Tiger Ghost

"A memory from several years ago—things really had changed quite a bit." Guo Ming gave an embarrassed smile as he watched Chu Danqing light firewood in the old cabin for warmth.

"No matter. Finding it was enough," Chu Danqing said.

Guo Ming had said it was about two li away, but he had actually gone off in the wrong direction and only found it after making a circuit.

"This place is safe enough. You can wait here until the wind and snow die down, then head to South Mountain Temple or go down the mountain."

"I still have important matters to deal with."

Chu Danqing intended to leave and search for traces of the Zhanji Tiger.

He had already settled Guo Ming in, so there was naturally no need for him to stay and keep him company.

Guo Ming's expression froze when he heard that. "Isn't this a little too hasty? It won't be too late to go after the wind and snow stop."

"Even if important matters must be handled, you still need to consider your own safety."

He could hear the howling wind and snow outside growing fiercer and fiercer, until even the little cabin creaked and groaned beneath the gale.

Even if Chu Danqing was an extraordinary man, traveling through such a blizzard was extremely dangerous, so Guo Ming offered a word of warning.

"Something is approaching through the wind and snow." Da Bao spoke, extending his sharp claws as well.

That put both men on alert.

Knock, knock, knock—

A knocking sound came from outside the door.

"Is someone inside? I'm Liu Wu. Open the door, quickly." From outside came the voice of a middle-aged man, shivering violently from the cold.

Delight appeared on Guo Ming's face. "It's Brother Liu Wu. Hurry, open the door."

As he spoke, Guo Ming rose to open it, only for Chu Danqing to seize him.

"Da Bao said he isn't human," Chu Danqing explained. Da Bao might have an intellectual deficiency, but he could clearly distinguish people from things that were not people.

He would not call a person a thing.

"Is that Brother Guo's voice?" Liu Wu outside heard Guo Ming's voice, and even his trembling words carried excitement.

Guo Ming was conflicted now. Outside was his friend; inside was the man who had saved his life. Being caught between them truly left him in a difficult position.

Chu Danqing took out Han Quan's Shadow, the sniper rifle. He had fiddled with it a few times before and was not especially proficient with it, but firing it would not be a problem.

He had neither firearm-related skills nor professional training. Being able to use it at all was already quite decent.

There was no response from inside the cabin. Da Bao seemed to realize this was not the right moment either, so he did not act.

As time passed, Liu Wu's voice outside grew hoarse, and he began pounding heavily on the door, trying to force his way in.

Chu Danqing found a suitable position, set up Han Quan's Shadow, and prepared himself.

Seeing this, Da Bao cooperatively opened the wooden cabin's door.

The wind and snow instantly poured inside, revealing a figure with half its head missing standing right in the doorway.

Chu Danqing decisively pulled the trigger. A chill surged out from the firearm and spread outward as a Han Ying Bullet burst from the muzzle, striking the target on the spot.

You dealt 20 Physical Damage + 10 Ice Damage to the target, inflicting 5 seconds of Slow.

Upon seeing the Combat Log, Chu Danqing understood why the sniper rifle required 5 Spirit to equip.

It was fundamentally a magic staff wearing the name of a sniper rifle. Aside from lacking a firearm's distinctive recoil, its damage was far inferior to that of a normal sniper rifle.

Even its effective range was only three hundred meters. Yet because of those very traits, it was highly suitable for an amateur like Chu Danqing.

The moment he hit the target, Chu Danqing cast a Scrutiny Technique at it.

Tiger Ghost

Attributes

Health: 11%

Mana Points: 25

Strength: 1

Agility: 3

Constitution: 2

Spirit: 5

Perception: 3

The corner of Chu Danqing's eye twitched when he saw the quantified data.

One shot had nearly blasted the thing into a dying state.

No wonder it had been smashing at the door outside. With 1 point of Strength, physically breaking down a door was no longer a question of whether it took effort, but whether it could be done at all.

It was not that Han Quan's Shadow had particularly high attack power. The truth was simply that the opponent was too weak, making even the Slow effect seem unnecessary.

Chu Danqing's marksmanship was simply atrocious. Otherwise, if he had hit a vital point and dealt critical damage, he could have killed this tiger ghost outright.

"It's a tiger ghost." Chu Danqing put away his gun, and Da Bao stretched out a claw, directly killing the severely wounded tiger ghost that could no longer move.

The tiger ghost immediately vanished into ashes, leaving nothing behind. Da Bao then shut the door.

Chu Danqing knew what tiger ghosts were. A client had once commissioned an order for a Mountain Lord from him, with the requirement that tiger ghosts be included as part of the background.

"Liu Wu... Liu Wu was eaten by a tiger?!" Guo Ming's face was filled with horror.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Chu Danqing asked in return.

That was a tiger, not some housecat.

"Brother Liu Wu hunted countless beasts throughout his life. Who would have thought he would die at the hands of such a brute?"

"Back then, he had hunted a tiger before, but unfortunately let it escape. Later, tiger ghosts came to harass him at night, but he scattered one with an arrow." Guo Ming spoke with a sigh.

Chu Danqing became interested upon hearing this. "Would you mind telling me about it?"

"Of course not." Guo Ming had no objection. "Perhaps by the time I finish, the wind and snow will have stopped."

He was thinking of how to drag out the conversation and keep Chu Danqing from going outside. Now there was not only the wind and snow, but tiger ghosts as well. Going out would be even more dangerous.

"This matter began with me..." Having made up his mind, Guo Ming intended to start from the very beginning.

Chu Danqing did not urge him to make a long story short. He quietly listened to Guo Ming's account.

It was not until Guo Ming mentioned that the tiger had injured its left hind leg in a trap that Chu Danqing asked, "So this tiger was lame?"

"That's right. This tiger had already become a spirit. It abandoned the lesser to preserve the greater, disregarding its injured hind leg and forcing itself to escape." Guo Ming did not understand why Chu Danqing had suddenly taken an interest in that detail.

Chu Danqing immediately understood. The tiger Liu Wu had hunted was the very Zhanji Tiger Chu Danqing was seeking.

Zhanji Tiger meant a lame tiger.

Liu Wu had become a tiger ghost because he was avenged upon afterward.

After being devoured by the tiger, he had become Serving as an Accomplice to the Tiger.

"What a coincidence. I came to South Mountain under orders from the Lu clan to eliminate a Zhanji Tiger."

"Now it seems this is precisely the one." Chu Danqing revealed his purpose. He felt that Guo Ming might be able to help him.

After all, the person who used the Three Corpses Severing Method was the Way of Peace Master's disciple's grandson and the Master Ren Gongdao's son. Using a spirit tiger as one of the Three Corpses was not exactly extravagant.

Hadn't one of the other Three Corpses been a one-horned flood dragon?

Of course, whether it was truly a flood dragon remained to be seen. It might also have been an alligator or a python.

"It must be that vile beast," Guo Ming said. "But it is crafty, South Mountain is perilous, and there are tiger ghosts as well. Finding that vile beast will likely not be easy."

Chu Danqing pondered how to find it. Looking at the wind and snow outside, which had gradually begun to subside, he finally said, "Let's go to South Mountain Temple."

"The monks in the temple have lived here for a long time. They may have clues."

"And your injuries need treatment as well."