Chapter 41 Ask the tiger to go back to the mountain
"Are we reaching the border of Xuzhou ahead?"
"how do you know?"
"There's a boundary marker there."
"boundary marker?"
The calico cat looked forward, then trotted towards the visible end of the bluestone road, stopped in front of the boundary monument, raised its head again, took a look, and then ran back and said:
"There is indeed a monument."
Song You looked at her and then looked ahead.
"Next time, I'll rest somewhere. When I have some free time, I'll teach Empress Sanhua how to read."
"Why do you need to read?"
"You can read only if you can read."
"Sanhua Empress is smart, Sanhua Empress tells you how to go."
Where is the point in talking to a tiger?
"I look at the mountains behind this village, which are thousands of miles away. The tigers are not hunting in the mountains and are at ease. Why do they go down the mountains to hunt livestock?"
Look at this village. It is backed by mountains. The mountain springs gather into a stream that meanders through. There are acres of fertile fields beside the stream. It is a good place. It is not far from the main road. No wonder it is so prosperous.
The villagers behind him were almost stunned.
The tiger was startled by his actions and stood up immediately, continuing to stare at him closely.
“There’s food everywhere.”
"Then I'll catch a bird for you."
"You heard wrong..."
One person, one cat and one horse walked for a while, and finally saw a village, which seemed to be quite popular.
Along the way, I saw that every door of every house was closed.
"It's not like he's become a spirit, but that thing is also very cunning. He will run away as soon as there are more people." The old man said, "Sir, if you want to drop by, just follow us. You can reach the county in half a day."
"Roar!"
"Then go ahead."
"Forget it if you don't want to learn..."
In the spring of the second year of Mingde, Song Dynasty traveled to Xuzhou.
When they saw Song You and his entourage, they couldn't help but stop.
Song You lowered his head and glanced at the half pig under him.
Song You thought it was worth remembering.
"Sir, are you going to my village?"
Song You's expression remained calm.
The calico cat was a few steps away from him, staring at the huge creature with wide eyes, but fortunately it didn't tremble.
The side facing him is engraved with three big characters "Yizhou Boundary", with small characters on the left and right, which are engraved with the boundaries of counties and counties and the year when the monument was erected. After passing this boundary monument, the other side is engraved with "Xuzhou Boundary".
, the left and right sides are engraved with the county and year of erection in the same format, which was erected at the founding of this dynasty.
"I don't eat bugs."
"How can I explain it clearly? I still need to find someone to ask."
"Why?"
"Just take me there."
"Oh, sir, you'd better not go for now." The old man held a sickle, "There has been a big bug in our village in the past few days. The ones who came down from the mountain behind are still in the village. We are about to go to the county to invite people.
Come and beat it to death. It’s not that we in Liujia Village don’t know how to entertain guests. If you come earlier or later, I can ask the host to give you some food and money. If there is no such thing, the host will be free the day after tomorrow.
It’s my birthday, so I can’t keep my husband to eat and drink for a few days, but that’s not possible now.”
"Then I'll catch mice for you."
"I have gained a lot of wisdom from observing the tiger. In the future, I may not be able to open up spiritual wisdom and become a demon. Now that the tiger has eaten a lot of livestock, it is better to go back early and don't make mistakes." Song Youyou said, "In the future, I still don't do it.
When we have to cross the line again, the mountain is your hunting ground, and below the mountain, especially where the road goes, is the human world."
"Not yet, just eating some livestock."
The roar of the tiger frightened the villagers half to death.
This shows that it is very smart.
"The tiger has a huge appetite. This village alone cannot afford the tiger's food. Besides, people also have to live." Song You shook his head and said, "When we came down, the farmers in this village were already preparing to go to the county to invite them.
Humans are hunting tigers, and no matter how powerful the tigers are, they are ultimately no match for humans."
Then something happened that made all the villagers dumbfounded. The evil tiger actually crossed the village path and ran all the way up the mountain.
Everyone behind him was also stunned for a moment.
Walking closer, the words on the stone tablet can be seen clearly.
"Oh? But the mountain tiger becomes a spirit?"
"Everyone, please step back a little further and stay far away. Don't scare it."
“Because it embodies the wisdom of our predecessors.”
When everyone heard this, they quickly stepped back.
"Sir, are you sure?"
Wild tigers in the mountains don't understand human language, but after listening to Song You's words, for some reason, the vigilance in their eyes gradually disappeared, turning into thinking, and then into doubt.
When they came back to their senses, the young gentleman they met on the road was already in front of them.
If there were many people coming, it would have run away long ago. Now it only saw one person, a little kitten. Its eyes were still full of vigilance. It only looked them up and down, and occasionally flickered its eyes, as if they were watching.
Just like thinking, there is also calmness in vigilance.
But I saw this man shaking his head and saying:
"You're not smart."
How can a tiger understand human speech without becoming a spirit?
An older man came out and looked at Song You closely, his eyes a little impatient:
"You? How to drive me away?"
"The old man told you how to get there."
The pigs here are mainly small black pigs, which don't grow very big. With the tiger's appetite, he may be able to eat one in two meals. At this time, no matter how rich Zhuangzi is, he won't be able to withstand its torment.
"Go...go..."
At the same time, the tiger also noticed him, immediately stopped his mouth movements, turned his head and stared at him closely.
"No...not afraid..."
"Right there."
While walking, I talked with Song.
"Is Sanhua Empress going too?"
"I understand."
"Roar……"
"Why study?"
"There is no need to be afraid of the tiger. My surname is Song, and my name is You Menglai. I am from a mountain in Lingquan County, Yizhou. I was traveling here and wanted to buy some food. I accidentally met people in the village who were out asking for help. I heard that the tiger was related to this person.
