For an entire day, Xiangzi carried Liu Tang on his back, weaving through the dense forest.

Thanks to the demon beast meat, Liu Tang awoke the next day, but his wounds were severe, likely damaging his foundation. He remained groggy and weak all day.

Xiangzi was anxious, desperate to get Liu Tang to the city for treatment.

But the Li family guards were like mad dogs, their numbers swelling as they scoured the forest for the two.

The sun climbed high.

Thick foliage blocked out the light, and in the rustling footsteps, over a dozen Li family guards stared in horror at the hill-sized tiger demon corpse before them.

Someone had finally found it.

In the dim light, the tiger’s ferocious expression was frozen in death.

A gaunt middle-aged man stood with hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on the longsword lodged in the tiger’s eye, then shifting to the fatal wound.

The cut was swift and clean, slicing open the beast’s belly without hesitation.

The gaunt man’s brow twitched—was this wound carved from the inside out?

He studied the cave entrance and the toppled trees around it, piecing together a rough picture.

Could it be—one sacrificed their life to blind the tiger’s eye, while another burrowed into its belly to finish it?

A wry smile curled his lips.

He’d underestimated these rickshaw pullers. In desperation, they’d devised such a ruthless tactic.

It had to be Liu Tang, with his ninth-rank minor completion strength, capable of breaching the tiger’s hide to inflict such a wound.

No ordinary ninth-rank warrior could manage it—let alone these lowly rickshaw pullers, mere Blood Energy Barrier warriors.

But the elliptical wound at the tiger’s core puzzled him—it didn’t look like Liu Tang’s usual sword work.

More like a spear?

Strange. He’d never heard of Liu Tang wielding a spear.

The gaunt man chuckled, shaking his head.

He was overthinking. Besides Liu Tang, who among these rickshaw pullers could pull this off?

Meticulous by nature, he inspected the blood on the tiger’s fangs, then called out, “Keep searching… Liu Tang may have killed this tiger, but its fangs wounded him. He can’t have gone far!”

The guards shouted, “Yes, sir!” and scattered.

A trembling, silk-clad fat man approached. “Master Cheng, with you personally overseeing today, those brats won’t escape your grasp.”

The gaunt man, Shi Cheng, glanced at Li Gui and said softly, “When I left, the young master had a message for you.”

“You’ve served him loyally for years, and he acknowledges your dedication.”

“But after this, you’re done as overseer.”

Li Gui, sweating profusely, broke into a frenzied grin, dropping to his knees and kowtowing. “The young master is merciful… thank you for his grace! I’ve sinned… I’ve sinned!”

Losing his position meant the young master’s punishment, though raised high, had fallen lightly.

Li Gui’s head thudded against the ground, blood oozing from his forehead.

Shi Cheng frowned in disgust, waving him off. Li Gui stood, not daring to breathe loudly.

This Master Cheng was the young master’s most trusted steward and a ninth-rank great completion expert. Li Gui’s flattery wasn’t empty—with him in charge, those rickshaw pullers were as good as caught.

Yet Shi Cheng’s brow furrowed as he stood on the cliff, gazing into the gloomy forest.

Wounded and suppressed by the mining zone’s mineral dust, even he struggled to endure a day here.

Where could they possibly flee?

Just then, ten yards away, atop a lush tree—

A breeze stirred, leaves rustling.

A pair of ink-black eyes peered through the gaps.

Even with Liu Tang on his back, Xiangzi crouched on the branch like an ape.

With his enhanced vision, he could see the blood on Li Gui’s forehead clearly.

Hiding here wasn’t some foolish notion of “the most dangerous place is the safest.”

He had no choice.

The pit he’d dug had likely been found, as the Li family guards now prodded the ground, overturning any soft patches.

The trees were his only refuge.

Fortunately, the forest was filled with towering trees, and with his newfound strength and agility from the three pillars of blood and qi, Xiangzi could leap between vines, even carrying Liu Tang.

He recalled an old film from his past life: Tarzan.

Glancing at his tattered blue shirt, he gave a bitter smile—quite fitting.

His greatest asset was his enhanced vision. From above, he could track the guards’ routes within ten yards, dodging danger time and again.

Xiangzi squinted, pulling a piece of half-cooked demon meat from his pocket, chewing slowly.

He watched the sun sink, waiting—his eyes would shine brightest at night.

That was the time to escape.

As the sun set and dusk rose, the Li family’s mining zone forest grew darker.

Liu Tang, pale-faced, stared silently at the leaves above.

For convenience, Xiangzi had tied him to his back with two tiger sinews.

All day, Liu Tang faced the sky, watching birds and the dense forest.

He’d told Xiangzi to leave him and escape the mining zone alone.

Xiangzi didn’t respond, only tightening the sinews.

Liu Tang didn’t press further.

Uncle Jie had mentioned this big lug was stubborn—once he set his mind, he wouldn’t budge.

Liu Tang hadn’t believed it then, but after a day of fleeing, he saw Xiangzi’s tenacity.

If Xiangzi’s ruthless decisiveness in killing the tiger demon had startled him, his boldness and cunning today were eye-opening.

Despite being cornered, Xiangzi always found the best path.

And Liu Tang could feel it—after last night, Xiangzi’s blood and qi seemed stronger.

Was this big lug really just a Blood Energy Barrier warrior?

Liu Tang, a ninth-rank minor completion warrior, chuckled self-deprecatingly. When he’d broken through the Blood Energy Barrier, he was nowhere near this kid’s level.

A born warrior.

If not for this mess, a martial hall would’ve made Xiangzi’s name echo through Forty-Nine City in a few years.

Why drag me, a burden, along?