1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

Xie Chengliang squinted at the pile of things at the cave entrance, his face turned pale instantly, his throat tightened, and he spoke in a very low voice.

"They are human bones, human brains, and more than one."

As soon as these words were spoken, a chill ran down the spines of everyone present, and the hairs on their backs stood on end.

Zhao Guanqun, who had been leading troops in battle for many years, was very alert. He immediately noticed that Chen Gaoshan's expression was off and he froze on the spot.

His heart skipped a beat. Not daring to delay any longer, he reached out and pushed several people from behind, pulling everyone backward.

"Back off! Retreat quickly, get away from the cave entrance!"

"We're completely unprepared. If that man-eating tiger suddenly jumps out, none of us will escape."

The dozen or so people retreated in one go to a safe location about a hundred meters away from the cave.

Only after confirming that they were far from the cave entrance and there was no risk of being ambushed did Zhao Guanqun frown and lower his voice.

"Brother Gaoshan, what exactly did you see? Why do you look so pale?"

Chen Gaoshan felt a tightness in his chest. His eyes were fixed on the cave entrance. He didn't dare to say anything definitively, but he was pretty close to the truth.

"Those pieces of clothing at the entrance of the cave looked familiar to me. On the third day of the Lunar New Year, my wife and I went back to Wangjiatun. On the way back, we gave a ride to an older woman from Wangjiatun, who was the wife of a soldier from the Second Artillery Corps. She was going to visit relatives in Xiajiabaozi. I can still remember that she was wearing this gray floral cotton-padded jacket."

Upon hearing this, Xie Chengliang, who was standing nearby, widened his eyes and grabbed Chen Gaoshan's arm.

"My goodness, that lady who went to visit Xiajiabaozi and hasn't come home yet, is she from Wangjiatun? Is that the one with the big head?"

These words were spoken.

A dozen or so people stood in the snow, looking at each other, each one subconsciously swallowing.

No one spoke, which made people feel uneasy.

Xie Chengliang can't keep his mouth shut when he's nervous; he always wants to chew something.

He pulled a large flatbread from his pocket, took a big bite, chewed it vigorously, and mumbled indistinctly.

"I still can't figure it out. It's incredibly weird. The tiger's footprints were clearly broken before, so how did they suddenly reappear in front of this cave? Can this beast burrow underground or fly?"

Zhao Guanqun frowned and raised his hand to signal him to shut up and stop talking nonsense.

No matter how skilled a soldier is in tactics, he can't match the expertise of seasoned hunters like Chen Gaoshan and Ma Wanzhong who have spent years roaming the mountains.

Everyone immediately fell silent, all eyes fixed on the two of them, waiting for a decision.

Chen Gaoshan pursed his lips, his mind racing. This beast was no ordinary wild animal; it was cunning and frighteningly intelligent.

Hold your breath and wait for them to relax, wait until it gets dark, then sneak out.

"Look at the skull at the cave entrance. There's still flesh clinging to the bone; it hasn't dried out, turned black, or hardened. This proves that this cave is definitely its recent haunt. It must have stayed here last night or a few days ago."

"There are only two options now. Either we all stay outside and stake it out, it can't stay holed up in its hole forever. Or we can start a fire, pile up damp firewood, and smoke this beast out."

After saying that, he ripped off his handkerchief, put it in his mouth and sucked on a snail, then raised his hand above his head to test the wind direction.

"Damn it, this cave is ventilated by the wind, so smoking it out probably won't be very effective. If all else fails, just throw a grenade in and blow it up."

Xie Chengliang swallowed the biscuit in his mouth, then grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and stuffed it into his mouth. The snow water slid down his throat, suppressing the panic in his heart.

"Don't blow it up. If we blow it up and block the cave entrance, we won't even know if it's inside. We're already here, so let's not dawdle. I'll go in and scout ahead. I'll be the bait to lure this man-eating tiger out."

"Kill this beast as soon as possible, so that everyone in the village, young and old, can sleep peacefully. If the hole is empty, we can keep chasing it; it won't delay anything."

Zhao Guanqun glanced around at the people in front of him.

"It was all planned in advance. I'll be the bait! Damn it, we have to find out if this beast is actually inside. We can't just stand here like idiots and waste our time."

"If we were to linger here for two days, that beast might sneak down the mountain in the middle of the night and wreak havoc in the village again. We've come all this way to risk our lives, isn't it all to protect our fellow villagers?"

After saying that, he raised his hand and yanked off the dog-skin hat from his head, throwing it onto the snow.

Wild animals in the mountains are most sensitive to human presence. Throwing away a hat to disperse the scent of their bodies is a way to lure out the man-eating tigers from their caves.

No one expected that Zhang Baoguo, who was standing next to him, would turn completely red-eyed.

Ever since he saw the heads, skulls, broken bones, and tattered cotton-padded coats of the villagers at the entrance of the cave, his anger had been building up for a long time.

I don't know where the energy came from, but without saying a word, he picked up his rifle, his eyes red, and charged straight into the dark cave.

He ran while yelling and cursing, his voice cracking from shouting.

"You damn man-eating tiger, I'll deal with you today and kill you! You've brought disaster to our village, I'll curse your tiger ancestors for eight generations!"

Everyone present was stunned, standing there dumbfounded.

"What's gotten into Uncle Baoguo?"

Chen Gaoshan dared not delay and had no time to ponder the reason.

He swung the hunting rifle from his back into his hand and charged forward!

He ran and shouted as he went, not caring whether the man-eating tiger in the cave could hear him.

"Don't fucking ask questions now, just hurry up and guard the cave entrance. If it pops out, fuck it."

"Uncle Baoguo, don't go too far in. If you hear any noise, turn around and run immediately. Don't fight back."

When Zhang Baoguo rushed into the cave, the fearless, reckless energy he had shown when he first entered had subsided somewhat.

Just inside the cave entrance, some light still shines through, allowing you to see the rocks and rubble under your feet.

But if you take two more steps in, it's so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face, and you can't even touch your own hand.

A strong, foul, and rotten smell assaulted my senses, making me feel nauseous.

His legs trembled violently, almost giving way to his knees. Unable to walk any further, he leaned against the stone wall.

He wondered to himself what had gotten into him that made him rush into the dark tiger's den alone.

My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was in my throat, and I didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.

The cave wasn't very big; we only went in about five steps.

Just then, I heard a heavy, hoarse breathing sound.

The whooshing sound was frightening; it was right in front of me.

Immediately afterwards, two points of green light appeared in the depths of the darkness.

It was sinister, with eyes like those of two vengeful little devils, staring intently at him.

It's a man-eating tiger, lying in the cave.

Zhang Baoguo immediately broke out in a cold sweat, and the undershirt beneath his cotton-padded jacket was completely soaked.

The man was terrified and didn't know which leg to step on. He had hunted tigers before, but always from a distance. This was the first time he had been this close; he could even smell its bad breath.

He watched as the two points of green light, extremely low, slowly and gradually moved upwards.

That beast is staring up at him.

In life-or-death situations, people can always unleash a kind of drive that they themselves are unaware of.

Zhang Baoguo's mind went blank. He couldn't care less about anything else. He raised his gun, pointed it at those green eyes, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!!"

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