Hunting the Tiger

North of Erchong Mountain.

Chen Sanshi had Tracking fully active, and no trace could hide from his eyes.

Rabbits, roe deer, mountain goats...

If he wanted to, he could carry a sheep down the mountain and go home within ten minutes. But a wild sheep weighing a hundred catties or so would only sell for two taels of silver. It was good before, but now it's too little.

His target was a tiger, or at the very least, a fierce beast like a black bear or a leopard.

Following Zhao Qiao's reminder, Chen Sanshi headed southwest.

Along the way, he occasionally encountered martial arts school disciples in brocade robes. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Chen Sanshi was wearing cloth-faced armor this time when he went up the mountain.

Seeing his armor and heavy bow, the martial arts school disciples indeed didn't dare to cause trouble. They mostly just glanced at him and went about their business.

"Why are there so many people?"

Chen Sanshi walked for five li and encountered at least a dozen people. Even for hunting, they shouldn't appear so densely.

Moreover, many of them didn't even have bows and arrows, carrying swords or sabers and wandering around, looking like they were searching for something.

The Witch God Cult? It didn't seem like it.

Because these people looked very relaxed, and judging by their clothing, most of them were disciples of the Tailei Martial Arts School.

Chen Sanshi paid attention.

A gust of wind blew, and his keen ears caught the conversation of the martial arts school disciples.

"White Deer!" "The Cult Master is injured. Whoever finds the White Deer will be rewarded with property!" "It's difficult! I heard White Deer likes to eat medicinal herbs, and the names of those herbs alone cost more than ten taels of silver." "..."

Chen Sanshi understood the whole story.

On the night Qin Feng died, there was a battle in the city. When Xiang Tingchun and the three major martial arts school masters were apprehending barbarian assassins, they encountered the Witch God Cult. The Tailei Cult Master was seriously injured and needed a rare beast, the White Deer, to heal. Thus, a bounty was set. Regardless of their rank, any disciple who could present a White Deer would immediately be taken in as a core True Disciple and could manage some property in the future. That's why they all rushed into the mountains as if they were on stimulants.

Chen Sanshi noted the characteristics of the rare beast in his mind and continued on his way. Tailei Martial Arts School... He didn't see those two, Zhang Chao and the other one. Otherwise, he would have shot them with at least two arrows.

After walking for another ten li or so, he arrived at the mountainside of a peak.

By the winding and narrow path stood two martial arts school disciples carrying bows. One of them had a bow that looked like a Seven-strength bow, which was already prohibited. They held iron swords in their hands, looking forward with hesitation, reluctant to move forward.

Chen Sanshi ignored them.

"Hey!" A martial arts school disciple called out to him, "You still dare to go forward? There's a great worm in the peak ahead!" "I know." Chen Sanshi replied perfunctorily, showing no intention of stopping.

"Then why are you still going? Aren't you afraid of dying?" The martial arts school disciple noticed the large bow behind the newcomer and his eyes lit up. He glanced at the person beside him carrying the prohibited Seven-strength bow, and after getting his consent, he spoke, "Why don't we cooperate? My Senior Brother Wei here is a master of Minor Accomplishment in Blood Tempering!" They had discovered the tiger on this peak only a few days ago. However, the imperial court prohibited heavy bows, and their cultivation was limited. Under normal circumstances, they couldn't provoke it at all. Wei Xu risked bringing the Seven-strength bow, but he didn't have much confidence in taking down the great worm. If he got too close, a Blood Tempering martial artist couldn't withstand the killing power of a tiger. Encountering a man of the military carrying a Two-stone bow was an unexpected delight.

"Brother." Wei Xu said confidently, "I'm at Minor Accomplishment in Blood Tempering. With our combined efforts, taking down the great worm will be a piece of cake. After it's done, we'll split it 40/60, with me taking 60% and you taking 40%, how about it?" Chen Sanshi frowned as he listened and, too lazy to bother, quickened his pace.

