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墨書 Inktalez
They walked for half a day in the jungle, encountering many rare plants and animals. However, Topology, who lived in the desert, failed to recognize any of them. Finally, he identified one species, but it was the fierce and bloodthirsty South China Tiger!
At that moment, Xin Yi asked, "Elder, what should we do? Should we kill it or hide?" Xin Yi was not afraid of the South China Tiger; with the weapons they had, killing a tiger was not particularly difficult. The key was the opinion of Yanming Shop Elder. Those who frequently traverse jungles often develop a sense of reverence for certain things within them, which is quite normal and can be traced back to totem worship in some cultures. From Yanming Shop Elder's expression upon seeing the South China Tiger, Xin Yi could guess that it was more a look of devotion than panic; such an expression is typically seen on the faces of believers.
Indeed, Yanming Shop Elder said, "We must not kill this South China Tiger! It is the Jungle God. Offending it will bring punishment from the jungle. While it is still calm, we should quickly take a detour and avoid provoking its divine might." After speaking, Yanming Shop Elder muttered a few words in his native language. Xin Yi and the others did not understand him, but his demeanor suggested he was apologizing to the South China Tiger, whom he referred to as the Jungle God. After finishing his apology, he turned and walked in another direction.
The group followed him to take a detour. Xin Yi brought up the rear and cautiously disengaged the safety on his Type 79 submachine gun, setting it to automatic fire while carefully watching the South China Tiger behind the bushes. However, strangely enough, as they moved away, the South China Tiger also emerged from behind the bushes and began to follow them closely, clearly considering them as potential prey and waiting for an opportune moment to pounce for its delicious lunch.
Seeing that the South China Tiger showed no signs of giving up on them, Xin Yi called out to Yanming Shop Elder ahead, "Elder, it seems your apology was not accepted. Perhaps it's just too hungry and intends to make us its meal. This won't do; we can't let it follow us like this. If we're not careful and it seizes an opportunity, I doubt it will show mercy."
Yanming Shop Elder turned around to look at the massive South China Tiger and said, "Let's climb a tree and hide for a while. We must not hunt it; angering the Jungle God will lead to punishment."
"Alright then, you all go up first; I'll hold it off for a bit," Xin Yi said as he aimed his Type 79 submachine gun at the direction of the South China Tiger. The others found a large tree nearby and climbed up. As Roxy reached the lowest branch of the tree, she called out to Xin Yi urgently, "Xin Yi! Hurry up!"
At this moment, the South China Tiger clearly recognized this as a rare hunting opportunity. Such ferocious carnivores prefer to attack when their prey is isolated. They would first scatter groups of prey before targeting weaker individuals that have strayed from their pack. Now that everyone else was in the tree and only Xin Yi remained on the ground, the South China Tiger had evidently singled him out as its isolated target and was about to spring into action.
The South China Tiger dashed out from behind the bushes and began sprinting toward Xin Yi's direction. Its run had an acceleration phase; it did not instantly reach full speed but rather took a short distance to build momentum before leaping several meters once its speed increased sufficiently. Roxy saw that the South China Tiger was charging toward Xin Yi and shouted anxiously from her perch in the tree, "Quick! Xin Yi! Get up here! It's coming for you!"
Xin Yi had also noticed the movement of the South China Tiger. Since Yanming Shop Elder had warned against killing this Jungle God, his only option was to climb up into the tree quickly. Without hesitation, he turned around and sprinted toward where everyone was hiding in that large tree. At this moment, he could care less about making a grand entrance; he poured all his strength into reaching the tree. Each leap covered several meters of distance; he matched pace with the tiger in their deadly chase—twenty meters, ten meters, five meters... Xin Yi was now very close to that large tree while behind him, the South China Tiger was only about twenty meters away.
As Xin Yi leaped forward to grab a branch of a nearby small tree in preparation to climb up before transferring to the larger tree above him—time was pressing and climbing directly onto such a thick trunk would be difficult—he unexpectedly found that branch could not support his weight. With a loud crack, it broke under him, leaving only a small piece connected by bark that could snap at any moment. At this point, Xin Yi's body was just over a meter off the ground; with a slight lift of its front paw, the South China Tiger could easily reach him.
