Taking the Branch, Slaying the Tiger
The tiger, who calls himself Mountain-Shaking Lord, is currently on his way to Willow Creek Town.
The memory of their previous attack was still fresh in its mind, so it dared not take the main road and alert them, and only dared to take the side paths.
We took our time, not in a hurry.
The thought of human flesh made my mouth water, and I couldn't even be bothered to pay attention to the few wild rabbits darting by the roadside.
However, as he walked, Mountain-Shaking Lord's originally lazy tiger eyes suddenly swept around.
Something's not right.
When any animal in the forest saw it, it would run away; none dared to look at it a second time.
But now, it feels like it's being watched by something.
It wasn't my imagination; several eyes were fixed on me.
Like a thorn, it pricked and made it uncomfortable all over.
Mountain-Shaking Lord remained outwardly calm and continued walking forward, but his ears were perked up, carefully listening to the sounds around him.
Reaching the edge of a thicket, it suddenly turned around and pounced into the Dense Forest behind it!
The pounce was as fast as lightning, but it missed completely.
The shadow darted away just before it pounced, disappearing into the deeper night.
I only saw his back.
"A deer?" Mountain-Shaking Lord narrowed his remaining eye, exhaling a puff of white breath from his nostrils.
I remember now.
The White Deer on the neighboring mountain, the one that people worship as an auspicious creature, is said to have also gained intelligence and become a spirit just like myself.
Mountain-Shaking Lord licked his lips, his tiger eyes narrowing slightly.
"If I eat it..."
The thought had just popped into my head when I suppressed it again.
It's not stupid; there are people among them who are even more powerful Martial Practitioner.
The deer that ran over and stared at me might be scouting ahead for someone.
Their whereabouts have now been exposed.
What if that White Deer really has a tough nut to crack behind it? If it plunges headlong into the town, wouldn't it be handing itself over to them?
Thinking of this, Mountain-Shaking Lord glanced at Willow Creek Town in the distance, his Adam's apple bobbing, but he ultimately withdrew his gaze.
Cravings are one thing, but life is the most important thing.
"Pity."
It whispered something, then turned and walked into the mountains.
He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly stopped.
He turned his ear back.
There are footsteps!
His stride was wide, but his steps were light.
Mountain-Shaking Lord lowered his body, his tiger eyes slightly narrowed.
He's a teenager!
His footwork is very rhythmic; he's very likely a Martial Practitioner!
The words "young Martial Practitioner" flashed through Mountain-Shaking Lord's mind, and his mouth involuntarily watered.
It's very nourishing.
"Just when I was worried about not having any meat to eat, it came right to my door."
Mountain-Shaking Lord slowed his pace and leisurely headed towards the direction of the footsteps.
When that boy sees me, he'll probably be so scared he'll fly away, right?
The thought of this excited it.
Its tail swayed gently behind it, sweeping across the fallen leaves and making a rustling sound.
Far away.
White Dew stood on a protruding rock, watching Qin Wangchuan's receding figure in the distance.
Although it cannot see, other deer are watching for it in secret.
The tiger is right ahead.
White Dew remembered what had just happened.
It advised Qin Wangchuan that since he wasn't going to call for help, he should at least bring a weapon.
Qin Wangchuan said no.
How can you not use it? Do you intend to go empty-handed?
As it turned out, they really did go empty-handed.
White Dew sighed inwardly, but her ears were perked up, not daring to relax for a moment.
Although the master didn't need its help, this Tiger Spirit was very powerful, so it had to be prepared.
If something goes wrong, it can pounce on it and take the hit.
Below, Mountain-Shaking Lord crouched low, walking quietly, a slow grin spreading across his face.
It's getting closer.
Closer now.
The bushes suddenly burst open, and a huge creature leaped out, blocking the road.
Under the moonlight, the body was a full size larger than that of an ordinary tiger, reaching up to its waist at the shoulders, and the ground trembled slightly when its four feet touched the ground.
Mountain-Shaking Lord saw the boy.
Moonlight fell on the boy's shoulders; he was slender, unassuming, and handsome.
Compared to his own imposing physique, he was as frail as a tree branch.
But he didn't run, he didn't retreat, he didn't even stop.
His expression remained unchanged, and his pace was neither hurried nor slow, as if he hadn't seen the enormous creature in front of him, or as if he had seen it but didn't care.
Mountain-Shaking Lord was stunned.
"Boy, are you out of your mind? You're not afraid of me?" it said, its voice deep and resonant, like a stone rolling over another stone.
"Afraid?"
Qin Wangchuan tilted his head and glanced at it, but didn't stop walking.
