Chapter 633: Blood Paints the Forested Mountain
The night was pitch black. Other than the roars of wild animals in the surrounding of the forested mountain, the atmosphere was particularly bleak and gloomy. The bull-sized leopard constantly observed the surroundings with its green eyes, while its robust thighs moved, looking for prey to fill its stomach to the full.
"All of you wait here. I'm going to kill it!"
A cold glint flashed in Tang Xiu's eyes as he spoke in a low tone atop a tree branch dozens of meters away.
Su Ben blocked Tang Xiu and said with an eager expression, "Tang Xiu, the three of us had our strength and speed increased several times time, and I'm sure it's impossible for that leopard to beat all of us even if it's very strong. Just let the three of us try it!"
"This is not your ordinary leopard, brother." Tang Xiu hesitated. "It's a fierce beast that has gained intelligence. Wild animals don't hold much of a threat to cultivators, but savage beasts are a different story altogether. This thing is not your common savage beast according to my observation; at least it's not a low-ranked fierce beast. You all have yet to experience combat, thus even if the three join hands to fight it, you're probably not its match. You could be killed if you can't fight well."
"Don't we still have you?" Asked Su Ben in a low voice. "If the three of us are really in danger, do you have the confidence to save us?"
With an hesitant expression, Tang Xiu nodded and said, "I have some assurance, yes."
"Since you have the confidence, then we have nothing to fear," said Su Ben seriously. "We will take the same path as yours in the future, so we need this fight—we need actual combat. You told us how brutal and dangerous the cultivation world is in these two days. You don't want your effort to train the three of us to go to waste, right?"
Tang Xiu shifted his eyes to Su Quan and Su Xiangfei. They nodded at him without a shred of hesitation, and their expression was especially serious. He sighed inwardly before he nodded and said, "Since you all have made up your mind, then fight! But do bear in mind that you must never lose your focus and be careless in the slightest."
"Got it!" The trio brandished their weapons and nodded.
While quietly watching their backs as they stealthily sneaked behind the leopard fierce beast, Tang Xiu was silent for several seconds before his figure vanished. His body was like a fallen leaf drifting in the air as he appeared atop a tree close to the leopard savage beast.
ROAR…
When the trio was ten meters away from the leopard, the best was already keenly aware that some humans were approaching it. Furthermore, these three humans were approaching from three directions. Suddenly, a murderous glint bust from its eyes as its body tightened up and bolted toward Su Ben in an instant.
"BEAST!"
Su Ben firmly grabbed the harpoon in his hand and smashed it toward the leopard savage beast, bringing along it with a whooshing sound. The leopard's speed, however, was way too fast as it was able to avoid the sudden smash of the harpoon in the blink of an eye and jumped high towards Su Ben to smash his head.
Comparing Su Ben to Su Quan and Su Xiangfei in regards to combat experience, Su Ben's combat force was definitely the strongest among the trio as he was someone who could fight. Especially after he joined the Magnificent Tang Corporation, he was subjected to very strict training. He had studied hand to hand close combat as well as how to fight with weapons for a few months. Therefore, he did not panic upon facing this crisis. He dashed to the side all of sudden and used his harpoon to counter attack and finally avoided the danger from the leopard's sharp claws.
"What a fast speed!"
After he stood up again, the leopard savage beast had already flashed toward him. Despite thinking that he had become very strong now, he was still scared by its violent and swift attack. He did not attempt to counter its attack and rolled about on the ground yet again instead, with which he borrowed the inertia to dash toward Su Quan's direction.
"CAREFUL!"
Su Quan's heart jumped out of fear upon seeing the leopard savage beast chasing behind Su Ben. The feeling burst out from his heart to his throat as he called out loudly while waving his iron shovel.
Scratch…
Su Ben's heart jumped wildly and he instantly dodged to the side, yet his left arm was still scratched and ripped by the leopard as it bled. At the same time as Su Quan arrived, he slammed his iron shovel in the middle of the leopard beast and forced it back.
"Brother Ben, are you okay?" Blocking in front of Su Ben, Su Quan called with anxiousness painted in his face.
