Chapter 35 part 2

Kong Bi lowered her head and looked at the tiger. It seemed to be a fully grown adult, quite large, with sparse, short, and narrow black stripes scattered across its orange-yellow fur. It looked somewhat thin, the lean and wiry kind, but its belly was very large.

This is… pregnant?

Kong Bi suddenly recalled the knowledge she had read in books before. May and June seemed to be the months when tigers, after more than a hundred days of gestation, would give birth.

“Awoo?”

The tiger let out a low growl.

Those who have heard both tiger roars and cow moos would find that a tiger’s usual call is somewhat similar to a cow’s, like a ‘moo’. However, it’s lower and more intimidating than a cow’s. But in reality, it’s not a cow’s moo; it’s the sound produced by the combined syllables ‘ao’ and ‘wu’. Because these two syllables are close together when roaring, they sound like a cow’s moo to the human ear.

In fact, it’s not just tigers; the calls of many animals are a combination of two sounds that sound like a single sound to human ears. For example, the whining of a fox and the grunting of a pig are like this.

Pregnant animals tend to be more aggressive, especially fierce beasts that are already highly aggressive. At this moment, the tiger was extremely agitated. Even though it tried its best to appear friendly, its muscles remained tense, and its voice made people’s hearts involuntarily flutter with unease.

It was a fear that seemed to be etched deep within human genes.

Its emerald green eyes looked at Kong Bi, then deliberately avoided her gaze, a sign of submission. However, due to its pregnancy, it still appeared nervous and uneasy. The instinct conveyed by its body was completely contrary to what it had experienced and learned since it was young. Maternal instinct made it both fearful and compelled to show a friendly demeanor.

The tiger slowly lay down on the ground, its broad paws placed neatly in front of it, looking up at Kong Bi.

It was waiting for Kong Bi’s response.

This was a posture of submission for a tiger. Unlike cats, tigers don’t show their belly to express submission; that only indicates friendliness. Their strong limbs are enough to allow them to quickly strike if an opponent charges, so exposing their belly wouldn’t cause irreparable harm. But lying down is different. Once their strong, hard spine is bitten by an opponent, even if they are the king of beasts, they cannot escape death.

Kong Bi gathered her demonic energy into her palm. She could roughly guess why the tiger had traveled thousands of miles from its familiar territory to find her.

She reached out and gently placed her hand on the prominent ‘king'(王)character marking on the tiger’s forehead.

Not every tiger’s forehead markings form the character for ‘king(王)’, but the markings on this one were exceptionally standard, perfectly embodying the ancient description of tigers as ‘hanging-eyed, white-browed great insects’.

Just as Kong Bi’s hand touched its forehead, she felt the phone in her pocket vibrate violently.

The tiger also jumped up as if electrocuted. Its pregnancy hadn’t affected its agility in the slightest. It widened its eyes in panic, its strong and powerful front paws flailing forward haphazardly.

“Roar—”

The tiger instinctively roared, its strong, fishy breath carrying far.

Kong Bi: “…yue” 

“Director!”

Exclamations of shock came from afar, but they weren’t the only ones who were startled.

Kong Bi reached out to cover her nose, using her other hand to brace herself. The tiger, standing upright, was even taller than Kong Bi, looking truly intimidating.

Fortunately, after roaring, the tiger realized its mistake. It was just overly nervous and had no intention of attacking. However, for a wild beast, even its playful actions could easily cause significant harm to a person.

Kong Bi grasped one of its paws—or rather, half of it. The tiger’s limbs were strong and powerful, even comparing them to a human thigh, their forelimbs might be thicker. Even a two-meter tall person might not be able to wrap their hand completely around one.

Because one of its front paws was held, the tiger and Kong Bi were forced to look face to face. After a moment, its emotions calmed down, and it finally recalled the feeling that had surged through its body when this person had touched it earlier.

That’s it!

The tiger looked at Kong Bi, excitedly nudging its head forward and tentatively extending its tongue to lick her.

Kong Bi widened her eyes, hesitated for a moment, then lowered the hand covering her nose and put her arm around the tiger’s neck.

After all, it was pregnant, she had to take its emotions into consideration.

Anyway, it was not a cat that licked it anus before licking her.

Kong Bi could only comfort her suffering sense of smell this way.

Yang He was dumbfounded: “What’s the tiger doing? Taking a lick to see if it tastes good?”

“…It’s expressing affection.” Chen Rui suddenly felt a sense of intellectual superiority towards his partner. However, looking at the scene before him, he still found it absurd. Was this really not a domesticated large cat?

Kong Bi gently stroked the tiger’s back. The creature was quite thin, it seemed pregnancy had taken a toll on it. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have run so far—this was for both its offspring and itself.

“Alright, alright, come down now.” Kong Bi really couldn’t stand the overwhelming smell. After enduring it for a moment, she quickly urged it to get down.

The feel of petting a tiger wasn’t actually that great. The fur on their backs was slightly rough and a bit stiff, like a large, yellow country dog, but thicker. If she had to describe it, running her hand against the nap of a lamb’s wool coat would probably feel quite similar. The softest fur on these large, furry creatures that live in the wild was always concentrated in the area from their chin to their belly, while the fur on their backs would be slightly harder. This way, they wouldn’t be as easily scratched by branches and other things along the roadside when moving through the jungle.

Seemingly understanding Kong Bi’s words, or perhaps not being used to the feel of licking a hairless creature, it finally stopped the behavior. It shifted from a standing position back to all fours, but continued to nuzzle Kong Bi with its furry head, both to express affection and to leave its scent on her, making the other more familiar to it.

