"Yes."
Niannian nodded with a smile. She wasn't worried about her master's situation at all.
Her master's skills were on par with hers. Those so - called mutant animals didn't have the qualification to hurt her, and naturally, they didn't have the qualification to hurt her master either.
It was just a bit troublesome that they couldn't kill these mutant animals.
"Your master is alone. Will there be any problems? Those mutant animals are very powerful."
"Don't worry. It'll be okay. My master is really amazing."
Niannian promised confidently.
A Jiu was about to say something else, but before he could open his mouth, a tiger's roar came from the forest.
The tiger's roar was so penetrating that it felt like it could shatter one's soul, making people shiver from the bottom of their hearts.
Was there really a tiger in the forest?
They had been wandering here for many days without seeing a tiger, but they happened to encounter one at this moment.
A Jiu and the other two immediately readied their guns and ammunition. They were on high alert, observing every direction and listening intently.
Only Niannian scratched her head. She always felt that this tiger's roar was a bit familiar.
"Roar!"
The huge tiger's roar was getting closer, accompanied by the heavy thumping sound of footsteps.
The sound was so heavy that it was obvious the tiger was of a gigantic size.
A Jiu and the other two all changed their expressions. Judging from the sound, this definitely wasn't a normal - sized tiger.
"Did the tiger from the underground laboratory escape?"
The only thing they could think of was the mutant tiger they had seen before.
To be honest, they had only seen that tiger once, but just one glance was enough to make their hair stand on end.
Tigers were already extremely dangerous creatures. After being mutated and transformed by the virus, this one was as huge as an elephant. It retained all the advantages of a tiger and even enhanced them. It was impossible for just a few people to handle it.
Even though Xiaotuanzi was very powerful, they still didn't feel at ease.
"If you see the tiger later, stay put. If the situation goes wrong, run away immediately. Do you understand?"
A Jiu became serious. At this moment, all he could think about was how to hold off the tiger and save Niannian's life. As for his own life and death, he didn't care at all.
"Huh?"
Xiaotuanzi blinked her eyes. She had never thought of being protected by anyone. When it came to this kind of thing, wasn't it natural for the capable ones to take on the task?
In the Taoist temple, she had always been the fighter. None of her senior brothers were as good at fighting as she was.
In just a few moments, the tiger appeared in front of them.
Pushing through the thick fog, a gigantic tiger, as big as an elephant, emerged.
Its eyes glinted, its mouth slightly open, and a little saliva dribbled out.
Facing such a huge creature, Xiaotuanzi didn't feel scared at all. Instead, her eyes lit up.
It wasn't the excitement of getting to fight, but pure joy.
A Jiu and the other two were about to raise their guns and shoot, but Niannian rushed out first.
"Don't go there!"
The three of them were extremely nervous. No matter how much they shouted, Niannian showed no sign of coming back.
She even spread her arms and in the blink of an eye, she was under the tiger.
Just as the three of them were determined to fight to the death to save Xiaotuanzi from the tiger's mouth, something unexpected happened.
The tiger lowered its head, not to bite off Xiaotuanzi's head, but to nuzzle her cheek gently like a cat.
It seemed to be...
Acting coquettishly?
What kind of magical turn of events was this?
"Hehehahaha, Big Cat, stop nuzzling me. It tickles~"
Xiaotuanzi giggled. She grabbed the tiger's fur. It seemed like she and the tiger were very familiar with each other.
The tiger was very obedient. As soon as Xiaotuanzi said it tickled, it immediately stopped nuzzling and stood still, allowing her to pet it.
It even bent its legs, trying to lower its body so that Xiaotuanzi could pet it to her heart's content.
The warm and fluffy fur felt really good.
Xiaotuanzi couldn't bear to let go for a moment.
Seeing that the tiger really posed no threat to Niannian, the three of them finally slowly put down their guns and cautiously walked towards Niannian.
"What's going on? Do you know this tiger?"
A Jiu actually wanted to ask if she had raised this tiger.
After all, tigers were not friendly to strangers. You couldn't just say hello and get along well with them.
For a ferocious beast like this to form a close bond with a person, it was most likely raised from a young age.
Niannian nodded and happily introduced, "I know. This is the tiger from the back mountain of our Taoist temple. I named it Big Cat. I used to fight with it a lot when I was a kid. But Big Cat could never beat me. Later, it would always carry me around on the mountain. Look at the 'king' character on its head. This protruding part was caused by me."
Niannian pointed at the character on the tiger's head.
The three of them took a closer look and found that there really was a protruding scar on the 'king' character. It looked like a 'jade' character when connected.
The tiger was as docile as a lapdog, so they naturally believed Xiaotuanzi's words. At the same time, they were also shocked.
When she was a kid?
Niannian didn't look very old now. How young could she have been when she said "when she was a kid"?
From that time on, Xiaotuanzi had already been dealing with such a ferocious beast and even managed to subdue it.
It was truly terrifying.
"Big Cat, why are you here?"
After petting and nuzzling the tiger for a while, Xiaotuanzi suddenly remembered that Big Cat shouldn't be here.
It should be patrolling the back mountain of the Taoist temple, being the majestic king of the mountain.
Before she came down the mountain, Big Cat already had a bit of intelligence. Maybe after some time, it would be able to become a spirit.
So it could understand simple human inquiries.
Hearing the question, Big Cat lowered its head and started to grunt softly, looking like a child acting coquettishly in grievance.
Niannian lovingly stroked its head and softly comforted it, "Don't be sad. Don't be sad. Did someone bully you? Who bullied you? Take me there. I promise I'll avenge you. You're my best little brother!"
During those years of playing and fighting on the mountain, they had built a very deep friendship.
Although they were of different species, Niannian didn't have many friends at that time. The master and senior brothers in the Taoist temple were more like fathers and elder brothers, not playmates of the same age.
So Big Cat was one of the few good companions in her childhood.
Now that her companion had been bullied, Niannian was definitely going to help it get revenge.
"Can you understand what it's saying?"
A Jiu asked curiously.
"I can't understand. But I can guess. Big Cat can understand what I'm saying. It's very smart."