Chapter 53
Qinghe squatted beside a withered tree stump in the Monster Valley, her fingertips prying a palm-sized celadon bottle out from the gaps in a bamboo medicine basket—
The bottle was stained with a few specks of brown herbal juice, and the cork was swollen from being soaked in the juice. When it was pulled open, it released a bitter medicinal aroma. Inside was a dark green paste, sticky and like melted resin.
“This is a fire-resistant ointment that my father made,” Qinghe handed over the porcelain bottle, rubbing her little hands on her trouser leg. “If you apply it to your clothes and skin, the fire from the Crimson Tiger won’t burn you. It just gets a little hard when it dries. I originally kept it for my father to use when he was gathering herbs, but it will be more useful for you when you go to kill the Crimson Tiger.”
Su Jing took the porcelain bottle, dabbing a little ointment on her fingertip—it felt cool to the touch, with a bitter medicinal scent mixed with a faint pine resin smell, and it was indeed as sticky as Qing He had described. Without much hesitation, she poured out a half-finger-thick layer of ointment, spreading it evenly on exposed areas like her wrists and neck, then smeared a layer onto the laser gun's body:
Previously, I was worried that the flames of the Crimson Tiger would damage the gun, but now that I have the fire-resistant ointment, that concern is resolved. After applying the ointment, a transparent film quickly forms on the skin's surface. It feels a bit hard to the touch, but it doesn't hinder movement. The slightly bitter medicinal scent masks the lingering wolf stench in the surrounding area.
“We’ll go around to the side. The Crimson Tiger’s den is behind that red rock. It likes to sleep with its nose facing the entrance, making it less vulnerable to attack,” Qinghe led Su Jing deeper into the valley. The decaying leaves under their feet gradually turned charred black, and with each step, they could feel the ground temperature rising. In the distance, they could vaguely see an orange-red light.
"However, it sleeps soundly, so as long as you don't make too much noise, it's fine to get close."
After walking about half a mile into the valley, the heat in the air became more and more pronounced, and the orange-red light in the distance grew brighter and brighter—the Crimson Tiger's lair was in a depression in a huge red rock. The rock was baked by the flames and gleamed with a dark red luster. The lair was covered with a thick layer of dry pine needles, and a Crimson Tiger with a body length of 3 meters was curled up on the pine needles and sleeping.
Its tiger fur is golden yellow, interspersed with dark red stripes, like burning flames. Its abdomen rises and falls steadily when it breathes, and tiny sparks occasionally spit out of its nose, which do not ignite when they land on pine needles. In the corner of its den, there are several round pills with a pale yellow luster and fine patterns engraved on their surface, which are the Body Strengthening Pills that the system has suggested.
Su Jing had Qinghe hide behind a pine tree nearby, while she retrieved a small capture robot she had previously stockpiled from her spatial storage—a palm-sized metal body, entirely black, with wheels at the bottom, capable of being remotely controlled to move and release a metal net.
She pressed the red button on the remote control, and the robot crawled along the scorched ground like a small beetle toward its nest. The wheels made almost no sound as they moved across the ground, only occasionally making a slight "clattering" sound when they hit small pebbles.
The robot stopped half a meter away from the Crimson Tiger's hind legs. Su Jing pressed a button on the remote control and with a "whoosh," a semi-transparent metal net popped out from the top of the robot. The net was extremely fine yet tough, and when unfolded, it was two meters wide. It instantly wrapped around the Crimson Tiger's hind legs, and the net was firmly stuck in the crevices of the red rocks. No matter how much the Crimson Tiger struggled, it could not break free.
"roar--!"
The Crimson Tiger suddenly opened its eyes, its amber eyes gleaming with ferocity. Its hind legs were entangled, and it struggled violently, its sharp claws carving deep marks into the red rocks, scattering sparks all over the ground.
It opened its mouth, letting out a low roar, and then spewed out a ball of orange-red flame about half a meter in size. The flames licked the red rocks and instantly ignited the pine needles. With a crackling sound, sparks splashed onto Su Jing's trouser leg.
Just as Qinghe said, when a spark landed on the area coated with fire-retardant ointment, it only left a black mark and couldn't catch fire at all.
Su Jing didn't give the Crimson Tiger time to react. Taking advantage of its attention being focused on struggling with its hind legs, she circled around to the side of the nest, hugging the shadow of the red rocks.
The Crimson Tiger's defense is far superior to that of the Azure Wolf. The tactics used against the Azure Wolf before are only for reference; we must first disable its eyesight to have any chance of winning.
