[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-lord-of-the-immortal-food":3,"chapter-lord-of-the-immortal-food-lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-22":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Lord of the Immortal Food",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2313145,4524,"Chapter 22: Chapter Twenty-Two: Tiger","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-22",22,"\u003Cp>The story did not unfold only in Fenghuai County.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Move time back a little, to the eighth day of the third month, when rain pressed down on the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pull the perspective higher, farther, to the vast, mist-shrouded Xincang Mountains behind Fenghuai.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, steep cliffs towered over ancient trees, deep valleys stretched into abysses, and looking up revealed only a narrow sliver of sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black clouds thickened; a torrential downpour hung poised in the heavens’ mouth, a fine wind slipping from its lips, growing stronger, making the forest rustle and sway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A figure staggered forward in frantic flight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mo Wu swallowed hard against the blood surging into his throat, but his left arm wound split open again, a few drops of blood inevitably falling to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stopped, scooped up the blood-soaked earth, and swallowed it. Then he tore another strip from his pant leg and hastily bound the wound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rain was coming; based on decades of experience, the rain would wash away traces and scatter the scent of blood—predators’ tracking methods would fail, so he need not trouble himself further to conceal his trail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this time was different; thinking of that beast’s uncanny perception of blood, his heart could not settle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rain would rinse his wounds, spilling blood—this storm might not be his ally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he had no choice; his bow and axe were lost, leaving only a small dagger at his waist—he had to run faster, even faster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had ventured too deep into the mountains this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he first spotted its tracks, he had wanted to retreat. He had hunted half his life, killed several tigers and leopards, but never seen a feline with such strides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the young ones, full of blood and vigor, said Uncle Wu was old and cowardly—no matter how big the tiger, with over a dozen of us, couldn’t we take it down?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And there was Gangzi in the group—his father had been devoured by this beast; how could anyone dissuade him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most pitiful was Yunsheng—he was a clever boy, and Mo Wu saw he believed them; yet he refused to leave alone, and ultimately followed the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But hunting relied not on bravery, and that thing was no prey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A raindrop landed on his dry lips; Mo Wu gasped, lifted his head, and saw fat, visible drops falling straight toward his eyes—he closed them to catch them, and felt a faint sting on his eyelids.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rain came with terrifying force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mo Wu quickened his pace—his only chance was to cross the rope bridge before the beast caught up; if he cut the bridge, no matter what it was, it could not leap across the twenty-zhang-wide chasm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stumbling up a steep slope, a small stream suddenly appeared ahead; Mo Wu traced it upstream, its source lost among towering cliffs and dense trees. His face lit up—it was water from Haoshao Pond; if the pond lay above, then he had not lost his way, and the rope bridge could not be far.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mo Wu glanced around and barely found a path over the rocks; he carefully stepped onto them, but after two steps, his exhausted legs slipped on the wet moss and plunged into the stream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As half his calf submerged, Mo Wu froze—first, an icy chill pierced him; then came the true sensation—this water, how was it hot?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He yanked his leg out, crouched on the rock, and gently rubbed his leg and foot—just this short time, the submerged skin had turned red. He looked upstream and realized the entire stream was faintly steaming with invisible vapor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, the water was not scalding—skin burned but was not damaged, and cool rain kept falling on it, soon rendering it harmless. Mo Wu stared at the stream in disbelief, but now he had neither the will nor strength to investigate further—only stepped more carefully over the rocks to cross.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment his foot touched solid ground, his taut body collapsed—his trembling thighs could no longer hold him, and he fell onto the bank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gasped, lowered his head, and saw his own distorted reflection in the stream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A filthy, tattered single garment, wild, matted hair, and in the center, a face over fifty years old.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The face was black-yellow, rough, familiar yet strange, eyes bloodshot. His nose tingled, vision blurred—and he slapped himself hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How had he survived?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This morning, before dawn’s light, the thing had stormed into camp; when he awoke, a sudden gale carried thick stench and blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the youths’ roars and screams, the thing remained silent—no growl, no cry, ghostlike; had it not been for the flickering torches barely revealing a monstrous, vicious shadow, he might have believed a spirit had risen from the underworld.