Feng'Er was not a woman of courage, nor a faithful one.
After Brother Xiong left, she initially waited, but when the bad news came, she decided not to wait anymore and hooked up with the strong and healthy Zhang Shisi from the village.
After their dalliance, Zhang Shisi inquired about Li Yuan's situation, and Feng'Er said Li Yuan had been missing in the mountains for a month.
Zhang Shisi then asked about Li Yuan's wife.
Feng'Er said too much, let something slip, mentioning how beautiful Yan Yu used to be and how she suddenly changed, leading Zhang Shisi to guess she might have "put on makeup," so he asked Feng'Er for help.
Initially, Feng'Er disagreed, but unable to withstand Zhang Shisi's persuasion, she agreed to drug her, and then Zhang Shisi sneaked into the house at night.
After drugging her in the evening, she laid Yan Yu on the bed and returned home as if nothing had happened.
That night, she couldn't sleep.
By midnight, she suddenly heard screams outside, hurried to the window, only to see on the Yellow Mud Dao of the village, a spotted tiger dragging a person along the ground.
The screams were coming from Zhang Shisi.
Feng'Er's mind went blank, buzzing, and she was so frightened that she dove under the covers, not daring to go out even by daylight, until she saw Lady Yan break in with a knife.
At this point, she couldn't withstand the villagers' questioning and confessed, weeping, "Sister Yan, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to harm you. I just wanted to rely on a man, just wanted to rely on a man... boohoo..."
Yan Yu looked at her coldly and said, "Report it to the government."
"Sister Yan, Sister Yan... I didn't mean to harm you, I didn't mean to..." Feng'Er cried and shouted.
Yan Yu was unmoved and asked, "Have you thought, if Zhang Shisi defiled me, how would I be?"
Feng'Er instantly fell silent.
...
The Little Ink Workshop was noisy all day, perhaps out of fear the tiger might return in the night. As soon as it got dark, every household hid inside, closing windows and blocking doors.
Those with oxen, chickens, ducks, geese, or sheep led their livestock into the house to be tied up.
Some were puzzled, wondering why the tiger attacked a person when the village had livestock.
After thinking it over, they concluded it was just Zhang Shisi's bad luck running at night, and coincidentally being spotted by the descending tiger.
Who else would the tiger attack if not him?
At midnight.
Li Yuan quietly returned home through the back door.
In the dark, Lady Yan threw herself into his arms.
Li Yuan said, "I really stink today."
Lady Yan tightly embraced his waist, pressing her face against his chest, and softly said, "I don't mind your smell."
Saying this, she began to tug at Li Yuan's pants.
After a muffled, passionate bustle.
Lady Yan lay in Li Yuan's arms, gently asking, "Brother Yuan, did you really tame a tiger?"
Li Yuan said, "I told you before."
Lady Yan said, "I didn't expect my man to have such skill, taming a tiger, it feels like a dream."
Suddenly, Lady Yan said, "It won't bite you, will it?"
Li Yuan said, "No."
Lady Yan nervously said, "You better be careful. This tiger devours people, how can it be trained?"
"Don't worry about that." Li Yuan changed the subject, "Tell me what's happening here, there must be bloodstains left in the yard by that hooligan dragged by the tiger, right? Is there any suspicion?"
Lady Yan relayed the events in full detail.
Li Yuan couldn't help but be surprised, her handling was incredibly prudent.
His own wife, unexpectedly had a cunning side.
"What about Feng'Er?"
"I asked the people in the workshop to report to the authorities, mentioning both the tiger and Feng'Er, but not a single government official has come yet." Lady Yan sighed, "I fear there are few officials left in the county... the world is... sigh..."
Li Yuan thought for a while and said, "Tomorrow night and the night after, I won't be back. I'll explore the mountain paths again.
If I find a way to a good place, I'll take you with me.
If I don't, or the place is worse than Shanbao County, I'll injure myself and return.
Starting now, I'll only drink water without eating..."
Lady Yan wanted to say more, but thinking about how her man could even tame a man-eating tiger, what else was there to doubt?
Thus, she just leaned against her man and softly said, "Be careful..."
...
...
Next early morning.
