Chapter 119 The Cub
Chapter 119 Cub
Back at the inn, Bai Cen, Zhao Tong, and the old man mentioned the tiger infestation north of Meishan Village and how they had asked many martial arts figures for help.
Bai Cen recounted exactly what the old man had said on the road, and Jiang Yutang nodded in agreement: "Not a single word is wrong."
Zhao Tong reacted the same way as Old Master Weng: "Why is there such a large commotion?"
In Zhao Tong's view, they were just a few tigers.
It's not like it's a tiger that has become a spirit.
The local government and garrison can handle it; even if martial arts practitioners are needed, it won't warrant a large-scale mobilization...
"Could there be some hidden story?" Zhao Tong asked cryptically, expressing his concern.
Ever since leaving the Bewitching Town, I've felt that there's more to these illogical things than meets the eye.
Bewitching is done under the guise of ghosts and monsters.
Could this Meishan Village be using the name of the mountain king?
Zhao Tong's temperament, influenced by his martial arts and swordsmanship, was not very patient and he was prone to using his sword at the slightest provocation. Now that he has arrived at the Eight Treasures Pavilion, he has shed his violent aura and is more thoughtful than others.
Something unusual must be going on.
Zhao Tong knew perfectly well what was going on.
Bai Cen shrugged: "The old man didn't say much. He was in a hurry to get back to the village, so he probably only knew that much. The old man wasn't a member of the martial arts world. All he knew was about the mountain tigers in the north that eat people. He said that it would take time for the town to call in the garrison, but the tiger threat couldn't wait, so he sought help from martial arts people."
Bai Cen also discerned something: "Perhaps, for the people of Meishan Village, the tiger threat is simply a tiger threat; but maybe these martial arts practitioners have come with ulterior motives?"
The villagers are simple and honest; they wouldn't have thought of so much.
Seeing these martial arts figures come to help rid the tiger of its threat, they were too grateful to ask any questions.
Bai Cen couldn't help but sigh, "Brother Zhao is right, this whole thing is just a little strange..."
Most people who experienced the events in the Bewitching Town were still shaken.
The old man repeated, "Meishan Village?"
Seeing the old man's appearance, Bai Cen realized it didn't seem like he was meeting this villager for the first time.
"Grandpa, do you remember Meishan Village?" Bai Cen had actually noticed.
The old man said in a deep voice, "I went there decades ago, but I never expected to come back after all this time."
Hearing this, Bai Cen became interested, pulled out a chair, sat down backwards, and asked with great enthusiasm, "Were tigers sighted in Meishan Village decades ago?"
If it weren't for the tiger incident, the old man probably wouldn't have such a deep impression of this place.
There must be a story behind this, and Bai Cen was ready to listen to the excitement.
I guess I've been spending too much time with the owner at Bazhenlou...
"Where is the girl?" the old man asked.
Jiang Yutang replied, "The owner and Old Master Weng are finalizing tomorrow's menu. They said they're moving Bazhenlou to Meishan Village to open for business tomorrow. There will definitely be a lot of people then, so we're finalizing the menu tonight in case we don't have enough time tomorrow."
The old man muttered unhappily, "It used to be fine, just cooking two or three tables of food each time. But after someone came, they started encouraging us to take on so many tables, which is exhausting and wasteful!"
Zhao Tong, Bai Cen, and Jiang Yutang all lowered their heads subtly and coughed lightly.
This is a rant about Grandpa Weng~
They felt that Grandpa Weng was encouraging the host to set up more tables, fearing that the host would be tired, so they brought up the matter that Grandpa Weng had been unhappy about.
The old man had been nagging about it for more than a day or two, and he would argue with the old man whenever he had the chance.
But this time the host listened to Grandpa Weng and said, "Let's give it a try. If it doesn't work out, we'll just have two or three tables next time."
She had her own standards for choosing a husband.
The criteria used to select the old man are double standards.
The landlord was right; the fault lay entirely with Old Master Weng.
