160 Bears Nearby

Walking to a clearing, the tiger paid no mind to Du Ruo. It plopped down, pinned a small wild boar with its paws, and began to tear into it and eat.

Meanwhile, Du Ruo took out his knife to bleed and skin another small wild boar, then started a fire to roast it.

The man and the tiger got along quite harmoniously. This was the benefit of Du Ruo holding a hunting license, allowing him to eat with a clear conscience.

Before long, the tiger had completely finished off its whole wild boar, while Du Ruo's small wild boar was still roasting slowly.

After finishing its meal, the tiger didn't run off. Seeming to know that Du Ruo posed no threat, it simply lay down to rest not far away from him.

"Heh, you have to admit, all felines are quite interesting creatures."

As Du Ruo roasted the meat, he watched the tiger snoring softly and sleeping soundly, its tail twitching or ears flicking occasionally. The sight was genuinely endearing, provided one could overlook its exaggerated, massive size.

Once the internal organs and head were removed, the small wild boar yielded about twenty pounds of meat. As it roasted to a golden, incredibly fragrant crisp, the tiger woke up, catching the aroma.

The tiger twitched its nose, followed the scent, and ambled over to Du Ruo's side.

"Want some? Here, have a piece then."

Seeing the tiger sniffing with a curious expression, Du Ruo tore off a small piece, placed it in his palm, and held it out right to the tiger's snout.

While the gesture appeared casual, his other hand was already clenched into a tight fist.

The tiger glanced at Du Ruo, sniffed the roasted meat, and then gave it a cautious lick, taking the small morsel into its mouth.

"Hmph—"

After chewing it over in its mouth, the tiger exhaled a puff of hot air from its nose, an expression of clear disdain evident on its face. It turned around, trotted back to its sleeping spot, and lay down to rest once again.

"Well—look at it turning its nose up at it."

Du Ruo didn't mind. This was precisely why he loved felines: they were clever and spiritual, and above all, they knew current affairs and understood who not to mess with.

Shaking his head, he picked up the roasted meat and took a large bite.

Famished, Du Ruo no longer cared about culinary finesse. Pulling out a bottle of medicinal wine, he alternated bites of roasted meat with sips of tiger bone wine, eating with great relish. The twenty-odd pounds of roasted meat were polished off in no time.

After eating, Du Ruo didn't leave. He walked over to the tiger, plopped down right beside it, leaned against its belly, and began to doze off. Although his inner energy and spirit had been steadily recovering, physical fatigue still lingered.

Before falling asleep, Du Ruo opened his status interface for a quick glance.

Three Flowers: 18%
Five Qi: 19%

"I never expected comprehending the Tiger Form this time to boost the Three Flowers and Five Qi by this much?"

Du Ruo was genuinely surprised. At the same time, this realization helped him understand why his previous comprehensions of the Eagle Form, Horse Form, and the aquatic essence of the Alligator Form could only manifest partially, whereas the Tiger Form he had just grasped could envelop his entire body and even allow him to contend directly with a real tiger.

One had to remember that there was a fundamental difference between humans and tigers; in modern society, no one had ever heard of a person fighting a tiger bare-handed.

Even Mike Tyson in his prime, pitted against this Tiger Vanguard before him, would probably only serve to give the beast a fuller meal.

Seeing these numbers, Du Ruo knew this trip had certainly not been in vain.

With these thoughts in mind, Du Ruo slowly closed his eyes and drifted into slumber.

Although he appeared to be fast asleep, his body was actually running the Primeval One-Qi technique internally, while a fraction of his spiritual awareness remained vigilant to observe the tiger.

Du Ruo wasn't foolish enough to place absolute trust in this tiger just like that.

Once Du Ruo's breathing steadied, the Tiger Vanguard opened its eyes, glanced at Du Ruo, opened its jaws in a yawn, shifted its body slightly to adjust its sleeping posture, and went back to sleep.

Soon, a chorus of snores rang out. The man and the tiger slept side by side beneath the shade of the trees. The snores echoed not only from the Tiger Vanguard's chest, but matching snores also came from Du Ruo, who was leaning against the beast. As their sleep deepened, the frequencies of their snoring even began to synchronize.

Over the next two days, Du Ruo and the Tiger Vanguard ate and slept together.

They hunted together and played together. Whenever the mood struck Du Ruo, he would spar with the Tiger Vanguard, though it was mostly playful roughhousing.

Of course, while Du Ruo treated it as play, it was hard to say whether the Tiger Vanguard felt the same. Whenever the beast openly lunged or swiped a paw at him, Du Ruo didn't mind, chalking it up to horseplay; but if the Tiger Vanguard tried any sudden sneak attacks, it invariably received a sound thrashing.

Occasionally, the two would sprint wildly through the forest together, sending the smaller woodland animals scattering in panic.

Naturally, they didn't run at full tilt like the first time. If Du Ruo grew tired of running, he would leap onto the Tiger Vanguard's back and let the beast carry him for a stretch.

By this point, Du Ruo had lost track of his whereabouts. Only occasionally did he turn on his phone every day to chat with Xiang Yuanyuan. When there was a signal, they video chatted; when the signal was too poor, Du Ruo would record a short video of himself playing with the Tiger Vanguard and send it to her.