Su Ben jumped up from the ground and quickly faced the leopard savage beast shoulder to shoulder with Su Quan. His expression was calm when he replied, "I'm fine, but got injured. You two be very careful. This guy is too fast, even I can barely escape once or twice, but no more. The speed of both you are not as fast as mine, so be very careful."
"Okay! (Got it!)"
Su Quan and Su Xiangfei, who had just arrived, replied at the same time.
ROAR…
The expression of the leopard fierce beast seemed to be ridiculing them. With a roar, it flashed towards the trio who were armed with weapons without any fear at all. This time, its speed was even faster, simply like a sharp arrow released from the bow.
Peng Peng Peng…
The harpoon, iron shovel, and javelin in Su Ben, Su Quan, and Su Xiangfei's hands slammed and struck the leopard's body at the same time, but did nothing to it at all. Yet, its sharp claws that swept Su Xiangfei and Su Quan's arms left a few deep wounds on them.
Bam…
What was out of the trio's imaginations was that after the leopard scratched Su Xiangfei and Su Quan's arms, it unexpectedly turned around in the air and slapped its two sharp claws on Su Ben's back. Blood poured out from several wounds the moment it smashed Su Ben's body straightly, sending him backward for seven-plus meters as he fell heavily to the ground.
"BROTHER BEN! (SU BEN!)"
Su Quan and Su Xiangfei's faces drastically changed. They went all out to hack the leopard with their iron shovel and javelin and forced it to retreat to the side as they then rushed toward Su Ben.
Tang Xiu stood atop the tree branch several meters away with a tranquil expression as a glint flashed in his eyes. The fight just now was within his expectations. The leopard savage beast would indeed be able to injure the trio, but it would be very difficult for it to kill them, therefore he refrained from involving himself in the fight.
He could, however, estimate that the trio wouldn't be able to kill the leopard beast, either. The beast possessed a formidable and nearly invulnerable body, and he was unsure whether the harpoon or javelin would be able to pierce it. After a moment's contemplation he saw the leopard savage beast rushing over towards the trio, as his figure instantly flashed over there.
Whoosh…
His figure left afterimages as it dove down from the air. The Bloodguzzler dagger in his hand burst out a scarlet light as it hacked the back of the leopard.
Hou, Hou…
The severe pain caused the leopard to turn frantic and stopped its movements. In its crazed state, it frantically turned around and landed its eyes on Tang Xiu. It could sense that the human in front gave off a huge threatening feeling to it, thus it decided to get rid of this human first before killing the other three.
Like a blazing meteor, the leopard savage beast had already stormed over before Tang Xiu and its sharp claws hacked toward Tang Xiu's head.
"DIE!"
A cold glint flashed in Tang Xiu's eyes. The Bloodguzzler dagger instantly crossed over in front and easily slashed off the leopard fierce beast's claws. At the same time, Tang Xiu sent a heavy kick to its stomach. The moment when its huge body flew upside down, Tang Xiu's figure stalked towards it like a shadow as the Bloodguzzler dagger pierced its lower neck and ripped open a long wound.
Blood gushed out.
Only then did the leopard fierce beast feel fear. Never once had it encountered a human being so fast, and never once had it suffered such a severe wound. Nearly in the instance it landed on the ground, it ran towards the forested mountain while enduring the severe pain of losing its two front paws.
"YOU'RE DEAD!"
The Bloodguzzler dagger in Tang Xiu's hands shot out and turned into a streak of light that pierced through the leopard fierce beast's abdomen from the side. The penetrating strike made its body tremble and it fell heavily under a big tree seven-plus meters away. Its abdomen was pierced through and its neck was torn open—two fatal wounds that made the leopard fierce beast full of despair and desperation. It tried to crawl up from the ground, yet the blood flowing out from its body was like a fountain, making it weaker and weaker. In particular, its two front paws were slashed off, and it could only get up halfway before heavily falling to the ground again.
Bang bang bang…
Tang Xiu bolted towards the leopard fierce beast and slammed a barrage of punches on it. A smile then appeared on his face while he watched the leopard fierce beast draw its last breath.
He then turned around to look at the trio who had come over and said with a smile, "Are you okay, Brother Ben?"
