Chapter 37: Killing the Tiger

Having eaten his fill and drunk a stomach full of strong tea.

Zhang Gui returned to his room comfortably, only to see Auntie Caiyang waiting for him.

"Mother, aren't you asleep?"

"I can't sleep.

Son, mother feels that our family's life is getting better and better, so you should stop trying to rise up.

Mother has thought about it; your five cousins are all well-proportioned; choose two to marry, or three is fine.

I will talk to your aunt properly, and I expect they will all agree.

Then we will make paste, and you go sell it..."

Zhang Gui's eldest aunt, Qiedan Jiena, had five daughters.

The eldest and second had already married.

The remaining were the third, Caiyang Duoqing, the fourth, Caiyang Hualin, and the fifth, Caiyang Sha.

The first and last were of above-average appearance, but the fourth in the middle had skin as delicate as milk and was as beautiful as a flower.

The younger aunt, Qiedan Sangjia, had four daughters.

The eldest and second died unfortunately when they were young, leaving the third, Caiyang Tongwa, and the fourth, Caiyang Caicai.

One had a doll face and looked cute, while the other was ordinary and timid.

And no matter if the appearance was ugly or beautiful, teenage girls full of youth always had a beautiful side.

But the problem was that although such girls could get married in this world, in the world of Zhang Gui's previous life, it was a crime that started with three years in prison and went up to the death penalty.

"Mother, what are you saying?

Yesterday I felt that I finally saw the true color of the Stone Corpse 'Big Stone Crown,' so why did you change your mind today?

It's a pity it's too late now."

Although Zhang Gui was tempted, he had the bottom line of a civilized person, so he hurriedly interrupted his mother, took a handful of gold ingots from his bosom, and slapped them on the table with a "clatter."

Under the dim light of the oil lamp, the purple-gold ingots emitted a dazzling, eerie light.

Auntie Caiyang's eyes widened, and her mouth was so dry that a layer of fuzz appeared on her lips in a few seconds.

She reached out and touched the gold ingots on the table; it wasn't an illusion, and she asked with a dry voice:

"Son, did you, did you go kill people and seize goods, robbing people of gold and silver?"

"Not really.

It's just that last night on the way home on Zhilin Mountain, I met a young master who was hunting and was shot by his guard, who mistook me for a wild beast.

I got angry and killed that guard, seizing his money bag and weapons."

As he spoke, Zhang Gui shook the slender sword and hand crossbow from his sleeves.

"Just enough to be the capital for rising up."

Auntie Caiyang was speechless for a long time after hearing this, and after a long while, her lips trembled slightly, and she said with difficulty in distinguishing emotions:

"Good, good, good child, good ability, good, good, good, good!"

She got up and left Zhang Gui's room.

Zhang Gui blew out the lamp, lay on the bed, and closed his eyes.

Outside the house, a dark cloud covered the bright moon.

The brain inside Zhang Gui's skull boiled as if it had been boiled in hot water.

The brain matter turned into black thick paste and gushed out from the fontanelle.

Soon it soaked the bed.

"So that's how it is, so that's how it is!

'You say I am a demon, then I will go and create the greatest demon in the world.'

After finishing the Yan Emperor, Shennong, and Chiyou, you still want to leave something to cause trouble? Ancestor, oh ancestor, you are truly willful and free!"

A burst of unconscious muttering came faintly from Zhang Gui's mouth.

The black paste beneath him turned into layers of fungal mats...

The next dawn.

Auntie Caiyang and the others hadn't woken up yet.

Zhang Gui, who felt nothing unusual but was exceptionally spirited, washed up and went out first.

The sky wasn't fully bright, and there were few pedestrians on the road.

He walked quickly to the foot of Zhilin Mountain and walked into the forest.

The Xuanzhi Mountain range stretched for over a hundred miles; it wasn't big, but it wasn't small.

However, hundreds of years ago, the surroundings of the mountain forest were dense forests and meadows, raising countless birds and beasts, which was why it could become the dragon-rising place for the Stone Corpse of the Barbarian Kingdom.

It's a pity that the terrain and landscape here are completely different now, and tigers have become rare.

Zhang Gui specifically asked Lao Sang Gui for the secret of hunting tigers and set off personally to hunt tigers.

He first caught a roe deer on the mountain, half-cut its hind leg tendon, and threw it on the ground.

The roe deer, in panic, screamed while bleeding, limping and fleeing everywhere.

