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Chapter 15: The Tiger's Scar

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Exploring the Tiger's Scar had to be done in a somewhat slow manner.

The inclination wasn't bad near the boundary between the outer and inner regions. But as one got closer to the edge of the mountaintop, the steepness would take an abrupt increase, with no semblance of trails one could tread upon.

Wonlai and the others could not say that they'd explored the area completely.

Not only was the terrain difficult, but finding fortune was something that required good luck and some fate to begin with; there weren't even martial beats which served as indications, so many times would trips to the Tiger's Scar result in a fruitless effort. Thus, not many teams would return after a first few times.

Admittedly, Kyu Cao hadn't come to this place with the intention of finding fortune, but even then he'd been paying close attention to anything of interest.

"Big Bro Cao, are you sure this is the way?" Bi Gong asked, holding himself against the trunk of a tree so as to not slip under his own weight.

As martial artists, their sense of balance was extremely good and their footing was firm like an ancient tree. However, they were still too far from effortlessly standing on such a steep slope for an indefinite amount of time.

"I think we are near," responded Kyu Cao, looking to somewhere down the slope.

While traversing the Tiger's Scar, Kyu Cao had suddenly perceived a faint, sweet aroma in the air.

This, however, was something that only Kyu Cao noticed, the others claiming to smell nothing.

Nevertheless, since they had come to this place for the cat's sake to begin with, the group readily agreed to investigate this odd case.

Only, they never imagined that such decision would take them so close to the edge of the mountaintop.

Hot blooded youths, courageous soldiers, no matter how daring they were, looking down to such large fall, where falling meant without doubt turning into a bloody mush, still made their stomachs churn with trepidation.

Turning toward the cat, they four felt a bit of envy.

Newborn calves truly know no fear; they felt this described perfectly well his current position.

Moreover, unlike them, who had to use the tree's trunks as support, he was standing perfectly fine as if the terrain didn't represent an obstacle to him at all.

When they asked themselves why this was, the quickly thought back to when they first meet, and when they climbed the cliff together.

The movement skill that Kyu Cao displayed back then had been truly domineering, and left a deep impression on them. They didn't know the specifics of this movement skill, but they concluded they must be related.

"How near is this near? We're already pretty close to the edge of the mountain?"

"We are?" Kyu Cao stopped for a moment to think. "Maybe it's there where the smell comes from?"

If that was the case, then Wonlai and the others wouldn't be surprised.

It wasn't that no one hadn't thought of this. But searching the face of a cliff was simply too much of an effort, and took too much time.

With limited mobility and sight, plus the always a present risk of falling; without some kind of guarantee, not many were willing to invest their time on this.

After some time, a sight of green, gray and blue appeared between the trunks of the trees.

Soon, they came upon the end of the forest, and of the mountaintop.

A map of depressions and elevations stretched toward the horizon, seemingly endlessly.

There were forest of obscure colors and there were brilliant green grasslands. The barren peaks of the mountains were of a gray color resembling the naked tips of blades, and some were pure white like tender blossoms yet to bloom.

Facing this view, Kyu Cao felt deeply moved.

Curious enough, he felt as if this was his first time seeing the Mortal Bridge Mountain Chain in its full majesty. And fair enough, it was probably so.

He read about it, the idea appeared on his mind a few times, but maybe only now did he truly comprehend that the world was truly vast.

The sound of dirt being scrapped told Kyu Cao that the others had caught up to him, though looking at them, they were all standing close to a tree, so they were still a little away behind.

"Senior Cao, you, ehm, please be careful." Seeing the cat standing so close to the edge of the precipice on this not far from vertical terrain really made one's heart clench, so Li Ling couldn't help but voice her worries.

Hearing this, Kyu Cao reconsidered, and thought that maybe he really was being a bit too audacious.

He looked down the face of the mountain.

Stretching for thousands of lis, the bottom of the mountain seemed simply too far away, the distance too mind boggling too estimate it accurately.

