12: White Tiger

"I..I'm just here to eat," Lu Xun replied, pretending to be frightened, "Please spare me, female hero!"

"So, the Green Mountain Sect is a bunch of despicable cowards who do things behind others' backs," the scarred man berated disdainfully, "You clearly did it, but you push an innocent fool out to be your scapegoat."

"You!"

"Shut up!"

"You're nothing more than a simple-minded, physically strong waste." The female disciple moved her sword away from Lu Xun's neck and turned to glare at the man who spoke wildly.

Tensions escalated, and both sides were on the verge of a confrontation.

Clang!

Lu Xun's sword fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.

Already in a highly tense situation, both groups heard this sudden noise and thought the other side had attacked first.

They began to engage in a scuffle, avoiding fatal strikes, as killing someone in the city would result in being wanted by the authorities.

"What's happening? What's happening?"

The innkeeper hurried downstairs and was shocked by the scene before him. The tables and chairs were all broken, and several people were lying on the ground.

"Stop! Stop fighting! Don't continue!" The innkeeper desperately shouted.

As he spoke, one burly man, like a broken kite, knocked the innkeeper unconscious with a powerful blow. Struggling to get up from the ground, he picked up the dropped large knife and rejoined the fight with the others.

"Leader!"

"The officials must be coming!"

"What should we do?" The scarred man, looking at the Green Mountain Sect disciples who were evenly matched with them, anxiously asked the burly man at the side, "This won't work; all our brothers are injured."

"Let's go!" The burly man said coldly.

Hearing that the officials were coming, the Green Mountain Sect didn't dare to delay any longer. Despite being a reputable sect, fighting and causing a scene in the city would tarnish their reputation. They quickly fled as well.

The seven members of the Green Mountain Sect arrived at a dark alley and collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath. The senior disciple looked at his junior disciples and found that everyone had knife wounds.

Frowning, he said, "When things calm down, let's find an inn to stay, and then…"

"Oh no!"

"I've lost my money pouch!"

The senior disciple suddenly realized that his money pouch was missing, and his face turned pale.

"I..I lost mine too."

"Even my silver is gone."

"Mine too!"

***

At the same time, the members of the Sky Eagle Gang, who were also fleeing, discovered the same issue.

"Leader! I've lost my silver!"

"Me too."

"I also lost mine."

***

"I'm so lucky."

"To think that I could pick up so much silver just by having a meal. The heavens truly favor me!" Lu Xun walked alone on the street, not worried at all about being chased. His pocket was bulging with the silver he had found.

Passing by a shop that sold rouge, Lu Xun pondered for a moment and quietly walked in.

"Young sir?"

"Are you buying rouge for your lady?" The shopkeeper of the rouge shop asked with a smiling face.

"Yes. Give me a box of your best rouge."

"Wait, make it two boxes!"

That was close! Lu Xun almost forgot about the big demoness.

Lu Xun prepared new clothes for himself and picked a suitable weapon from the blacksmith's shop—a large steel-made great sword.

Now, he hopped off a carriage, gave some silver to the coachman, and carried his belongings, preparing to enter the deep mountains and forests along a mountain path.

"Young sir!"

"It's about to get dark, and if you enter the mountains now, it's possible… it's possible…" The coachman, a simple and honest old man, saw Lu Xun intending to enter the mountains and hurriedly advised,

"There are many ferocious beasts in these mountains, and there's a rumor of a fierce tiger. Many people from Quanzhou have fallen prey to it, and even the experienced hunters sent by the government have never returned."

A fierce tiger? As fierce as it might be, can it match the ferocity of my wife?

"Not afraid."

"Have you seen this big great sword of mine?" Lu Xun flashed the sharp sword in his hand and said confidently, "That fierce tiger won't stand a chance!"

"Goodbye!" As he finished speaking, he turned and walked into the deep mountains.

The coachman watched Lu Xun's departing figure with a helpless sigh, his eyes filled with worry and bitterness. He shouted, "Young sir, that fierce tiger is completely snow-white, rumored to be a spiritual white tiger. It…"

Before the coachman could finish his words, Lu Xun had already disappeared on the mountain path.

Lu Xun walked along the forest trail, carrying his belongings in one hand and a torch in the other. The chilly wind came at him, and the rustling sound of leaves filled his ears from time to time. Everything was so silent and eerie.

But Lu Xun was already used to it. In the past two and a half years of demon-slaying, he had experienced many things, and his courage had grown.

This little scene was nothing to him, unless a ferocious female ghost suddenly appeared, urgently seeking his body.

"This silver is not enough… I didn't buy much, but it's already almost gone." The silver in his originally bulging pocket had now diminished significantly, leaving Lu Xun feeling a bit worried.

