Amidst the chaos of storming arrows, the two tigers brought Manager Jin and the rest into the forest. But it wasn’t long before Mu Linger and the rest caught the strong stench of blood. A slaughter seemed to have taken place here. However, the forest was so dense and the morning sun so weak that they couldn’t see any details. Nor was there time to ask questions. The arrows behind them kept pressing on while a large commotion had risen from both sides of the forest, apparently from soldiers chasing them here.
Many times, an arrow would fly by and miss them by inches. Fortunately the tigers were in charge of escape, leaving them free to guard against the threat from their backs. All of them, including Manager Jin, had basic martial arts skills at best.
The group of people soon left the forest behind to emerge upon an open plain, but Mu Linger was stunned by the sight before her. This was nothing but h.e.l.l on Earth, with the ground covered in corpses and blood. At least 100 dead bodies laid there, all of them obviously Jun Yixie’s men. None of the bodies were intact and all of the wounds were turning black, as well as their blood. Heaven knows whether they died from poison or being torn to pieces?
Mu Linger and Ning JIng both felt queasy at the sight. They wanted to throw up multiple times, but Bai Yuqiao was too stunned to be nauseous. When did all these guards join Tiger’s Den? How come I didn’t know about it?
The reason this place was called Tiger’s Prison[1] was because giant white tigers stood guard over the premises. They made all other guards superfluous unless Jun Yixie was guarding against their escape any against any potential rescuers? Bai Yuqiao immediately sensed something amiss and began to a.n.a.lyze the situation.
At this time, most of the archers behind them had been dealt with by two more poison tigers. They soon caught up to stand in front of Manager Jin. Now there were five tigers total, but all of them had stopped without commands from him, as if they discovered something.
Seizing the chance, Bai Yuqiao asked, “Jin Zi, where’s the last tiger? How did you subdue them?”
From what Bai Yuqiao understood, Jun Yixie had raised a total of six poison tigers here, all of them with white fur and red eyes. They were unusually vicious and had already been turned to poison corpses. Compared to normal tigers, they were stronger and faster, so it wasn’t easy to kill them.
Manager Jin ignored the question and knitted his brow to listen intently to the right. Mu Linger, Ning Jing, and Bai Yuqiao exchanged looks, afraid to fidget. The baby in Mu Linger’s arms was already away and staring up curiously at her. Despite all the fuss, she didn’t cry, as if knowing the adults were escaping and needed silence. Mu Linger soon noticed and rejoiced as she told Ning Jing, “Big sis Jing, she’s awake, she’s awake. She’s looking atme!”
Ning Jing’s face was ashen as sweat dotted her brow. She seemed to be in a lot of pain, but still forced herself to smile at Mu Linger.
“Big sis Jing, let me give the baby to you,” Mu Linger said hastily.
But Ning Jing only shook her head. Before she could speak, her vision went black as she toppled forward! Thankfully, Bai Yuqiao pulled her back just in time!
The medicine from last night had already taken effect, so she didn’t look like a woman who had just given birth. However, that was only on the surface! Her body was in agony and almost too weak to keep on!
“Big sis Jing! Big sis Jing, what’s wrong?!” Mu Linger cried.
Bai Yuqiao held onto the unconscious woman and told Manager Jin, “Jin Zi, no matter what you’re planning, hurry and go! Ning Jing can’t hold on for much longer! She’s...she’s sick!”
Bai Yuqiao had no idea that Manager Jin already knew the truth, so she was still prudent before they were certain whether he was friend or foe. After all, he was no ordinary man if he could quell Jun Yixie’s tigers! Just what were his origins? These weren’t just any ordinary tigers, but ones turned into poison corpses. Yet Manger Jin still managed to make them betray Jun Yixie. She wondered if the two men had some sort of connection.
Mu Linger was embarra.s.sed and wanted to explain, only for a giant white tiger to dash out from their right with Su Xiaoyu on its back! However, she was covered in blood and the tiger was injured. It was even missing a huge chunk of flesh from its hind leg!
“There’s...there’s an army of poison corpses back there! They’re almost her!” Su Xiaoyu gasped. If not for the tiger’s protection and her own poison arts, she would’ve been a goner!
“Jun Yixie placed poison corpses in ambush?” Bai Yuqiao was alarmed. Just what is he planning? Why did he put those corpses at Tiger’s Prison? Six tigers are already enough, but he added so many guards and those things too!
Could it be that he’s guarding against Han Yunxi and Long Feiye? Or were they placed just to deal with the couple? As if recalling something, Bai Yuqiao grew uneasy.