Compared with other creatures, there are many tigers that have become spirits. This is because their majestic and imposing image often leads them to be sought out by cultivators to guard mountain gates or be kept as mounts. There are also those who become self-taught and establish themselves as kings of their own territories, and many join the ranks of demon king.

In ancient times, there were no fewer cat slaves than now, so this big cat almost knew how to please a human without any teacher. 

Kong Bi recalled the tiger’s skillful sliding, drifting, and nuzzling just now. If it weren’t pregnant, it might have even added a rolling-over maneuver, clearly indicating extensive experience in offering affectionate gestures.

In Kong Bi’s inherited memories, such situations existed, though not frequently. After all, even if tigers joined the ranks of a demon king, they were mostly valued as capable subordinates, not for being cute. Moreover, the demon lords of her lineage were all bird demons who weren’t particularly fond of tigers, so they naturally wouldn’t go out of their way to pet them.

But it’s not like they never petted them.

After all, capable subordinates were sent out to fight, and sometimes if they didn’t return but left offspring, then the demon lord naturally had to take responsibility for raising them to avoid disheartening their followers. So, there were instances of handling them, but they didn’t have any particular feelings about it.

But Kong Bi did!

After no longer smelling the fishy stench of a big cat that hadn’t brushed its teeth in years, Kong Bi finally couldn’t help but recall the feeling from just now. This was a tiger!

It was a completely different sensation from petting a small kitten.

Although both big cats and small cats, if annoyed by petting, would probably lash out and bite, being bitten by a kitten only requires a rabies shot at the hospital, whereas being bitten by a big cat could lead to amputation.

Therefore, the thrill they provide is incomparable!

Not to mention, having a majestic big cat display the docile behavior of a pet cat right in front of you is a double stimulation, both physiological and psychological. Just thinking about it brings immense joy.

At least, that’s what Kong Bi thought.

If only she could ride it…

Never mind…

Looking down at the big cat, Kong Bi dismissed that bold idea.

“Roar!—”

While Kong Bi was being enthusiastically nuzzled by the big cat, the others who had heard the commotion finally arrived. The unfamiliar scent carried by the wind quickly put the tiger on alert. Its tiger eyes widened, displaying its majestic power, with not a trace of its earlier gentleness remaining.

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, they’re not bad people,” Kong Bi quickly reached out to soothe it.

“Roar?”

The big cat looked up at Kong Bi, not understanding why she was stopping it. It couldn’t help but nudge her palm with its head, signaling her not to interrupt its intimidation of the enemies.

It was super fierce!

“Relax… Be good, come with me,” Kong Bi recalled the location of the tiger enclosure. While soothing it, she also identified the direction and started to walk away.

“Awoo!—”

The big cat hurriedly followed, and it looked back at everyone. Seeing that they stopped far away and had no intention of catching up, it caught up with Kong Bi again.

It didn’t take long for Kong Bi to arrive at the tiger garden. Iron fences and cement floors are almost standard configurations of some zoos, and Kong Bi’s place naturally has them.

When she asked the cleaning company to come before, she asked them to clean up two rooms in case of emergency, and now it just happened to be used.

The hard ground made of cement was not suitable for the big cat who was used to stepping on soft land, so it tried it before walking in.

Compared to the peacock garden, the environment here is undoubtedly very poor, but in fact, in the era when the zoo was built, even the city was full of bad roads. Such a tiger house with cement paved ground was a symbol of good conditions in the zoo.

If possible, spreading hay on the ground would at least make the big cat sleep more comfortably, but unfortunately, there was no hay to be found for a while.

Kong Bi planned to get a blanket or something to lay down for it, so she turned to go out, closing the door behind her as she left.

Tigers were different from Wang Tianba. Even though both embodied the word “fierce,” in terms of lethality, tigers were clearly stronger and more feared by humans. So, if Kong Bi wanted to leave the door open, no one would agree.

“Roar?”

Seeing itself being enclosed, the big cat suddenly became somewhat panicked, its eyes filled with confusion and helplessness. It stood up and leaned against the iron bars, reaching out a paw through the gaps in an attempt to hold Kong Bi back.

Kong Bi reached out and rubbed its head: “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, I’ll be back in a little while. How about you stay here temporarily?”

The big cat couldn’t understand what Kong Bi was saying, but her repeated actions of pushing its head back indicated her refusal. So, after several attempts, it understood that Kong Bi wanted it to stay there. It had no choice but to give up, circling the cage a few times before finally finding a corner to lie down, its tiger eyes still fixed on Kong Bi without blinking.

For a pregnant tiger that had come alone to an unfamiliar environment, it had every reason to feel uneasy about its current situation, especially since Kong Bi didn’t intend to stay with it right away.

This softened Kong Bi’s heart. Regardless of whether it understood her or not, she assured it, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll be back very soon.”

Having said that, Kong Bi quickened her pace and left, taking out her phone to glance at it.

 

【Midwifery: Following an ancient pact, guided by bloodline, a South China tiger has come to your territory, hoping you can help it successfully give birth to its offspring. Do you accept this task?】

 

This task didn’t describe any rewards; instead, it presented an option to accept or decline, something previous tasks hadn’t done. Kong Bi understood why this change had occurred, but she didn’t hesitate.

“Accept!”

 

【System Prompt: Your actions will be written into the South China tiger’s bloodline memory】