Water Margin: I am Zhu Biao

Chapter 99 Fighting the Tiger

"Third Brother~"

Just a moment later, Pang Qiutang also noticed something was wrong. Her expression suddenly turned serious, and she called out softly.

Zhu Biao didn't open his mouth, but simply raised his finger at her in a shushing gesture, and then tugged at a thin rope beside him.

Almost simultaneously, in the side chamber of the ancestral hall below, a bronze bell with its clasp removed began to swing silently.

Lin Chong, Wu Song, and the others exchanged glances, silently grabbed their weapons, and quickly disappeared into their designated positions.

Su Fang also got moving, but his mission was somewhat special.

"Walk!"

He gave a low growl, pressed the short knife against Zhu Geda, who was already weeping and snotting, and staggered toward the central courtyard of the ancestral hall.

Zhu Geda was originally a thin, old man, but now he suddenly looked much fatter, his long robe bulging as if he had stuffed something inside.

"No, I'm not going out!"

Upon reaching the entrance of the Intermediate People's Court, Zhu Geda suddenly reached out and grabbed the door frame, refusing to take another step forward no matter what.

Pfft!

Su Fang, however, was not going to tolerate him. She tightened her face, raised her foot and kicked him in the waist, causing Zhu Geda to fall face-first to the ground like a dog.

Clang!

Before he could get up, Su Fangbian had already closed the door and deftly bolted it shut.

"Open the door! Open the door! Let me in, please!"

Zhu Geda stumbled to his feet and frantically pounded on the door.

"Huff~ Huff~"

Just then, a faint snoring sound came from behind him, and he instantly froze as if struck by a spell.

The ancestral hall in Xiaoxi Village has a layout shaped like the Chinese character "目" (mu), consisting of a front hall, a middle courtyard, and a rear hall.

The ancestral tablets are enshrined in the front hall, while the side rooms are used for meetings and entertaining guests.

The central courtyard is where Zhu Geda is currently located. It is about half an acre in size, and there are two ancient pine trees that are decades old planted in the courtyard.

There are several rooms on each side of the back hall, with a narrow passageway running through the middle, leading straight to the back door.

At this moment, the doors and windows of the entire back room were locked and there was no one there, but the back door was wide open, and the eerie snoring sound was coming from the passageway.

At the same time, a pungent, strange, fishy stench wafted in with the north wind.

"Help! Help!"

Zhu Geda slumped against the door like a lump of mud, his mouth opening and closing, but the sound coming out of his throat was only audible to himself.

"Third Brother, why isn't it coming in yet?"

On the rooftop, Pang Qiutang gripped his bow tightly, his voice trembling slightly. No matter how many people he had killed, he couldn't help but panic when facing a tiger.

The tiger, being on par with the dragon, must have some significance; it could be considered a semi-divine beast.

Zhu Biao stared intently at the direction of the passageway, frowning as he whispered, "This beast is cunning. Perhaps it has already sensed something is wrong and is hesitating."

The snoring and the stench never stopped, but the tiger remained stuck in the doorway, its upper body in the passageway and its lower body outside.

"What should we do then? What if it turns around and runs away?"

Pang Qiutang was getting anxious.

"Wait, it won't run away."

Zhu Biao was actually anxious, but he appeared exceptionally calm and spoke with certainty.

Boom!

No sooner had he finished speaking than a fist-sized piece of frozen meat fell out of Zhu Geda's robe and slammed heavily to the ground.

This frozen meat was just dug out of the Tang family's backyard; it was the remaining flesh and internal organs after the two tiger cubs were skinned and deboned.

The two tiger cubs were only three months old, but they still yielded about 10 to 20 pounds of flesh. However, the tiger blood had been drained, and the tiger meat was a ghastly pale white.

"Awoo!"

The next instant, the low snoring suddenly turned into a venomous roar.

Immediately, a huge black shadow, accompanied by a foul stench, crossed the passageway and landed abruptly in the courtyard; it was a ten-foot-long, striped tiger.

"what!"

Zhu Geda felt a heat in his groin, his legs went weak, and he was about to collapse to the ground when he heard Su Fang shout in a low voice from inside the door.

"If you want to live, go around the tree!"

These words were like a magic pill; a strange power suddenly burst forth from Zhu Geda's body, and he abruptly straightened up and ran towards the old pine tree on the left.

Strangely, the tiger did not pounce on him immediately. Instead, it slowly took a few steps forward, walked to the frozen meat noodle, and bent down to sniff it.

The next instant, its tiger head suddenly rose, its amber eyes shooting out a chilling gaze that seemed almost tangible, fixing its gaze firmly on Zhu Geda, who was about to hide behind a tree.

Meanwhile, Pang Qiutang on the rooftop had already nocked an arrow and was about to get up when Zhu Biao stopped her.

