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

Lu Qingshan's heart sank.

Ignoring the sharp pain in his shoulder and the tigress behind him who had just lowered her guard, he suddenly stood up, turned to face the direction from which the sound came, and stood like a wall, firmly blocking the cub from the dense forest.

"stop!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable penetrating power.

"Don't come any closer!"

Almost at the same moment he spoke, the tigress behind him, who had just lain down, also stood on end like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, its orange fur standing on end in an instant.

Its massive body arched sharply, and from deep within its throat, it once again let out that low roar that represented extreme danger and threat.

"roar--"

Those golden eyes, which had just lost their murderous intent, were once again filled with vigilance and savagery, locking onto the two figures that stumbled out of the woods.

The atmosphere in the forest instantly plummeted to freezing point.

Liu Dong and Zhang Chen rushed to within 30 meters of Lu Qingshan, but then their feet seemed to be nailed to the ground, unable to move forward even an inch.

They stopped.

It wasn't because of Lu Qingshan's orders.

Rather, it was because the scene before them had completely shattered all their understanding of the world.

Their captain, Lu Qingshan.

The man who was as powerful as a god in their hearts now had a huge tear in his right shoulder, his flesh and blood were a mess, and half of his clothes were soaked in blood.

He stood there like a guardian deity.

And behind him.

A... a magnificent tiger, even more robust than the horses that hauled timber in the forest, was staring intently at them. Its gaping maw was half-open, revealing its snow-white fangs, and the low growls from its throat made the air tremble.

Beneath the giant tiger, a tiger cub lay in a pool of blood, its wounds bandaged.

The whole scene is absurd, bizarre, and filled with a suffocating sense of oppression.

"Team... Captain..."

Liu Dong's lips were trembling. The semi-automatic rifle in his hand weighed over a thousand pounds, but he didn't even have the courage to raise the muzzle.

Zhang Chen's face was as white as a sheet of paper.

He had spent his entire life in the mountains, seen bears, and fought wild boar kings, but this "mountain god" before him was more terrifying than any legend he had ever heard.

What he couldn't understand the most was that his captain, the man covered in blood, was actually standing in front of the "Mountain God".

It's like... protecting it.

"Gulp."

Zhang Chen swallowed hard, his throat feeling like it was on fire.

"Captain Lu... you..."

He wanted to know what was going on.

But before he could even ask the question, what happened next completely silenced him.

Lu Qingshan did not turn around to look at them, nor did he offer a single word of explanation.

He simply turned slowly to the side, looking at the tigress who was already on the verge of attacking with a soothing gaze.

"Don't be afraid."

He spoke softly, his voice gentle, as if he were comforting a frightened child.

"One of our own."

Then, under the glares of Zhang Chen and Liu Dong, which were practically bulging out of their eyes, he made a move that they would never forget.

He extended his right hand, which was uninjured but still stained with blood and medicinal mud.

Slowly.

Firmly.

It was placed on the head of the giant tiger.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

Zhang Chen's breathing stopped.

Liu Dong's mind went blank.

They watched helplessly.

The king of beasts, capable of tearing everything in its path, hesitated for a second after Lu Qingshan's palm fell.

Then, its enormous head actually lowered slightly.

It gently and obediently rubbed the majestic "king" character on its forehead against the human's palm.

Like a spoiled cat.

"..."

Zhang Chen opened his mouth wide, but no sound came out.

He felt as if his skull had been cleaved open by a thunderbolt, and the worldview he had built up over a lifetime shattered into nothingness in that instant.

The gun in Liu Dong's hand fell to the ground with a clatter, but he was completely unaware of it.

In his eyes, besides endless shock, there was only an almost fanatical worship.

miracle.

This is a miracle!

Lu Qingshan ignored the two petrified team members behind him.

He turned around, his cold gaze sweeping across their faces.

"Now, you two, step back twenty meters and stand guard outside the woods."

His voice wasn't loud, and it even sounded weak from blood loss, but to Zhang Chen and Liu Dong, it was more majestic than the roar of the tiger from before.

"Keep everything you see and hear here today to yourself."

