Chen Changyuan understood the old man's concerns. When one is old, stability is a blessing. Who wants to live on the edge of a knife?

"Uncle Yuan, I actually have something I'd like to ask you for help with."

As Chen Changyuan spoke, he took out a wrinkled ten-yuan bill from his pocket and stuffed it into Lao Yuantou's hand.

"Look, the young people in the village have little experience in hunting. Since you are experienced, could you teach them?"

The old man held the money in his hand, grinned, and showed his yellow teeth:

"You're such a clever kid! You've gone through so much trouble. Turns out you want me to be your coach! Ten dollars a month is enough to buy hundreds of packs of cigarettes."

Chen Changyuan scratched his head and smiled embarrassedly:

"Uncle Yuan, you see, this is to provide some security for the young people in the village."

The old man sucked his teeth, stared at the crackling firewood in the fire, and spoke after a while:

"Alright, I can teach those bastards of yours, but I have a condition."

"You say."

"This matter is known only to our village. Don't spread it outside. I don't want to cause trouble."

Old Yuantou spoke in a serious tone, with a barely perceptible gleam in his eyes.

Although Chen Changyuan was puzzled, he nodded and agreed:

"No problem, Uncle Yuan, don't worry."

The two of them gnawed on a few more pieces of roasted tiger meat. The mountain wind howled and night fell.

"It's getting late, and this tiger..." Chen Changyuan was troubled as he looked at the pile of tiger corpses.

The old man wiped his greasy mouth:

"We can't carry this thing back with us. We have to think of a way."

Chen Changyuan pondered for a moment and said, "I'll go see if there's anything nearby that can be used."

He got up and walked around, and found a stream not far away with a dilapidated little wooden boat docked by the stream.

"Uncle Yuan, look, there's a boat!"

Old Yuan squinted his eyes and looked at it: "This boat...can it be used? Don't let us be stranded in the mountains again."

"Try it, it's better than carrying it."

The two men dragged the two tigers to the stream with great effort, and then worked together to lift them onto the small wooden boat.

The boat was shaking and making creaking sounds, as if it would fall apart at any time.

Chen Changyuan jumped onto the boat, picked up the oar, and paddled a few times tentatively.

"Hey, it can actually move!"

Lao Yuantou also climbed onto the boat carefully, sat at the stern, and held on to the side tightly.

"Slow down, slow down! My old bones can't take it!"

Chen Changyuan paddled hard, and the boat drifted slowly downstream along the stream.

As the night deepened, the cries of various wild animals could be heard in the mountains and forests, which was creepy.

"Uncle Yuan, besides tigers, what other powerful creatures are there in this mountain?"

Chen Changyuan asked while rowing.

The old man took a puff of his pipe and exhaled a cloud of smoke:

"There are all kinds of creatures in these deep mountains and forests: wild boars, black bears, wolves... and those things that are hard to describe..."

"Something that is hard to explain?" Chen Changyuan asked curiously.

The old man lowered his voice mysteriously:

"I heard from the older generation that there are 'club spirits' and 'mandrills' in this mountain... They are all spirits, so weird!"

Chen Changyuan couldn't help but shiver, and his grip on the oars tightened.

"Uncle Yuan, please don't scare me."

The old man chuckled and said, "What are you afraid of? We have strong yang energy, so those things won't dare to get close to us."

The boat continued to drift downstream, the stream became more and more turbulent, and the boat shook more violently.

Suddenly, there was a sound of splashing water from the front, and then a black shadow jumped out of the water and landed heavily on the bow of the boat.

"Fuck!"

Chen Changyuan screamed in fright and almost threw away the oar.

The black shadow slammed heavily on the bow of the boat, and the wooden planks groaned under the heavy weight.

Chen Changyuan only felt the boat shake violently and was almost overturned into the water.

He clung to the side of the boat tightly, staring at the vague outline of the bow in horror.

"What the hell?!" Old Yuan was so scared that he dropped his pipe and fumbled around tremblingly.

In the faint moonlight, they vaguely saw a huge black shadow, wet and emitting a strong fishy smell.

But because the light was too dim, I couldn't see its specific appearance at all.

"The... the spirit has appeared!"

The old man said in a trembling voice, his face pale.

Chen Changyuan cursed the old-fashioned man in his heart. He had received nine years of compulsory education before his rebirth. There was no such thing as a mountain god in this world!

Most likely it's some wild beast that I've never seen before.

But he didn't say it. It was useless to argue with Lao Yuantou at this time.

The black shadow seemed to be stunned for a moment, lying on the bow of the boat for a while, then suddenly shook its head, causing a splash of water, and jumped back into the water with a splash.

"It...it's gone?" Chen Changyuan asked tentatively, his heart still pounding.

The old man also recovered and breathed a sigh of relief:

"It seems that the Mountain God is just warning us and has no ill intentions."

Chen Changyuan didn't respond, but held the oar tightly and continued rowing.

But he was thinking in his heart that if that thing hit him again, this broken boat would definitely fall apart.

Fortunately, the rest of the journey was relatively peaceful and the black shadow did not appear again.

The stream gradually became calmer and the trees on both sides became sparser.

Finally, they saw the lights of the village.

"We're home!" Chen Changyuan shouted excitedly.

The two men dragged the two tigers ashore with great effort, then sat down on the ground, gasping for breath from exhaustion.

"How...how do we get this back?" Chen Changyuan was puzzled as he looked at the pile of tiger corpses.

The old man wiped the sweat from his forehead:

"Let's take a break first. My old bones are about to fall apart."

After a short rest, Chen Changyuan suggested:

"Uncle Yuan, instead of taking the whole tiger back, why don't we skin it and take back some good meat? The rest..."

When the old man heard this, his eyes lit up:

"Good idea! This tiger skin is a valuable asset, worth a lot of money!"

They did it right away, and began to skin the tiger in the moonlight.

With the guidance of Lao Yuantou, Chen Changyuan did a good job.

After skinning the tiger, Chen Changyuan remembered something, picked up a sharp stone, and hit the male tiger's mouth hard.

"What are you doing, kid?" asked the old man curiously.

"Knock the tiger's teeth!"

Chen Changyuan knocked and explained, "My hunting rifle exploded, so I can use this tiger tooth to make a mace for self-defense."

Old Yuan looked at the tiger fang in Chen Changyuan's hand. It was as long as a palm and extremely sharp. He couldn't help but sigh:

"You really know how to do business, kid! This tiger tooth is much more powerful than a mace!"

Chen Changyuan chuckled and carefully put the tiger tooth away.

"Uncle Yuan, look at this tiger! It's bitten my hunting rifle to pieces. I need to make it pay for it!"

Chen Changyuan pointed at the broken barrel of the hunting rifle and said half-jokingly.

He picked up the tiger tooth that had been knocked off and examined it carefully in the moonlight:

"Use this tooth to pay off the debt. I just happen to be short of a mace."