Shooting the Tiger

By late August, the tiger hunt had gone unbelievably smoothly over the next few days... of course, that was Liu Acheng's opinion.

As Liu Acheng saw it, the equipment was ready, the men were assembled, they had found traces of the tiger, several pit traps had been dug, and patrols kept searching. Naturally, all that remained was to sit tight and wait for the traps to work, or run straight into the tiger. What else could they do?

If that wasn't going smoothly, what was?

If the tiger fell into a pit or they stumbled across it, that was luck. If it stayed out of the pits and couldn't be found, that was like the heavens deciding to rain. Could you curse the heavens for that?

Yet to Liu Huzi, the very same situation meant they had made no progress whatsoever!

Every day, he left early and returned late, leading twenty or thirty Able-Bodied Men armed with spears, heavy bows, hemp ropes, fishing nets, and wooden clubs from one pit to another, terrified of missing an opportunity. Whenever he came back, he was certain to be weighed down with worry; he had even developed blisters at the corners of his mouth... as he put it, he feared Gao Jian would send someone tomorrow and they would have to meet the Grand Commander the day after, leaving all his lengthy preparations for the tiger hunt wasted.

Likewise, a fellow named Liu Jili wore a constant look of misery, plainly worried about their progress too.

Liu Acheng, who now had winter clothes, merely wanted to laugh at them and couldn't be bothered to get involved.

But truth be told, while Liu Acheng laughed at others, he was doing rather poorly at his own job. He had been roaming the surrounding area these past few days, hoping to find new markets and expand his sales channels, but however hard he searched, he found nothing suitable.

First, most nearby markets were Private Estates, like that run by Master Du Ming of the Way of the Celestial Masters. These fortified manors prized a closed economic loop and complete self-sufficiency. They wouldn't let you in.

Second, public markets... official markets, in other words, did exist, and were even bustling, but all of them took a share of your goods as tax. Generally, whatever you brought, one tenth was levied upon entry. Unless you could guarantee sales or had a shop inside, it wasn't worth it. Most were also rather far away... besides, if he was desperate enough to enter an official market, why not head straight to Jiankang and have some fun?

As for similar informal markets at crossroads, distance wasn't the only problem. Their scope for expansion was limited too, because such markets existed only along major transport routes like Jingkou Avenue and the Jurong roads. Given the present location and transport capacity of the Liu Clan of Pengcheng's refugee camp, they could only follow the road left or right from their existing market. Eight out of ten passersby would therefore be the same people, making the results extremely limited.

Thus, Liu Acheng's strategy of "making the sandal-and-mat business bigger and stronger" had genuinely run into difficulties.

And with the weather visibly turning colder and their rice-straw Grass Sandals gradually losing their market, he was one step away from sending Old Wang to the crossroads market to shout, "Grass Sandals aren't selling! Please help the refugees from Northern Chu!"

Of course, they were making efforts in other directions too. For instance, the sandal-weaving team had begun trying to shift production, using retted and sun-dried hemp vines to make hemp sandals that took longer to produce but offered greater added value. Lined with reed fluff and rice straw, these were the most common outdoor winter footwear among ordinary households.

But however hard Liu Acheng worked, and however anxious Liu Huzi became, none of it stopped everyone else from being utterly unconcerned.

That was right: nobody cared about the employment anxieties of these few young men in the camp.

Because Liu Rengong had personally announced that official resettlement aid was on its way... these refugees were like that: with confidence and without it, they were two entirely different groups. Everyone had therefore spent these days strengthening the camp and stockpiling supplies for winter. Almost visibly, the whole camp was flourishing.

Stacks of firewood were everywhere. Ditches, fences, and paths had connected up almost without anyone noticing, and the shacks had become noticeably sturdier and more spacious. Hemp vines, reed fluff, even common medicinal herbs-whenever these refugees discovered a source of anything useful, they immediately gathered every last bit and stored it away.

Liu Acheng even saw a pile of duck feathers that had been washed and dried repeatedly!

He had no idea where they came from, but their purpose was obvious even across more than a thousand years: they were getting into the down business... if it kept them warm, what did a little rank smell matter?

There were dissenting voices. In particular, news of the Way of the Celestial Masters' fortified manor had indeed attracted many bachelors. But these bachelors were exactly like the water slaves: they genuinely didn't have five pecks of rice either, leaving them at the same table as Liu Huzi, fretting helplessly.

