Chapter 6: The Forbidden Forest Encounter (3)

  Upon hearing the terrifying roar, Skinny Monkey and Big Head quickly stood up and ran to Xiao Tian's side. Xiao Tian swiftly stood up, pulled Yan Er behind him, handed the sickle back to Big Head, drew out a fish spear from his back, and stood guard in the direction of the sound. Seeing this, Skinny Monkey and Big Head didn't dare to slack off either. One grasped the sickle, the other held an axe, standing firmly on Xiao Tian's left and right sides, protecting Yan Er. Amidst the commotion, Skinny Monkey even tapped his thigh with the knife handle, muttering: "Don't tremble! Don't tremble! I'm not afraid of your trembling!"

  "Whoosh——" A more violent gust of wind blew over, countless dry leaves and branches were rolled up, carrying dust and water vapor flying everywhere in the sky. The four people had to close their eyes temporarily. After a while, the wind stopped and the dust settled. The four people slowly opened their eyes, and what they saw in front of them left the four people staring blankly, shocked on the spot.

  Only a few dozen steps away from the creek, where Xiao Tian and others were standing, a striped tiger with a body length of two zhangs was lying on the grassy riverbank in an extremely elegant posture, drinking water. The tree shadows swayed on its body, casting its fur into a dark golden color, making the black stripes appear incredibly vivid. What a majestic forest king! As an ancient poem goes:

  The fox is not mighty, the rabbit is not cunning.

  When hungry, swallow and devour; when full, take a bowel movement.

  Fearless of the sun and moon shining brightly

  Heaven produces you for life.

  "Retreat!" The enormous and majestic beast made it difficult for them to muster up the courage to fight. Seeing that the tiger didn't seem to notice them, Xiao Tian quietly instructed his companions, and they crouched down, creeping away stealthily towards the other side of the forest!

  "Pffft——" Who knows if it was due to nervousness or what, but at this critical moment, the thin monkey let out a loud fart.

  " Splash!" What's worse, under the sudden fright, Da Tou's already highly tense nerves were startled by the sound made by Shou Hu, and he ended up sitting down in the creek with a big splash, creating an even bigger commotion.

  The "brilliant" performance of the thin monkey and Big Head successfully attracted the tiger's attention, making it aware of the existence of Xiaotian and his three companions. The giant tiger raised its massive head, and its copper bell-like eyes scanned the four people like lightning. The hair on Xiaotian and his friends' heads stood up immediately, and they no longer hid their tracks, turning to run away quickly.

  "Roar!" The tiger seemed to be enraged by several people and stood up, letting out a low growl.

  "Thin monkey, big head, you take Yan'er and run first, I'll distract it!" Little Tian understood that if they didn't think of a way out quickly, the four of them would become the tiger's next meal! As he spoke, he pushed his companions back, but instead of retreating himself, he advanced forward, holding the fish spear and walking slowly towards the tiger.

  "Little Tian!" Yan'er was scared, but she also rushed up and stood with Little Tian.

  "Thin monkey big head, take away my stroller quickly!!" Little Tian hurriedly and severely scolded!

  "We're with you——" The situation was critical, and although they were extremely frightened, how could Skinny Monkey and Big Head abandon their childhood companion to escape? Each holding their own weapon, they stepped forward.

  "Please, take Yanyan and leave! If you stay here, it's just a waste of your lives. I might still have a chance to escape on my own, go! Hurry!" Xiaotian said, almost pleadingly.

  "Little Sky Brother——" Skinny Monkey and Big Head were already choked with sobs.

  "I won't leave, I want to be with you!" Yan'er cried out loudly.

  "Run!" Little Tian finally burst into rage, turning around and roaring at Skinny Monkey and the others.

  Qiao Hou and Da Tou gritted their teeth, wiped away the hot tears in their eyes, each grabbed one of Yan Er's arms, and dragged her as they ran towards the back.

  "Little Tian Ge——" was Yan Er's mournful cry, she struggled to break free from Da Tou and Shou Hou's "kidnapping", but how could the small and weak her be a match for the two young men.

  The tiger couldn't let its prey slip away easily, and was about to pounce when Xiaotian raised his fish spear and blocked its path. He wildly brandished the spear at the tiger, taunting it: "You big fellow, your opponent is me! Come on, come on!"

  Xiao Tian's actions seemed to have startled the tiger, which retreated a step back and stopped caring about the whereabouts of the three skinny monkeys. Instead, it looked at Xiao Tian with great interest in its big eyes, wondering how this little thing dared to block its way, causing a standoff between one person and one tiger.

