Taming a Tiger

Taming a Tiger

Five days later.

Li Yuan gradually adapted to this miserable life of "going home at midnight and leaving at dawn."

But perhaps because he spent so little time with Sister Yan, they instead became even more inseparable.

Yan Niangzi tirelessly clung to him and whispered pillow talk in his ear.

"I heard the provincial government sent troops to suppress the Red Lotus Bandits, but our Shanbao County's County Magistrate is still watching how things develop.

"That means Uncle Wang and the others are still safe.

"Other than being unable to return home and having to drill at the barracks, everything else is normal.

"Aunt Wang was overjoyed when she heard the news today. She held onto me and talked my ear off for half the day.

"If we'd known this would happen, you wouldn't have needed to hide in the mountains."

Li Yuan shook his head. "Who can know what the future holds?

"Whether the authorities can suppress the Red Lotus Bandits is still uncertain. Whether the county troops will be sent into battle, and what the County Magistrate is thinking, are all uncertain too.

"Blades and spears have no eyes. Once you enter a battlefield, your life no longer belongs to you.

"I wasn't wrong to hide in the mountains ahead of time."

Yan Niangzi sighed. "That's true. It's just that you sneak back and forth every day. It's exhausting and dangerous."

Li Yuan gently held her. "For Sister Yan, I'm not tired at all."

Yan Niangzi froze for a moment, then clenched her fist and lightly thumped his chest. "You're awful."

Though she said he was awful, her eyes were full of delight.

After the delight came nothing but worry.

Yan Niangzi said, "How about you get hurt a little, then escape back from the mountains? Say you got lost while fleeing from a wild beast, barely escaped with your life, and need to stay home to recover. Then you won't have to go to the barracks."

"The situation is still unclear."

Li Yuan shook his head, then suddenly asked, "If I find a good place in the mountains, would you be willing to live in seclusion with me and hide from the world?"

Yan Niangzi paused. After a moment of silence, her fingers lightly traced circles across his body as she softly sighed. "I'm your wife. Wherever you go, I'll go."

As they talked, Li Yuan calculated that it was about time. He hurriedly dressed again and rushed back into the mountains.

Once he reached the mountains, he lit a campfire and leaned against the cave wall to catch up on sleep.

The mountains here ran deep. Unless someone climbed near Second Layer Mountain as well, it would be difficult to spot the faint blue smoke from this fire.

He temporarily halted his exploration. With his limited pace, he could not travel very far into Third Layer Mountain, so he decided to stop for now.

Maybe I should tell Sister Yan in a couple of days.

I won't come home for a night or two.

That way, I can explore deeper inside.

At noon, Li Yuan decided to have something different.

He did not eat fish. Instead, he hunted a wild rabbit and a pheasant.

Skillfully slicing them open with his knife, skinning and plucking them, then washing them clean in the nearby stream, he roasted them whole over the fire.

The fat sizzled as grease dripped into the campfire, making the flames leap up and down from time to time.

Just then, a rapidly approaching disturbance suddenly came from the distance.

The forest rustled as something swiftly pushed through the trees.

Li Yuan did not look up. He knew the tiger had come again.

Over the past few days, it had come every day.

At first, the two sides had faced off.

But gradually, a boundary had formed.

Man and tiger each guarded their own side, and they unexpectedly coexisted peacefully.

Animals had keen instincts, especially fierce tigers that roamed the mountains and forests.

Perhaps it sensed a powerful aura from Li Yuan, which was why it had not attacked.

And every time it came, Li Yuan would toss it some food. His food tasted better than what it hunted itself, so it kept returning.

Sure enough, before long, the Striped-Eyed White Forehead tiger padded over.

The tall grass parted, and within the shadows of the trees, a dangerous silhouette gradually emerged.

The fierce tiger revealed itself, but this time, it did not lie down. Instead, it tried to move closer to Li Yuan.

But after it took only two steps forward, Li Yuan suddenly sprang up like ignited oil. With a BANG, both feet stomped heavily against the ground!

He gripped his longbow, his face savage as a frighteningly fierce aura burst forth. His eyes flashed like lightning as he glared at the tiger.

There was nothing mysterious about that fierce aura. First came strength; second came killing.

After killing enough living things, one's eyes naturally carried an indifference toward life. Life and death became no more than a matter of one slash, and bodies became nothing more than meat for eating.

Li Yuan had not killed much since crossing over, but before that, he had been a butcher. Countless pigs had passed through his hands every day.

