Tiger wife

Twelve Years Later

Twelve Years Later

On the official road, a dozen carriages rumbled along. Those driving the horses were all carefully selected, strong, tall men, uniformly dressed in cut-off vests, with dark blue hand wraps around their wrists, and black-soled kung fu boots on their feet. Their exposed arms were muscular and powerful, glistening with fine beads of sweat under the sun, as if one punch could smash a hard rock.

Leading the way was a middle-aged man in his early forties. He raised a hand to shield his eyes, looking intently towards the inn. When he saw a young man in green standing and waiting, he narrowed his eyes, identified the young man's identity, and was startled, quickly accelerating the carriages to approach.

Before the cart-pulling horses had even come to a complete stop, the middle-aged man eagerly jumped off the driver's seat and walked towards the young man in green.

"Young Master Tianci, why have you come in person? Does the master know?" As he spoke, his thick brows furrowed involuntarily.

The young man's lips curved in a smile, his face somewhat morbidly pale, yet his eyes were exceptionally sharp. Before he could reply, a skinny, dark-skinned boy jumped out from behind him, grinning at the big man and saying, "Young Master came after asking the Master's permission, and Doctor Liu came along too, Master Ouyang, don't be scared."

Once bitten by a snake, one fears a well rope for ten years.

I still remember chatting with the young master last time. Just as we were enjoying ourselves, his eyes suddenly rolled back, and he fainted right in front of me without warning. I couldn't even feel a heartbeat or detect any breathing. Of course, he was scared. The big man thought to himself, raising an eyebrow at the skinny boy, and his tone became lighter, "Ha, you little imp are here too?! Didn't you annoy Young Master Tianci to death on the way here?"

"Hehehe, Master Ouyang... I, Ah Qi, am now the young master's personal bodyguard. My martial arts may not be as good as yours, but when it comes to courage and loyalty, Ah Qi is second to none!"

He patted Ah Qi's shoulder and praised him, "When I have some free time, I'll teach you a few of my unique grappling techniques."

Ah Qi jumped up in joy.

The young man in green said, "Master Ouyang, that's not fair. Why are you only teaching Ah Qi? I want to learn too." His tone was calm and gentle, with no hint of complaint.

"Young master, I'll learn it, I'm responsible for protecting you anyway!" Ah Qi shouted.

The young man in green snorted faintly, his expression slightly composed. He looked at the dozen or so carriages, nodded to a few familiar coachmen, and then slowly turned back to Ouyang's face. His demeanor was mature and steady, not something a fifteen-year-old boy could normally possess. Then, he opened his mouth and said, "The Chang family paid a sum of money to the government to rent this post station. Master Ouyang and the other uncles should get off and rest. If we continue on, it will be too late, and the city gates will be closed, so we won't be able to enter. Then we'll have to sleep in the carriage, so it's better to rest here, eat and sleep well, and then enter the city tomorrow."

Master Ouyang chuckled, "Young master came out of the city to welcome us and settle everyone in."

"The shops in Jiangnan and the capital are all chasing the Chang family for goods. Deer antler, wild ginseng, and tiger bone are severely out of stock. We've been eagerly awaiting your return from the north. I'm here to settle those goods, not for anyone else," he said with a laugh, making himself sound harsh and heartless.

Master Ouyang chuckled, shrugged, and waved his hand. The dozen or so men behind him understood and dismounted to tend to their horses.

"How was your trip to Changbai Mountain?" the young man asked, walking naturally towards the caravan.

Ouyang followed, went around to the back of the first carriage, and lifted the curtain. "We ran into the Shen family's ginseng-gathering team from the capital. That Master Wu is quite skilled; he dug up several wild ginseng I had my eye on."

The carriage was filled with wild ginseng hanging at various heights. Once ginseng is unearthed, it must never be laid flat before being specially treated, as it is said to lose its vitality and significantly reduce its efficacy. Therefore, it can only be hung one by one.

He pouted and added, "Fortunately, we arrived early. We raced to gather the ginseng, and the harvest wasn't bad."

A faint earthy smell wafted from inside the carriage, mixed with the unique bitter scent of ginseng. The young man's gaze swept over, a slight smile on his face. "How many carts of wild ginseng were harvested?" he asked, as he walked around to the second and third carts to continue looking.

"The first five carts are all ginseng. The ones behind are tiger bones and tiger skins hunted by our brothers, along with a few pieces of deer antler and about ten sables," Ouyang said, rubbing his neck, his joints cracking crisply.

"Young Master Tianci, we've hunted some good stuff on Changbai Mountain this time!" a man said, crouching to check the horse's forelegs, looking up as he spoke.