Li Yuan returned to the mountain, sharpened the tips of five arrows, and carefully placed them in the quiver, then picked some suitable stones for slingshotting and packed them in the bag.
Carrying the Earth Bow, with a Firewood Blade tucked in his waist, he mounted the fierce tiger.
"Xiaohuang, roar! (Xiaohuang, go)"
"Roar? (Where to)"
"Roar! (Eat)"
After a brief exchange, the tiger began to run.
During this time, the tiger had eaten plenty of meat and was full of energy.
One human and one tiger traveled together, quickly passing through the mountain pass that separated Erchong Mountain and Triple Mountain. Sometimes Li Yuan rode on the tiger, sometimes they traveled together, and sometimes they stopped to rest.
With Xiaohuang around, Li Yuan almost didn't need to worry about getting lost. No matter how much they circled in the forest, the tiger could always find its way back to Erchong Mountain.
With this, their pace was much faster.
In just half a day, they had already covered the furthest distance that Li Yuan had ever reached before.
And he still had a day left.
Another half day passed, and the man and tiger were still in the mountains, surprisingly unable to find their way out.
"Xiaohuang, roar? (Xiaohuang, have you been here before)"
"Roar... (I have)"
Li Yuan glanced at Xiaohuang and noticed it was inexplicably lacking in spirit, perhaps it was tired.
He looked around. The deeper into the mountains they went, the denser the forest was, with strange plants filling his vision. Wild vines and air roots were everywhere, resembling large pythons and long snakes hanging all around.
Towering giant trees and the surrounding peaks together formed a world for giants, further highlighting his insignificance.
"Roar roar roar? (Is there a human village?)"
"Roar... (I don't know)"
"Roar? (You don't know?)"
"Roar... (Let's go back)"
"Roar? (Why?)"
"Roar... (Let's go back)"
As the man and tiger conversed, Li Yuan began to notice something strange, but perhaps it was because Xiaohuang wasn't used to this place?
As night fell, they paused to rest for a while.
In this desolate mountain, occasionally some wild beasts would pass by, with numbers floating between "0" and "8", not posing much of a threat.
Li Yuan lit a campfire and rested for a while, leaning against Xiaohuang.
He felt a bit troubled.
He decided to set off before dawn to continue exploring. If they couldn't find a way out by noon, they would have to return.
...
The next day.
As dawn barely broke, Li Yuan opened his eyes and used roasted meat to wake Xiaohuang.
A hazy mist floated in the forest before dawn...
After Xiaohuang finished the roasted meat, it shook its body and continued to carry Li Yuan into the mountains.
Around the time of the Chen hour, the mist cleared.
The winter sun shone warmly from the sky.
But after walking a bit further, the air suddenly turned chilly, with a hint of coldness.
Xiaohuang suddenly stopped in its tracks. Li Yuan urged it several times, but Xiaohuang stubbornly refused to move forward, with an inexplicable fear in its eyes.
Seeing Li Yuan repeatedly urging it, Xiaohuang abruptly bypassed the main road and darted through the woods to a solitary cliff.
"Roar? (Are you showing me something)"
"Roar... (Yes)"
Li Yuan jumped off the tiger, standing at the edge of the cliff, gazing into the distance.
"There's nothing..."
His murmur had barely left his lips when he swallowed it back.
His neck felt like it was being choked, as if the world had come to a halt.
In the distant canyon, there lay an enclosed mountain village, and even from afar, a sense of decay and mold could be felt, like a giant corpse.
But that was not all; incongruously, there was also a small bridge with flowing water inside the village. The water, without beginning or end, flowed with a babbling sound, and something black seemed to float in it, appearing indistinct yet exuding an extremely unsettling eeriness.
More importantly, a "number" was eerily floating above the entire village.
This number was a glaring blood-red question mark.
"What the hell is that?"
At that moment, a bone-chilling, peculiar sound of a door opening suddenly came from a distance, light and sharp, yet very clear.
"What sound is that?"
Li Yuan looked at Xiaohuang, uncertain if he was hearing things.
But Xiaohuang clearly heard it; it was terrified out of its mind and turned to flee at once.
Li Yuan was taken aback, not understanding what was happening, but had no time to ponder. He turned and sprinted with all his might, following the tiger in a mad rush back.