128 Scrambling Away in Terror

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“Did you gain anything?”

As they walked outside the zoo, Li Qiyao casually withdrew her hand and opened her parasol. At the same time, she asked Du Ruo curiously, “Did you figure something out?”

“Mm. It didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but at least the trip wasn’t a waste.”

Du Ruo nodded, his mind still replaying the state of the white tiger when it had roared moments ago, as well as the way he himself had imitated it.

Learning martial arts was often like this. When one did not understand something, no amount of effort could bring one to the threshold. But once the underlying principle was grasped, it was as though the door to an entirely new world had opened. Inspiration would pour in, and all kinds of knowledge would be mastered naturally.

It was a pity that the skill-extraction system seemed to be nothing more than a mindless little program. The things Du Ruo had comprehended did not manifest as skills.

The panel remained unchanged. No new skill such as “Lion’s Roar” or “Tiger’s Roar” had appeared. By now, Du Ruo no longer cared. Countless ways to combine and employ the tiger’s roar had already taken shape in his mind.

“Never mind. I’ve already mastered the technique, so there’s no need to hurry with the experiment.”

Unfortunately, he could not conduct any experiments while in the city.

“What should we eat? I’m getting a little hungry.”

Xiang Yuanyuan rubbed her stomach. She had eaten the hotel’s buffet breakfast, but after walking around the zoo, she had digested every bit of it long ago.

“West Lake vinegar fish?” Du Ruo suggested. He still remembered how eagerly Xiang Yuanyuan had anticipated eating it the day before.

“Forget it, forget it. Why don’t we buy some instant noodles and take them onto the high-speed train? We can eat properly once we get back to Li Qiyao’s place.”

Xiang Yuanyuan still could not stop thinking about instant noodles.

“Sure. Do you have anything left at the hotel? If not, we can leave right away.”

“No. Let’s go. We should buy a few bottles of water while we’re at it.”

As she spoke, Xiang Yuanyuan shook the empty water bottle in her hand. Spotting a trash can a short distance away, she quickened her pace and prepared to throw it away.

The subway entrance lay not far ahead. It would take them only a few minutes to reach it.

“Hey, son! Wait for me—slow down!”

Just as the three of them were heading toward the subway entrance, a woman’s voice rang out.

“Woof! Woof woof!”

They followed the sound and saw a toy poodle dash out from around the corner in front of them, barking as it ran. A woman came after it, shouting continuously, but she was wearing a skirt and shoes with somewhat high heels, so she could not run very fast. She could only trail behind the dog.

The three of them did not quite understand what was happening, but they respected the woman’s choice. After all, although fewer people these days called their dogs “sons,” it was not unheard of.

“Woof woof!”

The poodle suddenly stopped beside the trash can in front of Du Ruo and the others. It barked twice at them, then lifted one hind leg and began urinating with a steady hiss.

Xiang Yuanyuan stood there with a frown, staring at the trash can and the little dog relieving itself. For a moment, she did not know whether she should still go over and throw away the bottle.

“Phew… Son, wait for Mommy. Phew… Why are you running so fast? The outside world is full of bad people.”

Breathing heavily, the woman reached the trash can and spoke to the dog, completely ignoring the fact that it was urinating on the can. As she talked, she glanced at the three of them.

Xiang Yuanyuan was holding an empty water bottle and had originally been walking toward the trash can to throw it away. Now that the poodle was urinating beneath it, she hesitated over whether to approach. Perhaps the woman had mistaken her hesitation for an intention to drive the dog away.

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“Woof! Woof woof! Woof woof woof woof!”

After finishing, the poodle shook itself. Seeing the woman standing beside it, it immediately became excited and began baring its teeth and barking furiously at Du Ruo and the others—especially Xiang Yuanyuan, who was standing directly in front of it.

It looked fierce enough, and if it had been larger, it might truly have been frightening. But the poodle was small, despite its surprisingly loud voice. Xiang Yuanyuan could not help frowning and taking a step back.

“Woof woof woof!”

The dog seemed to take that as encouragement and continued barking wildly. Every so often, it glanced back at the woman. When she showed no reaction, it followed them a few more steps, putting on an even more vicious display.

“It’s fine. We’ll throw it away up ahead.”

Du Ruo took two steps forward and spoke to Xiang Yuanyuan. However, the poodle’s shrill barking still made him uncomfortable. He looked to the side and saw that the woman was still panting as she searched through her bag for a wet wipe to clean her face. She seemed to have no intention of doing anything about the dog, and Du Ruo’s brows immediately drew together.

“Awooo!”

As Du Ruo watched the poodle bare its teeth and bark, his chest and abdomen swelled. A deep sound rose from his throat. It was not loud, but it was extraordinarily low and resonant. He deliberately restrained its volume, adding only spiritual force without using qi to amplify the sound.

Li Qiyao and Xiang Yuanyuan, who were standing beside him, as well as the woman nearby, merely felt a muffled impact strike their ears. Their breathing faltered, and their chests felt heavy.

“Whimper…”

The poodle, however, reacted entirely differently. It was as though someone had struck it over the head with a club. One moment it had been snarling and barking furiously; the next, all four of its legs gave way, and it collapsed to the ground with a whimper.

