SLH | Chapter 52

Beast Eats Man

The next day, Xiahe Village was blanketed by snow. The heavy snow had piled up overnight, reaching past the ankles when stepped on. Liu Hu and his brother spent the time it takes to burn an incense stick just to clear the snow outside the courtyard to the roadside.

Today is New Year’s Eve, and the family didn’t let anything dampen their spirits. Everyone got up early to tidy up.

Xia Ge’er wore a new outfit embroidered with little rabbits and carried a rabbit lantern made by Song Tingzhu, running around the courtyard, adding a festive atmosphere to the house.

It was cold outside, and Ruan Xiulian called out, “Come inside, my dear grandson. It’s still bright outside now. Grandma will light the lantern for you in the evening.”

“Coming!” The little guy responded obediently.

The snow hadn’t stopped yet, and only young Xia Ge’er, who didn’t know what worries were, enjoyed his snacks and meat with delight.

That night, Song Tingzhu couldn’t sleep. The wind and snow howled outside, making him feel restless.

As the night passed, the snow on the road piled up even more. The Liu brothers cleared a path in the morning, only to hear several women and husbands discussing going to the fields to shovel snow.

Back in the courtyard, Liu Meng mentioned it to his parents, but Ruan Xiulian frowned and said, “That’s such a big area; how long will it take to finish shoveling?”

“I wonder how things are in the county. In the village, we have enough food, so we won’t starve. But the people in town and the county might not have as much grain at home,” Liu Dasheng sighed.

Ruan Xiulian knew her husband was worried about his third brother. Since the family split up, the third brother had gone to the county to make a living and hadn’t kept in touch with the family. For years, there hadn’t been a single letter. How could anyone be at ease at such a critical moment?

But she still comforted her husband, “Third brother has always been sharp. He’ll be fine.”

“Mom, so we’re not going to shovel snow?” Liu Meng asked.

“No, the snow outside is almost as tall as half a person. If something happens, there’s no place to get medical help in this snowy weather.”

“Alright, I’ll go tell Uncle Tian and Aunt Zhao.”

“While you’re at it, persuade your uncle and aunt to stay home. I think this snow will last another three to five days. By then, the sun will come out.”

“Okay.”

“Mom, how do you know when the snow will stop?” Liu Xiaomei asked, puzzled.

Ruan Xiulian replied, “Your mom can predict things, can’t she?”

Liu Xiaomei didn’t believe it, thinking her mom was just trying to comfort everyone.

But Song Tingzhu knew that his mother-in-law said that because of the big snowstorm twenty years ago. It snowed for over a month, and two days after Zhao Jie’er was lost at sea, the sky cleared. The day after that was Zhao Jie’er’s memorial day.

“Xiulian Sister.” Zhao Chunfang’s voice came from outside the courtyard.

The two families weren’t far apart. Zhao Chunfang was feeling anxious at home, so she came along with Liu Meng, and Tian Le also came.

While the elders were talking, Song Tingzhu noticed Tian Le looking downcast and pulled him aside to ask why.

“I’m a bit worried about Grandma. Before the New Year, when I visited her, she was already sick. Now that it’s so cold, the room is only warm with a brazier. I don’t know if Grandma’s firewood is enough.”

Dad often brought firewood home, so there was enough at home. Song Tingzhu hadn’t thought about this until now. Hearing Le Ge’er mention it, he couldn’t help but furrow his brows and feel a bit worried.

With the snow falling for so many days, those with little firewood at home might be running out. Without dry wood to burn, they’d have to find a way to go up the mountain to gather wood. There were man-eating beasts in the back mountain, and if one was unlucky enough to encounter them, it would be a life-or-death situation.

The elders also brought up this issue, and at this moment, the thing everyone feared was happening.

In the snow-covered back mountain, there were screams. A man clutched his blood-stained arm, struggling to move through the waist-deep snow. Behind him, a starving white tiger with a trap on its hind leg was relentlessly pursuing its prey.

The white tiger had been hungry for a long time. When it tried to catch a rabbit, it stepped on a trap and broke its leg. If not for this, the man wouldn’t have had a chance to call for help; he’d have been tiger food long ago.

“Roar!!”

Frustrated from not catching its prey, the white tiger bared its terrifying fangs and let out a deafening roar.

Meanwhile, at the Liu household.

“Did you guys hear something just now?” Tang Chunxing held Xia Ge’er, wondering if she had misheard.

Liu Hu furrowed his thick brows and said, “The beast has come down the mountain.”

He had heard this sound before, and there was no mistake. It was the white tiger that lived deep in the mountains.

The roar was very close, likely at the foot of the mountain. When the Liu family came out to check, a crowd had already gathered outside.

“What should we do? The beast has come down the mountain!”

“Please help! My husband went to the mountain to gather wood and hasn’t come back. I’m afraid he’s encountered that man-eating beast. Wuwuwu…”

A woman cried hysterically, kneeling and begging for help.

“How can we help? That’s a man-eating beast. Everyone is scared. Why don’t you let your son go into the mountain to find him? Are you asking us to risk our lives?”

“Exactly, you have three children!”

The woman sobbed, “My eldest is only twelve. How can you be so heartless?”

The young man beside her tugged at her arm, “Mom, don’t beg them. I’ll go into the mountain to find Dad.”

“Son, the snow is taller than you in some places. Can you even come back out?” The woman hugged her stubborn eldest son, her voice trembling.

Tian Tian stepped forward, “Auntie, I’ll help you take a look, but I won’t dare go deep into the mountain.”

“Okay, okay, Auntie will bow to you.”

