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Chapter 28: The Saber-toothed Tiger

“I was clearly the one who saw it first! Why are you so shameless?!” Yun Ruoyu shouted coldly at Lin Qingxue, her spittle spraying her in the face.

In disgust, Lin Qingxue turned her head to the side, but she was smiling. “But I’m a little faster, you see. I’m the one who grabbed this sprig of purple cherry-grass first!”

“You...” Yun Ruoyu’s eyes were about to pop from anger, but she couldn’t say anything in rebuttal against Lin Qingxue.

Suddenly, a white light flashed by and cut the grass into two segments. Lin Qingxue and Yun Ruoyu both stumbled a few steps back.

“How long is it going to take the two of you to resolve an argument?” Yun Ruoyao unhappily castigated the two girls.

“But, I was clearly...”

“It’s not like cherry-grass is something amazing! If we really needed it, don’t you think we’re rich enough to be able to afford it?” Yun Ruoyu was about to continue arguing when Yun Ruoyao cut her off. “Finding the exit is the most important thing.”

Having said her piece, Yun Ruoyao headed to the front of the party.

After half a day’s worth of walking, the party ended up right back where they started. Only after changing directions a few times did they finally left the firepit behind.

“Are we out of the array now?” Yun Ruoyan asked Pei Ziao, who had remained by her side. According to her experience from her past life, Pei Ziao was quite experienced with such arrays.

“Not yet, but there’s hope.” Pei Ziao handed a canteen to Yun Ruoyan. “Ruoyan, why don’t you have a drink?”

Yun Ruoyan was naturally repulsed by his “kindly” behavior. Ignoring him, she quickly strode to the front of the party.

He was just about to follow her up when Yi Qianying’s pitiful voice came from behind. “Brother Ziao, may I have some of your water?”

He immediately stopped and handed her his canteen.

Night came quickly, and the party, which had walked for the entire day, stopped and prepared to rest.

Zhuo Yifeng started another fire. As soon as the coals were burning, he took out the leftover roasted meat, wrapped it tightly in green leaves, and buried the wraps amidst the coals to be steamed.

Not long after, a meaty fragrance seeped out from the coals.

“Wow, it smells so good!” Lin Qingxue quickly opened a wrap that Zhuo Yifeng handed her. The small pieces of meat had been fully steamed and rendered tender.

Lin Qingxue took a bite and closed her eyes in bliss. “Even though I ate so much last night, my appetite’s not at all diminished.”

Looking enviously at Yun Ruoyan’s group was Yun Ruoyu, who glared at Lin Qingxue as she chewed on some fruits and nuts she had foraged from the forest.

Because everyone was so preoccupied with getting out of the array, none of them had thought of hunting for food. When it was finally night and they could rest, they were so hungry that they didn’t have the energy to hunt anymore.

As such, even the usually prideful Yun Ruoyao couldn’t help but look at Yun Ruoyan’s group as she swallowed her saliva.

Yun Ruoyan and the others clearly weren’t going to share any of it with them unless they spoke up; they were more than happy enough to keep it for themselves!

But while they were happily enjoying their meal, Zhuo Lin’er, who seldomly spoke, turned to her brother with an anxious expression on her face. “Brother, there’s the scent of a magical beast nearby.”

Almost at the same time, Yun Ruoyan received a warning from Qiuqiu. “It’s a seventh-rank magical beast. None of you can handle it!”

“Then we have to run!” Yun Ruoyan quickly stood up and was about to call out a warning when Qiuqiu continued, “It’s too late! Not only does this beast have a high level of cultivation, it’s also skilled in stealth, and I only discovered it when it got close!”

As soon as Qiuqiu finished speaking, Yi Qianying screamed. “Oh, what a large beast! It’s so frightening!”

What appeared in Yi Qianying’s direction was a creature that looked like a tiger but with far more elongated canines coming out of the woods.

As it moved, a few smaller trees were cut down by its sharp canines with just a passing blow.

“A saber-toothed tiger,” Pei Ziao’s trembling voice muttered. “I heard my father say that, when he went on this expedition himself in the past, it was a saber-toothed tiger that almost took his life!”

Yun Ruoyan looked at the tiger that slowly padded toward them, bewildered.

Given its bulk, how could they not have heard the commotion from afar? Even if it could hide its own cultivation, it surely couldn’t hide the noise and destruction it caused to its surroundings. How did Qiuqiu only discover it so late?

The saber-toothed tiger didn’t look particularly anxious as it continued forward. After all, in its eyes, Yun Ruoyan and the others were little more than food, too weak to be called prey.

“What should we do, Brother Ziao? I’m so scared!”

Yi Qianying quickly hid behind Pei Ziao and Yun Ruoyan, and she even reached out to grab Yun Ruoyan’s arm. Yun Ruoyan clicked her tongue in disgust and shook her off.

Everyone present was so intimidated by the aura that the tiger gave off that their faces turned pale, and they lost any desire to battle with such a terrifying creature.

“Listen to me, everyone.” Yun Ruoyan clamped down her fear and terror. “The core of a saber-toothed tiger is a treasure that we’d be lucky to find once in a hundred years! It looks powerful, but given how many people we have, we might be able to make it. If we work as one, we’ll be able to kill it and share the core evenly among all of us!”

