Chapter 222: Releasing the Tiger Back to the Mountains 3.0

Not bad, not bad. Dahu is truly Zhang Ping'an's favorite; not only is he large, but he also has a smooth gait when running, and his footsteps are very light.

Zhang Ping'an did not enter the Tianshan Shanjie directly in Wushi, but instead chose the spot closest to his maternal grandparents, which was where Dahu's parents once lived.

In truth, Zhang Ping'an could not bear to part with them. Even though their lifespans had greatly increased, they would not exceed sixty years. If he kept them in the space, they would not live past five years; in the outside world, there was still a chance they might meet again.

At three in the morning, Zhang Ping'an arrived at his destination: the tiger den that had once belonged to Dahu's parents.

"Dahu, you've worked hard. Rest for a while."

"Roar."

Zhang Ping'an took out a large basin, filled it with Space Water, and brought out ten wild rabbits and pheasants to feed Dahu, while he himself ate a little something.

"Dahu, I plan to dig an escape tunnel for your den, just in case someone with a gun comes by, so you can escape in time."

"Roar."

"You have to accept it whether you want to or not. In the future, you must continue to lie low and develop as before. When I have time, I will come back to see you. As for Erhu and Sanhu, I will place them on other mountain peaks."

"From now on, you must not fight anymore. Even if you both take a fancy to the same tigress, you are the eldest, so you should yield to your two younger brothers."

"Roar..."

"It's decided then."

Zhang Ping'an began using the space to excavate, digging a winding path to the other side of the mountain, and finally dug a large pit two meters in diameter and one meter deep, filling it with Space Water.

"Done. If there's danger, run out the other way. Drink the water sparingly. I'm leaving now to find territory for Erhu and the others."

"Roar, roar." Dahu knew Zhang Ping'an was leaving and rubbed against him reluctantly.

"Alright, alright, I'll come back to find you when I have the chance. By the way, Dahu, do you eat ginseng?"

Zhang Ping'an suddenly remembered that in his past life, it seemed there were tigers that mutated after swallowing ginseng; not only were their bodies larger than other tigers of the same age, but their explosive power was also stronger.

"Sniff, sniff."

"Awoo." Dahu swallowed it in one gulp.

"..."

Zhang Ping'an observed Dahu for a while after it ate the ginseng, but saw no reaction, so he simply stopped worrying. In any case, tigers were creatures of pure Yang, and mere ginseng could not harm it.

Then, Zhang Ping'an randomly released nearly a hundred litters of wild rabbits, a herd of ten red deer, a herd of seven wild sheep, and a herd of five wild boars in the surrounding area; these were all future rations for Dahu.

After three hours of rapid travel—during which Zhang Ping'an did not forget to scatter grass seeds—he was now three mountain peaks away from Dahu, which should be about right.

"Come out, Erhu."

"Roar."

"Your big brother has been settled on that mountain peak over there," Zhang Ping'an said, pointing to the east.

"Roar."

The mountain peak where Erhu was located had an elevation of at least five or six thousand meters; their current position was about in the lower-middle section, around twenty-five hundred meters.

It was the same tiger den; Zhang Ping'an dug one for Erhu as well, fed him ginseng, released a corresponding number of small animals, and after giving some instructions, went to find territory for Sanhu.

By now, the sky was bright. After four more hours of travel, Zhang Ping'an selected a location for Sanhu. After arranging the same package for him, he decided to head to a higher altitude to see if he could collect medicinal herbs like snow lotus and fritillaria.

"Screech."

"Go, see where there are snow lotuses, red deer, and mountain goats," Zhang Ping'an said. He had spent quite a bit on Sanhu just now and needed to replenish his supplies.

Zhang Ping'an climbed upward with his head down, collecting every medicinal herb he saw into the space. Even when he reached an altitude of over four thousand meters, he felt no discomfort at all. It was only then that he saw Huangmao the eagle circling above.

"Looks like it found a target."

Zhang Ping'an rushed to the location and saw a small group of strange-looking wild sheep. He didn't care what they were; he put them into the space first.

