There is a beast in the bright morning.

Chapter 111 Let the tiger return to the mountain

Wisps of smoke, accompanied by the aroma of food, rose from the red maple forest, making Tianlu, Qiongqi, Taowu, and Taotie drool with envy.

"Alright, we can start eating now."

As soon as Hao Chen finished speaking, Tian Lu couldn't wait to grab the scalding hot roasted chicken and take a bite: "Whoosh, it's so hot, so delicious."

Apart from the four unlikes, Bixie and the others also took their own food and squatted down by the fire to eat.

"Boss, this is so delicious! Can we eat this again next time?"

"Yes, the eldest brother's cooking is the best."

"Bah, bah, bah."

Hearing the praise from the three Qiongqi beasts, Hao Chen was extremely satisfied. Sure enough, with the addition of modern seasonings, even the most ordinary food could be transformed into something extraordinary.

Then, Hao Chen picked up a roasted chicken that had been prepared long ago and was dripping with oil, and came to Zhan Hu.

He waved the roast chicken in front of Zhanhu and said, "Zhanhu, how about it? Want some? If you just give in, I'll not only let you go, but I can also give you food. You must be hungry by now!"

As Zhan Hu smelled the aroma of the roast chicken, his stomach rumbled in response, and his mouth watered.

Even though Zhan Hu was starving, his gaze toward Hao Chen was still disdainful, even contemptuous: "Hmph, you despicable bastard who only knows how to ambush, take your food and get out of here. I am Zhan Hu, the dignified one. I would rather starve to death than accept your humiliation."

"Hey, I don't believe in this nonsense. I'm not afraid of you. Let me tell you, as long as you don't give in, you won't be able to break free of these bonds."

Hao Chen was somewhat angry at Zhan Hu for being so stubborn, but he couldn't really hurt Zhan Hu, since he and the future Zhan Hu were, after all, friends.

After returning to Tianlu's side, she casually handed the roast chicken to Tianlu to eat. Tianlu didn't care who the roast chicken was originally prepared for; once it was in his mouth, it was his.

When Qiongqi saw that Haochen had returned empty-handed, he advised, "Boss, why did you do that? This tiger is stubborn. If you ask me, you might as well just eat him."

Taotie, standing nearby, also advised, "Boss, Qiongqi is right. There's no use keeping this tiger. We might as well let the brothers have a taste. I've never eaten a tiger before."

"Alright, no need to say anything more, I have my own decision." Hao Chen directly interrupted Qiongqi and Taotie's thoughts.

Just kidding, Hao Chen also planned to take Zhan Hu as his subordinate, since Zhan Hu was much stronger than Qiong Qi and the others, and could do a lot for him.

More importantly, Zhanhu is a large, fluffy creature. Its fluffy fur, long tail, and thick paw pads are all incredibly tempting to Haochen.

"I can't think about it anymore, or I'll be committing a crime." After shaking off the unhealthy thoughts in his mind, Hao Chen began to think about how to turn Zhan Hu from an enemy into a friend.

As for releasing Zhanhu directly, Haochen had considered it, but he felt it was unrealistic. After all, given Zhanhu's personality, Haochen estimated that the first thing Zhanhu would do after gaining his freedom would be to tear him apart.

After Qiongqi had eaten and drunk his fill, his eyes kept darting around before he glanced at Zhanhu and said, "The boss seems to value this tiger a lot. If I can persuade this tiger to join us, the boss will definitely praise me."

Thinking of this, Qiongqi excitedly went to Zhanhu. Looking at the tall and mighty Zhanhu, Qiongqi thought to himself, if he were as strong as Zhanhu, would the boss look at him differently?

Qiongqi stood up, intending to pat Zhanhu on the shoulder, but embarrassingly discovered that even standing up, he could only reach Zhanhu's knees.

Qiongqi had no choice but to settle for second best, patting Zhanhu's knee: "Hey brother, wake up!"

Zhanhu opened his dozing eyes and stared intently at Qiongqi. He naturally recognized Qiongqi; it was a chattering, annoying fly.

"Hmph, you think you can humiliate me too?" Zhan Hu's deep voice rang out, seemingly containing resentment and anger.

Qiongqi naturally sensed the anger in Zhanhu's tone and dared not provoke him, for who knew when he would break free.

Qiongqi cut to the chase and stated his purpose directly: "Brother, I mean no harm. I'm here to discuss something with you. Do you want to join us?"

"Are you inviting me?" Zhan Hu asked in return.

Hearing Zhan Hu's reply, Qiong Qi thought the other party had come to his senses and became somewhat excited: "Yeah, yeah, we offer great benefits. Not only do we provide food and lodging, but if you get into trouble, our boss will cover for you. How about it, are you tempted?"

Just as Qiongqi confidently offered his benefits, expecting Zhanhu to readily agree, Zhanhu unexpectedly spat at Qiongqi: "Pah! You guys who only know how to ambush, you think you can make me submit? Let me tell you, it's impossible."

