The Tiger Feeder

"The medicinal herb you mentioned... surely you don't mean the Mountain Lord?"

Long Er's body went rigid, his face instantly turning ghastly.

But he still forced himself to bluff:

"Y-Young Hero, that's quite the joke! Didn't I tell you already? Those are just rumors spread by outsiders. How could there be some spirit-turned Mountain Lord in these mountains..."

Seeing this man stubbornly deny it even at death's door, Lu Chuan couldn't be bothered to waste more words.

He lunged forward, fingers curled into a claw, and casually grabbed at Long Er's shoulder.

Unexpectedly, the same Long Er who had been limping moments ago now twisted away like an oiled loach, dodging Lu Chuan's grasp.

Without looking back, he fled deeper into the cave!

"Lu Chuan! If you've got the guts, come chase me!" Long Er's taunting voice echoed from the darkness.

"Trying to run from me?" Lu Chuan scoffed.

He pulled the heavy bow from his back in a fluid motion—nocking an arrow, drawing the string, all in one seamless sequence.

"Swoosh—!"

The arrow left the bowstring with a sharp, piercing whistle.

Long Er had barely taken a few steps when a searing pain tore through the back of his right leg!

He let out a bloodcurdling scream, lost his balance, and crashed heavily to the ground.

Lu Chuan closed the distance in a few quick strides, planting his foot firmly on the arrow-pierced thigh and pressing down slightly.

"Ah—! It hurts! It hurts like hell! Mercy! Young Hero, have mercy!" Long Er howled like a stuck pig.

"Run. Why aren't you running now?" Lu Chuan's voice was icy, his foot unrelenting.

"Tell me the truth! Is the Mountain Lord hiding inside this cave?"

"Yes... yes..." Long Er's face was pale with agony, his bravado completely shattered.

"You lured me in here to feed me to the tiger?"

"I... I had no choice..." Long Er whimpered, begging for mercy.

Lu Chuan looked up, gazing into the pitch-black depths of the cave:

"I'm a bit curious. You came in with me—why doesn't the Mountain Lord... eat you?"

Long Er trembled all over from the pain, stammering.

Seeing this, Lu Chuan ground his foot down hard!

"Ah—! Stop! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" Long Er dared not hide anything anymore, spilling the truth in broken fragments.

It turned out that the rumors about the Mountain Lord on Mount Erlong were half-true, half-false.

The Mountain Lord was real, lurking deep in this cave.

But it had no divine power to avoid misfortune or seek good fortune.

The reason the villagers had organized so many Tiger Hunting Teams, only to come up empty every time or even suffer losses, was all because of this very Long Er!

"I... I've known the Mountain Lord for a long time..." Long Er revealed a chilling truth.

By some unknown method, he had formed a bizarre symbiotic relationship with the ferocious tiger.

Using his identity as a villager, he specifically tricked lone hunters, herb gatherers, and even Martial Artists who came seeking fortune, leading them to this death trap.

The Mountain Lord would pounce and devour them, while Long Er took the victims' money and belongings.

What's more, as a villager at the mountain's foot, Long Er was fully aware of the village's movements.

Whenever the villagers pooled funds or Martial Artists organized a tiger hunt, he would tip off the Mountain Lord in advance, letting it hide or set up ambushes.

That was why those Tiger Hunting Teams always returned empty-handed—or met with disaster.

"Over time, that tiger... has eaten quite a few people, hasn't it?" Lu Chuan's voice betrayed no emotion.

"Not... not many, just a few..." Long Er's eyes darted nervously.

Lu Chuan's gaze turned cold.

Terrified out of his wits, Long Er quickly changed his tune:

"A few... a few hundred... Actually, we mainly trick those Martial Artist masters who come up to hunt tigers now. They... they carry more silver, and the Mountain Lord... prefers eating those with stronger Qi and Blood..."

Lu Chuan understood.

In this narrow cave, even a typical First Qi and Blood realm Martial Artist might not be a match for the Mountain Lord in a direct fight, let alone a surprise attack.

Limited vision, restricted movement, while the tiger had the advantage of seeing in the dark—the outcome was obvious.

"So this time, that was your plan too," Lu Chuan said.