That woman's money was too easy to earn. She used up half of his silver just for two boxes of rouge.

Lu Xun pursed his lips, and a daring idea sprang into his mind. However, he quickly dismissed it, realizing that the young demonesses would beat him up if he attempted such a thing.

"Ah… Life's ambitions are so difficult!" Lu Xun sighed softly.

As his words fell, a chilling and ethereal voice suddenly echoed in his ears.

"Die!!"

The sudden hollow and enchanting sound terrified Lu Xun, and he quickly composed himself, looking around. However, apart from thick trees and weeds, there was nothing else around him, not even a bird in sight.

Did I imagine it? No, no, just now it wasn't an illusion. There's something nearby, whispering in my ear.

Lu Xun realized that he had encountered a forest spirit or a monster. His face turned serious, he strapped his belongings to his back, and drew a brand new great sword from behind.

He closed his eyes silently, reciting the Daoist incantation that the old Daoist had taught him.

"Golden light, protect my true self. Cultivate through countless eons, prove my divine power."

"Open!"

With Lu Xun's command, a faint golden light emanated from his eyes. He instantly spotted a dark mist not far away and sneered, "You are overestimating yourself, still hanging around here, not even considering me a threat!"

After speaking, he swiftly attacked with his steel great sword, sending a surging silver sword energy towards the dark mist.

Boom

With a loud boom, the area where the mist was located exploded. Although the sword strike seemed ordinary, its power was terrifying.

"Roar—"

A tiger's roar echoed through the quiet forest.

From the place where the explosion occurred, a completely white fierce tiger suddenly leaped out. Its size was about seven or eight times larger than Lu Xun.

Damn! So huge!

It was the first time Lu Xun had seen such a massive tiger, and it was a white tiger no less.

At that moment, the enormous and ferocious white tiger pounced fiercely toward Lu Xun, with the might of a thunderbolt.

Fortunately, Lu Xun reacted swiftly and dodged the tiger's deadly attack. The tiger pounced again, and Lu Xun dodged again. This continued for a few rounds, and neither side gained an advantage.

He felt that this tiger was no ordinary beast; it seemed to be a spiritual beast that had reached a certain level but had not yet become a demon.

Lu Xun pursed his lips, unsure of what to do. After a few exchanges, he realized that he couldn't handle the tiger, but the tiger also seemed unable to deal with him.

He contemplated for a moment and decided to hold out until his wife came looking for him. With his wife's help, they could surely defeat this extraordinary creature.

With this plan in mind, Lu Xun felt somewhat relieved.

At the same time, an astonishing and daring idea popped into his mind – the "Sliding Shovel Tiger Kill."

"I'll go in like a sliding shovel, and then cut its belly open with a knife, making its innards spill all over the ground."

He couldn't remember where he read this, but it seemed somewhat feasible.

Suddenly, the ferocious tiger lunged at Lu Xun again, and without hesitation, Lu Xun executed the "Sliding Shovel Tiger Kill." But in an instant, his head ended up directly in the tiger's mouth.

Both Lu Xun and the tiger were dumbfounded.

Before Lu Xun could react, the tiger bit down fiercely.

"Crunch—"

Its teeth shattered. The tiger cried out in pain.

"Ouch."

"Oh, my goodness!"

"This is disgusting!" Lu Xun's whole head was now soaked in the tiger's saliva. He quickly grabbed some dirt from the ground and rubbed his face repeatedly.

Little did he know that at that moment, a silver stream of light appeared in the sky, flying towards his location.

Boom

The silver light landed, kicking up a cloud of dust.

My wife! My wife is coming to find me!

Lu Xun was excitedly looking at the figure in the dust. He felt deeply moved, wishing to offer his strong body to her, and maybe even to Immortal Miao Feng, if she didn't mind.

After all, don't forget the well digger when you drink water, without Immortal Miao Feng, there would be no present-day Xuan Yin.

"Hey!"

"I just heard the roar of a spirit tiger. You didn't encounter it, did you?" As the dust settled, Xuan Yin, holding a flying sword, looked coldly at Lu Xun's disheveled appearance.

Seeing him in such a miserable state made her find it a bit funny.

Lu Xun stared at her blankly, looking at the elegant and aloof demoness. He couldn't see her clearly before, but now he saw her clearly, and for a moment, he was caught off guard.

He opened his mouth but hesitated for a while before swallowing the words that were about to come out.

Hastily raising his hand, he pointed to the ground beneath her.

Xuan Yin lowered her head and realized that there was a tiger's corpse at her feet, which had been crushed into pieces.