White Tiger Incident

The timeline returned to Shi Hao as he ran toward the flatbread stall across the street.

Shi Hao glanced at the various kitchen utensils hanging behind the stall and immediately came up with an idea.

Just then, the flatbreads Xiong Fei had bought came fresh out of the oven. Shi Hao took one from him and said skeptically, "If I didn't need something to fill my stomach first, I wouldn't eat such rock-hard flatbread."

Xiong Fei forcibly stuffed the flatbread in Shi Hao's hand into his mouth. Shi Hao absentmindedly took a bite.

"Mmm... delicious!"

The "so delicious" law struck again, and Shi Hao got slapped in the face by his own words.

Having tasted the fragrant flatbread, Shi Hao began crunching away. So immersed was he in the delicious food that he could not stop. Then, out of nowhere, a crow snatched away the half-eaten flatbread still in his hand.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"

Shi Hao spat out the black crow feathers in his mouth and cursed furiously, "Give me back my flatbread!"

He immediately sprang into motion, racing after the crow that had half a flatbread clutched in its claws.

Shi Hao first performed a sliding tackle, slipping beneath the feet of a massive ferocious beast. Following the crow's flight path, he darted through streets and alleys, even accidentally crashing face-first into a local beast resident with a human face and snake body.

"Ow, little brat, you hurt me. Watch where you're going," the snakewoman said coyly, rubbing her chest.

"Sorry, I'll watch out next time," Shi Hao apologized without even turning back.

Shi Hao leaped into the air, stepped off an awning for momentum, and jumped onto a higher roof, gradually approaching the crow's altitude.

The flatbread was right before his eyes. Shi Hao impatiently opened his mouth wide and tried to bite the half flatbread beneath the crow's claws. But the crow flapped its wings and accelerated, instantly widening the distance between them.

Shi Hao promptly jumped onto the back of a flying ferocious bird passing ahead, rode the wind upward, and finally snatched the half flatbread back from the crow's claws.

"I got it back!"

Shi Hao jumped down from the bird's back. Overjoyed, he laughed as he ran along the second-floor corridor of a shop, completely failing to notice the obstacle ahead. Naturally, he slammed straight into a thin wooden post.

"Ow—"

The next instant, the crow seized the opportunity and snatched the half flatbread from Shi Hao again.

"Get back here!"

Shi Hao jumped down from the second floor and slid all the way along the body of a slick flood-dragon beast. At last, he landed steadily on the ground again and continued chasing the crow as it deliberately flew low.

"Hey—stop right there! Give me back my flatbread!"

Shi Hao's eyes were fixed solely on the flatbread in the crow's claws. He still failed to notice the sedan carriage slowly passing through the intersection ahead from around the corner.

Just as Shi Hao was about to crash into a sedan pole right in front of him, Tang Wulin, who had just finished eating his bean-flour cake nearby, flashed forward and instantly appeared behind Shi Hao. He grabbed Shi Hao in time, preventing him from hitting the obstacle ahead.

At the same time, Huo Yuhao, standing not far away, drew an ice-crystal longbow. A sharp arrow immediately shot out, freezing everything in its path into ice crystals and leaving a distinct trail as it struck the crow with perfect accuracy.

"Caw, caw, caw—"

The crow immediately let out a heart-rending shriek. The pain spreading through its entire body made it abandon the flatbread without hesitation. Tang Wulin leaped up, caught the half flatbread, and also seized the crow, which had turned into an ice sculpture in an instant.

"Here, your flatbread." Tang Wulin handed the flatbread to Shi Hao, then passed the crow to Huo Yuhao, who had walked over from nearby.

The next moment, a cold voice from a personal maid came from the sedan carriage before them.

"You lowly humans dare ignore the master's presence? The master orders you killed."

Shi Hao swallowed the flatbread in one go. Only then did he notice that two personal maids were seated beside a large White Tiger within the sedan before him.

"What a cute little kitty. It must taste delicious." It was as though Shi Hao had not heard the maids' order to kill them at all. He could only think about how best to cook the large White Tiger before him.

The White Tiger's three sedan bearers did not waste a word. They immediately unleashed their respective precious techniques and attacked Shi Hao, Huo Yuhao, and Tang Wulin.

