Chapter 1399: Chapter 1399

Ye Qing had already drawn the Wu Hong Dagger. He calculated the distance he had walked and figured he was about ten or so miles from the outside now. There should be some slightly dangerous wild animals in this forest. He held the Wu Hong Dagger to be constantly prepared for any wild beasts that might appear suddenly.

However, although there were many beast calls around, Ye Qing saw no wild animals along the way. Aside from the occasional squirrel running up a tree trunk, the forest seemed rather calm.

After walking for another twenty minutes or so, the forest became increasingly dense, and Ye Qing began to feel something amiss. Previously, he had seen squirrels and rabbits running past, but now, he saw no animals and heard no beast calls.

The forest was eerily silent for a moment!

Ye Qing slowed his pace. He had been a soldier on the border for five years, most of which were spent in the forest, so he was familiar with the conditions within. Situations usually indicated the presence of a predator, causing small animals to flee.

However, Ye Qing was filled with surprise. Although his speed was fast, he calculated that he had walked about fifteen miles into Beimang Mountain. This meant that going fifteen miles back would enter the human activity zone. Typically, such a distance wouldn't see particularly fierce beasts, with a wolf being considered good.

But wolves don't have significant deterrence in the forest. The surrounding small animals fled because a beast fiercer than a wolf appeared. What on earth was happening? How could a predator from Beimang Mountain be so close to the human activity zone?

Filled with surprise, Ye Qing cautiously proceeded, observing everything around him to protect against any predator that might appear at any moment.

After walking for approximately five minutes, Ye Qing clearly smelled a rank stench. This smell was familiar to him because he had seen a tiger in the forest by the border once, and it carried this rank stench. This was a unique scent of a long-term carnivorous predator, highly intimidating to small animals.

Could there be a tiger here as well?

Years ago, encountering predators like tigers on the border was a headache for frontier warriors. As the king of beasts, it was exceedingly powerful in the forest. Even with guns, soldiers preferred not to face such beasts, as the confrontation could easily result in casualties.

But now, Ye Qing was no longer what he used to be. Even without the famed instrument Wu Hong Dagger in hand, he could kill a tiger barehanded. If he were to encounter such a beast, he had no reason to worry. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖑~𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖾~𝖓𝖊𝖙

Nevertheless, Ye Qing remained cautious, slowly following the smell. After about three minutes, a tiger's roar suddenly resounded, shaking the entire forest and causing a ringing in Ye Qing's ears.

The king of beasts indeed had an extraordinary awe-inspiring presence!

Ye Qing took a deep breath. He listened closely and realized the tiger's roar was not far from him. He quietly moved about half a mile in the direction of the roar; the rank smell had become extremely pungent. This indicated that he was very close to the tiger.

Ye Qing didn't walk directly toward it but instead climbed a nearby big tree. From this vantage point, he finally spotted the tiger, lying less than fifty meters away.

This was an adult tiger, its body quite large; in the forest, it should be the absolute ruler. However, at this moment, this king of beasts lay feebly on the ground, its belly clearly wounded, with blood constantly seeping out. Judging by its appearance, the injury was severe.

Ye Qing was slightly surprised. This tiger was the king of beasts, an apex predator in the forest. What could possibly hurt it?

However, Ye Qing finally understood why he encountered such a predator here. It seemed apparent that the tiger had been injured in the forest and thus moved toward the periphery. Typically, such predators wouldn't venture so close to human activity zones.

Seeing the tiger injured, Ye Qing wasn't overly concerned. He climbed down from the tree and directly approached the tiger.

The tiger, which lay on the ground, lifted its head as soon as it heard Ye Qing's footsteps, cautiously watching Ye Qing's direction. As Ye Qing got closer, it suddenly let out a frantic roar, as if asserting its majesty or scaring Ye Qing away.

In truth, even if this tiger wasn't injured, Ye Qing wouldn't be concerned about it. Besides, the tiger was injured now, posing even less threat to Ye Qing.

Listening to the tiger's roar, Ye Qing continued directly to its side. The tiger was furious at the sight of a human approaching; it struggled to rise, glaring at Ye Qing, seemingly ready to pounce.

However, Ye Qing clearly saw that although the tiger was standing, its aura was quite strong, its limbs were trembling constantly, showing it had little strength, merely holding up.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you!" Ye Qing reached a hand slowly toward the tiger, proceeding carefully, not wanting to anger it.

But the tiger was a predator in the end, unable to understand human speech or intentions. As Ye Qing stepped closer, it perceived the greatest threat, so when Ye Qing was about a meter away, it suddenly roared and leaped toward him.

Ye Qing had anticipated this move; he was prepared. As the tiger jumped up, he promptly turned to dodge, simultaneously leaping onto the tiger's back.

The tiger was severely injured; the leap took much of its reserved strength. Ye Qing's weight pinned it down; despite multiple roars, it couldn't stand, nor could it throw Ye Qing off.

Ye Qing pressed firmly on the tiger's head until the tiger stopped struggling completely. Only then did Ye Qing slowly release his grip. However, to be safe, he kept one hand on its neck, while the other inspected the wound on the belly.

The tiger, as the king of beasts, faced no enemies in the jungle. The fact this tiger was injured so severely made Ye Qing wonder what had managed to hurt it. Was it the sorcerer previously inside, or was it the trailing Yin Xianzi?

Yet upon closer inspection, Ye Qing was shocked to find the tiger's wound was evidently inflicted by a claw. The claw wasn't large, making the wound small. Otherwise, the tiger might not have survived.

Examining the wound, Ye Qing was certain neither the sorcerer nor Yin Xianzi injured the tiger. Judging by the claw's form, the tiger seemed clawed by another wild animal. But what sort of animal clawed it? Why was this claw so small? If the claw was small, the animal must be small too. How did such a small creature injure the king of beasts?

After checking the wound, Ye Qing felt even more puzzled. However, he did not waste much time there. He gathered some herbs for stopping bleeding, crushed them with a stone, stripped off some bark, packed the herbage juice onto the wound, and continued deeper into Beimang Mountain.

Ye Qing's herbal remedy was quite effective; at least after the wrapping, the tiger noticeably quieted down, losing its previous angry, frantic demeanor. As Ye Qing walked away, the tiger watched him without the previous hostility.

He walked another half hour deeper into the forest and encountered another similarly injured predator, this time a Black Bear. The Black Bear was around four or five hundred pounds, a weight that made it the undisputed ruler of the forest, forcing even tigers to avoid its path.

Nonetheless, this Black Bear's belly also bore a claw-inflicted wound, the claw small as before, creating a wound identical to the tiger's, indicating both were clawed by the same creature.

Ye Qing had gathered herbs on his way, initially intended for his use. Seeing the Black Bear, Ye Qing used the herbs to treat its wound.

After encountering two predators injured in this manner, Ye Qing grew even more bewildered. There must be a small predator in the forest capable of clawing tigers and Black Bears. This beast was indeed extraordinary. But what animal could possibly claw both a tiger and a Black Bear?

With this question in mind, Ye Qing continued exploring deeper. Soon after, he encountered a similarly injured leopard. Continuing for about four to five hours, the forest became denser, and he encountered more injured predators. Strangely, all these predators suffered identical injuries, clawed by a very small creature.

What kind of animal clawed these predators? So many domineering forest predators, all injured by one creature; it was too astonishing!