Forging Immortality: The Undying Blacksmith

Chapter 60: Hunting the Tiger

“You’re finally back, kid. I was starting to think something got you!”

Li Qing had just stepped back into the firelight when Old Man Sun’s voice reached him. The campfire blazed, casting flickering shadows. Between two trees, the old hunter had fashioned a hammock from ground vines and was reclining with surprising comfort.

“I scouted the perimeter. It’s quiet,” Li Qing replied, his voice flat.

“Good. Let’s split the watch. Can’t be too careful spending a night in these old woods.”

Li Qing nodded. If they both slept, they’d be far too vulnerable. A venomous snake or a prowling beast would make for a disastrous awakening.

To the crackle and pop of dry wood in the fire, Li Qing sat cross-legged and began his practice, cycling through the forms of the Golden Body Art and the Turtle Breath Technique. Yet even as he focused inward, his senses remained razor-sharp, attuned to every rustle of leaves and shift in the wind. Nothing would escape his notice.

They passed the night this way, each man taking half the watch, until the first faint light of dawn began to filter through the canopy.

*Drip.*

A single drop of dew fell from a leaf, landing cold against his brow. Li Qing’s eyes opened.

They had packed enough jerky and hardtack for the trip. After a quick, functional meal, they resumed their search for the tiger.

As they moved deeper into the forest, Old Man Sun’s expertise became apparent. Following a trail of nearly invisible signs, he led them out of the ravine that sheltered the tomb. Finally, he stopped at the base of a large tree. The trunk was deeply scored with massive claw marks. It was obvious a great beast laired here.

“Bear or tiger,” Old Man Sun said, his voice low and serious. “Stay sharp, kid. From here on, we tread carefully.”

Li Qing’s expression hardened. He knew better than to be careless. Both were formidable opponents. It was spring, when bears woke from their long sleep with a ravenous, desperate hunger that made them suicidally aggressive.

A tiger, however, was worse. It was a ghost in the forest, a master of the ambush. Even a veteran hunter could be dead before he knew he was being stalked. A single moment of carelessness meant a bloody end.

The two moved with extreme caution, scanning their surroundings with every single step. Li Qing’s hand never strayed from his waist, ready to draw his broad-bladed knife or pluck the bone-piercing nails from his sash in an instant. Old Man Sun carried only a simple wooden bow with a handful of arrows; he knew his role was to find their quarry, not to kill it.

“Wait!”

Old Man Sun raised a hand, bending down to examine a pile of dung partially hidden by a bush.

“Tiger scat,” he whispered. “Fresh. It’s close.”

The words had barely left his lips when a piercing, rage-filled roar ripped through the forest depths.

“ROAR!”

Even without a hunter’s knowledge, Li Qing recognized that sound. It was the roar of a tiger.

“Go,” he said, his decision instantaneous. He moved toward the sound, knife in one hand, two bone-piercing nails pinched between the fingers of the other.

Seeing Li Qing’s resolve, a flicker of fear crossed Old Man Sun’s face, but he followed. He’d hunted a tiger once in his youth, but it had been an inexperienced cub caught in a trap, not a full-grown beast. No sane hunter willingly chose a tiger as prey.

“ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!”

The roars grew more frequent, shaking the very air. Birds exploded from the treetops, fleeing the raw power of the mountain’s king. As the sound intensified, both men slowed their pace. The closer they got, the more their hearts hammered in their chests. This was no mere animal; it was a prime specimen, terrifying and ferocious.

Pushing aside a final screen of dense leaves, Li Qing saw the beast he had been searching for.

It was a den, built into a rocky outcrop. The sight within made their blood run cold.

Inside the den, a massive tigress faced off against a giant serpent. Crushed beneath the serpent’s coils were several small cubs, their forms still and lifeless.

No wonder the roars were so filled with furious grief. This was a mother whose young had been slaughtered.

Radiating a murderous aura, the tigress had no intention of letting the serpent escape. This would be a fight to the death. The serpent itself was monstrous, its body as thick as a water bucket. Half of its length was still coiled out of sight behind the den, a creature of terrifying scale.

“Wait,” Li Qing decided instantly. He would be the patient fisherman, waiting for the titans to exhaust each other.

He was only an Outer Force martial artist, not an Inner Force expert. Facing one of these monsters was a challenge. Facing two was suicide. His only option was to wait for his opportunity.

“ROAR!”

The bereaved tigress moved first. With a powerful bound, she launched herself from the rubble, soaring toward the serpent. It was a green-scaled python, and its strange, mottled patterns were enough to make a man’s skin crawl.

The serpent writhed backward, trying to evade the pounce. Despite its bulk, it moved with unnerving speed, plowing through the undergrowth and ignoring terrain that would hinder any normal creature. But no matter how fast it was, it couldn’t outpace the tiger.

The tigress landed on the serpent with devastating force. A grating shriek echoed as her claws tore through its hide, sending a shower of scales flying and carving deep white gashes into its flesh.

With no room left to retreat, the serpent coiled, attempting to wrap the tigress in its deadly embrace. But the tigress was impossibly agile. She leaped clear of the constricting coils, then lunged back in, sinking her fangs into the serpent’s body.

*CRACK!*

The serpent whipped its tail through the air with the sound of a splitting bullwhip, catching the tigress mid-flank and sending her tumbling through the dirt.

The two beasts separated, facing each other once more. The serpent flicked its forked tongue, its body slowly retreating, now bearing numerous wounds from the tigress’s assault. The tigress, however, refused to relent. Seeing the serpent as an existential threat, she advanced step by step, her bloody maw wide open.

Hidden in the trees, Li Qing watched, mesmerized. It was the first time he had ever seen a wild tiger in its element. He had practiced the Fierce Tiger True Intent Diagram for years, but watching this raw, desperate battle, his understanding of the martial art surged.

As the two beasts clashed again, Li Qing took a deep breath. He set aside his broad-bladed knife. His body began to sway, his muscles shifting in subtle mimicry of the beast’s deadly dance. The longer he watched, the more he understood. He began to grasp nuances of the style, unlocking applications he had never conceived of during his rote practice.

After what felt like an eternity, the battle reached its conclusion.

In the end, the serpent’s stamina gave out. The tigress had simply worn it down, tearing it to pieces in a battle of pure attrition. Its massive body was a ruin of gaping wounds, the ground littered with its shed scales.

But the tigress had paid a steep price for her victory. She was covered in her own wounds, and in its death throes, the serpent had coiled around her hind leg with crushing force, snapping the bone.

Now was the best opportunity to hunt the tiger!