Infinite Hunter

This time, Cheng Yijiu even spotted some powered armor—the soft-shell kind, likely used for triple-defense isolation. As for weapons, rapid-fire firepower was a given, but Cheng Yijiu chose a semi-automatic rifle—a 12.7mm caliber thing, custom-made. "Wow, it's definitely not a sniper rifle. It's a short-recoil, semi-automatic rifle, and it's not even that long—it's definitely not going to be accurate at 200 meters."

This gun was good. Guarding duties didn't require long-range sniping, and Cheng Yijiu could handle the recoil. Multiple large-caliber rounds fired in a short burst would be unstoppable for anything other than a regular monster. Cheng Yijiu also chose a large-caliber M29 revolver loaded with .44 Magnum rounds, which would be enough to deal with most beasts. His cold weapon was naturally a large Rambo knife, forged from cold iron and carried by him.

He was still wearing his camouflage uniforms—waterproof, breathable, and quick-drying. The lining also had the ability to regulate body temperature, and the small battery at his waist provided enough energy for this—24/7. The helmet, with its transparent visor, also adjusted the temperature. However, for Cheng Yijiu, the only drawback was that he couldn't track by smell.

But the helmet is equipped with sensors, including microphones and electronic noses. With the support of a portable computer, it can very sensitively identify the source and distance of abnormal sounds. The electronic nose can also detect molecules in the air, with a sensitivity even greater than that of cats and dogs, and can distinguish more than one million odors, including all currently known creatures above arthropods.

The helmet also features enhanced projection technology. Four cameras can zoom in on unusual situations and project the image onto a corner of the transparent helmet via a micro-projector near the ear. This, combined with spinal support and arm and leg supports, creates a soft-shell powered exoskeleton.

Chapter 15

The four-wheeled vehicle had excellent off-road capabilities, and with the high suspension, Cheng Yijiu felt his butt was doing just fine. "If it had a rigid suspension, my butt would probably have split open." The four-wheeled off-road motorcycle wasn't fast, but it had excellent maneuverability. The off-road tires had excellent climbing grip, and the electric motor provided it with powerful torque. So, as long as the slope wasn't over 60 degrees, this motorcycle could climb it.

This thing also has power steering, otherwise it would be very difficult to drive on some terrain. Without the help of his sense of smell, Cheng Yijiu was a little uncomfortable driving in the mountains, but the auxiliary observation system on the helmet did work very well, providing very timely dynamic feedback from the distance, and even allowing him to directly control the speed of the motorcycle and make fine adjustments to the direction.

Data streamed down one side of the helmet's transparent visor, all odors detected by the electronic nose. A miniature camera on the inside tracked Cheng Yijiu's pupils, judging the user's intentions based on this information. Cheng Yijiu wasn't concerned with a range of plant scents—as long as they were non-toxic and had no hallucinogenic effects, they were of no concern. He was more concerned with animal scents.

Of course, this also depends on the type and concentration. This one surprised Cheng Yijiu immensely, and he signaled to slow down. "It's the scent of rats, but isn't the concentration too extreme?" Cheng Yijiu scrolled his finger along the side of his helmet, switching the visual mode. Under ultraviolet light, he could see tiny traces of glowing spots in the grass on the ground. This must be rat urine.

"A giant rat? It's not a capybara, so it must have simply grown larger." This was quite normal. Cheng Yijiu had seen the museum's collection of mutant creatures, so he knew this type of rat was the most common mutation—they were nearly as large as large dogs. These mutant rats were definitely quite common, with a ratio of about one in ten thousand.

There is even a legend about the Rat King. The rat should have grown to six or seven meters long, but Cheng Yi has never seen one for a long time.

The middle-aged men stayed in the truck, driven by a young man who had joined later and looked like an active-duty soldier. The enclosed truck didn't require outdoor clothing or a fully enclosed helmet, making daily life more comfortable. Several scholars were taking advantage of their rest time, sleeping in small compartments. Cheng Yijiu had seen sleeping pods, which were filled with highly concentrated salt water to keep people suspended, allowing for a short period of sleep.

One of these cabins was used for quick recovery, and there were three additional berths for sleeping. This eight-wheeled truck wasn't small, but it had excellent maneuverability. Besides a rest room and a small laboratory, it also had a small kitchen, making it a practical base for use in the wild.