Sensing the killing intent, Long Er immediately kowtowed:

"Young Hero! Young Hero! I was blinded by greed! Please spare my life! I'll tell you everything I know!"

"I... I still have quite a bit of silver saved up over the years, hidden in a secret place. I'll give it all to you! Just spare this worthless life of mine!"

"Where's the silver?" Lu Chuan asked.

"Well... you'll have to let me go first, and I'll take you to get it..." Long Er's eyes darted as he tried to haggle.

Lu Chuan's gaze turned cold.

At a time like this, still playing tricks, trying to lure him to some unknown hiding spot for the money?

Who knew if there were other traps there?

Without another word, the long blade in Lu Chuan's hand flashed coldly.

"Pfft!"

Long Er's pleas for mercy cut off abruptly, his eyes going completely dull.

Against a vicious, cunning scoundrel like this, any misplaced mercy could lead to utter ruin.

To be safe, killing him outright was the best move.

Lu Chuan quickly searched Long Er's body, finding only some loose silver, which he pocketed with a blank expression.

Standing up, Lu Chuan turned his gaze back to the depths of the cave.

"I need a way... to lure it out."

Fighting a Mountain Lord that had likely become an Exotic Beast in this narrow cave was far from wise.

Lu Chuan looked at Long Er's corpse at his feet, then at the dark cave depths, and an idea came to him.

With a swift slash of his blade, he cleanly severed one of Long Er's arms.

After breaking through Blood Pass, his arm strength was astonishing. With a slight buildup of force, he hurled the severed arm deep into the cave.

The arm flew into the darkness, carrying a strong stench of blood.

Almost at once—

"Roar!"

A deep, savage tiger's roar exploded from the cave's depths, a blast of bloody wind rushing out.

Then, a terrifying aura of ferocity rapidly approached.

Lu Chuan's eyes sharpened. Without hesitation, he retreated swiftly, slipping out of the cave mouth and quickly hiding behind a massive boulder.

His heavy bow was in hand, a Darksteel Arrow already nocked.

Heavy thuds echoed from inside the cave, growing closer.

Finally, a massive figure emerged.

The Mountain Lord.

It was even larger than Lu Chuan had imagined.

Its shoulder height nearly reached a man's chest, and its body length, including the tail, must have been over three meters. Beneath its yellow-and-black striped fur, muscles bulged with every movement.

It must have weighed at least seven hundred jin!

The biggest Wild Boar Lu Chuan had ever hunted was only five hundred jin, and compared to this Mountain Lord, it was nothing.

The Mountain Lord growled low, its amber eyes sweeping the cave. It quickly locked onto Long Er's mutilated corpse and padded forward slowly.

To Lu Chuan's surprise, this Mountain Lord, which had worked with Long Er for over a decade, showed no hesitation toward his remains.

It simply lowered its head, nudged the body with a massive paw, then opened its gaping maw and bit down without mercy.

The crunch of Bones was especially harsh in the cave.

"In the end, it's just a beast. Some 'Mountain Lord'..."

Lu Chuan watched quietly from the shadows, slowly drawing his bowstring, aiming at the side of the Mountain Lord's head.

But after a moment's thought, he loosened his fingers and swapped for an ordinary Armor-Piercing Arrow.

The Darksteel Arrow was coated with Heart-Corroding Bone-Decaying Powder. This Mountain Lord was fierce, but it didn't seem to have reached the Exotic Beast level—no need for such a nasty trick.

Besides, he was worried the poison would contaminate the valuable Tiger Bone, making it not worth the cost.

"Twang!"

The moment the bowstring snapped, the Mountain Lord, mid-bite, seemed to sense something. Its massive head suddenly turned toward Lu Chuan's hiding spot!

But the arrow had already left the string—too fast!

The Mountain Lord reacted quickly, its huge tiger head dodging nimbly to the side.

"Thud!"

The arrow missed its head, burying deep into the thick muscle of its shoulder and back, leaving a bloody hole.

"Roar—!"

The searing pain enraged the Mountain Lord completely.

It locked its eyes on the direction of the boulder, abandoned the corpse at its feet, planted all four legs, and lunged forward with a thunderous charge!

There was no time for a second arrow.

Lu Chuan decisively dropped his bow and instantly drew the long blade at his waist.

The gleaming steel met the oncoming shadow, massive as a hill!