For the past two days, Jade Mountain River had kept to the edge of the woods while taking his sheep out to graze. He wanted to see whether that tiger would come prowling through again.
Wild beasts like these were supposed to be clever and extremely vindictive. Once they had a grudge against someone, they would practically fight to the death. Jade Mountain River had suffered reprisals from a wolf pack while grazing his animals at the Summer Pasture, but he had a gun, and that whole pack had ended up as hides.
So Jade Mountain River felt sure the tiger would come back for revenge once its wound healed. Since it had spotted him from so far away, he wasn't the least bit worried that it wouldn't be able to find him.
That was why he had kept his gun close these past two days, planning to shoot the big tiger if it returned.
Li Long had said tiger pelts were very valuable. Jade Mountain River thought that if he killed this tiger, skinned it, dried the pelt, and gave it to Li Long, that would surely repay the favor of renovating his Winter Camp.
But two or three days passed without any sign of activity around the Summer Pasture. Never mind the tiger-he hadn't even seen a wolf. Even the herds of wild mountain goats he often saw on distant Gravel Mountain had disappeared. Jade Mountain River knew the tiger probably wasn't coming.
Still, he refused to give up. Over the past two days, he had expanded his grazing range as much as possible, driving his cattle and sheep toward the mountains, almost to the edge of his Summer Pasture.
The Summer Pasture ended at a mountain that rose abruptly like a wall, blocking off the grassland.
Wild