Chapter 127 – Fight Between Bear and Tiger
The Chinese knotweed’s solon was dugged out completely. This Chinese knotweed was half a meter tall and around twenty centimeters in thickness. The surface looked like the silhouette of a person. The head, body, limbs, and even the “organ” between the two legs were all vivid and lifelike.
“There’s really a Chinese knotweed that looks like a human. If a superstitious person sees this, they would’ve thought the Chinese knotweed had become a spirit.” Gu Ye muttered to himself. However, the Chinese knotweed was at least a century old. She carefully placed the valuable medicinal ingredient and lamented at her journey here.
Suddenly, there was an earth-splattering tiger’s roar coming from the valley which startled the humming birds and caused the deers to scatter. She looked in the direction of the noise. In her past life, she had gotten along with mutated wild beasts for decades. From the howl, she could feel its terrified and startled feeling and sense of struggle. This made her think of “trapped beast.” What type of beast could cause the king of the forest to be at a disadvantage?
Prompted by the strong curiosity, Gu Ye carried the basket full of herbs and gradually walked out of the valley, heading in the direction of the tiger’s howl. With her acute hearing, she slowly approached the “battlefield.” She stopped a good distance away to prevent the spray expelling beasts from scaring off the wild beasts battling. She climbed on a huge rock and looked down.
There was a great brown bear on the spacious ground who was pouncing on an old tiger. It clearly was injured so it was unable to move as swiftly and nimbly. Clearly, it reached its end. It did its best to pounce, roll, move, and dash but was still unable to avoid the great brown bear’s paw. When the bear started attacking again, the two beasts moved and the giant bear paw hit the old tiger’s backbone.
The attack obviously injured the tiger’s backbone. It tried its best to lift its front paw and its back legs trudged against the ground a bit. It struggled for a bit before finally collapsing helplessly.
Just as the brown tiger was about to open its bloody mouth and feast on its prey, it suddenly heard a crisp voice, “Hey! Big stupid bear, place that tiger down!”
The brown bear looked over to see a skinny figure standing on top of a huge rock, gesturing arrogantly about.
Clearly, the huge fierce tiger was much more attractive to the brown tiger. It faintly peered at her before lowering its head. As it was about to munch on the fresh tiger meat, an arrow shot through its head.
The brown tiger had thick skin so the arrow naturally couldn’t hurt it. However, the small human’s provocation angered this huge animal. It roared and then dashed towards the human challenging its dignity.
The huge brown tiger suddenly braked when it was only a few feet away from Gu Ye. Out of habit, the massive body rolled forward and bumped against the rock next to Gu Ye and finally came to a stop.
This brown tiger seemed to be under a huge threat. Its hairs were like steel needles, standing up straight. Its pair of black eyes was full of fear and disgust. It stumbled back as if its nemesis was chasing it. It scrambled off and during the process, it rolled and crawled.
Gu Ye patted her hands which were full of the powder to expel beasts. She revealed a proud expression and muttered to herself, “Even mutated animals would avoid me once they smell this. Don’t mention a small brown tiger like you. It was quite a pity however. If the brown tiger had come a bit closer, it would’ve been knocked unconscious. I would’ve been able to taste the bear paws!”
She slowly climbed off the rock and walked over to the old tiger who was on its last breath. She tched. “So tragic. Its backbone was crushed and the internal organs have been shattered. It’s dead for sure!” She just finished her words when the huge tiger took its last breath.
Gu Ye kicked the tiger and then her gaze glowed. “Such a fat old tiger. I wonder if its meat is edible. Let me return and ask the master. However, the tiger skin is quite complete. If I use the skin to make a blanket for grandfather, his feet won’t hurt in the winter. There are also tiger bones which can be used in medicine or to brew wine…”
In this money grubber’s heart, she wanted to tear the tiger apart and sell whatever valuable parts there were.
The huge tiger was at least two hundred pounds but it wasn’t a big deal for Gu Ye. She placed the corpse in her storage and hurried back. When she almost walked out of the mountain, she then carried the tiger on her back.
Once she drank the Energetic Bottle Medicine, two hundred pounds was nothing to her. However, her small body was basically drowned under the huge tiger body. From afar, it looked like an old tiger which was walking on two legs on the mounts.
“Ah! Tiger! The tiger has come down the mountain!” A scared witless voice screamed loudly and hoarsely. A few shrieks accompanied it. Gu Ye lifted her head from the corpse to see a bundle of firewood scattered on the ground as well as panicking figures running down the mountain.
