Chapter 17: The Tiger-Hunting Hero

"Yawn!"

The next day, Zhang Jie, who got up and washed on time, let out a big yawn.

With two big dark circles under his eyes, he brushed his teeth listlessly.

Speaking of which, don't look at our Great Song as an ancient world, but in fact, toothbrushes and toothpaste had already appeared.

Toothbrushes were generally made of pig bristles, and toothpaste was made by mixing refined salt, pearl powder, bamboo charcoal powder, etc.

Of course, only big families could afford such toothbrushes and toothpaste.

As for ordinary commoners, they generally just made do with willow branches or mulberry twigs.

At most, they added a little coarse salt.

"Pfft!"

Seeing Zhang Jie's listless appearance, Pan Jinlian, who was on the side, couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Zhang Jie glanced at Pan Jinlian, whose charm was even more than yesterday,

while sighing in his heart that it really seemed like there were only tired-to-death bulls,

and no plowed-to-death fields, while continuing to brush his teeth.

Think about what he had experienced last night?

First, he fought the entire First World War,

then traveled back and forth for dozens of *li* to wipe out the entire Wild Boar stronghold,

and finally, upon returning, he fought the entire Second World War.

Even an iron-forged man couldn't withstand such creation!

Zhang Jie somewhat understood why some animals finished in ten, twenty seconds, or even a few seconds.

Besides the fact that the wild was unsafe and taking too long would easily attract predators, it was also really too exhausting.

Zhang Jie, whose time was measured in two-hour periods, expressed that it seemed a bit unbearable!

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Zhang Jie, who took the mirror and started combing his hair, looked at his slightly haggard self in the mirror,

and instantly, like Chu Yunfei, the commander of the 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army—no,

it was Lu Bu, the three-surname slave, who possessed him, and he said viciously:

"I have been harmed by wine and sex, and am so haggard. From today on, I will quit drinking!"

Pan Jinlian on the side blinked her beautiful big eyes, as if saying:

Young Master, it seems you have never drunk alcohol!

However, the clever she didn't choose to expose Zhang Jie.

After all, a man's stubbornness and vanity in some matters were harder than the corner of a city wall.

Even the old butler who came to report the situation in the house daily reminded Zhang Jie implicitly:

"Young Master, the love between men and women is human nature,

and a little indulgence is a matter of course, but you must pay attention to moderation!"

"Got it, got it."

Zhang Jie, feeling uninterested, waved his hand to indicate he knew.

The old butler was a capable hand left to him by his father, Zhang Dahu.

Thanks to his management over the past three years, Zhang Jie had been able to turn a deaf ear to things outside the window,

and focus only on reading the books of sages, preparing to take the imperial examination for a scholarly rank.

The old butler's grandfather was the butler of the Zhang family, and he was already the third generation.

He was loyal to the Zhang family and very concerned about Zhang Jie, so Zhang Jie had always treated him as an elder.

The only pity was that the old butler only had a daughter who had already married and no son.

The fourth-generation butler of the Zhang family had no successor.

Otherwise, his son would definitely be Zhang Jie's book boy, preparing to become the fourth-generation butler of the Zhang family.

Because Zhang Jie had Pan Jinlian to serve him, and had heard about what other scholars did to their book boys,

he didn't look for another book boy.

Otherwise, wouldn't the position of the book boy for the only son of Zhang Dahu be fought over in this Yanggu County?

"No!

Tonight I will go to the shared space to urge the Yitian Zhang Jie, making him not practice martial arts properly!"

Zhang Jie, who had lost face in front of Pan Jinlian and the old butler, decided

that tonight he would go to the shared space to urge the Yitian Zhang Jie to practice martial arts properly.

If it weren't for him being lazy when practicing martial arts in the past, how would he, Zhang Jie, have fallen into today's predicament?

Water Margin Zhang Jie: Put down personal quality, enjoy a wicked life,

refuse mental internal friction, go crazy directly when things happen,

rather than wronging yourself, it's better to make things difficult for others.

Well, this shared space is a brand-new version; they can go whenever they want.

However, because no new Zhang Jie had arrived, the Yitian Zhang Jie and he didn't have so many topics,

and he, who had tasted the sweetness, had been busy starting world wars these past two nights,

so he hadn't met the Yitian Zhang Jie for two nights.

……

At noon, while Zhang Jie was taking a nap, recuperating, and planning

to wash away his shame at night, the entire Yanggu County became noisy.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

Gongs and drums were loud, and firecrackers were ringing, resounding through half of Yanggu County.

"The tiger-hunting hero is here!"

"The tiger-hunting hero is here!"

A crowd of commoners surrounded an extremely sturdy man, at least nine feet tall, walking slowly from the city gate.

"What happened?"

Some commoners who didn't know what was going on grabbed someone who was following along and asked.

The person grabbed wasn't angry, but said happily:

"The tiger-hunting hero has come to our Yanggu County!"

"Hunting a tiger?

Is it necessary to have such a big formation just to kill a mere big worm (tiger)?"

The commoners who didn't know were still confused.

To say that this big worm was really not rare in Yanggu and Qinghe counties.

In the deep mountains and old forests nearby, there were probably over a hundred big worms, big and small, added together.

Among the hunters famous in the ten miles and eight villages nearby, which one hadn't hunted a big worm with the hunting bow in their hands?

In other words, if you hadn't caught a big worm, were you even embarrassed to call yourself a famous hunter?