“Auntie, please get up!”

The Liu family arrived just in time to witness this scene.

Liu Hu turned and said, “Wife, I’ll go with Brother Tian to take a look.”

Song Tingzhu frowned but didn’t refuse, just reminding him to be careful.

Liu Hu squeezed his wife’s hand reassuringly, signaling with his eyes for her not to worry, and then stepped forward.

“Brother Tian, I’ll go with you.”

Liu Meng said, “I’ll go too.”

They all had family to care for. If they encountered danger, they would prioritize themselves. Moreover, even if not for others, they had to check the back mountain for their own safety.

If the beast got a taste of human blood, it would go wild. If it broke through the barriers, it would be disastrous.

The three of them took their axes and shovels, and before they left the village, a few other men joined them. Soon, about twenty men, all armed, headed to the back mountain.

Meanwhile, the man being hunted by the white tiger was exhausted. He sat hopelessly against a tree, his axe slipping from his grasp.

“Uncle Dashan!”

A shout came from not far away, and the man tensed, thinking he was hallucinating. But the next moment, he heard more people calling his name.

Hope rekindled in the man’s heart. He raised his axe, glaring fiercely at the beast in front of him.

“Come on, I’m not afraid of you!”

The white tiger also sensed the approaching humans. It flicked its tail anxiously, but its eyes remained fixed on the man, showing no intention of giving up.

“Dashan!”

“Uncle, where are you? Make some noise so we can find you!”

The shouting drew closer, and the white tiger’s tail flicked more rapidly.

The man clutched his axe, not daring to make a sound.

This beast was very cautious. If he showed any sign of weakness, it would pounce and tear him apart in an instant!

“Roar!”

The white tiger’s patience ran out. It lowered its massive head, its eyes glowing with a terrifying light. Its claws extended, and it let out one final roar at the man.

Just as the white tiger was about to attack, a loud noise suddenly erupted around them.

Bang! Thud!

It sounded like trees falling, so close it seemed to be right beside them, making the ground tremble.

The white tiger showed fear, retracting its claws and stepping back.

The loud noise continued, and after hesitating for a moment, the white tiger reluctantly turned its head and disappeared into the forest, vanishing without a trace.

The man sat there in a daze for a moment before finding his voice. “I’m, I’m here!”

“Did you hear that?” A man at the foot of the mountain turned and asked.

“I heard it. It’s Dashan’s voice!”

“Dashan, where are you? Make some noise so we can find you!”

As soon as the words were out, they heard the sound of someone pounding on a tree trunk a few yards away.

“In the woods!”

“Don’t go in yet. What if there’s a tiger inside?”

“What tiger? Dashan made such a loud noise and nothing happened. If there was a tiger, would he still be alive?”

Tian Tian said, and the three of them grabbed their tools and entered the woods.

The group hesitated for a moment, then followed. With so many of them, if they encountered the beast, they’d give it a good beating!

They followed the sound and, when they saw Jiang Dashan covered in blood under a tree, they were all shocked.

Jiang Dashan’s shoulder had been bitten through by the beast. His face was pale, and he mechanically used his axe to tap the tree trunk behind him.

“Uncle Dashan!”

Everyone rushed over, loosened their belts to stop the bleeding, and then carried him down the mountain straight to Doctor Liang.

“Auntie, we found Uncle Dashan. Brother Tian from the Tian family took him to Old Master Liang. Uncle was bitten by the beast and lost a lot of blood. You should go see him!”

A man came back to report.

The woman hurriedly took her son and ran to the Liang family.

Liu Hu and his brother Liu Meng didn’t follow. They returned with the smell of blood all over them. The family saw them and thought they were injured, surrounding them and checking anxiously.

Liu Hu said, “Dad, Mom, don’t worry. My brother and I are fine. This blood is all Uncle Dashan’s.”

He turned to his wife and reassured her again, “Wife, I’m fine.”

Song Tingzhu clutched her husband’s blood-stained clothes, biting her lip and nodding.

Ruan Xiulian organized, “Go back and boil some hot water to wash up. The smell of blood might bother Xia Ge’er.”

“Okay.”

Seeing that the person was found, everyone didn’t stay outside any longer and went back to their homes.

The brothers had quite a bit of blood on them, fearing they’d scare Xiaomei and Xia Ge’er. Tang Chunxing took them inside first, and only after the brothers changed their clothes did she let them out.

“Sister-in-law, are big brother and second brother okay?” Liu Xiaomei ran into the kitchen, not seeing anyone, and asked Song Tingzhu, who was boiling water. Xia Ge’er followed closely, looking up at him with a worried face.

Song Tingzhu added water to the pot and replied with a smile, “They’re fine.”

“Did you find Uncle Jiang?”

“Yes, we found him.”

Liu Xiaomei breathed a sigh of relief, then thought of something and asked with a pale face, “Did Uncle Jiang encounter the tiger?”

Song Tingzhu nodded, “Uncle Jiang’s shoulder was bitten through, but fortunately, in this cold weather, the blood flow was slow. If it were the peak of summer, it might have been too late.”

In the courtyard, Tang Chunxing was washing clothes and sighed, “At such a critical time, with a beast eating people, everyone will probably be restless. I just saw many people heading to the village head’s house. They’re probably going to discuss the sacrificial rites.”

Song Tingzhu frowned slightly.

That’s exactly what he was worried about.

———————–

Author’s Note: I’m exhausted, it’s like a slideshow, typing out one word at a time.

Leave a comment on this chapter, and I’ll send a red envelope to get a feel for things…