Naturally, their conversations weren't one-sided. Xiang Yuanyuan would talk about the guesthouse's business, village affairs, or whatever delicious treats Du Ruo's mother had brought over for her.

Time flew by. Du Ruo had already spent nearly three days with the Tiger Vanguard, and their tracks could be found all over the forest. The only regret was that while Du Ruo had seen plenty of wildlife over these three days—roe deer, red deer, musk deer, various birds, and wild boars, which were frequent guests at their dining table—he had never once laid eyes on a bear. Whether it was due to differing territorial boundaries or something else, he simply never encountered one.

"Tiger Vanguard, it's time for me to go."

Early one morning, after waking up and checking the supplies in his backpack, Du Ruo patted the tiger's large head and said with a hint of reluctance.

The main reason was that his phone was out of power, and his power bank only had a single bar of battery left. If he didn't head out soon, he wouldn't even be able to use navigation, which would make finding his way out quite troublesome.

As for other supplies, only two bottles of medicinal wine remained; since they had eaten mostly meat over the past few days, the wine consumption had been minimal.

"Roar—"

The Tiger Vanguard didn't understand human speech. It shook its head, stretched its front legs forward to press against the ground, stretched its body, and let out a yawn.

"Forget it, no point talking to you. You're the truly carefree one."

Watching the comfortable and unbothered tiger, Du Ruo felt a genuine pang of reluctance. He gave the tiger's head one last rub, strapped his backpack on, plugged his phone into the power bank, turned it on, and began jogging in the direction of the nearest town.

"Awooo—"

Not until Du Ruo had run quite a distance did the Tiger Vanguard seem to snap to its senses, letting out a distant roar from afar.

"Heh, this fellow."

Du Ruo paused in his tracks for a moment, then quickened his pace again. He had no wish to disrupt the Tiger Vanguard's current free life, which was why he had never even considered bringing the beast out with him or anything of the sort.

Spotting a river not far ahead on his map, Du Ruo simply changed course toward it. Reaching the riverbank, he waded into the water and began running downstream, his feet splashing through the ice-cold, biting current.

He did this out of concern that the Tiger Vanguard might track him by his scent, using the flowing river water to wash away his trail—a way of avoiding any disruption to the tiger's untamed existence.

"Heh, chasing after me? The Tiger Vanguard is probably dying for me to leave."

Wading through the river, Du Ruo couldn't help looking back. He was already a considerable distance from where he had entered the water, and the spot was no longer visible.

"Awooo!!!"

What Du Ruo didn't know, however, was that the Tiger Vanguard had indeed tracked him all the way to the riverbank, and had even waded into the water to circle around for a bit. Only after confirming that Du Ruo's scent was completely lost did it return to the shore, throw back its head, and roar loudly. It paced about anxiously for a long while, but seeing no sign of Du Ruo's return, it finally turned and trotted back into the deep woods.

Walking in the shallows until the water grew deep, Du Ruo finally climbed ashore.

According to the navigation map, he had reached Yichun, which was over two hundred kilometers away from Gangzi Village.

Following the river further downstream, Du Ruo unexpectedly stumbled upon traces left by a black bear along the way.

Don't ask how Du Ruo knew they belonged to a black bear; it was because a conspicuous sign stood by the roadside, reading: "Black bears active in this area!!"

The warning was blindingly obvious. Combined with strips of bark stripped from tree trunks and massive footprints occasionally visible in the dirt, Du Ruo would have been a fool not to realize black bears were around.

"Never mind, I should go get some supplies first. Besides, I really need to clean myself up a bit given my current state."

After pondering for a moment, Du Ruo decided against hunting for a bear. What he needed now was to find a place for a decent meal, and if he could wash up and change clothes, that would be even better.

Counting the time he spent heading up the mountain with Dahua, Du Ruo had spent nearly a week in the wilds. Furthermore, when he first met the Tiger Vanguard, he had taken a kick from it, and coupled with their rough-and-tumble play, his clothes were already tattered in numerous places.

Add to that his stubbly face and unkempt hair, and he looked practically no different from a homeless vagrant.

No wonder Xiang Yuanyuan would occasionally stifle a giggle whenever they video-chatted.

With these thoughts in mind, Du Ruo checked his navigation app and found that he wasn't far from the urban area. At his pace, it would take him twenty-odd minutes to reach it, so he abandoned thoughts of detouring anywhere else and sprinted straight toward the city.

Fifteen minutes later, Du Ruo's phone completely died. He simply flagged down a taxi by the roadside and headed toward the commercial district.

Du Ruo planned to treat himself to a good meal and some drinks, buy some new clothes, and, if possible, find a bathhouse to have a thoroughly relaxing soak.

"Here we are. This is the busiest commercial street around. The commercial strip is right in the middle, the snack street is on the left, and there's a bar street over on the right, heh."

The taxi stopped by the curb, and the driver pointed out the directions, letting out a knowing chuckle at the end.

"Alright, thanks, driver."

Du Ruo took out some cash from his backpack and paid the fare.

He had kept this cash as a precaution against emergencies, knowing that running around in the mountains made losing, damaging, or running out of battery on a phone entirely possible.