Under these circumstances, on the twenty-fifth of August, Gao Jian sent his nephew Gao Heng, still a teenager, riding over in person with a verbal message. He explained the situation to Liu Zhi in detail: ten days earlier, Chen Kui, the Western General of the Gentlemen of the Palace from the Yingchuan Chen Clan who commanded the Shouchun garrison, had used Grand Commander Chu Pou's southward return to Guangling as grounds to burn Shouchun's provisions and military stores, then withdrawn south himself and submitted a memorial explaining the circumstances. The court had finally acknowledged the failure of this northern expedition. Meanwhile, Grand Commander Chu Pou had returned to Jingkou while submitting a memorial admitting fault. Gao Jian had seized the opportunity to submit a formal request, and the Grand Commander-in-Chief's Office had approved it, deciding to receive the leaders of the refugees who had followed him south on the first three days of September to offer reassurance.

Now Gao Jian had managed to get Liu Zhi's name included, so Liu Zhi should finish his preparations before September, then go to either Iron Urn City or Jincheng on the last day of August, as circumstances required, and await his summons.

Gao Heng would come again with the notification, then accompany Liu Rengong and help contact acquaintances within the Grand Commander-in-Chief's Office.

The explanation was exceptionally detailed and the arrangements exceptionally sound, leaving no room for further comment... in response, everyone in the camp, Liu Acheng included, felt nothing but gratitude toward Garrison Commander Gao and the Grand Commander.

At most, Liu Acheng thought one step further: Chen Qun's descendants are still rich and prominent? They really are an entrenched aristocratic clan.

The only person who felt the heavens had collapsed was Liu Huzi.

Yet the fellow seemed to have some luck after all. On the second-to-last day of August, beneath a high sky and thin clouds, the whole camp seemed a little restless. Liu Huzi himself had actually abandoned the tiger hunt by then. Not only did he stay in that day, but when he met Liu Cheng that morning, he said that once their audience with the Grand Commander had been settled in a few days, Liu Acheng should take some men to return the equipment. He wouldn't go himself, to spare himself the embarrassment.

Clearly, he had truly given up.

But at noon that very day, while he and his brothers were putting their clothes in order under their father's scolding, Liu Jili rode up on a scrawny horse, drenched in sweat. Without even dismounting, he reined in with one hand and called from a distance:

"Brother Ahu, there's blood in the pit on the northern hill! That Great Tiger from the northern hills must have fallen in, then struggled out wounded..."

Before he could finish, the short, sturdy Liu Huzi sprang straight into the air. "Really?"

Liu Jili said nothing. Instead, he opened his other hand, which he had kept clenched. Bloodstained tiger hairs immediately scattered in the autumn wind, and one tuft even brushed past Liu Huzi's face.

At the sight, Liu Ahu froze for a moment, then threw all else aside. He stripped on the spot and darted bare-chested into a tent nearby. Moments later, he emerged in a Coarse Tunic and Trousers with a Hemp Shirt, and then pulled on a suit of Leather Two-Panel Armor. Taking up his heavy bow, he shouted repeatedly, rallying his tiger-hunting team and heading out.

It was as though some summons had reached him.

Everything happened so quickly that his two elder brothers, who were also trying on clothes beside him, could only gape. They had no time to stop him.

Of course, it was also possible that Liu Sheng and Liu Pei already knew they couldn't stop this brother of theirs-or even had no desire to do so.

By the time Liu Rengong learned the news and came hurrying over in his Liang Guan, clutching a pair of hemp Grass Sandals he was still weaving, his youngest son had vanished completely. His face immediately went pale with anger.

Among those who hurried over with him, Grandpa Liu San seemed about to speak, but Liu Acheng stepped in first to soothe him. "Lord Ren, Lord Ren, you know Brother Ahu's temper... without you standing right in front of him, who could possibly stop him?"

Liu Zhi's face remained pale. His gaze swept over his two older sons, and he sounded helpless. "If he'd found that tiger two days earlier, I'd have accepted it. But this afternoon we're supposed to go to Iron Urn City with young Gao. What use is hunting a tiger now, whether he succeeds or fails? Besides, nine times out of ten, it'll just be suffering for nothing."

Neither son spoke.

Seeing that, Liu Zhi said no more to them, merely turning toward the youth beside him. "In that case, Acheng, I'll have to trouble you to make the trip. Take some more men over and provide support!"

"Me?" Liu Acheng gaped, pointing at his own face. "Lord Ren, what use would I be? I don't know the first thing about hunting tigers. Besides, they have a good dozen spears and heavy bows! Why would they need a boy who hasn't the strength to truss a chicken?"

Liu Zhi sighed and spoke earnestly. "Acheng, Acheng... I'm not worried about whether his hunt succeeds. If that great tiger kills him with a swipe, that's the fate of us father and son. I only want you to watch him, so that if he succeeds, nothing goes wrong when they rush it to the foot of Beigu Mountain; or if he fails and chases the tiger into someone else's estate, he doesn't cause trouble... so how am I asking you to hunt a tiger? I'm plainly asking to borrow your decisiveness and your understanding of worldly affairs! As for decisiveness, you dared kill a man with your own hands aboard that boat. As for understanding people, when those from the Way of the Celestial Masters mocked us, you brought the equipment back without showing the slightest concern to their faces. In a situation like this, if I don't rely on you, who can I rely on?"

