Taming

Taming

Li Yuan glanced at "Advanced Beast Taming (1/40)" and the remaining "65 points" of free points, then continued furiously tapping the "+" sign.

In the blink of an eye, another 40 points went in. His remaining points became "25 points," and the skill changed from "Advanced Beast Taming (1/40)" to "Expert Beast Taming (1/80)."

More new memories surfaced in his mind.

Those memories made him feel as though he had personally lived through them. But now the storm had passed, the dust had settled, and tears and sweat had finally brought their rewards.

Years of training had made him realize that practice alone was not enough. He needed real combat and more challenges.

So, he shifted his attention from ordinary animals to savage beasts.

He began taking risks to tame those wild carnivores.

He knew that taming them from a young age would make those carnivores more obedient to his commands. But that was not the beast-taming method he had in mind. His target was beasts that had already spent a long time surviving in the wilderness.

After repeated bloody injuries and brushes with death, he still failed.

Wild carnivores were exceedingly difficult to tame.

He was in immense pain. He shut himself away to ponder bitterly, and finally, he had an epiphany that brought about a change.

A strange affinity for beasts arose within him. Even rabid dogs could not bear to bite him. Tigers and leopards in the forest would instinctively refrain from treating him as prey. Even the alligator-like beasts by the water would not drag him under.

Li Yuan sensed his own condition.

Though he had gained many memories of training, he still had to try it himself.

So, he left the camp and set out to find the tiger that had escaped.

Thanks to his Grandmaster Tracking, Li Yuan soon found the fierce tiger crouching behind a boulder, eating roasted roe deer.

With an Earthen Bow on his back and the Firewood Chopping Knife held in a reverse grip in his right hand, he slowly stepped out from behind the boulder while keeping a certain distance.

The tiger glanced at him. It neither issued a threat nor showed any intention of driving him away.

Li Yuan knew that this was already a form of recognition.

Fierce beasts had a powerful sense of territory. His approach counted as an intrusion to the tiger, yet it did not drive him away. That meant it acknowledged him.

Li Yuan tried calling out again, "Awoo. (Is it good?)"

The tiger patted its face with a paw and replied in a low voice, "Roar. (Don't come over.)"

Li Yuan called, "Roar! (I won't come over.)"

The tiger lowered its head and continued eating.

Li Yuan called, "Roar! (I have more.)"

The tiger abruptly raised its head, its eyes fixed straight on him.

Li Yuan said, "Roar! Roar! (If I don't come over, you won't get any.)"

The tiger roared angrily, "Roar! (I want to eat!)"

Seeing that Li Yuan did not move, the tiger continued roaring, "Roar! (I'll bite you!)"

"Roar roar! (Bite you to death!)"

Its tiger claws pressed lightly against the ground, its back rising and falling slightly. It had that eager, testing-the-limits feeling: the weaker he was, the stronger it would become.

Li Yuan sneered, utterly fearless. His left hand flashed behind his back and seized the Earthen Bow. As he drew the string, it creaked, and his entire aura changed. His eyes turned indifferent as a savage air overflowed from him while he stared down the tiger.

The tiger's roars gradually quieted, then fell silent altogether. The feeling that it was about to pounce vanished as well.

Li Yuan pressed on. "Roar! Roar! (Listen to me, and I'll give you food.)"

The tiger roared, "Roar! (Won't listen!)"

Li Yuan snarled even louder, "Roar! (No food if you don't listen!)"

The tiger went quiet for a moment. "Whine. (I can't beat you.) Whine. (I'll listen to you.) Roar! (Give me food!)"

A man and a tiger were actually communicating.

Perhaps it was because of Li Yuan's affinity for beasts, combined with his own fierce strength and the time the man and tiger had spent together. All of it piled together and produced an unexpected result.

By evening, the blood-red sunset dyed Little Ink Mountain in the depths of winter.

The youth and the tiger walked together.

The icy wind swept through the tall grass, stirring the tiger's whiskers and white fur on both sides of its face.

As Li Yuan's gaze swept around, he caught sight of a "3~6."

He immediately stopped.

Without needing his reminder, the tiger had also caught the scent of prey.

But this prey was not necessarily something it could catch.

From afar came a series of snorting sounds. It was a male wild boar with tusks.

Those two tusks were like blades drawn from their sheaths, giving off an intense sense of danger.

An ordinary wild boar only had an overall strength of "3~4." This one was "3~6," showing just how ferocious it was.

Yet the male boar had not noticed the approach of the two "hunters." It was still gnawing on some unknown fruit in the mountain ground.

Li Yuan directly nocked an arrow and drew his bow, his gaze fixed on the wild boar.

But the boar's stiff bristles were like a general's armor, while the Earthen Bow had limited power. Shooting it directly might not kill it with one arrow.

Li Yuan quietly took a few steps.

