"Really," Du Yu said. "I came here to deal with this very matter. Besides, we've met twice already. When did I ever say I wanted to kill the tiger?"
The old woman grabbed Du Yu. "You have to save the tiger. Please save Sihuang..."
"Sihuang? I'll remember that." Du Yu nodded, reassured the old woman, and followed Constable Li and the others into the mountains.
None of them spoke along the way. Du Yu was still pondering Constable Li's words: "execute on the spot." Why would Cui Jue make such a decision? Was he going to kill the tiger outright?
No. Something occurred to Du Yu: "execute on the spot" was precisely the decision an ordinary official would make. An official who gave a tiger a trial was the odd one out. But wasn't that very refusal to follow the crowd what had made Cui Jue a great judge of the Underworld?
What he needed to do now was find a way to keep these three from finding the tiger. After all, countless trails crisscrossed the mountain, and he had wandered around all night before finding that cave. Without him leading the way, surely they couldn't find the grotto no matter how hard they tried.
The four of them wandered the mountain beneath the midday sun for a long while, until their mouths and throats were parched.
"Constable Li, where exactly is the tiger on this mountain? We've been wandering around forever..." one of the Misfits asked.
"Don't worry. I have a way to lure the tiger out. Just get your bows and arrows ready, and kill it in one stroke when it appears." Constable Li thought for a moment, then walked to the middle of the mountain trail.
A way? Du Yu wondered. Even I can't think of one. What could Constable Li...
Before Du Yu could figure it out, Constable Li suddenly shouted, "Sihuang!!! Your girl has come up the mountain to see you!!!"
His booming voice echoed through the valley.
Oh no! Du Yu knew things had taken a bad turn. Apparently, Constable Li had also encountered the tiger before and knew something of the story behind it.
Sure enough, a rustling came from the mountain shrubs, as though something was approaching.
Before long, a tiger's head cautiously poked out of the shrubs. The tiger seemed hesitant. After all, someone had tricked it out with the same method three years ago and nearly beaten it to death.
But as soon as the tiger poked its head out, it spotted Du Yu. A hint of a smile actually appeared on its bestial face.
Reassured, it emerged from the shrubs. It knew its friend had come.
"Don't come over!!! Run!!!" Du Yu roared.
At the same instant, two arrows shot toward the tiger!
The tiger couldn't react in time. It dodged only one arrow; the other plunged straight into its front leg.
"Roar!!!"
The tiger let out a furious roar and lunged toward the two archers.
"You can't!!"
Du Yu shouted and rushed forward to wrap his arms around the tiger. "Brother Tiger!! You can't kill anyone! Did you forget what I told you? If you kill them here, you'll not only suffer heaven's punishment, you'll never be able to live with your girl!"
"But I..."
The tiger was about to say something, but Du Yu covered its mouth again and whispered, "One more thing: never speak in front of anyone you don't trust."
"Yuan Xiangqin! What are you doing?! Calling this man-eating tiger your brother-have you gone mad too?" Constable Li demanded angrily.
"Brother Tiger, calm down. Let me handle this, all right?" Seeing the tiger gradually settle down, Du Yu slowly released it, then turned to Li Neng. "Constable Li, you absolutely cannot kill this tiger. I need to bring it back to see Lord Cui Jue."
"There's no need for that." Li Neng snorted. "His lordship's orders were to kill it."
"That's because there are things I didn't explain clearly to his lordship. Give me a little more time," Du Yu said.
"Don't you understand? I said there's no need." Constable Li grew angry. "If you insist on this folly, don't blame me for charging you with obstructing officers of the law and killing you along with it."
"Kill me?" Du Yu snorted. "Then let's make a bet."
"A bet?"
"That's right. I'll fight all three of you alone. If I win, you give me one more day. If I lose, you can kill not only this tiger, but me too."
Constable Li sneered. "Yuan Xiangqin, you really intend to fight me? Lord Cui Jue personally recruited me after I passed the special military examinations!"
"What's so great about that?" Du Yu sneered back. "Lord Cui Jue personally recruited me as an Operator."
"Operator? What's that?" Li Neng asked.
"Your rank is too low. Of course you wouldn't know."
"Hmph! Just trying to sound mysterious!"
"All right, Du Yu. Let me take over," Zhongli Chun suddenly interjected in his mind.
"No, Little Zhongli... If you fight, all three of them will probably die. Then the legend will be hard to complete. Things haven't gotten that serious yet."
"Huh?" Zhongli Chun froze. "How are you going to beat these three without me?"
Du Yu laughed loudly and addressed the three men before him. "If you have elders at home, go back and ask them what technique defeated Nine-Infant in Emperor Yao's time!"
"Emperor Yao's time?" Constable Li and the two Misfits were baffled. "Are you sick in the head?"
"Ha! Qianqiu's divine..."
Du Yu suddenly froze.
Far away, Xiao Qi froze too.
Qianqiu, my ass! Sister Qianqiu wasn't even here!
"D-Du Yu... Don't count on me. I really can't do it..." Xiao Qi said nervously.
Now I've really mounted a tiger and can't get off... Du Yu knew that, given Xiao Qi's personality, probably no one would even hear her shout "Hey, grandson!"
"Xiao Qi! I just thought of something. Can't you transmit images?" Du Yu asked urgently.
"Yes..."
"Go find any picture right now. Preferably one that's all one color-a dark-colored picture..."
