Chapter 530. Starving Tiger (1/2)

Zhu Hanwen scrunched up his little face and stared at his prey. He slowly pulled back the bow in his hands and placed an arrow on the string; he was about to shoot...

Suddenly, the badger raised its head up alertly and its tiny eyes quickly looked around it. Its fur stood up and it scampered into the nearby bushes at a surprising speed, disappearing into the forest.

“Darn it!” Zhu Hanwen lowered his bow and went a couple step forwards in the direction that the badger had disappeared. He stamped his feet in annoyance, “An animal’s perception of danger is too strong ah! This prince was so far away but I still ended up scaring it...”

Yu Xiaocao smiled and was about to say a few words in comfort when the smile congealed on her face. A sense of crisis blossomed in her heart, stifling her completely. There was something wrong! The area around them was too quiet, as if they were in a pool of stagnant water. She wasn't sure when the birds stopped chirping but even the crickets singing in the bushes had gone silent. She could smell a faint fishy scent in the air. Danger was approaching them!!

“Imperial Highness, there’s something wrong with this area, let’s…” She was just about to call the imperial prince back to leave when she suddenly saw the fierce eyes of a starving tiger appear right behind Zhu Hanwen.

“What’s the matter? That silly look on your face is not enough to scare me!” The eldest imperial prince hadn’t seemed to have sensed that danger was here. He grinned happily at Xiaocao and made a funny face at her.

“Eldest Imperial Prince, please do not move and do not look back!” Yu Xiaocao was very clear that making any sudden or frantic movements would only provoke the animal at this point and cause it to attack. At this moment, that tiger seemed to be fixedly watching the imperial prince, as if it was trying to calculate the best timing to spring its attack on its prey.

Yu Xiaocao couldn’t be bothered to wonder why a fierce tiger had suddenly appeared in the safest area in the hunting grounds. Right now, she was entirely preoccupied with trying to figure out how to save the eldest imperial prince’s life. She had been ordered to protect him. If the eldest imperial prince encountered any misfortune, then her head was forfeit too!

She silently ground her teeth and gave a pointed look at the imperial prince, who was starting to look nervous. Then she waved a hand at the giant tiger behind him and screeched, “Evil beast! If you have the skills, come for me! This young maiden is not afraid of you ah!”

It was obvious that the tiger had been starving for a long time. Its belly was deflated and shriveled looking and the fur on its body had long lost its usual glorious luster. Its pair of fierce looking eyes were full of bloodlust. Prey that was moving around was naturally more interesting than something that wasn’t. The blood-shot eyes of the hungry tiger moved from the prince to Xiaocao. However, it seemed not to be very interested in the thin and small Xiaocao and started to turn its attention back to the plump and sturdy prince again.

Yu Xiaocao bent down to pick up a rock and flung it at the large tiger. She had used her inner focus for this throw and accurately hit the starving animal on its head. Yu Xiaocao then deliberately jumped a few times in a provoking manner and screamed at it, “Stinky tiger, come here ah! Come bite me ah!!”

That tiger was truly infuriated now. It leapt up like lightning and sped over towards her. Under the clear signal from Xiaocao, the eldest imperial prince let his bow fall to the ground and fell down with his hands on his head. He could feel the tiger barely brush over him and the scent of the beast’s odor hit him straight in the nose. He stared at the rampaging beast and was so scared that his teeth immediately started to chatter.

A tiger! A giant tiger! Although this tiger was quite thin, it was still at least two meters long in length. Just its tail alone had to be one meter long and its head was as large as a millstone! Zhu Hanwen felt his body tremble involuntarily. A few times, he attempted to pick up his bow from the ground to save Official Yu but his hands didn’t seem to want to listen to him and hung stiffly by his side.

Zhu Hanwen started to cry in frustration. What should he do? Official Yu had lured the tiger away to save him. If it wasn’t for Official Yu deliberately provoking the animal, he would have long become a finished snack in the tiger’s jaws. He couldn’t just do nothing and run away, leaving Official Yu to die. That was the conduct of a coward. He didn’t want to be tormented by his cowardly actions for the rest of his life.

“Someone come ah!” Someone come ah! Save us——save us ah——” Zhu Hanwen realized that using his toy-like bow alone was not enough to fight against a fierce tiger. He could only hope that his two bodyguards weren’t too far away and could come back in time.

As for Yu Xiaocao, when she saw the tiger had taken the bait to follow her, she was hurriedly running in a direction away from the eldest imperial prince. She was hoping that the prince would be smart and find a safe place to hide while she led the animal away. There wasn't enough time for him to find reinforcements! She could only pray that she would survive this!

[Lie down!!] The little divine stone’s voice echoed in her mind and she immediately fell onto the ground. The tiger just barely missed scratching her head as it leapt towards her previous position. Before her mind could realize what was happening, her body had already reacted and she was climbing up from the ground to charge in another direction. She had never known that her body had this strength inside it and that she could run so fast when she needed to.

However, no matter how fast she ran, she was no match for a tiger with four sturdy legs. The angry howls of the tiger were close behind her and she could smell the rotten fishy scent of its breath. She knew that the tiger’s jaws were only seconds away from her. So screwed! The bushes in front of her were blocking her way and the danger behind her was quickly approaching. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place now and she could feel the God of Death just waiting for her.

Was this the end of her? Was the purpose of her transmigrating over to this world to use her life to save the life of a little brat? It must really hurt to be bitten to death by a tiger right? She could only hope the tiger would kill her in one blow so she wouldn’t have to experience the suffering of being torn apart alive.

Would Zhu Junyang fall into a frenzy when he saw her ravaged corpse? Then who would stop him then? Sir Su seemed like a very skilled expert but she wasn’t sure if he’d be able to subdue Zhu Junyang.