Edited by Lord Immortal
Judging from the volume of the tiger"s roar, it was neither far away nor near them. Gu Yusheng cast a glance at the cave. Should trapped inside, they would be unlikely to survive.
His face grew solemn. "Lean on me, Xuan. I"ll take you away."
A little scared, Xie Mengxuan nodded and cuddled his neck with stiff arms.
Gu Yusheng wore a faint smile. "Don"t worry, and just trust me!"
He strode out of the cave and made out the direction of the tiger"s roar. Gu Yusheng ran in the opposite direction, but after a while, he was stopped by a majestic tiger.
The big tiger gradually approached them at leisure. It made no sound every time its claws touched the ground. Every freeze-frame could be counted as a pretty painting. If they had been appreciating a real art, Gu Yusheng was bound to give praise. However, faced with a real tiger, they had no time to think about other things except survival.
With a serious look, Gu Yusheng carefully observed the tiger that was only a few feet away from him. He turned gloomy as time flew. "What? There are two tigers?"
From a short distance away came the tiger"s roar while they failed to see the real tiger. What"s more, the tiger in front of them, licking its mouth and shaking its tail, was the biggest threat.
The heart of Xie Mengxuan also sank. She whispered, "Brother Sheng, it"s not easy to deal with this tiger. Put me down."
Staring at the tiger, Gu Yusheng was so nervous that he stood still and stiff, with Xie Mengxuan in his arm. He could manage to leave alone without getting hurt. However, he could not be sure that he would be able to throw her to a safe place when the tiger pounced on them.
The tiger appeared to be wandering about lazily, without a care for anything while it was staring at Gu Yusheng as well.
Gu Yusheng felt his heart beating at a faster pace. He looked at Xie Mengxuan, who was also nervous. "Are you able to walk, Xuan?"
"Yes." Xie Mengxuan tried and clenched her teeth.
Gu Yusheng carefully put her down. With two strides, Xie Mengxuan hid behind a rock when a burst of threatening low-pitched voices came from the tiger"s throat.
With its back arched, forelimbs bent, and hips tilted, the violent tiger opened its mouth to give out a roar loud enough to deafen the ears. The domineering and oppressing aura of the forest king spread wildly.
Xie Mengxuan bent herself down over a rock while covering her ears. As she stared at the tiger, her breath became heavier from tension.
Gu Yusheng looked calm, but he cautiously moved to the side with slow and steady footsteps in order to avoid irritating the tiger.
The tiger stayed still in the same place with its eyes on Gu Yusheng.
Looking around, Gu Yusheng slowly reached out one hand toward a branch.
The threatening voices from the tiger"s throat became louder, and it arched its back.
When he folded the branch and made a clash sound, the violent tiger leaped towards him with force from its hind limbs. With a jump, the tiger got very close to Gu Yusheng.
With his eyes opened wide, Gu Yusheng went backwards with two strides and waved the branch fast. In his hand, the soft branch turned into a sharp weapon.
After all, the violent tiger was only an animal. Even if it was the king of the forest, it still had to suffer a loss while confronting with Gu Yusheng.
The branch slapped the tiger hard, which caused it to yell with great fury. Gu Yusheng felt relieved. When he was ready to give it the last hit, the branch broke.
With a solemn look, Gu Yusheng jumped directly onto the tiger from the tall tree, And his legs tightly gripped the tiger"s neck. One hand grasping the softest part of the tiger"s neck, he clenched his other hand into a fist and hit the tiger"s head with full force.
He intended to hit the tiger"s eyes to make it dizzy. To his surprise, the violent tiger struggled to avoid the hit and the following punches.
Restrained, the vicious tiger felt a sense of unease with someone riding on it. It yelled with quick movements and jumped around with flexibility.
Several times, Gu Yusheng was almost swept onto the ground by the tiger.
On the one hand, he was on the alert in case that he would be taken down by the tiger; on the other side, he was waiting for a good chance to give it a hard hit. Since the tiger was twisting its body in various ways, Gu Yusheng was aware that his strength fell short.
When he dealt with the tiger from a distance, he only had little sense of its violence. Only when he was close to it could he be aware of its enormous strength.
Gu Yusheng was not as powerful as the tiger. Sitting on it, he clenched his teeth when his grip became weaker.
The tiger was not stupid and noticed this change. With a roar, it crashed into the big tree on the side. It was harmful to both of them. However, it turned out to have good effects.
After two crashes, Gu Yusheng lost his control and fell onto the ground. His legs were numb due to the impact. Moreover, he failed to feel his hands. His hands were bleeding due to the punches.
The tiger felt faint as it crashed into the tree with full force, but it recovered after a while. It shook its head and went towards Gu Yusheng. With two claws pressing upon him, it opened its mouth.
The tiger"s mouth was filled with an overpowering stench. Its saliva dribbled onto the face of Gu Yusheng, which made him frown in disgust and hold his breath.
As the tiger"s mouth got closer to his head, Gu Yusheng searched the ground with all his might. Fortunately, the instant the tiger was about to bite his head, a wooden stick was thrown into its mouth.
Prevented from its food, the tiger gave out a roar from indignation. With full force, Gu Yusheng gave it another hit. In view of the fact that both of them were injured and exhausted, it depended on Heaven who would be the winner.
Obviously, Gu Yusheng won. The tiger was taken down onto the ground. Out of breath, he was still on the alert. Sitting up, he kicked the tiger with his healthy leg. He didn"t feel relaxed until he ensured that the tiger had run out of strength.
He stumbled to his feet, picked up a stone from the side, and held it high to give a hard hit on the tiger"s head.
It was the most effective way to remove the root of a threat. Otherwise, if the tiger recovered, he was likely to be too exhausted to struggle with it.
He was relieved when he saw the tiger twitching the body under a smash and no longer move. Later, he slowly walked to the place where Xie Mengxuan was hiding.
The struggle between the tiger and Gu had occurred in the distance. Upon arrival at the original place, his foot was swelling like a steamed bun.
Leaning on the rock, Xie Mengxuan wore an anxious look. Upon seeing him, she said out loud, "Brother Sheng… Are you okay?"
Gu Yusheng shook his head with a smile. Cuddling up against her, he was about to speak when he fainted and fell onto the ground from weakness.
Before he lost his consciousness, it occurred to him that he was just one step short of success.