Chapter 52 - A Deity

The Ma Family Village was in chaos.

The faster hunters returned to the Ma Family Village with the terrifying news that a Tiger King was chasing them down the mountain.

The idyllic Ma Family Village descended into disorder. Some people rushed home to lock their doors and others hurriedly packed up to stay with relatives in the city. There was even a group that was hoping the authorities would come and eliminate the Tiger King.

Hearing the furor, Ma Xiuxiu anxiously grabbed a hunter who had just run down the mountain and asked, "Where’s my dad? Has he come back?"

The hunter bent over with his hands on his knees, panting heavily. He waved Ma Xiuxiu away, unable to speak as he caught his breath.

Seeing the hunter remain silent, Ma Xiuxiu's face turned pale and she seemed like she was on the verge of tears.

Eventually, the hunter caught his breath and said, "I-I don’t know—"

"How could you not know!" Ma Xiuxiu shook him by the collar. "Weren't you with him?"

Annoyed by her nagging, the hunter pushed Ma Xiuxiu away. "I told you, I don’t know! Calm down!"

Stunned by the outburst, Ma Xiuxiu's tears began falling like pearls slipping from a broken necklace.

Walking toward the village entrance, she muttered to herself, "Dad... I have to find my dad..."

"Xiuxiu!" someone from behind called out, "Where are you going?"

Ma Xiuxiu turned around quickly and saw a familiar tall and burly man standing not far away, making his way toward her.

It was Ma Hong, who had safely made it down the mountain.

"Dad!" Ma Xiuxiu rushed forward and threw her arms around the tall figure.

Ma Xiuxiu buried her face in Ma Hong’s arm, her shoulders trembling slightly as she sobbed. Ma Hong gently stroked her hair and sighed.

Ma Xiuxiu suddenly remembered that there was someone else who went up the mountain with him. Concerned she asked, "Where's Uncle Ye?"

Ma Hong looked at Xiuxiu and said nothing. After a long pause, he sighed again.

Ma Xiuxiu lifted her head, eyes wide as she stared at Ma Hong. "Un-Uncle Ye... Where is he?"

"He... your Uncle Ye..." Ma Hong turned his head towards the mountain. "He chose to stay."

Ma Hong felt Ma Xiuxiu’s grip on his clothes tighten suddenly.

"How... how could that be?" Ma Xiuxiu murmured, "Isn’t he skilled in martial arts?"

Ma Hong shook his head and said nothing more, staring toward the mountain.

In time, the hunters returned to their homes to plan their next steps. Tiger King was like a mythical monster and its existence disrupted the villager's way of life. If it ever came down the mountain, the Ma Family Village could very well become its buffet. Rather than staying here to be eaten, many thought it would be better to pack up and flee.

Ma Hong and Xiuxiu were also about to head home when they saw someone running down from the mountain. With his sharp eyes, Ma Hong immediately recognized who it was.

"Haozi?!" Ma Hong’s voice was full of doubt and surprise.

He rushed forward a few steps to steady the shaken young hunter.

"Haozi, how did you..." Ma Hong realized he didn't know what to say.

Should he ask, 'How did you survive?' or 'You actually managed to escape?'

It seemed that neither question would be inappropriate.

Haozi, wild-eyed and panting heavily, leaned on Ma Hong for support.

After a moment, he calmed down a bit and looked at Ma Hong's bewildered face, "It-it’s you!"

"How did you escape? Where's Biaozi? What about Brother Ye?" Ma Hong grabbed Haozi’s shoulders and shook him.

"B-Biaozi... ah," Haozi stammered, "Biaozi... yes, and Brother Ye... They-they didn’t make it..."

Ma Hong’s arms dropped limply, like a heavy weight was dropped on his shoulders.

Ma Xiuxiu covered her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks as she quietly sobbed, "So... it’s like that... in the end."

"That's enough." Ma Hong patted Haozi's shoulder. "You should go home. Go somewhere safe." With that, he wrapped an arm around Ma Xiuxiu's shoulder and started walking home.

