26 Bloody Question Mark

Chapter 26: Bloody Question Mark

Feng Er had never been a courageous woman, nor a faithful one.

After Brother Xiong left, she waited at first. But when news of his death arrived, she no longer wanted to wait. So she took up with Zhang Shisi, a strong and sturdy man from the village.

After the two had their fun, Zhang Shisi asked about Li Yuan. Feng Er told him that Li Yuan had been missing in the mountains for a month.

Then Zhang Shisi asked about Li Yuan's wife.

Feng Er talked too much and let something slip. She spoke of how beautiful Yan Yu had once been, then how she had suddenly changed afterward. Zhang Shisi immediately guessed that she might have "put on makeup," so he asked Feng Er to help him.

Feng Er refused at first, but Zhang Shisi kept pleading and pestering her until she agreed to drug Yan Yu with Sleeping Drug, after which Zhang Shisi would sneak into the house himself that night.

After administering the drug that evening, she carried Yan Yu onto the bed, then went home as if nothing had happened.

That night, she could not sleep either.

Then, around midnight, she suddenly heard screams outside. She hurried to peer through the window and saw a striped tiger dragging someone along the Yellow Mud Road through the village.

Those screams belonged to Zhang Shisi.

Feng Er's mind went blank, her head buzzing. Terrified, she burrowed straight into her blankets. She did not dare go outside even after daybreak, until Yan Niangzi kicked open her door with a blade in hand.

At that point, unable to withstand everyone's questioning, she confessed everything. Afterward, she wept with tears and snot streaming down her face. "Sister Yan, I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted a man to rely on. I only wanted a man to rely on... sob..."

Yan Yu looked at her coldly. "Report it to the authorities."

"Sister Yan, Sister Yan, I never meant to hurt you! I never did!" Feng Er cried.

Yan Yu remained unmoved. "Did you ever think about what would happen to me if Zhang Shisi defiled me?"

Feng Er immediately fell silent.

Little Ink Village remained in an uproar for most of the day. Perhaps fearing that the tiger would enter the village again after nightfall, every household hid indoors as soon as the sky began to darken, tightly shutting their windows and barricading their doors.

Those who kept plow oxen, chickens, ducks, geese, or sheep brought all their livestock inside and tied them up there.

Some people were puzzled. There were livestock in the village, so why had the tiger attacked a person?

After thinking it over, they could only conclude that Zhang Shisi had simply been unlucky. He had run out at night and happened to be spotted by the tiger descending from the mountains.

If the tiger did not bite him, who else would it bite?

Midnight.

Li Yuan quietly returned home through the back door.

In the pitch darkness, Yan Niangzi threw herself straight into his arms.

"I really stink today," Li Yuan said.

Yan Niangzi hugged his waist tightly, pressing her face against his chest. "I don't mind that you stink."

As she spoke, her hands reached down to tug at Li Yuan's trousers.

After a bout of muffled commotion.

Yan Niangzi lay in Li Yuan's arms and softly asked, "Yuan Ge'er, did you really tame a tiger?"

"I told you before."

"How could I have known my man was so capable? You tamed a tiger... it feels like a dream."

Suddenly, Yan Niangzi asked, "It won't bite you, will it?"

"It won't."

Yan Niangzi said nervously, "You still need to be careful. Tigers eat people. How can something like that be tamed?"

"Don't worry about that." Li Yuan changed the subject. "Tell me about your side. That tiger dragged that scoundrel away, so it should have left bloodstains in the courtyard, right? Did that arouse any suspicion?"

Yan Niangzi told him everything exactly as it had happened.

Li Yuan could not help feeling amazed. Her handling of the matter had been truly impeccable.

His wife actually had a devious side.

"What about Feng Er?"

"I had someone from the village report it to the authorities—both the tiger and Feng Er. But not a single constable has come yet." Yan Niangzi sighed. "I'm afraid there are barely any constables left in the county these days... ah."

After thinking for a moment, Li Yuan said, "I won't come back tomorrow night or the night after. I'll keep scouting the paths in the mountains.

This time, if I find a way out that leads somewhere good, I'll take you with me.

If I can't find one, or if that place is worse than Shanbao County, I'll injure myself and come back.

Starting now, I'll only drink water and won't eat."

Yan Niangzi had wanted to say more, but then she thought of how her man had even tamed a tiger that ate people. With such ability... what was there for her to nag about?

