The barbecue took quite some time, and eating it was equally time-consuming. After all the effort and the long ride on the birds’ backs, the four of them were utterly exhausted and decided to rest right where they were.
Though it still seemed like midday, the weather and the dense forest made the surroundings unusually dark, almost giving the impression of approaching dusk.
At this moment, neither Xi Yi nor Jialuo had ever been to this part of the forest before, and the latter hadn’t even come from this direction. Sha Yi couldn’t help but feel uneasy. After carefully disposing of the leftover food scraps, she found herself torn over whether to continue forward.
Earlier, when the giant-toothed eagle had landed, she had noticed that this forest lay between two rivers. The one behind them wasn’t particularly large, while ahead stretched an endless expanse of water, with only a faint green dot barely visible in the distance—at least, that was the layout from her current vantage point.
She couldn’t quite determine the time, and she was extremely reluctant to use a raft.
Beyond that, there were many other concerns. It was unclear whether there would be a reliable stopping point in the short distance ahead, and the giant-toothed eagles had a habit of refusing to fly at night. There was a chance they wouldn’t have enough time to reach the next stretch of land before nightfall.
Just then, a deep, furious roar echoed from somewhere in the forest, startling everyone into sitting bolt upright.
Sha Yi was equally frightened.
The roar sounded familiar yet strange, and she couldn’t immediately recall what creature it belonged to.
Beside her, Xi Yi struggled to his feet, leaning against a tree for support.
When the second low growl of the beast rang out, Jialuo and Tuge exchanged glances and quickly stood up as well.
In that instant, Sha Yi suddenly remembered the familiar roar—it was the sound of the saber-toothed tiger she had encountered on the second day after her arrival!
Meanwhile, Jialuo seemed to realize something too and shouted at the other two, “Isn’t that a saber-toothed tiger? I thought they were extinct!”
“I’ve never seen them elsewhere. During the summer, there were three left in the forest downstream of the big river. Later, we hunted two of them, but one juvenile saber-toothed tiger escaped.” Xi Yi’s face darkened with concern as he responded. “I’m not sure if this is the same one, but if it is, after all this time, it’s probably fully grown now.”
“How could you let something like that slip away? Especially a juvenile—that was the best time to deal with them! You should have tracked it down and killed it!” Jialuo’s usual nonchalance was gone, replaced by palpable anxiety. “The rainy season is almost over. Do you have any idea how much bigger an adult is compared to a juvenile? You missed the perfect opportunity to kill it, and now we might all die here!”
Xi Yi remained silent, neither defending himself nor arguing back, his expression grim.
Sha Yi, however, was horrified.
When she had first met Xi Yi, he had likely been chasing that juvenile saber-toothed tiger before hearing her cries for help and diverting to rescue her. Later, when he heard the tiger’s roar again, he had left her behind—though he must have told her something important beyond just telling her to wash up. But back then, she hadn’t understood his language, and now she couldn’t remember.
Unaware of the situation, she had simply run off after washing. The next time she encountered Xi Yi was when she faced the saber-toothed tiger again—and he had saved her once more.
At the time, she had noticed that the tiger’s roar sounded relatively young, but she hadn’t thought much of it. Now, looking back, compared to the two-meter-long adult wolf-beast, the tiger had been nearly twice as long. By now, it must have grown even larger.
The third time she had heard the tiger’s roar was the night before they encountered the largest snake. Xi Yi had been furious and intent on pursuing it, but because she had stopped him, he had chosen to stay with her instead, missing yet another opportunity.
Thinking carefully, the tiger had posed a serious threat, and Xi Yi likely had a deep-seated grudge against it. Yet, in the end, he had given up everything—all because of her. Her ignorance had doomed them all.
A single missed opportunity had led to disaster. And now, here they were.
Because of her, Xi Yi had lost three chances to hunt down that juvenile saber-toothed tiger. Now, faced with Jialuo’s accusations, he still refused to speak up.
She had no idea how to make up for this mistake. Worse, she lacked the ability to help, especially with Xi Yi still severely injured.
The giant-toothed eagles couldn’t take off from the ground, and there was no way to drive them to the edge of the forest before the tiger arrived. They weren’t built for running on land—compared to humans, they had no advantage in speed. Riding them to escape was out of the question.
Glancing between the two sides, she could only fret helplessly. Unexpectedly, Tuge, who had been hiding behind Jialuo, suddenly blurted out, “Why don’t you just climb a tree—”
Before he could finish, a small creature came tumbling toward them, rolling and wailing pitifully with a distinctly juvenile cry.
Instinctively, they all looked down to see a small, gray-furred beast sprawled on the ground, still whimpering in a high-pitched voice.
It was likely a wolf-beast cub—similar to the gray-furred predator she had seen battling the giant snake on her first night here.
It had the same pointed triangular head, limbs tipped with sharp claws (though now those claws were tucked into its fur), a long, thin tail, and a small, chubby body. It wobbled as it ran, either from sheer terror or because it hadn’t quite mastered walking yet.
