Chapter 876: Mother Tigress

At the same time, with a whoosh, a small tiger cub darted past his feet and, whimpering, leaped into someone’s arms. It cried incessantly, as if it had suffered an immense grievance.

Reverend Qiyin and the other three all looked at Jiang Fan, their faces showing shock. Their expression seemed to ask, "What did you do to that cub?"

Jiang Fan’s face darkened. He felt like cursing. "I didn't do anything to it! I just patted its backside a few times. Who knew it would cry like this?"

Holding the cub was a young woman in her thirties. Her hair was styled in a loose bun, and she wore a long yellow dress. Though not particularly tall, her figure was perfectly proportioned. Her attractive face was clouded with an icy expression. A pair of sharp, piercing eyes gazed coldly at Jiang Fan. From her lips came a cold voice, suppressing clear anger.

"You truly have some nerve! You've invaded my home and even bullied my son! All of you, get inside!" she commanded softly. An unimaginably powerful gust of air swept the four of them, sending them flying into the main hall. The woman in yellow, still holding the crying cub, stepped into the hall. With a flick of her sleeve, the hall doors slammed shut with a bang.

This display made Jiang Fan’s heart pound wildly. Reverend Qiyin, a Nascent Soul expert at the second aperture, had been utterly powerless to resist. *What cultivation level is this woman at?* The others got to their feet, their faces etched with dread, as if a great disaster was upon them. They didn't dare to even breathe loudly.

The woman in yellow gently patted the cub in her arms and said softly, "There, there, stop crying. Tell Mommy what happened?" The cub immediately pointed fiercely at Jiang Fan, then pointed to its own backside, muttering something unintelligible. Only then did the woman in yellow notice the cub’s bottom was bright red. She instantly glared coldly at Jiang Fan. That single glance made Jiang Fan feel a searing pain, as if his body were about to be torn apart.

Terrified, he immediately said, "Sister, please let me explain. Its item fell, and I came to return it, but it mistook me for a bad person and bit me. I had no choice but to smack its bottom. If I had any ill intentions, I would have killed it already."

Reverend Qiyin looked at Jiang Fan in astonishment, as if seeing him for the first time. *No way. You called her 'sister' way too smoothly! Is this kid really as honest as he seems? Returning an item?*

The woman in yellow frowned slightly. Suddenly, she noticed that the fur around the cub’s private parts had been cut. She was startled. "Who did this?" she angrily demanded. The cub fiercely pointed at Jiang Fan. "Oh, come on!" Jiang Fan grew annoyed. "Why are you lying? What's my cultivation level? You were a Nascent Soul expert at the fourth aperture back then! How could I have cut your fur?"

Upon hearing this, the cub became even angrier, pointing at Jiang Fan and chattering incessantly. Its meaning was clear: "It was him, it was him!" The woman in yellow probably realized the cub held a grudge against Jiang Fan and was deliberately falsely accusing him. The wound was clearly caused by some powerful spiritual artifact. Jiang Fan, a mere Core Formation cultivator, couldn't possibly have harmed her Nascent Soul stage son. She immediately lightly smacked its backside and sternly said, "Don't lie!" The cub yelped in pain, tears welling up in its eyes.

Jiang Fan looked smug. *Little cub, still trying to frame me?* Then, his eyes subtly shifted, and he said, "Sister, what I came to return is this gourd. It dropped it halfway. I picked it up and chased after it all the way to give it back." It was better to present it voluntarily now than to be exposed by the cub later. Of course, he had secretly held back ten drops. Such a small amount, the woman in yellow shouldn't notice.

The woman in yellow looked, startled, and snatched the gourd. After weighing it and finding it hadn't lost much, she breathed a sigh of relief and scolded the cub, "How could you drop something so important? We only have this much left!"

The cub, furious, pointed accusingly at Jiang Fan and then made a gesture across its own neck. It was telling the truth. The woman in yellow frowned. "Are you saying he stole it?" Yu Peiyuan heard this and became displeased. She glared at the cub, then carefully spoke to the woman in yellow, "Senior, my junior brother Jiang is simple and kind-hearted. Before, when he found treasures, he didn't even think of keeping them for himself; he called me to share them. For him to pick up your son's item and chase after him to return it, that's entirely normal behavior. Senior, you should really ask your son if he's lying."

