Nan Zhi cleaned up the tomb, carrying out the skeletal remains from inside, straightened the tombstone, and filled the hole with earth, giving this solitary grave a proper restoration.
As for the skeletal remains of those unfortunate souls, she dug pits and buried each one individually.
The souls of those bones had departed this realm long ago; perhaps they had already drunk two bowls of Meng Po’s soup.
Still, falling leaves return to their roots, and upon death, humans return to dust. Doing this gave them a resting place so they would not be left without a burial, exposed beneath the open sky only to be carried off by wild dogs.
Nan Zhi looked around in all directions. By now, the sky was brightly lit. A crimson sun was rising steadily in the east, painting the sky with red clouds as purple qi drifted from the east—an extraordinarily auspicious sign.
Not far away, the white tiger’s head and body lay separated. Where its neck was severed, the blood over the bone had congealed into a thick layer, looking utterly gruesome.
Had this been in modern times, she would definitely be sent to prison to work a sewing machine.
—And in all likelihood, people from an animal protection organization would pop up to accuse her of animal abuse.
Nan Zhi did not want the existence of the Dream Soul Flower to be discovered, so she simply packed the tiger’s head and carcass into her backpack and found another spot to light wolf smoke, signaling Zhang Long and the others waiting at the foot of the mountain.
“Whoosh...”
After a whole night, the firewood in the forest had grown damp, making it very easy for Nan Zhi to send up wolf smoke.
Billowing black smoke rose with the wind, resembling a twisted black centipede biting a hole through the clear azure sky, spewing venomous mist at the edge of the heavens.
The terrain of Wenshan was complex, blanketed by virgin forest. If a traveler accidentally strayed inside, finding a way out would be nearly impossible in short order.
Soon enough, Nan Zhi saw an identical plume of black wolf smoke rising from the other side of the mountain and knew it was the team coming to rendezvous with her.
Now having a clear direction, she leaped up and flew forward to meet the incoming party. Yet the moment she took off, Nan Zhi nearly went sprawling flat on the ground.
Too fast!
Blinking in surprise, she gave it another try.
This time, the scenery before her rushed backward in a blur, with nothing but the roaring wind in her ears. In just a single breath, Nan Zhi covered a distance of a thousand meters.
Nan Zhi glanced back toward the solitary grave now concealed deep within the dense forest, utterly overjoyed.
So this was the effect of gaining sixty points of Constitution all at once!
This felt incredible.
An increase in her in-game character’s stats would alter her real-world physical constitution.
In other words, she could achieve this kind of speed in real life as well.
Why even go to work?
She might as well just quit and join the Olympics.
Naturally, the search party coming to receive her never anticipated she could move with such speed either.
Seeing a blackened, bloodstained figure suddenly emerge from the woods, everyone was startled out of their wits:
“There’s a ghost!”
“Aaaah! A ghost! A ghost!”
“And it’s a dark, husky female ghost!”
“Aaaagh, scared the life out of me!”
—Those who had come to rendezvous were all vigorous young men, each wielding iron axes, wooden staves, hoes, and rakes, putting on a fierce and menacing front.
Of course, had the looks on their faces not been so petrified, they might have looked somewhat more convincing.
“It’s Eldest Sister Nan!!”
From within the crowd, Zhang Long shouted at the top of his lungs, his tone filled with surprise and joy:
“It’s Eldest Sister Nan, who agreed to signal me with wolf smoke! Eldest Sister Nan, since you’re here, that fierce tiger must have been slain! That’s wonderful!”
Seeing her face smeared with dirt and her hair hanging messily behind her head—soaked in blood and matted into stiff clumps, with crimson droplets still falling from the tips—the group grew wide-eyed.
On her exposed right arm were two gruesome puncture wounds that exposed bone, which looked terrifying, while her neck, cheeks, and forehead bore scratches of varying degrees.
Yet strangely enough, despite blood still dripping from her hair, the dark and husky young woman's azure robe and pair of azure boots remained completely spotless.
The fierce tiger had commanded immense terror over the years, and the common folk of Wen County had suffered terribly at its hands; many had personally witnessed the white tiger’s brutality.
Now, suddenly hearing that the fierce tiger was dead—and killed by the dark and husky young woman standing right before them—the crowd erupted in gasps and clamor:
“Is it for real?!”
