The Roar

Foreword:

During the Cold Food Festival, gazing at the spring scenery outside the city walls, even a rustic person cannot help but feel sorrow.

--Cloud Table

[Part 1: Funeral Expenses]

The story begins a few days ago.

Two tall, imposing men emerged from Zhao Family Village. They were brothers from Taiguang County.

Zhao the Eldest's name was Jianying, and Zhao Erlang's name was Jianxiong. The Zhao family had four sons in total, and when they turned to the Jian generation in the family genealogy, they chose the four characters "Hero and Hero".

It was the perfect time of year for spring to arrive and for the weather to warm up. Zhao Da pulled his cart out of the village and glanced back, only to see his second brother slumped over the oxcart, panting heavily.

"Second brother!" Zhao Jianying called out, "Can you go? If not, rest for a few more days."

Erlang's complexion gradually became rosy. He peeked his face out from under his deerskin scarf, revealing a pair of bright, piercing eyes, and replied in a deep voice.

"Big brother, if we don't leave soon, it'll start to stink."

Look at the corpses on the oxcart; they are Zhao's parents, his third and fourth brothers, Jianhao and Jianjie.

The two younger brothers were in poor health and passed away along with their parents. In the cold of December, the family kept the body in the main room, not caring that it would rot and stink. By the time spring came, the two brothers couldn't raise enough money for the funeral. The second brother, Jianxiong, was still ill, and Jianying couldn't manage on his own.

So the eldest brother took charge and sold the ancestral home and two acres of paddy fields to raise some travel expenses. He planned to take his second brother to Zhuzhou for medical treatment and find an auspicious burial site along the way to bury the whole family.

Zhao Da bought a cow in front of the City God Temple, tied the animal to the cart, and just as he reached the official road of Taiguang County, about to enter the mountain road, he was still worried.

Are you feeling better?

"My throat is just itchy." Zhao Er immediately replied, "A few days ago, even drinking water felt like swallowing iron nails. Now that I have some strength, I'll come and help you."

Zhao Da, clutching his leather water bag, led the animal forward, his steps uneven as he walked through the deep mountains and forests. His leather boots sank into the grass and mud, leaving a muddy, fishy smell. Dampness condensed on the ropes, and the sun had just risen over the hillside, casting a white mist of steam over the mountains.

"Old Man Wu sells travel permits, knows how difficult things are for our family."

Zhao Er immediately asked, "What did he say?"

Zhao Da continued walking forward, carefully leading the ox by the rope. "I gave them two bottles of wine as payment."

"Silk money?" Zhao Erlang was only sixteen or seventeen years old and didn't understand the concept of silk money.

In Zhao Family Village, whenever there is a funeral, the eldest son, who is young and strong, is always the one to help. The money given at the funeral is called "silk money." The younger son, who is weak or young, or the girl, cannot see the dead, as this is also to avoid the spread of plague.

During this major epidemic in Taiguang County, eight or nine out of ten households in the villages and towns were wiped out.

Of the six members of the Zhao family, only the eldest and second eldest sons survived. It was thanks to the strength and health of these two brothers that they were able to endure the torment of illness.

Zhao Da said, "It's about sending money to the families of the dead."

Zhao Er: "What use is money to a dead person?"

Zhao Da: "That's different, second brother. Villagers should help each other. The condolence money can also be used for funeral expenses."

Zhao Er: "Have you gotten yours yet? Is there only two bottles of wine?"

"There aren't many left, they're all dead." Zhao Da stopped talking after saying that.

Taiguang County Zhao Family Village, Taiguang County, relatives and neighbors were more or less affected by the plague. Every household started holding funerals in the spring. Those with some surplus grain and money could still set up a mourning hall and perform rituals, but there were probably very few people who could attend the funerals.

Old Man Wu was an official in the county government who issued travel permits. Seeing the miserable state of the two brothers, Jianying Jianxiong, he could only search his cellar and find two bottles of hard currency. Fermented rice wine was a rare commodity in the countries and counties of the Southeast. It was only brewed when there was an abundance of grain. Whether the two brothers took it to sell for money or to drink and keep warm on the road, it was a precious gift that was guaranteed to be of good quality.

After leaving the fields and farmhouses around Taiguang County and entering the mountains, the road became increasingly difficult to travel.

The mountains were full of strange rocks and trees, making it difficult for the oxcart to find its way. Zhao Da was asked to go ahead and scout the way before returning to drive the animals across the mud and stream. On the third day, Zhao Er was finally able to walk a few steps and then took over the cart with his older brother.

Just past noon, we arrived at a dry mountain valley. After leaving Lion Mountain, we came to a vast, golden-yellow plain.

