At this moment, the big tiger's massive head had been blasted into tiny fragments by the bullets; it no longer even looked like a tiger.
The only thing that could be confirmed was that it was absolutely, beyond any doubt, dead.
Wang An wanted to stand up, but his body simply wouldn't allow it. Consequently, Wang An lay there, fumbling with his hands to replace the magazine of the Type 54, pulling the trigger again and again toward the sky.
Wang An's current position was some distance away from Mu Xueli and the others—certainly more than 400 meters—so he didn't know if the gunshots could reach them.
Furthermore, the previous sequence of shots from the Type 56 semi-automatic and the Type 54 had been a continuous string. If Mu Xueli and Wang Li could hear them, they would surely be rushing toward this location.
However, by the time all eight bullets were spent, Wang An heard no movement in the woods.
For some reason, Wang An suddenly had a feeling that he was about to die here.
That sense of powerlessness—where the mind is clear but the body can do nothing, where even a slight movement is an ordeal—was something Wang An had never experienced before.
Of course, perhaps because of his daily practice of the "Scorpion Reverse Crawl," Wang An's arms and hands could still move and possessed some strength. But whenever his arms braced against the ground in an attempt to push himself up, he felt his insides churning like a stormy sea, and blood threatened to surge up his throat.
After a moment's thought, Wang An placed his left thumb and index finger in his mouth, took a slow, deep breath, and let out a loud, piercing whistle.
After whistling, perhaps due to a lack of oxygen in his brain, Wang An felt a wave of dizziness, and a sudden, abrupt drowsiness washed over him.
Wang An knew he couldn't sleep; if a person fell asleep after sustaining severe injuries, there was a high probability they would never wake up.
Thus, Wang An fought the sleepiness and held on for a while, but in the end, he could not resist the exhaustion and closed his eyes in a daze.
Just as Wang An was drifting off, a grey fox appeared in the nearby woods, running rapidly toward him.
If one looked closely, they would notice that the fox's tail was only half-length; in other words, it was a short-tailed fox.
Observing even more closely, one would see that the fox's body was covered in many scars, clearly the result of being clawed and scratched by other wild beasts.
It had to be said that this fox was incredibly hardy to still be leaping and bounding about after sustaining so many injuries.
At the same time, this proved that the fox's intelligence was exceptionally high. Having turned danger into safety time and time again, any other animal would likely have died eight hundred times over.
Indeed, this fox was the same short-tailed fox that had become close friends with Wang An and served as his gold-seeking beast when Wang An and his group went gold panning in YJ County.
Wang An remembered that when they left that gold mine, he had wanted to take it home, but the short-tailed fox had merely given Wang An the severed piece of its tail and remained in the great mountains.
At the time, Wang An felt it was quite a pity, as the short-tailed fox's ability to find gold was formidable, having helped Wang An find a significant amount of gold nuggets.
To be honest, it was fortunate that Wang An's whistle had alerted the short-tailed fox to his location; otherwise, who knows when this fox and man would have met again.
Soon, the short-tailed fox reached the vicinity of Wang An. However, the scent of the tiger caused it to linger and circle the area for a while before cautiously approaching him.
It had to be admitted that the prestige of a tiger in these mountains was an invincible existence. Even though it was dead, other wild beasts did not dare approach easily.
This explained why, when tiger carcasses were found in these mountains, they were rarely found to be mutilated.
Because aside from flies and insects, no other beasts dared come near.
Such was the terror of the King of Beasts; even in death, it did not allow other animals to desecrate its corpse.
This echoed the old saying
"Though the tiger is dead, its lingering prestige remains."
The short-tailed fox approached cautiously, then hid behind a large tree to observe for a long time. Likely after confirming that the tiger no longer breathed, it finally walked toward Wang An.
However, it was easy to see from its eyes that it was currently terrified. Its narrow fox eyes kept stealing glances at the tiger's corpse, as if it would flee without hesitation the moment it detected any movement.
It was certain that if Wang An weren't here, the short-tailed fox would never have approached.
Reaching Wang An's side, the short-tailed fox first sniffed Wang An's face, then extended its front paw and began patting Wang An's large face.
Wang An, caught in the state between sleep and wakefulness, felt something furry scratching back and forth across his face, which gradually brought his consciousness back.
Wang An thought the tiger had come back to life to eat him and was currently searching for a place to start biting.
At this thought, Wang An snapped his eyes open and raised the Type 54 he had been clutching.
*Damn it, if I'm going to be eaten, I can't let the tiger enjoy it. Would it be in my character not to give it two shots before I die?*
In truth, Wang An's thinking was somewhat chaotic at the moment. He couldn't even clearly remember that he had just killed the tiger; it was only the subconscious defiance, indignation, and unwillingness to submit that triggered these reactions.
However, what greeted Wang An were the narrow, cunning eyes of the short-tailed fox.
Wang An blinked, reached out to hug the fox's neck, and said with some excitement
"Short-tail, ha..."
He only managed a single laugh, but because the laughter strained his abdomen and intestines, the sound stopped abruptly.
It had to be said, this really fucking hurt!
Yet, this pain instantly jolted Wang An completely awake, making him realize his current predicament. He said in a weak voice
"Short-tail, why did you come? Did you know I was in trouble and came specifically to save me?"
At this moment, Wang An finally understood why most locals were taboo about hunting foxes and weasels. Some things truly cannot be explained by science.
Wang An didn't know why the short-tailed fox had appeared.
But for it to appear so miraculously just as he was about to fall into a deep sleep—how could that be explained?
After Wang An finished speaking, the short-tailed fox nudged him with its head, seemingly responding to him, and perhaps asking what should be done now.
Wang An smiled
"Short-tail, go help me call Xueli and Old Five. You know, those two youngest idiots who went gold panning with me. I fired so many damn shots; maybe their ears are stuffed with pig hair, because they didn't hear a thing."