Chapter 023 – Calico!

Li Yuan glanced at his

Advanced Beast Taming

and saw he still had 65 unallocated stat points.

Without hesitation, he kept adding stats points to the skill. He tapped the

+

sign 40 more times.

Advanced Beast Taming(1/40) ➔ NEW! Expert Beast Taming (1/80)

Long hours of practice taught him that training alone wasn’t enough; he needed real-world challenges. So, instead of sticking to ordinary animals, he set his sights on fierce, wild predators. He began to tame vicious carnivores. He knew starting from a young age would make them more obedient, but that wasn’t the kind of beast taming he wanted. His goal was to subdue creatures that had roamed the jungle for years.

Time after time, he ended up bloodied and near death—and still he failed. Wild, battle-hardened predators were notoriously difficult to tame. Yet he did gain something.

A strange affinity had taken root in him. Even rabid dogs were hesitant to bite, tigers and leopards stopped seeing him as prey, and crocodiles lurking near the water’s edge wouldn’t drag him under.

The memories felt so genuine, like he had personally lived through each of them. Now, the storm was behind him, and the dust had settled. All that was left to reap the fruits borne out of his tears and sweat.

Sensing the changes within himself, Li Yuan decided to test his new skills. Leaving his cave, he set out to find the tiger that had escaped. Thanks to his

Master Tracking

skill, it didn’t take long to track down the beast. He found it crouched behind a large boulder, gnawing on roasted venison.

With a crude bow on his back and a hatchet in hand, he approached slowly, keeping a safe distance. The tiger glanced at him, showing neither threat nor any urge to chase him off.

Li Yuan recognized this as a form of acceptance. Wild animals were fiercely territorial, so if the tiger didn’t drive him away, it meant it had acknowledged him.

Li Yuan tried calling out, “

Roar…?

Is it tasty?

”

The tiger tapped its face with a paw and growled softly, “

Growl…!

Don’t come closer…!

”

“

I won’t,

” Li Yuan answered.

With that, the tiger simply lowered its head and went back to eating.

Li Yuan shouted, “

I still have more!

”

The tiger snapped its head up, staring straight at him.

Li Yuan continued, “

If you don’t come over, you won’t get any.

”

Enraged, the tiger let out a loud growl, “

I want it

!”

When Li Yuan stayed put, the tiger roared again, “

I’ll bite you! I’ll bite you to death!

”

Its front paws pressed down, body tensed as if to lunge. It was that classic predator move of testing how its opponent would react. If Li Yuan showed weakness, the tiger would take advantage.

But Li Yuan responded with a cold grin, utterly fearless.

In a flash, he pulled out the crude bow from behind his back, drawing its string. It creaked under the tension, and his entire demeanor shifted. His eyes went cold, exuding a ferocious aura that fixed the tiger in place.

The tiger’s growl grew softer until, finally, it disappeared altogether. Its readiness to pounce also faded.

Refusing to let up, Li Yuan roared, “

Listen to me and you’ll get some!

”

The tiger answered with a growl, “

I won’t listen!

”

Li Yuan raised his voice and yelled back, “

Don’t listen. Then no food!

”

The tiger was silent for a moment, then let out a low whine, “

I can’t beat you. Fine, I’ll listen. Give me the food!

”

Man and tiger were actually communicating. Perhaps it was due to Li Yuan’s uncanny affinity with wild animals, coupled with the raw strength he had shown and the time they’d already spent together. All of it added up to a surprising outcome.

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By evening, the winter sky glowed red, painting Little Ink Mountain in the deep hues of twilight.

The young man and the tiger walked side by side. A chill wind swept through tall grass, ruffling the tiger’s whiskers and the white fur along its jaw.

Just then, Li Yuan’s sharp eyes caught sight of something in the distance—3~6.

He halted in his tracks. The tiger didn’t need a cue. It had already picked up the scent of prey. But catching this one wouldn’t be so easy.

The distant grunts revealed a boar with formidable tusks, curved like blades emerging from their sheath. One look and you could tell it was dangerous. Ordinary wild boars usually had a threat level around 3~4, but this one was 3~6. Clearly it was even more aggressive.

Oblivious to the two hunters closing in, the boar continued chomping on some unknown fruit.

Li Yuan drew his bow, training his gaze on the boar. However, its thick hide and coarse bristles were like a soldier’s armor, and his crude bow didn’t pack enough punch to guarantee a one-shot kill.

