Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Ye Qing hurriedly went forward to assess the situation.

The bite force of an adult tiger was astonishing, so the bite was severe, almost deep enough to expose the bone. The entire thigh was a bloody mess, making anyone who saw it feel a chill in their heart.

Fortunately, it bit his thigh, where there was plenty of flesh. So, although it looked serious, as long as the wound was stitched and he was rested and cared for over time, there would be no major issues.

If it had bitten his neck, Ye Qing didn’t even want to imagine if an ordinary person’s delicate neck could withstand a tiger’s bite. One bite could have severed his neck.

Feeling a surge of fear, Ye Qing quickly took out her silver needles and began to urgently clean Liu Zhiqing’s wound.

Fortunately, when they entered the mountain, Ye Qing had been worried they might encounter danger during the hunt, so she had prepared in advance and brought a first-aid kit, which now came in handy.

Ye Qing quickly stopped the bleeding, disinfected the wound, applied medicine, and bandaged it. In just ten minutes, she had finished treating the wound.

Concerned that the tiger might be carrying rabies, Ye Qing secretly used a bit of her wood element abilities to ensure the wound wouldn’t get infected by the virus.

After putting away her medical kit, Ye Qing stood up and looked at the tiger that was still pacing about ten meters away.

The tiger was quite massive, weighing an estimated five to six hundred pounds. It looked like a formidable opponent.

Under normal circumstances, even an adult tiger wouldn’t easily get into a direct conflict with humans while hunting in the mountains. Especially with a group of over twenty people, even the most dangerous predators would be wary. A tiger wouldn’t risk attacking such a large group without a clear advantage.

Ye Qing couldn’t help but ask Wu Yongbing, “Commander, what’s going on?”

Wu Yongbing was just as puzzled.

These hunters have lived at the foot of Kaoshan Village for many years, heading into the mountain to hunt every year. They've encountered tigers numerous times, but for the most part, it was just a brief encounter.

Tigers are incredibly agile, darting through the dense forest, vanishing without a trace. As soon as they spotted a group of hunters armed with rifles, they would immediately retreat into the deep forest, avoiding direct conflict with humans.

So, this was the first time they had come into such close contact with a tiger.

At this time, there were no laws protecting endangered wild animals, and the villagers lacked such awareness.

After all, thirty years earlier, whether in southern or northern China or the eastern Liaodong region, people had been plagued by tiger problems for many years.

According to statistics, at that time there were reportedly tens of thousands of South China tigers. These tigers frequently descended from the mountains, disrupting daily life and farming, leading people to live in fear of tigers. In the early days after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, special tiger hunting teams were even established, and many old hunters took pride in hunting tigers. The same was true in the Changbai Mountain area, where many villagers' homes had quilts and coats made from tiger skins.

However, due to the intense efforts to eliminate the tiger threat, unrestricted hunting led to the near extinction of wild tigers by the early 1970s. By the 1970s, the Siberian tiger population in the vast Changbai Mountains had dwindled to the brink of extinction.

At this moment, seeing this healthy, robust, and beautifully colored Siberian tiger, though cautious, none of the old hunters backed down. Their eyes locked onto the tiger, burning with determination.

Clearly, this tiger had stirred the hunters' intentions. Even knowing the tiger would be difficult to deal with, they wanted to hunt it down.

After all, a tiger this big wouldn't just provide meat. If they could successfully harvest the tiger's pelt, they could sell it for a large sum of money.

However, since Wu Yongbing hadn't given the order, none of the old hunters dared to act rashly or fire their guns without permission. They were afraid that if they missed, the tiger might retaliate and injure someone. If another person got bitten and lost their life, no one would want to take the blame.

Normally, if a wild animal attacked someone, Wu Yongbing wouldn’t hesitate to give the order to shoot.

But this time, with Ye Qing present, for some reason, Wu Yongbing instinctively regarded Ye Qing as the backbone and wanted to ask for her opinion.

After all, after what happened the previous night, Wu Yongbing and the other hunters now believed that Ye Qing was Changbai Mountain’s cherished daughter, truly blessed and protected by the Fox Immortal.

Based on this, Wu Yongbing felt that following the young girl's advice would definitely be the right choice.

"Ye Qing, what should we do?"

Ye Qing certainly disagreed with hunting the tiger. In the vast Changbai Mountains, the number of Siberian tigers was now so few that if they continued to hunt them, it would undoubtedly increase the workload for future biological researchers and animal protection units.

"If you're asking me, I certainly don't approve of tiger hunting—"

Ye Qing had already prepared many arguments in her mind, with various reasons, even ready to endure a dry mouth while trying to persuade these hunters with both emotion and reason.