Zhang Gui exerted the "Vertical and Horizontal Flying Runner Art," following behind the roe deer.

After chasing and fleeing for half an hour, the roe deer bled out, and after running for a while, it collapsed on the ground without warning, shook a few times, and died.

Zhang Gui had to catch another small beast and continue bleeding and chasing until dusk.

He didn't know how far he had run.

Suddenly, a roar that tore people's livers and gallbladders came from the mountain ridge on the right.

Immediately after, a fierce tiger of a zhang and a half leaped out from the wild grass, ignoring the injured doe and rushing straight toward Zhang Gui.

Tiger coming down the mountain, tiger coming down the mountain.

Without seeing with one's own eyes the swiftness and cruelty of a tiger hunting from a high position, one could not imagine the terror of a tiger coming down the mountain.

Fortunately, Zhang Gui always maintained vigilance, stepping onto a tree dangerously and narrowly, dodging this tiger pounce.

A full-grown tiger weighing five or six hundred catties and a cultivator who practiced ordinary techniques would fight to a draw when facing each other directly.

However, the difference between humans and animals is the ability to use weapons.

Taking advantage of the fierce tiger's limbs bending and landing, Zhang Gui used the "Vertical and Horizontal Flying Runner Art" to borrow force from the tree trunk, turned around, and shot an arrow at the tiger's neck with the Ox Crossbow he had gained last night.

Using the crossbow in actual combat for the first time, the accuracy was clearly insufficient, but because the tiger's neck was thick enough, it didn't miss.

The Ox Crossbow was powerful and heavy; even if it was off, it cut a deep crack in the tiger's carotid artery, and blood sprayed out like red rain in the sky.

The fierce tiger let out a miserable roar, stood up, and fell down again, losing its life directly.

The more blood and Qi a fierce beast has, the faster it dies when its vital points are injured.

Because their bodies are huge, they need vigorous Qi and blood flow when moving.

Once a vital point is injured, it is like a high-pressure bag with a leak, and it will soon bleed to death.

Shooting a tiger to death with such a simple crossbow shot was quite unexpected to Zhang Gui.

But thinking about it, if he hadn't mastered the "Chiyou Three-Piece Set Divine Cluster" last night, he would probably have been shot to death by the Ox Crossbow himself.

He couldn't help but have some insights in his heart.

Before having absolute strength, powerful adaptability is sometimes more important than superimposed strength.

While thinking, Zhang Gui carried the dead tiger on his shoulder and walked toward Mushroom Valley.

If it were before, after chasing wild beasts for so long, he would probably have found it difficult to remember the correct direction to Mushroom Valley.

But now the true name of Mushroom Valley was "Lower Stone Corpse Capital," and there was a natural resonance in the dark.

Even if it were at the ends of the earth, he wouldn't find the wrong direction.

In the blink of an eye, it was mid-November.

A first snow made the temperature in Pingyang Town drop suddenly, and suddenly there was the taste of winter.

Pedestrians on the street changed into fur, and the poor also put on cotton-padded jackets.

In the equally cold Xuanzhi Mountain range, Zhang Gui, who had changed his profession to be a hunter for thirty days, became more and more experienced in catching tigers.

A total of seven tiger pelts, over thirty bear and leopard pelts, and over a hundred wolf pelts were produced, attracting many covetous eyes.

Thus, there was one Ten Stone Corpse Soldier and over a dozen Single Stone Corpse Soldiers in the world.

At this time, the fierce beasts around Mushroom Valley had almost been wiped out.

Zhang Gui took the opportunity to hand over the hunting task completely to his subordinates, and he himself was free for two or three days before going into the mountains quietly.

He spent another month refining the remaining Stone Corpse tribespeople into Stone Corpse Soldiers, and also refined two more Ten Stone Corpse Soldiers.

At this time, the end of the year was approaching.

Ghost stories about Xuanzhi Mountain also began to spread gradually in the surrounding villages.

The chips had reached the limit of what could be managed at present, and Zhang Gui did not continue to stir up trouble but temporarily hibernated.

He planned to wait for the government offices and military towns to rest before and after the new year before making plans.

On the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, Auntie Caiyang still didn't rest, and early in the morning, she took her sister-in-law and nieces to the fish market to buy fish and sell paste.

Zhang Gui, who had ostensibly rested for over two months, slept until the sun was high before getting out of bed.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 38 =====