Cheng Yijiu got out of the car, half-crouched, and carefully observed the ground. He picked up a few hairs with his gloved fingers. The visor on his helmet magnified these hairs. "No need to magnify them, these are rat hairs. They are indeed big rats, and they are already distributed here." The more dangerous thing about these things is that they come in groups and may attack humans. "The chance of being attacked is about 3 to 4 percent, right? So be careful."

The presence of giant rats meant that predators had also emerged. So far, it was confirmed that the main predators of giant rats were the large carnivores of the past. After all, giant rats were about the size of medium to large dogs, making them good meat. Furthermore, a single giant rat was far less powerful than a wild boar, making it quite easy to capture. However, some of the hunters who originally hunted rats had also undergone some mutations.

Cheng Yijiu recalled the reports he'd seen of large-scale owls. It wasn't just one species that grew larger, but rather individual owls—and this would inevitably lead to differentiation. The eagle owl was already the largest owl, and the records even showed an eagle owl with a wingspan of over eight meters, enough to easily attack humans at night. Some large daytime birds of prey had also undergone changes—even smaller ones had appeared.

Sparrow-sized birds of prey can use their high speed, sharp claws, and specialized heads and beaks to pierce their prey's fur and devour it directly inside the body... These small birds of prey also fly in groups, making them much more dangerous than large birds of prey. Cheng Yijiu didn't want to encounter such birds of prey, nor did he want to encounter similar carnivorous insects—wasps, which don't burrow in to eat but attack in groups.

Fist-sized hornets are already among the most dangerous insects known, precisely because they swarm and are highly aggressive.

Fortunately, nothing happened on the rest of the journey. After all, this is still on the outskirts of the mountains, and many teams have explored it. The Corps even organizes regular cleanup training. Similar situations have occurred over the past three days, so the safety level is still acceptable.

The motorcycles primarily carried ammunition and first aid supplies, along with a single-person tent. However, for rest periods, the truck's rooms were used, with everyone taking turns sleeping on the beds, eliminating the need for a tent. A fire was still necessary; even mutated creatures still harbor a fear of fire. There was plenty of pinewood in this area, and the mutated wood grew quickly, was rich in oil, and burned easily.

Cutting down two thick branches, stacking them crosswise and lighting them can last all night. If you cover them with aluminum foil reflectors, the warmth is excellent. Cheng Yijiu was the first to take the night watch. It wasn't stressful, thanks to the electronic monitoring equipment—the monitoring equipment located on the roof of the carriage theoretically didn't require a human on duty, but for safety reasons, a person was assigned. Cheng Yijiu's night watch lasted two hours, after which he could go back to the train to clean himself, rest, eat a midnight snack, and then have a good night's sleep.

There were signs of animal activity everywhere, not to mention the usual rats. During the night watch, a high-strength, heat-resistant camouflage net was set up overhead to prevent sudden attacks from the sky. Cheng Yijiu switched his vision mode to infrared and took a look—night vision was unnecessary, as he had Night Vision. He only used infrared to see if any highly concealed individuals were sneaking up on him.

On a nearby branch, a large red creature lay, its outline akin to a mutant eagle owl. Cheng Yijiu took a look and seriously considered firing a shot at it. A 12.7mm bullet would surely penetrate the creature's feathers—even if those feathers offered considerable defense. This creature wasn't overpowered yet; a rifle would surely be enough to take it down. After much deliberation, Cheng Yijiu gave up.

The eagle owl wasn't paying attention to them. Judging from the direction it took off, it was heading away from the campsite. He adjusted the zoom range—there was a thermal imaging point a few hundred meters away. It must be the size of a large rat...

Chapter 16

That's how hunting works. The eagle owl silently took off, swooped down, and snatched up the pig-sized mouse, still glowing infrared light, and flew away. "If it attacks humans, it's probably just a silent killer in the dark night," Cheng Yijiu thought. This wasn't just one mutated giant eagle owl here; big cats had mutations too. Cheng Yijiu absolutely didn't want to encounter any of them...

Records have shown sightings of leopards whose fur can change hues like a chameleon, roughly the size of a South China tiger. Of course, there are even larger, giant tigers, boasting immense strength and speed, more than twice their former size. A raid on the camp would undoubtedly result in casualties—but fortunately, even after their mutations, these beasts retain their old fear of humans and generally avoid us.

These carnivorous beasts will actively avoid humans, but this is only until they have eaten humans.