Lifting a hand to wipe the blood on the corner of his mouth, Su Ben shook his head and smilingly said, "I'm fine. My back in kind of burning, though. You're really amazing, Tang Xiu! We are nothing to speak of facing this guy, but you got rid of this guy without the effort."
"You all can achieve that easily later too if you cultivate well." Tang Xiu smiled. "Alright, since we've killed this thing, you can take its carcass! Let all the villagers have a look at it, then everyone will be completely relieved."
Su Ben nodded in response and went to lift the leopard.
Tang Xiu stopped him and took out the silver needle he always carried and stopped the bleeding wounds of the trio with the acupoints pressing technique and then bandaged their wounds. After he was nearly done with the treatment, he smiled and said, "Though you three are injured, it was a great training opportunity, right? Anyways, in order to exercise your physical fitness and ability, you three will carry the carcass of this leopard back. I know that the distance from here to the Su Family Village is very far, but I want you all to get there in two hours! Can you do it?"
The trio exchanged dismayed looks and wry smiles painted their faces.
Two hours?
When they came here, though they searched everywhere and their speed was very slow, still, it took four or five hours to get here, and it must be noted that it was during the day. But walking down the mountain pathway at night was a different story. It was arduously difficult! Wanting them to get back within two hours, could it be that it was achievable?
While watching their expressions, Tang Xiu added, "If you all can't carry this leopard's body out of this forested mountain within two hours, I promise that I'll train you with more brutal and cruel methods later. You will feel that you might as well better die than to live first, before enjoying the taste and thrill of having power."
The taste the feeling of like dying while alive?
Soaking themselves inside the Spirit Spring had already given them that taste, despite the Spirit Spring indeed giving them such a huge advantage. And yet, they did not want to taste such a feeling a second time. Therefore, the trio looked at each other and then quickly lifted the leopard beast, galloped at full speed toward the outside of the mountain.
Chapter 634: Big Heroes
Traversing the forested mountain was very easy for Tang Xiu, and he followed the trio closely as they carried the carcass of the fierce beast. After hurrying along on the path for more than an hour, they finally saw the outermost summit of the mountain range. At this moment, Tang Xiu could keenly see many lights shining halfway up the mountain range.
"STOP!" Tang Xiu sped up and blocked the path in front of the trio.
"What happened?" Asked Su Ben with a wondering look on his face.
"The four of us have been in the mountains for two days, and my car is still parked at the foot of the mountain," said Tang Xiu. "I'm afraid that the villagers should have already guessed that we are venturing into the mountains since I just found that many lights halfway up the mountain range at the opposite side. Those lights should be from the villagers who came to look for us. Anyways, you all must remember that you are not to tell anyone about the cultivation technique I taught you. You all now have ability that far exceeds an ordinary person's and you must never expose it before them, unless… you're at a critical juncture and uses it as a last resort."
"Alright! (Got it!)"
The trio nodded.
"This leopard fierce beast was killed by all of you and I have nothing to do with it," said Tang Xiu once again. "Besides, you all are the ones who got injured, showing that you are the ones who took the action. I don't want to put myself in the limelight, so you all can take the credit."
"But Tang Xiu, that doesn't feel right, no?" Su Quan hesitated.
"What's not right about it? I don't think there's anything wrong with it." Tang Xiu waved his hand. "Just explain like that whenever the outsiders ask you. Furthermore, you must never tell anything about the stone forest and the Spirit Spring. Tell them that we spent two days searching for this leopard only. Otherwise, any ordinary person will only rush to their deaths if they accidentally enter that stone forest without my guidance."
"Got it!"
At this time, the way the trio looked at Tang Xiu was completely different from before. Such great merits, yet Tang Xiu actually pushed all the credit to them and did not even want to be mentioned in the slightest. Such a disposition really aroused their admiration.
Feelings of respect aroused inside Su Xiangfei's heart at this time. He suddenly remembered and compared Tang Xiu's state half a year ago to now. He felt that Tang Xiu was not really muddle headed after he got into that car accident, but pretended to be crazy and played dumb because he wanted to keep a low profile. He should have been working hard, enduring hardships to accomplish some ambition he had, and preparing everything in secret back then.
