It Hunted but Did Not Eat, Nearly a Demon

It Hunted but Did Not Eat, Nearly a Demon

Yu Chen had basically come to understand how the Scripture of Deliverance determined whether an "unfulfilled wish" had been fulfilled.

It was "at the very moment the final wish was realized."

Just as the old beggar who could not stop thinking about Gui Snowfish had fulfilled his wish after eating it.

Just as Li Er, the thug, had only fulfilled his wish when he personally handed the silver to Widow Sun.

But in all those cases, Yu Chen had done it himself.

What he wanted to verify now was this: if the dead person's final wish was fulfilled by someone else through some twist of fate, how would the Scripture of Deliverance judge it?

"But if those Jianghu folk from the Zhengqing Gang kill that tiger, wouldn't the reward go down the drain?"

Yu Chen chewed his food as he pondered.

"Forget it. I'll set out tonight and take things one step at a time."

Shaking his head and no longer dwelling on it, Yu Chen wolfed down a few more bites, cleared away the bowls and chopsticks, and lay down on the bed.

The tiger was a nocturnal beast, active mostly at night. If he wanted to find it, nighttime was more suitable.

But in the next instant, he suddenly opened his eyes, as though he had remembered something. He released a Paper Crow and sent it flying toward the county town.

At the same time, in Southside Old Street, within the Zhengqing Gang's rather old pavilion.

Several Jianghu folk who had previously crossed paths with Yu Chen were busily making preparations.

The brawny man in short clothes at their head was studying a rather ancient map.

Around him stood another dozen or so Jianghu folk, loosely gathered and dressed with wild abandon as they muttered among themselves.

"You have to say, Young Master Wang really is unlucky enough. First the heavy snow sealed off the mountain, then he ran into that tiger. Heaven itself wants him dead!"

"But without this, Old Master Wang probably wouldn't have offered such a hefty reward—one hundred taels of patterned silver. Even Boss, who's always so steady, couldn't resist it."

"You idiot. Do you really think Boss is doing this for those hundred taels of silver?"

"Huh? Then what for?"

"A hundred taels may be plenty, but it means nothing much to our gang. Why would we risk our lives to hunt down a man-eating tiger?"

"What Boss really has his eye on is Old Master Wang's promise—if we kill that tiger, all the medicinal herbs from Wang Household Shops will be half price from then on!"

"These past years, we've controlled over half the laborers in Weishui. Whether it's bruises and sprains in daily life or broken tendons and injured bones from working, they all need ointments from Wang Household Shops. A small half of our profits has gone straight into Old Master Wang's pocket!"

"But now, as long as we kill that tiger, whether it's herbs or medicinal plasters, everything will be half price—the silver we save will be far more than a hundred taels of patterned silver!"

"..."

Amid their back-and-forth chatter, the Jianghu folk exposed the tangled grievances between the Zhengqing Gang, which controlled eighty percent of Weishui's laborers, and the Wang Household, an Aristocratic Clan dealing in medicinal herbs.

Just as they were talking with great gusto, the brawny man in short clothes called Boss coughed. "Nothing better to do? Your tongues are wagging like magpies."

The unruly Jianghu folk immediately straightened their expressions and shut their mouths.

"That tiger isn't an easy opponent."

Only after silence fell did the brawny man in short clothes speak, warning them:

"A few years ago, an Innate Grandmaster from Dongzheng Martial Academy was invited by the yamen to get rid of that tiger. Even then, they only fought to a draw, and the tiger ultimately escaped.

"If we go up the mountain this time without proper preparation, who knows whether the deer will die or the hunter!"

"Boss is right!" the Jianghu folk answered in unison.

"One-Eye, have you prepared everything I told you to?" The brawny man waved a hand and looked toward a lean, one-eyed man among the group.

"Rest easy, Boss." One-Eye counted on his fingers. "Torches, Sparrow-Dropping Incense, pork, medicine for injuries, poisoned needles, blow darts. Nothing can go wrong."

"Good!" The brawny man nodded. "Go rest. We head up the mountain tonight!"

"Yes!"

The Jianghu folk scattered in a rush.

What they failed to notice was that outside the window, a pitch-black crow took flight after hearing their conversation and flew toward Qingfeng Mausoleum.

In a blur, the sun set and the moon rose.

Dusk came especially early in the depths of winter. By the time the Zhengqing Gang had finished dinner and emptied their bowels, night had already fallen.

As light snow fluttered through the air, the brawny man in short clothes led seven or eight people up Fanghua Mountain from Southside Old Street.

"I got the location where Young Master Wang was attacked from Old Master Wang. It's in No-Return Forest on Fanghua Mountain."

With a great axe on his back, the brawny man spoke without looking back through the wind and snow:

"In weather this cold, that tiger likely won't go far from its den to hunt. Its current lair is probably somewhere in No-Return Forest.

"Once we're up the mountain, no one is to be careless in the slightest. If anyone makes a mistake, don't blame the gang rules for dealing with you!"

"Yes!" everyone replied in unison.

The group then trod through the wind and snow, leaving behind a few lines of footprints so faint they were almost impossible to notice.

It was plain to see that they were all trained fighters.

