Chapter 138: The Curious Case of Two Tigers

Li Tianque did not want to alert the target, but Achu had already taken the initiative. Li Tianque followed the sound and saw Achu suddenly curl her right hand into a hook. The five coils of metal wire wrapped around her right hand instantly shot out. The once coiled metal wire was forcibly stretched straight by an extremely powerful force, shooting like a sharp sword in that direction. A streak of silver light tore through the darkness.

Li Tianque reflexively swung his flashlight toward the direction where Achu had launched the wire, hoping to see what was happening. Unfortunately, the shadow flickered past swiftly, followed by a low, guttural roar. “Damn, missed! It got away!” Li Tianque lamented. Before he could finish speaking, he saw Achu suddenly thrown violently to the ground by something.

At the same moment, a terrifying roar echoed from the darkness, like thunder shaking the entire building violently. From the direction where Achu fell came the crackling sound of metal wires breaking; clearly, Achu was struggling fiercely with the roaring creature. The beam from Li Tianque’s flashlight hadn’t yet caught up when Achu and that creature rolled past him, tumbling back down the stairs to the second floor.

Li Tianque hurriedly scanned with his flashlight, but was met again with that deafening roar. The next moment, a brutal, savage force slammed down hard. Li Tianque felt as if his chest was struck by a massive hammer; his chest tightened painfully, and then he was knocked down by a huge beast. The creature’s foul, sticky saliva dripped onto Li Tianque’s face while its massive body pinned his lower half, rendering him immobile.

Li Tianque’s head hung suspended over the edge of the staircase above, making the blood rush to his head and nearly causing him to faint. His vision flickered with chaotic spots of light, and in the distance, a vague white shadow loomed. Damn... Li Tianque struggled painfully, preparing to smash the monstrous creature before him with his tranquilizer pistol. But the earlier gunshot had only enraged the beast.

The vicious tiger roared fiercely again, its saliva flowing down Li Tianque’s face from its gaping maw lined with fangs. For the first time, Li Tianque felt the oppressive instinctual dominance of a species. When an ordinary human confronted a terrifying carnivorous animal like a tiger, that innate fear became overwhelmingly real.

With the roar, the savage tiger struck with both paws, pressing down hard on Li Tianque’s shoulders. The sudden blow snapped his shoulder blades with a sharp crack; both arms went limp, and the tranquilizer gun slipped from his grasp, tumbling down the stairs. Now utterly defenseless, Li Tianque could only glare at the terrifying black-furred monster, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.

The fallen flashlight’s beam illuminated the tiger’s side, revealing many deep wounds hidden beneath its thick black fur—wounds old and new, densely clustered, grotesque to behold. More horrifying still, the tiger’s eyes were strangely blood-red not from pigment but because its eyeballs had been gouged out. In their place were two protruding, red tumors—repulsive and unnatural.

Li Tianque’s mind instantly froze. He had no energy to wonder why such a bizarre and terrifying creature would appear in an abandoned nursing home; all he wanted to know was whether he still had any chance of survival. The crushing pressure made breathing increasingly difficult. Perhaps because it could not see, the tiger did not immediately bite down but continued sniffing, giving Li Tianque a faint hope to struggle.

In this critical moment, Li Tianque’s mind raced. He recalled hearing that when confronted by a black bear in the wild, playing dead might allow one to survive. Legend said black bears had poor eyesight, earning them the nickname “black blind ones.” Now, this ferocious tiger’s eyes were destroyed, replaced by gruesome tumors, so its vision must be even worse than a black bear’s. If Li Tianque could hold his breath and remain still, perhaps he could escape this fate.

Resolving this, Li Tianque ceased struggling, enduring the pain while forcing himself silent. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried his best to hold his breath. Yet though the tiger did not bite immediately, its claws’ pressure persisted. Li Tianque felt his shoulder being crushed, the bones creaking horrifically. His head swam, and he nearly lost consciousness.

He gritted his teeth, determined to endure, but he knew his strength wouldn’t last much longer. After a while, the tiger seemed to sense a change; it moved its large nose over Li Tianque’s head, sniffing deeply, letting out low, guttural snorts. A foul, thick stench sprayed forth, and sticky saliva streamed from the tiger’s mouth, drenching Li Tianque’s face.

Even in this dire crisis, Li Tianque’s thoughts churned wildly. He recalled an outdoor streamer on a popular broadcast app once saying that playing dead did not always work against some intelligent black bears. If the bear couldn’t confirm the prey’s death, it would lick them with its tongue first. Black bears’ tongues are covered in backward-facing barbs; being licked by one would likely strip the skin off an entire face.

This tiger’s tongue was also covered with many barbs. If it decided to lick him first, Li Tianque feared he would be skinned alive even if he survived. The thought filled him with dread and made controlling his breath even harder. Just seconds later, Li Tianque felt true despair descend once more...