The others in the tree were stunned by this sudden turn of events; now there were only about ten meters between Xin Yi's precarious branch and the tiger below him—just two leaps away from bringing him down—and with Xin Yi hanging helplessly in mid-air without any other support points available. At that moment, as if sensing victory within reach, the South China Tiger lunged forward another step—just one step away from reaching Xin Yi.
In this critical moment, gunfire suddenly erupted with urgency; bullets kicked up dust on the ground before the South China Tiger. The tiger's momentum faltered abruptly as it seemed startled by this unexpected sound of gunfire—it turned out Roxy had fired her weapon in desperation but had not aimed directly at killing the tiger; she merely intended to disrupt its assault on Xin Yi. The tiger had been poised to capture its prey but suddenly recoiled at the sound of gunfire and angrily turned its head toward where it originated.
At that moment, Roxy leaped down from her perch in a sudden move while waving her arms and shouting loudly, "Come here! Over here!"
The South China Tiger, as the Jungle God, had never been so mocked and belittled before, prompting it to abandon Xin Yi and charge at Roxy. Upon seeing Roxy using herself as bait to divert the South China Tiger's attack, Xin Yi realized that if he didn't shoot the tiger now, Roxy would surely perish. This South China Tiger was nothing like the Clouded Leopard; in terms of size, speed, and strength, it was ten times more formidable. Without a gun, Roxy stood no chance against it. At that moment, it seemed Roxy had already resigned herself to being killed by the South China Tiger and had no intention of using her weapon. Xin Yi couldn't bear the thought of Roxy sacrificing her life to save him; at this point, he didn't care what kind of Jungle God it was—he would take it down regardless! He let go of the nearly broken branch he was holding and dropped to the ground, raising his Type 79 submachine gun and firing a burst at the tiger's rear. Blood erupted from the beast's backside as it let out a long howl that pierced the air, causing leaves to fall around them. However, despite being hit, the tiger was tough-skinned and did not collapse; instead, it continued its charge toward Roxy. The tiger's ferocity had been fully ignited; a burst of bullets to its rear was far from fatal. Perhaps it thought like a human—wanting to take someone down with it in its final moments—completely disregarding its own injury as it lunged at Roxy.
At this point, Xin Yi dared not fire again because the South China Tiger was now very close to Roxy. From his angle, any bullet fired could hit her instead. There was no time to switch the submachine gun to single shot mode; Xin Yi could only shout loudly, "Shoot! Quickly shoot!" This call was directed at both Roxy and the three people in the tree. If any one of them could shoot and kill the South China Tiger in time, they could save Roxy's life. Yet Roxy smiled faintly; she had intended to sacrifice herself for Xin Yi's sake. It wasn't out of compassion that she hesitated to shoot the South China Tiger but because Yanming Shop Elder, who had been invited by Xin Yi as their jungle guide, had repeatedly warned against killing the tiger. If she disregarded his advice and shot it, she might provoke this elderly man who held an unwavering devotion to the Jungle God. If he threw a fit and abandoned them, whether they could escape this vast jungle with just a few people was uncertain. Wouldn't that jeopardize Xin Yi's situation? Ultimately, Roxy wanted to avoid causing trouble for Xin Yi; for such a trivial purpose, she could even forsake her own life.
However, when Xin Yi urged her to shoot, it proved that in his heart, her life was not insignificant; at least it mattered more than offending Yanming Shop Elder. This warmed Roxy's heart. Last night, when she learned that it was Xin Yi who had thrown knives from behind to injure that leopard and saved her life, she felt lost. Previously, while with Xin Yi, she had been immersed in her own fantasies; but from that moment last night onward, those illusions shattered completely. She had always believed she disguised herself well—that in Xin Yi's eyes she was merely a doctoral student in architectural design with half Heavenly Pride blood—but last night she realized that perhaps Xin Yi knew much more than she imagined. He might have even known about her identity and her intentions for getting close to him all along. Yet he hadn't done anything against her; instead, he saved her life. Why did he do that? And what should she do next? She felt confused.
Now there was an opportunity for her to sacrifice herself for Xin Yi's life; she saw this as a form of relief—forget about missions or conspiracies or guilt or any unclear feelings… let them all dissipate with her death! In that moment, Roxy understood that sometimes death could be so easy.
So she wouldn't shoot; she didn't want to shoot. The gaping maw and sharp fangs of the South China Tiger seemed much cleaner than this filthy mortal world…
Roxy smiled as she closed her eyes; knowing that she wasn't so insignificant in his heart was enough for her…
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