The tiger watched Li Yuan walk, then occasionally glanced toward the boar, but the boar was not disturbed at all.

Li Yuan did not move in front of the boar.

When a boar saw a person, it would charge in a straight line and ram them head-on.

He was not afraid, but there was no need for that.

He circled behind the boar and gently drew the bowstring fully taut.

This time, the boar reacted. It abruptly stopped rooting through the soil.

However, it was already too late.

Bang!!

With an explosive crack, the arrow wailed through the air and tore forward, piercing directly into the target—the rear end.

The wild boar let out a frantic howl and bolted.

But Li Yuan's arrow had sunk entirely inside, with only less than half the shaft sticking out.

After running a few steps, the boar staggered, and a huge pool of blood spilled beneath it.

Li Yuan gripped the Firewood Chopping Knife and rushed forward in great strides. Once he was close, he stomped the ground and leaped high into the air. His blade rose and fell, chopping straight toward the boar's neck.

With that one strike, the force severed its neck like torn silk.

The boar's head rolled away, and its headless body collapsed to the side.

Splat!!

At the same time, boar blood burst forth and sprayed all over Li Yuan.

Li Yuan laughed heartily. The boar blood covering him gave him a strangely familiar feeling. He skillfully kicked the boar onto its back, carefully opened its belly, hung up its intestines, dug out its heart, and tossed it straight to the tiger.

The tiger caught it in one bite, then lay down and began eating.

As it ate, the tiger raised its head to look at the intestines hanging from the tree and made a sound. "Roar? (Why hang them up?)"

Li Yuan said, "Roar! (There's shit inside.)"

Tiger: "Roar? (What is shit?)"

Li Yuan swung his blade, slicing off half the intestines. Immediately, the yellow-and-black, soft-and-hard, foul-smelling stuff inside spilled out.

"Roar! (That's it.)"

"Roar? (Can't eat it?)"

Li Yuan found it hard to explain.

"Roar! (Don't eat it.)"

"Roar? (Why?)"

"Roar! (Can't explain.)"

"Roar! (Then think of an explanation quickly.)"

"Roar! (Just don't eat it.)"

The tiger lowered its head and continued eating the boar heart.

Li Yuan, meanwhile, cut off several pieces of meat.

Today, he had been showing his own tamed beast his strength, while also getting familiar with the growing closeness between them.

Now that the hunt was over, they had acted together, and their communication had been fairly harmonious, he grabbed the meat and headed back.

He needed to wash up.

The tiger glanced at the boar carcass and roared softly, "Roar? (Meat?)"

Li Yuan replied, "Roar! Roar! (I don't like it. It's yours.)"

The tiger was immediately delighted. Hunting such a large wild boar by itself would take a great deal of effort, and it might even get injured. At once, it lay beside the boar and began eating the delicious organs.

As it ate, the tiger kept looking toward Li Yuan.

Li Yuan suddenly called out, "Little Yellow!"

Tiger: "Roar? (What?)"

Li Yuan: "Roar roar! (That's what I call you.)"

The tiger seemed thoughtful and continued eating.

Li Yuan called again, "Little Yellow!"

Tiger: "Roar! (What do you want?)"

Li Yuan nodded in satisfaction.

To show off his skills in front of his little brother, Li Yuan had dyed an entire roe deer hide cape red. The clothes underneath, however, had not gotten much blood on them.

Before night completely fell, Li Yuan finished washing himself and his clothes in a mountain spring. Then, shivering, he ran to the campfire to warm himself while roasting meat.

He was waiting.

Once the moon had risen a little higher, he would have to return home.

Unlike usual, Li Yuan appeared calm today, but inwardly, he was incredibly excited.

He had tamed a man-eating tiger!

It truly felt like a dream.

His memories contained only recollections of taking hunting dogs into the mountains to hunt, but from now on, he could take a tiger hunting.

Life might be miserable, but it was still quite exciting.

Tomorrow, he would see whether Little Yellow was willing to let him ride it.

If it was, he would ride Little Yellow to explore.

That way, the range of his exploration could expand as well.

That night, Li Yuan quietly returned home. After making love with Yan Niangzi, he lay relaxed on the bed and said, "Sister Yan, did you know? Today, I tamed a tiger—a man-eating tiger!"

Yan Yu reached out and poked him, smiling. "Stop bragging. Who could tame a man-eating tiger?"

Having gone through the matter of practicing martial arts last time, Li Yuan merely smiled and said no more. He only reminded her, "Don't tell anyone about this."

"I know, I know," Yan Yu said. "Your wife is clever."

The two of them held each other and daydreamed for a while. Looking at the outlines of the furniture in the dark room, Li Yuan asked, "Any new news outside?"

Yan Yu said, "How could there be anything so soon? The County Soldiers only left the city a day ago."