"Is that so?" The woman in yellow looked at Jiang Fan with a hint of surprise. *Are there truly such honest and upright people in this world? Who wouldn't want to keep a treasure for themselves when they find one? And he even shares voluntarily with others. That's not just simple, that's foolish.* Considering this, him picking up the gourd and coming to return it made sense. Combined with the cub having lied to falsely accuse Jiang Fan before, it looked, by all accounts, like the cub was lying again. She gently patted the cub’s backside again and reprimanded, "Who taught you to be so naughty? Full of lies!" The cub burst into woeful tears. *But this time, I really wasn't lying!*

Suddenly, it noticed Jiang Fan's smug, suppressed chuckle. Infuriated, it wiped away its tears and began to bare its fangs and claws. *That scoundrel! Mommy has been completely tricked by him!* But what truly infuriated it was Jiang Fan's deliberate act of being a good person, sighing helplessly, "Sister, don't hit it anymore. It's not a bad thing that it knows how to be wary of people. There are too many bad people outside; it's right to be more vigilant. As for me being misunderstood... I'm already used to it."

The woman in yellow now looked at Jiang Fan in a completely different light. He was falsely accused by her son, yet not only did he not get angry, he even spoke kindly of the cub. He truly was a human youth, so simple he was almost foolish. The coldness in her eyes completely dissipated. "Alright, considering you returned the gourd, you may stand aside for now." The woman in yellow intended to let Jiang Fan go. But when she looked at Yu Peiyuan and the other three, a hint of chill swirled in her eyes.

"As for you!" she said, her voice turning cold. "You trespassed into my master's forbidden area, so don't expect to leave alive!" "What?" Reverend Qiyin and the other three's faces paled drastically. They wanted to run but couldn't, and attacking would only lead to a faster death. For a moment, they were utterly terrified.

The woman in yellow pointed coldly at the lava pool in the center of the hall and sneered, "I'll give you a quick choice. Jump in and use all your strength to cover the furnace. If I have to make a move, you'll find yourselves begging for death but unable to achieve it!" Everyone looked at the pool of churning blue lava in the center, their expressions changing drastically. The blue flames emanating from the lava could instantly incinerate them to ash. Let alone the furnace in the middle? Their faces turned ashen. The woman in yellow, however, showed not a shred of mercy.

Her gaze swept over them, landing on Yu Peiyuan. "You are the weakest; you'll go first." Yu Peiyuan's face lost all color, and her delicate body trembled violently. Her legs wouldn't stop shaking, and she cast a helpless glance at her master, Reverend Qiyin, seeking help. Reverend Qiyin could barely protect himself; how could he protect his disciple? He could only turn his head away, pretending not to see. Misty tears of fear welled up in Yu Peiyuan's eyes, and she looked towards her senior brother Wei Chaoran. He, too, dared not interfere. At this moment, Yu Peiyuan despaired. She cast a pleading gaze at the woman in yellow, who remained utterly indifferent, saying coldly, "Since you are unwilling to go, I'll send you down myself!" With a wave of her hand, a fierce gust of wind swept Yu Peiyuan, sending her flying into the pool.

She gave a bitter smile. She closed her eyes in despair, her heart filled with bitterness. She had struggled so hard to reach this point, only a step away from the Nascent Soul realm. Yet, she was about to perish here. And by a horrific death, burned alive!

Just as she braced herself for the agonizing pain that was about to come, her waist suddenly tightened. She found herself embraced by a strong hand, pulling her back from the edge of the pool. She opened her eyes and saw it was Jiang Fan. "Junior Brother Jiang, you... are you mad?" Saving someone right in front of that 'tigress' was defying her; she would send Jiang Fan down too! Indeed. The woman in yellow's eyes turned cold, and she said in a low voice, "Do you want to go down too?" Her expression, which had just softened towards Jiang Fan, turned suddenly frigid. Jiang Fan steadied Yu Peiyuan and quickly said, "Sister, don't rush. I can help you suppress this furnace." Yu Peiyuan was such a good girl. How could Jiang Fan bear to watch her die? He had no choice but to reveal a little of his true capabilities.