These past few days, everyone at Bazhenlou has understood what's going on, so when the old man complains, everyone consciously avoids him, so as not to upset him or provoke him, lest they suffer the consequences.
In the end, after the old man finished complaining, he got back to the main topic—the old Meishan Village.
There were indeed reports of tigers appearing in Meishan Village before, causing widespread panic.
At that time, the court was in chaos, and the garrison troops were all watching and waiting, not knowing what orders the court would suddenly issue. Under such circumstances, it was impossible for the garrison troops to spare any time to deal with the tiger threat.
Therefore, a group of martial arts practitioners had already been invited to help.
As luck would have it, the old man happened to be passing by nearby at that time.
Back then, the old man was a passionate young man, wandering the world. He would always stand up for what was right, and no matter if the other party was a villain or a tiger, he would always be among the group who would draw their swords to help those in need.
The old man joined without even thinking.
The procession wasn't as grand at the time; it took several days to gather a group of about a dozen people, who were then guided into the mountains by villagers and government officials.
At that time, Meizi Town probably wasn't called that yet.
The old man and his group hadn't specifically gone to the town, so when they arrived in Meizi Town today, the old man didn't even think about Meishan Village nearby.
It was only when Bai Cen mentioned this name and the rampant tigers that the old man remembered it, which matched his previous memories.
Among the group of wandering swordsmen who went into the mountains at that time, none of them were particularly powerful. Most of them were independent wanderers who traveled alone or in twos and threes, not disciples of any famous sects.
We entered the mountains during the day. Because of the tiger problem, although it was a convenient mountain road for merchants and travelers, many people were afraid of encountering tigers, so they chose to take a detour. We didn't encounter anyone all day.
They wandered around in the mountains all day, but by nightfall they had found nothing.
There might be other wild beasts in the mountains at night. I don't want to encounter other wild animals and die here before even seeing the tiger.
They decided to descend the mountain around dusk, plan their next move, and return the following day.
And so, the first day's itinerary yielded little result. Aside from revisiting the site of the previous tiger attack and searching for nearby clues, the rest of the day consisted of wandering the mountains without any success...
The old man paused here, his eyes seeming to hold something else, and sighed softly before continuing.
The next morning, the group of more than a dozen people went into the mountains again.
This time, the people from the government office brought a dog.
Dogs have an innate sense of smell. Yesterday, a dozen of us searched all the places where the pedestrians were attacked, but we didn't find any trace of the tiger.
This time, with the government's dogs following them, they traveled very quickly, with virtually no time to stop along the way.
But subtly, the dog's tracking direction kept changing.
This indicates that the location of the tigers in the mountains has been constantly being adjusted.
No one knew if there was a hidden danger, but after searching for nearly two days, the dog suddenly barked loudly near dusk.
Everyone was on high alert.
Indeed, the atmosphere around us changed then, and we could feel a suffocating sense of menacing menace in the air.
Actually, we could have turned back home then, but we didn't.
Having finally located the tiger, everyone was both apprehensive and secretly excited.
And so, we slowly approached the area that the barking dogs had been warning us of.
It was already dark, so we lit torches.
We hadn't planned to continue searching at night, but we had made preparations for being in the mountains at night. Torches were essential to scare away wild animals, and if that didn't work, we would build a fire, huddle back to back, and stay there until dawn...
That night, there were indeed tigers howling and wolves howling. We had already gone deep into the mountains and didn't know what was waiting for us inside.
But at that time, going down the mountain was no different from going forward, so we might as well go all out.
And so they groped their way forward in the darkness, until they reached a point where they could clearly sense the presence of a ferocious beast. Each person held a torch in one hand and a sword in the other, remaining on guard.
I remember that tiger's roar.
The shock was so intense that everyone's scalp tingled.
Some people panicked immediately, yelled, and fled down the mountain for their lives, holding torches.
When one person was like this, the others also lost their composure.