"Anyone who dares to utter a single word..."

He paused for a moment, his eyes turning icy cold.

"Don't blame me, Lu Qingshan, for turning my back on you."

The words fell.

Zhang Chen jolted awake, as if from a dream, and nodded heavily without thinking.

Liu Dong picked up the gun from the ground, stood at attention, and roared with all his might.

"Yes, Captain!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the two men, like soldiers who had received an imperial decree, stiffly retreated step by step into the dense forest and disappeared.

Only after confirming that the two had left did Lu Qingshan's tense nerves relax.

He squatted down again, the sharp pain in his shoulder causing him to groan involuntarily.

The tigress seemed to sense his discomfort and gently nudged his back with her massive head, making a gurgling sound in her throat as a sign of affection.

Lu Qingshan paid no attention to any of that; his gaze returned to the animal trap he had pried open and tossed aside.

He reached out and picked it up.

The iron clamp is very heavy, made of the finest steel, with an extremely precise structural design, and the spring has an astonishingly strong force.

"This is not something an ordinary hunter could have."

Lu Qingshan made a judgment in his mind.

He had never seen that eagle head mark before; it didn't seem to be the work of a blacksmith shop in the county or any of the nearby communes.

His gaze fell on the menacing serrations of the iron clamp.

There, he found a thin, dried, dark brown residue that could easily be mistaken for rust if not examined closely.

Lu Qingshan drew his hunting knife and carefully scraped off a tiny bit of powder with the tip.

He brought the tip of the knife to his nose and took a gentle sniff.

A strange smell, a mixture of decaying plants and a faint fishy odor, entered my nostrils.

His face instantly darkened.

"The sap of 'Upas tree' (a poisonous plant)..."

He recognized the taste.

In his past life, he had seen the most experienced hunters in the southern jungles use this deadly poison to deal with large beasts.

The amount of this poison is small and not enough to be fatal, but its most insidious aspect is that it can destroy the healing ability of flesh and blood.

Once injured by this poisoned iron clamp, the wound will continue to fester, become inflamed, and ooze pus until the prey dies from infection and pain.

"brute!"

Lu Qingshan cursed inwardly.

A terrible thought arose in his mind.

This group of people went to great lengths to acquire such military-grade animal traps and then used such vicious methods.

Their goal is far more than just a tiger skin or a tiger bone.

And then there's the top-secret ginseng harvesting map on Lei Dong's gang...

How many unknown secrets are hidden beneath this seemingly peaceful deep mountain forest?

Lu Qingshan's heart sank little by little.

He looked at the sleeping tiger cub beside him, its breathing steady, and then at the mother tiger quietly guarding him.

A decision quietly formed in his mind.

He wants to protect them.

It's not just to repay the kindness of the tiger king in my previous life who guided me on the path to enlightenment.

Furthermore, he vaguely sensed that the existence of this tiger king was closely related to the deepest secret of this mountain forest.

Protecting it is protecting your own future path.

The tigress seemed to sense the change in Lu Qingshan's aura.

It lay quietly beside the cub, extending its huge, barbed tongue to gently lick its child's forehead again and again.

Its gaze toward Lu Qingshan was no longer wary or violent, but rather gentle and tender.

Lu Qingshan knew.

From that moment on, he and the king of beasts shared a tacit understanding and covenant that transcended species and required no words.

He stood up, stretched his numb legs, and prepared to lead his team back to camp.

We can't stay in this place any longer.

Zhang Chen and Liu Dong must be kept completely away from this place of trouble.

Just as he turned to leave.

The tigress slowly stood up as well.

It did not stop him.

She simply gave him a deep look with those golden eyes.

Then, it stepped forward and gently nudged in one direction with its head.

A peculiar, urging growl emanated from his throat.

Lu Qingshan was stunned.

He looked in the direction the Tiger King indicated.

It was a dark path he had never traveled before, hidden by dense bushes and vines, leading to the deeper, unknown heart of Tiger King Ridge.

"..."

Lu Qingshan looked at the path, then at the tigress who was urging him on, and an inconceivable thought popped into his mind.

This is...

Where should I take myself?