Tiger Cub

"Perfect, one fierce tiger wasn't enough pressure."

Xu Mingwei laughed wildly a few times.

He knew that just now he had only fought the male tiger with pure strength. If he had used internal energy and martial skills, he could have toyed with it.

The male tiger turned its head and roared at the female tiger.

The female tiger responded.

Then, one male and one female tiger flanked Xu Mingwei from two directions.

Their movements were very skilled, clearly not the first time they had cooperated to hunt other beasts like this.

The male tiger pounced first, while the female tiger slowly approached.

While fighting the male tiger, Xu Mingwei always kept a third of his attention on the female tiger.

It would sometimes pounce, sometimes lash its tail.

But it never succeeded.

Xu Mingwei began to use the moves of the Lesser Dragon Elephant Technique, combined with internal energy. Each move possessed a force close to six thousand jin.

The bodies of the two fierce tigers were very strong. After taking several punches, they endured it.

"Good, this is how it should be!"

Xu Mingwei no longer held back, unleashing his movement techniques, martial skills, and everything else.

Bang bang bang~

His punches were sharp and whistling.

The sound of his fists broke through the air, shaking the surroundings.

After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the tiger couple was beaten to death by Xu Mingwei with his bare fists.

He had not held back at all.

This was the most primitive of struggles, where it was either you die or I die.

If he had been defeated, he might have been the one to die here today.

"This pelt is good. Such a large one should sell for four to five hundred taels."

Ordinary ones were only over three hundred taels.

Xu Mingwei took out his dagger and began to skillfully skin the tigers.

If the complete corpse were brought back, its value would naturally be higher, but it would be difficult to transport and easy to expose his strength.

After finishing, Xu Mingwei put away the fur, and the bundle suddenly bulged.

Just as he was about to leave, he looked back at the cave.

Out of curiosity, he went in to investigate.

This cave was not large, with the ground only five to six meters from the ceiling, and even only two meters high in some places.

"Drip--drip--"

Xu Mingwei followed the sound and saw a small pool of water.

Water droplets were constantly falling from above the pool.

His [Eagle Eye] allowed him to see in the dark as if it were daytime, which was quite magical.

He looked around.

He saw a pile of grass on a stone platform and thought it must be where the fierce tigers rested.

"Rustle~ rustle~"

A sound came from the dry grass pile.

Xu Mingwei walked over and saw a small creature, the size of a cat, that had not yet opened its eyes, digging through dry grass and branches.

"Is this a tiger cub?"

"Its fur is actually white, could it be a variant?"

Xu Mingwei was a little surprised, but then he sighed slightly. If he had known that the female tiger had just given birth, perhaps he would have spared it.

Without the female tiger, this cub would have difficulty surviving.

"Oh right, Xiao Xueji wanted a small animal, so it's perfect to bring it back. I just don't know if it will be untamable in the future."

"Forget it, I'll worry about future things later."

"At worst, if it goes berserk, I'll just kill it."

He would break through to the First-class Martial Artist realm before the Yearly Sacrifice, and at that time, it would be a piece of cake.

Xu Mingwei picked up the Little White Tiger. He had originally thought of putting it in the bundle, but considering it contained the pelts of its parents, he felt it wasn't appropriate. So, he tucked it into his embrace.

"This trip has yielded some gains, so I'll head back first."

Xu Mingwei shouldered his long bow and quiver and returned the way he came.

Returning to the Xu family, it was just before lunchtime.

Xu Chuan had finished teaching Xu Mingshu and Xu Mingxian Martial Arts Practice in the morning, then went out for a bit before returning to supervise their calligraphy practice.

"You're back so early today."

"Father."

Xu Mingwei said with a smile, "This time I encountered two Fierce Tigers, they were very formidable, much larger than ordinary ones. I got two Tiger Hides. Father is thinking whether to keep them for our own use or take them to Qingjiang County to sell."