“What the hell is this thing?” Before anyone could react, Jialuo kicked the small creature, sending it rolling toward Sha Yi and Xi Yi with another pained cry. This time, it couldn’t get up at all, trembling as it lay on the ground, panting.
Xi Yi’s expression darkened further as he glanced at the shivering cub. “A wolf-beast pup. They usually don’t attack humans and sometimes even eat snakes, but they’re highly vengeful. If it’s here, that means the saber-toothed tiger is close behind. We don’t even have time to climb a tree now.”
Jialuo’s face turned grim.
Just as Xi Yi had predicted, the tiger appeared moments later.
One look was enough for Sha Yi to recognize it—this was the same saber-toothed tiger she had seen near the fruit tree.
The difference was, it was now terrifyingly large, even surpassing the size of the giant-toothed eagles.
If an adult wolf-beast was over two meters long, this tiger likely measured seven or eight meters in length, standing as tall as Xi Yi and Jialuo. Compared to its juvenile size, it had nearly doubled in size during the rainy season.
At that moment, it held a two-meter-long adult wolf-beast in its jaws, its massive saber teeth piercing deep into the prey’s body, blood dripping freely.
Spotting them, the tiger immediately flung the wolf-beast aside and took a few slow steps forward, its golden eyes cold and bloodthirsty.
Sha Yi’s heart pounded.
Throughout the rainy season, snakes had been their most frequent encounter. But by now, snakes were the least of their worries. Facing this monstrous beast was an entirely different level of terror.
They were completely unprepared—injured, exhausted, outnumbered, in unfamiliar territory, and lacking sufficient weapons. To make matters worse, there wasn’t even a single thick vine in the trees nearby. It was a disaster on top of disaster.
In this standoff, even the five giant-toothed eagles crouching nearby grew restless, rising to their feet.
Sha Yi didn’t know whether they intended to flee or band together against the tiger, but she quickly thought of the bow and arrows.
Though they only had one bow left, they still had a considerable number of arrows. Without bone spears and with only a fruit knife as a close-range tool (utterly useless against such a massive creature), the bow was their best option. If it came down to using the knife, things would already be dire.
She wasn’t sure how effective such a simple bow would be, but if they could land a few shots, they might at least slow the beast down or weaken its attacks.
The giant-toothed eagle carrying their supplies was right beside her. Retrieving the bow and arrows wouldn’t be difficult.
Thinking fast, she took a couple of careful steps, drew the fruit knife, and swiftly cut the vine securing the bow to the raft. With her other hand, she grabbed the bundle of arrows.
But of course, at the worst possible moment, something went wrong. As she pulled the arrows free, one of the sharpened blackwood shafts slipped and clattered to the ground.
The sound shattered the tense standoff between the four of them and the tiger.
With a low growl, the massive beast lunged—straight at Sha Yi.
She froze in terror, but Xi Yi was faster. Before she could react, he shoved her beneath the giant-toothed eagle, snatching the bow from her hands as he retreated.
For a moment, watching Xi Yi’s agility and speed, Sha Yi almost believed he wasn’t injured at all. But the next second, his wounds betrayed him—as the tiger pounced, he twisted to dodge, but his movement was just a fraction too slow. The beast’s claws raked across his left shoulder, leaving four deep gashes.
Ignoring the pain, Xi Yi used the momentum of the attack to scoop up an arrow from the ground. Before the tiger could turn back, he nocked the arrow and drew the bow.
A split second later, Sha Yi heard the faint whistle of the arrow slicing through the air, the sharpened blackwood shaft flashing past her head.
A dull thud followed as the arrow struck flesh.
The tiger let out an earth-shaking roar, wasting no time before whirling around and charging again.
Its reflexes were terrifyingly fast—so fast that they barely had time to see where the arrow had hit before it was upon them.
Now, Xi Yi had no chance to escape.
Crouched beneath the giant-toothed eagle, Sha Yi watched helplessly as the tiger closed in. Then, spotting the bundle of sharpened arrows still in her arms, an idea struck. Without considering the potential consequences, she grabbed one and drove its pointed end hard into the eagle’s belly.
Caught off guard, the giant bird shrieked in pain, flapping its wings wildly as it kicked off the ground.
Though not as large as the tiger, the eagle was still a massive creature with formidable strength. The two collided mid-air—the eagle’s leap meeting the tiger’s charge.
The impact sent the eagle crashing back down, while the tiger was knocked off course.
For the moment, the immediate danger had passed.
But Sha Yi knew this was only a temporary reprieve. The real problem still loomed.
The eagle’s reaction had been purely instinctive—a response to being jabbed. Its collision with the tiger had been accidental. There was no guarantee it would attack the tiger willingly. Giant-toothed eagles were naturally wary of creatures as large as the saber-toothed tiger. Expecting them to join the fight was unrealistic—they were docile, not trained or tamed.
In the end, defeating this monster would fall to the four of them.
They needed weapons—and a plan. Because in a fight like this, the difference in size was simply too great.
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