Chapter 40: When Two Tigers Clash

Just as Ye Huan was about to speak, Zong Zheng broke his silence. "I can help you. But besides agreeing to the original conditions, you must guarantee that Hanlin’s life will be spared."

Zong Ren was overjoyed. "Father, rest assured. As long as you can manifest the Black Tiger Malice, I will never go back on my word."

Zong Zheng sighed and said, "Do it, then."

"Grandfather..." Zong Hanlin, likely sensing his impending doom, crawled out from the wall, crying out, "Grandfather, don't use me to forge the Black Tiger Malice!"

Before Hanlin could reach Zong Zheng, Zong Ren grabbed him by the collar, hoisted him up, and slapped him twice, knocking him unconscious.

Zong Zheng sighed. "Why hit him? He’s just a poor, unfortunate child."

"Back then, when I had you, I couldn't wrap my head around things, so I killed your parents. But by the time Hanlin was born, I had come to understand."

"What does bloodline matter? Only the child you raise with your own hands is truly your own."

As Zong Zheng spoke, the rope around his neck unknotted itself, and his corpse fell heavily to the ground. "Drag me over and place me next to Hanlin."

Once Zong Ren had positioned the body, Zong Zheng continued, "Back then, you knew that using Hanlin to consume those nine children wouldn't work, and even if it did, you wouldn't be able to escape the consequences. So, you used a life-linking ritual to bind Hanlin to that black cat."

"Once the black cat became a malevolent spirit, you planned to find a way to channel that malice into Hanlin."

"But you forgot that black cats are born with spiritual insight; it makes them even easier to turn into spirits. Though you pinned the cat's corpse down, you only deepened its resentment. That kind of cat-ghost is hard to control."

"The only way to make Hanlin a vessel for the malice now is to weaken the cat-ghost first; only then can you force it into his body. Have you found something to suppress its soul?"

"Yes!" Zong Ren replied, pulling out a string of soul-suppressing bells. Weren't those Tang Yu’s?

It seemed Tang Yu had already met a tragic end at their hands.

"The Tang family’s soul-suppressing bells? You killed someone from the Tang family?" Zong Zheng said dismissively. "Destroy it once you're done. The Northeast Tang family may not be as formidable as the Sichuan Tang Clan, but they are still not to be trifled with. Keeping this object is just inviting disaster."

Zong Ren chuckled. "Don't worry. I let the cat-ghost do the killing; I didn't lift a finger myself. The Tang family will never trace it back to me!"

Zong Zheng commanded, "Lure your cat-ghost over, drop the restrictions on its body, let it manifest as a tiger, and have it fight the Black Tiger Malice I have cultivated."

"When two tigers fight, one is bound to be injured. The one that remains will be easy to control."

Zong Ren nodded and began chanting the incantations to summon the cat-ghost.

I heard a sharp whistling of wind at the mouth of the alley, as if something were approaching.

Upon hearing the sound, Zong Ren turned and hid behind an elm tree, muttering words I couldn't understand. A moment later, he let out a violent shout: "Release!"

Suddenly, a gale erupted outside the wall, and the air was filled with a fishy, metallic stench. The speed of the wind slowed, giving the impression of a tiger stalking forward with deliberate, heavy steps.

This was the true Black Tiger Malice!

When it was merely a black cat, it possessed ferocity, but lacked the majesty of a predator. Now that it had transformed into a tiger, its presence was absolute; with every step it took, the suffocating malice grew thicker.

The black cat hanging from the tree seemed to sense it, its corpse twisting on the rope.

A moment later, the fur of the long-dead cat suddenly stood on end, making it appear to swell to several times its size.

Soon, the wind whipped up by the tiger’s movement surged into the Zong family courtyard. As a tiger’s claw shattered the gate from the outside, the black cat on the tree disintegrated, and a shadow of a black tiger pounced into the yard.

One mountain cannot hold two tigers, let alone this tiny courtyard.

The two three-meter-long black tigers clashed without hesitation. Sand and stones flew, and dust billowed. I could only see two shadows intertwining and colliding within the vortex of dust, unable to tell which one held the upper hand.

After watching for a while, I asked, "Is that a tiger? It looks like a giant cat to me."

Ye Huan replied with disdain, "A cat is just a cat. It has the shape of a tiger, but not the spirit. Without Zong Hanlin’s life-fate, it could never become a Black Tiger Malice."

I whispered, "Who do you think will win?"

"The smaller one," Ye Huan said. "Look closely. The slightly smaller black tiger has a patch of white fur between its brows. That is not a tiger; it is a *biao*."

"Legend has it that a *biao* is hard to raise, but once fully grown, it feeds on tigers."

"The larger one is doomed."

"A *biao*?" As I pondered this, a miserable screech echoed from the courtyard.

The swirling dust began to settle, revealing the two beasts. True to Ye Huan’s words, the larger black tiger’s throat had been torn out by its opponent. The victor was already rapidly absorbing the body of its foe.

Zong Zheng shouted, "It’s done! Don't wait for it to recover, use the bells now!"

Zong Ren emerged from behind the tree, shaking the soul-suppressing bells relentlessly. The previously alert black tiger, stunned by the vibration of the bells, seemed to lose its consciousness and walked blankly toward the unconscious Zong Hanlin.

"Move!" I shouted. A shadow of a tiger over three meters long erupted from Ye Huan’s body.

The great tiger planted its front paws on the roof ridge, roaring against the wind like a king descending to the world. Its presence was as heavy as a prison, forcing all beasts into submission.

Everyone inside and outside the yard was stunned into silence.

The next moment, Ye Huan leaped toward the courtyard. To my eyes, his movement was like a tiger vaulting over a mountain stream; the wind followed his path, amplifying his power.

As he cleared the wall, the bricks shattered and flew into the courtyard like a torrential rain.

Only then did Zong Ren react. Waving the bells with one hand to deflect the flying debris, he reached for his waist with the other, seemingly reaching for a weapon.

How could I let him succeed?

Though I had leaped from the roof a step behind Ye Huan, I landed on the crumbling wall as he crossed it. I fired three consecutive bolts from the mechanism in my sleeve, aiming straight for Zong Ren.

Hidden weapons like these seem small, but their lethality within twenty meters is immense. Caught off guard, Zong Ren dodged one bolt, but the second pierced his left eye.

Before he could finish his scream, the third bolt buried itself in his throat.

Zong Ren died on the spot. I turned and lunged toward Zong Zheng, who lay on the ground.

While still in mid-air, I drew my blades, *Drifting Snow* and *Immortal Pierce*.

I thrust *Drifting Snow* toward the center of Zong Zheng’s brow and drove *Immortal Pierce* into his chest. Both blades hit their marks simultaneously, and I landed in a crouch beside him.

However, only black blood seeped from his corpse, with no flicker of life or soul. My heart skipped a beat.