Feeling the sudden threat, the tiger stiffened as its fur bristled. It let out a low growl ahead of it.

Li Yuan did not yield. He stepped forward aggressively.

The tiger made as though to charge, but Li Yuan directly drew his bow.

The bowstring tightened with a sharp "chchch" sound, and a dangerous aura spread out at the same time.

The tiger stopped. After facing off for a few more seconds, it suddenly lay down, then slowly backed away several steps until it returned to the original boundary between man and tiger.

Only then did Li Yuan slowly lower his bow and withdraw his aura. He returned to the campfire and continued roasting meat.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the "5~8" beside the tiger, then at the "9~10" by his own side.

When he picked up the firewood chopping knife, the value became "10~11." When he picked up the earthen bow, it became "24~25."

No matter which one he used, he was stronger than the tiger. That was why he dared remain so calm and so fierce.

Otherwise, he would have fled long ago.

The feeling was rather strange.

It was like getting lost in a wildlife park and encountering a tiger. He should have been trembling in fear, yet he was stronger than the tiger, and the tiger had been frightened so badly that it did not dare approach him.

What he was trying to do now was "tame a tiger."

Before crossing over, this would definitely have been impossible. But in this world, that might not be the case.

Li Yuan still remembered that Qian San, Brother Xiong, Zhang Nuli, and Zhang Mazi all became stronger overall when they brought dogs with them. That showed that in this world, fierce beasts could also become part of one's strength.

Since he had nothing better to do, and the tiger could not hurt him, he had time to slowly play with it.

Although the original owner's memories contained no method for taming tigers, they did contain methods for training dogs.

Simply put, first, one made dogs sensitive to certain scents, such as wild rabbits, pheasants, Roe Deer, and the like. Once they became sensitive to those scents, the dogs would track such prey upon entering the mountains and forests.

Second, one taught the dogs which actions brought benefits and which brought punishment. That way, the dogs would obey, and one could even use certain specific gestures to issue commands.

Making dogs sensitive to certain scents was actually very simple: let them eat the meat of wild rabbits, pheasants, and Roe Deer.

After the dogs had eaten such meat and learned that it tasted good, whenever they entered the mountains again and smelled those scents, they would automatically track the prey and might even pounce on it and bite.

But that clearly would not work on a tiger.

What had a fierce tiger in these mountains not eaten?

It had probably even eaten people.

It would simply chase down and attack anything with meat, no matter what it was.

So Li Yuan planned to tame the tiger using the second method.

He did not place much hope in succeeding. Mainly, he wanted something to do so that his daytime life would not feel so long and boring.

Chchch.

By then, the pheasant and rabbit had finished roasting.

Li Yuan took a small paper packet from his clothes, pinched out a little salt, and sprinkled it over the two roasted animals. He took a sniff.

It smelled a little gamey, but it was still irresistibly fragrant!!

Not far away, the crouching tiger kept glancing in his direction.

When Li Yuan picked up the roasted rabbit, the tiger suddenly rose, trying to cross the boundary and snatch the food.

The instant it moved, Li Yuan sprang to his feet, gripping the bow in his left hand and pointing it at the tiger as fierce energy spread from his body.

The tiger let out a low growl.

Li Yuan did not budge.

After the two faced off for a while, the tiger crouched down again.

After several such exchanges, even when Li Yuan began eating the roasted rabbit, the tiger merely licked its lips and did not cross the boundary.

Then Li Yuan threw the rabbit, after taking two bites from it, far away.

The tiger darted its head forward like lightning, caught the roasted rabbit in its jaws, and began eating.

After finishing it, the tiger stared at the roasted pheasant in Li Yuan's hand.

But Li Yuan ate the roasted pheasant right in front of it.

During that time, the tiger again tried to cross the boundary.

But whenever it moved, Li Yuan would nock an arrow and draw the bow.

Whenever the great bow gave off its creaking sound, the tiger immediately stopped.

After several times, the tiger seemed to decide to try again. It began circling around, intending to approach from another angle.

At that moment, the earthen bow in Li Yuan's hand erupted with an explosive sound.

BANG!

Amid the air's piercing wail, a cold gleam flashed!

Where the arrow pointed, the tree trunk was as fragile as mud, pierced through at a single thrust.

BANG!

The arrow buried itself in the tree.

The tiger abruptly stopped. Its tiger eyes glanced at the sharp arrow lodged in the tree, then it turned and ran.