TFBAT – Chapter 9

“Tuantuan…” Chi Yuyang’s soft murmur was gradually swallowed up. In a daze, she felt that the white tiger’s body had grown even bigger than before.

If Chi Yuyang had a measuring ruler in hand, she would know that Tuantuan, restored to its normal beast form, was about three meters long from head to tail.

But she had no such tool with her.

The reason she noticed Tuantuan had grown a bit larger was because her calf had brushed against a scorching hot spot.

She had never touched that place before, so she guessed it was because Tuantuan’s body had changed.

These past few days, she had been sleeping with Tuantuan, but all she ever felt was the softness of tiger fur.

Originally, she had intended to sleep alone. But Tuantuan’s body was simply too warm, like that dreamlike sensation of lying upon fluffy white clouds—utterly irresistible.

Yet, the faint stinging at her leg now made Chi Yuyang feel something wasn’t quite right. She didn’t dare think too carefully about what exactly that place was.

Instinctively, she twisted her body slightly.

Unbeknownst to her, a long tail quietly curled its way around.

Hu Jin thought to test things first with his tail, lest his wife couldn’t endure it.

Chi Yuyang only felt the atmosphere grow strangely unusual, though the one pressing against her was clearly just a tiger.

“Tuantuan…”

Just then, broken bits of conversation suddenly sounded outside the cave.

And the voices seemed to be not far away.

“Has this area been searched?”

That was a human voice!

Having gone so long without seeing another person, Chi Yuyang’s first reaction was to want to go out and see.

But firmly pinned down by Tuantuan, she lifted her head and saw something in the white tiger’s eyes she had never seen before—an unusual gleam, and even its mouth revealed rare, sharp fangs.

Tuantuan was angry?

That made her listen more carefully to the people outside.

“We’ve searched everywhere. No sign of Hu Jin.”

Hu Jin? Tiger?

Chi Yuyang instantly latched onto those key words.

Was that the name those people outside had given Tuantuan? Could it be they were looking for him?

The memory of the shocking wounds covering Tuantuan’s body when she first found him flashed through her mind. Linking it with his current strange behavior, she instinctively held her breath.

If those outside really were the bastards who had harmed Tuantuan, then she absolutely couldn’t let him fall into their hands again!

Fortunately, the cave she and Tuantuan were hiding in was well concealed. As long as the men didn’t come closer to search, they likely wouldn’t notice it for now.

For safety’s sake, she had cleaned up all of Tuantuan’s bloodstains the very first day she found him. At this moment, she felt deeply grateful for her earlier caution.

Now, she only prayed those men would not discover the cave.

Curled tightly in Tuantuan’s embrace, Chi Yuyang didn’t dare make a sound.

She had originally been lying on her side, but now, out of nervousness, she couldn’t help but bury herself completely within the protective circle of Tuantuan’s limbs.

Tuantuan’s presence gave her immense reassurance. She couldn’t allow those men to take him away, nor let them hurt him again.

Go away… Please, don’t come any closer…

Chi Yuyang prayed silently.

Judging by their voices, there were at least two men outside, and both were male. She knew she could never win against them alone.

And since they had once wounded Tuantuan so badly, it was very likely they had weapons of deadly power.

So even though Tuantuan had now grown into his adult form, he might still not be able to defeat them.

She didn’t want to see Tuantuan get hurt again.

But Chi Yuyang also felt that the white tiger pinning her down was restless, seemingly ready to strike at any moment.

If they truly encountered those men outside, she planned to try reasoning with them first, to stall for time, and give Tuantuan a chance to escape.

With that thought, Chi Yuyang reached out and gently touched Tuantuan’s head. She stroked the white tiger softly, and even tried mouthing words of comfort: “Tuantuan, I’ll protect you.”

Hu Jin understood what she said.

In that instant, the violent urges surging within him completely melted away.

Yes, his wife was still by his side. He couldn’t afford to be reckless.

At this moment, he wasn’t afraid of facing those who had hurt him before. But once in his beast form, it would be very difficult for him to protect his wife while fighting.