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He grabbed his bow, but dared not shoot in the dark—so he gritted his teeth, drew his knife, and charged. In that moment, he truly meant to fight it to the death—but when that ghostly head turned toward him, his blood turned to ice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath those golden, ravenous, chillingly calm vertical pupils, thirty years of mountain hunting—his courage forged in stalking leopards and shooting tigers—shattered instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wolves and leopards lacked this aura; though deadly, they only tightened the mind, surged the blood, and stirred courage through rapid heartbeat. But tigers were different—facing them directly, their low, thunderous roars, their oppressive bodies and gazes, easily stripped away the will to fight. The sovereign of the mountains, indeed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if this thing was a tiger, it was the tiger among tigers—just one glance had chilled his heart and shaken his courage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could a man kill such a monster? Impossible to win… impossible to win…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to shout for everyone to flee—but the next instant, the beast tore open Gangzi’s abdomen before his eyes; a whole man, in those claws, was like thin paper—blood sprayed into his mouth, his throat went mute, his mind blank for a heartbeat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But beside him, Yunsheng screamed deafeningly: “Uncle Wu! Uncle Wu, run!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His already weakened legs seemed to receive orders—no longer caring whether they came from his own will—he poured every ounce of strength into sprinting, brushing past Yunsheng as he rushed forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only after fleeing far into panic did he realize he might be the only one left alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He, the sole elder, the group’s pillar, the man entrusted by over a dozen sets of parents with their sons—he had abandoned the children to the sea of blood behind him, fleeing in cowardice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He should not be the one alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gangzi should have lived—he was naturally strong, his blood and qi robust; with a few more pelts sold, he could afford to join the county martial school, become a trainer, even become a constable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yunsheng should have lived—the teacher said he was a scholar’s seed; next year’s county exam might make him a scholar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only he, an old man with bones long worn out, alone and unattached—why had he stolen their chance to flee?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What face did he have to return to the village?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear drove him to flee, yet another emotion, born of shame, longed for it—the beast to catch him, kill him, so he need not face the eyes of a dozen parents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the beast did not immediately pursue; only after three or four hours, when he looked back at the mountain peak, did he see that faint shadow again. Then he realized—it had leisurely feasted on the corpses of the dozen men before calmly beginning its pursuit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then furious rage surged again—he no longer wished to die. Even if the villagers cursed his spine for life, even if mocked and shamed, he must return to the village, report to the county office, bring reinforcements, re-enter the mountains, and stab it himself—watch it die in agony!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he began erasing his trail, setting simple traps, deliberately leaving bloodstains on cliffs, then quietly changing direction… For survival, every possible effort, however small, he made without omission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, staring at his reflection in the stream, that same resolve lifted his exhausted body once more—he picked up a branch as a cane and walked forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Raindrops grew dense, wind howled louder, trees swayed, every branch and leaf trembling, the entire forest seeming to awaken, roaring a language beyond human understanding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood kept washing away; Mo Wu’s heart tightened bit by bit—yet after more than half an hour of such progress, the beast never caught up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mo Wu finally relaxed slightly—perhaps the beast’s perception was not as supernatural as imagined, perhaps his decoys had worked, perhaps the rain and stream had greater effect than expected, perhaps the beast, sated, had lost its hunger… Regardless, he had temporarily escaped it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though his spirit eased slightly, his pace did not slow—he still pushed himself to move as fast as possible through forest and over rocks. After another half hour or so, Mo Wu finally saw the rope bridge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In ordinary hunts, reaching this bridge meant deep into the mountains—but this time, his group had gone far beyond it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though crossing the bridge still left a long distance to the village, at least after destroying it, he would no longer need to fear the beast’s pursuit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could rest, gather wild fruit, catch a small beast for food, then slowly find his way back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flame of revenge burned again—once he returned to the village, he would… he would…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mo Wu stepped onto the rope bridge—and suddenly froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A strange unease rose in his chest—a hunter’s instinct honed over decades.