Chapter 2, Chapter 2: Tiger Daughter
Linxi Town is located at the southernmost part of Si'an County. It is a dividing line between two regions. To the north lies a wide plain, while to the south, streams and mountains of all sizes flow continuously, with small hills connecting to larger ones.
Panlong Mountain is the most famous of them, named for its shape resembling a coiled dragon.
The mountains are rich in resources, with trees, herbs, flowers, and wild animals everywhere, but apart from generations of hunters, ordinary people dare not go up the mountains.
Because, in addition to pheasants and ducks, the mountains and forests are home to many wild animals, including wild boars, venomous snakes, leopards, and even large insects and black bears. Every year, news of people dying in the mountains is reported, and in years of famine, wild animals even come down from the mountains to roam freely, causing people living near the mountains to move again and again.
Linxi Town doesn't have this problem. It's ten miles from the town to the foot of the mountain, and twenty miles to the top of Panlong Mountain. It's all continuous hillsides, so even if wild animals cause trouble on the top, they can't reach them.
But if wild animals don't come, can people?
Deep in Panlong Mountain, on a nearly 100-meter-tall ancient tree
Song Jin sat crouching among the tree trunks, dressed in a dark green, simple, fitted garment—a single layer of fabric over long trousers, the wrists and cuffs tightly bound with cloth strips. A longsword and dagger were at her waist, and a longbow was taut in her hand, its dark iron arrows gleaming menacingly, mirroring the phoenix eyes hidden beneath her blue-green painted face.
With a cry, the arrow pierced the air, avoiding the branches and leaves along its path, and precisely pierced the neck of the sika deer grazing below, falling down with it.
In an instant, the deer below scattered before they could even communicate, their running and wailing startling the crows and sparrows resting in the trees, turning the once quiet forest into a bustling scene.
"Yo~"
"Puff puff"
"roar"
...
Song Jin stood among the trees, accustomed to this scene. With a yawn, she swiftly caught a wild bird that fluttered past, snapped its neck, slung her longbow over her shoulder, and began climbing down the tree.
The commotion had driven away most of the nearby wild animals. She calmly moved through the undergrowth, intending to retrieve the deer carcass.
Deer blood, deer heart, and deer antlers are all good things. Her mother's health isn't good, so she needs these to nourish her.
If you have too much venison and can't finish it, you can cut it into strips and store it. Salt the deer hide; it's a good thing whether you keep it at home or sell it. You can also soak the deer bones in alcohol and grind them into medicine…
Songjin, born from the harsh conditions of the apocalypse, strives to ensure that not a single grain is wasted.
After all, this is ancient times. Don't be fooled by their current peaceful life; the townspeople are well-fed and clothed. Productivity is low, the monarchy is in power, and the legal system is incomplete. Who knows when the authorities might change their minds and impose a host of exorbitant taxes, or when unrest might erupt outside?
Song Jin remained vigilant at all times. While her family's granary was overflowing, she also hoarded goods in other areas like a little mouse.
Although many of them had been fed to wild birds, squirrels, and wolves, just thinking about her own resources brought a smile to Song Jin's face, and her steps became much lighter.
She walked through the woods, the sound of snapping twigs beneath her feet, the rustling of her clothes against the leaves on either side—the sounds were faint, but they always managed to mask some smaller traces.
Something is quietly approaching.
Song Jin had already reached the sika deer. She had been tracking this herd all day, and had specifically chosen a large, aged deer weighing nearly 300 jin (approximately 150 kg). It would take her until tomorrow to get home alone.
That won't do. Since her family has a curfew, Song Jin was prepared. She found a pre-placed basket, took out a ceramic jar, and slashed the deer's neck, letting the blood gush into the jar.
Deer blood is jarred, deer antlers are bagged, venison is cut into strips, and deer penis is stored away...
As for the heavy and difficult-to-carry deer skull skeleton
Song Jin, who was skillfully peeling the deer, raised the corners of her lips in a smile. She raised her elbow to wipe away the fine sweat, and the fresh, sweet and pungent deer blood on her hands flowed down her wrist and onto the ground.
The breathing around them quickened.
Song Jin remained silent for a few seconds, then rolled to the side. The next second, something pounced on her. Unhurriedly, she did another backflip, skillfully grabbing the long, fluffy creature and pinning it to the ground. Then, the gleaming tip of her knife pointed upwards, a slight stinging sensation, just a hair's breadth away from piercing the thick fur.
"Mimi~"
The arrogant and ferocious creature froze for a moment, then went limp, revealing its soft belly and emitting a clingy, sweet moan.
