Chapter 410: Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!

February, 26th year of Jiajing, Jiangxi Provincial Administration Commission.

Linjiang Prefecture.

The vegetation on the riverbank was withered and yellow, with only a few tender buds emerging from the forks of the branches. The soil was stained with the moisture from the river, and then frozen hard and cold by the low temperature.

A piece of silence.

"Ha—ha—"

Suddenly, the sound of heavy breathing broke the silence.

Footsteps approached from far to near.

A young man appeared at the end of the road, dark-skinned, tall, wearing coarse cloth short-garments covered in blood spots. His left hand held a swaddled infant to his chest, and his right hand dragged a blood-stained Japanese sword.

Great Shu had long suffered from Japanese pirates, and Jiangxi was adjacent to the Jiangzhe region where the pirates were most rampant; martial artists often sold Japanese swords after capturing them, so Japanese swords were not rare here.

It was just that looking at the way the young man held the sword, he clearly had considerable attainments in Japanese sword arts... this was quite rare in the Central Plains martial arts world, which emphasized inheritance and foundations.

But back to the present.

As the young man hurried, he suddenly turned and jumped toward a rock by the road, lowering his head and crouching to hide.

Dozens of breaths later, chaotic footsteps approached from far to near.

"Can't let him run!"

"That remnant of the Qi family must die! If this matter leaks out, it might attract the attention of the Embroidered Uniform Guard! It concerns the lives of the whole family; we must not let him escape!"

"Hateful! I don't know where that boor came from, insisting on meddling in other people's business. If we find out, we must exterminate his entire family!"

The young man hid behind the rock, gritting his teeth.

His hand gripped the sword hilt tightly.

Fortunately, the early spring soil was cold and hard, making it impossible to track footprints. The pursuers did not notice the rock where the young man was hiding and ran past, gradually moving further away.

The young man retreated bit by bit, and after retreating dozens of zhang, he turned and fled violently.

He didn't have much time.

The pursuers would soon discover the trick; the place where he had been lying had been warmed by his body temperature, water droplets had condensed on the rock, and the soil was a bit loose, but he had no time to deal with it.

He had to quickly escape the pursuit.

Not only could his own injuries not be delayed, but the infant in his arms had not eaten for two days and was in critical condition... If anything happened to the infant, he would have no face to return to Dengzhou and could only commit suicide to apologize!

"This shitty world!"

"This shitty martial arts world!"

"If that lord were still here... if the rules of the Moon-Viewing Banquet were still in place, they would never dare to do this!"

The young man gritted his teeth and ran wildly, finally diving into the mountain forest. After clearing his tracks several times, he changed direction and hurried on. After half an hour of this, he finally slowed down.

"Should... not be able to catch up..."

As his spirit relaxed, most of his strength also leaked away.

The young man used the Japanese sword to support his body and opened the swaddle to look.

The infant was not crying, but her eyes were tightly closed, her small face deathly pale, clearly in a very bad state. Hungry for two days and jolted for two days, if she didn't settle down, she might not survive.

But he was just a young man in this wilderness; where could he find food for her?

"Need to start a fire first..."

The young man could only think of this.

He pulled out the Japanese sword and slashed at some dead branches, but when he reached out to twist them, he knew it was bad.

Living trees have too much sap and cannot be used for fire. But the dead trees here were also soaked with moisture; they leaked water as soon as he squeezed them. And he had lost his luggage; he didn't even have a fire-starter.

If he relied on drilling wood for fire, he probably wouldn't be able to start it for an hour or two.

The young man felt dejected, and his feet suddenly stumbled, almost falling over.

He got up and looked down, his face turning deathly pale instantly.

The place where he had stepped was a huge claw print, the size of five fingers spread out!

Tiger claw!

The claw print was fresh; he reached in to touch it and could even feel the residual warmth of the deeper soil.

This tiger was nearby.

Tiger infestations had been rampant in Jiangxi for years; in Shangyou alone, more than 1, 00 people had died in tiger mouths across various villages. The probability of encountering a tiger in this wilderness was not small... but why did it have to be today!

This place was not suitable for staying long.