Su Chen heard the footsteps of the wild boars as soon as he entered the forest.
"Ding dong! You have successfully checked in in the forest and gained the ability to communicate with animals!"
"System, does this mean that if I meet a tiger, a bear, or a leopard in the forest, I can talk to them first instead of running? If they want to eat me, can I reason with them?!"
"Host, this skill doesn't require you to make a sound. You only need to use your mind to communicate with the animals. However, it's only limited to the animals on Earth. Ding!"
The system's voice ceased.
Su Chen continued to walk deeper into the forest. The footprints on the ground were increasing.
There was a particular set of footprints that attracted Su Chen's attention. He compared it with his own feet.
It was almost twice the size of his own feet.
'Such a big footprint. Could it be a bear?'
After giving it a little more thought, Su Chen felt that the footprint was actually smaller than a bear's footprint.
Since it was winter. Bears should be hibernating.
First, it was the wild boars. Now, it was the bears. These animals should be asleep but instead, they were up and about.
"Woof woof! Woof woof! Woof woof woof!"
A series of hysterical barks broke the silence in the forest.
'Why can I hear dogs' barks in such a deep forest?'
Su Chen was curious and approached the direction of the sound.
...
Meanwhile, deep in the forest, there was a ranger guard's room.
A police officer named Xiao Li was on duty.
The sentry's pavilion was surrounded by glass windows. The lower half was opaque and blocked by building materials.
He was studying hard, preparing for the internal assessment in a few months.
Suddenly, the two hunting dogs in the yard start barking.
"Woof woof! Woof woof!"
'Are the dogs hungry again? No, they were fed only half an hour ago. Stop barking. It's annoying!'
Xiao Li could not be bothered to go out, so he only complained in his heart.
Who knew it would work. The dogs actually stopped barking and became silent.
Shortly after, he heard a knocking sound.
At first, he thought was mistaken and heard wrong. However, the sound became louder and louder.
"Big back, little black, stop fooling around! I'm busy!"
Xiao Li could not stand it anymore. He opened the glass window nearby and stuck his head out.
Before he could even say anything, he made eye contact with a pair of shining blue eyes that belonged to a beast!
Xiao Li was so scared that his whole body trembled. His legs became weak and he almost fell down.
Then, he got a clearer look at the beast. It had a furry head, a huge body, and a long tail that swayed in the air.
It was a tiger!
He noticed the tiger was staring at him.
Its two thick claws were pressed forward.
The tiger was in a ready-to-attack stance.
Xiao Li's neck and his entire back were completely exposed.
Even though the tiger's brown and black striped fur was thick, Xiao Li could still see its muscles.
He looked at its bloody mouth. There were a few fangs about three inches long and an inch thick.
The tiger's saliva was still flowing.
Xiao Li was speechless for a moment. It was as if someone was strangling his throat.
"Roar!"
The fierce tiger looked at the frightened man in front of him and let out a tentative roar.
Its roar was accompanied by an unpleasant smell.
Xiao Li was so frightened that he hurriedly rushed back into the room and shouted loudly, "There's a tiger here! Someone come and help me!"
Upon hearing his outcry, five police officers quickly rushed to his aid.
They helped him up and Xiao Li pointed in the direction where he saw the tiger with a horrified expression.
Everyone's eyes looked at the direction he pointed.
They saw an orange tiger covered in black stripes outside the electric expansion door.
It was pacing back and forth.
The tiger noticed the humans staring at it but made no sound.
Suddenly, the tiger leaped! Its astounding jumping ability allowed it to easily hop over the electric expansion door.
Obviously, the six police officers, including Xiao Li, were all scared out of their wits.
"F*ck! It's here!"
"Quick, get the gun!"
"No! This is a state-level protected animal! You can shoot if you want to go to jail!"
"Then what should we do? We don't have any tools like anesthetic!"
"Call the fire department. They'll save us. We just have to stay put for now."
"If we agitate the tiger, we'll become its dinner!"
…
Just as the police officers were at a loss of what to do and say, Su Chen arrived. He had followed the sound of the barking dogs from earlier.
'Hey! Don't hurt them.'
Su Chen communicated with the tiger through his mind.
The tiger was startled by Su Chen's voice. It turned its head and looked at him with its fierce eyes!
"Roar!"
The tiger rushed toward Su Chen. As it ran, the fur on its body swayed in the wind.
When the police officers saw this scene, they were all scared silly.
"Run!"
"Quickly, climb up the tree!"
"Find a place to hide!"
'Are you hungry? Come. I can give you food!'
Su Chen did not run. In fact, he waved his hand to attract the tiger's attention.
The tiger had leaped over the electric expansion door and pounced on Su Chen by the time he had finished speaking.
Everyone closed their eyes. They dared not look. In their minds, they had already imagined the worst-case scenario.
Su Chen's body would be torn to shreds.
However, the tiger actually seemed to have a smile on its face.
Then, it opened its bloody mouth and licked Su Chen.
Finally, it sat under Su Chen's feet like a docile cat.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
"Is he a real-life version of Wu Song (TN: Wu Song is a fictional legendary hero in classical Chinese literature)?!"
"F*ck! This tiger was raised by him, right?"
Afterward, Su Chen asked the police officers for some beef.
The tiger was satisfied with its meal.
Su Chen patted the tiger's furry head.
Subsequently, the tiger got up and left. It disappeared into the forest.
This scene shocked the police officers so much that their jaws dropped.
"Did he just pat the tiger?!"
At the same time, the police officers called for backup.
Twenty people showed up. They were fully armed.
However, they did not even manage to get a glance at the tiger.
It was already very late. Since Su Chen wanted to go to the wild boars' nest tomorrow, he requested to stay overnight at the police's camp.
At night, Su Chen sat outside and gazed at the stars.
It was a much clearer view than looking from the city.
Suddenly, a beam of blue light cut through the night sky. It fell somewhere deep into the woods.