Chapter 021 - Taming the Tiger

Five days later, Li Yuan was gradually getting used to this grueling routine of heading home at midnight and leaving again before dawn. In a strange twist, spending less time with Yan Yu only made them cling to each other more. She never tired of having him close, whispering to him in the dark.

“I heard that the provincial authorities have dispatched troops to suppress the Red Lotus Rebels. Meanwhile, our Gemhill County magistrate is still waiting to see how things unfold.

“That means Uncle Wang and the others are safe for now. They can’t come home, of course. They’re stuck training in the barracks. But otherwise, they’re unharmed.

“Auntie Wang nearly burst with joy when she heard the news. She pulled me aside and chattered on for ages.

“If we’d known things would work out like this, maybe you wouldn’t have needed to hide up in the mountains.”

But Li Yuan just shook his head. “Who can predict what lies ahead? Whether the government forces can really suppress the Red Lotus Rebels is uncertain, whether our county’s troops will have to go to battle is uncertain, and whether the magistrate will change his mind is also uncertain...

“On the battlefield, spears and arrows don’t discriminate. Once you’re there, your life is no longer your own. Hiding in the mountains early on might’ve been the wisest choice.”

Yan Yu sighed. “You’re right... But it’s so tiring and risky for you to sneak back and forth every night...”

Li Yuan wrapped an arm around her. “For you, it doesn’t feel tiring at all.”

She froze for a moment, then gently tapped his chest with a small fist. “You’re such a tease,” she said, her tone scolding but her eyes full of happiness.

After that brief moment of joy came a hint of worry. “How about this? Maybe you could come home injured. Tell everyone you were chased by a wild beast in the mountains and got lost, and barely made it out alive. Then you’d be stuck at home nursing your wounds, and you wouldn’t have to go to the barracks.”

Li Yuan shook his head. “It’s too early to make that call.” Then a sudden thought struck him. “If I do find a perfect place deep in the mountains, would you join me there? To live in seclusion and wait out this storm?”

Yan Yu froze, her gaze drifting for a moment. Then, tracing idle circles on his chest with a fingertip, she gave a quiet sigh. “I’m your wife. Wherever you go, I go.”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

They talked late into the night, until Li Yuan realized he had to hurry back. He pulled on his clothes and slipped off into the darkness.

Back in the mountains, he lit the small fire in his cave and leaned against the rocky wall, catching some extra rest. Since this part of the range was so remote, no one would notice the faint wisp of smoke rising into the night, unless they, too, ventured all the way into the second ridge.

For the time being, Li Yuan halted his explorations. Given how far he could travel on foot, there was only so deep into the third ridge he could go, so he decided to pause.

“Maybe in a couple of days, I’ll talk to Yan Yu,” he mused to himself. “I’ll let her know I won’t be coming back for a night or two. That way, I can go farther in to scout.”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Come midday, Li Yuan decided to change up his menu. Instead of fish, he hunted a wild hare and a pheasant. With practiced skill, he slit them open, removed the innards, plucked or skinned them, and washed everything clean by the creek. Then he set each one on a spit over the fire.

Fat sizzled and dripped onto the flames, causing them to flare up and die down in quick bursts.

Just then, he heard something rushing toward him from the distance, branches and shrubs rustling as something large barreled through.

Li Yuan didn’t look up; he already knew it was that tiger again. Over the last few days, it had been coming by each day. At first, they were both on edge. Gradually, though, they’d settled into an uneasy truce, each stayed on their own side, and neither tried to provoke the other.

A beast like a tiger, especially one living deep in the mountains, had highly refined instincts. Likely, it sensed something fearsome in Li Yuan that kept it from attacking. And each time it showed up, Li Yuan tossed it some food, which tasted better than whatever the tiger hunted on its own, so it kept returning.

Sure enough, a few moments later, the white-browed tiger padded closer. Its silhouette emerged from the shadowy brush, tall grass parting around it. This time, it didn’t crouch right away. Instead, it tried edging closer to Li Yuan.

As soon as it took two steps forward, Li Yuan sprang to his feet, the sudden movement like oil exploding in a fire.

With a loud stomp, he planted both feet. Snatching up his longbow, his face twisted in a fierce scowl, radiating a terrifying aura. His eyes narrowed, practically crackling with power.

This wasn’t some mystical

killer intent

. It was rooted in two things, strength and experience with taking lives. The more you killed, the more you came to view life and death as a matter of a single blade’s edge, seeing bodies as little more than fresh meat.