Liu Acheng was rather bewildered. He accepted the part about killing someone aboard the boat, but what was this about people from the Way of the Celestial Masters mocking them while he acted unconcerned?

Of course, now that Liu Rengong had put it that way, there was no escaping the task. Coming to his senses, Liu Cheng could only nod, then immediately fetch his crossbow... by the time he brought it out, Liu Rengong had assembled a dozen Able-Bodied Men. They weren't as formidable as the hunting team, but they had armed themselves with clubs and lighter bows as best they could.

Liu Acheng didn't hurry to leave. First, he handed his most precious personal possession to several strong men and asked them to help string it... not cock it by pulling the string onto the trigger mechanism. Over these past days, he had learned his way around the crossbow. He couldn't pull the string onto the mechanism with his hands alone, but using both hands and feet, he could just about manage it, and had test-fired it several times... before that, however, someone strong had to attach the string to the bow mounted on it, which was effectively a recurve bow. He lacked the strength for that.

In fact, this job ordinarily required several people, and generally some leather, such as cowhide, for protective padding.

Once the string was fitted, Liu Acheng took the packet of bolts and some dry rations, then carried the crossbow out of the Mountain Valley Camp with his men, heading into the hills to the north. They soon reached the pit. Unsurprisingly, they didn't find Liu Huzi and Liu Jili's hunting team there. Fortunately, the earlier party was large and had left obvious tracks in the woods. Liu Acheng simply told everyone to be sure to take care and follow.

When they reached a mountain stream and spotted a group in the distance, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing their arrival, Liu Ahu hurriedly turned to greet them, holding up a bloodstained arrow. "Perfect timing, Acheng! That Great Tiger pierced its paw in the pit, then took one of my arrows here. A rock just scraped the arrow out, and it's still bleeding. It can't get far! Let's cross the stream and surround it on the hill to the north!"

With that, paying no heed to anything else, he leaped across on a tree they had felled over the stream. Liu Jili and the others followed.

Helpless, Liu Acheng could only lead his reinforcements carefully across.

Once across, he immediately used his foot to cock the crossbow. Then, following Liu Jili's instructions, they divided into small groups, spreading out a little as they pursued toward the sunny slope of the hill ahead. Before long, someone shouted, followed by the sounds of arrows and bolts cutting through the air.

After they had advanced another two or three hundred paces up the hill to encircle it, Liu Acheng finally got a clear look. A tiger perhaps three meters long including its tail, actually much smaller than he had imagined, suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

There was no helping it: the great tigers in later fiction and art were Siberian or Bengal tigers, while this was a typical South China Tiger. By South China Tiger standards, it was already large enough to deserve the name.

The Great Tiger was visibly injured and frightened. It came limping toward them, was startled by Liu Cheng's group, and hastily veered toward the summit.

Only then, looking up at it from behind, did Liu Acheng realize why people called a tiger a "great worm." Its back was covered in yellow-and-black stripes, and together with its tail, it formed one long shape, weaving across a hillside covered in chrysanthemums. From a distance, didn't it look just like a worm?

"Acheng, shoot it!" Liu Huzi's voice came from far away amid his wandering thoughts. "You've got a good position! Shoot its backside!"

Hearing the expert's command, Liu Cheng didn't dare delay. He raised the Military Crossbow he had already prepared and sighted along its aiming post at the great worm's rear. With a light pull of the trigger, the bolt flew through the air.

He had no idea where the bolt struck. All he saw was the Great Tiger's tail shoot upright, followed by an earth-shaking roar of fury. Then, ignoring its wounded paw, it sprinted straight toward the summit.

Liu Huzi was overjoyed and shouted again and again, "Got it! Got it! That striped bastard has nowhere left to go! After it! After it!"

Everyone around them rejoiced too. The tiger's roar and flight just now had been no act. After half a month of effort, who would have thought this tiger hunt might actually succeed?!

Now, on this bright and breezy day, atop Flower Mountain, the entire younger generation of the Xie clan from Black Robe Alley had turned out because of a silk letter from their uncle Xie An. They were drinking tea and gazing at the river.

Thanks to the insistence of their eldest younger sister, Xie Daoyun, and the timidity of Xie Quan, the eldest brother in practice among this generation of Xie children—as well as the fact that the Xie clan had just finished its mourning period—not only all the boys of their generation but all the girls had come along... the males who had yet to enter official service numbered fifteen, ranging from seventeen-year-old Xie Quan, nicknamed Xie Awei, to Xie Xuan, nicknamed Xie Ae, who was only seven this year. The unmarried girls numbered seven, ranging from twelve-year-old Xie Daoyun, who had just received her courtesy name, to Xie Wan's youngest daughter Xie Liuer, only four this year and still without a formal name. Twenty-two in all.