Haozi stood behind them and watched the retreating family. His back was already soaked in cold sweat. He turned to look back in the direction where the tigers were waiting. The entire mountain was shrouded by shadows.

***

Biaozi felt that he had sweated more today than he had in his entire life. He had witnessed this young man slay a tiger with one blow from a machete, and scare off the Tiger King with just a glance.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Then he saw that man actually chase after the fleeing Tiger King!

The world had gone crazy. Nothing made sense.

That wasn't any ordinary tiger, that was a Tiger King! Biaozi had never imagined it was possible to intimidate a beast such as a Tiger King, let alone try to hunt it down. Ye Beizhi had gone after the Tiger King, leaving Biaozi by himself at the temporary camp.

A cold wind blew, and caused his sweat-soaked clothes to cling to his body. giving him the chills.

Biaozi shivered.

He looked down the mountain, then in the direction Ye Beizhi had chased the Tiger King. There was nothing he wanted more than to run home, but felt he would be too disloyal if he did not at least wait for Ye Beizhi's return.

Not far from his feet lay the tiger that had been killed with one blow, its blood pooling on the ground. Biaozi swallowed nervously and cautiously walked over as if afraid it might wake up at any moment.

He poked the tiger with his blade... there was no movement.

It had really died!

Biaozi finally relaxed.

He squatted down to inspect the wound.

There was only one, located at the tiger's left eye. It seemed Ye Beizhi had driven his machete knife straight through the tiger's left eye, all the way to the hilt and had gone straight into its brain, scrambling it.

A rustling sound came from the dense forest.

Biaozi was startled and fell back onto the ground, scared that the Tiger King had come back to eat him.

He quickly braced himself and saw a mountain-sized shadow leap out of the forest. Biaozi was scared out of his wits, all he could see was the menacing face of a tiger.

Boom!

The ground shook as the massive shape fell heavily to the ground.

A figure then emerged from the dense forest. It was Ye Beizhi.

Biaozi’s eyes widened and pointed his finger at Ye Beizhi as he complained, "You, you, you!"

Ye Beizhi wiped the blood off his machete onto the tiger’s pelt.

Noticing Biaozi pointing at him, he asked, "Hmm? What is it?"

Biaozi let out a breath. "It's n-nothing." He looked like he couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or cry as Ye Beizhi walked over.

"Why are you sitting there?"

Biaozi scrambled to his feet. He extended his hand as if to pat Ye Beizhi on the shoulder in thanks but pulled his hand back quickly. Facing the man who had only felt very awkward and embarrassed.

Ye Beizhi gave him another puzzled look before he gestured at the pair of tigers and asked, "I remember... you said that tiger meat is worth a fortune?"

Biaozi nodded hastily.

"Which parts?"

"What do you mean which parts?" Biaozi was confused too.

"Which parts are valuable?" Ye Beizhi clarified.

"Oh..." Biaozi understood now.

He scratched the back of his head. "Actually, the whole tiger is valuable... every part is worth something..."

He glanced over at the Tiger King not far away. "And that Tiger King, don’t even get me started... it's completely priceless..."

Ye Beizhi nodded thoughtfully and put the machete away; he had been considering dismembering the tigers earlier.

"I'll drag them back," Ye Beizhi murmured to himself.

"What?" Biaozi didn’t quite catch that.

Ye Beizhi extended a hand. "Rope," he prompted.

Hunters would always bring rope up the mountain to tie down prey, and Biaozi had a coil hanging from his waist.

Although Biaozi didn’t know what Ye Beizhi wanted to do, he still handed his rope over.

Ye Beizhi walked over to the Tiger King, looped the rope around its neck a few times, passed it through its front legs, and secured it with another knot around its neck. He did the same with the smaller tiger, then grabbed the loops around their necks. With veins bulging in his arms, Ye Beizhi hauled the tigers into motion.

Ye Beizhi steadied himself, let out a breath, and then turned to the stunned Biaozi and said, "Let’s go, time to head back."

Biaozi nodded subconsciously; his mind was somewhere else. In this moment, he felt like he was in the presence of a legendary diety.