“Your father and I treasure you like the apple of our eye. We finally raised you this big, and we nearly lost you again!”
Like checking over a little piglet, Chen Jingui inspected Nan Zhi thoroughly, laughing through her tears:
“Thank goodness, thank goodness! Your arms are still here, and your two legs are fine. Does it hurt? Are you hungry? No, your wounds are still bleeding; we have to go to the physician first. Just you watch—when I get back, I’ll break that brat Brother Yi’s legs! Knowing full well he doesn’t have two ounces of muscle to his name, that fool still dared to follow Constable Zhang out to hunt a tiger! Throwing his life away and dragging his eldest sister into it! And at such a crucial moment, he even had the nerve to faint from fright and leave you all alone in the mountains?!”
Saying this, Chen Jingui sobbed bitterly once more, holding onto Nan Zhi and refusing to let go.
To the side, Zhang Long’s expression was subtle. Saying nothing, he silently rubbed his nose as he stood by.
—It was always best not to provoke a woman protecting her cubs, especially when she was in a fit of rage.
The only thing he could do right now was keep his mouth shut.
“Mom, I’m really fine. It just looks worse than it is; after resting for a few days, I’ll be back to normal. Besides, Brother Yi had no choice. The tiger of Wenshan was cunning and had already demonized. It manipulated tiger-changs to make people believe the beast haunting the mountain was just an ordinary tiger. You really can’t blame Constable Zhang for this either—with orders from above, how could mere yamen runners refuse? Besides, if Brother Yi had stayed, he would have only held me back and gotten in the way.”
Seeing Chen Jingui’s expression, Nan Zhi felt a strange wave of sympathy for Nan Yi.
—Though Chen Jingui usually doted on her children, in crucial moments she was completely unyielding, to the point that even Nan Dazhuang dared not contradict her.
This time, Nan Yi’s backside was definitely in for a beating.
Indeed, while the Nan couple rarely struck their children, Nan Yi had still received several good thrashings growing up.
Once was when he played with firecrackers and set someone’s woodpile on fire.
Another was when he took Nan Zhi out and lost his eldest sister.
This would likely be the third time.
“He’s a man, and he’s known right from wrong for over a decade longer than you! He should have shielded you! To drag you into danger this time—that alone is his fault!”
Chen Jingui brushed the matter aside and kept checking over Nan Zhi: “Does it still hurt? You’ve lost so much blood from these wounds. Tomorrow, I’ll go to your maternal grandparents’ home and fetch a few fat yellow chickens—don’t you love eating those? I’ll stew broth for you multiple times and buy some ginseng to nourish you. Oh right, your father knows a few hunters too; I’ll buy some deer whip, bear paw, and snake gallbladder...”
Nan Zhi felt that if she didn’t interrupt, this conversation would head straight for getting 404ed.
“Mom, I’m only injured. Why would I eat things like that?”
Nan Zhi was caught between laughter and tears. Just as she was about to speak, a man who looked older than Chen Jingui knelt before her and kowtowed three times with loud thuds:
“Benefactor! Please accept a bow from me, Niu Dadan! That demon tiger was extraordinarily ferocious; over the past ten-odd years, no one knows how many of our villagers it devoured. Hunters dared not go up the mountain to hunt, woodcutters dared not chop wood, and even herb gatherers had to stay constantly on guard lest they be eaten by the beast. Everyone in our Wenshan Village hated this tiger to the bone! Now that you have slain it, you are the greatest benefactor of our entire Wenshan Village! In the future, we will surely erect a living shrine for you, chanting scriptures and praying before the Bodhisattva every day, offering incense and tribute to bless you with a long life of a hundred years!”
Nan Zhi did not know how to respond.
She was pursuing immortality; if she truly lived for only “a hundred years,” how would that be any different from dying young?
Dodging to the side to avoid accepting the full bow, she asked curiously, “The demon tiger ran rampant and began eating people over ten years ago. Why didn’t you report it to the Demon Suppression Division and have them send someone to handle it?”
“Those do-nothing dog officials! We don’t know how many times we reported it to the authorities or how many times we petitioned higher-ups, but not a single yamen runner ever came up the mountain to hunt the tiger. Not to mention a place like the Demon Suppression Division—how could humble common folk like us, who don’t even know which way the yamen’s front gate opens, ever hope to call upon them?”
Gritting his teeth, Niu Dadan looked thoroughly vindicated: “Now that this tiger is dead, and killed by someone from Dingyuan County, I reckon our county magistrate won’t even have the face to show himself!”
Although Nan Zhi was not clear on the relationship between the Demon Suppression Division and the yamen, she understood that each county had its own administrative jurisdiction.
When Wen County suffered a tiger calamity, if the county yamen lacked the ability to resolve it, they should have reported it to their superiors to send assistance.
Yet the white tiger had lingered here for over a decade. Even with tiger-changs obscuring the truth, there was no way the Demon Suppression Division remained entirely in the dark.
There had to be something fishy going on.
Before Nan Zhi could fully ponder this, she saw people carrying sedans and handcarts up from the foot of the mountain. The grand procession stretched into a long line, resembling moving ants from a distance.
In such a short time, people beating gongs and drums climbed up along the mountain path. Seeing the fierce tiger on the ground, another round of gasps, marvels, and weeping erupted.
