Chapter 466: 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 emitted by the river, and then frozen into a hard, cold state 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.

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

Great Ming had long suffered from the scourge of Japanese pirates, and Jiangxi was adjacent to the Jiang-Zhe region where the pirates were most rampant. Jianghu heroes often sold Japanese swords after capturing them, so Japanese swords were not rare here.

It was just that looking at the young man's posture in holding the sword, he clearly had considerable attainments in Japanese sword techniques... this was quite rare in the Central Plains Jianghu, which emphasized inheritance and foundations.

Let us return to the present.

As the young man was rushing, he suddenly turned and leaped toward a rock by the road, bowing his head and crouching down 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 this bumpkin came from, insisting on meddling in other people's business; if we find out, we must exterminate his whole family!"

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

His hand gripped the hilt of the sword 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, moving further and further away.

The young man retreated backward bit by bit, and only after retreating dozens of feet did he turn and flee violently.

He didn't have much time.

The people chasing him would soon discover the trick; the place where he had been lying was baked 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 at all.

He had to quickly break away from 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 danger... if anything happened to the infant, he would have no face to return to Dengzhou and could only commit suicide to apologize!

"This dog-shit world!"

"This dog-shit Jianghu!"

"If that Lord were still here... if the rules of the Moon-Viewing Banquet were still in place, they would absolutely not dare to do this!"

The young man gritted his teeth and ran wildly, finally drilling into the mountain forest. After clearing his tracks several times, he changed direction and rushed forward. After half an hour like 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 take a look.

The infant was not crying or making a fuss, but her eyes were tightly closed, and her little face was deathly pale, clearly in a very bad state. Having been hungry for two days and bumped around for two days, if she didn't settle down, she might not be able to save her life.

But a young man like him, in this wilderness, where could he find food for her?

"First have to start a fire..."

The young man could only think of this.

He pulled out the Japanese sword and chopped some dead branches with a *swish, swish, swish*, reached out to twist them, and secretly thought it was bad.

Living trees had too much sap and could not be used to start a fire. But the dead trees here were also soaked through with moisture, and they would drip water when squeezed. It just so happened that his luggage was lost, and he didn't have a fire-starter on him.

If he relied on drilling wood to start a fire, he was afraid it wouldn't start even in an hour or two.

The young man felt depressed in his heart, and his feet suddenly stumbled, almost falling over.

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

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

Tiger claw!

The claw print was fresh; he reached out 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, over 1,200 people had died in tiger mouths in 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. ===== CHAPTER 467 =====