Chapter 552: The Formidable Tiger 2
The great tiger circled Ye Qianning twice, looking for an opening. She moved with it, her feet tracing its path as she, too, waited for the right moment.
"ROAR..."
The tiger lunged.
A sleeve arrow shot from Ye Qianning’s arm as she vaulted into the air. She landed on the tiger’s head with one foot, then immediately swung herself onto its back and plunged her dagger deep into its skull.
"HOWL..."
Screaming in pain, the tiger’s massive body slammed to the ground. It thrashed for a moment before leaping back to its feet and rampaging wildly.
Ye Qianning clung to the dagger, her small frame battered and dizzy from the violent impacts, but her little hands refused to let go.
Sang Zhi ran closer, his heart pounding in terror as he watched the scene unfold.
"AWOO... ROAR..."
The beast howled and thrashed. Ye Qianning gasped for air, her entire body hanging off its side. After a long moment of being slammed about, she finally found her chance, freeing one hand to grab the tiger’s ear.
Using the leverage, she flipped herself back up and onto the tiger’s neck. Wrapping her arms around it, she fired another sleeve arrow, and in an instant, a silver wire coiled around the beast’s throat.
Ye Qianning let go of the dagger with her other hand and pulled the silver wire taut with all her strength.
"AWOO... AWOO..."
As its throat was constricted, the tiger began to thrash about blindly.
Ye Qianning’s face was a grim mask of exertion. The force was immense; the tiger was just too strong. The silver wire cut deep into her palms, turning her small hands crimson with blood.
The tiger’s struggles grew slower and slower. After seven or eight minutes, its enormous body collapsed to the ground with a heavy THUD.
Its whole body convulsed as blood trickled from its eyes, nose, and mouth.
Ye Qianning still didn’t dare release the wire. Only when the tiger’s body went completely still did she finally move, slumping sideways to lie flat beside the massive beast, her breathing ragged and uneven.
"Ye Qianning! Ye Qianning!" Sang Zhi rushed over and frantically gathered her into his arms.
Ye Qianning’s head was spinning, a muddled mess. Even Sang Zhi’s face seemed to wobble before her eyes.
Her small body had reached its limit.
"Don’t scare me, Ye Qianning. Look at me, look at me!" Sang Zhi held her, but it was as if she couldn’t hear him, no matter how he called her name. Terrified, he started to cry.
Ye Qianning’s vision was blurry. After a long moment, it finally cleared, and the first thing she saw was Sang Zhi’s face, a blubbering mess of tears. Her voice was weak. "Don’t be scared. I’m okay."
Sang Zhi’s tears wouldn’t stop.
"I’m not dead yet. You’re crying a little hard, don’t you think? If you’ve got tears to spare, save them to cry over my grave when I’m actually dead." Ye Qianning’s shoulder and chest throbbed with pain, but she still managed to joke.
"You’re not going to die! I forbid it!" Sang Zhi cried even harder.
Ye Qianning’s lips twitched into a weak smile. She raised a hand, retrieved a medicinal pill from her personal storage space, and swallowed it. After taking a few calming breaths, she tried to get up.
Sang Zhi helped her to her feet, then crouched down. "Get on."
"I don’t need to. I can still walk." Ye Qianning glanced at the dead tiger.
’This thing can’t be compared to a normal tiger,’ she thought. ’Its blood has a foul stench, and it’s grown to an absurd size. It’s like it’s mutated.’
’Animal mutations are usually caused by drugs or something strange in the environment that leads to physical deformities.’
’The thick, bloody scent all over Four-direction Mountain must have been caused by this tiger’s killing spree.’
’But there’s one thing I don’t understand. The tiger came charging from miles away; this wasn’t a chance encounter. It came straight for Sang Zhi and me.’
’The tiger had clearly lost all reason and couldn’t be communicated with, so how did it pinpoint our location so accurately?’
’If someone was controlling it... that would be terrifying.’
"I’ll carry you," Sang Zhi urged when she didn’t move, his voice thick with unshed tears.
Ye Qianning pulled her gaze away from the tiger and reached out to pull Sang Zhi back to his feet.