The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 466 Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!
In February of the twenty-sixth year of the Jiajing reign, the Jiangxi Provincial Administration Commission...

Linjiang Prefecture.

The vegetation along the riverbank was withered and yellow, with only a few tender buds sprouting from the branching points. The soil was damp from the river and then frozen solid and hardened by the low temperature.

A silence.

"Ha ha--"

Suddenly, heavy breathing broke the silence.

The sound of footsteps came from far to near.

At the end of the road appeared a young man, dark-skinned and tall, dressed in a coarse cloth outfit covered in bloodstains. He held a swaddled baby to his chest with his left arm and gripped a bloodstained Japanese sword with his right.

Dashuo had long suffered from the Japanese pirates, and Jiangxi was adjacent to the Jiangzhe region where the Japanese pirates were most rampant. It was common for chivalrous people to capture Japanese swords and sell them, so Japanese swords were not rare here.

Judging from the way the young man held the sword, he clearly had a considerable mastery of Japanese swordsmanship... This is quite rare in the Central Plains martial arts world, which values ​​lineage and foundation.

Now, let's get back to the present.

As the young man walked quickly, he suddenly turned around and leaped towards a rock by the roadside, ducking and hiding.

A few dozen breaths later, the sound of hurried footsteps approached from afar.

"We can't let him get away!"

"That remnant of the Qi family must die! If this matter gets out, it might attract the attention of the Embroidered Uniform Guard! It concerns the lives of our entire family; we absolutely cannot let him escape!"

"Damn it! Who is this idiot who insists on meddling in other people's business? If we find out, we'll wipe out his entire family!"

The young man hid behind a rock, his jaw clenched.

He gripped the knife handle tightly.

Fortunately, the soil in early spring was cold and hard, making it impossible to trace footprints. The pursuers did not notice the rock where the young man was hiding, and ran past it quickly, disappearing into the distance.

The young man retreated step by step, and only after he had gone back several dozen feet did he suddenly turn around and flee.

He doesn't have much time.

His pursuers would soon discover something amiss: the spot where he had just been lying was warmed by his body heat, water droplets had condensed on the rocks, and the soil was somewhat soft, but he had no time to deal with it.

He had to escape the pursuit quickly.

Not only could his injuries not be delayed, but the baby in his arms had not eaten for two days and was in critical condition... If anything happened to the baby, he would have no face to return to Dengzhou and would have no choice but to commit suicide to atone for his sins!
"What a shitty world!"

"This shitty world of martial arts!"

"If that lord were still alive... if the rules of the Moon Appreciation Banquet were still in place, they would never dare to do such a thing!"

The young man gritted his teeth and ran wildly, finally disappearing into the mountains and forests. After clearing away his tracks several times, he changed direction and sped off again. After about half an hour, he finally came to a stop.

"They probably... can't catch up..."

As soon as I relaxed, most of my strength also dissipated.

The young man used his Japanese sword to support himself and pulled back the swaddling clothes to look inside.

The baby wasn't crying, but its eyes were tightly closed, and its little face was deathly pale; it was clearly in very poor condition. Having been hungry for two days and then subjected to two days of turbulent travel, it feared it wouldn't survive if things didn't settle down soon.

But where could he, a grown man, find food for her in this desolate wilderness?
"First, we need to start a fire..."

That was all the young man could think of.

He drew his Japanese sword and chopped some dry branches in a few swift strokes. As soon as he touched them, he knew something was wrong.

Live trees have too much sap to start a fire. But even the dead trees here are soaked with moisture; water oozes out when you squeeze them. Unfortunately, he's lost all his belongings and has no tinderbox on him.

If we were to try to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, it probably wouldn't take an hour or two to get a fire going.

The young man was dejected, and suddenly stumbled, almost falling over.

He stood up and looked down; his face instantly turned deathly pale.

The spot where he stepped into the air was a huge claw mark, as big as five fingers spread out!

Tiger claws!

The paw prints were fresh. He reached in and touched them, and could even feel the lingering warmth of the deep soil.

The tiger is nearby.

In recent years, Jiangxi has been plagued by tigers. In Shangyou alone, more than 1,200 people have died from tiger bites. The chances of encountering a tiger in this desolate wilderness are not small... but why did it have to be today!

This is no place to linger. The young man gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep walking forward.

Suddenly, he twitched his nose.

The wind blowing from ahead carried a faint smell of burning wood, mixed with the aroma of roasted oil, making his mouth water.

The young man, however, showed no joy; instead, his brow furrowed.

In the middle of nowhere, someone lighting a fire to roast meat is either a hunter or a woodcutter. With tigers lurking nearby, he might be drawn in by the aroma of the meat, and as a soldier, he should go and warn them… but what if they actually encounter a tiger?
He himself was not worth dying for, but if the baby in his arms died, how could he face returning to Dengzhou to see his superior, the Vice Commissioner? In any case, his presence there would only add to the casualties…

His thoughts raced, and he tried to pretend he hadn't noticed.

But I simply couldn't take a step.

After a long while, he slowly tightened his grip on the knife hilt.

"I joined Qi Jiguang's army and took up this sword to protect the people... Today I fled in the face of the tiger, how could I have the courage to kill the Japanese pirates in the future!"

"The Vice Commissioner won't let me escape!"

The young man gritted his teeth, changed direction, and followed the scent.

After walking several dozen feet, they emerged from the bushes.

He finally saw the person who started the fire.

The man looked to be in his early thirties, with a heroic appearance. He was wearing a bearskin cloak and was lying on his side on a boulder, roasting a piece of meat skewered on a tree branch over the fire with his eyes closed.

Judging from his appearance, clothing, and demeanor, he was clearly not a hunter or woodcutter... but rather a scholar or poet who had come here to gather inspiration.

The young man curled his lips.

The bearskin cloak completely concealed the man's figure, making it impossible to discern his physique. However, judging solely from his attire and appearance, one could tell that he lived a life of luxury. His act of grilling meat outdoors in early spring suggested that he was likely a pretentious scholar or literary figure.

He felt that his trip was somewhat wasted.

But... we're already here.

It wasn't a complete waste of time; at least I could warm the baby in my arms by the fire.

The young man walked over quickly.

As Fang approached, the person suddenly opened his eyes.

He gave him a look that made him extremely uncomfortable, his gaze lingering on the man's chest. The man then smiled and said...

"Brother, what's going on?"

Although the other person's gaze made him uncomfortable, their tone was exceptionally kind, so the young man had no choice but to respond politely.

"Brother, could I warm myself by the fire?"

“I have this—” He weighed the swaddled baby in his hand.

The man waved his hand.

"Come, come, sit down."

"Don't be shy if you have a child with you. I just fell asleep, and the meat is a little overcooked. Here, have some."

He reached out and handed the meat over.

The young man choked for a moment.

It was overcooked, so they gave it to me to eat... It's a good thing, but why does it sound so infuriating?
"Thank you, brother."

The young man nodded, took the meat, and sat down.

"Brother, there are tigers roaming around here. Since I've already accepted your meat, I'll send you down the mountain after I've warmed my young lady by the fire."

Li Miao said with a smile.

"A tiger?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

He glanced at the tiger skin peeking out of the soil on the ground behind the young man, then at the meat the young man was holding to his mouth, and a smile crept onto his lips.

"That's...too dangerous."

(End of this chapter)