Massive Tiger

"Where is it?" Edward asked further.

The middle-aged woman looked around and beckoned Edward forward.

Edward walked closer and hefted himself up so that she could whisper in his ear.

"It's by the Berkup Lake. But the place is forbidden."

"By whom?"

"The government. Don't you know that? As far as I know, it's purported that some unknown ferocious beasts live there."

"Oh really?" Edward quirked a tiny smile. "That makes me excited. I like to tame those beasts."

"You're not feverish, are you, sir?" the woman asked, trying to feel the temperature on his forehead with her hand.

"No, of course!" Edward chuckled, stepping back.

"Then you must be mad!!"

"Probably you're right, thank you, lady. I've got to go!"

Edward stepped out of the pharmacy without wasting another second.

Once again, he hailed another taxi.

"Blue Misty Land!" Edward said as soon as he had got into the taxi.

"Sorry, sir, " the driver's voice trembled, "I can't take you there."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to drive into it. You can park your car near the Berkup Lake."

The driver hesitated.

"Come on, buddy, if you promise to take me there, I'll pay you ten grand." Edward offered.

"You know it's too risky to take you there…"

"What about twenty grand? Give me your bank account. I'll transfer ten grand to you first."

"Okay. Money makes mare do. Let me be your mare this time."

The driver finally was talked into driving him to the most dangerous place here in the city.

He whipped out his phone and showed Edward his account.

In a minute, the notification he received on his phone showed ten grand dollars had already gone into his account.

"Great. I'll take you there as fast as I can. But remember to transfer me the other ten grand when we get there."

"Deal!"

On the way there, Edward knew he could not afford to waste any of his energy, for he knew a tough fight was waiting for him in the Blue Misty Land.

He closed his eyes to take a rest. 

He dreamed of driving a lot of hogs to the market in exchange for some money when the driver was tapping his shoulders.

"Wake up, sir, here we are. Pay me the money you've promised now," said the driver, his face pale and his body shaking violently. "Be quick. I can't stand being here for another minute."

When Edward transferred him the money, he looked out of the window.

He saw the sun had already gone down in the west. It was getting dark—a terrifying bluish darkness.

"No, hurry, sir, I need to get out of this hell before it's too late. I shouldn't have taken you here. Get off now!!"

"Hey, what's so scary, man? Take it easy!!" Edward reassured, "You know, I'm still working on the money."

"You have no idea! Get out of my car now!" the driver even started to push Edward as he saw some blue mist in the air.

"I'm almost done, hey, man, calm down!"

"Get off!" the man shouted and pushed him harder.

Edward was simply pushed out of the car.

"It's outrageous!" Edward fumed, "I'm your customer. How can you treat me like this!!"

Yet, the driver did not talk back. He simply revved it up and floored it away.

"Such a coward! Only a few beasts simply scare you to shit. I'll perform how to flay those beasts. You'll simply miss a wonderful show!!"

As he whispered, he looked around, discovering the woods by the Berkup Lake.

"This must be the so-called Blue Misty Land. But there's nothing special about it!"

He quickly walked into it and soon his sight was blurred by the descending blue mist.

And constant howling sounds cut through the air. The noise of the earth-shaking also kept coming into his ears as if the whole place would soon be torn into pieces.

"I'd like to know what it is!!"

Edward did not give a damn about it.

After having stayed in the Forest of Death for several years, he was confident in dealing with any animals no matter how powerful they were.

As he groped his way through the dense blue mist for several hundred feet, he suddenly felt a gust of wind rushing towards him from behind.

He immediately realized that some creature must be attacking him.

He swiftly leaped into the air and to his surprise, discovered a tiger, a tiger much larger than any ordinary one.

"Damn, this is unbelievable. How could such a thing exist in this place? I need to figure out what's going on here," he muttered.

With lightning speed, he kicked towards the tiger's body, but to his shock, the colossal beast stood its ground, unmoved.

As Edward landed firmly on the ground, the tiger let out a roar into the sky and then pounced straight on him.

Edward sped backward, swiftly sidestepped, and deftly evaded the tiger's assault.

At the same time, Edward noticed signs of ulceration on the tiger's abdomen.

"Hey there, what's gotten into you? Why so aggressive? Relax, I'm not here to harm you, just stop attacking," he said, trying to calm the beast.

However, the tiger only grew more ferocious. It lunged at Edward once more.

Though fast, the tiger was no match for Edward's speed.

The tiger couldn't land a single blow.

"Enough, buddy. Let me treat you. You really don't take care of yourself well. That ulceration must hurt like hell," Edward said, observing the tiger's condition.

As the tiger lunged at him again, Edward pulled out a purple vial and quickly sprinkled the purple powder it contained onto the tiger's abdomen.

Soon, the powder adhered to the wound.

"Trust me, this is a miraculous cure for wounds like that. You'll soon feel no more pain. I mean you no harm," he reassured the beast.

Strangely, the tiger seemed to understand Edward this time. It suddenly dropped to its front knees.

Edward mustered his courage and approached the tiger until he could gently touch its head.

"How did you grow so massive? That's unusual, it's downright unscientific. Did some scientists have a hand in this? Let me have a check-up on you!"