Chapter 5 Killing the Tiger: If she wanted to, she could learn all the hearts in the world…
There was nothing in her house. She was gone, and that was that. After all, she was all alone and had nothing to miss.
In her previous life, she hadn't taken Grandma Wang's jade pendant with her when she left the mountain. This time, she wore it around her neck and hid it inside her clothes.
Her name also contains the character "玉" (jade).
Grandma Wang once said that she was born during a famine, and her mother fled with her, traveling a long way to reach this place. Unfortunately, by the time they arrived, Grandma Wang was exhausted and collapsed. Before she died, she entrusted Shen Cangyu to Grandma Wang, begging her to take the child in.
Her name was given to her by her mother.
She was born in a place of barren yellow earth, where there was no end to the famine. Her mother could not read many words, but she knew that when the mountains were covered in green, a lush and verdant landscape, people could live a good life.
So her mother added the character "苍" to her name, and jade was the most beautiful thing she could think of.
Shen Cangyu, that is where her name comes from.
The name brought her good fortune, indeed saving her from famine and allowing her to live a good life.
She raised her hand and pressed it against the jade pendant on her chest through her clothes. Her life carried the hopes of many who had passed away; it was important to her and to them.
She doesn't believe that marginalized characters have lives as insignificant as a feather, even though each of them is important.
Shen Cangyu put away his cane, sat on a thick cloth, and slid down the mountain in a flash. Compared to walking down the mountain step by step, this method was obviously faster and easier.
She controlled her direction by pulling on the two corners of the thick cloth, moving as fast as the wind, leaving a trail of afterimages shrouded in snow mist.
Startled birds took flight, while small animals scurried up the trees.
She estimated the distance she would travel; if she traveled through the night, she could reach the foot of the mountain by dawn and head towards the distant town. Once in town, she could sell all the furs she had brought with her and earn enough money to buy a horse.
With a horse, she could reach Kunlun much faster.
She glided over the steepest slope and gradually turned onto flat ground. The momentum of the thick cloth disappeared, so she stood up, picked up the cloth, shook off the snow, rolled it up, and hung it on her backpack.
Once she crosses this flat area and finds a new steep slope, she can use the momentum to ski down the mountain again.
As Shen Cangyu was thinking this, she had only taken two steps when she spotted birds fluttering up in the woods not far away. Although she didn't hear any noise, she vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
She turned her backpack aside, took out her axe, and walked in that direction.
*
The old man, wearing a felt hat, ran away carrying a child. The little girl in his arms clung tightly to his neck, her eyes lifting from his shoulder to look at the tiger that was gradually approaching in the distance.
"Father, it's catching up!" the girl shouted.
"Throw it! Keep throwing it!" the old man commanded, panting. His legs were already aching from running, but in order to survive, he kept going.
Upon hearing the old man's command, the girl took out a piece of meat that still smelled fishy from the cloth bag and threw it forcefully towards the tiger.
Smelling the bloody scent of meat, the tiger looked away, ran towards the piece of meat, bit down on it, picked it up, smacked it a couple of times, and swallowed it whole.
This tiny piece of meat was barely enough to fill its teeth. After finishing it, it chased after the two people, waiting for the next piece of meat to arrive.
They wanted to buy time in this way, hoping that the meat would fill the stomach of the giant, white-browed serpent and let them escape death.
They went up the mountain to hunt some wild game so they could have a good meal for the next few days.
After much difficulty, they hunted down a wild boar. Just as they gutted the boar and put it in a bag, the smell of blood attracted a tiger.
They threw the remaining wild boar on the ground and, while it was still tearing at the other wild boar, quickly ran down the mountain.
To everyone's surprise, the tiger wasn't satisfied with just finishing one wild boar; it actually followed their scent and came after them.
If it were only craving the pork in their hands, that would be one thing, but it probably wants to swallow them whole as well.
They kept throwing meat out along the way to slow its pace, but the tiger relentlessly pursued them. Now, they had very little meat left; once all the pieces were gone, they would be next in the tiger's belly!
The girl rummaged through the bag for a moment, then turned to her and said, "Dad, there's only one piece of meat left."
Hearing this news, the old man felt a chill in his heart. They were still quite a distance from the foot of the mountain, and he feared they really wouldn't be able to hold on.
His gaze swept across the trees to the side, finally settling on a large tree as thick as a well. He picked up the child and ran towards the tree. Before he was completely exhausted, he pushed the child up the tree: "Quick, climb up!"
The girl used both her hands and feet to climb up the tree trunk. Once she reached the top of a high branch, she turned around and stretched out her hand to her father: "Dad, let me pull you up."
How could a little girl possibly pull him along?
The old man simply shook his head and said to her, "Girl, give me the meat, let me go and deal with it."
The bag of meat was thrown down from the tree. He caught the bag and turned to look at the tiger not far away.
He took out a piece of meat and threw it far away, but this time, the tiger was not distracted by the meat.