The previously agreed-upon formation, who was responsible for watching over which area, and who was on guard duty were all completely forgotten.
The group of people, like a mob, hadn't even seen the tiger yet, but just hearing its roar made them fall apart.
The one among us from the yamen was experienced; he immediately shouted loudly, silencing and calming everyone down.
If they scatter at this time, they will only be eaten by wild animals in the mountains at night...
And so, after a brief period of chaos, the group of ten or twenty people scattered in fright, leaving only ten people huddled together.
I was among the group of ten, continuing to follow the dog until we reached a secluded corner in the mountains.
At this point, Grandpa Qu took a deep breath. Bai Cen, Zhao Tong, and Jiang Yutang all looked at Grandpa Qu with curiosity. The story ended abruptly at the most crucial moment.
There was no joy of success or excitement about reminiscing about the feat on the old man's face. He simply lowered his head and said in a deep voice, "We finally know why the tiger in the mountains went mad and attacked passersby before—it gave birth to a litter of five cubs."
So that's what it was...
Zhao Tong, Bai Cen, and Jiang Yutang were all stunned.
No wonder, he must have been very nervous, and then he was attacked, so he was especially...
Bai Cen spoke first: "However, giving birth to five cubs in one litter is extremely rare. I've heard that tigers often have two or three litters at a time, so this tiger must be extremely protective of its cubs."
Jiang Yutang didn't know much about this, so she listened with curiosity.
Zhao Tong is similar.
However, one thing is certain: tiger attacks on people in the mountains are likely related to cubs.
"And then, old man?" Bai Cen asked curiously.
The old man seemed reluctant to talk about this experience, and when he returned to Meishan Village, it felt like a lifetime had passed.
"It was a litter of extremely rare white tigers. When they were discovered, everyone was shocked. Actually, everyone had entered the mountains to rid the area of tigers, but upon seeing these white tiger cubs, many people's minds were no longer on the tigers or the people, but rather on these white tiger cubs..."
Human nature is greedy.
Greed can sometimes be more terrifying than a ferocious wild beast.
At that time, there was a rumor in the martial arts world that the blood of an adult white tiger could greatly increase one's martial arts skills, and there was a black market in the martial arts world that was seeking white tigers.
White tiger cubs like these are like a golden nugget falling from the sky, making many people dizzy with envy.
Regardless of whether there were tigers in the mountains, their only thought was to take these cubs away, either to sell them for a good price or to raise them to adulthood and drain the life essence of adult white tigers to greatly increase their power...
Zhao Tong, Bai Cen, and Jiang Yutang all fell silent.
"And then what happened?" Jiang Yutang finally asked.
The old man looked at her and said in a deep voice, "What else can we do? When the white tiger came back, it desperately protected its cubs until its last breath. Our people were also killed or wounded. In the end, only the people from the government, me, and another chivalrous swordsman named Hu Yang were left."
"What about the cubs?" Zhao Tong asked, staring intently at him.
The old man stood up, leaving only his back view: "The officials advocated for the animal to be thrown to its death, while Hu Yang advocated for its release..."
"And then what?" Bai Cen asked again, unwilling to give up.
The old man remained silent. The three of them exchanged glances, knowing his temperament well. If he didn't want to talk, the more you asked, the less he would want to talk.
I never imagined that Meishan Village had such a history.
Bai Cen sighed, "They didn't really kill them all, did they?"
Zhao Tong looked at him and asked, "Then where do the tigers in the mountains come from?"
Bai Cen: "..."
That makes sense.
Jiang Yutang said in a low voice, "But if a tiger in the mountains injures someone, it probably won't be released back into the mountains directly."
The three of them looked at each other, understanding the old man's predicament and why he was unwilling to bring it up—because no matter what they did, they were stuck in a dilemma.
Bai Cen also stood up: "Looking at it this way, old habits die hard, and he still came out to hurt people."
[Author's Note]
There will be weekend red envelopes in this chapter and the next one!
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