But before she could even begin her elaborate speech, Wu Yongbing nodded and decided:

"Then we won't hunt it. Everyone, be careful. As long as this tiger doesn't charge at us and hurt anyone, no shooting!"

Ye Qing: ...Wait, is he agreeing just like that? Isn't this a bit too hasty?

Of course, not all the hunters were as straightforward as Wu Yongbing. Some of them were still reluctant, but when they turned back and saw Man Cang and his wife behaving obediently near Ye Qing's feet, they immediately backed down and suppressed their dissatisfaction.

Joking aside, these people weren't stupid. It was clear that Ye Qing was the one in charge here. Without her, it would have been impossible for them to hunt so many prey so easily within two days.

This city-born educated youth had almost become the good-luck charm of their Kaoshan Village. If they offended this formidable figure, not only would they lose the chance to hunt together in the future, but even the village captain might not spare them.

Moreover, this young girl could communicate with the fox immortal. Alone in the deep mountains at night, she wasn't afraid of anything. The old hunters in the village were somewhat superstitious and wouldn't dare to provoke someone so eerie.

Ye Qing didn't know the villagers' psychology, but as long as they agreed not to hunt the tiger, she wouldn't waste her breath. She started thinking of ways to drive the tiger away from the cabin area as soon as possible.

Before she could come up with a suitable plan, another male educated youth who was helping Liu Zhiqing back to the cabin suddenly shouted in alarm:

"My God, there's a tiger in our cabin!"

At this, everyone's hearts skipped a beat, and they instinctively moved to head towards the cabin.

But unexpectedly, the male educated youth came out of the cabin, holding a tiger cub that was barely bigger than an adult raccoon.

The cub was still defiant, struggling to break free from the male educated youth's hands while opening its mouth wide, displaying a fierce and domineering demeanor of a mountain king.

As soon as the cub appeared, everyone's steps halted, instantly understanding why the adult tiger had attacked and continued to linger near the cabin.

It turned out that this tiger cub was the cause of the trouble!

Sure enough, as soon as the cub was revealed, the adult tiger became anxious, roaring and attempting to charge at the group, afraid that these humans might harm its child.

The male educated youth, holding the tiger cub, turned pale with fright, his mind blank, not knowing how to react.

Seeing this, Ye Qing immediately shouted:

"Let go! Throw the cub outside!"

When the male educated youth still didn't react, Ye Qing had no choice but to pull out the rattan whip from her bag. With a flick, the whip wrapped around the cub.

In the blink of an eye, the cub was thrown far away, landing in the snow dozens of meters away.

The cub buried itself in the snow, creating a big hole. Fortunately, the snow in the mountains was thick, and the cub soon emerged, shaking the snow off its fur and wobbling towards its parent.

The adult tiger, not wanting to fight, immediately abandoned its attack on the group, making a sharp turn towards its child and quickly darting over to pick up the cub by the neck.

The cub, still reluctant, continued protesting and wriggling to escape its parent's grip.

Once the adult tiger let go, the cub stumbled and dashed back toward the cabin again, provoking the tiger into swatting the cub hard with its paw. Without hesitation, the adult tiger then scooped the cub into its mouth and, turning around, left without looking back.

Only after this pair of tigers departed and the danger had passed did everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

Liu Zhiqing was especially like a survivor of a great calamity, slumping to the ground, clutching his chest and gasping for air, clearly shaken by the experience.

Ye Qing entered the cabin and, as expected, saw the overturned pot. The blackened layer of crust at the bottom had been licked almost clean, and the cabin was a mess, with traces of the little tiger’s mischief everywhere.

Seeing this, Ye Qing understood what had happened. She had carried a few jin of rice up the mountain and asked Gu Weinan to cook porridge that morning.

Presumably, while the porridge was boiling, the rice had stuck to the pot, leaving some burnt crust. The smell had attracted the cub, who sneaked into the cabin unnoticed to steal some food.

The adult tiger followed the scent to find its cub and, likely thinking its child had been captured, attacked near the cabin.

As it happened, the other hunters, all carrying hunting guns, were extremely alert, their reaction speed far quicker than the city youths unfamiliar with the mountains. The hunters managed to dodge the tiger in time, but unfortunately, Liu Zhiqing was a step behind and was caught and bitten.

It was a truly unexpected disaster. Looking at Liu Zhiqing, pale and in pain on the kang, Ye Qing felt both embarrassed and guilty.

After all, if it weren’t for the unusual food she had brought up, Liu Zhiqing wouldn’t have suffered this ordeal.

Although she had meant well—worrying that the hunters might get sick from cold and hunger during the harsh winter—and had brought rice she thought would help boost their resistance, who could have known that a bit of burnt crust at the bottom of the pot would cause such a mess?