In this new world, Li Yuan hadn’t killed much yet. But in his previous life, he’d been a butcher, slaughtering countless pigs on a daily basis.

Sensing the sudden surge of danger, the tiger bristled and let out a low snarl, pawing the ground as though it might lunge.

Li Yuan refused to back down, stepping forward aggressively.

The tiger tensed, about to leap. So Li Yuan drew back his bowstring.

The bowstring grew taut, letting out a sharp creak, radiating danger.

The tiger halted, then after a few tense seconds, it slowly sank to its belly and inched backward, returning to the invisible boundary between them.

Only then did Li Yuan lower his bow, letting his killing aura recede. He walked back to the campfire and resumed roasting his meat, keeping one eye on the 5~8 floating by the tiger and another on his own 9~10.

If he picked up his hatchet, that figure became 10~11, and if he grabbed his crude bow, it jumped to 24~25.

In either case, he far outmatched the tiger, which explained his composure. Otherwise, he’d have run long ago.

It felt oddly surreal, like losing your way in a safari park, coming face-to-face with a tiger, and discovering you were stronger than it. Instead of cowering in fear, you were the one scaring the tiger off.

Right now, Li Yuan had a specific goal in mind. He wanted to tame this tiger.

Back in his old world, that might have sounded absurd. But here, anything was possible. He still remembered how Qian San, Bear, Zhang Nuli, and Ugly Zhang boosted their overall combat power by keeping hunting dogs. It suggested that, in this world, beasts could become part of one’s power.

Since the tiger clearly posed no threat to him, Li Yuan figured he might as well give taming a shot.

In the memories he inherited from this body’s original owner, there was no method for taming tigers. But there was a way to train dogs.

In a nutshell, it relied on two things—

One was instilling specific prey scents in the dog. For instance, letting it eat hare, pheasant, or venison so that when it ventured into the woods and caught a whiff of those animals, it would automatically chase them down.

The second was reinforcing good behaviors and discouraging bad ones. If the dog realized certain actions led to rewards while others led to punishment, it would start obeying commands. Over time, even specific gestures could be used to communicate orders.

But that first approach wouldn’t really apply to a tiger. Out here, this beast had already eaten practically everything, likely including humans. If it sensed prey, it just chased and attacked, no questions asked.

That left option two as Li Yuan’s best bet for taming the tiger.

He didn’t hold out much hope for success. This was mostly a way to keep his days from dragging on in boredom.

Sizzle, sizzle...

By now, the pheasant and hare were fully roasted. Li Yuan took a small paper packet from inside his clothes, pinched out a bit of salt, and sprinkled it over the meat. He leaned in and took a whiff.

It smelled a little gamey, but the aroma was irresistible. Not far away, the crouching tiger kept glancing over.

As Li Yuan reached for the roasted hare, the tiger shot up, trying to cross their invisible boundary to snatch the food.

The moment it moved, Li Yuan sprang to his feet, bow in hand, his fierce aura spreading like wildfire.

The tiger let out a low growl. Li Yuan didn’t budge. They stared each other down for a few seconds until the tiger lowered itself again, returning to its spot.

After a few rounds of this, even as Li Yuan started eating his roast hare, the tiger only licked its chops but didn’t dare creep closer.

That was when Li Yuan casually tore off a piece of the hare, took two bites, then tossed the rest far away.

With lightning speed, the tiger pounced on the flying hunk of meat, snatching it in its jaws. After devouring that, it fixed its gaze on the roasted pheasant still in Li Yuan’s hand.

But Li Yuan made a point of eating the pheasant himself, right in front of the tiger.

Several times, the tiger tried to inch forward again, but each time it so much as twitched, Li Yuan reached for his bow.

The moment the bow creaked, the tiger would freeze on the spot. It repeated this little dance a few times, then seemed to decide on a different tactic. Circling around, it looked for another angle to attack.

Right then, Li Yuan suddenly fired his crude bow with an explosive

thwack

!

A cold flash streaked through the air, accompanied by a sharp whistle of displaced wind. The arrow pierced clean through the trunk of a nearby tree as if it were soft mud.

THUNK!

The arrow buried itself in the wood.

The tiger stopped dead in its tracks, staring at the arrow jutting out of the tree. Without hesitation, it spun on its heels and bolted into the darkness.