The most famous and powerful hunter nearby was rumored to be able to, like hunting wild geese,

shoot an arrow into the eye of a big worm without damaging the tiger skin!

"It's different, this is different."

The informed commoner shook his head and said.

"Where is it different?"

The uninformed commoner asked.

"There are two points that are different."

The informed commoner stretched out two fingers.

"I'd like to hear the details."

The uninformed commoner made a gesture of washing his ears to listen.

Other commoners nearby, upon hearing that there was gossip, gathered around one after another.

The nature of our people to love gossip hadn't changed much even in this ancient world of the Great Song.

Being watched by so many people, the informed commoner, whose desire to show off was greatly satisfied, opened his mouth:

"The first difference is that this big worm is different."

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

Several people in the crowd urged repeatedly.

"Do you all know about the tiger on Jingyang Ridge?"

The informed commoner didn't say it directly but asked instead.

"Who doesn't know this?

Three or four months ago, for some reason, a tiger with a hanging forehead and white forehead suddenly came to Jingyang Ridge.

This big worm was not only several times larger than other big worms but also unusually cunning.

It frequently injured people on Jingyang Ridge, and many people had already lost their lives in its mouth,

for which the government had to post notices to warn passing pedestrians.

Not only ordinary commoners and passing merchants suffered,

but even experienced hunters were attacked by it many times,

and seven or eight hunters had already lost their lives so far."

A merchant who specialized in trading in Yanggu and Qinghe counties,

and needed to pass through Jingyang Ridge, said with lingering fear.

However, being a merchant in this world, he was naturally not a stupid person, so he said happily:

"Could it be that this tiger is the one on Jingyang Ridge?"

"Indeed."

The informed commoner nodded affirmatively.

"Good, that's great!"

The commoners nearby, upon hearing this news, clapped and cheered one after another.

Although most of them had never been to Jingyang Ridge and had no relatives or friends harmed by the tiger,

they were humans just like the victims, and in empathy, they couldn't help but cheer upon hearing that the man-eating big worm had been killed.

"What about the other point?"

Someone discovered that only one point had been said!

Finding that there was still gossip to eat, the commoners focused their attention on the informed commoner again.

"The second point is that the person who hunted the tiger is different."

The informed commoner continued, shaking his head and swaying his body.

"What's different about this?

Hunting a tiger is nothing more than using hunting bows, traps, and having many people."

Someone who knew a little about hunting said disdainfully.

"These people are talking about the tiger-hunting hero, not tiger-hunting heroes.

Could it be that some hunter hunted this rampant big worm single-handedly?"

A middle-aged scholar dressed in a green shirt analyzed.

This middle-aged scholar was surnamed Li; although he was over forty and still hadn't passed the provincial examination, he opened a private school in this Yanggu County,

and regardless of whether the tuition of the children who came to study was much or little,

he treated them all equally, so he had quite a reputation in Yanggu County.

"Mr. Li is right."

"That's exactly it!"

Other commoners nodded convincingly, deeply agreeing.

Although hunting a big worm was nothing, hunting such a big worm that had injured

or killed dozens of people, and doing it single-handedly, indeed deserved the title of tiger-hunting hero.

"Not so, not so."

At this time, the informed commoner, as if possessed by Bao Butong, a family general of the Murong family in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, continued to shake his head and sway his body.

"I ask the teacher to enlighten me."

This Mr. Li lived up to his reputation; he behaved with propriety in everything,

and even treated this ordinary commoner who had no scholarly rank with courtesy.

"Mr. Li, you are too polite."

The informed commoner, whose vanity was greatly satisfied, hurriedly helped Mr. Li up.

"Everyone, that big worm was not killed by hunting bows or traps,

but was beaten to death alive by a single wooden staff and a pair of iron fists!"

The informed commoner said everything he knew.

"What? There is such a thing?"

"There is actually such a strong man!"

"This can't be fake, right?"

As soon as the informed commoner's voice fell, the scene was instantly in an uproar.

People discussed it one after another, and most didn't believe it.

It wasn't that they were ignorant, but that the matter of beating a tiger to death with bare hands

was simply too unbelievable and hard to believe.

Even those who hadn't read books and hadn't seen a big worm knew through word of mouth that

the strength of the big worm's tendons and bones and the sharpness of its claws and teeth far exceeded that of humans.

Those who could subdue a fierce tiger with their flesh and blood were no longer human, but gods or Buddhas.

Buddhism worshiped a Taming-Tiger Luo Han, who was ranked alongside the Dragon-Taming Luo Han.

Dragon-Taming and Taming-Tiger were both great powers worshiped by people!

"Everyone, instead of discussing it here, why don't we go and see together?

After all, hearing is false, seeing is believing."

Mr. Li, seeing this, suggested.

"Mr. Li is right."

"Let's do that."

People whose curiosity had been thoroughly aroused immediately agreed to this suggestion.

Presumably, even if the informed commoner had a suspicion of exaggeration, since it could attract so much attention,

the tiger-hunting hero must have some real material, right?

People were discussing, struggling with who could beat a fierce tiger to death with bare fists; did they have three heads and six arms?

Or were they a giant man eight feet tall with a waist circumference of eight feet?

Led by Mr. Li, the crowd headed toward the gradually growing tiger-hunting hero's procession. ===== CHAPTER 18 =====

Led by Scholar Li, the group headed toward the increasingly large team of tiger-hunting heroes.