He casually broke off a branch and weighed it in his hand.
Slowly and methodically pry off the branches, trimming them as you walk to make them more suitable for pruning.
He said, "Why would I be afraid of something weaker than myself?"
Mountain-Shaking Lord narrowed his eyes, letting out a low snoring sound.
Qin Wangchuan stopped a few steps away from it, holding the branch in his hand like a sword.
"You have eaten many people, a crime deserving death." He paused, "But today, I am not here to punish evil and promote good, nor to persuade you to repent."
"I came for a personal grudge."
He raised the branch and pointed it at Mountain-Shaking Lord's blind left eye.
"That eye, do you remember it?"
Upon hearing this, Mountain-Shaking Lord narrowed his remaining right eye.
It certainly won't forget.
The kid who slashed his own eye before he died.
Even though I've chewed it up and eaten it, I'm still not satisfied.
"I see."
"You want to avenge that kid?" Mountain-Shaking Lord looked Qin Wangchuan up and down, then raised his chin and glanced behind him.
There were no ambushes, no helpers, he was all alone.
It let out a low, sneer, its mouth slowly widening to reveal its gleaming white teeth.
"A mere mortal Martial Practitioner, armed with only a tree branch, comes to seek revenge."
"That's absolutely hilarious!"
Qin Wangchuan didn't reply, but carried the tree branch and walked towards it step by step.
My footsteps were neither fast nor slow, neither light nor heavy, rustling softly as I stepped on the fallen leaves.
Mountain-Shaking Lord's sneer was still on his face when the young man had already taken three steps away.
"I've got enough branches to kill you," he said calmly, without even lifting his eyelids.
"Kid, I think you're really stupid."
It grinned, revealing gleaming white teeth, saliva dripping from between them onto the withered leaves. "Don't worry, I don't eat idiots' heads. I'll keep them as souvenirs."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Mountain-Shaking Lord pounced forward, heading straight for Qin Wangchuan's face!
The wind swirled around it, carrying a foul stench, and the leaves were blown into the air.
The next moment.
A flash of Sword Light.
Mountain-Shaking Lord's enormous tiger head flew off his neck and tumbled several times in the air.
Blood gushed from the cut, spraying a dark red stain in the moonlight.
The tiger's eyes still held the ferocious glint of its predatory instincts, its triumph undiminished.
It didn't even realize it was dead.
The tiger's body grazed Qin Wangchuan's side and crashed to the ground. He dodged it, not even getting a drop of blood on his clothes.
With a casual flick of the branch in his hand, the remaining blood flew out along the direction of the moonlight, landing on the withered leaves with a rustling sound.
From beginning to end, not a single step was retreated.
Qin Wangchuan glanced back at the tiger's still convulsing body on the ground, then flicked his hand, sending the branch embedded in the soil.
He bent down, picked up the tiger head, weighed it in his hand, and turned to walk back.
He remained silent throughout the entire process.
From the shadows, White Dew emerged from the Dense Forest.
It was stiff all over, taking each step with extreme caution, afraid of making any sound.
When I saw that scene from afar, my legs went weak, but when I got closer, the shock was like a heavy hammer hitting my head.
The tiger's head was cleanly severed, and its massive, headless body lay on the ground, blood still gushing out.
What did it just see?
Tree branches.
An ordinary tree branch that was casually broken off.
It wasn't sharpened, and the bark wasn't even completely peeled off.
But it was this very branch that cut off the tiger's head, which was thicker than a person's waist, as easily as cutting tofu.
No, it's faster than cutting tofu.
White Dew shivered and subconsciously looked up in the direction Qin Wangchuan had left.
The figure had already walked quite a distance, the tiger head in its hand still dripping blood, leaving a trail of broken blood behind it.
"Sir, who exactly are you...?"
Tigers are valuable from head to toe; tiger bones strengthen muscles and bones, and tiger blood replenishes Qi and Blood.
Qin Wangchuan didn't perform the dissection on the spot because he didn't know how.
To cut it badly is to waste it.
We need to use it to nourish our teacher; we can't bear to part with it.
He switched the tiger head to his left hand, planning to go back and ask Jiang Zhuo for help.
The people at the martial arts school go hunting in the mountains year-round; their skinning and dismembering skills are even better than a butcher's. You can't go wrong with them.
Within Willow Creek Town.
An oil lamp was lit in the teacher's room, the flame flickering gently on the wick.
Zhou Heng sat at the table and chair by the bed, holding a book in his hands, but didn't turn a single page for a long time.
He couldn't concentrate on his studies, and he was afraid to sleep, lest his teacher cough in the middle of the night and be alone.
I just sat there for a long time, and my back got stiff.