"Where am I supposed to find that? How about I color one for you with a marker..."
"Well..." Du Yu hesitated. "That works too! How long?"
"A minute or two..." Xiao Qi said softly. "I only have a red marker... Is that okay?"
"Anything works! Hurry!"
Watching Du Yu, Constable Li grew suspicious. The man before him looked as though he were chatting with someone, his face cycling through all sorts of expressions.
"Enough of this lunatic. You two, seize him," Constable Li ordered.
"Yes!"
At his command, the two Misfits charged at Du Yu.
"Huh?" Du Yu instinctively stepped back. "That's cheating! I haven't said start yet!"
Why would the two Misfits care about that? They drew their blades and slashed at Du Yu. He twisted aside several times to dodge their attacks, maneuvering around them as he asked, "Xiao Qi! How much longer?"
"Almost... I've colored half of it..."
"Good grief, only half?" Du Yu twisted aside again, dodging a Misfit's blade. Fortunately, these fellows were merely civilians with shady pasts and no systematic training, he thought. They were a far cry from the soldiers of the Warring States period.
Another wave of attacks came. Du Yu not only dodged the blades but took the opportunity to kick one Misfit over. Unfortunately, he put so much force into the kick that he nearly lost his own balance.
"Hmph. With moves like those, you dare run your mouth?" After watching for a while, Li Neng realized Du Yu had no real fighting skills. He rolled up his sleeves, drew his blade, and attacked as well.
Li Neng had, after all, passed the military examinations. The skill behind every punch and kick was beyond anything the two Misfits could match, and Du Yu quickly fell at a disadvantage.
"Sister Seven! Are you still not done?!" Du Yu asked.
"Almost, almost! There's just one last corner I haven't finished coloring..."
"One corner doesn't matter!" Du Yu roared. "Show him the picture now!"
Seeing Du Yu unable to hold him off, Constable Li was about to end his life with a single slash when a vast expanse of red suddenly filled his vision, blocking everything from view. The blade about to strike Du Yu stopped too.
"Hm?" Constable Li thought something was covering his eyes. He reached up to grab it, but caught nothing.
"What's going on?"
Seeing his plan succeed, Du Yu gave a cold smile, suddenly straightened up, and knocked Li Neng down with a punch.
"Ha!" Du Yu laughed. "If you have children at home, go back and ask them what technique a voice transmitter who can't speak uses!"
"What... sorcery is this?" Though Li Neng's eyes were wide open, he couldn't see a thing. His vision was nothing but blood-red.
"Sorcery? Hmph, this is an immortal's technique! I hereby name this move-Red Seven Art!"
"Red Seven Art?"
Xiao Qi suddenly frowned. "Wait... Du Yu, why does Red Seven Art sound so familiar? Like some beggar..."
"Not just any beggar. The chief of the beggars," Du Yu said proudly.
While Li Neng wasn't paying attention, Du Yu rushed over and delivered a few more kicks.
Seeing things go wrong, the nearby Misfits hurried over too.
"Red Seven Art! Switch targets!!" Du Yu shouted.
The first Misfit to charge immediately lost his sight, and Du Yu punched him down. Seeing an opening, the second Misfit was about to attack Du Yu's blind spot when his own vision turned red too.
Du Yu kept knocking the three men down. Though they weren't badly hurt, the fear in their hearts grew and grew.
"This fellow really does seem to know some kind of sorcery..."
Finally exhausted, Du Yu asked between gasps, "Do you three yield? Are we still fighting?"
None of the three dared approach again. Li Neng asked, "Who exactly are you?"
"Who I am doesn't matter," Du Yu said, panting heavily. "If you truly have Cui Jue's interests at heart, you absolutely cannot kill this tiger. I need to take it to see Lord Cui Jue."
Constable Li and the two Misfits exchanged looks. Normally, he would never have yielded to this man's fighting prowess, but after taking a beating from Du Yu's spells, he couldn't help having second thoughts. Now that he had a way to step down gracefully, he might as well stop here.
"Though it sounds suspicious, you never drew your blade during our entire fight. You probably aren't a bad person," Constable Li said, pointing to the blade at Du Yu's waist.
"Huh?" Du Yu looked down. "Damn, I had a blade all along."
"These are unusual circumstances, so I'll listen to you just this once. I'll go back and report to Lord Cui Jue now. Bring the tiger down the mountain as soon as you can." With that, Constable Li left with the two Misfits.
Du Yu hurried over to check on the tiger demon huddled in the shrubs. "Brother Tiger? How are you?"
The tiger demon looked at Du Yu hesitantly. "Didn't you, tell me, if I admitted, eating people, in front of the officers, they'd let me, live with my girl?"
Du Yu bandaged the tiger demon's wound as he answered, "That was the idea... But I don't know where things went wrong. Come down the mountain with me in a little while. I'll handle this myself."
The tiger demon nodded after hearing that.
Du Yu continued, "Brother Tiger, if you really want to do as I said and become part of human society, you have to tell me everything about yourself."
"What do you, want to know?"
"A lot. About the man you ate, about that girl you mentioned, about Sihuang. Anything that has to do with you, I want to know."
"I, can't say. Take me, to see my girl. I'll have her, tell you."
Du Yu considered it for a moment, then said, "All right. I'll take you to see your girl."
Xiao Qi was taken aback. "Du Yu, do you know who his girl is?"
"I'm pretty sure."
Before you continue