South of Guangnan Province, in the Jiangnan Primitive Forest Area.
Distant roars echoed through the mountains and forests, stirring the area into a frenzy.
Four men, armed with guns, fled in panic through the dense woods, animals like wild deer and boars running alongside them.
When fleeing, both animals and hunters were equal.
"Damn it, how can there be so many tigers!"
The burly man with a full beard, leading the way, cursed. He had hunted his entire life and had never witnessed such a terrifying sight.
The young man with glasses, bringing up the rear, panted and said, "Fourth Uncle, could it be that we've angered the Mountain God..."
"Nonsense about Mountain Gods. If there really was a Mountain God, we'd be dead by now," the bearded man retorted. "Our temporary camp is just ahead. Once we get in the car, those tigers won't be able to catch us."
The bearded man's Fourth Uncle and his group were, in fact, poachers.
This group had ventured into this forest area several times before. The area was home to numerous rare wild animals but had no forest rangers, making it their ideal hunting ground.
Before entering the mountains, Fourth Uncle had joked with the others, saying it would be great to encounter a tiger and that they'd make a fortune if they could get even one.
Tigers, whether alive or dead, could fetch a high price.
However, he hadn't expected his casual remark to come true.
They had indeed encountered tigers, but unfortunately, not just one, but an uncountable number.
Initially, they captured a tiger the size of a rabbit with long ears. They assumed it was a deformed cub abandoned by its mother and that it would be very valuable if brought back.
But then they found a mountain stream where the things they saw were somewhat fantastical.
Tigers in the sky like birds, tigers in the water like fish, and plump tigers as round as wild boars...
In short, all the animals they saw had tiger heads and were covered in yellow and black stripes.
Sensing something was wrong, Fourth Uncle quickly led his men to escape. Shortly after they started running, the roar of tigers came from behind them, and the wild beasts in the jungle also fled with them, including actual fierce tigers.
After running for a while, a hint of joy appeared on Fourth Uncle's face as he spotted their two trucks.
While the four of them ventured into the jungle, another four men guarded the trucks, ready to start them at any moment. As they approached, the bearded man shouted to his companions, "Drive quickly, monsters are chasing us from behind."
But the four men showed no reaction to his words. Instead, they turned their heads blankly to look at Fourth Uncle and his group.
The moment Fourth Uncle saw the faces of the men left behind, he stopped in his tracks, his heart sinking.
The four brothers left behind, though still wearing their original clothes, had their bodies covered in yellow fur beneath their clothes, and they had the heads of fierce tigers!
They were none other than four upright tiger-men!
...
Wen Wen, carrying a cylindrical metal can, shoved a piece of beef into his mouth with a fork. After chewing a couple of times, he lost interest and tossed the entire box of beef to San Zai, who happily devoured it.
"Can't the cook make anything other than pan-fried steak?"
A month ago, the Foundation's cattle ranch officially began operations, and the containment facility achieved beef self-sufficiency.
As a result, for some time, the containment facility's cook had been pan-frying several steaks for Wen Wen every day.
Wen Wen had been satisfied at first, but after eating it for a month, the smell of beef made him feel somewhat nauseous.
Wen Wen checked the time; it was already 10:15 PM. In five minutes, the last subway train would depart.
Wen Wen was currently at the starting station of Line 2 of the Baoya City subway, where he had a case to handle that night.
After San Zai finished eating, Wen Wen put away the food container and surveyed the people waiting for the train next to him.
Not many people rode the last train; there were fewer than twenty people on the entire platform. Among them, seven were beside Wen Wen, about to board the same carriage.
They included a man in a heavy raincoat, three high school students (two boys and one girl), a young man dressed in rustic clothing, and two women holding hands.
The man in the raincoat carried a heavy black canvas bag, which emanated the腥味 of human blood. Whatever was inside the bag was likely something sinister.
The three high school students appeared to be from a nearby middle school, but the girl seemed somewhat dazed, while the two boys appeared rather shifty.
The two women holding hands smelled of disinfectant, likely nurses from a nearby hospital. Their faces were filled with terror, as if they were worried about something.
As for the man in rustic clothing... he carried a faint scent of decay, a smell that came from prolonged contact with corpses.
Wen Wen withdrew his gaze, having a general understanding of these individuals' backgrounds.
Among these seven people, two were superhumans, and the rest, more or less, possessed some peculiar traits.
Besides these seven living individuals, there were other passengers waiting to board this carriage.
However, it was clear that all these people combined were not as terrifying as Wen Wen.
"Why do I have to take the subway this late at night? I'm going to assign Gong Bao Ding a mission and deduct his salary!"
Three evenings prior, the demonic nature within the sword embryo had been reduced to an acceptable level by Pu Guang Angel.
Wen Wen had forcefully snatched the silver cross from Pu Guang Angel, almost making the angel cry.
Feeling guilty, Wen Wen had then used a branch from another tree demon in the containment facility to craft a wooden cross and given it to Pu Guang Angel.
Subsequently, Wen Wen commissioned Red Beard to forge a metal container for him, then placed the sword embryo inside the container. Finally, he filled the sword embryo with his own blood, beginning to cultivate his own sword. Sudan Novels Network.
But once he started, Wen Wen realized that things were not as simple as he had imagined.
The blood in the container had to be replaced daily, and nurturing the sword embryo also consumed a large amount of Wen Wen's energy, leaving him in a weakened state almost every day.
His pale complexion was such that with a little makeup, he could have cosplayed a vampire.
Moreover, Wen Wen had to carry the can with him at all times, or all his efforts would be in vain. Thus, Wen Wen had to carry a metal can with him every day.
"How did those ancient swordsmen manage to bleed so much every day and last for dozens of days..."
In fact, other swordsmen did not replace fresh blood daily like Wen Wen; they used the same batch of blood until it was depleted.
Wen Wen began to replace the blood daily after noticing that the blood's efficacy on the second day was lower than on the first. Fortunately, his blood regeneration ability was quite powerful; otherwise, he would have died from anemia long ago.
The Wen Wen of the past believed that women who bled every month were the most powerful beings.
But now he believed he was stronger because he bled every day, and he bled a lot.