All were atop Flower Mountain.

Worried that lowborn riffraff might spy on them, and that their young masters and mistresses might catch a chill, the attendant servants and Slave Retainers had erected enormous curtains early on, screening out wind and onlookers. Only the side facing the river remained open, allowing them to enjoy the view.

The others were fine with it. After being cooped up for so long, they had finally managed an outing and could all amuse themselves. Only Xie Daoyun was deeply dissatisfied. As she put it, with curtains filling their eyes and no flowers in sight, what was there to see?

Since the two older sisters had married, none of her peers knew what to do with this oldest sister still at home. Xie Quan was particularly overwhelmed: one moment a younger brother wanted to compose poetry, the next a younger sister wanted tea. He also had to worry about someone catching a chill, terrified that something might go wrong with this hilltop excursion and leave him unable to answer to their fathers and uncles. Seeing his eldest younger sister raise another objection, he could only spread his hands.

The meaning was clear: Say whatever you like today, and I'll listen. But if I actually let things run wild as you suggest, then my name isn't Xie Awei.

At that, even Xie Daoyun could only seethe. She picked up Xie Liuer and went outside the curtains, prompting seven or eight maidservants and Slave Retainers to hurry after her, doing their best to shield the little mistress from the wind with their bodies so she wouldn't catch cold.

While the Xie Family children amused themselves, fully displaying the elegance of an exemplary, top-tier aristocratic clan on the rise, a muffled beastly roar seemed to come from the sunny slope behind them, in Shanyang.

It was certainly loud enough. No historical record indicated that any of these twenty-two children of the Chen Commandery Xie Clan was deaf, so in theory, all of them should have heard it.

But the great majority had no idea what the sound was.

Could it be thunder?

Yet on a clear afternoon, with brilliant sunshine and a pleasant breeze, where would thunder come from?

A very few vaguely thought of a wild beast, but could it be a horse neighing? Had someone led a horse up the mountain?

Among the hundred-odd Slave Retainers and maidservants accompanying them, however, several clearly realized something. After a moment's hesitation, an elderly woman gathering flowers for the young masters and mistresses asked the equally bewildered household steward beside her, rather uncertainly, "Steward Qian, could that be a tiger calling?"

"Accountant" was a title typically derived from an official post of the previous dynasty, referring to a senior servant responsible for everyday expenditure—in fact, simply what later generations would call a household manager. He had already suspected something, and hearing his guess confirmed, he shuddered involuntarily. He hastily turned and ran inside the curtains. Disregarding etiquette, he clutched Xie Quan's arm and said in a low, trembling voice, "Third Young Master, there seems to be a tiger calling behind the hill!"

Not understanding, Xie Quan raised his voice and asked, "What are you saying, Steward Qian? How could there be a tiger?"

During this exchange, the Xie Family children around them remained bewildered, not yet grasping what it meant. The other Slave Retainers inside the curtains, however, had long since grown anxious. At these words, men and women alike began trembling in both legs. And that wasn't all: suddenly, someone seemed to be shouting outside, followed by people running and yelling close to the curtains.

At first, it was rather confused, but very soon everyone heard clearly: "A tiger's coming!"

Steward Qian could endure no more and ordered sharply, "Quickly, protect the young masters!"

Even though the Slave Retainers around him understood, they didn't know how to respond for the moment. Were they to protect them where they stood, or escort them out through the curtains?

Amid their confused hesitation, in broad daylight, an overpowering rank smell suddenly came from behind the curtains, accompanied by heavy panting.

Then came a sight that every member of this generation of the Chen Commandery Xie Clan would remember, carved into their bones, for the rest of their lives. A terrifyingly large tiger with slanted eyes and a white forehead burst through the curtains, caught its paw, and actually tumbled head over heels into the middle of the enclosure. After rolling over, it landed squarely on its rump, truly the king of the mountain, majestic and imposing. Yet the instant it sat, for some reason, the great tiger seemed to have suffered the most grievous injustice imaginable. Standing on the fallen curtains and staring at the dumbstruck Xie children all around it, it let out a roar with every ounce of strength it possessed.

That roar was truly a tiger's cry shaking the mountain woods, a wind sweeping through the flowers. Accompanied by the smells of blood and filth, it seemed almost tangible as it shook everything around it. Above and below, left and right, men and women, old and young, all scattered at once.

The loyal Slave Retainers threw caution aside, carrying their little masters and mistresses on their backs, dragging them along, or hoisting them over their shoulders, desperately getting them outside the curtains to safety.

This scene was just like that other moment.

------A dividing line for that other moment------

In his youth, Emperor Taizu lived in Jingkou and once pursued a tiger across a stream.

-Old Book of Qi, Basic Annals, Volume Two: Emperor Gao, the Great Ancestor, Part Two