Seeing this, Huo Yuhao immediately flung out the crow ice sculpture in his hand and detonated the Ice Explosion Technique inside it. Using the force of the blast, he successfully neutralized the power of the three precious techniques and blocked the enemy's first wave of attacks.

"Kitty, you've got quite the temper. You attack at the drop of a hat, huh? Let me teach you a lesson."

With that, Shi Hao immediately flung out two silver moons, which precisely sliced through the beaded curtain of the sedan carriage. Beads instantly scattered down like rain.

The two personal maids moved as lightly as swallows, knocking every falling bead aside and successfully protecting the unscathed White Tiger from the rain of beads.

"What nerve! Everyone, attack together! Make sure to capture them!"

At the lead maid's command, the last sedan bearer who had yet to attack joined the previous three. Together with the two personal maids, all six of the White Tiger's subordinates launched a fierce assault on the three children before them.

"Use the Beast-Fang Treasure to give them a return gift," Huo Yuhao reminded Shi Hao as he dodged the enemy attacks.

Shi Hao nodded and did as told, pulling out a crystal-clear, jade-white string of beast fangs. Forty-two points of light shot out like meteors, automatically tracking, locking onto, and striking the enemies with precision.

Each of the six enemies was hit by seven beams of light. Their vital essence drained away at incredible speed, leaving them severely wounded and incapable of fighting.

Shi Hao rubbed his fists together smugly. "Kitty, surrender obediently."

The White Tiger let out an enraged roar, and a tiger claw swept through the air.

Suddenly, a familiar figure stepped forward and blocked the attack in front of Shi Hao, Huo Yuhao, and Tang Wulin, forcibly taking the blow.

"Elder Xiong Fei, are you alright?" the three asked in unison.

As expected, the figure was Elder Xiong Fei, who had been searching for Shi Hao.

Xiong Fei patted Shi Hao on the head and said irritably, "All you know how to do every day is cause trouble."

Then Xiong Fei quickly clasped his hands and bowed to the White Tiger in apology. "The three of them are disciples of our Heaven-Mending Pavilion. They are new to the world and do not understand proper etiquette. I hope you will be magnanimous."

The White Tiger snorted coldly and pointed a claw at Shi Hao. "Heaven-Mending Pavilion is an ancient sacred land, so I will give you some face. But they injured my subordinates, so they must pay a price. Make that ignorant brat sever one arm as an apology."

Shi Hao stuck out his tongue. "This street isn't reserved for you alone, and I didn't even hit you. You suddenly gave an order to kill people for no reason at all. That's completely unreasonable."

Tang Wulin nodded in agreement. "Your subordinates' serious injuries are not our fault either. They attacked first. We were only acting in self-defense."

After learning the full story, Xiong Fei sided completely with his three disciples. "Our Heaven-Mending Pavilion does not seek trouble, but neither do we fear it. If you insist on this, then you are making an enemy of Heaven-Mending Pavilion."

The White Tiger ground its teeth. "The mountains may not move, but the waters will turn. We will meet again at Hundred-Segment Mountain."

As soon as it finished speaking, the White Tiger waved a massive paw. The four injured servants lifted the sedan carriage and departed angrily, pushing and pulling it away. Afraid that their blood would soil the White Tiger, the two maids did not sit beside it as usual, but instead escorted the carriage from the front and back.

Shi Hao scratched his head, thoroughly confused. "Why doesn't the kitty let me eat it now? Why does it insist on waiting until we enter Hundred-Segment Mountain before letting me eat it?"

Huo Yuhao explained with a smile, "Because Skybreak City has order guardians who maintain public safety, while Hundred-Segment Mountain is a treasure land of opportunity where life and death are left to fate. Everyone must rely on their own abilities to seize opportunities there."

Xiong Fei sighed. "Before you've even entered Hundred-Segment Mountain, you've already made enemies. I really don't know how much trouble you little rascal will cause after entering the mountain."

Tang Wulin comforted him, "Elder Xiong Fei, there's no need to worry too much. Isn't Yuhao and I here with him? The three of us will definitely come back safely."

Xiong Fei nodded. "Alright. I'll wait for you here at the inn."

Shi Hao suddenly remembered what he had planned to do at the flatbread stall, so he asked the others to wait for him for a moment at the entrance to Hundred-Segment Mountain.