It tried to stand several times, but its legs were as limp as noodles and could not support its body. Worse still, it began to lose control of its bowels and bladder.

Clearly, the shock had caused it to soil itself.

“Let’s go. I checked the schedule. If we hurry, we can still catch the next high-speed train.”

Du Ruo spoke to the two women, and together they headed toward the subway entrance.

“Whimper…”

Only after Du Ruo turned around did the poodle seem to recover. It rose from the ground, tucked its tail between its legs, and sprinted desperately in the opposite direction.

“Son, wait for me! Son!”

The woman had no idea what had just happened, but when she saw her “son” running away, she could not worry about anything else. Still calling after it, she hurried in pursuit.

“Impressive, Boss Du. Did you learn that move at the zoo just now?”

Li Qiyao glanced back and saw the woman awkwardly chasing after the dog. Unable to resist, she gave Du Ruo a thumbs-up. Her powers of observation were excellent. She had heard Du Ruo make that sound at the zoo, though it had been unpleasant then, just as it had been now. The difference was that its power seemed weaker this time. She had not expected the effect to be so remarkable, however, and could not help asking.

“Exactly, Du Ruo! That was amazing. I’ve never seen you use it before. Awooo!”

Xiang Yuanyuan spoke from the side and even imitated Du Ruo’s roar. With her arms spread wide as she cried “Awooo,” she looked fierce in an adorably harmless way.

“I believe this belongs to the martial arts traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, or perhaps Buddhist esoteric practice. In fact, that lama used something similar at the temple last time. I’ve been studying the technique ever since, and today, seeing the white tiger roar, I finally found my inspiration.”

Du Ruo offered a brief explanation.

“Can ordinary people learn it? If they could, wouldn’t that mean they’d never have to worry about wild beasts when traveling in the wilderness?”

Xiang Yuanyuan looked curious. She was only joking, of course, but she was genuinely interested in this strange ability she had never heard of before.

“Ordinary people can’t learn it. The essence of the tiger’s roar isn’t the sound itself, but the use of spiritual force. It is said that Buddhist disciples in ancient times used similar sounds to drive away wild beasts while traveling. Without enough spiritual force, learning it would be useless.”

As they walked, Du Ruo gave the two women a brief explanation.

In truth, the development of such techniques went much further than this. For example, the Six-Syllable Mantra and the Nine-Syllable Mantra could produce different effects when combined with hand seals, specific vocalizations, and the application of spiritual force.

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Without an established lineage, however, such techniques were extremely difficult to complete through personal exploration alone. Du Ruo did not expect to master those things.

For now, the tiger’s roar was already more than sufficient as a deterrent.

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened on the subway or the high-speed train ride back. Although Du Ruo’s security inspection was still rather thorough, everything proceeded smoothly without incident.

Naturally, Xiang Yuanyuan also got to eat the instant noodles she had been longing for. She only ate one cup, however. After that, no matter how much they tried to persuade her, she refused to eat another.

“Should we go straight back, or stop by the blacksmith’s shop?”

After getting off the high-speed train, they walked toward the exit.

“Let’s pick up the steel needles first.”

Du Ruo checked the time. He could not leave his steel-needle belt behind.

They went directly to the station. Just as the police officer had told him, Du Ruo handed over his identification and smoothly retrieved his belongings. No one even asked him any unnecessary questions.

They did not go to the blacksmith’s shop that day. Instead, they had a good meal at one of the area’s well-known restaurants. Afterward, Li Qiyao drove Du Ruo to the entrance of his hotel.

“I’ll come to pick you up at the same time as last time tomorrow. Bye-bye!”

Li Qiyao watched Du Ruo get out of the car, said her farewells, then turned around and drove away.

“Ring ring…”

Du Ruo watched her leave, then turned and walked toward the hotel. Just then, his phone rang. He picked it up and saw that the caller was Li Yu.

“Hello.”

Du Ruo did not know why she was calling. He greeted her, then said nothing more, standing inside the elevator and waiting for her to speak.

“Boss Du, where have you been traveling today? I received some imported fruit and thought I’d bring some over for your mother to try, but when I visited today, I didn’t see anyone.”

Li Yu’s voice came through the phone, calm and unhurried.

“You’re too kind. I happened to have some free time at home recently, so I went out for a bit. Is something the matter?”

Du Ruo had no interest in exchanging empty pleasantries. Their relationship was based on mutual exploitation, and there was no need to pretend it involved any unnecessary affection.

“I have a job I’d like to ask you to take on, Boss Du. Where are you now? I can come and speak with you in person.”

Li Yu had noticed the coldness in his voice, so she went straight to the point. She was unwilling to discuss the matter over the phone, however, and hoped to meet him face-to-face.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like going anywhere lately.”

The moment Du Ruo heard her request, he shook his head and refused outright. He was not short of money now and could not be bothered to travel around.

Last time, he had gone partly for the money, partly to test his martial arts, partly because he disliked the Philippine monkeys, and partly because the other party had offered the tiger bones he needed most.

As for now, Du Ruo did have the urge to take action, but it had not reached the point where he was willing to risk going out. Besides, he was waiting to see whether the system might undergo an attribute transformation, so he was unwilling to leave home and get involved in another fight.