Chapter 79 Royal Hunting Grounds Part 3
The White Tiger's relaxed posture was hard for Shinju to understand, but he did not stop drawing his bow, the arrow tip always aimed at the White Tiger's eyes.
The arrows he held were insufficient to pierce the skull of such a ferocious beast unless he threw them empty-handed instead of using a bow.
However, the killing intent released by Shinjuku did not deter Byakko from approaching. It even exposed its belly, and the fleshy sac on its stomach swayed with its rolling movements, looking very appealing to touch.
"Is it stupid?" Shinjuku loosened the bowstring, put the arrow back into the quiver, and sighed with a smile.
At this moment, the white tiger had already rubbed against Shinju's leg, even offering its thick, large paw pads to Shinju's hand, letting him pinch them without getting annoyed.
Shinjuku thought to himself, "If I lose the duel with the King of Poison, so be it. I didn't place any bets anyway, so the other party probably can't do anything to me."
So he relaxed, sat down on the ground, and petted the unusually affectionate white tiger.
As it rubbed against him, the White Tiger circled around behind Shinjuku and nudged the back of Shinjuku's neck with a large basin.
An ordinary person would have been terrified, but Zhen Su, possessing the body of a true immortal, was not afraid. Moreover, he had always kept his divine sense open, so if the white tiger showed even the slightest bit of murderous intent, he would immediately react.
Soft fur brushed against the back of Shinjuku's neck, his wet nose felt cool. The white tiger suddenly brandished its claws, but Shinjuku remained smiling, oblivious to everything.
With a "rip" sound—
A tear was made in the clothes behind Shinjuku, but Shinjuku was a moment too late to react because he hadn't noticed the killing intent of the White Tiger. In that instant, a powerful spiritual energy fluctuation suddenly appeared in the air, so strong that the surrounding air was momentarily distorted and the falling leaves became discontinuous.
Spiritual energy condensed into a sharp sword, which shot out from the white tiger's mouth and rushed straight towards Zhen Su. Just as it was about to pierce Zhen Su's ice-jade-like skin, the five-petaled lotus on Zhen Su's back suddenly shone brightly with red light, instantly evaporating the sword's spiritual energy. The red light, like a crimson tongue of fire, burned through the lotus pattern from its heart to its stem, and then returned to its original calm black color, as if nothing had happened.
But his shirt was also affected and "evaporated," so Shinjuku couldn't help but notice the strange thing behind him.
With a roll, Shinjuku created distance between himself and the White Tiger, only then noticing that the White Tiger's eyes had turned white. However, under Shinjuku's gaze, they quickly returned to their original black color. Then, it trembled and fell to one side, letting out a low growl of discomfort.
"What happened..." Shinju used his second Purple Mansion to review the scene behind him. He found that after the White Tiger opened its mouth, his back suddenly burned, and his clothes inexplicably disappeared.
If he still doesn't realize there's something strange about his back, then he's wasted all that time he's been a cultivator.
Majutsu cleverly chose to examine the reflection in the white tiger's eyes earlier. From that angle, he was sure he could see what had happened on his back back then.
Immediately afterward, the tiger's eyes clearly reflected a five-petaled black lotus growing on his back. Shinju's pupils constricted, and he was speechless: "..."
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Before long, the King of Zhen came over. As soon as he got close, he saw that the King of Zhen was shirtless, with his head tilted back and legs crossed, leaning against the white tiger that was lying down.
The white tiger's beautiful fur contrasts with the silky white skin of the mandarin duck, appearing soft yet revealing powerful muscle lines. Both are illuminated by the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees, radiating a dazzling light, as pure and untouchable as a white lotus.
Shinju's half-closed golden eyes held a hint of nonchalance, yet despite the awe-inspiring auspiciousness of the white tiger, he still exuded a powerful aura that surpassed even the most majestic creatures. This caused the King of Poison to involuntarily hold his breath, afraid of disturbing him.
However, this was only a momentary lapse in concentration. In the end, the King of Zhen kept his eyes fixed on the White Tiger, who was casting an inquiring glance at him, and walked towards Shinjuku.
"Are you injured?" King Zhen carefully examined Shinju's body, and although he did not see any injuries, he still asked to confirm.
Shinju shook his head, pushed himself up slowly, and patted the white tiger's rump as he stood up, signaling it to get up as well. But as he turned to the side, the Poison King inevitably saw the tattoo on Shinju's back. When Shinju rescued him earlier, he had only caught a glimpse of the lotus tattoo, but now he saw the whole thing.
The bold and vibrant lotus tattoo stands out against the snow-white back. Although it is not filled in, it gives people the illusion of a shimmering, iridescent glow, as if there is a red light moving around it, which makes Shinjuku's back more mature and sexy.
