At Least I Wasn't Scared to Death

After answering this question, the tiger outside the temple and the Chang ghost beside it were both filled with trepidation, while the people inside were so frightened they were stunned for a good while, hence a moment of silence.

Ji Yuan steadied his emotions again, racking his brains over how to have a harmonious exchange with a man-eating tiger demon without blinking an eye.

Just as the tiger outside began to grow restless, a long, drawn-out voice finally came from within the temple.

"Lord Lu truly has bold spirit. Another demon in your place would likely have boasted of only a few men. At least you haven't made me think less of you!"

The Scholar Chang Ghost couldn't help clenching his fists inside his sleeve, while the Tiger Spirit Lord Lu was secretly overjoyed.

"Humans are the wisest of all beings. Perhaps some demons believe eating humans is the most nourishing. What does Lord Lu think?"

Ji Yuan didn't wait for the tiger to speak again, pressing on with another question.

Beyond making the thing outside abandon its cannibalistic thoughts, he was fundamentally stalling for time, trying to come up with the right words to respond. If he couldn't bluff it in the end and the other party flew into a rage, it would all be over.

But with such a simple question, the tiger and ghost outside grew anxious again.

Lord Lu's massive tiger head just stared at the ghost. He himself had no idea how to answer, feeling that saying "yes" was definitely wrong, and saying "no" was too simple—what if the person inside asked "why not" next?

The Scholar Chang Ghost paced back and forth in a panic, much like the feeling of a strict teacher testing his knowledge back in his student days.

"Have you thought of something? Thought of something yet?"

"Lord Lu, don't rush, don't rush... Got it!"

"Speak quickly, speak quickly!"

The scholar instinctively raised his sleeve to wipe non-existent sweat, answering in a low voice.

"The answer to this question naturally wouldn't be to agree with the previous statement. The key is how to explain the opposing view without refuting Lord Lu's earlier words, since Lord Lu has eaten fifty-three people... Lord Lu should say it like this..."

Lord Lu's tiger face shifted from annoyance to a frown, then to relaxation.

"You mean no matter how we answer, it's bound to be wrong, so we just need to stay true to ourselves without contradicting ourselves?"

"Exactly, Lord Lu trusts me!"

The tiger nodded slightly and spoke toward the temple.

"I've pondered your question long and hard, sir. Since gaining sentience, I, Lord Lu, have long dwelled on Niu Kui Mountain and rarely seen other demons, so I don't know their thoughts. For me, eating humans is indeed nourishing, but your question suddenly makes me feel something is off. Please, sir, enlighten me!"

He'd thrown the question back.

But this suited Ji Yuan just fine. As a young person who had experienced the era of the internet explosion, he'd been exposed to an incredibly vast array of information and knowledge. As long as he didn't panic into a daze, coming up with something profound and reasonable wasn't hard—at the very least, those chicken soup philosophies had plenty of flair.

This time, Lord Lu and the Chang ghost didn't wait long. The person inside the temple answered directly.

"As the saying goes, humans are the Spirit of All Things, and the essence of plants and beasts is drawn to them. But humans are also the most emotionally complex beings among all creatures, entangled in endless resentment and karmic ties. Demons that long feed on humans easily become addicted, thinking it nourishes their cultivation, yet they are already steeped in malice. Over time, their progress stalls, breakthroughs elude them, and day by day, their nature grows ferocious, their spirit clouded, until madness... This is the Path of Self-Destruction."

Lord Lu, the great tiger, swallowed hard at these words, his fur standing slightly on end.

No one had ever said such things before. Though the books the Scholar Chang Ghost and he had read often urged people toward goodness, they were mostly laughably pedantic. The words of the person in the temple now made him break out in a cold sweat.

Because he, Lord Lu, truly felt an increasing urge to eat people, and he had indeed been stuck in his cultivation for a long time. The person inside shouldn't have known this, so cross-referencing it, he naturally believed this reasoning.

At this point, Lord Lu had even forgotten his original question and urgently asked toward the temple.

"Sir, is there a way to remedy this? A way to make amends?"

Hearing this, Ji Yuan let out a careful breath, a huge weight lifted from his heart. The bluff had hit the mark!