There was a conflict among the people in the village, so I came here to resolve it."
"Don't stutter."
"Try it."
Although Liujia Village is close to the mountains, the wild beasts in the mountains will avoid people and rarely go down the mountain. On the contrary, wild boars often come down to destroy the crops. Recently, it may be the beginning of spring, and the animals in the mountains are dormant. This tiger cannot catch prey for a while, and I don’t know why.
After learning about the village at the foot of the mountain, he went down to visit him. He didn't hurt anyone yet, but only killed some chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep to eat.
He has also seen tigers behind Yin Yang Mountain, and he has also seen tiger spirits with Tao Xing. The tigers in Yizhou are of average size. The tiger in front of him looks like the same species as the tiger in Yizhou, but it is larger. Its fur is like
Like the finest brand-new silk and satin, it reflects light in the sun. No matter how exquisite the artistic fabric is, it cannot reach this state.
"We should find a village or market town to see if we can buy some easy-to-carry food." Song You looked ahead and saw only blue sky, yellow grassland, and undulating mountains. There was no shadow of the village. He could only tell whether it was smoke or fog.
His gray hair stopped at the end of his sight, "We just happened to be looking for someone to ask how to get to Junjun."
"It is also the ladder for cats to progress."
"Do mountain tigers eat people?"
"I am visiting Song Dynasty. I am visiting Fangshan people. I am passing by Guibao. I have just finished my dry food. I want to go to Guibao to buy some dry food that is easy to carry. I want to ask for directions." Song You curtsies to them curiously, "I didn't know that you are so insistent.
Why are you walking out with a knife and a stick?"
But there was no need to stay here for a long time. I stopped for a while, had some dry food and drank some water, and then continued on the road.
Song You often saw a similar expression on Sanhua Empress's face. Even when she was transformed into a cat, through the thoughts in her eyes, she could be seen at a glance as being extraordinary.
I was afraid that the tiger behind the wall would rush out in the next second and throw this man to the ground.
Song You also quickly returned the gift.
A group of people circled around and stopped outside a house in the village.
"Don't take anything from me, just give me some easy-to-carry food."
Oh, there are also the Sanhua Empress and the Bay Red Horse.
Just listen to the voice of this young Taoist.
"What about the cat?"
Song You got off the road and led the horse forward.
Song You just stepped forward, his pace still calm.
"I wonder how much money you receive, sir?"
"It won't go down the mountain again from now on."
Song You looked along and saw a yellow and black patch exposed in a circle of sheds. If he looked closely, it was still moving. Only this piece of fur showed the opponent's size.
"How should we cooperate sir?"
“Very delicious.”
"I've got the right way to do it."
The tiger stared at him but said nothing.
The old man suddenly turned his head and looked at the person behind him in confusion.
"This is not a good idea."
I saw it changing its gaze, sometimes looking at Song You, sometimes looking at the cat behind Song You, sometimes looking at the half pig under it. After a moment, its paws actually let go of the half pig, and went towards
After walking a few steps aside, he lowered his head to Song You, thanked him and saluted.
"Thank you sir!"
"What wisdom?"
His mouth was full of blood and his eyes were horrifying.
"I don't have much left to eat."
So when the tiger in the mountains was vigilantly investigating, and when a group of people behind him were nervous and worried, Song You raised his hand and gave a salute:
"I've seen tigers."
"good!"
It was only early spring, and the old man was already covered with sweat: "Sir, it's better not to go in, for fear of hurting your life. There are so many of us who can do nothing. We have to go to the county to report to the official and ask for a special person."
"We don't have much food left."
Then he stretched out his tongue and licked his mouth, revealing the barbs on his tongue and the fangs longer than his fingers.
Song You lowered his head and looked at the cat next to him.
From their perspective, they could not see the tiger in the pigsty. They could only see the young Taoist man saluting and talking to the tiger. They were surprised, ridiculous and scared for a moment.
Someone pointed ahead to Song You.
The villagers were frightened. Led by the big family, they organized young people and set up traps, but to no avail. Today they went to the county to report to the officials to find someone.
Although he was just leading the way, the old man did not dare to look down upon him. He still led everyone, picked up the sword and stick in his hand, and walked forward nervously.
The voice was very low:
There is a bluestone on the side of the road with the words Liujia Village written on it.
"..."
When they were about to approach the village, they saw a group of men walking out with knives and sticks, rushing towards the main road outside.
"Books are the ladder of human progress."
A group of people looked at each other again.
It was lying on the ground, eating a pig, almost half of it had been eaten.
"Miss Sanhua catches bugs for you to eat."
The tiger's eyes flashed with luster, and he was lost in thought.
His eyes gradually moved toward the foot of the wall, and the body of this beautiful tiger appeared before Song You's eyes.
"Listen to what I said, I might as well try to drive it back into the mountains to save you some time and money."
"No need."
"Sanhua Empress will follow you."
"That's a tiger."
It was the old man who reacted the fastest. He gave Song You a salute and said quickly: "Sir, please come here! The old man will go and report to the master's family first. These two days are the master's birthday. Because of this evil tiger, I don't know if it will happen."
We can still celebrate on time. Now that you have driven away the evil tiger, you are a distinguished guest of my Liujia Village. Please stay in the village for a few more days and let me entertain you!"
"No need, just give me some food."
"Sir, don't refuse! If we let you go like this, my master will definitely blame you!" the old man said, "Sir, please don't worry, I will entertain you with delicious food and drinks. If your birthday goes smoothly in two days, I will also