Baby Tonight We Hunt Tigers

The tip of the sword pressed against Chen Luo's throat, and he could feel the cold emanating from the blade.

At that moment, Chen Ping, who had been knocked to the ground by the earlier surge of energy, scrambled toward Cai Tongchen, shouting, "Your Excellency, that really is my young master..." Two household retainers rushed out from the rear office and pinned Chen Ping down firmly.

Chen Luo didn't dare move a muscle, staring at Cai Tongchen before him. A clear light flickered in Cai Tongchen's eyes, and his face showed confusion: "Hmm? No abnormality in the soul?"

With that, Cai Tongchen's eyes flashed again, this time several times brighter, but his expression grew even more puzzled: "How is this possible? Are you really Chen Luo?"

Feeling the sword tip retreat slightly from his throat, Chen Luo finally nodded: "Uncle Cai, it's really me."

Cai Tongchen slowly withdrew his longsword, but a faint glint of green light remained in his eyes as he continued to watch Chen Luo. This Cai Tongchen was a Confucian scholar, having refined his vision with Righteous Qi to reach the state of "distinguishing right from wrong." As he looked at Chen Luo now, he found no mismatch between soul and body.

After a long minute, Cai Tongchen finally dispelled the light from his eyes, revealing a faint smile, and said apologetically, "This old man was too rash. Don't take it to heart, virtuous nephew."

"You're too kind, Uncle. I'll remember your protective concern deeply." Chen Luo quickly returned the courtesy. In this Xianxia World, matters of soul-seizing and possession weren't rare, so it was only natural for others to be wary of him.

But—

Soul-penetration was still beyond this world's understanding.

"Virtuous nephew, your return from death must mean you've had some extraordinary encounter?" After the commotion, Chen Luo sat in the main hall of the rear office, and Cai Tongchen continued his probing without missing a beat.

"Earlier, my soul did leave my body..." Chen Luo, having prepared on the way over, began to "eloquently" recount the story he'd just fabricated:

"I seemed to enter a peach blossom forest. In the forest was an old man with crane-white hair and a childlike face. He said to me, 'You haven't arrived at this place yet, so why are you here now?' Then he wanted to drink with me. For some reason, with every sip of wine, my mind grew clearer. When the whole jug was finished, he said, 'You should go,' and with a wave of his sleeve, I opened my eyes and woke up..."

Originally, Chen Luo had planned to craft a story with immortal poems like "White clouds above the sky, twelve cities and five towers" or "Holding a white iris, sweeping the clouds on South Mountain at night" to elevate the prestige of his "return from death." But while recalling on the carriage ride, he realized a terrifying truth—

In this world, Buddhism and Daoism were similar yet different from their counterparts in his past life. Many legends and figures related to them didn't exist. For example, the earlier "Zhong Kui" had no place in this world's Daoist tradition. But Confucianism was different!

There was Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, Dong Zhongshu, Yang Xiong... Every great scholar whose name Chen Luo could recall had a place in this world. Even the famous Four Sentences of Hengqu had an equivalent here, required reading for Confucian scholars at their enlightenment.

Well, there went his cool tricks, one by one...

That wasn't the worst of it. What truly crushed Chen Luo was that the Tang and Song poems he'd memorized all existed in this world. Though some wording and authors bore this world's marks, the essence and phrasing were largely similar.

Cool tricks gone, ten by ten...

But after repeated checks, he confirmed that poems after the Tang and Song dynasties seemed absent. Heaven had left him a way to survive, but it wasn't an easy path...

So after racking his brain, he finally concocted this "Peach Blossom Immortal" ruse.

"I don't know who that old man was. I only vaguely remember him drunkenly reciting a few lines of poetry while tipsy—"

"Peach Blossom Cove, Peach Blossom Nunnery; Peach Blossom Nunnery, Peach Blossom Immortal. Peach Blossom Immortal plants peach trees, and picks peach blossoms to trade for wine money!"

"Sober, he only sits before the flowers; drunk, he comes to sleep beneath them. Half-drunk, half-sober, day after day; flowers fall and bloom, year after year."

"Later, I fell into a vast white space, and when I opened my eyes, I was back in the Human World."

Cai Tongchen nodded slightly. If he'd had any doubts about Chen Luo before, after hearing these four lines, they vanished entirely. The poem felt unfinished, with more to come, but even these four lines revealed an extraordinary, carefree quality. Not even Chen Luo, who had little talent for study, let alone his late father, could have written such verses. If not taught by a master, where else could they come from?

"What a Peach Blossom Immortal!" Cai Tongchen said with a smile. "For these four lines of peach blossom verse alone, I should drink a toast!"

Seeing Cai Tongchen's rising spirits, Chen Luo breathed a sigh of relief. This Cai Tongchen should be the final hurdle for his "return from death," and now it was passed. He silently thanked Tang Bohu from the Ming Dynasty in his heart, then turned the conversation to the real matter.