"I estimate one can sell for over five hundred taels."

"Then clean them up and take them to sell. Leave the money from the sale for A Yuan. He needs to prepare more silver on his end, just in case."

"No problem."

"Big Brother!" Xu Mingshu ran over, tugging at his clothes, tilting her head up expectantly, "What about the little animal I wanted?"

Xu Mingwei smiled and pulled a large creature from his bulging chest.

"What a cute Little White Cat, I like it very much."

Xu Chuan narrowed his eyes, pondered, and then said, "Is this a White Tiger?"

"As expected, Father's eyes are as sharp as ever."

Upon hearing "White Tiger," Xu Mingxian, who hadn't been very interested, also came closer to examine it.

After all, he had never seen a white tiger before.

"It's so small," Xu Mingxian said.

"It was just born not long ago, its eyes aren't even open yet. I didn't know the Female Tiger had just given birth, otherwise, I would have spared the Female Tiger's life."

"Without its parents, it wouldn't be able to survive at all, which is why I brought it back."

Xu Mingwei explained.

Xu Chuan nodded and said, "Then let Xue Ji raise it."

Xu Mingshu took the Little White Tiger and gently stroked it with her hand, saying softly, "Little White Tiger, you'll be my pet from now on."

Xu Mingwei chuckled.

"Fourth Sister, when it grows up, it will be taller than you and very fierce. Be careful it doesn't bite your head off," Xu Mingxian said with a grin, joking.

"Hmph, you stinky brother, Little White won't do that, right, Little White?"

Xu Chuan examined it closely, stepped forward to pet it, and said, "Since you've given it a name, Xue Ji, you'll be responsible for taking good care of it from now on."

"I estimate it's about two weeks old. It'll be fine even without the mother tiger's milk."

"I'll write down some instructions. You take care of it according to them."

"Thank you, Father. Father is the best," Xu Mingshu called out sweetly.

Xu Chuan ruffled her head, then wrote a page of instructions and handed it to Xu Mingshu. Xu Mingshu immediately skipped away happily.

Xu Mingxian looked at Xu Chuan and said, "Father, tigers are ferocious beasts. Isn't it dangerous to raise one?"

"What, worried about your Fourth Sister?"

"I'm not worried about her," Xu Mingxian said proudly, turning her head away.

"Don't worry, Xue Ji will be fine raising it," Xu Chuan promised with a smile. "Go practice your calligraphy. You can only eat lunch after you finish."

"Yes, Father."

Xu Mingwei was a little surprised, not understanding why his father was so confident.

But he still chose to believe.

"Oh, right, Father. And these two strange fruits. They're hard and I don't know what they are. You're knowledgeable, please take a look."

Xu Chuan nodded and took them, but couldn't figure them out. He decided to put them aside for now.

Xu Mingwei returned to his room, hung up his bow and arrows, and then went to wash the bloodstains off the tiger hide to remove the gamey smell.

Time flew by until noon the next day.

Seeing that the tiger hide was dry, Xu Mingwei rode his horse to the county town.

In less than half an hour, he arrived at the city gate of Qingjiang County Town.

The twenty-meter-high city walls, built from solid basalt, stretched for more than ten li, like a dragon's spine across the plain.

The gray walls were covered with the marks of time, and the base was covered with green moss.

In the center were two elm gates reinforced with iron plates. Bronze beast heads inlaid on the doors held copper rings the size of bowls. Each gate was three to four meters wide, over ten meters high, and more than thirty centimeters thick, painted red.

People came and went, and carts and horses passed through. Guard soldiers patrolled, checking the identities of those entering and leaving.

Xu Mingwei dismounted and led his horse forward.

Those not registered in Qingjiang County had to pay an entrance fee and obtain a temporary identification card to enter the city.

Merchants also had to register and pay commercial taxes.

Xu Mingwei naturally didn't need to do that. After briefly showing his identification, he led his horse into the city.