Zhao Da was overjoyed, thinking that they should be close to Zhuzhou. So he took out all the cow dung he had saved up over the past few days, spread it out in a cloth bag, and put it out to dry in the scorching sun.

Zhao Er also came to help. Knowing that his elder brother needed to start a fire, he ran into the forest. His breathing gradually became smoother, and his pain seemed to have completely disappeared. He took off his outer clothes and deerskin scarf, wearing only his inner clothes for easy movement, and took out his slingshot to hunt birds and have fun.

In less than half an hour, Jianying cleared away the grass and leaves, dug two small pits, and brought out kindling and cow dung to dry the firewood. That's how the weather is in the south; if you squeeze a piece of wood you break off at random, you can squeeze out a handful of water, and you can't start a fire.

When Jianxiong returned carrying two plump waterbirds, he was still excitedly shouting.

"Brother! There's a lake! There's a lake! I don't have a fishing rod! Otherwise, I'd fish you some fish to eat!"

"Hahahaha!" Jianying felt a weight lift from his shoulders upon seeing his younger brother healthy, and everything seemed to regain its color. "This is it! I'll roast a bird and eat it!"

The two brothers squatted in front of the fire pit. Jianying was roasting firewood, while Jianxiong was plucking the feathers and removing the head of the prey, cutting its neck to bleed it, and also digging a ventilation channel in the fire pit to make the flames burn brighter.

Jianying strung the waterbirds onto green branches, fiddled with the dry firewood, took some kindling from the cow dung pit, blew on the fire starter in the haystack, and a raging fire instantly rose up. He quickly returned the fire-tinder tube to his old man, afraid that this precious source of fire would be destroyed.

He dared not speak, his eyes fixed on the fatty meat on the damp branch, afraid of ruining this fine meat. Soon, he saw the bird meat skin glisten with oil, gradually turning yellow and brown.

Jianxiong was the same, hugging his knees, coughing occasionally from the smoke in the fire. Perhaps he wasn't fully recovered, as his lungs were still a little itchy.

The two brothers, with their unkempt beards, looked exactly like two savages, just waiting for the food to be prepared.

Just then, Jianying, with his keen sense of smell, asked...

"It smells bad?"

Jianxiong didn't understand; he still couldn't smell anything. "What stinks?"

Jianying: "Did it rot?"

As he spoke, Zhao Da brought the roasted bird to his nose and sniffed it carefully; there was no strange smell.

"I can't smell it, brother!" Jianxiong was covered in sweat. He had walked several miles to find his prey and had gone to great lengths to catch the water bird. By the time he returned to his brother's side, he was already feeling cold. When he turned back to look for clothes, he glanced at the oxcart.

That one glance nearly terrified Jianxiong.

It's not that the barbecue smells bad!

The old ox pulling the cart had long since run away, and the ropes binding the cart had been bitten through by several animals! Looking at the cart, there were several dark figures crawling on it; their arched backs and glossy fur clearly indicated they were wolves!

Zhao Er shouted, "Wolf! Wolf!"

The stench was coming from the corpse; those wolves had torn open its belly, ripping out its intestines and gnawing at its heart! How could it not stink?!

The Zhao Brothers were initially too shocked to move, but their fear was gradually overshadowed by their anger. Jianying dropped the roasted bird meat, grabbed two burning firewood sticks, and ran towards the oxcart.

The ox had long since disappeared. These cunning wolfhounds knew that the ox was dull and stubborn, so they bit through the ropes to drive it away before daring to jump onto the cart and gnaw on the corpse.

Jianying lunged onto the cart, waving a torch to scare away the wolves, and saw that his younger brother Jianjie's internal organs had been devoured. The corpse's eyes were open! It seemed he had died with his eyes wide open!

The seven-foot-tall man was enraged, his eyes blazing with fury. He saw two wolves, seemingly driven mad by hunger, still fighting over his mother's corpse, trying to dismember her and drag the body off the cart.

--When wild animals saw fire, they immediately retreated to the back of the cart. The slow-moving mother wolf was kicked in the stomach by Jianying. With a "crack", the seventy or eighty-pound wolf's waist broke. It spat out some black blood from its throat, crashed heavily into a thick tree branch, rolled to the ground, and died.

"Beast!"

Jianying roared, grabbed his hunting knife from beside the cart, and rushed forward.

The wolves, who were still feasting, scattered and fled. Jianying couldn't catch them at all. He could only watch helplessly as the wild beasts darted back into the dense forest.