After seeking Nan Zhi’s consent, the crowd tied the tiger carcass with hemp ropes and hoisted it horizontally on thick wooden poles. It took eight sturdy men exerting all their strength just to lift the headless tiger.
“What are you doing?”
Nan Zhi was somewhat baffled.
She could have easily stowed the tiger into her backpack and carried it down without effort, yet everyone insisted on carrying it down with manual labor.
Zhang Long chuckled and stroked his beard to explain to her: “The folk of the Wenshan area have hated this demon tiger to the bone for years. They’d like nothing more than to skin it, pull out its sinews, crush its bones, and suck its marrow just to vent the fury in their hearts! Now that you, Eldest Sister Nan, have slain the tiger, you naturally can’t hide your light under a bushel. It has to be carried down the mountain in grand, glorious fashion so every resident of Wen County can see it!”
With that, four or five families who had brought horse-drawn carts and wagons came forward, jostling to reach Nan Zhi in the crowd:
“Eldest Sister Nan! Come up quickly!”
“Hero who slew the tiger! Quick, get into our cart!”
“Ptui! Your ox cart carries manure, and you have the nerve to invite her to sit in it?!”
“Get in mine instead! My horse walks real steady!”
The crowd argued endlessly, bickering over the two matters of “which carriage Nan Zhi should ride” and “who should drive the cart for the tiger-slaying hero.”
They nearly came to blows.
In the end, Niu Dadan secured the assignment.
He was beaming with delight, his face flushed red with pride as if basking in the glory.
“Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!”
“Qiang! Qiang! Qiang! Qiang! Qiang! Qiang! Qiang! Qiang!”
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
“Qiang! Qiang! Qiang!”
The procession swaggered down the mountain in this manner, with people in front beating gongs and drums while others jogged ahead to clear the path.
Behind them followed eight bare-chested, muscular men carrying the mountain of flesh that was the headless tiger carcass.
Bringing up the rear was Nan Zhi, sitting calmly atop a cart with its carriage removed, holding the ferocious tiger head in her arms.
Her wounds had been treated and bandaged, the white dressings concealed beneath a large red silk rosette.
—She truly had no idea how they managed to put together this whole setup in such a short amount of time.
The tiger-slaying procession paraded through the main streets of Wen County for a full three circuits.
That terrifying, gruesome tiger head and that colossal, magnificent tiger body filled everyone with awe and dread.
Many called out to friends and family to come see the tiger-slaying hero, while others rushed over upon hearing the news to join in the spectacle.
In an instant, the small Wen County became completely deserted indoors as streets thronged with people; shoulders rubbed shoulders and heads bobbed in a dense, surging black wave.
Everyone was cheering.
Men, women, the elderly, children, village women, fishermen, scholars, beggars.
Across all their faces hung the very same radiant joy.
Countless silk kerchiefs and scented sachets were tossed onto the cart, landing squarely on Nan Zhi’s head.
Staring at the delicately embroidered sachets, Nan Zhi could not help but ponder in earnest:
Her body might be on the dark and husky side, but surely she wasn’t so ambiguous that people couldn’t tell her gender?
Looking up, she saw groups of young maidens gazing at her with eyes full of admiration and adoration.
When they saw Nan Zhi looking over, the maidens covered their faces with shy giggles and waved at her.
It had nothing to do with gender; it was pure excitement and admiration.
Others tossed fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices onto the cart, nearly marinating Nan Zhi and the tiger head in seasonings.
Nan Zhi dodged.
Well, an eggplant was thrown up.
She dodged again.
This time, a handful of Sichuan peppercorns.
She dodged once more.
Someone even took advantage of the chaos to toss in red strings and fertility talismans.
Nan Zhi: “???”
What was wrong with these people? They prayed and worshiped at literally anything they saw!
“What a massive demon tiger! It must have cultivated for hundreds of years!”
“No, no, no, I heard this tiger could speak and was terrifyingly difficult to deal with—even one of the constables from Dingyuan County died!”
“Aiyo, that’s truly terrifying!”
“Whoa! That’s a monster! Someone killed a monster!”
“Isn’t that the foolish daughter of Nan the Butcher? How did she become a tiger-slaying hero?”
“Don’t talk nonsense! She learned immortal arts in her dreams and killed a fierce tiger all on her own!”
“I heard this fierce tiger was a full three zhang long, with a head like a small hill and a maw as wide as a doorway!”
“I also heard that this tiger became a spirit and tricked people into turning into ghosts to feed it!”
“What a formidable young woman... though she looks a bit...”
“She looks just like a living Zhong Kui!”
“I heard touching the tiger’s head brings wealth—did you get to touch it?”
“No, but I touched Eldest Sister Nan, so I reckon no ghosts will dare approach me from now on!”
Everyone was discussing that demon tiger.
Everyone present remembered that dark and husky female warrior who held the tiger’s head and was draped in red silk.
Sadly, however, this procession did not linger in Wen County; instead, playing music and beating drums all the way, they headed straight for Dingyuan County.
The bustling celebration drifted along with the procession toward Dingyuan.
With this, the people of both Dingyuan and Wen counties were completely stirred into a frenzy.
Rate on N.U.