Nothing happened next, and Cheng Yijiu easily finished his first night shift. He then got on the bus, took a shower, had some midnight snack in the small rest room on the bus, and then fell asleep on his bunk.

Nothing happened the next day, which made Cheng Yijiu feel a little relaxed.

They had already left the previously explored safe zone. The rest of the area was only surveyed by drones, with no records or sampling of flora and fauna. No one knew what kind of beasts lived here, nor how many mutated ones there were. In short, it was extremely dangerous. Their progress slowed considerably, and after half a day, they arrived at a mountainside.

Cheng Yijiu, who was leading the group, was already stunned by the sight of the mountain, and so were the others one after another. The scientists, regardless of the danger, got out of the car and were stunned by the sight of the mountain in front of them - the mountain's facade was very steep, and a skeleton, an unusually large human skeleton, was very clearly embedded in the soil and sand.

A conservative estimate suggests that in life, the skeleton stood over twenty meters tall, a giant. Even now, its head still sported a massive horned helmet. Its hollow eyes stared at the sky, its mouth gaping open, filled with mud and a small tree growing from it. Half the skeleton was buried in the mountain's dirt, with only a few ribs and a thigh bone exposed. "This thing's surprisingly still standing! It seems the soil has preserved its bones well."

This was the first time actual evidence of a giant human had been discovered. "Let's take a sample," the scientist said as he rushed over with his tools. "Let's compare the samples and see if this giant is related to humans." Cheng Yijiu helped measure the skeleton with a tape measure. He did some calculations himself and found that the skeleton had a well-proportioned body in life, with the same proportions as a normal 1.8-meter-tall male.

The bone was incredibly hard, and Cheng Yijiu finally used an electric drill to drill a hole, allowing the scientists to extract a small sample from the center of the leg bone. "This guy's been dead for at least three years. Maybe we can even see his relatives nearby," said another hunter. This hunter, surnamed Liu, was quite skilled at determining the age of bones. As for digging it up and taking it back? That could be considered later with a whole fleet, but for now, let's forget about it.

"Is this the White Bone Mountain?" After walking a little forward and seeing the whole picture of the mountain, Cheng Yijiu sighed, "Why have I been so obsessed with this kind of stuff recently?" Looking around, the mountain was littered with bones, scattered all over the place, as if some animal had treated this place as a restaurant's trash can and just threw away the bones it had eaten.

This place was much cleaner than the previous one. First of all, the bones were very "clean." There was no rotting flesh or decaying tissue attached to them, just pure white bones. "They're eating cleanly," Cheng Yijiu said as he stopped the car. Before him lay the horse's skull, half buried in the ground. He looked at the teeth marks on the skull—long scrapes, as if a shovel had peeled flesh from the bone.

Teeth like guillotine blades—Cheng Yijiu thought, "What kind of beast would be like that?" You couldn't tell from the tooth marks alone.

The most common bones here were from animals like deer and wild boar, large and small—some as large as houses in life, some as small as cubs, now completely gnawed away. Cheng Yijiu picked up a deer skull. This one also bore marks like shavings, along with some very fine scratches. "This looks like it was scraped off by a bone tongue." What kind of monster is this?

They soon saw the monsters—and there were damned many of them. "Large monkeys?" Cheng Yijiu initially thought they were gorillas, but then he noticed their short tails, similar in size to those of short-tailed macaques. These black monkeys were about the same size as humans, but they had four arms...

Its face resembled a chimpanzee's, only uglier. Its open mouth revealed long canines and guillotine-like incisors—the incisors appeared particularly large. Its tongue was long and tended to hang out like a dog's, its barbs visible. "What are these? Carnivorous four-armed monkeys?" Cheng Yijiu looked at the five monkeys that had emerged and decisively raised his semi-automatic rifle, aiming at the closest one, which was only a dozen meters away, and opened fire.

One shot and it fell instantly, proving the monkey wasn't bulletproof. But there were truly a lot of them. Seeing countless monkeys emerging from the massive skeletons, the number of these four-armed monkeys could easily exceed a thousand. "Retreat quickly! We don't have that much ammunition, and we need to find a place to receive airdropped supplies after this." Cheng Yijiu's point was to find an open area, exposing the monkeys to fire from all sides.