"Uncle, my visit today concerns the murder case at the Chen estate. The one who harmed my family is indeed an evil spirit, but not an ordinary malevolent ghost—it's a tamed ghost. I suspect the tiger demon behind this tamed ghost is connected to a tiger beast my family hunted two years ago, and it may now be hiding in West Xiu Mountain."

"I beg Your Excellency to activate the Official Seal, covering West Xiu Mountain to lock onto the tiger demon's location. Also, dispatch a squad of constables to accompany me to West Xiu Mountain to eliminate the demon..."

When it came to business, Chen Luo's address changed. Cai Tongchen's face instantly turned serious, and he frowned slightly: "Do you have solid evidence that the tiger demon is in West Xiu Mountain? If not, I can't easily consume qi fortune to investigate..."

Chen Luo quickly pulled a stack of silver notes from his bosom, offering them with both hands: "Here are two thousand taels in silver notes. The Chen estate is grateful to the village and wishes to contribute to Wan'an. Please accept them, Your Excellency..."

Cai Tongchen glanced at the notes in Chen Luo's hand, thought for a moment, and said, "Covering an entire mountain—not enough!"

Chen Luo's heart sank, and he gritted his teeth: "Another thousand taels will be sent shortly!"

Cai Tongchen finally nodded, his lips moving slightly as if transmitting a message. After a moment, a kindly-faced Advisor Li emerged from the inner room carrying a tray with brush and ink, greeting Chen Luo with a smile.

Without further ado, Cai Tongchen took the tray, swiftly wrote a document on it, stamped it with his personal seal, and handed it to Advisor Li, saying, "That tamed ghost is already at the malevolent ghost level, so the tiger demon must be at least at the Pure Blood Realm. No need to assign constables. Old Li, you'll have to work hard and go with Chen Luo to West Xiu Mountain. If the tiger demon is truly hiding there, kill it on the spot!"

Advisor Li remained smiling, nodding: "A small matter, hardly worth calling hard work." Then he looked at Chen Luo: "Patriarch Chen, how about I accompany you?"

Chen Luo quickly rose and bowed: "Thank you for your trouble, Advisor Li!"

The moon was bright, the stars sparse.

Chen Ping drove Cai Tongchen's carriage at full speed toward West Xiu Mountain. On the quiet street, the creaking of the wheels was unusually loud.

Inside the carriage, Advisor Li held the county magistrate's Official Seal in both hands, still wearing that smiling expression. Chen Luo felt a bit awkward, but remembering Chen Xuan's instructions, he said, "Advisor Li, my family recently acquired some antiques from the previous dynasty. My sister said you have unmatched insight. Perhaps you could come by another day to appraise them..."

Hearing Chen Luo's words, Advisor Li's smile deepened: "Miss Chen is too kind. It would be my duty, my duty..."

Seeing the atmosphere warm up, Chen Luo quickly continued: "Forgive my shallow knowledge. Earlier, Uncle Cai mentioned the tiger demon was at the Pure Blood level. What realm is that? Please enlighten me, Advisor Li."

Advisor Li nodded slightly: "Patriarch Chen has long lived in the heart of human territory, so it's normal not to know the demonic cultivation realms. We still have some time before reaching West Xiu Mountain. I'll presume to explain a bit."

"Demonic cultivation differs from human cultivation. They follow the path of bloodline, seeking Bloodline Return to Ancestor."

"After a demon gains intelligence, the first three realms all relate to bloodline."

"The first realm is the Pure Blood Realm. At this stage, the demon continuously purifies the impure blood within its body. The more it purges, the higher its future potential. In the later stages, it can take human form, though some demonic features—like tails, ears, or limbs—can't be hidden, making it obvious to ordinary people that it's a Demon Form Transformation."

"The second realm is the Pure Blood Realm. With blood nearly flawless, the demon can be considered a true demon, as it awakens its 'Innate Demonic Arts' at this point."

"For example, the tiger demon that harmed your Chen estate. Ordinary tigers, even if they keep tamed ghosts, only reach the Wandering Spirit level among ghosts—the lowest tier. But for a tamed ghost to advance to the malevolent ghost level, capable of killing, it means the tiger demon has awakened the 'Soul Manipulation' demonic art."

"The third realm is called the Blood Refining Realm. At this stage, as the Demon Race's bloodline becomes further refined, they can elevate their demonic arts into supernatural powers. Each time a demonic art transforms into a supernatural power, a unique blood pattern appears on the Demon Race's main body, hence the name Blood Pattern Supernatural Power."

Having said this, a hint of disdain flickered across Advisor Li's smiling face: "In the end, the Demon Race are all a bunch of parasites living off their ancestors' legacy. How could they compare to us humans, who carry forward the past and forge ahead, striving bravely—even a Commoner Class can produce a noble son..."

Chen Luo was about to chime in when he suddenly heard Chen Ping knock on the carriage from outside and say, "Family Head, Advisor Li, West Xiu Mountain has arrived..."

Fine wine in a luminous jade cup, book friends stay strong, kidneys never give up!

Requesting collections, requesting recommendations, requesting monthly votes~

(Though I don't know what use it is at this stage, everyone's asking, so I'll follow the trend and ask too.)