My sister broke off her engagement to marry someone richer? My older sister married me and became in

The intermittent, mournful cries sounded as if something had covered their mouths, suppressed and painful, yet tinged with a hint of unwilling anger.

In this deathly silent forest, this sound was the only sign of life, and the only alarm.

Lu Qingshan immediately stopped and listened intently.

"What's that noise?" he muttered to himself, his voice extremely low.

"It doesn't sound like a wolf howling, nor like a bear's call..."

He followed the direction from which the sound came, lowering his body even further and taking extremely light steps, each step precisely landing on the thick fallen leaves or hard rocks, avoiding making any unnecessary noise.

The further you go, the more strange the smell in the air becomes.

He stopped and sniffed hard.

"The smell of blood..."

Lu Qingshan frowned, his expression turning serious. "It's very thick; it looks like a lot of blood has been lost."

Besides the smell of blood, there was another odor mixed in.

A unique, powerful odor with a strong, pungent smell.

Lu Qingshan was very familiar with this smell; it was the smell left behind by top predators when they patrolled their territories, a symbol of power and status.

"It's a big guy."

He made his decision, and his heart was in his throat.

He knew he was approaching an extremely dangerous entity.

Suddenly, the mournful cry abruptly stopped.

It didn't stop gradually; it was like someone grabbed your neck and snapped it suddenly.

The entire forest instantly fell into an even more thorough and suffocating silence than before.

The wind stopped, and the leaves ceased to rustle. The birds fell silent, and even the most annoying chirping of insects vanished completely.

An invisible weight pressed down on Lu Qingshan's shoulders, making every step he took incredibly heavy. He felt as if he had stepped into another world, a realm shrouded by some powerful will.

He stopped behind a boulder about half his height. The gruesome scar on his left arm began to throb without warning, sending waves of tingling and numbness through him. This was his body sending him its most direct warning—extreme danger.

At that very moment, a gaze filled with chilling killing intent, like an invisible steel needle, pierced straight from the depths of the dense forest less than a hundred meters ahead, locking onto him firmly.

Lu Qingshan's muscles tensed instantly, but he forced himself not to look up, or even make any attempt to do so.

He remained in a low, stealthy position, motionless, using only the corner of his eye to scan the area in front of him extremely slowly, inch by inch.

About fifty meters away, under a huge red pine tree that requires two people to hug.

A striking orange and black stripe lay there quietly.

Its body blends almost seamlessly with the surrounding autumn leaves, making it extremely difficult to spot unless you are specifically looking for it.

But at that moment, two lanterns lit up from beneath the camouflage.

Two golden pupils, gleaming with a chilling murderous intent, lit up in the shadows of the forest.

Siberian tiger.

An adult Siberian tiger, much larger than he had imagined.

Lu Qingshan's heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, causing it to contract sharply.

He did not raise his gun.

He didn't even have the thought of touching the butt of the gun.

His past experiences of teetering on the brink of life and death countless times told him that at this distance, facing the king of beasts of this caliber, any threatening action was tantamount to a declaration of war.

Once war breaks out, in this territory that completely belongs to it, it has no chance of winning whatsoever.

He slowly, almost at a standstill, took the old-fashioned double-barreled shotgun off his back, inch by inch.

Every movement was slowed down as if it had been slowed down countless times, for fear that even the slightest sound might upset the other person.

A tingling, numb sensation emanated from the wound on his left arm, as if constantly reminding him that his body was not at its peak.

He gently placed the shotgun on the ground in front of him, then pushed it forward with his fingertips, away from his body, to show that he had completely surrendered.

After doing all this, he slowly raised his hands, palms facing forward, completely open, using this most primitive way to show the king of the forest that he had no weapons and no hostility.

"Ho—"

From deep within the tiger's throat came a low, rumbling roar, like muffled thunder.

The sound wasn't loud, but it had a strange penetrating power, making Lu Qingshan's eardrums buzz and even his chest resonate.

It slowly stood up from the ground.

Only at this moment did Lu Qingshan truly see its full picture.

too big.

He couldn't help but curse inwardly.

This tiger was a whole size larger than the 600-pound black bear king he had previously hunted to the death.

The smooth muscle lines bulged beneath the glossy fur, every part exuding an explosive sense of power.

It simply stood there, and its innate majesty made everything around it pale in comparison.

Especially the clearly defined "王" (king) character on his forehead adds an air of unassailable dominance.

Its back arches slowly, forming a powerful arc.

The tail, thicker than Lu Qingshan's arm, stretched straight behind him like a taut steel whip.

This is the final signal that an attack is about to be launched.

Lu Qingshan felt a chill run down his spine, and cold sweat instantly soaked his clothes.

He knew that he was only one thought away from death.

At this critical juncture, when life and death hung in the balance...

"Waaah...waaah..."

That faint, suppressed wail rang out again, more painful and more helpless than before.

This time, Lu Qingshan heard it clearly; the sound came from behind the giant tiger.

He keenly grasped this point.

As the mother tiger slowly stood up, a small tiger cub lying on the fallen leaves, its body twitching uncontrollably, was revealed beneath its broad and heavy body.

The tiger cub was only the size of a house cat, with yellow fur that still had the soft texture of baby fur. It looked like it hadn't been born long, and it even seemed to wobble when it stood up.

Breaking point!

The thought flashed through Lu Qingshan's mind.

His gaze was fixed on the tiger cub, forcing himself to ignore the mother tiger that might pounce at any moment, trying to see what was happening.

The next second, his pupils suddenly contracted.

The cub's left forepaw was clamped tightly by a huge, rusty, and jagged iron trap.

The steel clamp was deeply embedded in the tender flesh, leaving a bloody mess around it.

The white bones were clearly visible, and you could even see the scratches caused by the saw teeth on the bones.

Blood had stained the thick layer of fallen leaves beneath it a dark red, and it was still seeping down drop by drop.

"Damn it!"

Lu Qingshan cursed under his breath, "This is a trap set by poachers!"

Moreover, it's the most vicious and ruthless kind of creature, specifically designed to deal with black bears and wild boars.

In an instant, Lu Qingshan understood everything.

The overwhelming murderous aura and hostility emanating from this tigress, and her restless and agitated emotions, were not at all due to the fact that her territory had been invaded by a mere human.

It is a mother's despair, anger, and helplessness as she watches her child being tortured and his life slowly slip away.

It stopped itself, not because it wanted to kill.

Instead, they are protecting.

With its last strength, it protected its young, preventing any creature from approaching.

perhaps……

It was also in its own way sending a final, silent cry for help to this creature that had suddenly intruded and was the only one that might bring about change.

Lu Qingshan looked at the tiger cub convulsing in pain, its life force growing weaker and weaker, and then at the mother tiger in the distance, whose eyes were filled with despair, wariness, and savagery.

A crazy idea quickly formed in his mind and could no longer be contained.

Save it!

We must save it!

Lu Qingshan took a deep breath, and the fear and tension in his chest were replaced by a stronger and more primal determination.

He no longer backed down, no longer showed weakness.

He slowly straightened up, and then took his first step toward the king of beasts, who could tear him to pieces at any moment.

This step crosses the boundary between life and death.

It also bridges the invisible, suspicious chasm between humans and beasts.