Qiongqi angrily wiped away Zhanhu's saliva from his face, then glared at Zhanhu: "You won't listen to reason, so here comes the punishment. Let me tell you, our boss has become monstrous; he has plenty of ways to deal with you."

Qiongqi was just venting his frustration and said it casually, but Haochen unexpectedly came up behind him and overheard his words.

"Really? How come I didn't know I was this weird?! Come on, Qiongqi, tell me, just how weird am I, your boss?"

Hao Chen was initially thinking of praising Qiong Qi for being so sensible and taking the initiative to help persuade Zhan Hu, but he discovered that Qiong Qi actually saw him as a pervert.

Upon hearing Hao Chen's voice behind him, Qiongqi shuddered involuntarily, then skillfully turned around and knelt down, clutching Hao Chen's paw and bursting into tears.

"Boss, I was wrong. I shouldn't have told the truth. No, no, I shouldn't have said bad things about you. Please forgive me this time because I'm so cute."

"Get out of here. I'll let it go this time, but if I hear you saying bad things about me again, I'll show you what a real pervert is."

After shaking off Qiongqi, Haochen looked at Zhanhu again: "How about it? As long as you acknowledge me as your boss, I'll let you go."

"Impossible." Zhanhu refused directly: "Even if you ask a hundred times, I will still say the same thing. I, Zhanhu, have only one boss in my life, and that is my lord Chiyou. You, who only knows how to launch sneak attacks, are not qualified."

Seeing that Zhanhu still refused to give in, Haochen was not angry. He pulled out an electric clipper for shaving and said, "Since you don't want to acknowledge me as your boss, then forget it. But I still need to compensate you. I'll use your tail hair to make up for it. You don't have any objections, do you?"

"Besides, I don't need you to acknowledge me as your boss anymore, since I already have clues about what I'm looking for."

"Things?! What are you looking for? Could it be my lord's... um!" Zhan Hu suddenly shut his mouth as he spoke.

Hao Chen sneered: "Sure enough, I knew it. How could Chi You let Zhan Hu guard an ordinary maple forest? It seems that Chi You deliberately left Zhan Hu here to guard something."

Then, without waiting for Zhanhu's consent, Haochen took the electric clippers and was about to shave Zhanhu's tail, but when Haochen pressed the switch, the electric clippers did not respond.

"Hmm, there's no power at this hour. Rabbit's stuff is really unreliable." After thinking for a moment, Hao Chen engraved an array to convert electrical energy on the electric clipper.

After doing all this, Haochen called out to Tianlu, "Tianlu, come here for a second."

"You're here, Haochen, what's up?"

After Tianlu came over, Haochen immediately handed the electric hair clipper to Tianlu. Tianlu took it with a puzzled look, smelled it, and then showed a disgusted expression: "Ugh, this doesn't smell good at all."

Hao Chen explained, "Tian Lu, this isn't for eating. You take it first."

After Tianlu took it, Haochen asked, "Tianlu, do you want to have an egg with Bixie?"

Hao Chen's words made Tian Lu's eyes light up: "I've been thinking and thinking, Tian Lu wants to be with Bi Xie..."

Boom ~

Before Tianlu could finish speaking, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, scorching him to a crisp. However, the electric clipper in Tianlu's claws was now fully charged.

"Haochen, you tricked me! I'm not going to be friends with you anymore!" Tianlu realized that Haochen had played her for a fool and angrily turned her head away.

Seeing this, Hao Chen remained calm, pulled out a pile of gold bars, and said dejectedly, "Sigh, I originally wanted to use this pile of gold bars to apologize."

"Gold bars?!" Tianlu's ears perked up immediately, and he secretly turned his head to find that there really was a pile of gold bars in front of Haochen.

Wow, it's a gold bar.

Tempted by the gold bars, Tianlu lost his senses and immediately grabbed one to eat: "It's a real gold bar, so delicious! Haochen, I forgive you."

No foodie can resist eating; if they can, it's because you haven't prepared enough food, or it's not good enough.

Then, to Zhanhu's horrified gaze, Haochen cleanly and efficiently shaved all the fur off Zhanhu's tail.

"Haochen, you...you..." Zhanhu looked at his bald tail and was so angry that he didn't know what to say.

Hao Chen untied the ropes binding Zhan Hu, and said sarcastically, "We're even now, but Zhan Hu, I didn't expect you to be all show and no substance. Your tail looks like a stick now that it's lost its hair."

"Hmph, that's still better looking than your slicked-back tail!" Zhanhu said and left without stopping. His tail was now bald, and he had no intention of fighting anymore.

Watching Zhanhu leave, Haochen carefully collected the tiger's fur from the ground: "Not bad, not bad, the first step of the plan was a success. Speaking of which, this Zhanhu has so much fur, it could be made into a small doll."

Looking in the direction Zhan Hu left, Hao Chen thought to himself that he could implement the second step of the plan that night.