Red Fox

The roar of tigers could be heard in the distance, seemingly approaching, but in reality, it was just dozens of paper tigers howling and swaying in the grass, taking their bluffing to the extreme. The two crippled tigers were the same; they killed with words, appearing extremely powerful with the aid of their words, but when facing their enemies directly, they were often ineffective.

The power of words can be deceiving, even fabricated stories can be mistaken for reality. However, as long as one remains unmoved by words, their power is not actually that terrifying.

Ultimately, however, the power of the "three men make a tiger" narrative lies in those dozens of paper tigers; or rather, the true power of the "three men make a tiger" narrative lies not in the people who say these things, but in the people who believe them.

Three people in the bustling city said there was a tiger. These three people were actually three people, or rather, many people. If it were just them saying it, it wouldn't have any power. What truly brought power were the ordinary people who believed these words. It was precisely because these people believed the three men's claim that there was a tiger that a huge disturbance was caused.

When you are intimidated by their words and give up resisting after being threatened by the two tigers, you will be swayed by their words, and those dozens of paper tigers will really turn into tigers, and the words of the two tigers will come true.

Therefore, when facing two tigers who spread rumors and fabricate stories, as long as you are not misled by their words, you will find that these two tigers cannot actually defeat you. The real danger lies with the tigers that are on their way. Once you expose the true nature of those dozens of tigers as paper tigers, their words will naturally lose their effect and they will be easily killed.

Just as Lu Li finished off the five or six squirrels that had transformed into tigers, the sound of gongs and drums came from afar, as if someone was making a trip. The sound grew louder as it approached, as if it was specifically for Lu Li.

The paper tigers that were exposed, upon hearing the sounds of gongs and drums, transformed into human figures. Judging from their clothing, most of them were merchants, hunters, or woodcutters. They all had shocking wounds on their bodies, as if they had been killed by tigers. Presumably, they were also the Tiger Ghost of that tiger.

They knelt numbly in the forest, as if waiting for something. In the distance, they saw a group of people carrying a sedan chair, playing gongs and drums as they approached. The sedan chair moved very quickly through the forest and soon arrived in front of Lu Li.

Those carrying sedan chairs and playing drums and gongs also bore tiger bite marks. Their expressions were numb, and although the music they played was extremely loud, it sounded hollow and tasteless. It was neither pleasant nor unpleasant to listen to; on the contrary, it could be described in just two words: boring.

The sedan chair stopped in front of Lu Li, and only a red-haired Fox stepped out. This Fox was dressed in a tiger skin and had an extraordinary air about him, looking quite respectable. He got out of the sedan chair and came to Lu Li, saying, "Human, what brings you to my South Mountain to cause trouble?"

"How dare you kill and injure the people of my Tiger Kingdom of South Mountain?" The Red Fox spoke with great authority, his tiger skin making him appear even more extraordinary. He pointed at the paper tiger pinned to the ground by the Shadow Assassin's Short Blade, ignoring the Five Squirrels that had revealed their true forms.

"I'm giving you chances to explain yourself, since you're a foreign visitor and I don't want to cause conflict between our two countries. Otherwise, don't blame me for turning ruthless," the Red Fox said righteously. With a gesture, she conjured armor and weapons on the Tiger Ghost. Although these weapons were illusions, they were so real that they were indistinguishable from real weapons in the Dream of Delusion.

After picking up their weapons, these Tiger Ghost raised them and pointed them at Lu Li, as if they would obey the Red Fox's words and stab Lu Li death if he didn't explain. They were old and young, men and women, but now they had all turned into Tiger Ghost, their faces numb. At a glance, there was no difference between them, regardless of age or gender.

"When you say there's a conflict between two countries, which two countries are you referring to?" Lu Li didn't panic, or rather, he didn't feel panicked at all. Instead, he asked the Red Fox with great interest.

"Naturally, it's my Tiger Kingdom of South Mountain and your human kingdom Wu Kingdom!" The Red Fox raised its hand, and at its signal, Red Fox Tiger Ghost lowered their weapons, easing the tension. "Our two countries have always kept to themselves. Why did you, human, enter our country and kill our people?"

"Your people? The problem is, judging from their attire, they are all people of my Wu Kingdom. When did they become people of your Tiger Kingdom of South Mountain?" Lu Li retorted with a smile, "On the contrary, I should ask you why you have killed and controlled my people without cause."

"Absurd! Your Wu Kingdom's policies are extremely harsh, causing widespread suffering among its people. Unable to survive, they voluntarily joined my Tiger Kingdom of South Mountain. Go ask them, which one of them didn't do it voluntarily?" the Red Fox said angrily, turning to a nearby Tiger Ghost and asking, "Tell me why you joined my Tiger Kingdom of South Mountain."

The Tiger Ghost was a hunter-like man who recounted his story with a numb expression. "Two years ago, there was a great disaster, and the farmland yielded nothing. But instead of reducing taxes, they were increased because of the impending war. I had no choice but to go into the mountains to make a living by hunting. That's when I met the king and learned about the Tiger Kingdom of South Mountain. So I voluntarily joined the Tiger Kingdom of South Mountain."

"Oh, is that so?" Lu Li narrowed his eyes and looked at the Tiger Ghost. Most of his neck had been bitten off. It seemed that when he met the South Mountain Tiger, that was when he died. He was bitten to death by the tiger, but now he was still saying with a numb expression that he was willing to join the Tiger Kingdom of South Mountain. These Tiger Ghost were truly incomprehensible.

"Enough with the idle talk, humans, hurry up and tell me why you harmed the people of my Tiger Kingdom of South Mountain." A smug look flashed across the red-haired Fox's face. He tightened his tiger skin and said with a righteous expression, "Otherwise, I will have no choice but to disregard the relationship between our two countries and investigate you according to the law. Although you humans are powerful, I cannot betray this coat bestowed upon me by the King."

The Red Fox shook its tiger skin, and an immense aura rose from its body, so powerful that it could even affect reality, stirring up a strong wind.

"This is not my fault. It was these squirrels that controlled them and caused their tragic deaths. You are a minister of the Tiger Kingdom, but if you want to frame me, I am not powerless to resist." Lu Li pointed at the corpses of the Five Squirrels and said, as the shadow behind him rose into the Lu Li and transformed into several huge shadow tentacles behind him.

"Hmm? Is that so?" A hint of apprehension flashed in the Red Fox's eyes as it asked one of the Tiger Ghost that had previously transformed into a paper tiger.

The Tiger Ghost whispered something in the Red Fox's ear for a while before the Red Fox looked at Lu Li again, a warm smile on his face. He said with a smile, "So that's how it is. These are traitors from within the country, who do not submit to the king's rule and intend to provoke a conflict between our two countries. I, Hu Wei, was indeed reckless."

"Since our honored guest is from a foreign land, why don't you accompany me to meet the King? That way, we can properly entertain and compensate our honored guest," the Red Fox said, bowing as if it were a genuine apology.

"Sure, I never refuse anything interesting," Lu Li said with a smile.