It was amazingly great, and yet terrifying in and of itself!
The admiration Su Xiangfei had toward Tang Xiu at the same time also raised dread and fear in his heart.
With such a young age and yet keeping a low-profile character will require a wonderful mental strength. He… he's too terrifying. Su Xiangfei's complexion paled. He secretly glanced at Tang Xiu before immediately turning his head, suppressing the increasing fear growing in his heart.
As the quartet resumed their journey, it took them nearly 20 minutes to see the villagers who were currently searching for them, as well as the police and firemen from the Public Security Bureau.
"THEY ARE HERE…"
A pleasantly surprised shout instantly echoed in the mountains.
Instantly, about 100-200 people gathered around them. Everyone who looked at the quartet wore the same expression, that was, pleasantly surprised and disbelief. They were pleasantly surprised upon seeing that the quartet was safe and sound, and the disbelief was caused upon seeing Su Ben's group carrying that huge leopard's body.
"Tang Xiu, Su Ben, Su Quan, and you Su Xiangfei—You all… you all really damn reckless troublemaker!" Su Xiangjian went forward. Despite seeing that the group carried a leopard's carcass, he still angrily reprimanded them.
"How come we are reckless troublemakers, Uncle Xiangjian?" said Su Quan with a grin. "This leopard is so loathsome, so we ventured into the mountains to kill it. Isn't it to protect the safety of our own folks? Take a look at this leopard, we did it! We really killed it!"
Su Xiangjian shot a deep look at the carcass of the leopard. But he was still disgruntled and said, "Even though you wanted to kill the leopard and venture into the mountain, shouldn't you tell it to someone before you go? Do you know that many villagers have been looking for you over this mountain inside and out for the last two days? We would have gone deeper into the forested mountain if you still didn't show up tonight. Everybody was worried about you, you know that?!!"
Tang Xiu stepped forward and smilingly said, "This is indeed our fault, Uncle Xiangjian. We didn't expect that it would take so long, either. Back when we thought to venture into the mountain to look for it, we planned to go back if we couldn't find it. But then, who would've thought that we spotted this leopard, so we gave it a chase and then had a fight with it. At the end of the day, we spent two days to set up some traps to kill it. You can have a look at the three of them, they all fought with the leopard closely just to kill it."
Su Xiangjian saw the injuries as well as their clothes that had been stained red by blood. He hurriedly asked with a worried expression, "What about your injuries? Are you okay?"
"We're fine." Su Ben shook his head. "Tang Xiu has already stopped the bleeding and bandaged us."
Su Xiangjin sighed in relief and nodded without speaking more.
Zhao Donghe, with his policemen around him, came towards Tang Xiu's group of four. He shot a look at the dead, bull-sized leopard before shifting his vision to the quartet and saying, "You four are really great. Though it was kinda reckless and irresponsible of you to venture into the mountain, yet you only got injured and finally killed this damned beast. Anyways, I'm Zhao Donghe, the Chief of the County Public Security Bureau. I sincerely thank you for eliminating this thing that has threatened the public."
"You're too kind, Chief Zhao. This is what we should do, to begin with," said Tang Xiu with a smile.
With eyes fixed on Tang Xiu, Zhao Donghe smiled back and said, "Are you Tang Xiu? The famous miracle-working doctor, Tang Xiu? You're really brave and resourceful. What a promising young man!"
Tang Xiu talked some pleasantries before looking at everyone else and smilingly saying, "We've made all the fellow villagers worried, and we are really sorry for causing you all to climb the mountain to look for us, more so that we are about to celebrate the New Year. Brother Ben and them here have killed this leopard, so everyone can feel relieved after the New Year is over. After I go back, I'm going to the best restaurant in the county town to order dishes since all of you have gathered together. It's the New Year's Eve, thus let us arrange a feast to celebrate the New Year together."
"Hooray! That's great!!!"
The villagers of the Su Family village wore bright smiling faces and applauded.
After some conversation, everyone then began the journey back. It made Su Ben, Su Quan, and Su Xiangfei very excited, nevertheless, since they did not had to lift the carcass of the leopard again while hurrying back.