“The tiger is dead?!
“Really? That beast was so ferocious, how could it die so easily?!”
“She killed the fierce tiger all by herself?!”
“Young lady, is that fierce tiger truly dead? Don’t you go tricking us!”
“Where is the tiger? Take us to go look!”
Nan Zhi swept her gaze across the crowd, immediately spotting a familiar figure, and couldn't help but smile slightly:
“Fellow villagers, I have already slain that beast, and most of the chang ghosts are dead as well. From this day forth, the tiger menace in the Wenshan area is eliminated.”
Without offering lengthy explanations, she waved her hand and released the severed corpse of the white tiger.
With a heavy thud, the giant tiger’s carcass, massive as a small hill, crashed to the ground.
Though it was already dead, the white tiger’s flesh remained warm. The severed head was ferocious, its bloody maw slightly agape, fangs protruding outward, and a bright red tongue sprawled across them, reeking of foul, rank gore.
—Oddly enough, the whiskers around its snout had been scorched into a charred mess, faintly giving off the scent of roasted meat.
The robust carcass was even more terrifying. Lying horizontally on the ground, it measured the length of two full-grown adults. The tiger’s fur was sharp as needles, standing distinct and stiff.
Its tail was as thick as a tree trunk, and its paws were massive and fleshy, concealing razor-sharp claws.
No one doubted that if this tiger were still alive, a single swipe of its paw could easily shatter a person’s skull.
“Gasp!! It really is that tiger!”
“It’s truly dead! Dead! It's dead!”
“It really is the tiger!”
“Waaaah! Mother, Mother! If Lady Nan had only been born eight or ten years earlier, you wouldn’t have been eaten by this tiger!”
“Whoa! It’s so huge, it must have become a demon spirit!”
“This is a tiger demon, a tiger demon! Sister Zhi of the Nan family killed a tiger demon!”
“Wuuu, this beast is finally dead! When my wife took our baby back to her maiden home and passed through Wenshan, that beast snatched our child and devoured them!”
“Good kill!!”
“Eldest Sister Wen killed the tiger!”
“What Wen family? It’s the Nan family! Sister Zhi of the Nan family killed a fierce tiger all on her own!”
With the great peril in their hearts eliminated, everyone vented their feelings wholeheartedly.
Some kicked and punched the tiger corpse to vent their pent-up grief and hatred.
Some knelt on the ground, wailing bitterly while grabbing others to recount the evil deeds wrought by this tiger.
Some gathered around the tiger carcass, marveling and rubbing their hands all over it in novelty.
Some knelt and kowtowed repeatedly, shouting their gratitude for the heavens' blessing.
Just then, a woman who had been unable to squeeze through pushed desperately past the crowd, scooped Nan Zhi into her arms, and wailed loudly at her:
“You cursed little troublemaker, you truly are a debt-collecting ghost reincarnated into my belly from a past life! To dare run off here to hunt a tiger with nothing more than a verbal message—you really threw your life away!
A perfectly good girl—even if you’re a bit dark-skinned, you’re still good-looking.
With such huge scars left on your body, what will you do in the future?!”
This woman was none other than Chen Jingui, who had rushed over to receive Nan Zhi.
Embraced by the woman, Nan Zhi felt a warmth in her heart. She hurriedly patted her back and coaxed her:
“Mom, I’m fine. It’s just some minor injuries, nothing serious. Once I take some spirit pills in the future, the scars will disappear.
Where is Brother Yi? Is he all right? Why didn’t Dad come? You didn’t leave Sister Ye home all by herself, did you?”
“That still must hurt terribly! How much blood have these two gaping holes bled? How much pig head meat and eggs will it take to nourish you back to health?
You only just recovered from being foolish a few days ago, and now you’ve gone and gotten injured again. Pursuing cultivation and learning skills—how could you put your very life on the line for it?!”
Chen Jingui sobbed and sniffled, tears streaming down her face, clearly frightened half to death:
“Brother Yi fainted. Your father carried him on his back down the mountain to the physician, and they haven’t returned yet.
On our way here, I dropped Sister Ye off at your maternal grandparents’ home. She’s safe and sound right now, so don't you worry.”
Only then did Nan Zhi put her mind at ease.
Rate on N.U.