He chased after them for half a mile, and Jianxiong followed his elder brother all the way forward. He used his slingshot to throw stones and arrows, but they didn't hurt or itch the big wolves with their bronze heads and iron brains. When the stones hit the backs of the wolfhounds, they could only hear a whimpering bark, and then they would paw at the mud and run even faster.

Unable to catch up, the two returned to the cart. The corpses of their loved ones had been gnawed by wolves. The third brother, Jianhao, had died the earliest, and his body was completely rotten, yet it was the most intact.

His parents and younger brother Jianjie had lost arms and legs, and their bellies, now without the protection of bones, were almost empty.

Upon seeing such a tragic scene, Zhao's second son collapsed, leaning against the oxcart as he began to wail in mourning.

Zhao Da remained silent, seemingly affected by his younger brother's emotions.

He dared not cry, for fear that if he did, Erlang would lose his soul and be unable to move forward.

"This can't go on. I'll dig two pits and bury my parents there. My third and fourth brothers will be buried in another pit. That way, we can easily distinguish them when we worship them next year and it will be convenient to arrange the incense and offerings."

"You're leaving them here?! Big brother?" Jianxiong's face was already covered in mud and blood, and now, with tears streaming down his face, he seemed unable to see anything clearly. "Leaving? Leaving?"

The naive and straightforward second brother seemed oblivious, not yet realizing what was happening.

His parents and two younger brothers are all dead. Their bodies haven't been buried yet, and Jianxiong doesn't seem to have accepted it.

Just over eighty days ago, this family was gathered around the fireplace, listening to their parents tell stories about imported goods from Xiantai Prefecture, about the Daoist priests of Wuling Mountain slaying demons, about the tenant farmers and hunters cultivating paddy fields and their techniques for hunting weasels, and about the street performers' marksmanship. The father would even boast that he had also been skilled with a gun when he was young, and that he was the best in the local militia.

Zhao Da remained silent and handed a bottle of wine to the old man.

"If you're feeling unwell, have some."

After saying that, the elder brother went to find a conspicuous spot on the ground, preferably with a stone platform to shelter him from the wind and rain, and then dug up the two graves.

Zhao Er still couldn't get over this. He sat next to his younger brother and saw Jianjie open his eyes. He tried to close his brother's eyes, but it seemed that the canines of the wolfhound were pulling on the spinal nerves of the corpse, and he couldn't close the eyes no matter what he did.

"Brother is useless. Brother."

Jianxiong opened the wine jar, but was reluctant to drink it, and just muttered to himself.

"Your child is unfilial. Your child is unfilial."

At this moment, Zhao Jianying faces an even more arduous and difficult test.

He had staked everything on that ox; the beast could be exchanged for over thirty silver coins, and it was a real shame it had run away. He hoped to use the short journey to find the tomb to retrieve the ox.

After searching for over an hour following the grass trampled by the cow's hooves, Jianying hurried back as the sun was about to set, finally giving up on the idea that he would not find it.

Back near the cart, Jianying called out to Jianxiong, but Jianxiong did not respond.

He thought that perhaps his second son had gotten drunk and fallen asleep.

He ran to the cart to look again, but still couldn't find it. At this point, Jianying finally became alert.

He picked up another hunting knife from beside the vehicle, but it was only a foot-long wood-chopping knife. Together with the grass-cutting knife in his hand, it could barely be called a hunting knife.

He groped around the car, looked under it, and searched several large trees, but still couldn't find his second brother.

Back at the fire pit, they saw a huge Black Bear dragging Jianxiong's clothes into the haystack.

Jianying, his eyes wide with anger, ran forward.

--The Black Bear's fur was so thick that its eyes were almost invisible; the long hair on its head covered its eyelids, and there were some white hairs growing in the opposite direction. It was clear that it was very old.

Jianxiong reeked of alcohol, his face was flushed, and he was completely drunk and unconscious.

[Part ②: Misfortunes Never Come Alone]

Zhao Jia Dalang, radiating intense heat, roared at the giant beast lying prone on the ground, trying to scare the bear away.

But it was no use. The bear's ears seemed to be malfunctioning too. Its round ears twitched only briefly before it released Jianxiong's leg, and with a slight pull of its paw, three bloody wounds were left on the prey's legs. Smelling the blood, it immediately became more alert and stood up.

The moment the Black Bear stood up, Zhao Jianying felt an immense increase in pressure.

It was almost two meters tall, with its two paws dangling in front of its belly and a stripe of white fur on its chest. It leaned forward, using its nose to orient itself, shaking its head as it searched for prey.

Without hesitation, Jianying leaned closer to Zhao the Second, his eyes wide, his legs trembling and his teeth chattering, until he touched Jianxiong's shoulder and neck. At the same time, the bear crouched down and licked the wound on Jianxiong's ankle hard.

