"Roar!"
Speak of the devil, and the devil appeared—the tiger's roar came from outside the den.
The Mountain Lord had killed Yang Li and dragged his body back to enjoy a feast. That would also speed up the transformation into a Ghost Servant and help it recover from its injuries.
With a Ghost Servant, it could send out a subordinate to run errands and lure others in, so it wouldn't have to rely so heavily on Old Zhang.
But when it returned to the fork in the passage, Old Zhang was gone.
The Mountain Lord thought Old Zhang had gone to steal from its lair and immediately ran over.
When it reached the stone chamber, its suspicions were confirmed. The door to its lair had been opened. In fury, it let out a roar.
Zhao Han didn't go out. Instead, he prepared lime and water.
"You're not Old Zhang. You don't even smell the same. Who are you?" The Mountain Lord remained cautious outside and asked in a low, muffled voice.
"This tiger's pretty cunning." Zhao Han smiled coldly. If you won't come in, then I'll go out.
He stepped through the Double Door and faced the Mountain Lord.
His eyes stayed fixed on the Mountain Lord's flank, where a large wound was still bleeding.
Sensing the threat, the Mountain Lord warily took a step back and asked in confusion, "You must be one of those four. What did you do to Old Zhang? Why didn't my Ghost Servant find you?"
"You mean Old Zhang? Naturally, he's..."
Zhao Han didn't finish. He took a bundle of lime from the System Space and threw it.
Whoosh!
Who would've thought that, injured though it was, the Mountain Lord was still a feline, with the quick reflexes that came naturally to its kind? It dodged the lime with a sidestep.
"Pretty quick. But that's not all the lime I've got."
"If only I had caustic soda. It's a lot more potent than lime."
He flung two more handfuls of lime, and the Mountain Lord dodged both.
But lime now covered the ground all around them.
"Go!"
He splashed water everywhere. Before long, the lime bubbled and steamed across the floor.
"Let's see where you can dodge now." Zhao Han looked at the Mountain Lord and kept scattering lime.
"You despicable, shameless wretch! If I weren't badly wounded, I could kill you with one casual swipe!" the Mountain Lord roared.
It wasn't joking.
At full strength, a casual swipe from it carried two thousand jin of force, rivaling the strongest Bone Refining Realm experts.
A Skin Refining Warrior had three hundred jin of force!
A Muscle Refining Realm expert had six hundred jin of force!
A Bone Refining Realm expert had one thousand jin of force!
And at the peak of Bone Refining... one had two thousand jin of force!
With two thousand jin of force, killing a Muscle Refining Warrior was child's play—easy as blowing away dust.
What's more, at full strength the Mountain Lord had Ghost Servants under its command who had been Skin Refining or even Muscle Refining Warriors in life. They were far more terrifying than Ghost Servants made from ordinary people.
Even if the Mountain Lord encountered a Bone Refining Realm expert, it could still slaughter him.
The one ordinary Ghost Servant it had left was one the Mountain Lord normally wouldn't even glance at. It hadn't sent the Ghost Servant out when it fought the Willow Tree Demon, either. It had kept it deep in its stomach.
Now, though, that Ghost Servant had become its only lifeline.
Old Zhang was someone the Mountain Lord had forcibly brought here with the help of that ordinary Ghost Servant, then lured into working for it with promises of rewards.
At this moment, the Mountain Lord had less than a fifth of its strength remaining. It already needed Old Zhang's help to face a Skin Refining Warrior, so it was extremely cautious.
A direct fight would only worsen the Mountain Lord's injuries. Even if it won, it would gain nothing.
"Yow..."
Suddenly, the Mountain Lord stepped onto a patch where the lime was reacting with the water. Its paw was scalded at once, and it yelped in pain.
"Now's my chance!"
"Mad Saber Three Stacks Wave, First Wave!"
Zhao Han immediately lunged forward, swinging his blade in a fierce, murderous slash. His momentum was terrifying.
"Muscle Refining Realm? You're a Muscle Refining Warrior!"
The Mountain Lord's tiger face twisted in shock as Zhao Han charged at it with a terrifying presence.
"You realized too late!"
"Die!"
The blade came crashing down, unstoppable, slicing clean through the Mountain Lord's ear.
"Yow..."
The Mountain Lord howled in pain. It didn't care whether the ground was covered in limewater anymore, and hurriedly retreated to evade him.
It knew the difference between being injured and being killed.
But Zhao Han didn't care. His shoes were waterproof, so the lime couldn't hurt him. He swung his blade again and brought it down hard.
"Spare me, spare me! I'll be your mount. Don't you people love mighty steeds...?"
The soles of the Mountain Lord's paws burned with searing pain. It kept backing away and began to beg.
At the mention of a mount, Zhao Han's eyes lit up.
The Mountain Lord looked mighty and imposing. At full strength, it had at least been as powerful as a Bone Refining Realm expert. If it became his mount, it would indeed be a great help.
But then he thought it over. The Mountain Lord had gained its powers by controlling Ghost Servants and becoming a monster. Who knew how many people it had eaten to earn that fortune?
The Mountain Lord was cunning and devious. You could know its face, but never its heart. It might turn on its master. It had to die!
"Fine. I'll spare your life!" Zhao Han lowered his blade. He said he'd spare it, but was already thinking of how to deal with it.
Seeing that Zhao Han really seemed willing to spare it, the Mountain Lord couldn't help but smile slyly.
But its face showed nothing but pain and pleading, its acting every bit as convincing as a human's.
The Mountain Lord hadn't run because its injuries were too severe.
Trying to flee would strain its wounds and make them worse. Zhao Han might not even have to strike—it could die on its own.
"M-Master, I, Tiger Strength, am willing to serve you!"
The Mountain Lord avoided the limewater and slowly walked over, putting on a meek, obedient look.
"This is good. I'll take you on as my follower."
Zhao Han slid his blade into its scabbard, seemingly letting down his guard.
The Mountain Lord suggested, "Master, you can take whatever you like from my lair. I'll go eat those corpses first. That'll help me recover faster."
"Fine. But let me pet you first."
The Mountain Lord looked surprised, but obediently came forward and let Zhao Han pat its head.
This was a good chance to ambush Zhao Han, but the Mountain Lord made no move. It simply let him do as he pleased.
"Slap, slap, slap..."
When Zhao Han touched the Mountain Lord's head, he gave it ten light pats. Feeling a faint surge of strength through his body, he looked at the System Panel.
Tiger Subduing Fist [Simplified, Common Tier, Beginner 0/50, punch a tiger fifty times]
Zhao Han couldn't help but sneer inwardly:
"Heh. It's not that I don't want you as my mount. It's that the system wants you dead!"
Boom!
Suddenly, a short blade appeared in Zhao Han's hand, and he drove it straight into the Mountain Lord's forehead.
"Yow..."
The Mountain Lord cried out in pain and staggered backward. Blood from its forehead and severed ear quickly stained its face red.
"M-Master, w-what are you doing?" The Mountain Lord's face crumpled as it begged, bewildered.
"Keep acting, you beast. Do you really think I'm stupid enough to fall for that pathetic performance?" Zhao Han pulled out his steel blade, blocked the Mountain Lord's escape route, and slowly advanced.
The Mountain Lord's expression darkened. It knew its acting hadn't been convincing enough, and Zhao Han had seen through it.
This man was even more cunning than it was. He hadn't taken it seriously at all.
Anyone else would probably have accepted it as a mount. A helper as powerful as a Bone Refining Realm expert would be a tremendous boon to anyone.
Before you continue