Chapter 64: Tiger

Before long, under Feng Zi's guidance, Qing Lin gathered a bundle of dry branches and somewhat clumsily built a fire pile, igniting the first campfire of their journey.

Watching the dancing flames, Qing Lin nibbled at the first piece of meat she had roasted, her eyes shining.

"As a first attempt, the result is quite good," Feng Zi said, tearing off a piece of roasted meat himself and offering encouragement.

Upon hearing this, Qing Lin excitedly shook her head.

According to a normal schedule, waking up in the morning to build a fire and cook would be a great waste of time.

But since there was nothing urgent at the moment, and Qing Lin needed more food to replenish herself, Feng Zi just played it by ear.

Watching her elegantly polish off all the roasted meat, Feng Zi suddenly remembered that he seemed to have forgotten to mention something very important.

There was no need to ponder why he would suddenly think of an unrelated matter; once a person is idle, their thoughts always jump back and forth between all sorts of irrelevant issues:

"Come to think of it, I forgot to entrust you with one thing—when out and about, you must always be careful to protect yourself.

"Therefore, not only will I remain vigilant at all times, but I will also not use my real name; in front of others, you should address me by my alias, 'Cun Xin'."

"Cun Xin..." Qing Lin just subconsciously murmured the alias, tilting her head with some curiosity, and asked:

"What a strange name, why would you call yourself that?"

To this, Feng Zi shrugged and frankly replied: "There is no special meaning, I just took half of each character from my name—

"The 'Cun' character is taken from the right half of 'Feng', and the 'Xin' character is likewise taken from the right half of 'Zi', only I changed the 'xin' of 'hardship' to the 'xin' of 'original heart'."

"Oh..." Hearing this, Qing Lin satisfied the small curiosity in her heart and stopped talking, continuing to turn the meat on the campfire.

A moment later, she looked at Feng Zi again and asked: "Since you are using an alias in front of others, do you want to help me pick an alias too?"

It was unclear whether she had sensed this issue or if it was just a sudden whim.

Feng Zi did not care much about this; he pondered for a moment and tentatively said:

"Your real name is 'Qing Lin', so I will likewise take half a character from each, and from now on, I will call you 'Yue Yu' in front of outsiders."

"'Yue Yu', 'Yue Yu'... hehe, it sounds like it might be delicious, I like this name." Hearing this, Qing Lin's eyes curved into crescent shapes.

Just as the two were chatting, the last batch of meat on the campfire was finished roasting.

Qing Lin, as usual, swept through her "breakfast" like a whirlwind.

And just as Feng Zi was instructing Qing Lin on how to erase the traces of the campfire and preparing to begin the day's search—

From the distant east, a faint, far-off roar came:

Roar!

Feng Zi did not react for a moment, subconsciously looking toward the mountains in the east.

At the same time, Qing Lin pricked up her ears and asked with some confusion: "What is that sound?"

Regarding this question, Feng Zi rolled his eyes and speculated with some uncertainty: "It sounds... like the roar of a tiger?"

Wait, a tiger's roar?!

Feng Zi's eyes widened abruptly; he hurriedly covered the traces on the ground and called out to Qing Lin beside him:

"Yue Yu, let's go, to the place where the tiger roared!"

After pursuing for so many days, and waiting for so many days, he had finally found a clue related to the tiger spirit!

Moreover, judging by the commotion, it seemed someone had already made contact with this tiger, whether it was a tiger spirit or not.

A myriad of thoughts flashed through his mind; Feng Zi made a prompt decision, leaped onto a tree branch, and, aided by the cover of the dense mountain forest, dashed toward the east.

Although Qing Lin did not understand the cause and effect, her body had already subconsciously acted, and she hurriedly caught up with Feng Zi's pace:

"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly so panicked?"

As he hurried along, Feng Zi frankly replied: "The reason I came to this place is to hunt a fierce tiger that has become a spirit, and use its Origin of Qi and Blood to break through to a higher realm!"

In facing the issue of the tiger spirit, there was no conflict between Feng Zi and Qing Lin; on the contrary, their interests were aligned:

Feng Zi's fundamental goal was to break through to the Transformation Realm, and all he needed was the Origin of Qi and Blood; while Qing Lin needed to replenish her Qi and Blood Power, and all she needed was the flesh and blood of the tiger spirit.

Seeing that Qing Lin was still somewhat ignorant, Feng Zi explained: "Unlike ordinary fierce tigers, a tiger spirit possesses greater strength and also possesses a modicum of intelligence.

"As a creature that possesses wisdom, has already brought disaster to the area, and is being besieged by the Martial Artists of Yuanping County, it certainly will not continue to fight alone!

"Therefore, even if that tiger that let out the roar is not the tiger spirit, it will certainly be able to help us find clues."

Yes, long before entering the mountains, in Feng Zi's calculations, the "various parties" in the so-called chaotic battle included that fierce tiger that had become a spirit—

Unlike those ordinary Martial Artists who only knew about profit and whose minds were blinded by greed, ever since he learned that the tiger spirit possessed a certain degree of intelligence, Feng Zi dared not be the slightest bit negligent:

Who could guarantee that he, as a Martial Artist, would definitely be the one to have the last laugh!

Moreover, Feng Zi was certain that not only him, but the other two Martial Masters in Yuanping County also held similar thoughts.

Otherwise, why would that young master of the Guang Family and the head of the Ying family be so tacit, driving away the alliance of Martial Artists who were unwilling to take orders from them as cannon fodder?

As he spoke, Feng Zi tossed his hunting knife to Qing Lin and exhorted:

"You also need a handy weapon; this knife will be given to you for now. After we return to Yuanping County, I will take you to the Tie Jiang Pu to have a weapon forged."

Qing Lin took the hunting knife and replied solemnly: "I understand."

The two traveled through the dense mountain forest, and before long, they arrived at their destination.

They stood on the treetops, silently overlooking the chaotic scene in the forest:

A fierce, injured tiger arched its back, looking around vigilantly, its mouth continuously emitting dull, low growls.

And surrounding this tiger, five bedraggled Martial Artists were also covered in wounds, having it completely encircled.

Looking at the injured beast, Qing Lin pursed her lips and said quite unhappily: "What a hateful thing..."

Feng Zi assumed she just didn't like tigers and gently pressed down on Qing Lin's shoulder: "Don't be in a hurry, observe the situation around us first."

Having said that, he exerted his "Ten Thousand Mile Travel" technique to the fullest, further suppressing his own aura.

Qing Lin watched from the side and followed suit, actually gradually lowering her own presence as well.

Seeing this scene, Feng Zi was greatly shocked in his heart and couldn't help but secretly exclaim, "What a powerful ability to imitate!"

But at this critical moment, he naturally would not let his mind wander too much, and began to try his best to perceive the surrounding environment, searching for any "fishermen" who might be trying to fish in troubled waters.

After a meticulous search, he discovered, however, that there was no one else's aura in the surroundings.

Yet Feng Zi always felt that he seemed to have overlooked something, and he could not help but knit his brows:

Intuition told him that this did not look like a chance encounter, but rather more like a trap specifically set up.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind, and he hurriedly asked Green Scale beside him: "Yue Yu, use your senses to confirm whether there is the aura of any other living creature in the vicinity."