With just that one blow, Jianxiong woke up in pain. He watched helplessly as his leg bindings came undone, his trousers ripped open, and a piece of flesh was licked off by the Black Bear!

"Ah!!------"

The sudden scream alerted the Black Bear, which reached out its paws to grab and drag it. Jianying, carrying Zhao Er's clothes, retreated as Lu Fei did so!

Zhao the Eldest couldn't turn around, and Zhao Er couldn't get up either. The chase and escape were too close, and he dared not utter a sound, fearing that if he shouted, he would lose the strength to escape. But Jianxiong couldn't die here! His parents and brothers were all dead, and he couldn't lose this younger brother too!

He didn't know where the strength came from, but Jianying simply threw away a knife, released Jianxiong's shoulders, and charged straight at the Black Bear. Instantly, he felt dizzy and his head and neck were in excruciating pain. It was as if he had crashed into a mountain!

A sweet taste came from his throat, and blood spurted from his mouth. He was so stunned by the bear's attack that he was completely disoriented. When he came to his senses, he saw six holes in his deerskin scarf and winter clothes, blood flowing continuously from his stomach, his head tilted to one side, and his body not yet completely collapsed, but rather staggering to the side, unable to move!

The bear was startled by the impact. Its eyes widened, and it lunged forward into empty space. When its paws left the belly of the eldest Zhao family member, they still had bits of flesh with them. Half a broken knife was stuck in its chest. It was panting heavily from its throat, as if its heart had stopped beating and it could no longer exert any strength.

It had half a piece of deerskin in its mouth, originally aimed at the prey's throat, but only managed to bite into the piece of hide.

After about ten seconds, neither the man nor the bear dared to move. The pain came so late, so very late. Finally, the Black Bear howled in pain, roared, and crawled on all fours, running into the woods.

Zhao the Second finally came to his senses--

"--Big Brother!"

Old Zhao clutched his stomach and shouted, "Don't worry about me! Kill it! Kill it! Use it to make a fortune!"

Zhao the Second, limping, didn't think much of it and followed the trail of blood into the woods.

Hearing the panting echoing through the mountains, Jianxiong finally found his dead prey. By the time he found his elder brother, it was already late at night.

The two brothers did some simple bandaging, buried their parents and brothers, and then carried their prey to the Zhu Prefecture County Office.

At that very moment, the night watchman had just returned to Si Yao Military Patrol Post (firefighting post) when he heard a lively commotion coming from the county government office.

In the courtyard of the yamen, the County Magistrate and his godson called a leather tanner to process the bear skin.

The county magistrate's name was Wu Cheng Zhang. He was a eunuch and had no children.

The godson was the mastermind behind the framing of the Zhao Brothers. He changed his surname to Wu Cheng Zhang after Wu Xiuwen.

The craftsmen were busy working in the courtyard, while the county magistrate and his son watched the spectacle and talked about the Zhao Brothers without any restraint.

"Godfather, I never expected these two brothers to be so foolish. With just a little trick from you, they fell for it!" Wu Xiuwen squatted down next to Wu Cheng Zhang's chair and said with a smile, "From now on, Godfather, you'll have another Bear Skin Cloak. Your good son is a bear-slaying hero!"

Wu Cheng Zhang still had some sense of shame, and he let out a high-pitched voice. "There are outsiders doing this, so don't talk about it loudly."

"So what! In Zhuzhou County! Every drop of rain falling from the sky belongs to the Wu family!" Wu Xiuwen shouted. "These two hunters come to present treasure? Bah! They're clearly poaching on your territory, Godfather! Am I wrong?"

Wu Cheng Zhang replied in a low voice, "That makes sense, but Xiuwen, since these two hunters can kill bears, aren't you afraid they'll cut off your head? I didn't know there were such formidable constables in the county government."

"Where? Are you going to rely on this bunch of good-for-nothings to arrest people?" Wu Xiuwen perked up, and at this point he said smugly, "It's all thanks to your good son's foresight! He asked Goddess Zhuzhu and Hundred Eyes Great King to send a retainer! This retainer is exceptionally skilled and has superb swordsmanship—I took him to arrest the people, and as soon as he made a move, those two savages had their Thumb sliced off! They couldn't even hold a woodcutter's knife! How could they possibly resist?"

"So you went to pray to the gods." Upon hearing this, Wu Cheng Zhang immediately laughed and said, "You've really made something of yourself, aren't you? You'll take care of me in my old age and see me off when I die?"