She turned her head in confusion, but the latter only shook his head and gave her a look that said, "Don't worry."

Just then, the tigress under the roof moved.

With a powerful push from its hind legs, it silently rose into the air like a colorful cloud, leaping more than two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) and instantly closing in on the old pine tree. It then raised its left claw and slapped at Zhu Geda.

chap!

Zhu Geda, as if struck by a stroke of inspiration, circled the tree and unexpectedly managed to avoid it, though the sturdy trunk was left with three deep claw marks.

When her first attack missed, the tigress landed and pawed the ground with both front paws, then spun around and pounced on him again.

It's incredibly fast.

Stab it!

This time, Zhu Geda was unable to dodge the attack. He took a solid hit to the back, his fur robe ripped instantly, and he was knocked to the ground.

The pieces of tiger cub meat hidden in the fur robe suddenly flew out and fell all over the ground.

"Woohoo!"

The tigress, who had been silently attacking, couldn't help but roar. She then leaped forward, opened her blood-red maw, and bit at his neck.

"what!"

A flash of blood appeared, followed by a scream.

"Let's do it!"

On the rooftop, Zhu Biao's eyes sharpened. He suddenly threw off the straw mat, leaped up, and swiftly drew his bow and nocked an arrow.

shhhhh!

Two arrows whistled almost simultaneously. Having coordinated many times, Pang Qiutang and he had long since developed an unparalleled understanding.

However, the tigress seemed to have anticipated this. She suddenly loosened her grip, lowered her body, and leaped backward.

puff!

It was hit by only one arrow.

Pang Qiutang's arrow aimed at the tiger's eye was dodged, but Zhu Biao's arrow aimed at its belly pierced its shoulder.

Clang!

Just then, a loud bang suddenly came from the direction of the back door.

Zhu San and Zhu Wu had already gone outside. Upon hearing the whistling of the arrow, they immediately closed the back door and used several thick wooden sticks to barricade it shut.

The courtyard wall was specially iced in the afternoon, raising it to over ten feet high, making the surface extremely smooth, even a tiger would have difficulty climbing over it.

At this moment, the injured tigress was trapped in the small space of the central courtyard.

But it was incredibly clever; it knew to hide behind a tree to avoid arrows and wait for its chance to strike.

However, Zhu Biao certainly had a backup plan. After shooting an arrow, he immediately put away his bow and arrows, took out a bamboo tube from his pocket, and shouted, "Light it!"

While shouting, he quickly lit the cloth strips used to seal the opening.

"cast!"

He gave a soft shout and tossed the bamboo tube down.

At the same time, the windows of the left and right side rooms of the front hall were pushed open, and Wu Song and Lin Chong each threw out a lit bamboo tube.

This thing was a crudely made incendiary tube by Zhu Biao using lamp oil and gunpowder. It wasn't very powerful, but it made quite a racket.

tom!tom!tom!

Three loud explosions rang out in succession, accompanied by bursts of flame.

No matter how clever the tigress is, she is still a wild beast. Her fear of fire and loud noise is ingrained in her nature, and she was so frightened that she suddenly jumped out from behind the tree.

call out!

Almost as soon as it appeared, Pang Qiutang's swift arrow whistled through the air, heading straight for the "king" character between its eyebrows.

This tiger is truly a spirit!

At the critical moment, it suddenly ducked its head, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow, and took the arrow with its back.

This is not over yet!

The moment it landed, its tiger body spun once on the spot and then soared up again, leaping towards the closing window of the east wing.

"You beast!"

From behind the window, Wu Song caught a glimpse of this scene. His face showed no fear, but his eyes suddenly lit up.

Whoosh!

There was no time to think; in the next instant, the tiger burst through the window, sending wood chips and window paper flying everywhere.

Without a second thought, Wu Song instinctively jumped back, raising his heavy hammer high in the air. Without even looking, he brought it down with his bare hands.

This heavy hammer was commissioned and hastily made by Zhu Biao after he returned home.

It is a heavy hammer with a handle that can be held in one and a half hands, or in two hands. The handle is three feet and three inches long, and the hammerhead is octagonal, slightly larger than a melon. It is made entirely of pure copper and weighs eighteen pounds and eight ounces.

Wu Song was skilled in hand-to-hand combat and possessed superhuman strength, but he was not very good with weapons and had only ever used a waist knife and a broadsword.

However, it's not a good fit.

After trying out all eighteen weapons at the Zhu family's martial arts arena, including the double swords, he unexpectedly developed a particular fondness for the heavy hammer.

Bang!

The next instant, a sickeningly loud thud of heavy objects colliding suddenly rang out, interspersed with the chilling sound of bones cracking.

"Aww~"

A fierce, pitiful scream from the tiger immediately followed.

The tigress was struck on the head with a hammer, causing her to lose her balance and knock Wu Song a long way away, where he rolled to the ground.