He needed to return to his human form as soon as possible.

It should be him who protected his wife.

Hu Jin instinctively pulled the female in his arms tighter. If those people really broke in, he had to create an opportunity for his wife to escape first.

As for those so-called brothers of his—because of them, he had failed his tribulation, and now they were disturbing his most important matter. Once he recovered his human form, he would make them pay the price they deserved!

…

Waiting was always long and agonizing.

Meanwhile, the woman and the tiger in each other’s arms were both secretly considering how to let the other escape unharmed.

No one knew how long had passed, but outside the cave, only the crisp sound of birdsong remained.

In the past few days, for some unknown reason, more and more animals had appeared in this area.

This made Chi Yuyang start thinking about finding a new place to settle.

Normally, animals avoided places with many people. In other words, she reasoned, where there were lots of animals, there were likely few humans.

So she planned to leave here and look elsewhere.

Only, she still hadn’t figured out how to deal with the problem of Tuantuan.

After what just happened, Chi Yuyang suddenly realized something.

She couldn’t abandon Tuantuan, nor could she allow him to fall into the hands of bad people.

“Awwoo…” Tuantuan spoke first.

“They’re gone?” Chi Yuyang trusted that Tuantuan’s beastly instincts must be more accurate than her own judgment.

When the white tiger released her and nodded at the same time, Chi Yuyang let out a long sigh of relief.

“We can’t stay here anymore. We need to find a new place.”

After saying this, she began to pack up.

In truth, she didn’t have much to take with her. The cat food was almost gone, and more than half of her snacks had already been eaten.

Besides the salt and sugar, what she needed to bring were the animal hides, fruits, and her toolbox—the first two were given to her by Tuantuan, and the last one was her lifeline.

The white tiger watched as Chi Yuyang only packed the fruits and hides, then walked over and stuffed her discarded wallet and other miscellaneous items into a plastic bag with his mouth.

“Awwoo, awwoo!” I can carry them!

Seeing this unexpected action, Chi Yuyang thought he was trying to tell her that RMB was still usable currency here.

She also recalled how she could understand everything those people said earlier. Could it be that she had come to a parallel world?

But now was not the time to dwell on that question. Chi Yuyang quickly finished packing everything and lifted the bag in her hand.

Just as she was about to head outside, Tuantuan suddenly crouched halfway in front of her, his tail hooking around her waist.

The last time Tuantuan had done this, he carried her on his back to another place. Was he planning to carry her again?

Chi Yuyang didn’t want to treat Tuantuan as a mere mount, but her speed truly couldn’t compare with his.

After weighing the pros and cons, she decided to go along with Tuantuan’s wishes.

“Tuantuan, I’ll trouble you again…” She carefully climbed onto the white tiger’s back, then gently stroked the pair of upright ears on his head. “Thank you.”

Among all of Tuantuan’s features, what Chi Yuyang loved most were his round ears.

The edges were rimmed in white, but the centers were pink. Under the sunlight, they looked like two glowing rubies.

But ever since Tuantuan had grown bigger, she hadn’t dared to touch them again.

Now that she did, she found his ears not only looked exquisite, but also felt unbelievably nice to the touch.

However, Chi Yuyang didn’t know this was Tuantuan’s sensitive spot. Even the white tiger himself didn’t realize until this moment just how it felt to have his mate affectionately touch his ears.

The tiger beneath her gave an almost imperceptible shiver, and the next instant he stretched his legs and charged forward at full speed.

Hu Jin felt a strange current rush through his body, making it hard to control his heartbeat.

“Awwooooo!” Having a wife is the best!

Chi Yuyang didn’t know how long Tuantuan had been running, but all she saw was the scenery on both sides constantly changing.

When the trees around them began to thin out and golden fields came into view, a sudden thought struck her.

“Tuantuan! Stop!”

Hu Jin immediately came to a halt.

Only then did he realize that, in his focus on running, he had unknowingly arrived at another tribe’s territory.

This scent… it smelled like…