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The last time he felt this was after a hunt, when he carried back a large branch of sweet wild fruit; as village children rushed toward it, his heart suddenly dropped—he roared to stop them, and indeed found a brightly colored venomous snake clinging beneath the leaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now a terrifying thought echoed in Mo Wu’s mind—he stood frozen like a statue, until his body began trembling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He whirled around—but behind him, only deep forest rustled in the rain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mo Wu took a deep breath, withdrew his foot from the bridge, and turned, slowly, resolutely, stepping back into the dense woods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He carefully examined every trace he had left; his foggy mind sharpened under intense stimulus, his eyes like hawks scanning every patch of ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normal, normal, normal…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No discoveries—but Mo Wu’s face remained expressionless as he pressed deeper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost… almost… as if entering a trance, he was utterly convinced of his judgment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly his eye caught a depression—he hurried over, stood beside it, and his body trembled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A large, faint, fresh paw print shaped like a plum blossom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had been right behind him all along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps since the moment he saw it on the mountain peak, it had seen him too. Along the way—while he bound his wounds, while he stopped bleeding, while he cursed aloud, while he climbed the stream, while he knelt and wept—behind him had been a pair of golden, cruel, yet quietly magnificent vertical pupils.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It intended to follow him—to the village!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bone-deep chill rose uncontrollably—but at the same time, Mo Wu felt a surge of triumph—beast! You can’t play with us like a cat with a mouse anymore! I’ve won once against you!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He laughed loudly, threw away his cane, and spun around, sprinting with all his might—faster than flight, as if draining his last breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reaching the bridge, he drew his dagger, roared, and slashed the ropes—the bridge crashed down, the sound of splintering planks merging with the rain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Mo Wu collapsed to the ground, took one final, deep look at the far shore, gripped his dagger, and turned with a grotesque grin: “Damn you! Come on!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the edge of the dense forest ahead, a blurred shadow emerged—a pair of cruel, luminous golden eyes embedded within. It had never tried to stop Mo Wu’s actions, only watched indifferently—and now, as if responding to his call, it leisurely licked its paw, then stepped forward, revealing its full form for the first time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mo Wu’s expression froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He felt his actions were a joke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A roar seemed to echo—but rain fell over the mountains like smoke, all sounds blending into a vast, silent hum, erasing every detail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, in the same storm-lashed Lin residence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After completing all this, Pei Ye’s inner tension snapped—he could no longer support his body, long exhausted to its limit, and collapsed sideways, closing his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As his eyes ceased receiving input, sensations from every part of his body flooded his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aside from the persistent heat, his abdomen felt no great discomfort. Though the gourd appeared solid, it seemed pure energy—not causing harm, but seemingly repairing and healing his body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two years of old injuries, traces left by the Little Dragon’s parasitism, even the blood wound on his abdomen—all were mended, bathed in warmth; Pei Ye’s consciousness finally sank into deep sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not know how long he lay in darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye felt wind whispering at his ears; as his awareness slowly returned, the sound grew louder, until it became a howl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye opened his eyes—before him stretched a blinding white expanse: clouds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You did well.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye looked down—the Chi still carried him; turning his head, he saw its bloody maw now farther away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, [Chunshou], you helped me greatly—how can I repay you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Self-delusion.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye said nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t try to rid yourself of it—you lack the capacity to bear it yet. After twelve hours, it will vanish naturally.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Black Chi paused, then added, “But you can always come back to borrow from me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye stiffened and said cautiously, “Such needs may not arise often.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...” Though he could not see its face, Pei Ye sensed its expression was likely not a good one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you think I live off collecting rent?” the Black Chi said flatly. “Do you think I spend every day scheming to lend out my abilities, then charging you a price you’ll regret for the rest of your life?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye said nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You are very wary of me,” the Black Chi pointed out.\u003C\u002Fp>",2345,"2026-06-20T13:17:09.438Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","9dca2404d72da54afbaebb48d8ed4c5522b954c2a994b57d857292a4b9415994","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-23","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-21",771,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Flord-of-the-immortal-food-cover.jpg"]