He crept forward, keeping his footsteps light. The tiger watched him closely, occasionally glancing over at the wild boar, which remained totally unaware.

Li Yuan circled around instead of walking around to face the boar head-on, where it would charge straight at him on sight. He drew his bow quietly, and pulled the string taut.

The boar suddenly froze, as if sensing danger, but it was already too late.

Whoosh!

The bowstring snapped, and the arrow whistled through the air, plunging straight into the boar’s backside.

The wounded animal let out a shrill squeal and bolted. But the arrow had buried itself so deeply that only part of its fletching was still visible.

Blood spurted beneath the boar, and it stumbled forward, struggling to keep its footing.

Seizing the moment, Li Yuan sprinted after it, hatchet in hand. When he drew close, he gave the ground a hard stomp and leapt high, swinging the blade in a swift, ruthless arc.

The blow struck the boar’s neck with a sound like tearing cloth, decapitating it on the spot. The head rolled aside, and the body collapsed in a heap, blood splattering Li Yuan from head to toe.

He let out a hearty laugh. He was used to the sight of blood. Planting a boot on the boar’s flank, he flipped it over and methodically sliced open its belly. He hung the intestines from a branch, then yanked out the heart and tossed it to the tiger. The tiger caught it in its jaws and settled down to feast.

After a few bites, the tiger paused to stare at the swaying intestines.

“

Why’d you hang those up?

”

Li Yuan replied, “

They’re full of excrement.

”

“

What’s that?

”

Li Yuan cut off half the intestines, letting out a foul, yellowish sludge. “

That’s what it is.

”

The tiger sniffed. “

So we can’t eat it?

”

Li Yuan found it hard to explain with just roars. “

Better not.

”

“

Why?

”

“

Hard to say.”

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“

Then think of a reason!

”

“

Anyway, don’t eat it.

”

Satisfied for now, the tiger went back to devouring the heart. Meanwhile, Li Yuan hacked off a few choice cuts of meat. His purpose today was to display his strength to the tiger and get them more comfortable working together. Now that they’d hunted side by side and shared some spoils, things looked promising.

Carrying his share of the meat, Li Yuan set off for home, thinking it was about time he got cleaned up.

The tiger glanced at the boar’s carcass and gave a soft growl, “

Meat?

”

Li Yuan replied, “

I don’t really want it. Yours if you like.

”

Delighted, the tiger settled beside the boar and tore into its organs. Normally, it would have taken a lot of effort and a fair amount of risk for the tiger to bring down prey this big on its own.

Now, it feasted contentedly, occasionally glancing at Li Yuan as it ate.

Suddenly, Li Yuan called out, “Calico!”

The tiger growled in confusion, “

What?

”

Li Yuan responded, “

That’s what I’m calling you!

”

The tiger seemed to mull it over, then went back to its meal.

Li Yuan tested the name again, “Calico!”

“

Roar…!

What now?

”

Satisfied, Li Yuan nodded.

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To show off a bit in front of his new companion, Li Yuan dyed a deerskin cloak red with boar’s blood. Though it looked intimidating, his inner clothes were only mildly stained.

When darkness finally fell, he washed himself and his cloak in a mountain spring, then rushed to the campfire to warm up and roast some meat. He was waiting. Once the moon rose a bit higher, he’d head home.

On the outside, Li Yuan appeared calm. But inside, he was brimming with excitement. He’d tamed a man-eating tiger! It still felt like a dream. All his memories involved hunting with dogs, but from now on, he could hunt with a tiger by his side.

As tough as life was, at least it was getting interesting. Tomorrow, he planned to see if Calico would let him ride on its back. If so, his exploration range could grow dramatically.

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Late that night, Li Yuan returned home. After a moment of intimacy with Yan Yu, he lay back comfortably and said, “Yan Yu, guess what? I tamed a man-eating tiger today!”

Yan Yu gently poked him and laughed. “Stop making stuff up. Nobody can tame a tiger that hunts people!”

Recalling how his last display of martial prowess had left her skeptical, Li Yuan simply shrugged and grinned. “Fine. Just don’t go telling anyone about this, okay?”

“Alright, alright,” Yan Yu replied. “Your wife’s no fool.”

They cuddled for a while, gazing at the dark silhouettes of the furniture. Then Li Yuan asked, “Any new word from outside?”

Yan Yu shook her head. “It’s too soon. The county troops only left town yesterday.”