BAIHU (White Tiger Warrior): Challenging the Dragon
CHAPTER 1 | Tiger Child Sunu and Old Man

The Central Plains are very vast, rich in natural beauty and also have various types of natural wealth in some regions. The northern Central Plains have four seasons while the southern has two. The difference in seasons makes the natural resources, the different types of animals and plants in different regions.

Almost a hundred small kingdoms exist in the Central Plains, each of which has its own various customs and cultures and ways of life each according to the condition of the kingdom.

During the Four Kingdoms period, there were 4 major kingdoms vying for conquest of these small kingdoms. That was when there were various major wars that caused chaos in the central plains.

The northern region was controlled by the Northern Snow Kingdom, the eastern region was controlled by the Kingdom of the Rising Sun, the southern region was controlled by the South Sea Coastal Kingdom and the western region was controlled by the Western Desert Kingdom.

A small town of secluded territory in the middle that is surrounded by very dense forests and mountains with three high peaks, the, be a neutral territory and should not be touched by each of them. The town is called Wuxia.

In the small town of Wuxia, many warriors chose to live impartially to one of the kingdoms and at the three highest peaks of the mountains were 3 powerful college sects protecting the region. The Sky Sword Sect, the Sacred Lotus Sect as well as the Moon Sun Sect

An old man walked up to a house on the mountain slope of the Sun Moon sect. In the courtyard of the house appeared an 11-year-old boy training with a tiger cub.

“Who is this boy? Is elder disciple Wu Shan?” muttered the old man. Then he halted his steps and did the calculations while gazing towards the sky. His face was suddenly startled, he narrowed his eyes at the boy, “True luck sect” muttered smiling as he continued on his way to the house.

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To the west of the city of Wuxia was a small kingdom of Xifang before it was conquered and controlled by the Western Desert Kingdom.

Three years ago the King of Xifang Kingdom was Fang Guancheng, having a white-haired wife named Bai An. They were gifted a boy with eyes as sharp as his father's, but white hair as his mother. The boy was named Fang Bai.

His friends often called him Baihu or the white tiger because the little boy who had white hair had a bold, violent and very mischievous temper.

During the war of conquest, Xifang's kingdom was invaded by the Western Desert kingdom's forces and succeeded in killing King Fang and his wife, but his 8-year-old son Baihu was rescued by a loyal servant and hid into the dense forest in the east of the kingdom. They also live alone in the middle of the forest.

When Baihu was 10 years old, Baihu saw the servant who saved her killed by a tigress who protected her cubs in the forest. The angry tiger looked towards Baihu who was looking at him sharply without fear.

A tiger cub suddenly walked up to Baihu and then swiped his body and head at Baihu's feet. Making Baihu smile and caressing the tiger cub.

The tiger mother who saw that let her child play happily with Baihu. Baihu was also happy to get the new friend of the tiger cub in his lap and the tiger cub licked and rubbed his head on Baihu's face.

“I call you Sunu” whispered Baihu to the tiger cub in his lap.

GROOARR!

Suddenly the mother tiger roared and turned angry to feel there was a group of hunters who found traces of the tiger. The tiger mother turned to Baihu who was carrying her child, then ran over to the hunters.

“I have to hide to save this tiger cub” muttered Baihu.

Little Baihu ran while holding the tiger cub away from the hunters and arrived at a hidden cave and hid inside there.

“I found a trail around here” shouted the people outside the cave.

Hearing the cry, Baihu then entered the increasingly narrow cave, but he forced his small body while pushing the tiger cub even more into the cave.

Then, the cave seemed to collapse when he went deeper. The bodies of Baihu and the tiger cubs were mired far away and fell from within the cave on a stretch of grass near the river.

“Where is this?” muttered Baihu while looking around.

The place was a kind of wider cave but was flowed by a small clear river with a stretch of grass and other plants on the edge of the small river. At the top of the wall there is a hole where air and light enter the cave but hidden because it is covered by the roots of the vines at the mouth of the hole.

GROOAARR

Baihu suddenly woke up to the roar of the tiger boy. He saw an old man standing by watching him fall asleep with the tiger cub at the spot.

Baihu immediately stood up and stared fiercely at the old man, while the tiger cub also roared furiously in front of Baihu looking at the man.

“Who is this little boy? Why is this tiger cub trying to protect her?” the old man muttered in his heart

The old man smiled at Baihu and asked “Nak, what is your name? Why are you in this place?”

Baihu was speechless not answering the old man's question. He did not know whether this old man was a friend or an opponent, nor was the tiger cub in front of him still growling and exposing his small fangs to the old man.

The old man was still smiling even though his question was not answered. Then he took out two meat-filled steamed buns from his storage ring and gave them to Baihu and the tiger cub.

The tiger cub sniffed the steamed bread and grabbed it and ate it. Baihu's face became annoyed at the attitude of the tiger boy, “Basil stomach rubber, so saw the food directly struck” grumbled Baihu annoyed to see Sunu who directly ate the meat steamed bread with greed.

Seeing that Baihu still did not take the steamed buns, the old man opened his mouth “Nak, eat. You must be starving” he said as he held out the meat-filled steamed bread to Baihu.

Baihu was still hesitant to take it, but the fragrant smell of meat inside the steamed bun was smelled by him and suddenly made his stomach sound. Baihu's face turned red from embarrassment.

The old man smiled at the voice from Baihu's stomach, he still stuck out the meat-filled steamed bun on him. “Do not be afraid son, I have no bad intentions on y'all”

Finally Baihu's defense collapsed by the sound of her stomach the second time, she immediately grabbed the meat-filled steamed bun from the old man and ate it in a hurry.

“Pelan-pelan. I still have a few more. Don't let you choke for eating in a hurry” said the old man with his smile.

After getting food from the old man, the tiger boy calmly approached him and rubbed his head at the old man's feet as if friendly to him.

“Cih, you are so easily bribed with food” grumbled Baihu saw Sunu's embarrassing behavior for him.

The old man then stroked Sunu's head, the tiger boy gently and asked, “Who is this tiger boy named nak?”

Baihu snatched away hearing the question from the old man,”Sunu” was short

“Is he your pet?” ask the old man back.

“I am his friend” said Baihu who had finished off his meat-filled steamed bun.

Seeing that Baihu had finished his meal, the old man took out his bottle and gave it to Baihu, “Drink first. If you are still hungry. I'll give you another”

Baihu was still a little hesitant at the old man, but seeing his gentle demeanor towards Sunu, she started to believe the old man had no ill intentions on them.

“Thank you.” he said after drinking water from a bottle of water given by the old man and handing it back.

“Where are you from nak?” asked the old man while drinking water from his bottle and then gave it to the tiger cub at his feet.

During his life on the run, Baihu never told him where he came from, so he only replied “I came from the forest next to this cave”