The sound of birds chirping pulled Wu Xie out of his sleep as he stirred to get into a more comfortable position. He twisted and turned till he was facing Zhang, eyes open in small slit which widened a bit as he saw Zhang already staring at him.

"Good morning Wu Xie." Zhang wished in his low voice. His voice sounded deeper than usual probably because he had just woken up.

"Morning Xiaoge..." Wu Xie wished back, voice sultry as he was still drowsy. He sat up, rubbing his eyes as he yawned.

"Ahh, that feels so good." He moaned as he stretched his arms out, finally waking up from his sleepy state.

"Good morning love birds! Wake up, breakfast is ready!" Pangzi said loudly as he entered the tent, chuckling as he saw the duo send daggers with their eyes his way.

"Shut up Pangzi, its too early for your lame jokes." Wu Xie grumbled. Zhang reached out a hand and helped Wu Xie to his feet, holding the other gently by his waist as Wu Xie stumbled.

"Tianzhen, you okay?" Pangzi asked and Wu Xie nodded.

"I am just probably low in iron, don't worry." He said, as he was finally stable on his feet, sending a small thank you Zhang's way.

"Let's eat! I am starving!"

"When are you not?" Wu Xie retorted and Pangzi only smiled sheepishly.

After a breakfast of cup noodles, the trio packed all their stuff and once again set out to find the wretched cave. Wu Xie let Zhang lead them as he remember Pan Zi saying that the stoic male is very experienced in this. Zhang once again grasped Wu Xie's hand, it was now a habit of the hooded man to make sure the younger was safe.

They kept walking for considerable amount of time and stayed alert to face any danger that could come their way.

"Hey guys? Don't you think the forest is a little too quiet right now?" Pangzi asked and the other two stopped to listen. Not a single noise, no birds chirping, not a single animal was audible and even insects were quiet.

"We need to stay alert, there might be something way too dangerous that even repelled the animals." Zhang said as he subconciously gripped Wu Xie's hand tighter.

"You're right." Wu Xie agreed and the trio heightened their senses of vision and hearing as much as they could.

"DUCK!" Zhang screamed all of a sudden as pulled Wu Xie to the ground along with him, towering over the younger to protect him. He made sure the fall didn't huer the latter as held him close.  Pangzi, on the other hand, simply fell to the ground, groaning as he hit his shin.

"What's wrong Xiaoge?" Wu Xie asked and Zhang raised a finger to quieten him. His calculating eyes scanned the entire place abd widened slightly as his eyes fell on a creature.

A tiger, but not just any tiger, a ferocious beast who was as giant as an elephant, had teeth sharp, fur bright orange and black and it looked ready to pounce.

"Crap.....what do we do..?" Pangzi said voice low and trembling as he stared at the majestic beast in both awe and fear. Zhang slowly and stealthily crawled upto Pangzi, ushering him to come closer. Pangzi, understanding the message, nodded wordlessly and crept in Zhang's direction.

Wu Xie although terrified, couldn't help but be confused as he kept his eyes locked on the beast.

Weird, we are here right here in front of it yet its not attacking. Wait.

Wu Xie picked up a rock and threw it in a random direction, flinching as the stone made a loud noise when it made contact with the ground. The tiger whipped it's head to where the stone fell and Wu Xie smirked.

"It is blind. It cannot see us, we are safe as long as we don't make a sound, understand?" Wu Xie whispered and Pangzi let out a hushed sigh of relief.

"Let's go. Follow me and be careful." Zhang instructed. Wu Xie and Pangzi immediately sprang up to their feet, following the stoic male and stepping only where he was.

Crack.

Pangzi accidently stepped on  branch, catching the unwanted attention of the huge feline. It looked over to Pangzi with extreme precision and slowly made its way towards the trembling man.

Oh crap, I am screwed.

The tiger was slowly drawing closer by the second and Pangzi's body refused to move, frozen solid due to fear. Wu Xie kept trying to wake Pangzi out of his daze but the man was too far gone into a state of panic and fear.

Zhang knew Pangzi wouldn't be able to make a move quick enough to dodge the beast, so he drew out his sword and lunged at the tiger in full speed. Slashing the side of the tiger, he gained its full attention. The beast growled in anger as it turned to Zhang, ready to eat the man alive.

"Wu Xie, get out of here with Pangzi! I'll catch up with you." Zhang yelled but Wu Xie was hesitant.

I can't just leave him behind, what if he hurts himself?

"Wu Xie! I'll be fine, just go!" Zhang yelled and Wu Xie although not willing, reluctantly accepted the order. He grabbed onto the still dazed Pangzi, struggling to drag the fat man.

"For heaven's sake Pangzi, WAKE UP!" Wu Xie yelled as he smacked the back of Pangzi's head, bringing the man into the real world.

"Huh? What the hell is that?!" Pangzi yelled as Wu Xie slapped a hand on his mouth.

"Whatever it is, we have to get out of here, now!" Wu Xie said in extreme urgency. He looked over to Zhang who was risking his life to save the two.

Zhang climbed up a tree and lunged at the beast, slashing one of its eyes. The beast growled in both pain and anger as it struggled to locate where Zhang was. The stoic male was stealthy, just like a feline. He diverted the attention of a tiger by stepping on a branch and swiftly made his way to the other side, once again climbing up a tree and this time aimed for the head of the beast. He got a clean shot, but the blade didn't sink enough into its head to harm it. Instead it was stuck and no matter how hard Zhang pulled at it, it didn't budge.

The beast once again growled as he shook Zhang off of him. The stoic male fell to the ground and let out a loud grunt of pain. He had no chance of fighting the beast with bare hands, so he took out his dagger and slashed his hand, drawing out blood that instantly repelled the beast. Tue tiger made its way in the opposite direction and disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Zhang let out a sigh of relief, as he saw the beast leave. He got up and made his way to where he had seen Wu Xie and Pangzi run off to. He didn't have to walk much as he saw the duo seated on the ground with anxious looks on their faces.

"Xiaoge! I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried." Wu Xie exclaimed as he hugged Zhang without a second thought. Zhang was once again taken aback by Wu Xie's impulsiveness but nonetheless returned the hug, letting out a small hiss as his hand rubbed against Wu Xie's jacket.

Of course, the hiss didn't go unnoticed by Wy Xie who immediately broke the hug and examined the male from head to toe. His gaze fell on the bleeding hand of Zhang and his expression became one of extreme concern and worry.

"Pangzi, band aid, quick!" Wu Xie said and Pangzi obliged, hastily pulling out a band-aid from the first aid kit. He feeling guilty as he looked at Zhang's state, blaming himself for his injury.

It was my fault he had to risk his life.

"I'm fine, don't worry, it wasn't your fault." Zhang said, almost as if he had read Pangzi's mind, looking at the male with soft eyes as if to ensure that it really was just a small accident. Zhang was relieved to see the other two unharmed yet....

He lost his precious sword.