Returning to the Su Family Village, Tang Xiu drove his car and brought the trio. He then parked the car at his grandmother's house and then told the trio to move the carcass over. The quartet had yet to enter the courtyard as Tang Yunde, Su Lingyun, Zhang Shi, Chen Huiying, Mu Qingping, Su Yaning and the others rushed out.
"Xiu'er!"
"Son!"
Su Lingyun and Chen Huiying separately bolted toward Tang Xiu and Su Ben.
While looking at his rushing mother, Tang Xiu embraced her and said, "I'm alright, Mom. We are alright. We climbed up the mountain to kill this leopard, who had many killed people. You can see that we've already returned now! You can rest your worries."
Su Lingyun slapped Tang Xiu's arm with tearful eyes and angrily said, "Who made you want to show off your ability, huh? If by any chance… something bad happened to the three of you, what would the two us do?"
Zhang Shi echoed, "That's right, Xiu'er. The mountain is fraught with dangers! You'd been there for two days, so we were worried that something bad had happened to you all. You must never do such a stupid thing again in the future."
Tang Xiu could only force a smile secretly and said a lot of comforting words to calm everyone's emotions. Originally, Tang Yunde and Su Lingyun planned to take Zhang Shi to Star City to celebrate the New Year, but the incident made them return to the Su Family Village, so everyone then decided to stay and celebrate the New Year here this year.
Immediately afterward, Tang Xiu made an excuse to take the trio to the county hospital to bandage their wounds. The quartet went to the county town by car, and then headed to the biggest restaurant in the county to order dozens of tables, foods, and wines, and paid double the price to make the restaurant deliver them to the Su Family Village.
Following that, Tang Xiu took the trio the hospital to have their injuries stitched and re-bandaged. Then, they knocked a store nearby selling firecrackers and fireworks and told the store owner to deliver a cart of fireworks to the Su Family Village as well.
Although the location of the Su Family Village was geographically remote, the road to the village was quite wide. Due to the help from the villagers, a large number of round tables and benches were rented from neighboring villages and were placed on the road at the main entrance to the village. Moreover, many more excited villagers pulled electrical wires and lighted the lamp bulbs outside. If one were to look at the Su Family Village from above, they would definitely find that most of the village was well-illuminated and brightly lit.
Gu Yin, who was still childish and had never had such a lively and busy New Year celebration in the past, was excitedly running around, and even played with a group of Su Family Village's folks that were older than her, and also played with children smaller than her.
As the food and wine from the biggest restaurant in the county town were sent to the tables, the villagers beamed with delight and began drinking and chatting. Even the two families who lost their loved ones smiled. However, what made everyone excited was that the County Police Chief, Zhao Donghe, even brought his whole family to gather with the Su Family Village's folks. He even made his whole family sit at the same table with Tang Yunde and Su Lingyun.
Furthermore, the event occurring in the Su Family Village at the New Year's Eve was passed to several neighboring villages. Some people from several villages nearby also came over to join in on the fun. The Village Chiefs from various villages who had kinship ties with the Su Family Village also came and as a result, added several more tables to the party.
At 12:00 sharp at night.
With the advent of the New Year, the firecrackers were ignited and roared along with the fireworks that painted the sky red.
This night for the villagers of the Su Family Village became an unforgettable event that they would never forget! The grand scene of celebrating the New Year's Eve with a banquet would be held every year in the future. This newly formed custom then became the most important custom of the Su Family Village in the future, something that never crossed their minds before.
The four young men—Tang Xiu, Su Ben, Su Quan, and Su Xiangfei also become the big heroes of the Su Family Village as well as the villages in the surroundings for their great merits.
The lively and joyful scene lasted until 1 o'clock in the early morning.
In the next morning, just as dawn came, Tang Xiu, Su Xiangfei, Su Yaning, and Gu Yin were called out by Zhang Shi from their beds. It was because of the custom—the custom that was rooted deep in the hearts of every villager.
"Xiangfei, get and set off the firecrackers."
Tang Xiu stood near a well in the courtyard. He washed his face with chilling cold water and then shouted at Su Xiangfei, who had already washed his face.