Chapter 23: The Aggrieved Big Meow

Now was not the time for such thoughts, not when the tiger was drawing closer with every passing second. The overwhelming pressure it exerted felt like the crushing despair one might face when confronted by a horde of hundreds of zombies—as if one could be ground into dust at any moment.

Fortunately, the massive beast was beginning to tire. High up in the branches, Shi Nianqing could clearly hear its heavy, ragged breathing. The tiger had expended a great deal of energy; if she were to counterattack, this was her best chance. Humans, after all, had the advantage of intellect over beasts.

She decided to act. Ever since she had started climbing the tree, she had been conscientiously gathering pinecones, and now she began raining them down, tossing everything she could get her hands on.

The tiger, which had been debating whether to continue its ascent, was suddenly provoked. Its rage flared instantly. It climbed several more meters, though it was forced to constantly swat away the debris falling from above. As Shi Nianqing looked down, the hundred-meter drop—equivalent to a thirty-story building—made her heart tremble; falling would mean certain death.

Her stash of pinecones and twigs was quickly depleted. She had thrown everything she could reach. The tiger, already weary, was panting even more heavily now. Shi Nianqing could sense that most of its strength had been spent, and she had nothing left by her side save for her dagger and axe.

Fixing her gaze on the axe and then the tiger below, Shi Nianqing made a difficult decision. She would throw the axe at the beast’s head. If she were lucky, she might injure it and buy herself a chance to escape. But she only had one shot—a single axe—and if luck wasn’t on her side, it would be the end of her.

She waited for a long moment. Just as the tiger prepared to descend, Shi Nianqing began to climb down. When she was about ten meters away, she gripped the axe and aimed for the creature's head. She only had one chance! To miss was to be doomed.

But at that very moment, for reasons unknown, the three cubs perched obediently on her shoulders suddenly began to squeak softly.

"Awoo~"
"Awoo~ Awoo~"

At the sound, the great tiger below suddenly froze. It looked upward in disbelief, its intense rage seemingly hitting a pause button.

"Awoo~"

The tiger let out a long, drawn-out cry, but it lacked the murderous intent from before. It sounded as if it were communicating something.

"Awoo~ Awoo~ Awoo~"

The cubs’ voices were filled with sorrow. They were young, yet they had witnessed their mother being surrounded and killed by a pack of wolves. In truth, the tigress could have escaped, but to protect her three cubs, she had abandoned her chance to run, choosing instead to fight off the wolves while weakened by hunger.

Listening to the exchange between the cubs and the tiger below, a thought occurred to Shi Nianqing. One mountain cannot house two tigers, unless they are a pair. She had assumed the deceased tigress was the sole apex predator of the forest, but it was possible she had had a mate. The tiger below was likely the cubs' father, who had been away for some reason, allowing the wolf pack to seize the opportunity.

As the communication continued, Shi Nianqing finally grasped the situation. She silently tucked away her axe and watched as the tiger retreated, its eyes softening. It lay down at the base of the tree and slowly backed away, as if proving to her that it meant no harm.

The viewers in the livestream were stunned.

[I thought this was going to be a fight to the death—what is happening now?]
[I'm speechless. If I'm not mistaken, the cubs Shi Nianqing is raising are the offspring of this tiger, and the tigress was its mate.]
[The tiger was so angry because it thought Shi Nianqing had killed its mate and kidnapped its children.]
[No wonder it charged straight at her without even considering her as prey.]
[I thought it was a hunt; it turns out it was a vendetta.]
[My mind is blown! I never expected this turn of events.]
[Is the tiger trying to signal something now?]

The dramatic shift in events drew even more people into the stream. With the system's announcements, the popularity of the broadcast soared, breaking through the 750,000-viewer mark.

Shi Nianqing observed from above for a while, and once she was certain the tiger posed no threat, she slowly descended. Throughout the process, she could hear the cubs chirping happily.

"Awoo awoo~"

The great tiger responded to the cubs, a scene of paternal affection playing out. Soon, Shi Nianqing carefully reached the ground and kept a distance from the beast. She set the three cubs down from her shoulders and untied the vines around them.

The cubs scampered joyfully toward the tiger. The strongest one, the biggest cub, leaped onto the tiger's back, gnawing on its fur while emitting excited chirps. The others ran circles around their father, batting at his paws. The tiger looked at his three children with a mixture of grief and joy, licking them with his massive tongue.

"These are your children," Shi Nianqing said, immediately drawing the tiger's attention.

Having communicated with the cubs, the tiger seemed to understand what had transpired, and his hostility toward Shi Nianqing diminished significantly. His eyes, no longer bloodshot, were now mild and calm.

"Awoo awoo awoo~"

His low, rumbling growl carried no threat; it sounded as if he were simply saying something. Shi Nianqing couldn't understand him, but she guessed it was a gesture of gratitude.

"The tigress... that had nothing to do with me. It was a wolf pack. Do you understand?"

The tiger looked at her with a blank expression; he could not understand the human's words. He had merely gone far away to hunt because the local prey had dwindled, unable to sustain a predator of his size. He hadn't expected that after being gone for a few days, he would return to find his mate and children gone. He had tracked his mate’s scent and found only bones, identifying her by the smell, but the cubs had vanished. When he had caught the scent of the cubs and a strange human nearby, he had assumed the human had kidnapped them, leading to his furious charge.

He had never imagined it was all such a massive misunderstanding.

"Awoo awoo awoo~"