“We have to leave as soon as we can!” Manager Jin said before blowing a whistle! In a flash, all of the tigers grew alert. Yet before they could run, the poison corpses from the right had already caught up. There were 20 of them total, all with livid, pale faces and expressionless faces like suicide soldiers. They surrounded them on the right just as more guards appeared from the left. Fortunately, the archers had already been dealt with behind them.
But then!
A new team of archers two rows deep and 20 men strong suddenly appeared before them and let their arrows fly! They were now blocked in three directions, but the only way back would just lead them to Tiger’s Prison, where there was no escape!
“Just who are you?!” the head of the archers demanded. The Duke of Kang had tripled the guards both inside and outside Tiger’s Prison, but the three outside factions had suddenly been attacked by a pack of tigers--not domesticated, but wild tigers from the forest. The unexpected ambush had made them suffer heavy losses, yet two white tigers had also attacked the inner guards. They had no idea what was going on and thought the white tigers were running rampant, which was why they didn’t dare to anything except resist for fear of hurting them. Even the Duke of Kang’s favorite, Hao San, didn’t have the guts to injure the beasts, much less wound them.
That was why both guard divisions suffered severe losses, reducing the 300-men strong archers to just 20 or so left. They had even been fleeing this whole time instead of fighting back. It wasn’t until they heard news of the prisoners’ escape that they realized the truth.
Manager Jin wasn’t a talkative man, so he ignored the archers while tightening his grip around Mu Linger’s waist. His hand slapped his tiger, which charged at the left flank of guards. Immediately, the tigers carrying Ning Jing, Bai Yuqiao, and Su Xiaoyu followed. The archers released their arrows while the poison corpses rushed to attack. The tiger who had led them here went to attack the archers while his two brethren dealt with the poison corpses. In a flash, the scene descended into a chaos of fighting.
Manager Jin protected Mu Linger as he fled and fought the guards. Bai Yuqiao s.h.i.+elded Ning Jing, leaving her defenseless to block anything. Behind her, Su Xiaoyu shouted, “Idiot, use poison!”
Bai Yuqiao finally realized she could fight with poisons too! Although she had no weapons on hand, her stock of poisons was ample. She was still Bai Yanqing’s disciple in the end, a girl who had studied poisons since her youth!
Poisons were ineffective against the poison corpse guards, but very useful against the regular men. s.h.i.+elding Ning Jing’s back and evading sword slashes aiming her way, Bai Yuqiao released two poison needles into the attacking guards’ hands to numb their fingers and make it impossible to wield a sword. Before more guards could attack from the opposite side, the white tiger pounced on top of them and slammed against their chest, causing the victim to spit up blood and die.
“Watch out!” Su Xiaoyu suddenly jumped off her tiger to kick away an arrow flying towards Bai Yuqiao.
“Thanks!” Bai Yuqiao shouted back.
Su Xiaoyu ignored her and kept dodging more arrows.
Manager Jin had already brought Mu Linger far away, but Bai Yuqiao and Su Xiaoyu were stuck between the swordsmen and archers. Meanwhile, a group of poison corpses had broken free of the poison tigers and were heading their way.
“Su Xiaoyu, I’ll s.h.i.+eld you, so get out of here!” Bai Yuqiao exclaimed.
Su Xiaoyu gave her an odd look but didn’t question it. “Just look after Ning Jing, I don’t need your protection!”
At this moment, an arrow buried itself in Bai Yuqiao’s shoulder. She pulled it out without hesitation and said coldly, “It’s poisoned!”
Very soon, she discovered this wasn’t a poison she could treat and immediately switched to holding Ning Jing with her other hand. Su Xiaoyu jumped off her tiger once more to land behind Bai Yuqiao and help her deflect arrows. The injured tiger, now free of its rider, began to throw itself madly at the attacking archers. All of them stopped in fear. Bai Yuqiao’s group wanted to seize the chance to flee, but there were too many poison corpses to break through. As the white tigers had to consider their safety, they couldn’t go wild with slaughter. Gradually, the trio found themselves hemmed in between the poison corpses, archers, and guards.
Bai Yuqiao looked left and right before muttering, “What’s Jin Zi’s game? Escaping on his own?”
Indeed, Jin Zi had already ran far away while protecting Mu Linger. By now, the two of them were very safe.
Mu Linger cradled the baby in one hand while pinching Manager Jin with the other. “Go back and save them! Go back and save them already! They’ll die! Ning Jing will die!”
“Let go! If you won’t go, I will! Let go!” Mu Linger was furious and almost drew blood as she pinched Manager Jin’s wrist. He knitted his brows in response, obviously in pain, but refused to speak…
1. At this moment I realized I was using “Tiger’s Den” for the past 30＋ chapters, cursed to myself, and went on a Find and Replacing spree.