It couldn't understand human language, but it could read the emotions in someone's eyes. It sensed the murderous intent in the old man's eyes, and the fear hidden within that intent.
How dare this tiny human attack it?
The tiger opened its mouth, revealing its fangs, and lazily took two steps forward.
The old man drew an arrow from his waist, nocked it, and aimed it at the tiger's eyes. The arrow shot through the air towards the tiger, which nimbly dodged to the side. Just as its hind legs touched the ground, another arrow pierced its back, grazing the flesh and leaving a gash.
This finally enraged the tiger, and it pounced on the old man.
"Hold on to the tree trunk!" the old man shouted, then slipped aside and dodged the tiger in a playful stunt.
The tiger's pounce missed, and its sharp claws scraped against the tree bark, leaving several deep cuts.
Bark flew everywhere, causing the whole tree to shake a few times. The girl screamed, thankfully she was holding on tightly, otherwise she would have fallen off the tree.
The bark snagged the tiger's claws, and it roared. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the old man swung his machete and chopped at its forelegs.
Those who hunt frequently know that the skulls of these wild beasts are harder than stone. In close combat, if you can't hit their necks or hearts, it's best to first try to injure their limbs to stop their movement. Then try to create wounds, create distance, and buy time until they are exhausted and bleed to death.
The old man couldn't dodge in time, and several bloody gashes were scratched on his arm, blood gushing from the wounds instantly. Smelling the blood, the tiger roared and continued to pounce on the old man.
The old man didn't have time to check his wounds; he quickly dodged the attack, narrowly avoiding being hit on the head by the tiger.
Human heads are no match for these wild beasts; their heads are as fragile as melon rinds. If this blow lands squarely, it's like a ripe melon falling from its vine, its juices splattering everywhere.
Unfortunately, he dodged the tiger's head, but not his body. The tiger's tail swept across him, and he was sent flying and crashing to the ground as if he had been whipped.
Now he truly had nowhere to hide.
The tiger hissed and raised its paw to strike him.
Suddenly, an axe appeared out of nowhere, flashing a silver light as it struck the tiger's back.
The axe blade penetrated three-tenths of an inch into the skin.
The tiger let out a scream and staggered a few steps to the side.
The girl looked up and saw a figure standing by a tree not far away.
She wore a small rabbit fur hat and a cloak, and her eyes, reflecting the moonlight, shone brightly through the fur.
She raised her hand and recited, "The art of the mind, a universe within a sleeve."
The next moment, the axe that was still chopping at the tiger suddenly disappeared, and blood gushed out from the unblocked wound, splattering all over the ground.
With a wave of her hand, Shen Cangyu brought the axe back into her palm.
She lunged backward, using her waist to generate power, and the axe shot out again, cleaving towards the tiger.
After being struck by the axe again, the tiger staggered a few steps and began to realize how troublesome this uninvited guest was. It wanted to retreat and took a few steps back, wanting to leave the battlefield as soon as possible.
But how could Shen Cangyu let it escape? This was prey she had caught. Although she had cut several wounds on its body, it could still fetch a good price when sold.
She stared at the tiger, and suddenly an idea struck her. She untied the water pouch hanging from her waist, removed the spout, and pointed it towards the tiger. She recalled the elder warehouse manager's hand gestures and awkwardly began to imitate them. Her fingers moved, the hand seals constantly changing, from clumsy to fluent, faster and faster…
She put two fingers together, pointed at the tiger's retreating figure, and shouted, "The sun and moon in a pot!"
The next moment, she felt the airflow swirling rapidly within her body, surging towards her fingertips like a torrent.
A strong sense of emptiness washed over her, and she felt her internal organs contracting, throbbing painfully. A metallic taste rose in her throat, which she forced down.
She stared intently at the tiger's silhouette, her gaze sharp, pointing two fingers fiercely at it without moving an inch.
The tiger, which was still dragging its legs as it ran, suddenly stopped. Its shadow began to lengthen and eventually turned into a wisp of smoke, which was sucked into Shen Cangyu's water pouch.
With the tiger in her possession, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As she exhaled, her bones and internal organs ached all over, a sign of excessive mental exertion, but Shen Cangyu didn't care.
She clutched the water pouch in her hand, feeling an indescribable ecstasy almost welling up from her heart.
She succeeded!
She only glanced at the warehouse elder's incantation, and she was able to use "Sun and Moon in a Pot"!
The "Sleeve Universe" could only hold inanimate objects, but the "Gourd of the Sun and Moon" could hold living things. It could not only put other living things into the container, but also put herself inside. With the "Gourd of the Sun and Moon," she was no longer afraid of sleeping in the open. As long as she had a water pouch, she could get through a peaceful night.
Just as Pei Wenjing said, everyone can learn the art of mind, whether they are immortals or mortals.
Mind-control is just a technique.
Even without anyone teaching her, she could still learn these mental techniques by stealing their knowledge.
If she wanted to, she could learn all the mental arts in the world.
A note from the author:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