"?" Wei Xu was stunned, clearly not expecting to be treated as if he were invisible. "Arrogant!"

"Senior Brother Wei, he's unwilling to cooperate, so what should we do?" the junior disciple asked.

"I saw that great worm from afar once, it's incredibly powerful. Where does he get his confidence from?"

Wei Xu said angrily, "Let's follow him and see. Maybe he'll get eaten by the great worm, and we can pick up the scraps."

"This great worm has already been targeted by someone else. If I had come two days later, it might have been gone."

Chen Sanshi squatted on the ground, scooped up a handful of soil, and found two tough, orange-yellow hairs. Next, he found claw marks, buried feces, and dried bloodstains in the grass.

He was intimately familiar with this entire process.

It was like a thread, and he followed it to find a hidden cave halfway up the mountain.

The cave was about five meters in diameter, hidden by dense grass and branches, easily overlooked if one wasn't paying close attention.

About twenty paces from the cave, in a thicket of bushes, rotting clothes and white bones were faintly visible, suggesting the person had died quite some time ago.

"The great worm is ninety-nine percent likely living inside."

Chen Sanshi, of course, wasn't foolish enough to go in actively.

In such a confined space, the advantages of bows and arrows and spears were nonexistent. He needed to find a way to lure the great worm out.

"Swoosh—"

Chen Sanshi suddenly turned and fired an arrow.

From over a hundred paces away, a passing roe deer, bounding along, was grazed by the arrow, leaving a bloody mark.

"Hiss—"

The foolish roe deer let out a piercing scream.

"Swoosh—"

Another arrow, shot at its feet.

The roe deer, startled, fled in panic towards the cave.

Chen Sanshi deliberately didn't kill it.

His experience hunting black bears had taught him that dead bait might not attract prey.

But live prey was different.

Especially ferocious beasts like tigers, which had extremely strong territorial instincts and wouldn't tolerate any intrusion.

A creature with the scent of blood running and screaming around its territory would surely not be tolerated by the great worm.

Chen Sanshi climbed a tree to gain a vantage point, then continuously used arrows to prevent the roe deer from leaving the vicinity, forcing it to stay around the cave. Its blood flowed everywhere as it ran.

The process lasted for a full five minutes. The huge commotion even startled the birds in the forest, yet the dark cave remained deathly silent.

"It's not working? That shouldn't be. Tigers are ferocious and bloodthirsty; they usually wouldn't hide."

Just as Chen Sanshi was about to ponder other methods, a gust of cold wind blew through the mountains.

Wind follows the tiger, clouds follow the dragon.

It's here!

A black shadow, as robust as a mountain and as agile as a leopard, burst out of the silent cave. In a flash, it pounced on the roe deer, its sharp fangs sinking precisely into its carotid artery.

The roe deer struggled feebly for a few moments before becoming lifeless.

What a king of the mountain!

Chen Sanshi peered closely.

The fierce tiger was over a zhang long and weighed at least seven to eight hundred catties. Its golden fur was dazzling in the sunlight. Its sword-like claws were stained with blood, its orange-yellow pupils glinting menacingly. It let out a roar that shook the surrounding ten miles.

No wonder ordinary people would wet themselves in fear upon seeing it.

After hunting the roe deer, the great worm didn't immediately eat, clearly not hungry. It had simply come out because it found the noise annoying.

It grabbed its prey and intended to drag it back to its cave.

It was at this moment that Chen Sanshi drew his two-stone bow taut like a full moon, and a wolf-fang arrow whistled out.

"Bang—"

The arrow collided with the fierce tiger's skull, emitting a dull thud. It got stuck, piercing the skull but failing to fatally wound the brain!

If you don't shoot for the lungs when hunting, why are you always aiming for the head? Is this tiger close to being a monstrous beast?!

"Roar—"

The great worm, in pain, roared and snapped the arrow shaft on its forehead with a claw, then charged towards the attacker with a gust of wind.