“I think it’s Li Hao and the others.” Gu Ye jolted the corpse on her back before slowly getting off the mountain. It was less than a kilometer from her place. She just needed to persist longer and then she could be free. Although the Energetic Bottle Medicine could arouse her potential, she was still tired from all the walking. After all, she was only twelve years old.
Gu Ye rested for a few minutes before deciding to carry the corpse back in one go. Before she took a few steps, she heard hurried footsteps and a few familiar hunters’ voices, “Where is it? Where is the tiger?”
Gu Ye stopped and looked over. Li Hao brought the elders from the village over. There were at least dozens of people and they were all carrying farm tools, all prepared to fight. They were quite quick. Looking at this scene, it seemed like all the young men in the village were called over.
“It’s over there. It even sat down. It’s looking at us now.” Li Hao’s voice shook. One could tell just how scared he was. He was quite the man for being able to endure his fear and bring the villagers over.
“Brother Zhang, what should we do? You take change! We can’t let this bastard enter our village and hurt the villagers.” The person talking was the oldest son of the clan elder. He clutched the hoe in his hands tightly and stared at the “tiger,” not afraid of death.
Hunter Zhang lifted his hand and stopped the villager from approaching. He seemed to realize something was off. He exclaimed softly, “Wait a second…”
Enough. If she didn’t say anything, she’d be attacked by the group of people. Gu Ye hurriedly explained, “Uncle Zhang, second uncle, what are you guys doing?” She then revealed her head from the tiger corpse.
“Oh my! Little Ye’er!” Seeing the dirty and bloody face covered in tiger blood, Hunter Zhang and the others let out a gasp.
“Sister—” A mournful voice rang from behind the crowd. Gu Ming walked through the crowd and rushed to Gu Ye’s side, turning the tiger corpse over and then carefully checking her body. “Tell this brother where you’re hurt. Here, let this brother carry you back. Grandfather Zheng can treat your injury for sure.”
His voice was trembling and on the verge of crying. His panicked expression was just the same as the day Gu Ye transmigrated.
“Brother, I’m not hurt…” Her brother hugged her tightly the moment she started talking. She was doubtful towards everyone having experienced what she did in her past life. Even more, she wasn’t used to physical touch.
She wanted to push him away when she felt her brother’s trembling body and his tears which made her change her mind. She felt warmness flood through her eyes and she reached over to hug her brother’s skinny body. So this was what family was like. They would be concerned, love, and protect you unconditionally. The thought of someone being worried for her felt beautiful.
“Brother, it’s my fault. Sorry for worrying you.” Gu Ye apologized sincerely.
Gu Ming let his sister go and then turned to wipe his tears with his sleeves. He reached over to wipe the already dried blood stains for her and then asked worriedly, “You’re really not hurt? Where did the blood come from?”
“The blood is from the tiger. When I picked up the tiger, it was still warm so it clearly died not too long ago.” Gu Ye didn’t lie. Although she did watch the old tiger take its last breath.
Hunter Zhang walked over and asked Gu Ye in concern. He reached over to inspect the tiger corpse and then stood up after a while. He looked at Gu Ye and said, “Young lady, you’re extraordinarily lucky. This tiger probably got smacked by a bear. But the strange thing is the bear killed the tiger but didn’t eat it. The tiger skin is mostly complete.”
The ninth uncle, Gu Feng, glared at Gu Ye and said, “Little Ye’er, were you being disobedient again and went into the deep mountain? Look at you. For someone as small as you, why are you so courageous? Look. There are tigers in the mountains and even bears that can kill tigers. You’re not even enough of a meal for them.”
“You’re right.” Gu Ming patted his sister’s head and exclaimed softly, “You got lucky this time. Don’t think that you’ll get lucky again next time.”
“Mn, I know.” Gu Ye thought of her excuse and explained, “Grandfather has been out for three days. I wanted to check the boar valley to see if our traps have been destroyed. I shouldn’t have entered the mountain just relying on the powder to expel beasts that my master gave me. I won’t do this in the future!”
Gu Ming didn’t have the heart to scold her anymore after seeing his sister’s sincere attitude. He comforted, “You must be scared to death. If you want to go to the boar valley, this brother will come with you in the future…”
“No one is going anywhere” Hunter Zhang furrowed his brows hearing this. “Old Man Zheng left you guys some powder to expel beasts for protection against the wild beasts that might leave the mountains in the winter. It’s not so you guys can go anywhere you want. Villagers, go back and warn your naughty children to be good. The wild boar valley isn’t far from our village. There are tigers and bears there. We need to stay more on alert and be careful lately.”
The villagers nodded hearing this and exclaimed that they will go back to discipline their children so that there won’t be any trouble in the future.