."
Dian Wei sighs in relief as he sits down again while Diao Chan smiled at Yun knowing that Yun could go and hunt some more easily if really needed. Yun was walking slowly towards the campfire when a big shadow appears launching at his back.
Dian Wei sees it too late as he launches towards Yun to stop the shadow but Yun throws his spear and hare at Dian Wei. Dian Wei catches the spear and feels the weight of it as he loses his momentum falling backward while the hare lands on his chest.
Dian Wei was fighting against Yun's spear right now as he was trying to lift it so it doesn't crush him. He activated unconsciously his Earth Qi making it possible for him to lift it off of him when he sees a Tiger biting and scratching at Yun who just stands there as if it was nothing.
Diao Chan was worried for a moment until she saw that nothing was wrong with Yun. Yun was using Metall Qi making his skin as strong as steel making it impossible for the tiger to harm him.
'I should try to use Artemis' blessing to calm it down or I could kill it and gift the corpse to Liu Biao for a favor,' thinks Yun as he gave it a thought before he looked at the tiger and saw its nipples were sore and a bit of milk was leaking from it.
'It's a female which gave birth recently going by its aggressive attitude and the milk. It must have attacked me because I stole its prey,' thinks Yun as he infuses Metall Qi into his right index finger and lifts his left arm while turning to the tiger piercing it into the belly making blood gush out of the wound.
The tiger feeling the pain and seeing that Yun wasn't wounded by him retreated from there as it wouldn't help her to die there with her children dying out of hunger.
The tiger escapes and Yun looked at his finger and sees that it was covered in blood. Dian Wei walks towards Yun as he looked at Yun who was unharmed. He was thinking that he failed as his protector when Yun touches Dian Wei's shoulder while walking towards his spear.
He picks it up as if it is nothing while saying, "Dian Wei, we are going to hunt a tiger tonight. We can't go to Xiangyang to visit Liu Biao without a gift and what would be better than the corpse of a full-grown tiger."
Yun then turns to Thunder and says, "Look after Diao Chan if something dangerous happens you are allowed to use everything you have."
Thunder nods as Yun pets him. Yun then hands the hare to Diao Chan who takes out a knife to skin it. In the time Yun was fighting in the war she was learning some orthodox and unorthodox things from Madam Su such as skinning a dead animal for example.
"Just return safely," says Diao Chan as Yun kissed her.
"Always," says Yun as he turns to Dian Wei and they move out as they follow the trail of blood.
"What do we do if we find the tiger?" asks Dian Wei as he followed Yun who could see the trail of blood as if the sun was out.
"If we encounter it don't attack it and leave it to me. The Tigress is injured and will feel cornered. She will be more dangerous than when she attacked us as she will try to defend her litter with her life," says Yun seriously.
Yun didn't want to lose Dian Wei to a tiger now. He was like a raw diamond he needed to form as he could use Qi unconsciously. Yun was already thinking how much stronger Dian Wei would become after training under him.
They walked through the wilderness following the trail of blood that led them through the whole wilderness in circles making Yun know that the Tigress knew how to leave her followers behind if it wasn't for the blood.
They arrived at a cave and both knew that it was the lair of the beast as Yun took the lead and says, "Stay behind me. If I tell you to run you run out of the cave even if it means to leave me behind."
"But-" says Dian Wei when Yun looked at him seriously.
"No, buts. You will stay outside of it and wait for me if things go wrong and I mean really wrong, I want you to take Diao Chan and ride to Xiangyang. There you will rent a room in the most expensive inn. I will find you there," says Yun as he took the lead infusing Light Qi into his eyes.
Dian Wei followed behind Yun when Yun stopped and saw the Tigress which was looking him straight into the eyes. She was showing her fangs at Yun ready to attack him.
Yun saw that and whispers to Dian Wei, "Take five steps back. I will be fighting the tigress."
The tigress launched at Yun but this time her crawls radiated Fire Qi making Yun infuse his spear with Water Qi to negate the incoming attack as Dian Wei was confused about what was going.
The tigress was slowly engulfed in flames while his general was engulfed in water as the two clashed against each other his general was winning more momentum with every clash.
Yun was winning and he knew it while the tigress knew that she was losing slowly as she was injured badly with Yun opening the wound he gave her in their first encounter.
Yun wanted to kill the tigress cleanly but she was fighting too ferociously for him to kill her right away even more with her engulfed in flames. He was hoping that she would bleed out and die from it, he didn't want her to suffer as he learned from Artemis to always kill his game fast to not torment it.
After fighting for another five minutes the tigress slowly began to turn normal again as it laid there on the ground still breathing knowing it will be her lasts. Yun approaches and pets her while taking a knife out. He wanted her to die as quickly as possible so she wouldn't feel any pain any longer.
"I will take care of your children and raise them. You will be proud of them so you can rest now," says Yun as he rams his knife into the heart of the tigress killing her.
"Dian Wei, you can come closer again," says Yun as Dian Wei followed the voice almost falling over the tiger corpse if Yun didn't catch him.
"What was this fight?" asks Dian Wei still not believing what was going on as Yun could understand him.
"That was a fight between two Qi Users. Animals that are cornered can activate it quite easily that's why I wanted you not to engage it. You will soon learn how to use it as well," says Yun as he lifted the corpse and placed it on Dian Wei's shoulders.
"Now we should return to camp right?" asks Dian Wei as Yun shakes his head.
"Not yet, first I need to find her litter. I can't let them die out here," says Yun as Dian Wei was surprised that Yun wanted to get the litter.
"Why would you want to have its litter. It is dangerous to raise tigers," says Dian Wei as he was already scared enough of this tigress, defending Yun from two or three of such beasts could kill him easily.
"Don't worry, we already have a tiger at home. They will just be an addition to our family," says Yun as he went deeper into the cave.
He walked for a bit until finding the litter. He sees four kittens playing with each other making Yun smile seeing how they are having fun. He walks slowly towards them so they don't notice him when he uses Wind Qi to catch them all.
They were crying for their mother as they were in Yun's hands. They were trying to free themselves by biting Yun's fingers and scratching his palm but it only tickled Yun.
Dian Wei was waiting where he left him as he says, "We are going back."
This startled Dian Wei who couldn't even see his hand in front of his eyes as he almost let the tigress fall from his shoulders from the scare Yum gave him.
"Don't scare me like that," says Dian Wei angry as Yun laughs at seeing his reaction.
"Let's go follow my voice," says Yun as they leave the lair of the beast and return to camp.
Once in the camp, Yun told Dian Wei to put the tigress in the bushes somewhere near the camp so the kittens don't see their mother. He made them face forward so they wouldn't see their mother.
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