  As the sound of Yuanyuan's cry grew fainter and fainter, Xiaotian's head and hands were covered in cold sweat. He began to think of a way to escape. With his peripheral vision, he saw a denser thicket nearby and got an idea. He threw the fish spear at the tiger with all his might, and the tiger was startled, retreating several steps to avoid the spear. Xiaotian took advantage of this opportunity to roll into the thicket beside him, pushing aside the weeds and running towards the depths of the forest, deliberately choosing areas with dense trees. He thought that since the tiger's body was much larger than his own, the denser the trees were, the more advantageous it would be for him. The tiger was indeed enraged, letting out a loud roar as it chased after Xiaotian's shadow. However, Xiaotian was extremely cunning, not only running towards areas with dense thickets but also making sharp turns left and right. The tiger's massive body was clumsy and restricted, unable to catch up for the time being, and it let out angry roars one after another.

  Let's not mention the chase here, and talk about the two skinny monkeys. Ignoring Yan'er's kicks and scolding, they carried Yan'er on their shoulders, lowered their heads and ran wildly. They also understood that this time Xiao Tian was likely to be in a precarious situation, and it was possible that Feng Yong from back then had been eaten by this old tiger as a snack. However, if they didn't hurry up and escape with Yan'er, then Xiao Tian would have died in vain.

  They were running, when suddenly a gust of foul wind blew up in front of them, dry leaves flew about, dust filled the air, accompanied by the sound of branches snapping and a loud roar, a huge creature appeared before the three.

  A huge black bear!

  This black bear's head is twice as big as the spotted tiger from earlier, and when it stands up, it can probably reach the treetops. Its entire body is covered in shiny black fur, and its pair of bloodshot eyes are fixed menacingly on the three skinny monkeys, looking like it's ready to pounce and devour them at any moment.

  Having seen the black bear, the three people who were already exhausted from running felt a chill in their hearts. They had just escaped the tiger's jaws, only to fall into the bear's paws, and their lives were now at risk!

  "Big head, take the girl away!" The thin monkey straightened his thin small body, grasped the broken firewood knife in his hand, and said resolutely. It seems he wants to learn from Little Tian.

  "Thin monkey, you take Yan'er away first!" Da Tou grabbed Thin Monkey.

  "Ah? Niu Niu!" Yanyu's surprised voice.

  The thin monkey and the big-headed bear followed Yan's gaze, but were shocked to find that the missing blue-eyed rabbit had appeared in front of the black bear at some point. The blue eyes stared at the black bear, shooting out a cold gaze. What was even more astonishing was that the black bear, which had been so majestic and invincible just moments before, was now trembling all over its body as it faced the "little rabbit" that was a hundred times smaller than itself, shrinking its body down and pressing its head to the ground, looking like a docile kitten.

  Only to see that "little rabbit" slightly opened its mouth, a purple flame suddenly sprayed out from its mouth and landed on the black bear's body. The black bear instantly turned into a huge fireball, wailing and rolling on the ground. Several trees with trunks as thick as bowls were broken one after another in the black bear's tumbling. What was strange was that the fire only burned on the black bear's body, without even igniting the dry leaves on the ground. Under the stunned gaze of the three skinny monkeys, the fireball got smaller and smaller in a moment.

  The flames slowly disappeared, and the small mountain-like big black bear was burned to only a handful of ash. A gust of cold wind swept by, and there was nothing left.

  "Mei Mei!" Yan'er was delighted instead of being startled and went forward to hug "Little Rabbit".

  "Wait!" This "little rabbit" was too eerie, Da Tou and Shou Hou felt a chill in their hearts, and they grabbed Yan Er who was about to move forward.

  "The little rabbit" slowly turned around, looking at Yan'er's blue eyes which no longer had the chill of earlier, but were instead filled with warm smiles. Two hazy blue lights shone on Yan'er and the three people, before they could even speak, the three people softly fell to the ground, suddenly disappearing without a trace.

  When Shou Hóu and others gradually woke up, they found that the three of them were already at the entrance of Jìn Lín, with Fēng Jiā Zhuāng behind them.

  "So he came back like this." The thin monkey said in surprise.

  "Mei Mei!" Xiang'er picked up the "little rabbit" lying beside her, and saw that at this moment, the "little rabbit" was listless, its head drooping, it merely opened its eyes to look at Xiang'er, then leaned against Xiang'er's chest without moving, as if it had exhausted all its energy to save Xiang'er.

  Let's not talk about the series of events that happened when the three people returned to the village. Instead, let's say that Xiaotian, who had escaped from the tiger's mouth, kept running towards the dense forest, and as he ran, the terrain became higher and higher. His physical strength was almost exhausted, while the tiger chased closer and closer, and Xiaotian could almost feel the hot air sprayed from the tiger's mouth.

  Running and running, Little Tian suddenly slammed on the brakes and stopped abruptly. In front of him was a cliff, deep and bottomless, with only swirling clouds and mist visible below.

  The problem is that the fierce tiger behind him doesn't care about anything, and pounces on Xiaotian. Before Xiaotian can react, he is swept away by the tiger and they both tumble off the cliff, one man and one tiger plummeting into the depths of the clouds.

  What will be Xiaotian's fate? Please see next chapter "Strange Encounter Under the Cliff".