The young man raised an eyebrow, glancing slightly, waiting for him to continue.

Another man chuckled, "This is all thanks to Old Cai's traps, they were hidden and skillful enough! Those four big tigers just foolishly fell in, and the sharpened wooden stakes pierced their chests, allowing us to catch them with hardly any effort."

Upon hearing this, the young man paused slightly, his expression calm, and after a moment, he asked, "A tiger skin is only valuable if it's intact. If it's pierced by a wooden stake, can it still be bought and sold?"

"Young master, we're not in the business of selling animal skins. We hunt tigers for their bones to make medicine, and their p*****s for aphrodisiacs. The fur is secondary, isn't it?" Ah Qi's eyes widened as he jumped behind a cart.

The young man slowly walked over to the carriage near Ah Qi, his fingers brushing against the rough carriage board as he pondered. Suddenly, his eyes darkened, his brows furrowed slightly, then he relaxed imperceptibly. He abruptly turned to Master Ouyang and asked, "Along the way... has anything unusual happened?"

Thinking he was asking about the safety of the brothers, Ouyang folded his arms across his chest and shook his head, "The brothers each take care of their own carriages. The first five carry wild ginseng, and the latter few, apart from stripped animal hides and tiger bones, hold some cooking utensils and ordinary household items. We haven't seen any disturbances along the way." Before the word "disturbances" could leave his mouth, the young man had already lifted the gray cloth curtain in front of everyone.

The incident happened in an instant.

Without warning, a huge creature sprang from the carriage, swift as lightning. Everyone's eyes were momentarily dazzled, unable to discern what it was, but they heard the terrifying roar of a beast biting someone, shaking all four directions.

When they finally saw clearly, it was a large tiger with bright orange fur. Its thick paws had knocked the sickly-looking young master Chang to the ground, and its sharp claws extended, firmly gripping Chang Tianci's shoulders.

The young man, under the tiger's claws, seemed to have fainted, his eyes closed and unmoving.

"Young Master?! Young Master—" A-Qi cried out sharply, disregarding the danger and attempting to rush forward, but his collar was yanked back by Master Ouyang.

"Don't be reckless!" he barked, his expression calm, though his lips had turned pale. A large tiger had jumped out of the convoy he was leading. He didn't know when it had followed them, nor how long it had been hiding. He was an old hand among old hands, yet such a lapse had occurred?!

The entire post station along the official road was in chaos. Several experienced hunters had already retrieved their spears and bows and arrows, surrounding the large tiger.

They lured it, provoking it with sharp weapons, trying to draw it away from Chang Tianci, who was in a coma. But the tiger was unmoved. Its body was huge and lean, and its front paw deliberately or inadvertently pressed on the young man's shoulder. The weight pressed down, causing the human bones to creak faintly, as if they were about to break.

"If this continues, the young master will be crushed to death! Master Ouyang, quickly think of a solution!" A-Qi stomped his feet in a panic.

Ouyang Tong glared, then went all out, shooting arrows at its throat and eyes, and thrusting spears at its neck, back, and hindquarters.

The men, with perfect coordination, exchanged glances, and their weapons moved simultaneously—

"Roar—" The roar shook the heavens and earth.

Bows, arrows, and spears were all drawn, but lost their accuracy due to a tiger's roar that made one's ears ache.

Suddenly, a fierce wind stirred, carrying sand and stones, creating a chaotic haze. Everyone instinctively shut their eyes, completely unaware if the large tiger was injured. All they heard was the deafening roar again, one after another, seemingly far and near, adding to the terror. After a very long time, finally, the wind and sound ceased...

"Young Master?" Ah Qi was the first to jump up, looking around in surprise and fear, his dark face turning pale with fright.

Meanwhile, the other men gradually got up, awkwardly brushing off the sand and dust from their faces. Once they could discern the situation, they couldn't help but exchange bewildered glances.

After the fierce wind, the big tiger left with the wind, and the young man was nowhere to be seen.

It was more bad than good. The consequences were unimaginable.

The surroundings were unusually dim, barely able to discern five fingers, the air was eerie, with hidden undercurrents.

He quietly opened his eyes, letting his vision adjust to the darkness, his fingers subtly moved down, touching the bed woven from thin bamboo, the green bamboo felt cool and a little rough.

In the silence, a faint sob could be heard, as if suppressing grief, not daring to indulge, he tilted his head slightly, precisely towards the source of the crying, and slowly sighed.

"Sister, why are you sad?"