As he continued to climb, Zhang Ping'an kept his space scan active and finally spotted the Tianshan snow lotus. Goodness, it was truly beautiful—a beauty untainted by the mortal world, especially in the snow.

"Let's go." He dug up five plants before he was satisfied.

It was already past one in the afternoon, and Zhang Ping'an was exhausted; he hadn't really slept since he was on the train.

"Huangmao, you all stay here too. Your chicks are still small, so I won't give them to you for now. We'll see when there's an opportunity later."

These were the original Huangmao eagles; the sky was their home. In Sijiucheng, Zhang Ping'an would let them out to fly from time to time, but they mostly stayed in the space. Now, they had lived more than half their lives; if they kept wasting away in the space, they would die of old age.

"Screech."

"Go on, go on."

Zhang Ping'an prepared to descend the mountain. He felt that he shouldn't be too far from his maternal grandparents' place, and he might be able to make it before dark tonight.

"Yo? There are actually tigers here."

When Zhang Ping'an descended to twenty-five hundred meters, he saw a family of four—a tigress with three cubs. Two of the cubs were female. This was the only mountain peak where Zhang Ping'an had seen traces of tigers so far.

"This is closest to Sanhu; maybe in the future, they can even have cubs with Sanhu and the others. I might as well help out."

Taking advantage of the moment the tigress was out hunting, Zhang Ping'an took the four tiger cubs into the space for a baptism—simply put, he fed them Space Water—and would leave some behind here. Perhaps these four little ones could even gain simple intelligence.

Zhang Ping'an skillfully carved out a stone trough, poured in Space Water, and released the full, milk-fed, and fierce-looking little ones back from the space.

He wiped away his tracks and scattered pasture seeds all around; a hundred litters of rabbits would be enough to support them as they grew up.

Even if the tigress noticed something was wrong when she returned, animal instinct would make her drink the Space Water and eat the animals that were beneficial to them.

By the time he finished all this, it was already four in the afternoon. He continued to scatter grass seeds while descending the mountain. Once out of the mountain range, Zhang Ping'an switched to his horse, picked a direction, and began to gallop.

"Where did this bird-brained place send me?"

Zhang Ping'an held the crude map in his hand and fell into deep thought. He checked it repeatedly and felt he hadn't taken the wrong path, but he couldn't understand why it was nothing but Gobi desert.

"Friend, 【unintelligible】..." Zhang Ping'an had to look for the road while walking. He finally encountered a middle-aged Uyghur man and couldn't wait to go up and ask for directions.

"Is that so? Then you're going in the wrong direction. Turn back, and you should be there around eight or nine o'clock."

"..."

"Thank you."

Zhang Ping'an thanked him, turned his horse around, and began to travel with his head down again. Finally, at nearly ten o'clock, he arrived at his grandmother's house.

"Whoa~" Zhang Ping'an dismounted and knocked on the door.

"Bang, bang, bang"—if you don't knock hard, you won't hear a thing inside.

"Grandpa, open the door, it's me, Ping'an."

"Lao Er, is someone knocking at the door outside?"

"Seems like it, I'll go out and take a look," said Dong Dali.

The eldest uncle had arrived with Zhang Ping'an's family at past eight o'clock, and now they had already finished eating and gone to sleep.

"Grandpa, open the door, it's me, Ping'an."

"Ping'an? Aren't you busy in Wushi? How did you get back so fast?"

"Second uncle, I rode over as soon as I finished my work. My father and mother have arrived, right?"

"They have, they've already gone to sleep. Come in quickly, you haven't eaten yet, right? I'll go cook you a bowl of noodles."

"Alright, sorry to trouble you, second uncle."

"This child, still being polite with your second uncle." Most of them had already gone to sleep, otherwise Dong Dali would have called them up long ago.

"Dad, it's Ping'an who came, he rode over on horseback, and is now taking the horse to the stable."

"Quick, go prepare something for my grandson to eat, he definitely hasn't eaten on this journey."

"Alright."

"Neigh—"

"Good fellow, I didn't expect you to still remember me after five or six years." The little horse from back then was already fully grown, and its size wasn't small, though of course it was much smaller than the one Zhang Ping'an had brought over.