So the young woman merely leaned against her man and softly said, "Then be careful."

Early the next morning.

Li Yuan returned to the mountains, sharpened the tips of five arrows, and carefully placed them in his quiver. Then he selected some stones suitable for slinging and put them into a pouch.

With an Earthen Bow on his back and a Firewood Chopping Knife tucked at his waist, he mounted the fierce tiger.

"Little Yellow, roar! (Little Yellow, go!)"

"Roar? (Where to?)"

"Roar! (Eat!)"

After that brief exchange, the tiger began to run.

During this time, the tiger had eaten its fill of meat and was brimming with endless energy.

Man and tiger traveled together, quickly passing through the Mountain Pass dividing Second Layer Mountain and Third Layer Mountain. Sometimes Li Yuan rode the tiger, sometimes they traveled side by side, and sometimes they stopped to rest.

With Little Yellow around, Li Yuan hardly needed to worry about getting lost. No matter how much they wandered through the forest, the tiger could always find its way back to Second Layer Mountain.

This made their pace much faster.

In only half a day, they had already passed the farthest point Li Yuan had ever reached before.

And he still had an entire day left.

Another half day passed, yet man and tiger were still in the mountains. They had not found a way out.

"Little Yellow, roar? (Little Yellow, have you been here before?)"

"Roar. (I have.)"

Li Yuan looked at Little Yellow and noticed that it seemed strangely dispirited. Perhaps it was tired.

He looked around. The deeper they went into the mountains, the more ancient and untamed the forest became. Strange plants filled his sight, while wildly growing vines and aerial roots hung everywhere like giant pythons and long snakes.

Towering trees stretched into the sky, forming a world of giants together with the surrounding peaks, making him feel increasingly small.

"Roar roar roar? (Is there a human village?)"

"Roar. (Don't know.)"

"Roar? (Don't know?)"

"Roar. (Go back.)"

"Roar? (Why?)"

"Roar. (Go back.)"

As man and tiger communicated, Li Yuan began to sense that something was off. But perhaps Little Yellow simply could not adapt to this place?

After night fell, they rested for a while.

Occasionally, wild beasts passed through these desolate mountains. Their combined numbers fluctuated between "0" and "8," not enough to cause any concern.

Li Yuan lit a bonfire and rested for a while with his head against Little Yellow.

He was in a foul mood.

He would set off before dawn tomorrow and continue exploring. If he still had not found an exit by noon, he could only turn back.

The next day.

As soon as the sky turned gray, Li Yuan opened his eyes and used roasted meat to wake Little Yellow.

A hazy mist drifted through the forest before dawn.

After finishing the roasted meat, Little Yellow shook itself and continued carrying Li Yuan deeper into the mountains.

Around Chen Shi, the mist dispersed.

The warm winter sun shone overhead.

But after they traveled for a while longer, the air suddenly turned cold and gloomy, carrying a thread of chill.

Little Yellow suddenly stopped. Li Yuan urged it several times, but Little Yellow refused to go forward no matter what. An inexplicable fear filled its eyes.

Seeing Li Yuan continue to urge it, Little Yellow suddenly veered off the main path and darted through the woods, racing up a solitary cliff.

"Roar? (You want me to look at something?)"

"Roar. (Yes.)"

Li Yuan jumped down from the tiger's back and stood at the edge of the cliff, gazing into the distance.

"There's nothing—"

Before he could finish muttering, the words caught in his throat.

His neck seemed to seize up as well, as though the whole world had stopped.

In the distant gorge stood an enclosed mountain manor. Even from so far away, he could sense its ruin and moldy decay, like the stench of a massive corpse.

But that was not all. Within the manor were little bridges and flowing streams utterly out of place amid these wild mountains. The stream had neither source nor end, yet it flowed with a constant rush. Black specks seemed to float in it. Though he could not see them clearly, they carried an eerie quality that filled him with extreme unease.

More importantly, a "number" floated above the entire manor.

It was a vicious, Bloody Question Mark.

"What the hell is that?"

Just then, a horrifyingly strange sound of a door opening drifted over from afar. It was faint and shrill, yet strangely clear.

"What was that?"

Li Yuan looked at Little Yellow, unsure whether he had merely imagined it.

But Little Yellow had clearly heard it. It was terrified out of its wits and turned to flee.

Li Yuan froze. He did not understand what was happening, but there was no time to worry about it. He turned and ran after the tiger with all his might.