And as the Zhengqing Gang's Jianghu folk headed up the mountain, Yu Chen on Qingfeng Mausoleum had also awakened. He lit a fire in his earthen hut and cooked himself a meal, filling his stomach.

With a thought.

The eerie Infernal Mask spread from beneath his flesh and covered his face. Countless streams of black mist extended from beneath it, forming a great robe that completely concealed Yu Chen's figure and aura alike within the darkness.

He blew out the lamp and pushed open the door.

At night, apart from the endless songs and music around Skybridge and the shadowy lights of Southside Old Street, all of Weishui County had fallen asleep.

Even the marketplace, ordinarily bustling and prosperous, was cold and deserted.

If even the county town was like this, Fanghua Mountain was all the more devoid of human traces.

Within the mountain forest, a black shadow darted through the darkness. With the lightest touch of his feet upon the snow, he could leap more than ten feet.

Fanghua Mountain, No-Return Forest.

A vast primordial woodland, filled with insects and beasts and countless medicinal herbs. Though dangerous, it had also supported many herb gatherers and hunters in the county town.

And the apex "hunter" within it was the silver-white tiger known as White Ghost.

As night deepened, No-Return Forest also grew quiet.

An incomparably massive silver-white beast strode slowly between the forest and the snowfields, like an emperor patrolling his domain.

Suddenly, its enormous tiger paw stamped upon the snow. A colossal force erupted, launching its massive body into the air as it pounced toward an open patch ahead!

A miserable cry rang out!

On that clearing, an elk that had been incomparably nimble moments before was knocked down almost before it could react by that mountain-like monstrosity.

Its blood-filled maw opened. Beneath its barbed crimson tongue were sharp fangs that reeked of rot!

It bit down on the elk's fragile neck!

Dark-red deer blood flowed out, staining the snow crimson.

Yet after hunting down the plump elk, the silver-white tiger lay atop it without taking a bite.

A trace of confusion appeared in its emerald-green eyes.

As though this was not the flavor it wanted.

—It was all meat, all fresh red blood, but these furred creatures tasted worlds apart from those frail, two-legged sheep that traveled in groups.

Naturally, the silver-white tiger did not possess such nimble intelligence. It only instinctively felt that in recent years, the beasts of the mountain forest had become less and less to its taste.

What it truly longed for was that sort of weak creature that walked on two legs.

After a pause, the silver-white tiger ultimately did not eat even a bite of the plump venison. Instead, it swayed away and turned to leave.

Half an hour later.

The Zhengqing Gang's Jianghu folk entered No-Return Forest and arrived at the spot where the silver-white tiger had just killed its prey.

The dense stench of blood drilled into their nostrils, mingling with the wind and snow and making them frown.

"Well now!"

One tall man looked at the elk carcass and said, "Looks like we won't need the fresh pork we brought up after all!"

At his words, the other Jianghu folk nodded as well.

—Before heading up the mountain, they had deliberately bought half a fresh hog, intending to use its bloody scent to lure out the tiger.

But now, a fresh deer carcass lay right before them. It seemed there was no need to waste the pork.

"Fine by me. We can bring it back later to go with the liquor!" someone in the crowd chimed in.

Except for the brawny man in short clothes at their head.

He said nothing. Walking forward, he crouched beside the deer carcass and observed it for a moment. Then his expression abruptly changed, darkening at once.

"Boss, what is it?" One-Eye, who carried a large pile of supplies, came over and asked.

The brawny man ignored him. He rose swiftly to his feet, looked at the group with a grim expression, and said, "Down the mountain!"

All the Jianghu folk froze.

They had not even caught sight of the tiger's shadow. Why were they going down the mountain already?

"Move!" the brawny man shouted as he turned around!

The Jianghu folk did not dare disobey and reluctantly followed after him.

The tall man who had spoken earlier hurried over, his face full of bewilderment. "Boss, what exactly happened?"

As the brawny man strode swiftly onward, he said in a deep voice, "Did you see that deer carcass? It was fresh, and the bite marks on its neck were made by a tiger's jaws."

The Jianghu folk listened, still unable to understand.

The brawny man continued, "In this freezing winter, food is scarce. Yet after that tiger killed the elk, it neither feasted on it nor dragged it back to its lair to store it. What does that mean?"

"It means it wasn't hungry?" one fool blurted out.

"Idiot!" the brawny man cursed. "If it wasn't hungry, it wouldn't have killed that elk! If it wasn't hungry, it wouldn't have attacked Young Master Wang's caravan!"

"Then why?" someone among the Jianghu folk asked.

"Tigers aren't like apes and such beasts. They do not have the habit of simply playing with or cruelly killing their prey." The brawny man's voice was heavy.

"The fact that it attacked the elk means its belly was hungry. But it killed the elk without taking a single bite, which means it no longer wishes to eat such prey. To a beast, that elk meat is incomparably rich and succulent, yet it no longer suits the tiger's palate!"

The Jianghu folk went still.

The tiger would not eat elk, yet earlier it had eaten half of Young Master Wang's body.

That meant its diet had changed from the birds and beasts scattered across the mountains... to humans.

In Great Xia, something that ate people exclusively could no longer be called a wild beast.

People called it—a demon.

(End of this chapter)