Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Coming with the Wind, Killing the Tiger_1
"Don’t fear. I don’t eat people, nor do I keep Ghouls." The tiger seemed to have had its fill of water. It squatted to the side and continued, "Compared to humans, I prefer deer."
"Those who go into the mountains generally don’t taste good; they’re all dry and unpalatable."
The tiger shook its head as it spoke these words.
"That’s true. Those who make a living in the mountains wouldn’t taste good," Wang Linchi expressed his agreement.
"You are different; you should taste good," the tiger corrected Wang Linchi. It felt Wang Linchi was missing the point; with his smooth and tender flesh, claiming he wouldn’t taste good was clearly false.
"..." Wang Linchi was momentarily unsure how to respond. Is the tiger’s eyesight really that good? I thought felines had poor vision.
"For your information, I’m unhealthy to consume," Wang Linchi ultimately quipped.
"Healthy or not, you don’t have much meat on your bones," this surprisingly principled tiger remarked. "You killed that soup-selling ghost from the Desolate Grave. If I were to take a bite of you, I’d probably chip a tooth. That’s not a good trade."
A tiger with intelligence naturally weighs the pros and cons.
"How do you know? I don’t recall leaving any survivors in the temple," Wang Linchi said calmly.
This was strange. Even if the tiger had passed by the ruined temple and seen the bodies, the Desolate Grave Old Ghost had vanished, leaving nothing behind. Where could the clue have come from?
It couldn’t have been an Unpredicted Prophet, surely?
"I trailed that group of dart masters from afar," the tiger said calmly. "My original plan was to wait for the soup-selling ghost to kill them, then I’d feast on the horses. But then I witnessed your display of Divine Power."
However, Wang Linchi didn’t believe it. The reason was simple: he hadn’t seen this tiger nearby last night.
Here, his Soul Kind – Soul Courtyard allowed his multiple vision modes to clearly discern an opponent’s energy flow, heat signature, and more.
So, I should have seen it last night.
Fine, even if it possessed some hiding ability and evaded my sight, why go to such lengths just to eat a horse?
Based on my estimations, the dart masters couldn’t possibly handle this tiger. Even their Excellent Level long knives would likely fail to pierce its hide if they struck. Forget snatching a horse to sate its hunger; killing all the dart masters wouldn’t have been an issue for it.
"I see. Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way," Wang Linchi said, feigning belief. He couldn’t very well question the tiger. After all, if it knew what had happened without actually following the dart masters, that would only indicate it possessed even greater power.
As long as they kept out of each other’s way, Wang Linchi wouldn’t pursue the matter, nor would he foolishly confront this tiger.
"As you wish." The tiger didn’t stop him but lay down to feign sleep, seemingly genuinely unconcerned about Wang Linchi and its claim of not eating humans.
Seeing this, Wang Linchi naturally hurried away.
After Wang Linchi departed, the tiger lifted its head. A hint of killing intent flashed in its eyes before gradually fading, becoming as formless as the wind.
Clearly, it was just trying to make me lower my guard. Its injuries weren’t as superficial as they seemed.
Wang Linchi, on the other hand, hadn’t let his guard down at all. His Soul Vision told him the tiger’s words were mostly lies.
The claim of not eating humans or keeping Ghouls was particularly problematic.
The tiger likely pursued me because I captured its Ghoul with the Soul Soup Bowl. Otherwise, how could we have bumped into each other so coincidentally?
After running for about an hour, just as he thought the tiger had given up, a vicious gust of wind assaulted him from behind.
Fortunately, Wang Linchi had remained vigilant. The instant he sensed it, he flung a Fanciful and Fickle behind him.
The fierce wind and Fanciful and Fickle collided, creating a violent impact.
Caught off guard, Wang Linchi tumbled several times, looking rather battered.
But there was good news: the collision had prevented the enemy’s attack from hitting him.
Rolling around like that was embarrassing, but a direct hit would have likely torn my spine apart.
Getting up, he turned, and without even clearly seeing his attacker, he immediately launched another Fanciful and Fickle.
"ROAR!" A pained tiger’s roar erupted. It was the same tiger that had been tailing him.
The attack hadn’t killed it directly. Instead, it suffered trauma to its spirit, its soul, and its inner soul.
"Wind follows the tiger. You learned I killed the Desolate Grave Old Ghost from the wind, and you tracked me using the wind, didn’t you?" Wang Linchi asked, continuously hurling Fanciful and Fickle at the Evil Tiger.
The Evil Tiger couldn’t respond; all it could do was endure the agonizing pain. It could feel its spirit fragmenting, its soul grievously injured, and even its thoughts beginning to fall into disarray.
"Those scattered Ghouls actually didn’t belong to just one tiger, but to two. Am I right in my guess?"
"The tiger you killed probably didn’t have your ability with the wind, which is why it lost. However, that one likely mastered direct combat abilities, perhaps a metal attribute."
After saying this, Wang Linchi unleashed a final Fanciful and Fickle, finishing off the tiger.
It drained me completely. Wang Linchi looked at his now-empty Nine Revolutions Golden Core and wearily sat down.
From start to finish, he had kept the tiger completely under control.
His Fanciful and Fickle, besides the Impact and Penetration attributes, also possessed the Chaos attribute, which could muddle an opponent’s thoughts. Even a momentary confusion allowed Wang Linchi to maintain control through this high-intensity, sustained assault. Of course, its Attack Power was also extremely high, but it had seemed somewhat insufficient against this tiger.
If the injured tiger hadn’t been fixated on eating Wang Linchi to recover, it might not have died.
Wang Linchi might not have been able to defeat a tiger in its prime. It was simply a matter of opportune circumstances.
"First, I’ll recover a bit, then go back and loot the bodies!" Wang Linchi planned to return to Egret Mountain to investigate, as there was still another tiger there.
Even if that other tiger won its fight, it wouldn’t have been an easy victory.
I can’t just leave like this; I wouldn’t be able to accept it.
More importantly, this Soul Kind hasn’t formed yet. The event probably isn’t over. Of course, it could also be that my luck was good, and a Soul Kind didn’t drop.
If I could get this tiger’s wind-controlling ability or a Soul Kind formed from Ghoul abilities, it would probably fetch a good price. Especially the former—that would likely be an Epic Level Soul Kind.
Even if I can’t take it out of here, I could trade it if I meet other Awakeners in the Secret Realm. Of course, I could also just kill them and take their loot.
"An hour should be just enough to recover my spiritual power." Wang Linchi estimated his recovery time, then climbed a tree, leaned back, closed his eyes, and feigned sleep to recuperate.
I definitely need to rest. What would I do later without any energy?