No. 69: Ephemeral Reprisal (8)

  I mobilized all the vigilant cells in my body and successfully escaped from this terrible cave along the route indicated by Master Yinye.

  Ren Pingsheng's map depicted the surrounding terrain very clearly, and I was delighted to find that there was only one forest north of the mountain, so the location would not be mistaken.

  The sky has darkened, and I've started climbing the mountain. The weather is cold, the terrain is steep, and every step is extremely difficult; however, all the hardships seem so insignificant in the face of the death that may soon be upon me.

  I hope to find that crazy lion before Nie Qiu Yuan arrives, so Autumn won't see anything she shouldn't and leave a bad impression. But I won't just sit back and wait for death either, I'll definitely fight that monster with all my might, who knows maybe it'll get struck by lightning?

  At least I know it's toxic, so I can cover my mouth and nose first. As for how to defeat a ferocious lion, that... let's talk about it later!

  It must hurt, right? Death and all that. For a long time, I've been dealing with death cases, examining the remains of unfortunate people, analyzing them rationally, but the one thing I never thought about was their mental state and feelings when they were on the verge of death.

  There are many causes of death. The human body is so intricately constructed, yet in a sense it is also extremely fragile. At the end of every autopsy report, there will be a concluding sentence that summarizes why this person died. At this moment, my mind still can't help but flash back to those most extreme words, such as "painful shock" being a way to die.

  If it's a painful death, that would be really unlucky. Even if it wasn't real death, I wouldn't want to have such an experience in my life.

  I was lost in thought, and finally felt my way to the designated location. Looking at the position of the stars and moon, it's probably not yet midnight. In the middle of the night, I didn't dare light a fire, and finding an animal wouldn't be easy anyway. Fortunately, tonight the moonlight is bright, and I can vaguely see the surrounding scenery.

  What I heard was only that Nie Qiuyuan would come to the forest north of the mountain at midnight tonight, but the information passed on by Ren Ping Sheng to Nie Qiuyuan must be more specific. Otherwise, if it's just a vague summons like this, there's no way he'd risk his life to come here.

  So I crept through the forest, searching for where the trap was set. Sure enough, before long, I smoothly discovered a clearing in the woods, and on the top of a large tree at the edge of the clearing, a man was hanging upside down with his hands tied behind his back.

  There was no firelight, only moonlight, but it was still possible to make out that the one hanging was a woman in black clothes, slender and slightly petite, about my height.

  This must be the bait, I decided in my heart. It's just strange that the lion doesn't eat this person? Could it be that the lion is like the cat at home, only catching things that move? Then, if I fall to the ground and pretend to be dead, will it work?

  Since Ren Ping Sheng didn't show up in Ming's place, the way to trigger this trap is probably by approaching the bait. I used the cloth I had prepared to tightly cover my face, covering my mouth and nose, steeled myself, walked out of the woods, and went straight to the woman who was hanging upside down.

  I think I've managed to bring out all the perseverance accumulated from years of hard training, so now I may look a bit cool. I calmly took out flint and steel from my pocket, struck them together, lit a matchstick, and made myself a bright target in the quiet night.

  The woman hanging from the treetop was covering her face, but what's this, not one bit like me, much uglier! I suddenly felt a little amused, everything seemed to become extremely unreal, as if in a dream. So when I turned around and saw that ferocious fiery lion standing behind me at some unknown time, it also felt fake, completely unable to tense up.

  Although my mouth and nose were covered, I immediately felt a wave of dizziness. If plugging one's nose could defend against the invasion of toxic gas, then Ren Ping's poison was really not high-end enough. Since my body had already gone soft, I took advantage of the momentum to throw the lighter in the direction of the lion and fell to the ground myself, starting to implement Plan A: playing dead.

  The lion pounced forward, directly pinning my chest with one of its massive paws. The lion's body was enormous, and its paw was incredibly heavy, pressing down on me so hard that I thought my ribcage would snap. Everything went dark before my eyes. Luckily, it was a feline creature, and since I didn't move, it didn't extend its hooked claws either; otherwise, I would have had several transparent holes in my body by now.

  The lion looked at me dizzily and without courtesy, opened its mouth and bit towards my neck.

  Miscalculation! Playing dead is useless after all! I gripped the dagger that had been in my hand and swung it at the lion's eyes.

  I didn't expect the lion's body to be so massive, but its movements were surprisingly agile. It lightly flipped backwards, dodging my attack, and its front paws stepped on me with a force that almost crushed me to death. It made no sound, only cutting me with an even more ferocious gaze, its ears also standing up.

  I propped myself up with great effort, gripping the dagger tightly. Next, it would pounce over and I'd be done for! Might as well fight to the death then! I observed that this lion was well-trained, always biting directly at the neck, and with its strength, it could snap my neck in one go, which would be even more painless than me slitting my own throat. Not bad, after all.

  A wave of sadness surged up in my heart, and no matter what, this should be the final round. But time didn't allow me to feel more sorrow, because suddenly there was a loud "bang" sound, something fell between me and the lion, scaring me into a jump.

  The lion didn't hesitate, and as soon as the thing fell down, it pounced on it like a hungry person grabbing bread, and bit into it in one mouthful.

  I took a closer look, and my goodness! The poor woman who was hanging from the treetop earlier had fallen to the ground, and now she was lying there silently with her neck bitten off by the lion monster.

  Instead of the unfortunate girl appearing at the treetop, it was a black-robed and black-hooded Black Reaper.

  Ren Ping stood on the branch, with a woman sandwiched between his arms. The woman's hair was disheveled and her body was soft, obviously poisoned, unable to exert any strength or make a sound, but she stared at me unwaveringly, it was indeed Bai Hu Shizhe Ruo Yuanyuan.

  It's strange to say, a tall man was holding a woman standing on the thin branch of a tree, and the branch seemed to be bearing only the weight of a small bird, without shaking at all, it's really a magical skill.

  Now both of them are looking down at me from above. Ren Ping Sheng originally had a pair of peach blossom eyes, but now there is not even a hint of smile, only revealing a chilling coldness that pierces the heart. As for Ruo Yuanyuan's gaze, it was extremely complex, unable to tell whether it was hatred, fear or something else.

  Ren Pingsheng waved his sleeve, and the strange lion quietly dragged the dead man into the depths of the forest. Too many things had happened, but my mind became clearer instead. Feeding the lion was death, and falling into his hands was also a death, there was no difference. However, in this way, did Nie Qiuyuan's calamity pass?

  "Isn't this lion going to kill the first person it sees? It's okay if someone jumps in between, right?" I said with a mocking tone.

  "Medicine." Ren Ping Sheng replied concisely, his gaze still coldly fixed on me...