Chapter 57: Biting for One's Life

The formation the four dogs took while surrounding the tiger cub was almost identical to the formation four dogs make when they surround a tree to urinate.

The only difference was that now, all four dog heads were facing the tiger cub in the center, snarling and baring their teeth with ferocious expressions.

The tiger cub, of course, refused to show weakness.

The fur all over its body stood on end, its waist arched high like a drawn bow, appearing incredibly enraged while emitting the characteristic growls of a feline.

It bared its fangs to show its might, circling cautiously but slowly, wary of the four dogs surrounding it.

The scene had been a stalemate.

With the arrival of Wang An and Feng Chengmin, the dogs became more confident and arrogant, appearing ready to attack at any moment.

The tiger cub, however, grew uneasy, its two front paws tapping the ground left and right as if it were ready to bolt at any second.

Through Feng Chengmin's explanations over the past two days, Wang An had learned about the various abilities, strengths, and weaknesses of common animals.

He naturally understood that this creature was both fast and incredibly agile; in this regard, it was practically on par with a wild beast.

He shouldered his gun and attempted to aim several times, but because the dogs kept circling and moving, he was unable to fire.

Feng Chengmin, on the other hand, held his gun in his right hand with his index finger resting beside the trigger, without even performing the motion of shouldering the weapon once!

Although the tiger cub's fur was very valuable—worth at least ten times the price of a hound—it was rare for a hunter to risk injuring a dog for the sake of expensive pelts.

Because a hound is not just a hunter's helper; it is, in fact, a hunter's life-and-death comrade!

In moments of true danger, a human might not protect a dog, but a dog will certainly protect its master!

Thus, the two men stood seven or eight meters away, watching the standoff, wanting to help but unable to do anything.

The tiger cub circled a few more times, becoming even more restless.

Dabai was even more impatient than the tiger cub.

After three frantic barks, Dabai bent its hind legs, exerted force, and lunged directly at the tiger cub.

As Dabai's bark rang out, the other three dogs followed suit, pouncing just a split second after Dabai.

The tiger cub lived up to its reputation as the third-ranked feline in these mountains.

It practically launched itself off the ground, leaping nearly as high as a person!

Wang An watched this scene with wide eyes and an open mouth.

Although the four dogs' reactions were not slow, they only managed to skid to a halt just before the collision!

As the tiger cub descended, it forcibly twisted its body to ensure its head and forelimbs landed first.

It landed squarely on Da Huang's head, and a miserable cry erupted from Da Huang!

The tiger cub was already two meters past Da Huang.

Fast—it was simply too fast! The entire sequence happened within two or three seconds.

Six distinct bloody marks appeared behind Da Huang's ear!

No one could even tell if it was the tiger cub's forelimbs or hindlimbs that had clawed Da Huang's head.

Both men shouldered their guns simultaneously, but before they could even aim, the tiger cub had vanished into the woods after a few massive leaps.

The four dogs naturally wouldn't let it go; as soon as the cub started running, they followed it straight into the forest.

The two men certainly wouldn't abandon the dogs, so they gave chase.

By the time they arrived back at the scene, they found that, aside from Da Huang being clawed, the other three dogs also had bloody marks on them.

The tiger cub was seen now with its fur completely intact!

It was clinging to the trunk of a large tree—one that would take four or five people to encircle—with its head up and tail down.

The four dogs formed a fan shape beneath the tree, barking incessantly at the cub.

Occasionally, they would spring toward the trunk to try and bite the cub, but unfortunately, they couldn't jump high enough to land a single bite.

Wang An and Feng Chengmin could not miss such a perfect opportunity for target practice.

The two men quickly shouldered their guns, but before they could complete the movement, the tiger cub had already left the trunk and was suspended in mid-air.

Once again, it forcibly twisted its body in mid-air, head down, and lunged toward Dabai.

Dabai lived up to its status as the lead dog; its reaction speed and agility were superior to the other three.

As if sensing the cub was aiming for it, Dabai exerted force with its hind legs and lunged upward diagonally to meet the cub.

Accompanied by the tiger cub's fierce growls and Dabai's ferocious snarls, the two became locked in a struggle, biting and tearing at each other!

They fought recklessly, their bodies intertwining as they rolled back and forth on the ground.

Soon, the snow was dotted with specks of blood.

The other three dogs were anxious, barking wildly around the two rolling figures, but they were unable to join the fray.

Normally, the tiger cub's attack method was to pounce instantly, either biting or clawing.

Regardless of how much damage it did to a dog, it would retreat immediately after the attack; it would never engage in such a prolonged struggle.

All mountain creatures fear injury.

Because in these mountains, once injured, death is a constant possibility.

However, Dabai was quite clever; it knew that it and its companions were not as agile as the tiger cub.

Therefore, it used this "inflict eight hundred damage while suffering a thousand" method to stubbornly hold the tiger cub in a life-and-death struggle.

That's right—inflicting eight hundred while suffering a thousand!

Although Dabai weighed over a hundred pounds and the tiger cub weighed less than sixty, after a few seconds of biting, both animals had several new wounds.

However, it was noticeable that Dabai had more wounds than the tiger cub.

Seeing this, Feng Chengmin felt distressed for Dabai and grew extremely anxious.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" He fired three shots into the air.

After the three shots rang out, no one saw clearly how the tiger cub broke free from the struggle.

The tiger cub merely kicked off with its hind legs and bolted, landing two meters away in a single leap.

With another leap, it was five meters away; with the next, it reached the large tree and climbed up without a moment's pause!

Wang An felt that from the initial kick-off to climbing the tree, the entire sequence likely took just over a second!

It definitely did not exceed two seconds!

Fast—it was too damn fast!

Both men raised their guns to aim. Two or three seconds later, Wang An's vision caught that signature ear with the tuft of black hair and the eyes.

They appeared on one side of the tree, with only half the head visible!

After climbing the tree, the tiger cub stood on a thick branch about ten meters up, seemingly contemplating where to run next!

Without hesitation, a "Bang!" rang out.

The tiger cub's leaping body was knocked off course by the impact of the bullet.

But in Wang An's line of sight, he only saw the cub scramble behind the tree!

The cub had vanished from view!

Thinking he had missed, he immediately sprinted forward.

His eyes were fixed intently on the upper part of the tree, hoping for another chance to fire!

Wang An's gunshot had naturally caught Feng Chengmin's attention, and seeing Wang An running toward one side of the tree, his instincts as a seasoned hunter kicked in. He immediately ran toward the other side of the tree, intending to coordinate with Wang An to intercept the tiger cub from the opposite direction.