Dark Gold Red Tiger

After resting for a full half-hour, Shen Mu gathered a change of clothes and went to the river to wash the sweat from his body.

Night fell, and all things grew still.

Shen Mu slipped into the Origin Mulberry Field under his watch, picking Origin Mulberry Fruit to brew Origin Mulberry Wine.

"This may be the last time I brew Origin Mulberry Wine."

Taking advantage of the night, Shen Mu plucked the ripe Origin Mulberry Fruit and placed it in the cloth bag at his waist. A wave of emotion rose in his heart.

If not for the Origin Mulberry Wine, he couldn't have advanced to the Third Stage of Boiling Blood so quickly.

"Once this month is over, the Origin Mulberry Fruit will probably all have been picked. If I want to brew more Origin Mulberry Wine, I'll likely have to wait until next year. By this time next year, even if I haven't yet reached the ranks, I should at least have the cultivation of the Ninth Stage of Boiling Blood."

Shen Mu picked a full forty pounds of Origin Mulberry Fruit before finally heading back, satisfied.

"Boom!"

A violent tremor suddenly broke the stillness of the night.

"Roar!"

Shen Mu had just added the Origin Mulberry Fruit to the strong liquor to begin brewing when a deafening roar erupted in the quiet night, echoing through the valley for a long time.

"What's that?"

Shen Mu's expression changed. He immediately left the Bamboo Shed, leapt onto its roof, and looked in the direction of the sound.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Dozens of signal arrows shot into the sky at once, then exploded with a thunderous bang, lighting up the entire Emerald Cloud Valley.

In that brief flash of daylight, Shen Mu finally saw the disturbance in the distance.

A monstrous tiger was charging through the Origin Mulberry Field a mile away. It was several zhang long, its entire coat patterned with dark golden stripes, and a pair of horns sprouted from its head.

The Guardian watching over that section of the field had barely taken a few steps before the vicious tiger caught up with him. It opened its bloody maw and bit down on him.

"Ah!"

The Guardian let out a bloodcurdling scream and died in the tiger's jaws.

The daylight cast by the signal arrows faded again, but several more arrows immediately shot into the air.

Shen Mu saw the vicious tiger chewing on the Guardian's corpse. It swallowed him in just a few bites, blood dripping from the corners of its mouth.

"A demon beast?"

Watching this, Shen Mu went pale, his scalp prickling.

He didn't even think of going back to the Bamboo Shed for a signal arrow. Instead, he jumped down and sprinted toward the valley entrance without looking back.

There was no need to guess: the vicious tiger must have accidentally fallen into Emerald Cloud Valley from the cliffs.

If he was even a step too slow, he might become its next meal.

As Shen Mu took off running, more and more signal arrows shot up from all over Emerald Cloud Valley, exploding high in the sky.

"Brother Shen, what happened?"

Seeing Shen Mu racing toward him, Luo Tao stumbled out of the Bamboo Shed, still bleary-eyed with sleep, his face somewhat panicked.

"Don't ask—run!"

Shen Mu didn't slow down. He shouted at Luo Tao, then continued running along the fields toward the valley entrance.

At the sight of him, Luo Tao sobered up at once.

Without the slightest hesitation, he hurried after Shen Mu toward the valley entrance.

By now, all of Emerald Cloud Valley had become a hive of activity.

Every Guardian was running toward the valley entrance, afraid that if they were a moment too slow, they would end up on the vicious tiger's menu.

Two figures shot out from the direction of the valley entrance, speeding toward the vicious tiger.

The two Market Masters guarding Emerald Cloud Valley had clearly sensed that something was wrong and were heading over to slay it.

"Pant, pant, pant..."

Shen Mu ran all the way to the valley entrance. After such a long sprint, he was panting like a bellows.

Only then did he feel somewhat relieved, while also counting himself lucky.

Fortunately, the vicious tiger had appeared some distance from his Bamboo Shed.

If it had fallen from the cliffs and landed right by his Origin Mulberry Field, he would probably have met the same fate as the Guardian he had just seen.

Meanwhile, Guardians from every corner of Emerald Cloud Valley came rushing to the entrance, all of them panting as hard as Shen Mu.

