"Six-four. I get six, you guys get four," said Long Huang resolutely.
"Okay,"
Xin Fei answered. The other Xin disciples remained silent, too wary of Long Huang's strength to respond. Long Huang nodded to himself. Giving away 40% of the rewards was a smart move on Xin Fei's part.
Firstly, he lacked the tools to cut or move the entire corpse since his storage pouch was almost full, so he let the others handle it. Secondly, he did not want to create too many enemies before he had enough power.
If he kept the entire reward for himself, wouldn't that just make the others jealous? He then collected his share and leaped away, leaving the Xin family members on their own.
"We could have taken him, Xin Fei," said Xin Xi. But Xi Fei replied,
"Did you not notice he didn't use any combat art when fighting you?"
"With such strength and his rate, he'll be at the top of the martial competition in a few months."
"Plus, it's better to gain a friend than to gain an enemy." Hearing what Xin Fei said, they all agreed.
"Alright, that's enough, let's head back to the city," said Xin Fei. They all then turned a headed in the direction leading to the City. Meanwhile, Long Huang was rushing through the forest with wild excitement.
"Holy shit! In just a couple of days, I've racked up more money than I've ever imagined in my life."
"HAHAA"
"I can finally live comfortably."
Long Huang thought, as he reflected on both his past life as a broke engineering college kid and his current one. He arrived at his camp and cooked some meat soup using various wild beasts.
After enjoying a hearty meal, Long Huang headed towards a creek he had discovered a day after entering the Sky Cloud Forest. While bathing, he thought back to the survival series he had watched with his girlfriend in his previous world.
"This is so easy; why did they make it seem so hard?"
"But it is a bit lonely, not gonna lie"
As he thought this, his expression changed as he realized he had barely thought of his girlfriend since coming to this world. Although they had only been dating for a month, he had truly cared for her and was a bit obsessed with her, as she was the closest thing to family.
"I wonder if she ever thinks of me," Long Huang said, his eyes filled with self-pity as he gazed at the stars in the beautiful night sky.
"I wish she were here."
He regretted dying so young, having just begun to live life after leaving the orphanage. When Long Huang awoke in his infant body, he thought he had a chance for a fresh start and possibly a family.
However, he soon found himself alone again. Thankfully, Huang Peng and Su Yan helped raise him, as he struggled to feel a sense of belonging in this world or his last. Luckily, the Huang family became his anchor.
"Enough moping."
Shaking off these thoughts, Long Huang finished his bath and returned to his tent. Exhausted from the day's events, Long Huang headed to bed for the night.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a shadowy figure darted by, not far from Long Huang's tent. Long Huang was oblivious to the fact that for the past few days, this figure had been observing him and was the reason no wild or demon beasts had bothered him at night. The creature's golden eyes showed curiosity as it looked at his tent.
The next morning, on the horizon, as the sun rose and crept through the dense forest leaves, while staining the vast sky with a shade of reddish-orange.
"Oh, this is what I live for."
Long Huang said, admiring the morning sky.
"Alright, today we find a Red Tiger so I can learn this damned combat art," he declared.
He packed up his camp and ventured deeper into the forest in search of the Red Tiger.
Applying some tracking methods he learned in his sect's youth classes, Long Huang found tiger paw prints that were smaller than those of the Green Eye Tiger King, but he wasn't sure what kind of tiger it was. Suddenly,
ROOOOOOOOOOAAARRRRR!!!
A roar echoed in the distance, and sure enough, thirty meters away,
"Hell yeah!!"
"Better be a Red Tiger."
As Long Huang approached the direction of the roar, he spotted a majestic tiger with vibrant red fur, white strips, and ruby red eyes gleaming under the sun. It stood boldly against a pack of white-horned wolves, its aura one of unyielding pride.
"HAHHAHAHAH"
"If I'm not the son of fortune, I'm suing for defamation." Long Huang, perched on a nearby rock, watched with bated breath as the fight began to unfold.
The wolves, their pristine white coats shimmering against the verdant backdrop of the forest, darted around the tiger with a feral grace, their horns glinting menacingly as they circled their formidable foe.
With every growl and snarl, the tension thickened in the air.
ROOOOOOOOARRRR!!!!!
The Red Tiger unleashed a thunderous roar, the sound echoing through the trees like a call to battle. Each roar reverberated with a mixture of defiance and fury, a testament to its spirit.
It lunged forward, powerful muscles coiling and releasing in a fluid motion, claws extended, aiming to catch the nearest wolf.
The lead wolf, agile and cunning, quickly dodged to the side, its horn barely grazing the tiger's flank. The Red Tiger winced but didn't falter, spinning around just in time to face another wolf that lunged in with bared teeth.
Swoosh!! BOOM!
A swift swipe of its massive paw sent the wolf sprawling, yelping in surprise.
Looking towards the scene unfolding in front of him. Long Huang couldn't discern the cause of the conflict, but the fierce struggle between predator and pack held him entranced.
The wolf pack, sensing the shift in momentum, rallied together, coordinating their attacks with a strategy honed through countless hunts. One wolf feigned an assault from the left, while another darted in from the right, forcing the Red Tiger to split its attention, while another attacked from behind.
Boom!
The Red Tiger whipped out its tail, sending the wolf attacking from behind flying.
With a sharp snap of its jaws, the tiger caught another one of the wolves by the scruff, shaking it like a rag doll before letting it go. The remaining wolves hesitated for a moment, but hunger and hatred drove them on.
They pressed in, a blur of white fur and flashing horns, hoping to overwhelm the tiger with sheer numbers.
Just as the tide seemed to turn, the Red Tiger leaped onto a large boulder, using the higher ground to its advantage. It scanned the pack, eyes glinting with determination, before launching itself into the fray once more, a magnificent display of strength and agility.
"Should I help?"
Long Huang wrestled with his instincts. He felt the urge to jump in and assist the majestic creature, to turn the tide of this brutal struggle.
Yet, as he observed the Red Tiger's fierce resilience, dealing blow after blow amidst the chaos, he opted to stay back, his heart torn between the thrill of battle and the respect for the natural order unfolding before him.
The fight raged on, an intricate dance of power and survival, with the forest itself holding its breath, watching to see who would emerge victorious.
Blood stained the forest floor as the Red Tiger clawed its way through the wolves one by one. The fight seemed to last forever until the alpha wolf howled for the pack to retreat and regroup.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!!!
The Red Tiger roared with pride, having survived this ordeal.
Seizing a rare opportunity, Long Huang watched intently, etching the scene into his memory. Once he confirmed that the white-horned wolves had truly left, the Red Tiger began to move away.
Whoosh!
Just as it was about to leave the scene, a branch flew out and pierced its head.
"Headshot!"
Long Huang exclaimed, grinning from a nearby tree.
Then chuckled and thought to himself
"Haha, I should really use a bow and arrow; my marksmanship is peak."
He then inspected the Red Tiger, committing every detail to memory. Looking into its eyes, he saw a mix of defiance and unfairness, having just won a battle but lost the war.
"He may not have been as strong as the Green-Eyed Tiger King, but his pride is comparable."
Long Huang thought, feeling a twinge of regret for killing the Red Tiger. Yet, he reasoned, with its wounds, it was likely to die soon, better by his hand than at the jaws of the wolves, which would be a humiliating end.
"I'm sorry."
"But it's better to die by my hands than at theirs," he murmured to the corpse.