"Surrender is your only option."
A voice echoed inside an empty space. The source of the voice floated in the void, his white robe flowing with the gentle wind that whirled around him. His face was bright as he stood in the air facing a huge ball of light in front of him.
"Never," a voice replied, echoing weaker than the previous one, and that was when the space shook, cracking and fading.
Shuyan woke up to the panicked face of Lin Dage, who was supposed to be keeping watch as the others slept. His head spun as his bearings came to him.
"Wake up, Shuyan. There is something outside."
The sentence pushed away any sleepiness left in him as his hand searched for his sword. He stood up as soon as he found his weapon and joined the other three beside the fire, where they squared off with a beast.
"Growl."
The first thing Shuyan saw as soon as he stood beside his friends was a massive beast—almost 2 meters tall, with rippling muscles and a malicious snarl on its face.
It was a tiger. An adult one.
"It's not a Spirit beast. We can kill it," Bai Zhicen whispered as his hand clutched the iron sword a bit tighter.
The tiger's growl got louder, as if happy that all of them were gathered together, making its job easier. And without warning, it lunged.
Bai Zhicen barely managed to avoid the lunge as he scrambled back.
"How can we be this unlucky?" Lin Dage cursed under his breath as he attracted the beast's attention. He was supposed to be the strongest of the four, but he had never imagined that they would encounter such a strong beast in just the periphery of SpiritVeil. He would have already fled if there weren't four of them. And even then, he wasn't sure if they could beat it.
The beast lowered its head as if readying itself for another lunge. Lin Dage tensed, and Shuyan stood beside him, ready to help fend the beast off. His hands shivered—whether from the cold winds or fear, nobody knew except him.
"This beast is either wary of something or toying with us. It's not committing to its attack," Shuyan spoke, trying not to let the tension seep into his voice, realizing the absurdity of his own analysis. If it was true, then this beast was too intelligent, which decreased their chances of surviving the attack, which was already low to begin with.
"I can't believe we can't beat it," Gu Yantou gritted his teeth as he spoke, fire in his eyes. The four of them assumed a formation in an arc facing the beast, ready for its attack.
The tiger launched itself with a speed the boys barely managed to keep up with, its body like an arrow shot from a fully drawn bowstring. The target was Lin Dage in the middle, who sidestepped the attack and replied with a thrust of his sword.
The beast swatted it away with its massive paw and doubled down, finally committing to its attack. Lin Dage's speed was no match for its slap, which landed squarely on his face. Shuyan, managing to shake away the fear, managed to pull off a stab while the tiger was attacking.
"Slap."
"Stab."
Another sword had already found itself deep in its gut, causing it to let out a deep roar that shook the group's eardrums. The tiger flailed around in pain as the boys scattered.
Bai Zhicen and Gu Yantou tried to calm the shivering of their hands while Shuyan stared at the sword embedded in the tiger's abdomen.
He had managed to impale it with his iron sword while it focused its attack on Lin Dage. The others were frozen with fear, barely managing to react as the tiger flailed around in panic and pain.
"Drip." "Drip."
Blood dripped onto a dried leaf beneath Lin Dage as he stared at the bleeding tiger before him. The tiger glared at the group with venom in its eyes one last time and ran away.
The intense pain was ignored as Lin Dage stared at the disappearing back of the beast. The pain had muted his senses as everything played out in slow motion.
Even Shuyan's approaching face, full of concern, and the guilty expressions of Bai Zhicen and Gu Yantou.
Everything felt surreal. But then the pain hit, and he groaned.
"Arghh." He fell down onto the ground, covered in his own blood. Shuyan grabbed him and quickly pulled out some medicine.
The treatment went on for minutes, during which Lin Dage barely managed to remain conscious. A slap to the face from the paw of a tiger was a blow few could withstand. If not for him being a Bone Forging Stage cultivator, he would have been dead from that blow—which was probably why the tiger had committed to its attack after identifying him as the greatest threat.
His pain soothed as the medicines worked, and he slowly stood up and went inside the shelter. The three of them stood there and watched him vanish behind the leaves and sticks.
Shuyan's throat felt dry, words stuck in his throat. He could see the still-shivering swords in the duo's hands before him. He could see even the guilt and shame of not being able to defend Lin Dage.
But he couldn't speak. Lin Dage was a hair's breadth away from death and these two hadn't reacted.
"You two—" Shuyan sighed and just shook his head. Their faces made it hard for him to say anything.
"Just keep watch," was all he managed to say before he sat down in front of the shelter. He could hear quiet sobs but preferred not to speak.
"What a good display of camaraderie! I must applaud." A voice broke the quiet tension.