The King of Poison moved his throat imperceptibly, and immediately took off his outer garment and draped it over Shinju's body.
Masakatsu did not refuse. To avoid being questioned by the King of Poison, he couldn't explain where his clothes had gone, so Masakatsu quickly changed the subject, "Your Majesty, I have lost."
King Zhen helped Masakatsu tie a belt around his waist and simply gathered his outer robe, but a patch of his snow-white chest was still inevitably exposed. King Zhen looked away and asked, "Hmm? What makes you say that?"
"I see that this tiger is very intelligent and cannot bear to kill it. I wish to let it go..."
Shinju's unfinished business was clearly seeking the opinion of the King of Poison, asking whether he could be released as he was.
Normally, only emperors could hunt for such auspicious omens, and this opportunity was also a good chance to consolidate his prestige and show the world that his imperial power was bestowed by Heaven.
But since Masaki had brought it up, King Zashiki simply ignored the extra reward and said with a smile in his eyes, "I did hunt a big bear, but we didn't set any bets, so it's hard to say who won or lost."
Shinjuku was surprised that the King of the Blades didn't even intend to make him admit defeat in the duel, and his heart softened. He kicked the white tiger, shooing it into the depths of the forest, before suggesting, "Where is the great bear? Let me carry it back for Your Majesty!"
King Zhen: "..." Suddenly, he didn't really want to tell him anymore.
Even though the King of Zhen said he had blown his whistle to summon the guards to carry it, Shinju seemed to feel very guilty and insisted on carrying the large bear with several arrows stuck in its throat.
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Because the Crown Prince had been keeping a low profile in his residence outside the palace, the Prince of Zhen ordered him to pretend to be physically disabled even in the residence and not to trust the servants there.
Therefore, the prince had very few opportunities to practice riding and archery or other physical training. Instead of going deeper into the forest, they crossed the forest to an open area of the hunting grounds. However, the prince, who was not good at riding and archery, managed to hunt a wild boar.
Many people originally planned to adjust their strategy downwards based on the Crown Prince's record, but little did they know that even without giving him a break, no one could hunt a prey more ferocious than the Crown Prince.
Of course, prey such as deer, roe deer, and wolves are actually not bad.
Just as everyone was returning to their rest area laden with their spoils, the Crown Prince's supporters loudly boasted, "Come and see! His Highness the Crown Prince has hunted a wild boar! That arrow pierced the skull, hitting the vital spot! It's just like His Majesty's style! So brave and precise, he took down this big guy with a single arrow!"
The guards lowered the wild boar down from its hanging position. The head was indeed quite large, but the resting group didn't come to greet them.
In fact, the prince wanted to cover the man's mouth as soon as he opened his mouth, but he was so shocked by the sight of Shinju carrying a bear that was two heads taller than a man that he was completely stunned. He thought this, but his hand did not move in time.
Upon seeing that, the prince and his entourage immediately forgot about showing off their own prey and rushed forward to surround Shinju and the King of Poison.
"My God... what a huge bear! This is the first time I've ever seen a bear!"
"This bear is so big! Good heavens, I thought it was just an exaggeration in the books! There are such giants in the hunting grounds."
"Isn't this heavy? That's impossible. If a person were nine feet tall, they certainly wouldn't be light."
"His Majesty hunted this! His Majesty is mighty!!"
The crowd, momentarily excited, belatedly realized that they were facing an emperor. They immediately took a few steps back, knelt down, and shouted in unison.
King Zhen had no intention of putting on airs, but he also had no intention of mingling with his subjects. So he had Masaki throw the bear to the hunters at the hunting grounds and then returned to the royal tent with him.
Shinjuku handed the weight of the bear to the person who took it. Because Shinjuku looked too relaxed, the group was caught off guard and did not use their full strength to catch it, which almost resulted in them being crushed into meat patties by the bear.
Fortunately, Masaya helped him up, saying, "Be careful."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
They thought it really wasn't heavy! Turns out, this Attendant Qing is too incredible; how did he manage to carry the bear back all by himself?
The Crown Prince, standing not far away, was in a state of turmoil.
How come no one noticed that the clothes Qing Sui Shi was wearing were the same robe that Father Emperor wore this morning!
The Crown Prince dared not think about what had happened to them deep in the forest. He felt that thinking about it even for a moment would be disrespectful to his father, so he hurriedly extinguished any thoughts in his mind and went to arrange for everyone to divide the prey and calculate the rewards for their contributions.
Everyone got excited when they heard about the reward, and their attention was successfully diverted.
The crown prince couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
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