The three hunters looked in three directions, picking up any remaining slack, while the main firepower went to the automatic weapon station on the truck's roof—a 7.62mm automatic general-purpose machine gun. The truck had over two thousand rounds of ammunition, which should have no problem taking down the monkeys. However, after that, they would only have heavy firepower—three rocket-propelled grenade launchers and their corresponding thirty rounds. The bulk of Cheng Yijiu and his team's ammunition was also on board, so each hunter carried roughly one hundred and twenty rounds.

There's no need to bring too many; they're here to explore, not to fight—though it looks like a fight is coming. The truck quickly left, with three motorcycles providing cover. The monkeys rushed over from the mountain. This was because they couldn't find an easily defended area. If they relied on the mountain for defense, the monkeys could attack in three dimensions, so the flat ground was also a very good defensive terrain.

Chapter 17

After opening and closing the door, Cheng Yijiu returned to the cabin again. "The interval is totally unreasonable. Why is there another mission? This time it's very simple. Hunting down a man-eating demon? Or in India? Is it a tiger or a leopard?" This time he might have to return to the starting point, because the era is once again the colonial era of the late nineteenth century - this means that Cheng Yijiu can't bring many of his equipment. He can only bring a Webley revolver and a single-shot hunting rifle.

He still wore his summer hunting clothes, complete with a tropical pith hat. As for the monkey, he wasn't worried. Time stopped during missions, and even without him, the problem wouldn't be too severe. The automated weapon station could handle most of the problems.

Cheng Yijiu showered and changed into appropriate clothing. He grabbed a 7.92 caliber single-loaded rifle as a hunting rifle, then a Webley revolver for self-defense, its cowhide magazine fully loaded with bullets. This power was enough to deal with any tiger. The moment he stepped out of the light gate, it was clear—the blessing from the gods had been compressed to an almost invisible level. This was a completely materialistic world.

As a "white man," Cheng Yijiu wasn't discriminated against by the British in the colony at this time because he was rich. He was a mysterious wealthy man from the Far East. These days, many wealthy people come to India to travel and hunt, but only the truly wealthy and free aristocracy can do so. The train station where Cheng Yijiu left was built by British colonists for San'er. It's close to the Himalayas, and so-called "archaeologists" and "anthropologists" come here to hunt for treasure.

So it was quite lively. Cheng Yijiu had checked into the most luxurious hotel in the area when he arrived. It had to be said that the Indians were quite good at serving people. Even in such a rural area, one could still enjoy at least four-star comfort. For just one shilling, he had a servant serving Cheng Yijiu all day long. It was quite thoughtful. The food was a bit disappointing, though—he wasn't a big fan of curry. Luckily, the chicken curry here was pretty good.

The hotel wasn't very large, and some people—British colonial officials—had booked private rooms for extended periods. Over afternoon tea, Cheng Yijiu heard about the recent tiger attacks. Two days ago, in a village about 20 kilometers away, a peasant woman was dragged away by a tiger in her fields; her body was never found. And five days before that, a child had gone missing in another village, also apparently due to a tiger.

Cheng Yijiu asked for a local map and marked the locations of the two attacks with a pencil. "We have roughly determined the range of activity of this beast. These villages are probably within its hunting range." San'er's family is not small. There are at least eleven natural villages within this range of activity, with a population of more than fifteen thousand people - the exact number is unclear, but there are at least that many people.

Cheng Yijiu casually said hello, found a guide with the help of money, and borrowed two mules for transportation, and rushed to the village that was attacked two days ago.

This is a mountain forest. The towering Himalayas block the warm, humid air currents from the Indian Ocean, resulting in a mild and rainy climate. The forests and vegetation are extremely lush, and there are many wild animals living here. Thanks to religion, the locals do not hunt these animals in large numbers. They regard wild animals, especially tigers, as the incarnation of gods. Of course, it is not surprising that this is also the habitat of the Bengal tiger.

Since ancient times, India has been a country where tigers eat people. If you want to know where tigers have eaten hundreds of people, it must be India.

Cheng Yijiu and the guide were very careful along the way, because Cheng Yijiu knew very well that tigers that had eaten humans would no longer be afraid of humans. They would actively track and attack humans, and at least half of the route they had to take was within the activity range of the man-eating tiger. Therefore, they had to be vigilant and never let the tiger attack and drag them away on the road. That would be too embarrassing.

Cheng Yijiu half-closed his eyes and let the mule walk along the road, while he focused on his hearing, smell, and sixth sense. The rifle was in his arms, and the bullet was already loaded - the kind with a rotary bolt that loaded one bullet at a time.