His gentle, slightly hoarse voice startled the young woman. With a gasp, her sobbing abruptly stopped. A rustling sound came from the corner. He narrowed his eyes and saw a tall figure move to the wooden window. The silvery moonlight from outside cut through the gaps in the window lattice, blurring the young woman's graceful figure.

He coughed, rubbed his chest, and propped himself up, his gaze following that strange shadow.

"I am sorry, it was presumptuous of me to startle you, sister," the voice was extremely sincere.

The young woman half-turned, seemingly looking at him. In the dim light, her eyes sparkled with a stubborn flame, flickering on and off, bright and dim, as if she was angry about something.

He coughed again, more violently than before, his hand clenching into a light fist against his lips as he rubbed his chest, his brow furrowed in discomfort. When the coughing stopped and he opened his eyes, the figure by the window had vanished, leaving an indescribably eerie atmosphere.

"Sister," he called, looking around in the darkness.

A chill wind blew, and his instincts were sharp; he turned his head, and suddenly, a great burst of light erupted around him. He instinctively narrowed his eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness, then his sword-like brows slowly relaxed, a little stunned. He gazed into a pair of amber-like, sparkling eyes, and in those pupils, there were indeed two flickering flames, reflecting the lamplight she held in her hands.

Their two faces were very close, and both stared at each other unblinkingly.

In the dim lamplight, it was hard to tell her age. Her rounded face glowed with a jade-like radiance. Long, delicate eyelashes and a fringe of bangs cast faint shadows on her skin. Her brows were long and graceful, her nose bridge slender and straight, giving her a heroic air. For some unknown reason, she seemed unhappy, her rosy lips tightly pressed together, and faint tear stains lingered on her pink cheeks.

Girls need to be coaxed. He showed a harmless smile, his handsome face made even more charming by its paleness, capable of touching the soft emotions of the opposite s*x. He said softly, "Is older sister angry with me? Did I do something to displease you? Tell me, don't cry alone in a corner." He smiled, his eyes clear, "It pains me to see that."

A flicker of surprise passed through those amber eyes, emotions clearly displayed in her bright pupils, mixed with anger, suspicion, confusion, and a touch of bewilderment. She had always been straightforward, expressing her joys and sorrows directly. She had not yet mastered the art of concealing her thoughts from humans.

Staring at the sickly young man for a while, she pursed her lips and spoke reluctantly, "You—you're very bad." This sentence came out of nowhere.

"Oh?" He was stunned, his handsome brows arched. At such a close distance, he noticed her two small, delicate canine teeth, so adorable. "Where did I offend older sister?" he asked immediately.

"Are you blind? I'm not your older sister! Don't call me that randomly!" Her temper flared quickly, her cheeks puffed out in anger. Formal etiquette was too difficult for her; there was no such lesson in her cultivation.

Hearing that, he smiled, not minding it.

"My surname is Chang, as in the common 'Chang', and my given name is Tianci."

He wrote his name on the bamboo bed with his long index finger, writing each stroke very slowly so she could see clearly. Then he looked up and gazed at her again.

"I am fifteen this year. You seem a few years older than me, so I should call you 'Jiejie'... If you don't want that, you must at least tell me your name. Otherwise, how should I address you? Calling you 'Miss' all the time feels too formal." He grinned, revealing two shallow dimples, showing the childishness of a fifteen-year-old boy. "What is your name?"

Jiejie?! She snorted. She thought to herself, if they were to compare ages, he wouldn't even be old enough to call her "ancestor."

Ignoring him, she turned her head and placed the oil lamp in her hand on the table.

The furnishings in the room were extremely simple. A bow and several arrows hung on the wall, covered in dust and cobwebs. Two machetes were discarded in a corner, their blades rusted. A bamboo bed, a bamboo table, and several bamboo chairs stood or lay toppled. The entire wooden house was unremarkable, as if it had been abandoned for a long time, unlike an ordinary home. Now that two people had arrived, it seemed somewhat out of place.

Chang Tianci glanced around casually, finally his gaze fell on the woman's back, and he couldn't help but ask again, "Sister hasn't told me your name yet?"

"I told you I'm not your sister!" She turned her head and glared fiercely.

"If I don't call you sister, then what should I call you?" a neutral voice asked innocently.

"I'm Húwá. Hú from 'tiger', wá from 'baby'." She spun around, hands on her hips, her bright yellow clothes looking lovely and vibrant in the flickering firelight. Her chest heaved, her face flushed, her temper easily provoked. She yelled, "Who wants to be your older sister?! You, you're so bad, so vicious, full of evil, doing all sorts of wicked things. Wouldn't being your older sister be degrading myself?! I'm not that unlucky!"