Chapter 87: Tsundere Tiger
The Blizzard Tiger told Shen what happened to her. It was a dark scheme to seize the Chief Position of the Blizzard Tribe. Yes, the mother tiger was a Chief of the Blizzard Tribe that consisted of over two hundred Blizzard Tigers.
The husband of the mother tiger tried to seize the position for himself and ambushed her when he said that he wanted to take them for a walk. She was not expecting that her husband would do that and fell for the trap. While she managed to save the three children she suffered a grievous wound and escaped.
Going back to the village was not a choice for her. If she returned in her condition, her husband would challenge her for the position of the chief tribe. That was the Blizzard Tribe's tradition to choose the chief tribe. The strongest warriors within the tribe would fight and the strongest amongst the strongest would become the chief tribe.
Of course, one could also challenge the current chief to seize the position. The winner would become the chief tribe. If she returned to the village now her husband would just challenge her. She was stronger than her husband but there was no chance for her to win with her condition. The only choice was to heal outside the village and come back with her full strength to seize back what was hers.
That was a tragic story for sure. The mother tiger's story sounded like a political issue in ancient times where the family stabbed each other instead of helping each other.
"So that's what happened to you…" Shen muttered in a low voice. As he listened to her, he also handed the Guardian Fish for the three cubs. The family of four was eating while he listened to the Blizzard Tiger.
"So what do you need to heal your wound?" He was concerned that the mother tiger would suffer from blood loss. He felt that he needed to do something for her right away,
"I need three things for you to heal me while the first thing is easily obtained I am afraid that you can't get the remaining two," The Blizzard Tiger looked at Shen with a little hope, "The first item is Rotka Fruit. That was a common fruit that grows in the Vales. There's a Rotka Tree not far from here. However, I don't think you can get the remaining two because the two were guarded by a stronger individual, even stronger than the King of the Guardian Fish,"
Shen swallowed mouthful saliva. If the monster was stronger than the King of the Guardian Fish then there was no way he could defeat them. The only way was to sneak his way around and steal the thing he needed.
"I don't need to defeat them. I just need to take the things to heal you and run away," He was not going to stop halfway. Since he decided to help her, he would help her until she's healed.
"You need to retrieve the Frost Lotus from the Frosty Lake but that lake is guarded by Ice Boa. That snake is as strong as me when I am at my peak. You have no chance against him. Then you also need to retrieve Ice Dew from the Frozen Hill. That place is even scarier, Ice Vulture lives there," The mother tiger was trying to intimidate Shen, and added something scary at the end of it, "Ice Vulture is the last one you want to annoy or else they would annoy until your death,"
"Let's think of a way to get the last two items later. We need this Rotka Fruit…" Before Shen could finish his words, the Blizzard Tiger cut him off, "No, you need to retrieve Rotka Fruit at last. That fruit easily goes bad. Once you pluck the fruit from the tree, it will go bad within twenty-four hours. Unless you are confident to retrieve the Ice Dew and the Frost Lotus within twenty-four hours,"
"Also, the order should be like this: Frost Lotus, Ice Dew, and Rotka Fruit. Frost Lotus can last for five to seven days depending on the quality of the lotus while Ice Dew lasts for three days. Honestly, just give up. I will do it myself once I recover from my exhaustion…" the mother tiger did not want to owe a big favor to the human by saving her life.
However, once Shen said that he would do something he would do it, "No… What about if we do it together then? Since the Ice Vulture does not especially guard the Ice Dew. I think I can sneak my way around to get the Ice Dew. For the Frost Lotus, we can work together with that. You can distract the Ice Boa and I will steal the Frost Lotus. I think it's doable. Once I get the Frost Lotus we will escape,"
"How do you know the Ice Vultures don't guard the Ice Dew?" The Blizzard Tiger was surprised. She never told the man about that.
"You said it," Shen looked at the mother tiger weirdly, "You said that Ice Boa guarded the Frost Lotus at the Frosty Lake while you said that the Ice Dew was in the Frozen Hill where the Dark Vultures live. I figured it out that the Ice Vultures don't guard the Ice Dew unless…"
"No, you are right. The Dark Vultures don't guard the Ice Dew but they guard their territory. If you encroach into their territory, they will attack you. They don't welcome guests," The mother tiger look at Shen, "You are quite smart for a human to deduce that,"
Shen smiled and said, "Thank you," even though he did not know whether it was genuine praise or just sarcasm from the mother tiger. But who did not like being praised? He just accepted that as praise.
"Then I assume you agree with my plan? I will first retrieve the Ice Dew from the Frozen Hill then we will work together with the Frost Lotus," Shen's smile widened.
"We will continue the discussion when you manage to retrieve the Ice Dew," The Blizzard Tiger did not say that she agreed even though she obviously agreed with the plan, or else she would stop Shen from going to the Frozen Hill instead of saying those.
'Tsk, a tsundere tiger,' He thought to himself and maintained his smile.
"Then I need this Frozen Hill's location, and also what Ice Dew looks like?"