Landlord in the Arctic

The tigers were locked in their cages, constantly pawing at the bars and growling.

"Just a second, I’ll get the door," Feng Mountain said, calming the tigers. He looked for a way to open the cage and found a lock hanging on the door.

Feng Mountain walked to the door of the container and shouted, "Snow, where’s the key for the tiger cage?"

"It’s... with the driver."

Feng Mountain was left speechless by Snow’s answer. The driver had already run off.

He scanned the inside of the container and spotted a crowbar in a corner by the cage. He couldn’t afford to hesitate. He grabbed the crowbar and jammed it into the lock, trying to force it open.

With a sharp CLICK, the cage lock sprang open.

Feng Mountain pulled open the cage door.

In an instant, the tigers let out a series of deep growls and charged out of the cage like stampeding horses.

Yves, Nash, and Ma Wei were standing outside the truck’s door.

When they saw the pack of tigers charge out menacingly and swiftly surround Feng Mountain, their faces turned deathly pale, and they couldn’t help but shout in unison.

"Boss, run!"

Nash, especially frantic, didn’t hesitate. He grabbed a wooden club he had just picked up and scrambled into the container with the agility of a monkey.

Without a word, he swung it viciously at the tiger closest to Feng Mountain.

"Don’t!"

In the nick of time, Feng Mountain sidestepped and blocked the club with his own body, shielding the tiger.

Seeing this, Nash froze, stopping his swing in mid-air. He stared at Feng Mountain, his face a mask of confusion.

"Khilla!!"

"It’s fine. They’re well-behaved. They won’t bite," Feng Mountain said, reassuring the others. He waved a hand, signaling for the three of them not to get too worked up.

Then, as if stroking his own pet, he gently scratched the head of the tiger in front of him.

Amazingly, the tiger squinted its eyes, a look of pure bliss on its face.

Witnessing this, Nash could see that the tigers truly seemed to have no intention of harming Khilla.

’Still, he knew a wild animal is a wild animal.’

’Just because they weren’t hurting anyone now didn’t mean there was a potential danger.’

So Nash lowered the club and silently stood to the side, keeping a vigilant eye on the tigers to protect Khilla.

Meanwhile, Yves and Ma Wei stood frozen in the doorway, momentarily stunned by the scene and unsure of what to do.

They didn’t know whether to go in or back away.

All they could do was stand there dumbfounded, their eyes filled with a mixture of tension and confusion.

"Go on, get outside and get some air. The smell in this truck is awful. No roaring, and don’t run off," Feng Mountain said to the tigers, frowning as he covered his nose.

As carnivores, the smell of the tigers’ waste was naturally potent.

For the past few days, they had eaten, drunk, and relieved themselves entirely inside the truck. In such a narrow, enclosed space, the stench had become overwhelmingly pungent.

Feng Mountain had only been inside for a few minutes, but the fumes were already making his eyes water. It was unbearable.

Now free, the tigers lined up like well-trained soldiers and filed obediently past Nash.

When they reached the doorway, they glanced at Yves and Ma Wei.

The two men quickly stepped aside, clearing the way.

With a light leap, the tigers jumped out of the truck. They then lay down obediently beside it, completely heeding Feng Mountain’s warning. They didn’t roar, nor did they run about.

’These are tigers?’

Yves and Ma Wei looked at each other, seeing the same astonishment reflected in each other’s eyes.

In their minds, tigers were supposed to be the utterly ferocious, awe-inspiring king of beasts. Even tamed, it was hard to imagine them losing their innate, regal presence.

But these tigers lying on the ground, calmly licking their fur... aside from looking like the tigers in documentaries, they had none of the bearing of the king of beasts.

They were like a pack of oversized Garfields, so docile it was hard to believe.

Back in the truck, the pungent stench was getting even stronger, but Feng Mountain paid it no mind and continued deeper inside.

He passed the now-empty tiger cages and came to two smaller iron ones.

Inside one of them was Tyr, the Himalayan Vulture.

He still had that same goofy, dazed look. The commotion from the tigers had just woken him up, and thinking it was feeding time, he wobbled to the edge of his cage.

When he saw it was Feng Mountain, he instantly grew excited, raising his huge wings and letting out a piercing shriek.

"Stop squawking! I’m letting you out now!" Feng Mountain said, the shrill noise giving him a bit of a headache.

Granted, this vulture, Tyr, had some truly terrible luck. He had flown in the wrong direction, traveled thousands of miles to Alaska, only to have the misfortune of being mistaken for a wild goose by a Hunter and getting his wing shot and broken.

But for some reason, Feng Mountain was quite fond of this fellow native of the Himalayas.

Meeting him in this distant, unfamiliar land felt like a fated connection to his homeland.

The birdcage wasn’t locked. Feng Mountain gave it a gentle pull and the door swung open.

The vulture walked out of the cage with unsteady, swaying steps and shuffled over to Feng Mountain’s side.

Feng Mountain took a closer look and noticed the vulture’s head seemed even balder than the last time they’d met.

He couldn’t help but reach out and pat the vulture’s bald head, remarking with a sigh.

"Let’s not call you Tyr anymore. From now on, your name is Tu’Er. Going this bald at such a young age... that’s not a good sign!"

Understanding that it had a new name, the vulture let out a hoarse squawk and bobbed its long neck up and down happily.

"Go get some air. It stinks to high heaven in here," Feng Mountain said, pointing toward the door.

Hearing this, Tu’Er began to wobble its way toward the truck’s exit again.

But just as it reached the doorway, a biting cold wind howled past, gusting directly across its bald head.

Tu’Er only had a thin layer of down on its neck, and its head was completely bare. The sudden chill made it instantly retract its neck.