Song Jin raised an eyebrow, satisfied, and sheathed her long sword. She reached out and vigorously rubbed the large tiger's head in front of her, checking it thoroughly to make sure no limbs were missing. Only then did she feel relieved and stood up to distribute the remaining deer heads and legs to it.
"Huanghuang, I can't take these back, you keep them to eat."
The golden tiger rolled over, trotted over to Song Jin, rubbed against her, and meowed twice, being very affectionate.
When Song Jin was ten years old, she found Huang Huang in the mountains. Huang Huang was born weak and had been abandoned by its mother tiger. Song Jin raised it little by little, finding ways to care for it. However, tigers are terrifying, so when Huang Huang grew a bit older, it was released back into the mountains. Song Jin then went into the mountains every day to hunt and feed Huang Huang, training its female tiger cub, until Huang Huang grew from a timid tiger cub into a true mountain overlord.
For Huanghuang, this mountain is its own land, and Songjin is its mother, whom it can spoil at will.
Song Jin was used to it, squatting there dissecting the deer, occasionally cutting off a few pieces of meat and bones to feed Huang Huang. By the time she finished, the sun was almost setting.
"It's over."
Song Jin hurriedly put her things away, then rubbed Huang Huang's big, yellow head and sighed, "It's all your fault. If you hadn't teased me, I would have gone back long ago."
Huang Huang opened its big, round, golden eyes wide: "Mmm?"
Song Jin raised an eyebrow: "Stop acting cute, you're all grown up now. Go and take your things to your nest, I'll come back in a couple of days to collect the bones."
Huang Huang couldn't understand words, but it could understand Song Jin's meaning. Knowing that she was leaving, it nuzzled against her and obediently went over to bite the deer skeleton, not wasting a single bit.
Like mother, like daughter
Frugal Song brocade won't bring out a wasteful tiger!
Song Jin slung her basket over her shoulder and, regardless of whether Hu understood her or not, earnestly instructed him, "Things haven't been peaceful in the mountains lately, so don't wander off. I'll come over when I have time."
Huang Huang tilted its head: "Meow?"
The golden tiger was a little darling when it was young, and even now, though it's a huge lump that can bite two people in one bite, it still loves to cuddle with its 'mother'.
Song Jin couldn't help but pat her tiger daughter on the shoulder again. Seeing that it would be really late if they didn't go back soon, she slung the heavy basket weighing over a hundred pounds over her shoulder and nimbly walked through the mountains and forests, traversing hills and leaping over trees as if walking on flat ground.
There's nothing special about it, just practice makes perfect.
In the apocalyptic world where Song Jin lived in her previous life, natural and man-made disasters were rampant, and mutated plants and animals were everywhere. Born in that world, she trained from a young age, went on missions at ten, became the twelfth captain of the camp at twenty, and at twenty-five...
I've transmigrated to this place, an unknown ancient world.
The mountains and waters are pristine; there are no man-eating plants that can bite off a head in one bite, no fish that spew poisonous barbs, no mutated plants that grow to destroy homes in a matter of days, and no armies of strange beasts comparable to an army.
All she had was her mother, who owned a house, a car, land, savings, and was beautiful, but whose husband had died, and the mountain, rich in resources like a backyard garden.
Song Jin chose to lie down without hesitation, spending her days practicing martial arts and playing with cats and walking dogs.
She's living such a comfortable life, making her seem like a fool in her past life, where all she did was train, go on missions, and do missions until she was worked to death.
Thinking of those past events, Song Jin couldn't help but wipe away imaginary tears of bitterness and quickly headed down the mountain.
Normally, to get from Panlong Mountain to Linxi Town, one would have to descend the mountain from Da'an Village and then take a detour of 60 li (approximately 30 kilometers). But she went directly through two mountain forests, which would take two hours at a slower pace and one hour at a faster pace.
Song Jin didn't carry much today, so she should be home in an hour and a half. At this time, she can get home, have a meal, and comfort her mother.
But just as she was about to reach the foot of the mountain, she was ambushed.
It wasn't really to ambush her, but these people were acting suspiciously and clearly weren't up to any good. Song Jin didn't want to confront them directly, so she climbed a tree to avoid face-to-face contact.
Night had fallen, and only a pale moonlight shone through the woods. The tall trees, with their lush foliage, provided excellent concealment of her curled-up figure.
Whether in her past life or now, Song Jin is tall. However, in her past life, she was only 5 feet 2 inches tall, but in this life, she has become exceptionally tall, and it seems she will even grow taller.
Song Jin had seen her mother sighing and groaning over her head many times. A couple of years ago, her mother had even sneaked into her room to pat her head, trying to make her look shorter.
