Chapter 51: Tiger’s Cruelty Devouring Its Child

Li Si saw that this tiger seemed extremely familiar with the cliff face. After a few leaps on the cliff wall, it landed on that platform.

“Roar!” Seeing the tiger spirit’s miserable state, the tiger let out an emotional roar, taking a few steps to the tiger spirit’s side and licking its head with its tongue.

“Roar!” The tiger spirit growled lowly, also licking the tiger’s fur with its tongue.

This scene made Li Si’s heart ache a bit. These tigers actually had such deep mother-child affection, a kind of emotion Li Si had never experienced in his life.

For a moment, he hesitated about his decision. Did he really need to fight them to the death?

However, before Li Si could make a decision, a sudden painful roar came from below the cliff, then quickly disappeared.

Li Si’s heart jolted. He looked down and saw a scene that made his hair stand on end. The tiger spirit had taken advantage of the tiger licking it to bite off the tiger’s neck in one bite.

Seeing this, Li Si felt his body tremble, his grip on the Black Sword becoming unsteady. He wasn’t sure if it was due to his injuries or because of witnessing this horrifying scene.

The tiger spirit slowly released its blood-filled maw from the tiger’s neck, looking at Li Si on the cliff with cold eyes, then lowered its head to devour the tiger’s corpse.

Li Si felt a chill all over his body and couldn’t help but ask, “If you can eat your own child, why did you seek revenge for another child before?”

Hearing Li Si’s words, the tiger spirit paused its feeding. Then it raised its head, staring at Li Si. The blood-covered tiger head’s mouth corners twitched, revealing a strange smile. Then, ignoring Li Si, it lowered its head and continued eating.

Li Si understood. When this tiger was still a beast, it only thought about revenge. After becoming a monster creature, it thought about more things.

And monster creatures don’t understand benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust. Thinking more doesn’t lead to good thoughts.

Li Si suddenly laughed. He now understood that beasts will always be beasts, they can never become human. He also found his earlier hesitation amusing. Perhaps that was weakness born from seeing the familial affection he never had.

At the same time, this incident also served as a warning to Li Si. In the future, when dealing with these monsters and ghost creatures, he must not show mercy.

Because if he showed mercy, he might be the one to die.

How could he have sympathized with a monster creature?

After that, Li Si didn’t bother with these thoughts anymore. He continued to release Xiao Duan, letting him fetch water to cook.

He was determined to wear out this tiger spirit, to definitely kill this bastard thing!

He inwardly steeled his resolve!

…

Fengmen County, a quarter past the Hour of Dog (5 PM).

A sturdy boy looked at the still tightly closed gate, his eyes revealing a trace of contemplation, then he ran away.

He ran for several streets, entering a dirty alley, arriving in front of a dilapidated hut.

“Hey, Meng’er, tired from playing and came back?” A middle-aged woman who was sewing clothes saw the boy and stopped her needlework, calling out joyfully.

Seeing this middle-aged woman, the boy said somewhat shyly, “Hello, Aunt.”

Seeing Cao Meng like this, the middle-aged woman smiled and said, “You child, you’re about to…”

“Meng’er, you’re back!” Before the middle-aged woman could finish, a voice interrupted her.

A man in tight-fitting clothes walked out of the house, smiling.

“Hello, Uncle Luo,” Cao Meng looked at this middle-aged man, opening his mouth as if wanting to say something.

Seeing Cao Meng’s expression, Luo Ye gestured with his chin towards the inner room, signaling the middle-aged woman to go inside.

Seeing this scene, the middle-aged woman stopped talking, gathered her things, and went inside.

After the middle-aged woman went in, Luo Ye smiled and said, “Do you have something you want to tell Uncle Luo privately?”

Cao Meng looked at Luo Ye, his eyes reddening. He hesitated for a moment, then his eyes showed determination. With a trembling voice, he said, “Is my father dead?”

Hearing Cao Meng say this, Luo Ye’s body stiffened. He forced a smile and said, “How could that be? Didn’t I tell you before? He came to my house for supplies a few days ago. How could anything have happened to him?”

“Uncle Luo, I know you mean well,” Cao Meng’s tears started to fall, his voice trembling, “But… I know if Dad had come back… he would definitely have come to see me. We had agreed on this before.”

Hearing Cao Meng say this, Luo Ye’s body stiffened. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, only a sigh came out.

Hearing Luo Ye’s sigh, Cao Meng couldn’t hold back anymore. Tears kept falling down his cheeks as he said chokingly, “Where is my father’s body? I want to see him!”

“Your father’s body is still in the mountains. That tiger spirit is watching over it,” Luo Ye walked up to Cao Meng, patting his head.

“Then what about the teacher? Is the teacher going to deal with that tiger spirit?” Cao Meng looked up at Luo Ye, his eyes revealing fear.

He had already lost his closest person and didn’t want to lose another.

“Don’t worry, Young Master Li is just going to help retrieve your father’s body. He won’t confront that tiger spirit,” Luo Ye reassured, seeing Cao Meng’s frightened expression.

However, Luo Ye already had a bad feeling in his heart. According to the timeline, if Young Master Li had found the body, he should have returned by now.

But it had been almost two days, and Young Master Li still hadn’t returned. Could something have happened to him?

“Uncle Luo, I want to go bring my father back too,” Cao Meng took a deep breath, wiping his tears and snot with his sleeve, and said to Luo Ye.

“Nonsense!” Luo Ye’s face changed as he said sternly, “What can a child like you do in the mountains? You can’t even move your father’s body.”

Scolded like this by Luo Ye, Cao Meng’s eyes immediately reddened again.

Seeing Cao Meng like this, Luo Ye sighed, patting Cao Meng’s head and saying, “What your father would want most is to see you grow up well. As long as you live healthily, your father’s spirit in heaven will rest in peace. Don’t worry, your aunt and I will definitely raise you as if you were our own son.”

Hearing Luo Ye say this, Cao Meng couldn’t hold back anymore. He hugged Luo Ye, burying his head in his chest and crying heartbreakingly.

Luo Ye hugged Cao Meng, continuously patting his back, also feeling relieved in his heart. The heavy stone that had been weighing on his heart these days had finally been lifted.

If Cao Meng hadn’t discovered this matter first, he wouldn’t have known how to broach the subject with this child in the future.

At the same time, his gaze turned towards the southeast direction, thinking, “Young Master Li, please don’t let anything happen to you!”