Chapter 020 - Encounter with a Tiger

Night fell. The massive draft roundup had finally ended. Some families wailed, some families mourned. There were gray-haired parents sending off their children, couples torn apart by tragedy...

All of Little Ink Village sank into a heavy silence.

Yan Yu blew out the candles early and stood guard by the back door, peeking outside from time to time, her heart full of worry and hope.

Her eyes were puffy and red, not just for show. The entire village was in mourning; who wouldn’t be brokenhearted under such circumstances?

Around midnight, a ghostly figure suddenly appeared at the back door. A hand rose and knocked six times in a pattern of light, light, heavy, heavy, light, and heavy.

Yan Yu leaned in, and a voice came from outside:

“It’s me.”

She recognized it immediately and, overjoyed, rushed to open the door. She pulled the man in with a tight embrace, her hands roaming restlessly as if starved for his touch.

Only after a good while did the commotion in the room settle.

Li Yuan said quietly, “Aren’t you bothered by the smell?”

“I don’t smell anything,” Yan Yu answered softly, her voice gentle and weak, but she held on to him as though letting go would mean losing him forever. After a light sigh, she finally let go and murmured, “I’ll get some water ready so you can wash up.”

“Better not. If the neighbors see smoke, they might get suspicious,” Li Yuan replied. “Besides, I already washed in a mountain spring. But I could use a bit of soap and a change of clothes for when I head back.”

“A mountain spring?" Yan Yu’s eyes widened in disbelief. “In this weather? Aren’t you afraid you’ll freeze to death?”

Li Yuan laughed. “Your man’s as tough as an ox. There’s no freezing me.”

She rolled her eyes and pinched his arm playfully, pouting, “No wonder you have so much stamina.”

Then she sighed and rested her head on his chest, whispering, “So many men have been taken away—Uncle Wang, Qian Er, Bear, even that Xiao Hu. Almost all the able-bodied men in the village are gone.

“Li Yuan... do you think they’ll survive fighting the Red Lotus Rebels and come back home?”

Li Yuan was silent for a long moment. Before crossing over to this world, he hadn’t studied much history, but he had at least watched enough historical dramas to know that peasant uprisings often marked the beginning of chaotic times.

He thought of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the Yellow Turbans, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom... When the world truly descended into chaos, order would collapse, and human life became as worthless as weeds.

Right now, hearing about people starving or selling their children in this village might sound shocking, but in the grander scheme of things, it was just a small taste of what was to come.

By then, the world would no longer be for the living. It would be hell on earth.

“Li Yuan,” Yan Yu said softly, “do you really think none of them will make it back? I mean, Qian Er is one thing, but there are so many good men in the village... are they all just going to die?”

Li Yuan felt a heaviness in his chest. He thought to himself.

Maybe once things settle down, I can save up enough silver and move us somewhere near Silver Creek. Maybe life would be better there. Or maybe we should retreat deep into the mountains, and I'll carve out a peaceful haven for us, far away from the chaos.

He hugged his wife close and tried to console her. “Whether they live or die isn’t up to us. It’s all in the hands of fate.”

Yan Yu choked up, tears welling in her eyes. “Thank goodness you didn’t go... Thank goodness. Promise me you’ll take care of yourself up in the mountains. If it’s too risky to come back at night, don’t force it.”

Li Yuan nodded. “I know. Listen, stash our grain in a safe place. Only bring out a little at a time so no one realizes how much we have. And if you see someone so desperate you feel like giving them some grain, think carefully. You could end up bringing trouble on yourself.”

Yan Yu closed her eyes and pressed her cheek to his chest. “Your wife...isn’t foolish,” she murmured.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

In the early hours, before dawn, Li Yuan slipped out of bed, gathered his pack, quietly opened the back door, and vanished into the mist like a ghost. It weighed on him that he couldn’t stay in his own home, forced instead to hide in the wilderness. But there was no alternative.

He made his way back up the mountain, heading deeper into the second ridge, where he found a cave beside a spring and settled in.

Not long after, the sun rose, bathing the slopes in golden light.

Carrying his old clothes and a bit of soap, he washed his laundry by the spring. Spotting a few 0~1s in the water—some fish, it seemed—he deftly stabbed at them with an arrow. A quick pull later, a fish was flopping in his hand.

