Chapter 211: Cat Fight (Patreon)

Yang was suspended in the air like a hog being carried to be roasted. 

After delivering her cookie-cutter villainous monologue, the female cultivator had turned around and ordered one of her companions to carry Yang. The man had agreed immediately with a smarmy smile and an obedient "Yes, Senior Sect Sister,” before also confiscating and restraining his flying carpet. The group was already discussing which one of them would be the new owner of the carpet, along with whatever else of value he might have in his storage ring. 

Apparently Yang wasn’t considered much of a threat, as they barely spared him a second glance, mostly discussing amongst themselves how they would deal with the creature they were hunting. 

Yang, dangling in the air as he was carried, made sure to keep his ears tuned to their conversation while mentally mapping the path they were taking. He didn't panic. He still had access to his storage ring and, by extension, his full array of tools and talismans. If worst came to worst, he could always activate the talisman Senior Brother Fan Xiao had given him in case his plan to flee failed. 

Thank you, Master, for the high-grade storage ring, Yang thought. He could only imagine how much worse things could be for him if he had some low-grade storage ring that the rope tool could have restrained along with him.

His so-called plan so far consisted mostly of winging it since he didn't know anything about the creature they were planning to hunt down and the capabilities of these cultivators, or really any cultivator for that matter. He hadn’t yet had a chance to watch any cultivators fight amongst themselves. Watching Senior Brother Song Weilong roll around on the ground with the Mummy extra hardly counted.

Still, considering the four Foundation Establishment cultivators were kidnapping and using a low-level Qi Condensation cultivator as bait, it had to be something formidable for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to deal with, let alone a small fry like him. 

As they ventured deeper into the woods, Yang prayed they wouldn't cross paths with his Senior Brothers. Senior Brothers Zhen Hao and Yuan Shen would never let him live it down if they found him trussed up like a prize pig ready to be slaughtered. 

They walked for hours, coming across various beasts that his captors dispatched with great efficiency, but as they pushed deeper and deeper, the fights grew longer and the creatures fiercer, slowing their progress to a crawl. 

Yang felt their steps become much slower and more cautious as a lull settled over the forest. They stopped encountering any more beasts. He realised they must have entered the territory of the creature. 

It was then that the female cultivator turned her attention back to Yang, as the three remaining cultivators started taking out some kind of powder from their storage treasures, which they sprinkled over the ground and nearby bushes.

She approached him, looking at him with a false kind smile, leaving Yang to wonder who she thought she was fooling with that phony expression of hers. Did she take him for a complete half-wit? 

“If you are obedient and help us distract the White Thunder Lotus Tiger,” she began, her voice dripping with insincere warmth, “we will let you leave with some rewards.”

Yes, Sister. Your friends who, until a few hours ago, were discussing how the things in my storage ring would be divided amongst them, and now you expect me to believe you will let me leave with a reward. 

Yang just nodded. She clearly thought him a simpleton. Best to let her live with her assumption. She seemed satisfied with his feigned acquiescence and flicked her wrists, releasing him from the rope binding. He steadied himself as he dropped to the ground, rubbing his wrist that seemed to have been rubbed raw with how tightly he had been bound. 

He eyed the rope the woman tied on her waist warily. Given his constitution, the rope had to be forged from some kind of special material to leave marks on him like this. Then again, he didn't need his rubbed raw wrists to tell him that. It was clear enough when the damn thing lunged and tied him up like a man-eating boa constrictor.

They seemed confident that he wouldn't run away, or rather that he wouldn’t be able to, and they had a reason to as well; there were four of them, and Yang was a major realm below them. They had nothing to worry about with him. 

He would prove them wrong.

They walked deeper, Yang following behind the young woman. She turned to him with a small dagger in her hand and the fake smile still plastered on her face. “We are hunting a White Thunder Lotus Tiger which has recently birthed a cub.” She pressed the dagger into Yang’s hand, and he took it, making sure to only touch the handle as she had done. “We will slay the beast and take the cub. You may take your choice of material from the mother's corpse. All you have to do is distract and keep the cub away from the fight while we deal with the adult.”

Yang offered a curt nod, already seeing through the ruse. He wasn’t an idiot. He was not a distraction for the cub but rather for the mother. He looked at the dagger in his hand with disdain, likely intended to send the mother tiger into a frenzy and make her think that Yang was out there to kill her cub.

He marched alongside these people, ignoring the disdainful looks he was receiving from the other three. 

As they got closer, he heard a thunderous roar, followed by an eerie silence as the whole forest seemed to hold its breath in fear.

He saw the four cultivators clutch their swords tighter.

Quietly, he exchanged the dagger he had received from the girl with one of the pair he had received from Senior Brother Xie Wei, completely willing to kill the cub if it came to that.

Before he knew what had happened, an enormous white tiger with blue stripes had burst out of the dense tree line and launched itself straight at them. The cultivators were well prepared and met the tiger head-on in the middle, stopping it from delivering a killing blow while Yang was shoved harshly towards the bushes just as a smaller tiger cub leaped out, going straight for his throat. 

Yang instinctively kicked at it, trying to dislodge the creature. It was stronger than Yang. He gritted his teeth as he struggled and felt its sharp claws dig into his chest. Yang tightly grabbed it by the scruff with his one hand, hoping to keep those razor-sharp teeth away from his throat, but he was losing his grip fast. 

Jerking his head aside, he barely managed to keep his carotid intact. He clutched the dagger tighter and brought it to his chest before stabbing the paw that was clawing into him. The cub let out a sharp cry as it retracted its claw, giving Yang enough room to break free. He rolled back and rose into a low crouch, his dagger dripping blood, clutched tightly as he and the cub locked eyes.

The female cultivator let out a curse as she realised he had used an actual sharp dagger to stab the cub she had intended to claim.

“I will kill you if you harm the cub.” She shrieked as she defended herself against the swipe from the adult tiger.

The mother tiger, enraged by the scent of her offspring’s blood, attempted to break away towards Yang, but the cultivators seized the chance to intensify their assault. Both sides initially seemed evenly matched as they fought, trading blows and injuries, but now the cultivators seemed to have an edge as the adult tiger kept trying to reach her cub. Yang couldn’t have that.

Meanwhile, Yang and the cub were in a tense standstill, eyeing each other warily.

Yang didn't want to harm the cub; he was just stuck here due to circumstance. If the cub wouldn't attack him, he had no intention of attacking back.

Looking into the intelligence in the cub's eyes actually gave Yang an idea instead.

How different can a tiger cub and a bee be?