Thinking of this, Song Jin gave a soft snort to herself, her gaze falling on the person in the very center below.
Too high
This was the tallest person she had seen since transmigrating, more than four inches taller than her. However, he didn't suffer from the common hunchback problem of tall people; standing there, he was as straight as a bamboo stalk, yet also like a cold bamboo growing by a frigid pool—sharp, aloof, and quite menacing.
That's impressive.
Song Jin frowned, shifting her gaze from the stern-faced man's handsome features to the slightly flamboyant, dashing man beside him.
The mutton-fat white jade pendant at her waist had intricate patterns and weighed no less than a hundred taels
The clothes were made of silk brocade and cost no less than a hundred taels.
Even the paper fan in his hand bore the mark of Fengyu Trading Company, worth at least ten taels of silver.
...
This man, dressed like a walking money exchange, clearly came from a very powerful background. Yet, judging from his manner of speaking, this man's status was even lower than that of Leng Zhuzi standing beside him.
There's a problem.
Although Linxi Town has developed well in the past two years, producing several well-known products and earning some money, this is only relative to the town itself; it's nothing compared to the county or prefecture.
But aside from these, what else is worth noting?
Song Jin's heart tightened. She narrowed her eyes, pressed herself against the tree, and remained motionless, watching them continue their search into the mountains until they were completely out of sight. She remained motionless until they were completely out of sight.
After a while, they heard rustling sounds coming from the other side. Once they were sure there was no more noise, they left again, very cautiously.
Once Song Jin was sure it was safe, she jumped down from the tree, carefully circled around, and jogged home quickly from the other side.
I just hope these people don't implicate the nearby villages; most of the people here are ordinary people.
But if she really gets involved, there's not much she, a mere son of a small landlord, can do.
The most important thing now is
go home
Song Jin sneaked back to Linxi Town. Their home was on the south side of town, right at one end of the main street. It was usually bustling with people, and even at night, there were patrol teams checking the area every so often, making it quite safe for honest people.
As for Song brocade...
"Shhhhhhh"
Song Jinxin was immediately alarmed, realizing she'd run into this patrol group as soon as she got back. She quickly interrupted their shouts.
"It's me, it's me," she said as she approached, speaking furtively in a low voice. "It's late, don't disturb everyone's sleep. The elderly don't sleep well, we should think more about them."
The patrol members: ...
Anyone who believes that is a fool.
Song Jin was dressed strangely and carried large and small bags, but she wasn't afraid of being seen. She put down her basket, picked out a two-pound piece of venison, and handed it over, laughing and joking as she addressed the men as brothers.
"Come on, brothers, you've worked hard on patrol. Let's go to the barbecue place to have some to eat and replenish our energy after we're done. My mother is getting old, so please be careful when you pass by here."
The six patrolmen, the oldest thirty and the youngest no more than fifteen, had either grown up with Song Jin or watched her grow up, and were somewhat exasperated by her unladylike behavior.
The team leader, the older boy next door, frowned as he looked at the venison: "You went deep into the forest again? There are many wild animals in there. Don't think you can be careless just because you're good at fighting. Your aunt isn't in good health; what if something happens to you?"
Song Jin groaned, "So sleepy, so sleepy! Little Fu, you guys continue, I'm going back now."
As she spoke, she pretended to yawn, picked up the heavy basket on her back, and ran home.
The wall was locked inside, but she simply climbed over it; the two-meter-high wall looked like a fence to her.
Although it wasn't the first time the patrol members had seen it, they still couldn't help but sigh.
"How could Aunt Niu, such a frail person, give birth to such a monkey-like child?"
"Even the monkey head is inlaid with gold. Look, it's just venison. Old Yan is going to be lucky from now on."
"Good fortune? Do you dare to accept this good fortune?"
"Haha, stop joking!"
...
Song Jin was unaware of the gossip they were spreading behind her back, and paid no attention to it. She carefully climbed over the wall, looking at the densely packed crowd inside.
"..."
Song Jin didn't bother to hide it anymore. She nimbly jumped off the wall and, before the people inside could speak, unhesitatingly prostrated herself on the ground, kowtowing twice to her expressionless old mother, laughing and joking.
"Good evening, Mother. Goodnight, Mother. See you tomorrow, Mother."
After saying that, she jumped up and ran back to her room, leaving so suddenly.
Before Niu Tielan, who was waiting patiently, could even react, her mischievous child had vanished without a trace. After a while, when she finally realized what had happened, she was so angry she laughed.
"Song Jin, you little rascal!"
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