He wasn't attacked along the way, but twice, Cheng Yijiu felt a prying sensation. Unfortunately, he couldn't pinpoint the target's location, and when he opened his eyes, he saw dense undergrowth. "Protective coloration..." Cheng Yijiu muttered. He could imagine a tiger gracefully crouching behind the bushes, observing the humans riding mules through the gaps.

They set out in the morning and arrived at the village before noon. Their guide spoke English, but the villagers barely understood it. At most, they knew a few words, which they only knew for tax purposes, and mostly the pronunciation of numbers. Cheng Yijiu then inquired about the location of the attacked peasant woman. With the help of their guide, a villager led them to a field near the forest.

The fields were already overgrown with weeds. It looked like they hadn't been tended to for just two days, yet the weeds had grown thick and tall. The guide gestured to Cheng Yijiu, "Ever since someone was attacked, no one in the village dared to work in these fields, so they've become abandoned like this."

Cheng Yijiu stood where the peasant woman had been attacked and began to survey his surroundings. The first thing he saw was a consistent pattern of footprints on the ridge of the field. Even without the luminol reagent, Cheng Yijiu could see traces of blood seeping into the ground, along with signs of dragging. He followed the tracks. "Here, the beast must have drunk her blood," he said, looking at a patch of fallen grass and the remaining bloodstains, as his guide trembled.

A man from the village had also come along. He'd been chosen by lottery to serve as a guide, a handyman, and finally, as bait. He was terrified, but he still gritted his teeth and followed Cheng Yijiu. The guide Cheng Yijiu brought with him remained silent and didn't translate Cheng Yijiu's mumbling, even though it was in English. "That's impressive! By the way, how much did that woman weigh?" Cheng Yijiu asked, looking up.

He was squatting on the ground, gesturing with his hand to a single footprint. It was a plum blossom print, larger than Cheng Yijiu's palm. "One hundred pounds?" was the villagers' response, unsure but likely about the right weight. "Never once put it down. This adult tigress is truly strong." This was a problem, because the habit of man-eating is passed down through generations—man-eating tigresses pass on this skill to their cubs, who then grow up and raise their own cubs, raising them in turn. Therefore, families of two or even three generations of man-eating tigers are common in India.

Chapter 18

Even after four days, the tigress's footprints were still clear, allowing Cheng Yijiu to determine the tiger's size and age. "The claws are already loose, indicating a tigress approaching old age." This tigress is considered one of the larger Bengal tigers, almost as large as a sub-adult male. "She looks like a queen," Cheng Yijiu exclaimed.

Following the direction, Cheng Yijiu, a former king of man-eating tigers, had a natural sensitivity to tiger tracks. Even if the ground was hard and lacked footprints, he could tell the direction the tiger was heading by the condition of the bushes and grass. "This guy wasn't afraid of people at all, swaggering forward. I reckon the remains of that poor woman aren't far away," Cheng Yijiu said.

Few of the local San'er could speak English, and those who could spoke had very thick accents. On the contrary, Cheng Yijiu's English with a London accent seemed very "upscale", which was why the local British were quite nice to him. The two San'er heard what he said very clearly. The two guys were trembling with fear, holding simple black powder rifles in their hands - these were borrowed/bought by Cheng Yijiu from the local British.

Cheng Yijiu raised his head and sniffed, the skin above his nose wrinkling like a tiger's. "Right here," he repeated, pointing to a spot in front of him on the left. About ten meters ahead, between the grass and bushes, they saw the last remnants of the poor woman. A scavenging stray dog ​​or something must have been there, but all that remained was the woman's incomplete skull, minus the jawbone, a few vertebrae, and leg bones. Nothing else.

Oh, and there were some torn strips of cloth. Cheng Yijiu stood up straight. He couldn't see the village from this height. "He's quite alert. He carried the food for over 200 meters before he started eating. He's really strong." This was a bit puzzling. Normally, man-eating tigers are old, weak, and sick, but this guy's physical strength is really amazing - the female victim is not the traditional thin and short San'er woman. On the contrary, she weighed over 100 pounds, which is considered tall in this era.