"I, Ji, heard Lord Lu say earlier that eating humans is like humans eating birds and beasts—no thought of indiscriminate killing, not eating when full, not eating by day, not eating the old, young, sick, or weak. Among demons, this is already commendable. Haha, perhaps Lord Lu spared this wretched beggar back then out of that same sentiment!"

"Not at all, not at all! Sir is a Master, Lord Lu wouldn't dare offend!"

Lord Lu's heart fluttered with panic again as he hurriedly explained. In truth, that had been the case initially, though later he'd gradually suspected this beggar might be no ordinary man, but only today was he certain.

Ji Yuan didn't dare push his luck, but continued in a calm tone.

"The remedy is simple to say, yet hard to do. It's not just a matter of not eating humans. But the fundamental principle isn't deep: cultivation is like being human—upright in body, mind, and path. That is the foundation."

Ji Yuan paused, feeling this line might not have enough gravitas to awe the tiger spirit, then quickly added another.

"The Path of Heaven takes from the abundant to supplement the deficient; the Path of Man takes from the deficient to offer to the abundant. Earlier you asked what I had realized, and now you ask how to remedy—both are this principle... Lord Lu, our connection is no small thing. Today, I've said enough!"

After saying this, Ji Yuan nervously waited for the reaction outside.

Outside, the tiger frowned deeply, then relaxed, then frowned again, pondering as if half-understanding yet feeling the profound meaning, but his heart felt much more settled.

The silence between inside and outside the temple lasted a full few minutes. Those minutes were agonizing for Ji Yuan, but strangely, he wasn't too panicked.

"Rustle, rustle... rustle, rustle..."

"Whoosh~~~ whoosh~~~"

Amid the swaying wind, Lord Lu, after deep thought, began to slowly move his limbs, heading toward the Mountain God Temple.

Each footstep felt like a claw pressing on Ji Yuan's heart. Cold sweat seeped from his back again, and he inwardly screamed: I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead! I think I've overdone the act, and now I've courted death!

At this point, Zhang Shilin and the traveling merchants were actually in a better state of mind. Though still tense, they couldn't hear the tiger's footsteps, and having already decided a Master was nearby, they felt much more at ease.

In a few breaths, Lord Lu reached the temple entrance.

Then, to the horror of Ji Yuan and the merchants, a massive tiger with a head the size of a bucket and a body length close to four meters slowly stepped through the temple door, followed by the Scholar Lu.

Yellow fur with black stripes, the character "king" on its forehead, tiger eyes gleaming with ferocious light—its mere presence was terrifying without any effort.

The merchants couldn't even hold their weapons, collapsing in fright. Ji Yuan, too, dared not move a muscle.

The Fierce Tiger's gaze did not look at anyone else at all, but instead fixed on the Beggar sitting beside the broken Deity Statue—though his face was grimy and unkempt, a pair of half-lidded Pale Eyes stared levelly at the doorway.

"Lord Lu shall never forget the grace of your guidance, sir!"

The Fierce Tiger actually reared its body upward, crossing its forelimbs and making a bowing gesture with its paws, then bowed three times toward Ji Yuan.

Afterward, it lowered its body back to all fours, its tiger eyes turning to the Scholar Chang Ghost. It inhaled through its mouth, and a stream of white vapor was drawn from the Chang Ghost's body into the Fierce Tiger.

"I once promised you that if you could aid me, I would let you go. You may leave!"

The Scholar Chang Ghost was overjoyed. He bowed to Lord Lu, then turned to face Ji Yuan and knelt directly, knocking his head several times. He also kowtowed several times to the Traveling Merchants. Without saying another word, he transformed into Smoke Wisps and drifted away. The Smoke Wisps had not yet left the temple gate before they dissipated and vanished from sight.

After the Scholar Chang Ghost departed, Lord Lu looked toward the Traveling Merchants. In their terrified gazes, he Spit Out the Chang Ghost Wang Dong as well, sending him away in the same manner.

Seeing this, Ji Yuan gave a stiff smile. At least he hadn't been scared to death.

"I dare not disturb your rest, sir. Lord Lu takes his leave!"

Having done all this and left these words behind, the terrifying Fierce Tiger slowly walked out of the Mountain God Temple, and the surrounding wind gradually calmed as well.