Chapter 165 The Hillside Hun (2/2)
Lin Feng and Chongxi trailed at my heels, trotting swiftly along. Just then, a blob of malicious presence darted down towards us, coming near and nearer and I almost expected to see a dark and hulking silhouette emerging from the hazy veil of the noxious mist at any time. We could not help slowing down to a walk, and the tiger seemed to have reduced its speed suddenly; clearly, it found us.
We paced warily through the fog-shrouded undergrowth. Before long, I could make out the massive and sinewy frame of a carnivorous beast of prey, and the sleek, black coat of a black tiger! It saw us and bared its teeth at us in a vicious snarl, and pounced suddenly, aiming for me who was standing at the center. Lin Feng darted forward with a leap, unleashing his Twin Kicks technique. There was a loud and muffled thud, before Lin Feng and the tiger crashed to the ground together!
The brief exchange was met with a sudden and surprised ”Ah?!” from me. Lin Feng spun and somersaulted to his feet, and so did the tiger, which flipped itself up with frightening agility, despite its massive girth. Chongxi circled around them with a stone set in his slingshot, preparing to fire when he asked, ”What did you see, Shiyan? Did you notice anything?” I nodded and barked at Lin Feng, ”There's something different about this tiger, Lin Feng!” Lin Feng and the tiger circled around one another, prowling and alert like a matador and a raging bull ready to charge. ”Yeah, I noticed that too. What should I do now?” He yelled.
At the exact moment when Lin Feng kicked out at the tiger, I could have sworn that I heard the sound of his foot slamming against the strong and brawny torso of the tiger. Since the very beginning of this battle, the minions that we had encountered did not have corporeal forms of their own. Unlike the huge hound familiars and humanoid golems which would have crumbled into dust at the slightest impact, the tiger did not disintegrate when he was struck by Lin Feng's Twin Kicks technique, as if it was an actual real tiger!
The tiger grew impatient at Lin Feng's hesitation, and gave a deafening roar, before it lunged at him! Lin Feng swung his whip at the beast and split its skull with an echoing crack that reverberated through the woods around us. It was a stroke that could have even halved a rock too, never mind the head of an animal. The tiger's head split like a smashed watermelon, as it tumbled to the ground, very much dead than alive! Behind them, Chongxi and I breathed easily, at last, relieved that the fight was over.
We formed behind Lin Feng, who crouched down to examine the carcass. But what we saw made us dumbstruck with shock. The carcass of the dead tiger was rotting rapidly, decaying with such speed that it turned into dark soot in no time, before a light breeze came and whisked it all away in scuds of dark fume-like tendrils that whipped through the dark, hazy forest. We shared long, dark looks among ourselves, clearly unsettled and shaken by what we had just seen!
Chongxi was the first to break out of the stupor. He stomped his foot and cursed, ”Dammit! That's impossible!” Then he turned and took the lead, sprinting uphill! Lin Feng looked at me and our eyes met. Without so much as a nod, we took off, hurrying after him. The humid air in the forest did little to dry my slick back, now wet with cold sweat, as I yanked off the cork of my Spirit Gourd to draw in the noxious haze around us, while keeping up the pace to run towards the direction where we last heard Edelweiss's horse!
The miasmic fog around us began to thin and our visibility gradually increased. Before long, we finally saw Edelweiss! She was still galloping around on her horse, fighting furiously with another man who was also riding on horseback, with a strong and brutish destrier between his legs, while brandishing a weapon to fight against Edelweiss!
The air near the peak of the hill rang with the sounds of their swords clashing. Edelweiss jerked at her reins and squeezed her legs, willing her horse to dart forward to meet her foe. But she was not alone; the stranger steered his horse around and charged at her headfirst too. He raised his arm and I finally saw clearly what he held in his hands – a small wooden bow with some arrows!
Yet no matter how fast we ran, there was simply no way we could reach her in time. I frantically yelled at the top of my lungs, my arms reaching forward in vain, ”STOP!”