Everyone present had only ever fought under controlled circumstances with a master or at a training hall. Never had they experienced such danger, nor such ferocious or massive beasts. Only Zhuo Yifeng and Yun Ruoyan were barely able to maintain a semblance of calm.

Although the saber-toothed tiger walked slowly, its size meant that each step took it a considerable distance, and it approached the party very quickly.

Yun Ruoyan saw everyone take a few steps back, so scared that they had lost any will to fight. Knowing that she couldn’t delay any longer, she shouted immediately, “Either we fight, or we die!”

She unsheathed her sword. “Everyone, let’s surround it and try to find its weaknesses!”

Lin Qingxue, Lin Qingchen, and Zhuo Yifeng all followed Yun Ruoyan’s orders and spread out, each flanking one side of the tiger.

Yun Ruoyao and Yun Ruoyu hesitated a little before gritting their teeth and following suit. Yi Qianying continued to stay behind Pei Ziao’s back, and although she did draw her sword, her hand was trembling, and the expression of fear on her face hadn’t dissipated one bit.

The saber-toothed tiger looked at the paltry humans that had surrounded it. When its gaze landed on Yun Ruoyan, it suddenly sniffed.

And then, for reasons unknown, its eyes turned red as it stared at Yun Ruoyan and Yun Ruoyan alone.

“This isn’t good! It’s treating you as its primary target,” Qiuqiu quickly called out from within the bracelet. “It’ll go for you without fail now, so, Mistress, attack it first before it can attack you!”

“Zhuo Yifeng, shield me!” Yun Ruoyan turned and commanded Zhuo Yifeng, and without any hesitation, she lifted her sword and attacked the tiger head-on.

Zhuo Yifeng quickly let loose a volley of arrows, which shot toward the tiger as fast as lightning.

The saber-toothed tiger clearly hadn’t expected that the humans in front of it would be able to move, let alone attack, nor that five arrows would reach it before the human girl in front of him did.

But these were nothing compared to its majesty as a seventh-rank beast, one which could fight on equal footing with a fifth-rank beastmaster. The humans in front of it were far too weak to do anything.

It tossed its head, and its two enlarged canines easily sliced all five arrows heading for it.

As Yun Ruoyan rushed forward, another three arrows accompanied her. At the same time, Yun Ruoyan twisted her bracelet and felt its strength permeate her.

When the saber-toothed tiger once again tossed its mane against the arrows, it felt a spike of pain coming from its chest.

It lowered its head and saw that a human girl had actually managed to stick her entire sword into its body. It roared in fury and shook its head, its massive canines scything towards Yun Ruoyan. The canines of a saber-toothed tiger were so sharp that they could easily chop off a large tree, let alone a human body.

“Ruoyan, be careful!” the Lin sisters quickly shouted.

Even her siblings opened their eyes wide. Yi Qianying hid behind Pei Ziao’s body, craning her head out as if she both wanted to and didn’t want to see the sight in front of her.

As for Yun Ruoyan, she was actually able to find a sudden sense of calm despite being faced with the sudden, immense pressure. She decisively gave up on the sword in her hand and leaped backwards, barely avoiding the saber-toothed tiger’s attack.

Having been wounded, the saber-toothed tiger began to rampage. It started shaking its head as it chased Yun Ruoyan, trying to cut down her paltry human body and treating everyone else as if they were air.

“Ruoyan, we’ll come help you.” Lin Qingxue and Lin Qingchen entered the fray, while Zhuo Yifeng stood by a side, relentlessly firing sharp arrows at the saber-toothed tiger.

Unfortunately, they did too little damage to be of any concern to the tiger. Unless they were able to strike its vitals as Yun Ruoyan did with her sword, they did just about as much damage as ant bites.

“Ruoyao, let’s fight too!” Yun Ruoyu brandished her sword as she looked at Yun Ruoyao by her side, while Yun Ruoyao looked on at the fight with a complicated expression on her face.

Yun Ruoyan’s footwork was fast and efficient, and she was able to avoid the tiger’s every attack. The sword she held in her hand was exactly the same as theirs, a regular sword with no enchantment or inscription, but she was actually able to thrust it all the way into such a strong magical beast!

This couldn’t be the skill of a third-rank blademaster! How did her useless sister suddenly become so strong?

“Brother Ziao, do you think we can kill this beast if we all work together?” Yi Qianying asked.

Pei Ziao frowned. “How could we kill a seventh-rank magical beast?! Even now, they’re fighting with all their strength just to keep themselves from being overwhelmed, and they’ll quickly lose their stamina.

Pei Ziao’s analysis was cold but logical. The weaponless Yun Ruoyan could only rely on her footwork and her two cousins’ attacks to dodge the furious beast’s blows.

And that beast didn’t even bother attacking Lin Qingchen or Lin Qingxue, but instead focused all its attention on Yun Ruoyan! If she didn’t find some way of turning the tide, she really would die!

While running, Yun Ruoyan’s gaze turned toward Yun Ruoyao and the others. Upon seeing that they were simply standing still and watching the scene play out, anger suffused her mind.

“Do you really want to see me die so badly? Then don’t blame me if I drag you down with me!”

In a flash, Yun Ruoyan twisted her body and headed directly for them!

1. Foreshadowing—remember this scene!