This wasn't something a weak, old, or frail tiger could do—Cheng Yijiu didn't even notice a single drag mark on the ground from the victim's hands or feet. "This is serious trouble," the hunter muttered. He wasn't afraid if the tiger actually jumped out; it would only take a single shot. But finding the tiger? That was no easy task. It seemed he needed to wait and see when and where the next attack would occur.

Sometimes, you have to wait for tragedy to happen before you can prevent the next one. "Someone destined to die..." Cheng Yijiu muttered. If a tiger attacked a human, it was usually impossible for the human to survive. And a guide would likely be unnecessary—because if nothing went wrong, he would chase the tiger through the jungle and eventually kill it, without the need for a guide.

The guide is a burden.

Cheng Yijiu's wait ended later today.

There was news that a tiger had attacked a village about ten kilometers northwest of here a day before, and the farmers working in the fields were attacked. Cheng Yijiu marked the location on the map, and asked the guide for directions. He then gave the guide ten shillings, and received his gratitude. Riding a mule was faster than walking on your own. Cheng Yijiu closed his eyes again and used his hearing, smell, and intuition to monitor the forest on the roadside.

There was a sense of voyeurism, something indeed quietly observing him from within the forest—relatively calm, without any sense of assessment. It was probably just an ordinary herbivore, probably not a tiger. The ten kilometers of travel went by without incident, and he arrived safely—since he looked like a master, when Cheng Yijiu inquired about the murderous tiger, the villagers began to chatter in their very broken English.

It was usually just a few words, spoken with a heavy accent. Fortunately, there was always a secretary in the village who could speak English, a little more fluently, but with the same accent. Cheng Yijiu understood the situation, and it was a similar plot—the unfortunate man was about to finish his work in the fields when a tiger jumped out and killed him. Amidst the villagers' threatening sounds of gongs and drums, the tiger calmly carried the dead body back to the forest.

Cheng Yijiu saw the familiar paw prints again. This time, he entered the forest alone and began chasing the ferocious tigress. It had been a day, but a wild animal's range of movement was limited—after all, tigers couldn't drive. With a full stomach, their range of movement was even more limited. After a day, this beast probably wasn't hungry enough to prey on another human.

Without the burden, Cheng Yijiu moved swiftly through the forest, following the tiger's footprints and tracks, trotting through the tropical jungle. This was a dense forested area, half swamp, half river, and Cheng Yijiu's quick-drying high-top socks and tropical boots were adequate for the conditions—his clothing was the only thing ahead of its time for this area. His pants and shirt were khaki hunting clothes, and he wore a wood pith sunhat.

There were leeches in the area, so he needed to apply ointment to his body—but this would expose him to the animals' sense of smell. Cheng Yijiu was very simple and didn't care. He just applied the ointment to repel leeches. He was chasing a man-eating tiger and was not interested in other animals.

The first thing they found was the unfortunate man's corpse, already covered in maggots. This time, the tiger hadn't completely devoured the man, but the body was still incomplete. The head and one of the legs were intact, but the rest of the body was bloody and missing a lot of flesh, and his internal organs were almost gone. Looking at this poor man covered in scavengers, Cheng Yijiu sighed and continued to follow the tiger's footprints.

Tracking always moves faster than the one ahead, especially when it comes to a guy like Cheng Yijiu—in the forest, he's no different than a tiger. There's more than one tiger in this area; from the footprints on the ground, Cheng Yijiu can tell there are at least three tigresses and one male tiger active. However, he's only targeting one of them—of course, the others could be man-eating tigers, but at least there's no evidence yet.

At night, Cheng Yijiu slept in a tree - the tiger's body was heavy and it might not be able to climb as high as Cheng Yijiu.

The next day, Cheng Yijiu woke up from his perch. He nibbled on a chocolate bar and drank from his water bottle. He was now twenty meters above the ground, squinting at the rising sun. "Huh?!" Cheng Yijiu spotted a figure in the bushes. He raised his telescope...

Chapter 19

Cheng Yijiu spotted the tiger, its fur noticeably faded, and the lack of hair on its cheeks confirmed it was a female, an elderly one. "If I'm not mistaken, that's her." Judging by the footprints, among the tigers roaming nearby, the elderly female was the man-eating tiger, and there wasn't another one here... He checked the scale, lowered the telescope, and took another look. He couldn't hit her at this distance.