He spread his wet clothes over a rock outside the cave, laying them flat to dry in the sun. By day’s end, they’d be mostly done.

Finally, he gathered firewood along the way, lit a small campfire at the mouth of the cave, and began roasting the fish over the open flame.

After finishing his fish, Li Yuan leaned back against the rock wall, staring off into the distance. Before long, boredom set in.

He briefly toyed with the idea of disguising himself and heading into town for a little fun. But that was too dangerous. If anyone recognized him, he’d be as good as dead. Still, he needed something to occupy his time.

Maybe I should explore deeper into the mountains? If I find a good spot, I could bring Yan Yu here and build a refuge. We'll wait things out until the chaos passes.

It would be just like the tale of the Peach Blossom Spring.[1] After all, those villagers once said their ancestors had fled the Qin Dynasty’s upheaval and stumbled upon their hidden haven. If it worked for them, why not for him?

Chasing powerful cultivation techniques was tempting, but if they required gambling his life or taking insane risks, was it really worth it?

If he stayed hidden long enough, his daily stat points would accumulate, allowing him to boost any skill to mastery the moment he emerged. That beat living in constant fear.

Enthusiasm sparked in his chest, and his heart thumped.

“Alright,” Li Yuan muttered, jumping to his feet and clenching his fists. “Let’s head deeper into Little Ink Mountain today.”

He grabbed his bow and hatchet and began trekking north. He knew this area fairly well, at least up to the narrow pass ahead. But now he planned to push through that pass and see what the third ridge looked like beyond the second ridge.

By midday, he stumbled through the pass into an expanse of wild forest, all drab yellows and browns. Come spring or summer, it might look completely different.

“Not a single trail,” Li Yuan grumbled, hacking away at dangling vines and overgrown branches with his hatchet. He could see nothing but more trees and more scrub ahead, no end in sight.

As he pressed on, faint numbers like 0~1 or 1~2 flickered in his peripheral vision more often than they had in the second ridge, likely representing small wildlife.

“Well, at least there’s no shortage of meat here,” Li Yuan mused. “If I plant some vegetables later, we’d be set. But this is still too close to the outside. I should keep going and scout farther in.”

Time slipped into the evening before he finally decided to head back. He’d spent the entire afternoon on the move, scouting the area.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Thanks to his improved tracking and his ability to gauge combat power, he avoided any run-ins with dangerous beasts. As long as he didn’t provoke them, they left him alone.

By sunset, the sky was blood-red, and a strange, bone-chilling wind cut through the mountains like a knife.

Li Yuan picked up his pace, half running, half walking back to his cave. The moon was already high by the time he returned, bathing the land in silvery light.

He lit a campfire, then hurried to the nearby spring for a quick, teeth-chattering rinse, snatching a few fish from the water while he was at it.

Afterward, he slipped back into the clothes he’d dried earlier and perched on a large rock, roasting fish over the flames. As he waited, he mentally reviewed the terrain he’d seen in the third ridge that day.

“So far, I haven’t found a suitable spot,” he thought. “Tomorrow, I’ll set out earlier and push deeper. That might lead me somewhere better.”

Just then, Li Yuan felt a sudden gust of foul wind sweeping in from afar. Instinct took over. His left hand flipped up, grabbing his crude bow, while his right hand dropped the half-roasted fish and snatched an arrow from its quiver.

He drew back the bowstring in one smooth motion, the firelight catching the arrow’s tip as it pointed toward the edge of the illuminated clearing.

Eyes narrowed, Li Yuan peered into the darkness. That was when he saw it, a flickering 5~8 approaching.

Out of the night emerged the outline of a white-foreheaded tiger, slinking across the ground. It had been charging forward at full speed, but upon nearing the firelight, it suddenly halted and slowly backed up a few steps before flattening itself against the ground.

Li Yuan almost loosed his arrow right then, but something made him hesitate. He nudged the roasted fish with the tip of his boot, sending it flying through the air to land near the fire’s perimeter.

The tiger stayed where it was, not moving a muscle.

Li Yuan lowered his bow slightly and softened his breathing.

Then the tiger rose, padded forward a few paces, seized the fish in its jaws, and wheeled around to dash back into the darkness.

1. You can read more about the tale on

Wikipedia

. ☜