Sudden.
A sudden, heart-wrenching cough came from the bed, pulling Zhou Heng out of his half-asleep state.
He put down his book and leaned over to sit on the edge of the bed.
The master opened his eyes, his cloudy gaze flickering in the dim light before settling on his face and lingering for a moment.
"The Wangchuan?" the Master exclaimed instinctively.
Zhou Heng said helplessly, "Master, it's me, Zhou..."
"Oh, it's Zhou Heng."
The teacher realized what was happening first, and withered his hand reached out from under the covers, groping and patting Zhou Heng's hand.
"Don't worry, although I'm getting senile, every child in the school remembers me."
"Where is the Wangchuan?"
Zhou Heng opened his mouth, then closed it again.
His Adam's apple bobbed before he said in a low voice, "He's left the town; he might not be back for several days."
What he didn't say was that Qin Wangchuan had actually gone to find medicine for the Master.
I didn't tell him because I was afraid he would worry.
"I see."
The teacher responded, released Zhou Heng's hand, pulled the quilt up a bit, and leaned loosely against the pillow.
He gazed at the top of the tent, his eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight.
His lips moved, then closed again.
I wanted to say, "Qin Wangchuan has suffered so much; please don't bully him in the future."
But when the words were about to come out, he felt they were inappropriate— Zhou Heng was also in a dilemma.
Saying it that way would seem biased, and Zhou Heng must be feeling really bad.
Thinking about it, and remembering how much the child from Wangchuan had suffered for so long, I decided not to let him see this scene.
That's settled then.
No need to wait any longer, no need to hold on any longer.
He slowly closed his eyes.
One last thought crossed my mind--
That's good.
That's good...
Thinking about it, I slowly closed my eyes.
Zhou Heng nodded and began to ramble on about what had happened during this period.
Qin Wangchuan flipped through medical books, tested medicines, and performed acupuncture, accidentally distorting his face several times.
As he spoke, his voice trailed off, until eventually he himself no longer knew what he was saying.
The room fell silent as soon as the sound stopped.
It was so quiet that you could hear the faint hissing sound of the lamp wick burning, like something slowly burning away.
"Master?" Zhou Heng called out tentatively.
There was no response.
He reached out and gently touched the teacher's hand, which was resting on the quilt.
It's cold.
Zhou Heng paused for a moment, then reached out to check the master's breath—
There was no breath.
In that instant, his mind went blank, as if something had exploded, or as if nothing was left.
He froze, his hand still hovering in front of the teacher's face, forgetting to pull it back.
The wick of the bedside lamp had just burned down to the end; the last bit of flame flickered and then went out.
The room darkened, and moonlight streamed in through the holes in the window paper, falling on the bloodless face.
Master Chen has left.
The lights went out, and the wind stopped.
It was as if the entire room breathed a sigh of relief.
He no longer had to worry about anyone, and he no longer had to cough.
The Wen Household Courtyard.
Qin Zhaoer was woken up by her mother shaking her.
"Zhao'er, Zhao'er..." Mother Wen knelt by the bedside, her voice very low.
"What are you doing so late at night?"
Qin Zhaoer rolled over, cursing, and pulled the blanket over her head.
After hesitating for a moment, Madam Wen finally spoke, "The teacher is gone."
Which teacher?
"Master Chen."
Qin Zhaoer suddenly jumped out of bed, her eyes wide with disbelief as she looked at her mother.
"When?"
Just now.
Before she could finish speaking, Qin Zhaoer had already put on her clothes and rushed out the door.
She didn't know why she was running; only one thought occupied her mind.
He'll be sad when that old man dies.
Meanwhile, there was also a knock on Jiang Zhuo's door.
"Eldest Brother Jiang! Eldest Brother Jiang!"
Jiang Zhuo put on his clothes and walked into the courtyard while responding to the call.
Halfway there, I suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Sister Jiang followed him out and saw her husband standing motionless in the yard. She also heard the door outside still rattling, so she went outside.
But when she looked up, she froze, instinctively hiding behind Jiang Zhuo.
In the courtyard, there was a huge tiger head.
"Who did this?!" Aunt Jiang's voice trembled, and she dared not look directly at the scene.
Jiang Zhuo didn't speak, but walked forward with a flicker in his eyes. He opened the door first, then turned around and walked to Hu Tou.
The messenger was from the martial arts school, and he was stunned when he entered.
He swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, his gaze fixed intently on the tiger's head.
"Eldest Brother Jiang, this tiger..." He swallowed hard, his gaze falling on the hideous scar above the tiger's left eye. Suddenly, he realized something was wrong. "Could it be that one?"