"Chou..." Li Meirong gritted out through her teeth, adjusting the position of the shield to face against the tiger's every blow, "I need your help now more than ever. You won't have to fight him, only distract him so I could step back!"

Chou didn't respond.

The tiger ceased its attempt to slash the shield and changed its strategy, opening his wide mouth to crunch the spiritually made barrier.

"Chou, please." Li Meirong begged. She tasted the coppery tang of blood in her mouth. The damage to the shield seemed to have affected her body in some way or another. It was as though her spiritual essence had taken damage.

The desperation in her voice seemed to have triggered her Plant Spirit's resolve, for he jumped straight out of her sleeve and hopped right onto the Tiger's massive head!

The Tiger stopped its series of onslaught on the shield and paced back and forth, attempting to strike the plant off of its head.

Li Meirong's eyes widened at the sight of Chou hopping up and down upon the Tiger Spirit's head, but she didn't permit her shock to halt her plan. She ran as fast as she could until she was several meters away from the Tiger. She spun back on her heels only for her mouth to gape open for the briefest of moments. Her little Plant Spirit was on the beast's head. And not just on its head, but taunting it from there!

Chou kept ridiculing the Tiger, who was helplessly thrashing his own face while trying to remove the lingering pest.

The Plant Spirit joyfully gloated, 'Look, Master. This baddie is all brawn and no brains! Chou was scared for no good reason!'

Meanwhile, Li Meirong closed her eyes and morphed the shield into another item. She envisioned the shape of a pistol, and although she wasn't particularly knowledgeable about the exact design and making of the weapon, she managed to mold her spiritual energy into a handgun all the same. She chose to concentrate on the force of the bullet inside, pouring into it as much of her inner power as she could.

When preparations were complete and she felt satisfied with her work, she opened her eyes and stared down the barrel of the pistol as she aimed it at the enraged, snarling beast.

"Leap away from him." Li Meirong instructed with urgency as she squinted her eyes. She waited for her hand to stop shaking before she clenched on the handgun, preparing to fire.

'What is that thing?' Chou curiously asked as he observed the strange looking device in his Master's hands, but he didn't stick around to wait for an answer. Following another attempt of the Tiger to slash Chou's frail, plant-like body, he quickly jumped to safety. He manoeuvred his tiny body by the use of his tendrils until he reached Li Meirong's shoulder.

The disoriented Tiger focused its attention back upon Li Meirong, starting to lunge at her once again. Seeing that the shield had disappeared had further fueled its fury as it prepared to slash the girl in two.

Two events occurred at that exact time. Li Meirong fired the pistol. A shining blue bullet blasted through the air and pierced the center of the Tiger Spirit's forehead, dispatching the feline with one shot.

While Li Meirong shot the tiger down, a thick leather whip constricted around her neck, hauling her from behind and slamming her backwards.

The back of her head collided with the firm ground and nearly knocked her senseless. She barely had a moment to register what had just occurred. The spectral pistol vanished from her grasp as she strained to pull the whip away from her throat, striving to prevent herself from choking to death.

'Master, look up!' Chou screamed inside her head.

Li Meirong's gaze drifted upwards only to witness Captain Liang yanking the whip, squeezing the life out her using one hand, whilst the other hand grasped a blade. The sharp tip plunged down in a rush.