She stopped, aimed the laser gun at the Crimson Tiger's right eye, and pulled the trigger—the red laser beam, carrying a scorching heat, made a slight "sizzling" sound as it passed through the air, accurately hitting the Crimson Tiger's right eye.
"Awooo—!"
The Crimson Tiger let out a deafening roar, and black smoke instantly billowed from its right eye. Black blood dripped down its fur and landed on the burning pine needles, making a soft "sizzling" sound.
It was completely enraged, shaking its head wildly. Its remaining left eye was fixed on Su Jing's direction, and it spewed out an even larger ball of flame. The flames almost covered the entrance to the nest, but because its right eye was blind, its aim was much worse, and most of the flames hit the red rocks, making them even hotter.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Su Jing fired another shot, the laser beam hitting the Crimson Flame Tiger's left eye precisely. Completely blinded, the Crimson Flame Tiger lost its target and could only crash around in its lair. Its massive body slammed against the red rocks with a dull "clang," and the metal mesh on its hind legs tightened more and more, beginning to ooze blood.
Su Jing circled around behind it, staring at the soft flesh on its neck—a weak point for all beasts, even second-tier demonic beasts.
She took a deep breath, pulled the trigger of the laser gun, and the red laser beam pierced through the Crimson Tiger's fur, instantly piercing its neck.
The Crimson Tiger froze instantly, its massive body swaying before crashing heavily onto the burning pine needles. Sparks landed on its fur but didn't ignite; the fire-repelling ointment was still working.
Su Jing waited a few seconds to make sure the Crimson Flame Tiger had stopped breathing before entering the nest. She first kicked the burning pine needles aside to prevent them from burning the Body Strengthening Pill.
There were a dozen or so Body Strengthening Pills in the corner of the nest. She bent down to pick them up and then rummaged through the pine needles. At the very bottom of the pine needles was a dark red wooden box. The lock was rusty and could be easily opened with a gentle pry. Inside was a box full of Body Strengthening Pills. It felt heavy in her hand, and the bitter medicinal fragrance was stronger than that of the Qi Gathering Pills she had used before.
"Sister! You really killed it!" Qinghe ran out from behind the pine tree, still clutching the beast-driving whistle she had used earlier. Her eyes widened when she saw the Crimson Flame Tiger's corpse.
"My father said that the Crimson Flame Tiger is the most powerful monster in the Monster Valley. Hunters who came in groups to kill it before were all burned by its fire. You actually took it down by yourself!"
Su Jing put the Body Strengthening Pills into her spatial storage and dusted off her hands. "Thanks to the fire-resistant ointment you gave me, otherwise it would have been really difficult to deal with. By the way, are these Body Strengthening Pills enough? If not, let's look for somewhere else."
"Enough, enough!" Qinghe waved her hand, then, as if suddenly remembering something, she tugged at Su Jing's sleeve and walked out of the valley. "Sister, I forgot to tell you, there's a medicinal field on the back mountain of Qingyun Sect, planted entirely with low-grade herbs like Bupleurum and Angelica. And next to the medicinal field is a pill storehouse, where the Qingyun Sect's pharmacists used to stockpile pills a few years ago! After the pharmacists left, the pill storehouse wasn't guarded much anymore, only a few patrolling disciples occasionally went to check it out. Maybe you can find more Qi Gathering Pills and Healing Pills, much faster than killing monsters in Monster Valley!"
Su Jing's heart skipped a beat—the medicine field and pill storehouse could be used to replenish more pills.
She already has Qi Gathering Pills and Body Strengthening Pills. If she can find a large number of Healing Pills, she can not only complete the dungeon missions, but also reserve enough cultivation resources for the apocalypse. In particular, Healing Pills can help her recover faster than ordinary medicines after being injured in extremely cold weather.
“Then let’s go to the back mountain now,” Su Jing put away her laser gun and followed Qing He out of the valley, her pace quickening compared to when she came. “Do you know how to avoid the patrolling disciples?”
"I know! There's a drainage channel at the side gate of the back mountain that leads to the bamboo forest next to the medicinal herb field. The patrolling disciples never go there because there are a lot of poisonous mosquitoes. But I have mosquito repellent medicine that my father makes. I'll be fine after applying it!"
As Qinghe spoke, she took out a small porcelain bottle from the medicine basket, which looked very similar to the bottle of fire-repelling ointment. "Let's hurry up, or the patrolling disciples will change shifts and we might run into them!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com