BAIHU (White Tiger Warrior): Challenging the Dragon
CHAPTER 2 | Devil fruit poisoning

“Where is your family?” ask the old man back

“My family has died 2 years ago, I only live together with Sunu ini”

Hearing Baihu's reply, the old man narrowed his eyes thinking about the little boy's life in the middle of the forest with this tiger cub. Although in his heart he doubted Baihu's answer, he still did not show it.

“What's your name, nak?” asked the old man with a smile

“My name Baihu” Baihu sahut without telling her real name.

Looking at the child's white hair and the sharp look in his eyes, he finally understood why the child was named Baihu.

“I'm named Wu Shan. My home is not far from this place. I often come to this place to practice” said the old man introducing himself to Baihu.

“You must be hiding from tiger hunters. You and this tiger cub can come with me to my place of residence, or you can stay here without anyone knowing you, especially to protect this tiger cub.” continued the old man.

Baihu fell silent, she thought about what the old man said carefully.

“You decide for yourself. I'll practice first. Here are two more meat-filled steamed buns for you and the tiger cub later” said the old man named Wu Shan who then left them towards the stone seat that was at the end of the place.

The old man named Wu Shan immediately sat down and meditated training his cultivation at the place.

Since childhood Baihu had been trained in basic cultivation by his father, but he did not have time to continue. Seeing the old man practicing, tears accidentally trickled down Baihu's cheeks as it recalled both of his parents whom he often saw practicing like the old man.

Baihu immediately wiped away the tears on her cheeks, then she kept the meat-filled steamed bun she was holding onto her shirt. Then he sat observing the old man Wu Shan practicing.

“Dad, Mother. Baihu misses you guys” Baihu muttered in her heart.

The tiger cub seemed to feel Baihu feeling, he then walked up to her and licked the face of Baihu sitting on the grass.

Baihu smiled bitterly as her face was licked by Sunu. She then hugged the tiger cub, “Now you are my only family, Sunu” whispered Baihu in Sunu's ear.

The tiger cub seemed to understand what Baihu was saying and then shook his head and rubbed it against Baihu's face. Then the tiger cub sat beside Baihu and placed his head on Baihu's lap.

While stroking the tiger cub's head, Baihu looked closely at the training done by the old man.

After about 2 hours of meditation and breathing exercises, the old man then trained his nurse with foot and hand movements.

Baihu who was watching from a distance watched every movement of the old man's feet and hands. Shortly after, the man stopped his training and walked towards Baihu who had been watching him since.

“You've since noticed my training. Are you interested in learning it?” asked old man Wu Shan.

Baihu's face was stunned at the old man's question, she didn't know why the old man was so kind to her. Even though the old man was good with giving him meat-filled steamed bread and drinking water, Baihu still did not fully believe in the old man.

Seeing that Baihu did not answer his question, the old man prepared to leave. Before leaving, the old man turned his body and looked towards Baihu, “If you change your mind. You can call me Master and I will teach you some knowledge” said as he walked away from that place

The next day, the old man came back to the place and brought more meat-filled steamed bread to Baihu and the tiger cub. Then they ate three of them.

After eating, the old man returned to training like yesterday. Do meditation and breathing exercises and then practice the movements of the nurse.

Likewise on the third day, the old man came back and trained after eating with Baihu and the tiger cub.

After the man's departure, Baihu retrained the old man's movement. And he felt he had mastered the movement a little.

The next day, as usual Baihu and the tiger cub were already preparing for the arrival of the old man. But until noon, the old man did not come either. Baihu became a little anxious about it. It was not usual for him to worry about others he had just known.

“Where is the old man? Why until this afternoon also has not come” muttered Baihu who felt hungry because he was waiting for the arrival of the old grandfather.

At night, Baihu found it difficult to sleep. Besides thinking about the old man, his stomach also felt hungry because it had not been filled since morning. The tiger cub looked a little calmer than he was, because since morning he had fallen asleep more than Baihu who was walking around in that place anxiously waiting for the old man.

“Sunu sleeps more since morning, so he can save his energy and not be too hungry” Baihu murmured

On the fifth day, Baihu had not yet seen the old man's arrival. His hungry stomach felt like it was going to fight. He was looking for something in that place while waiting for the arrival of the old grandfather.

Then he noticed there were some dark red fruits on the cliff of the place then picked them up and ate some. It felt a little bit like a foot, yet he did not care about it because of his already starving stomach. He also picked some to give to the tiger cubs.

When the fruit was given to the tiger cub, Sunu only kissed it, but he was not interested in eating it.

“Any, for a rubber belly like you don't want to eat this fruit. All right, let's starve yourself” his grunts, then he ate the fruit he brought for the tiger cub.

About an hour later he felt his stomach ache wrapped around and sore. His body broke out in cold sweat and his breathing was wheezing. “Oh, what happened. Does that make it toxic?” his murmur endured the intense pain in his stomach.

Before long his face began to turn bluish starting from his lips. His body felt hot, and his consciousness began to thin.

Before he was unconscious, he saw faintly a figure approaching him. “Dad, is that you?” his mumbling was smirking

The old man was surprised to see Baihu's condition, he felt guilty during these two days of not being able to come to this place. Then he checked the pulse of Baihu and was shocked.

“He's poisoned? What did he eat?” muttered the old man while looking around him.

He then looked at the dark red fruit around Baihu's place, then picked it up and smelled it, “Devil Fruit?” he muttered with a pale face.

“Where can this boy find the devil fruit? I have to be quick to help him” muttered the old man.

The old man Wu Shan then sat down cross-legged and tried to remove the poison from Baihu's body before it flowed into his heart. Using his profound strength, Wu Shan was finally able to expel the entire demon fruit poison from Baihu's body.

“I have to recover his condition, otherwise he will have a critical period back” muttered the old man while holding Baihu's body and left the place followed by the tiger cub, Sunu.