The Dragon Prince's Warrior

Danger in the forest II

The situation was chaotic. In the grip of that towering man with a robust build, Siu's life hung by a thread. Perhaps she had been caught off guard by him, and it didn't seem like he had any intentions of letting her go. Yun's heart raced just from hearing her struggling gasps as she fought for air to stay alive. What could he do? If he took another step forward, there was no doubt the man would break her windpipe instantly.

"At last you show up, scum," he sneered with a voice full of hate, not releasing Siu from his deadly grip.

"Yu-Yun," Siu managed to say in a weak voice.

"Let her go, or I won't hold back," threatened Yun, his brows furrowed, displaying his sharp dagger to make his point clear.

"Do you think you scare me, little girl?" The man burst into a strident laugh. "Let's see if you'd also like to lose your companion, just like she ended the life of my loyal friend. Oh! But what bad news for both of us. Turns out he wasn't dead."

A growl began to resonate in the surroundings, and Yun was startled because, despite moving his eyes searching for the source, he couldn't pinpoint where the growl was coming from. It made sense, because that jet-black tiger with white stripes had the ability to hide among the trees and blend into the darkness of the undergrowth; the dimness of the dense forest was its ally.

"I see you like to bully the weaker ones," Yun taunted with a smirk, and the man immediately furrowed his brow. "Why don't you stop playing games and test your power in a more honorable way? Like a man? Come on, if you're as strong as you claim to be."

Yun's words seemed to have some effect on the tall, burly, and unkempt man, as he promptly released Siu, letting her fall to the side, completely unconscious. The young prince wasn't sure if she was alive or not; he just hoped to live long enough to find out.

Mei had followed Yun and witnessed the whole commotion. She could do nothing more than be a spectator to that intense encounter. She occasionally peeked out from behind the tree she was hiding behind, feeling utterly helpless.

"Who's going to look like a little girl now is someone else, and I'm seeing it right in front of me," the man finished his sentence and lunged at Yun while unsheathing a sword.

Yun swiftly dodged and delivered a strong kick to the man's lower back, causing him to stagger a little but return to attack with the sword held in front of him. Yun ran until he reached a tree and agilely climbed up where the man couldn't reach him with his sword.

"Get down from there, you cowardly chicken!" he shouted, then approached the unconscious Siu and grabbed her by the hair to lift her up. "If not, you know who's going to pay the price."

What Yun didn't anticipate was that the tiger would be right next to him, so close that he didn't have time to react. With a painful swipe, it knocked him off the tree. However, he managed to execute a mid-air somersault and landed in a crouch.

The prince felt exhausted; real fights were something he hadn't faced before, despite his moderate daily training. His father's reign hadn't been built on bloodshed; quite the opposite. Peace had prevailed for the most part throughout his and his siblings' lives... until now.

"Has the little lady tired herself out?" The man's grating laughter echoed around them. "You know, I'm getting bored of this. Let's make it more interesting. I'm feeling a bit excited; this woman is beautiful, a true female."

With a lecherous look in his eyes, the man began running his fingers along Siu's legs. He squeezed her buttocks and ended up fondling one of her ample breasts. This series of actions made Yun's blood boil.

"Don't touch her, you bastard!" Yun shouted and rushed towards the man to attack.

However, the man positioned the unconscious Siu in front of him, using her as a sort of shield. Yun narrowly avoided gravely injuring the girl, only leaving her with a minor cut.

"You damn coward," Yun muttered under his breath, feeling the tiger approaching him from behind.

"Coward, me?" the man chuckled. "You're the coward for letting a girl prevent you from striking. Now your mistake will cost you dearly."

Yun felt the beast coming at him swiftly, but with a nimble kick, he sent it flying. With a quick spinning movement, he positioned himself right behind the ruffian and struck him in the neck, causing him to release Siu and fall to the ground just like the tiger had.

"Yun, his sword!" Mei shouted from behind a tree, surprising Yun, but there was no time to waste. He moved like lightning to disarm the man.

The man lost consciousness and orientation. It took him a while to come back to himself, but when he did, Yun was standing in front of Siu, protecting her. Additionally, the woman who had been deprived of her children was beside him. Yun's arms were positioned to attack, holding the sword he had taken when he was disoriented due to the blow. And most importantly: he was tied from head to toe to one of the thick trees of the forest, just like the black tiger.

"What the hell did you do to me? Let me go immediately, you worthless bunch of morons!" the man roared in anger.

Yun, his face full of fury, approached the man and pressed the edge of the sword against his neck, right up against his sweaty and rough skin. He then began to interrogate him under threat:

"First, you're going to tell me where you took this poor woman's children," he said through gritted teeth, never taking his eyes off the man's small, trembling eyes that seemed to be shaking with helplessness.

"If you let me go, I promise I'll tell you," he responded, his voice strained and his gaze defiant.

Yun's stomach churned with anger at the lack of cooperation from the man. Mei started crying bitterly again.

"And you shut up, you b***h! I shouldn't have spared your life. You're a nuisance!"

"Speak up, or I'll slit your throat," Yun said sternly, pressing the edge of the sword a little harder, cutting the skin slightly and eliciting a painful groan from the man.

"I know you won't dare, or you would've already. I'll say it again, you're a chicken," he hissed, unwilling to cooperate.

"He won't talk," Mei said amidst sobs, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Of course he will, if he wants to live," Yun said, but in a split second, an arrow had pierced the man's chest.

Yun and Mei turned to look, surprise evident on their faces. Siu, trembling with weakness, had regained consciousness and wasted no time in shooting him once her body had regained some strength.

"This isn't over," the man threatened, addressing Siu exclusively, and then he died, tied up right there.

"Siu..." Yun said worriedly, quickly moving to hold her, and she collapsed into his arms.

"By all the gods!" Mei rushed over immediately to check on the girl with a tinge of concern. "The good thing is she's still alive. What a relief."

"She's right; now we need to find shelter nearby. We're already too far from Yumai, dusk is approaching, and she needs rest."

"I'll accompany you," Mei pleaded. "It's better to be with you than to be devoured by beasts in this place. Besides, I'm good at taking care of the sick and recovering. That was my job before coming here."

By referring to "the sick and recovering," Mei was alluding to the archer girl and Yun himself. He understood immediately, and his eyes gravitated toward Siu, almost like magnets drawn by inertia. He scrutinized her discreetly, not wanting to show how concerned he was for her, though that seemed almost impossible.

Siu's face looked pale, and her forehead was damp with sweat, but young Yun couldn't help but smile subtly, feeling relieved that she was breathing and that he had managed to save her from the clutches of that ruffian.

Suddenly, Yun's expression twisted with pain as he realized that both of his arms were injured from the tiger's claws, and blood was dripping onto the carpet of dry leaves beneath the trees. When he remembered the animal and the ruffian, he turned to look at the tree where the corpse had been, only to be startled beyond measure.

The man's body, tied there, had transformed into a sort of accumulation of dry scales, akin to a snake shedding its skin. When Yun looked to where they had tied up the tiger, it was gone. Yun and Mei immediately turned to each other with bewilderment. There were simply no words or coherent explanations for what they had just witnessed.