With the ammunition he was using, he could only rely on luck at this distance. Cheng Yijiu didn't rush down the tree to rush over. He carefully observed the tiger through a telescope from the tree. One question was why this tiger would feed on humans. Although this tiger was old, it was not weak. It had enough strength to carry a person for hundreds of meters. So it was disabled? It couldn't be seen through the telescope, but when she opened her mouth to yawn and licked it with her tongue, she could clearly see that the tiger's canine teeth were not missing.

This is interesting. It is probably because it feels good to eat people after attacking them occasionally, so it has developed a habit of eating people. After watching for a long time, Cheng Yijiu began to climb down the tree. Now that he could see the tiger with his naked eyes, and the distance was only about 400 to 500 meters, he would definitely not let it escape from his sight. He would definitely let her eat a bullet.

This mission was relatively easy. The main focus was tracking. Once we caught up, we were good to go. Tigers are territorial creatures. If they were roaming, we'd be in big trouble. As long as we searched the territory of a territorial creature, we'd eventually catch them.

Cheng Yijiu walked towards the tiger. He paid close attention to the wind direction. "Not good. We are upwind. Is it necessary to go around in a circle? No, we have to hurry." He quickened his pace and became more alert.

The tiger was gone. When Cheng Yijiu reached the ground within visible distance, he found that the tiger had already left. "Sly fellow," Cheng Yijiu muttered. He half-crouched on the ground, his left hand supporting the rifle, his right hand holding me at the front of the butt. He had a feeling of being watched, which was what his sixth sense told him.

There was indeed something spying on him. After Cheng Yijiu calmed down, he heard a slight sound. Suddenly, a tiger jumped out from behind the bushes and pounced directly towards Cheng Yijiu, just to his left.

In a flash, Cheng Yijiu made a big twisting movement - he half-squatted and twisted his body clockwise. The tiger took less than one tenth of a second to pounce, and Cheng Yijiu's rotation allowed him to turn almost 360 degrees to accumulate strength, and smashed the butt of the gun in his hand heavily on the side of the tiger's head. At the same time, because he rotated on one leg, his right leg also made a big whirlwind kick, making the heel and calf hit the tiger's waist heavily.

Cheng Yijiu spun and fell to the ground, while the tiger was forcefully knocked sideways over two meters and landed on the ground. Cheng Yijiu half-rose on his right elbow, using his left leg to quickly lower himself into a half-squat. The tiger must have been dazed and disoriented, having been struck by an old hunter far superior to a peak human, a blow that could have been fatal. Cheng Yijiu saw a tiger with a noticeably deformed and sunken skull on the right side, bearing the distinct marks of a rifle butt.

The tiger scratched the ground with its four claws, but couldn't get up. Even the mouth and nose were bleeding. Cheng Yijiu raised his rifle, took a quick aim, and pulled the trigger. The tiger made a puffing sound and died soon after. Cheng Yijiu walked over, squatted down, and touched the tiger's head. "Sure enough, the right cheek and part of the lower jaw were broken. This blow was really heavy. Even if I didn't shoot, this guy wouldn't live for long."

Cheng Yijiu didn't care about skinning or anything like that. He wasn't out to get a decorative prey; he had simply killed a man-eating tiger. Thinking his mission was complete, Cheng Yijiu pulled the bolt, ejecting the shell. He loaded another bullet into the chamber and twisted the bolt shut—after all, there was no guarantee another beast wouldn't pop up...

The door did not appear.

Cheng Yijiu sighed, how could he not know the situation - there was more than one man-eating tiger here... Cheng Yijiu had already seen the claws of this tigress, and they were indeed the claw marks left at the scene. There was no doubt that the previous two tragedies were committed by this guy, and he did not kill the wrong person.

But there are only two incidents so far. If we continue to trace back, the third incident happened five years ago. Tigers don't have a long lifespan, even shorter than a domesticated kitten. Considering the lifespan of wild tigers, five years is likely enough to represent a generation of tigers. Cheng Yijiu returned to the village with four fangs. He raised the fangs and said to the villagers, "I've already shot the man-eating tiger."

After comforting the impoverished locals, who perhaps understood a little, burst into song and dance, Cheng Yijiu rode off on his donkey—he was going to stay in the town where his office was located. Not only were the living conditions better, but the information was also the fastest there. After a day's journey, Cheng Yijiu returned to the town and checked into the inn again. Then came afternoon tea and bragging time. A group of bored colonial officials and their wives gathered around the young man, listening to him brag about hunting a man-eating tiger.