"I wouldn't dare!" Wu Xiuwen immediately clasped his hands and knelt on one knee. "I'm only doing this for my godfather!"

"Where is this retainer you mentioned? Bring him here." Wu Cheng Zhang poured tea for his godson, saying, "Tell him the magistrate wants to see him. Such a valiant and extraordinary immortal, I must give him a proper welcome."

Wu Xiuwen dared not disobey the order, so he immediately blew a whistle to summon a carrier pigeon and sent an urgent letter to the immortal.

After a while, a strange man dressed in flowing white robes walked in through the main gate of the county government office, his footsteps silent.

This man had white hair and beard, yet possessed the appearance of a youthful face despite his white hair. His aura was deep and his steps were steady. Although Wu Cheng Zhang did not practice martial arts, he knew that this master had profound inner strength. He figured that the story of subduing the two bear-killing savages was true. However, he still needed to confirm it verbally. His godson was always using sweet talk around the county magistrate, and he, as the godfather, was starting to become suspicious.

"Are you the hero who captured the criminal?"

"I am a disciple of the Hundred Eyes Great King. I have abandoned my real name and surname. County Magistrate, please call me by my Daoist name, Yu Zhen."

Wu Cheng Zhang asked, "Master Yu Zhen, how did you subdue those two hunters?"

"Young friend, you urgently requested an audience last night." Yu Zhen the Taoist paused, then continued, "You said that two criminals had forcibly abducted a young woman and committed heinous acts. I drew my sword and followed them to the county government office. When I arrived at the side room next to Siyaopu, I indeed found two villagers fighting with a woman."

Wu Xiuwen reminded him, "That is..."

"Oh! They were the ones who wanted to harm people." Master Yu Zhen finally realized what was going on. "So I taught them a lesson by cutting off their fingers with my sword. They were already injured, and soon the pain made them lose their strength and surrender."

"Excellent! Excellent indeed!" Wu Cheng Zhang exclaimed with a smile, "It's just a pity..."

Yu Zhen: "What a pity?"

Wu Cheng Zhang: "What a pity that it sullied the Daoist priest's sword. That dog-like thing, does it even deserve to defile the Daoist priest's magic weapon?"

"Hahahaha," Yu Zhen the Taoist laughed, "It's because my young friend Xiuwen has done good deeds and accumulated merit that he has formed a good karmic connection with my master. That's why I traveled all the way to Zhuzhou. It was just a small favor—if the magistrate says so, he's flattering me. Righteousness, righteousness! How can a cultivator not act chivalrously over such a small matter? Even if it were a dog, running wild and committing violence in the magistrate's territory, I would still kill it!"

Yu Zhen changed the subject.

"But when those two were arrested, they were still talking incoherently."

Fearing exposure, Wu Cheng Zhang quickly pressed, "What did those two savages say?"

The Yu Zhen the Taoist chuckled, "They lost their Thumb, saying that the essence of the father and the blood of the mother should not be discarded, and they knelt down and begged me to pick them up for them."

Wu Cheng Zhang breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that the immortal had overheard something he shouldn't have.

Oh, that finger.

The Yu Zhen the Taoist Yuzhen gracefully waved his sleeve.

-- Pointing to the outside of the government office.

"The county magistrate's residence keeps several dogs, so I took them to feed the dogs. Guard dogs need to recognize human blood, otherwise they won't be fierce enough."

"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!" Wu Cheng Zhang clapped his hands and cheered, "Well done, Daoist!"

Wu Xiuwen also shouted, "Great!"

Wu Cheng Zhang immediately said, "I don't know what Chang likes. I... I..."

The Zhuzhou County Magistrate didn't usually interact with these immortals, so he naturally didn't know what the Hundred Eyes Great King's faction liked.

These two hunters were strong and healthy; it wouldn't be an easy task for the authorities to arrest them. With the help of a celestial being, the matter naturally went smoothly, and they couldn't be made to work for nothing.

"If the magistrate could do me a favor," the Yu Zhen the Taoist decided to get straight to the point. "I wonder if it would be possible to send male and female handicrafts to your Master's Mansion, preferably young boys."

Before he could finish speaking, a startled cry came from outside the door from the leather tanner.

The Yu Zhen the Taoist immediately craned his neck to look—

--Then a burly man with a clean-shaven face and no beard emerged from the side gate of the government office.

The man was dressed in a Western-style robe, with short, thick, black hair. He was holding a guard dog and used only his fingers to cut open the dog's stomach, taking out two relatively intact Thumb from its stomach. He then stuffed them back into his doctor's bag.

Jiang Xueming counted the number of knuckle bones clearly.

"All done."