"Shen Mu, what happened?"

When Hong Jingcheng spotted Shen Mu in the crowd, he hurried over and asked in a grave voice.

Meeting Hong Jingcheng's gaze, Shen Mu steadied his breathing and quickly explained, "A vicious tiger fell into the valley. Its coat is covered in dark golden stripes, and it's about one zhang tall and three zhang long..."

After hearing Shen Mu's description, Hong Jingcheng's expression shifted. He blurted out, "Could it be a first-rank demon beast, a Dark Gold Red Tiger?!"

A Dark Gold Red Tiger?

Hearing the name, Shen Mu finally learned the vicious tiger's origins.

Although he had already eaten dozens of pounds of unranked demon-beast meat, this was his first time seeing a living, ranked demon beast.

There was no denying it: a ranked demon beast was truly terrifying.

Just then, several other Deacons hurried over.

"Brother Hong, what happened?"

One of the Deacons looked at Hong Jingcheng and asked in a grave voice.

Meeting the gazes of the other Deacons, Hong Jingcheng quickly replied, "It looks like a Dark Gold Red Tiger accidentally fell into the valley..."

A Dark Gold Red Tiger?

The several Deacons' expressions changed in unison.

This kind of ranked demon beast was beyond the reach of anyone in the Boiling Blood Stage. Even the two Market Masters might not be its match.

More and more Guardians arrived at the valley entrance. Meanwhile, deeper inside the valley, the two Market Masters guarding Emerald Cloud Valley had already engaged the Dark Gold Red Tiger in battle. The booming sounds carried clearly to them, despite the several miles between them.

A Deacon said in a grave voice, "We must seek help from headquarters as soon as possible and have them send an Incense Master to reinforce us. Market Master Lin and Market Master Kong probably aren't a match for the Dark Gold Red Tiger."

Hong Jingcheng and the other Deacons nodded solemnly.

Two years ago, the same thing had happened in Emerald Cloud Valley. A ranked Jade Blood Monkey had inexplicably fallen into the valley, and even the two Market Masters together had been no match for it. In the end, the Incense Master in charge of Emerald Cloud Valley had stepped in and driven the Jade Blood Monkey away.

"Brother Chu, hurry and send word to Incense Master Ren. We'll gather everyone and push the railing open. When the Incense Master arrives, we may need to drive the Dark Gold Red Tiger out through the valley entrance."

One of the Deacons spoke quickly.

"Understood."

The Deacon surnamed Chu answered and hurried away.

"Everyone, listen up! Work together to push the railing open!"

The Deacon looked at all the Guardians gathered at the valley entrance and called out in a clear voice.

This was why the valley entrance had a wooden railing: it was meant to guard against emergencies like this.

If a demon beast fell from above Emerald Cloud Valley and the Firewood Gang's forces couldn't kill it, they would open the railing at the entrance and drive it out.

At the call of the five Deacons, everyone began pushing the railing.

The railing was like a massive closed door. Now the Guardians had to work together to push it open.

"Push!"

At the five Deacons' command, everyone heaved against the railing.

"Grnnn... creak..."

With everyone pushing together, the railing slowly began to open.

By the time it was fully open, everyone was already drenched in sweat. They couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Brother Shen, what do we do now?"

Luo Tao slumped to the ground beside him and asked.

"What else can we do? Let's get farther away, then wait for reinforcements from above."

Shen Mu gave a wry smile.

All he could do now was pray that the Dark Gold Red Tiger wouldn't rampage through his Bamboo Shed.

There were more than twenty pounds of beast meat in there, along with over a hundred pounds of Origin Mulberry Wine.

It was a small fortune. If the Dark Gold Red Tiger wrecked it all, it would be a real disaster for him.

"I can't believe something this big happened on my first day here."

Luo Tao couldn't help sighing.

Hearing that, Shen Mu's expression turned a little odd.

Just what had this guy done to spread his bad luck across all of Emerald Cloud Valley?

Of course, he knew the Dark Gold Red Tiger had fallen into Emerald Cloud Valley by pure accident. It didn't have much to do with Luo Tao.