Even though a plateau seemed to be not far from his vertical position, giving the impression that it might be reachable, but this was obviously only an illusion due the perspective, and it actually was far away.

Not that it would make a difference. He probably would die anyways if he fell.

Such height, how far away the ground was?... He suddenly had the itch to throw down a rock.

"Senior Brother Cao, is it here?" spoke out Ti Ping. From the four, it could be said that it was actually him who was willing to believe Kyu Cao story the most, dubious as this sounded.

And after the incident with that monkey Bon Sa, his impression of the cat had become much better.

Remembering why they were here, Kyu Cao lifted his head and turned to his left. "No, this way, probably not far." Despite here being more open and the winds being more present, the sweet scent was actually stronger, which had to mean that whatever it was, it couldn't be far.

He took some distance from the edge and began to move again. Ti Ping and the rest too followed, this time jumping from tree to tree, since the ground here was looser.

Nothing much was on sight, save for the deep rooted trees which grew this close to the precipice, and sparse shrubs. The grass was abundant though, admirably persistent as it was its nature.

Suddenly, the sweet smell hit Kyu Cao with an unexpected spike of strength, making his mind go dizzy for an instant.

"Ahh!" Seeing Kyu Cao's steps suddenly falter, Li Ling let out a sweet cry, and the others too became alerted.

This cry seemed to jolt the cat awake, who instantly kicked the ground and leaped to the side opposite from the precipice. However, this jump lacked aim.

Bi Gong didn't miss this though, and he stretched out an arm and deftly caught the cat. "Big Bro Cao, what happened?!" He asked worriedly.

Kyu Cao didn't respond immediately. But then, he felt the cat move, and lean toward the crook of his arm.

And, going against anything that he could've expected, he felt this one beginning to nuzzle him with tender caresses. This was shortly accompanied by a soft, but distinctive purr.

"Eh?... Big, Big Bro?" The young bull was utterly taken aback.

Wonlai, Ti Ping and Li Ling too were stunned.

Seeing the normally stoic cat, who still had a mostly impassive expression but was rubbing his head on Bi Gong's bulging bicep while giving out a low purr of unmistakable contentment, their maws dropped so much that it seemed as if they would unhinge themselves. One of theirs did just this actually.

Bi Gong, however, had no time to be shocked. As the involved party, his position right now was truly uncomfortable, and when he felt that the cat actually licked him, he grew a bit panicky. "Big Bro Cao!" he called out loudly.

This seemed to work, as Kyu Cao stopped and lifted his head, giving it a good shake afterwards.

Now clear headed, Kyu Cao realized what had happened, and felt all his fur stand on ends and his temperature raise with deep embarrassment.

He still remained a moment in Bi Gong embrace to calm himself though, after which he calmly moved away. "I apologize. I truly have acted unbecoming just now."

Bi Gong gave an inner sigh of relief, and the cat's calm demeanor also helped him to settle down himself. "No, Big Bro Cao has nothing to apologize for. But, what happened just now? Why did Big Bro suddenly act like this?"

"I..." Kyu Cao hesitated slightly, "truly do not know." He pondered briefly, and turned around, then began to walk toward the spot he'd been before.

"Brother Cao?!" inquired Wonlai, seeing where Kyu Cao was going. He was worried that something would happen again.

Ti Ping and Li Ling were the same. However, no one steeped forward to block him. After all, while embarrassing, nothing truly bad had occurred, so making too much of a fuzz would be going too far, and might make the cat feel uncomfortable.

Reaching the spot, Kyu Cao again felt a sudden gust of sweet smell wash over him, but since he was prepared this time, he managed to stay sound.

The smell was truly sweet, sickly so. But oddly, it did not make him feel ill.

Instead, he felt that he could get drunk on this scent, like drinking a sweet-tasting alcohol, and forget himself in a pleasurable stupor.

This thought was truly unsettling, so Kyu Cao increased his vigilance further, rotating his Qi to fortify his mind.

The aroma seemed to come from somewhere down.

Kyu Cao looked down, not noticing anything unordinary at first, but then he saw that in the middle of the ground there seemed to be something like a cut.