Cheng Yijiu's skin was whiter than most of them, and he was taller than their husbands/fathers. He didn't look like someone from that short and withered country, so they would rather believe Cheng Yijiu's pseudonym. "Rudolf, you really killed that tiger. The size of its teeth is so exaggerated." said a girl, and Cheng Yijiu was speechless when looking at the tiger's teeth. The teeth were not big, and were considered small among the tiger's canine teeth. Including the roots, they were only twelve centimeters long.

More news arrived from the telegraph room. This time, from the opposite direction, a tiger had attacked just five kilometers away, leaving two dead and one injured. "This area is beyond the tiger's usual range... Is this the land of man-eating tigers?" Not just here, the entire subcontinent was home to man-eating tigers and leopards.

Cheng Yijiu hit the road again, covering five kilometers in over two hours—even though the mountain road was considered easy. The scenery here was truly magnificent. Towering mountains were covered in dense jungle, and streams gurgled between them, often requiring wading. On the other side, there were endless pools of water in the mountain valleys, overgrown with aquatic plants. Many herbivores roamed here, and the larger valleys might even be villages.

However, when Cheng Yijiu walked by, he found that there were what looked like the ruins of a house in the valley. He immediately understood the situation and said, "It's a flash flood. If it breaks out, we will move. Isn't it the same as moving back and forth?"

Chapter 20

The scenery is beautiful, but the road is still very dangerous. When it rains, it is easy for mudslides to cut off the road. Similarly, who knows where a light rain will suddenly cause a flash flood to wash away the unlucky people on the road. Cheng Yijiu watched this typical monsoon tropical mountain scene and pondered his own question - "The tiger density in this area is quite high, probably because of the abundant herbivore resources."

Along the way, he had discovered the footprints of not just one tiger, but even several leopards. The wild herbivores here were indeed abundant, enough to support the many beasts at the top of the food chain. With such abundant food resources, tigers would actually eat humans. Those who were eaten were truly unlucky. Ambushes on the road were a high possibility, but despite this, Cheng Yijiu hadn't been attacked.

Arriving at the spot, Cheng Yijiu's face immediately wrinkled as he confirmed the footprints were those of a mature male tiger. "Oh, damn," he cursed, and began to follow the tracks. He found the remains of a human body about 600 meters away, but he also noticed something unusual. "What is this?" He squatted down and touched the ground with his hand—it looked like it had been run over by a steamroller.

Cheng Yijiu stood up and looked. The flattened grass was nearly three meters wide... "No way?" He gripped his rifle tightly, watching the steamroller-like tracks continue forward until they disappeared into a stream or pond. The muddy water beside the pond left the clearest traces—Cheng Yijiu could recognize them as the traces of a giant snake.

"This monster... is there really a snake god called Vasuji?" This giant snake was probably over twenty meters long, twice as long as any recorded python, perhaps only comparable to the Titanoboa. And that tiger that ate the man might have been preyed upon by the python? "Is this a nesting doll?" The tiger had a human inside it, and the snake had a tiger inside it... Cheng Yijiu took a few steps back and tried throwing a stone into the pool.

There was no response, so he circled the pond and found no trace of the giant snake. Cheng Yijiu thought it was possible that the giant snake had a habitual path and it always came and went that way. "Looks like I need some grenades," Cheng Yijiu thought. Throwing a few grenades here wouldn't do anything, but it would probably scare the giant snake out.

He stared at the pool of water before him. It was covered in aquatic plants. He had no idea how deep it was, but it must be at least three or four meters deep. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to hide such a large snake. The pool was only about three hundred square meters in size. As he circled it, Cheng Yijiu had already determined that two-thirds of the shoreline was rocky.

Cheng Yijiu returned to the village. The landlord and his family were well-educated—he himself had gone to school in Delhi, and his son might be sent to England for education. So, while their English was heavily accented, it was good enough for Cheng Yijiu to communicate. "Maybe tigers are no longer a threat?" the landlord and his family, with their fair skin, looked a bit different from the local yellow people.

The caste here is generally higher, much higher than the lower castes of the charcoal-skinned people in the south. Therefore, Cheng Yijiu couldn't help but take a few more glances at the landlord's daughter. She was indeed quite beautiful. "Yes, I've told you the location of the deceased. If you have time, you should have someone clean it up. The poor creature didn't have much left. Tigers... well, have you ever had a python attack here?"