PNB Chapter 4 Two White Tigers
Chapter 4 Two White Tigers
When Linni woke up, she was still half asleep and felt sweaty. She then remembered that she had been sleeping on the back of a white tiger. She looked around and found that they had stopped in front of a cave. The sun was still very strong, but based on her past experience, she guessed that it was probably around three or four in the afternoon.
She carefully climbed down from the white tiger's back, and felt a dampness at the corner of her mouth. Reaching down to touch it, she discovered she had drooled. Her face instantly turned bright red; she was so embarrassed she wanted to disappear into the ground.
She quickly jumped back a few steps, looking at Baihu somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Um, are we... home already?"
The white tiger looked at her expectantly, probably hoping she would like their home? Lin Ni curiously peered into the cave. It was about thirty square meters in size, the floor covered with dry grass and animal hides, clearly where the white tiger slept. At the deepest part of the cave was a large rock, upon which lay a neatly stacked pile of fur from some unknown wild animal. Apart from that, the cave was completely empty.
Lin Ni stepped out of the cave and looked around. The mountain was very high, but it didn't have the tall, dense forests of other mountains; there were only a few sparse, ordinary trees, which weren't very lush either. Lin Ni continued walking out, while the white tiger followed closely beside her, whether out of fear that she might encounter danger or get lost, it was unclear.
Looking into the distance, Lin Ni saw a vast, seemingly endless, verdant forest beyond a few small hills to the east. This lush forest stretched as far as the eye could see, giving off a sense of tranquility and mystery. At the edge of that verdant forest, a towering mountain peak could be faintly seen, like a giant standing between heaven and earth.
Linni guessed that the peak was the volcano she had seen in the middle of the primeval forest last night. However, what puzzled her was that the eruption hadn't triggered a forest fire, which was truly perplexing. Could it be that it ultimately didn't erupt?
When she turned her gaze elsewhere, she found herself surrounded by mountains of all sizes, layer upon layer, stretching endlessly. Some of these mountains were tall and majestic, while others were short and rounded, each with its own unique shape, making one marvel at the wonders of nature.
Lin Ni wondered to herself, "Could this be the legendary Ten Thousand Mountains?" She was already intimately familiar with the geography of China, yet she had never seen such a vast, towering mountain range. Moreover, the forests here were completely different from the environments she knew. Furthermore, she was familiar with the geography of other countries, and they didn't have similar scenery either.
All signs indicated that this place was far from the world she knew. So, what exactly was this place? Could it be the legendary other world?
As Lin Ni was lost in thought, another white tiger returned carrying a large bundle. It placed the package, wrapped in large leaves, in front of Lin Ni. Upon opening it, she found it contained some processed animal meat, and the large black bear's skin had also been skinned and prepared. The white tiger bit off a piece of tender meat and offered it to Lin Ni, who took it: "Is this for me?"
The white tiger let out a low growl: "Awoo—"
Linni looked at the meat in her hand: "Hmm, thank you, but I don't eat raw meat."
The two white tigers stood there, staring at her with their bright, gleaming eyes, seemingly oblivious to her words. Lin Ni placed the meat back on the large leaf, then went to gather some branches. The two white tigers, quite intelligent, saw her gathering dry branches and also went to collect many. Lin Ni built a fire in front of the cave and lit the dry branches with a lighter. When she lit the windproof lighter, the two large white tigers were clearly startled, and then stood around watching her actions.
Linni selected two pieces of meat about the size of a cell phone, skewered them with twigs, and began roasting the bear meat. While waiting for the meat to roast, Linni looked up at the two large white tigers. The white tiger that had carried her back seemed quieter, and its expression often suggested it was shy. Linni said to it, "From now on, your name will be Baiji." The white tiger that handled the black bear was more lively, often making soft "ah-woo" sounds. Linni said to it, "And you, your name will be Baishu."
Bai Zhu responded with another "ah-woo".
Linni smiled and ruffled its hair: "Bai Zhu, you are Bai Zhu!" She flipped the roast meat over and asked, "Is there any water?"
The two white tigers looked at her blankly. Lin Ni took out the empty water bottle from her backpack, opened it and poured water into her hand. It took a while for a single drop of water to drip out. She held out her hand to Bai Shu: "Water, I want to drink water."
Bai Shu's eyes lit up, clearly indicating it knew, and it turned to leave. Lin Ni hurriedly called out, "Wait! Bai Shu!"
Bai Shu turned to look at her. Lin Ni moved the grilled meat a little further away and said to Bai Ji, "Bai Ji, can you watch the grilled meat for me?" Without waiting to see if Bai Ji understood, she walked to Bai Shu's side and patted its back, saying, "Take me with you!"
Bai Shu cleverly lay down. Lin Ni climbed onto its back and stroked its smooth fur: "Bai Shu, let's go!"
Bai Shu carried Lin Ni and ran south. The road under their feet was a gentle downhill slope. After running for less than ten minutes, they came to a big tree, where a mountain spring was flowing gently.
Linni saw the spring and happily asked Baishu to put her down. Then she couldn't wait to walk to the spring, squat down, and scoop up the water to wash her hands and face.
"Wow! How refreshing!" Linni exclaimed in delight, the coolness of the spring water making her feel incredibly comfortable. She observed it closely and discovered that the spring was a living spring, its water flowing slowly southwards to an unknown destination. She noticed that the water gushed from cracks in the rocks and underground, appearing remarkably clean. Extremely thirsty, she couldn't resist reaching out and cupping some water in her hands, taking a gentle sip.
"Mmm..." Lin Ni's eyes lit up with surprise, "It's so sweet!"
She was amazed by the sweetness of the spring water and drank several more large gulps. Once she was finally quenched, she took out a lunchbox and a cup from her backpack and filled them both with water.
Looking at the cool spring water, she realized that she hadn't taken a bath for two days. She had sweated profusely last night and was drenched in sweat again in the forest today. She decided to take a good bath.
"Bai Shu, turn around, don't peek!" Even though he's not human, he's not allowed to look.
Bai Shu: "Huh?"
Linni walked over and pushed Bai Shu's head away from the spring: "Remember, no peeking!"
Seeing that Bai Shu stood obediently in place, gently swishing its more than one-meter-long tail without turning its head, Lin Ni finally felt relieved enough to take off her clothes and get into the water. She took a comfortable bath and finally felt alive again.