Reaching out a paw, he touched one edge of the cut in the ground and realized that the ground here below was actually like a thin layer of dirt. It was held together by the grass, creating something of a carpet.

He gave it a pull upwards. Surprisingly, it rose quite easily, maintaining its form. It truly was like handling a thick, moist rug.

The others, upon seeing this, revealed surprised expressions, and quickly began to gather.

As they came closer, they felt their feet sink on the ground as if this one was about to collapse, greatly alarming them. However, seeing that it held, with careful steps they continued.

Below the layer of dirt and grass, there was an arrangement of roots like a net. Evidently, this was what held the dirt rug in place, giving the impression that it was solid ground.

And further below, there was a rather spacious crevice, though maybe it could also be called a tiny valley. This valley was truly thriving, with verdant plants and blooming flowers, making for a beatiful dichotomy of green and pink.

The group was instantly marveled at this little hidden haven.

"How pretty," praised Li Ling, "which flower is this?"

"I don't know," Wonlai shook his head. While he had knowledge of most spirit herbs that might be found in the area of the Mortal Bridge Mountain Chain, he never concerned himself with the common plants. "Does Brother Cao know?"

Kyu Cao stared thoughtfully at the flowers below, a feeling of familiarity knocking on the back of his mind, yet he couldn't fully recall it. "Maybe. I need a closer look."

The others again felt some apprehension at this, but seeing that the cat now seemed to be fine they accepted the proposal.

Moreover, thinking back to it, for him to suddenly be affected that way, maybe the place below was not that simple, so they were curious too.

"How do we go down?" asked Ti Ping.

"We could just cut down the roots," suggested Bi Gong.

"Mm, we can do that. Only a small hole, enough for us to pass. Someone should stay here, in case we need assistance to return. Bi Gong, I leave that to you."

"Got it!"

"Actually... I would like to stay behind," Li Ling suddenly interjected.

"You?" Wonlai turned toward her. The snake crossed stares with him briefly, before awkwardly looking away. Seeing this, he was a bit taken aback, but then thought of something.

According to Kyu Cao, he was guided here by a sweet scent which only him could detect. Now, the place below them proved that it hadn't been the cat's imagination.

If an explanation was given to this, it probably meant that this scent was a peculiar one which only the cat race could perceive. It also seemed to have some strange effects on them. This was not strange at all, since there were existed oddities.

As for Li Ling, the snake race's sense of smell has always been a bit special, so maybe this close to the likely source, she too was feeling some of the effects that Kyu Cao previously showed.

Of course, if this was the case, then he couldn't actually ask her about it, since this would put the snake in an embarrassing spot.

"All right. Li Ling will stay. Everyone, step back, I will make a path." With his words the others took some good distance, since nobody knew if the net of roots would collapse after being messed with.

He took his sword, and wielded it expertly, using a few swings to cut open a hole. The roots weren't that thick, neither was the wood that precious, so the steel cut through them as paper.

"Let's go." The ground below was leveled, unlike the steep slope they were standing on, so directly jumped down. His movement looked truly graceful, as weightless as a feather gliding the air.

After him followed Kyu Cao, Ti Ping and lastly Bi Gong.

Li Ling as said stood behind, but she didn't step forward to watch from the top.

Instead, she actually stepped back a little and closed her eyes, dividing her attention.

One part she used it to stay alert of the surroundings. And the other she used it to meditate and calm her heart.

Just as Wonlai suspected, Li Ling was suffering from some effects from the sweet smell that she now could faintly lick. However, compared to the cat, who looked drunk and dazed for a moment, hers were somewhat different.

Instead, she could feel her insides trying to lit up with a flame of arousal. This flame was truly faint though, thus, she had no visible reaction, but as a girl and as a snake she was quite sensitive to such things.

It was because of this that she asked to stay behind, since it would be too embarrassing if the others knew.

Unfortunately, because she considered her sense of smell different, she failed to think that maybe such response was not particular to her as a snake, otherwise, she would've warned the others.