Upon seeing the tiger appear, the sika deer immediately knelt down, lowered its head, and its bright eyes were full of respect.
The white-browed tiger with piercing eyes flicked its tail, its golden pupils sweeping over Li Laosan and his group. A slow grin spread across its lips, revealing sharp fangs.
With a stomp of its paw, the tiger created several cracks in the hard rock, its fierce aura causing the surrounding air to freeze.
Seeing this, Li Laosan dared not hesitate any longer and knelt down with a thud. The young men behind him followed suit and knelt down one after another. Only two hunters managed to stand, but their hands holding the bows trembled like leaves.
"Mountain Lord, spare me! Mountain Lord, spare me!" Li Laosan's voice trembled, his forehead pressed tightly against the ground.
"We are just ordinary farmers from the foot of the mountain. We are almost starving, so we thought of collecting some herbs to sell for money. We didn't mean to steal your Ganoderma lucidum... Please have mercy and spare our lives!"
The tiger snorted coldly, pointing its paw at the blood-red Ganoderma lucidum on the cliff. "I've guarded this Ganoderma lucidum for ten years, nourishing it with spiritual energy every day. It was about to help me advance another step, and you just want to steal it? There's no such thing as a free lunch!"
It paused, its gaze sweeping over the kneeling crowd, its tone tinged with cruelty. "If you want to live, you can choose one person to stay and bear my wrath, and I'll let the rest go."
Upon hearing this, the kneeling youths panicked instantly. Some shrank back quietly, exchanging furtive glances; no one wanted to be the sacrificial lamb.
Li Laosan raised his head, his face full of bitterness, and looked at the young people around him.
They are still young, at the prime age for marriage and children, each one more precious than this old man.
He took a deep breath, slowly stood up, and bowed to the tiger. "Immortal, I was the leader. Blame my greed. I will stay and be punished. Please let them go. They are still young, and their families are waiting for them."
"Uncle Li! We can't let you stay!" a young man cried out anxiously.
Li Laosan waved his hand, his eyes resolute. "I'm old enough to have lived. You all hurry up and leave! Don't wait for the Mountain Descendant to change his mind."
The tiger stared at Li Laosan for a moment, a hint of surprise flashing in its golden vertical pupils. "He's quite responsible."
"Fine! I keep my word. You stay, everyone else get out."
The young men wanted to say something more, but the two hunters pulled them back. They knew that if they didn't leave now, they wouldn't be able to leave either.
Sensing the mountain tiger's gaze from behind, the group ran downhill without looking back. Their hurried steps caused them to stumble and fall flat on their faces, clearly terrified by the talking tiger. They feared they would never dare to set foot in these deep mountains again.
Seeing everyone run far away, Li Laosan turned around and saw Lin Yu, only to find that Lin Yu was still there.
Li Laosan's face was full of guilt. "Young brother, it's all our fault, we've dragged you into this. You'd better run before Lord Mountain Lord changes his mind, don't go to your death with this old man."
Lin Yu didn't move; he just stared at the tiger.
Only then did the tiger truly notice Lin Yu. Before, it had been so focused on intimidating mortals that it hadn't paid much attention to this young boy.
Upon closer inspection, their pupils suddenly contracted; the young man was surrounded by a faint Spiritual Power, clearly not an ordinary mortal!
It retracted its fangs, its tone becoming more wary. "You are... a cultivator?"
"I'm a cultivator who studied under Maoshan, but I'm just here for training." Lin Yu nodded.
"Since you've guarded this Ganoderma lucidum for ten years, you must have done so for your cultivation. Uncle Li also gathers herbs to sell and support his family," Lin Yu said to the tiger, his tone calm.
"The elixir isn't damaged yet. Why don't we compromise? You let him go, and Uncle Li can erect a plaque for you when he returns to the village and offer incense. This way, your cultivation won't be delayed, and his life will be saved. Wouldn't that be a win-win situation?"
The tiger stared at Lin Yu, its golden vertical pupils filled with weighing of options.
After hesitating for a moment, it finally nodded slowly. "Fine, considering you are Maoshan cultivator, I'll grant your request."
When Li Laosan heard this, he was stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected that this young man was actually a cultivator!
After realizing what had happened, he quickly kowtowed twice to Lin Yu, his voice choked with emotion. "Thank you so much, young master, for saving my life! Thank you so much, young master! I will go back and erect a plaque to honor the Mountain Lord every day, and I will never forget it!"
Li Laosan bowed to the tiger again before running down the mountain, looking back every few steps. He was filled with gratitude for surviving the ordeal.
Just as Lin Yu was about to turn and leave after Li Laosan's figure had completely disappeared into the woods, a muffled thud suddenly came from behind him.
He turned around and saw the tiger with piercing eyes and a white forehead kneeling on its front knees, its massive body leaning slightly forward, its head bowed, its posture unusually respectful.
The sika deer standing nearby, seeing that even its leader had knelt down, looked on with puzzlement in its not-so-wise eyes.
Lin Yu was completely stunned. "What's this...?"
"Immortal Master! Please grant me the method of cultivation!" The tiger raised its head, its voice no longer sharp as before, but filled with urgency and pleading.
"Years ago, I accidentally ingested a spiritual herb and gained sentience. In recent years, I have been cultivating by searching for spiritual herbs."
"This Blood Spirit Mushroom is a treasure I've guarded for ten years, hoping to advance further with it. That's why I was angry; I had no intention of harming anyone."
"Over the years, I've never known which way to go; my spiritual practice has been stuck in a rut, neither progressing nor falling."
"Immortal Master, you possess Spiritual Power; you must have a legitimate method. I beg you to have pity on my difficult cultivation and offer some guidance!"
As it spoke, it lowered its head again, its tone pleading.
The sika deer beside it also knelt down behind the tiger, as if pleading for its life.
Lin Yu then understood why the tiger valued a Ganoderma lucidum so much; it turned out that it had no cultivation method and could only rely on consuming spiritual herbs to cultivate.
Most of these mountain spirits have no lineage. If they are lucky, they may gain intelligence, but they don't know what cultivation is. They can only cultivate by consuming spiritual herbs in a daze. Those without aptitude may not even be able to absorb the essence of the sun and moon.
Therefore, if one is not careful, one can easily become possessed by evil spirits and harm people.
This big tiger has managed to stay true to itself; it's truly remarkable that it has relied on its instincts to cultivate itself for so many years.
Lin Yu pondered for a moment, then squatted down to be at eye level with the tiger. "Cultivation is not something that can be achieved overnight. I can only teach you the basic methods of Qi Induction. Whether you can improve depends entirely on your own comprehension."
"But you must remember that spiritual practice emphasizes one's character; you must not let trivial matters give rise to thoughts of killing, and you must never harm innocent people."
Upon hearing this, the tiger's eyes lit up instantly, and it quickly nodded, "Rest assured, Immortal Master! I will never harm anyone again and will focus on my cultivation! If any mortals wander into the deep mountains, I will even help drive away wild beasts and protect their safety!"
Lin Yu walked to a flat rock and sat down, gesturing for the tiger to come closer. "The essence of cultivation lies not in relying on spiritual medicine, but in 'sensing the heavens and earth, and cultivating oneself'..."
The tiger listened intently, its massive body leaning forward slightly, its ears perked up, as if afraid of missing a single word.
The sika deer that had been lying nearby also secretly pricked up its ears to eavesdrop.