Crossing over the mountain ridges, they set foot on another remote official road.
The rain had stopped. It was another sunset evening.
When tigers walked, they differed from most beasts. Their paws were more flexible than those of jackals and hyenas, and their thick pads left behind a string of fan-sized paw prints on muddy roads. Wherever they passed, no birds sang and no beasts roared.
They did not encounter signs of habitation until dusk. In such remote, impoverished places, people rested when the sun set.
A yellow dog from some roadside household barked madly, baring its head over a stone wall with fierce vigor. The tiger turned to glance at it, and the yellow dog whimpered miserably before darting back indoors.
The sounds of bowls and plates shattering and tables overturning followed, then the homeowner's furious curses.
Bai Yujun shook her head from atop the tiger's back.
"Those can't be eaten."
The tiger swished its tail to show it understood. Catching the scents of chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep, it could not help licking its lips.
The idle men in the village saw that the time was about right and slipped out with beaming faces. They secretly marveled that those hateful dogs had become so well-behaved tonight, neither leaving home nor biting at the road. Very good. The quieter, the better.
Sneaking furtively to the entrance of someone's courtyard, the low walls and simple gate of the village could not stop the idle man. He easily scaled the wall and entered the yard.
He looked left and right, then hunched over and grinned as he crept to the door.
Bent over like a shrimp, he lowered his head and pressed his eye to the crack in the door, first imitating a birdcall.
Then he lowered his voice and greeted