Chapter 0115: Black Tiger City Has Black Tiger Mountain, Black Tiger Mountain Has Black Tiger Fort
The closer they got to Liaozhou, the thicker the snow fell.
According to the letter, Shen Yuan, while transporting official grain, had chosen to split his forces when passing through Black Tiger Mountain. He took the smaller portion of the grain himself and unfortunately encountered bandits, disappearing along with the grain and carriages on Black Tiger Mountain.
Xie Chengze speculated that Shen Yuan had likely anticipated bandits on Black Tiger Mountain but wasn’t sure which route they would strike. Thus, he took the smaller portion of grain and chose the more dangerous path.
And indeed, he encountered them.
Since it was a smaller portion of grain, the escort would naturally be insufficient. If the bandits were numerous and their leader capable, it would be normal for Shen Yuan to be injured in the fight. The question was where he was now and whether his life was in danger.
Three days later, Xie Chengze finally arrived at Black Tiger City, the county town where Black Tiger Mountain was located.
Legend had it that during the early establishment of Black Tiger City, the site couldn’t be decided, troubling the officials. Suddenly, a black tiger appeared, crouching on the mountain peak, roaring day and night with majestic presence. The people took this as an auspicious sign and decided to build the city there, naming it Black Tiger City.
The mountain where the tiger had appeared became known as Black Tiger Mountain, standing opposite the city in the distance.
Upon entering the county, Xie Chengze tossed a few silver ingots to Hu Lai. “Hu Lai, go buy two carts of rice, winter clothes, and one carriage.”
“Yes.” Hu Lai caught the ingots and glanced at Xie Chengze, whose eyes were heavy with exhaustion, looking as if he might collapse at any moment. He couldn’t help but worry, “Your Highness, perhaps you should rest here for a day…”
Xie Chengze waved his hand, coughing twice. “No need. Go quickly.”
Hu Lai had no choice but to nod and leave.
Finding a tavern to sit in, Xie Chengze ordered a pot of hot wine to warm himself and began dozing off on the bench.
Xie Zimiao, sore from riding, couldn’t sit still. He followed the waiter to fetch the hot wine, borrowed a knife from the kitchen, and sliced ginseng into the wine.
Xie Chengze, half-asleep, felt Xie Zimiao hand him a cup. His nose was stuffy, and though he caught a faint, strange medicinal smell, he didn’t suspect anything and drank it in one gulp.
The next moment, he felt something wet under his nose, and his whole body began to heat up.
He touched his nose and saw blood on his hand: ?
Beside him, Xie Zimiao looked horrified, quickly using his sleeve to wipe the blood, muttering, “Too much, too much…”
Xie Chengze pointed at Xie Zimiao. “You…”
What did you put in—
The next moment, he lost consciousness.
When he woke again, he was in a clinic. Xie Zimiao was holding a small ointment, bending over carefully to apply it to the inner part of his thigh where it had been chafed from riding.
Noticing Xie Chengze was awake, Xie Zimiao quickly put down the ointment, exclaiming happily, “Second Brother! You’re awake!”
Then, guiltily, he added, “Sorry, Second Brother. I only meant to add some old ginseng to help replenish your energy, but I used too much and made you pass out.”
“Old ginseng?” Xie Chengze finally understood that faint medicinal smell. His head throbbed as he sat up. Rather than blaming the strong effects of the ginseng, all he wanted now was to pull up his pants.
As he pulled up his trousers, he asked, “What time is it now?”
“Not long ago,” Xie Zimiao answered honestly, reaching out to help but having his hand swatted away by Xie Chengze. Pouting, he continued, “I wanted to let you sleep longer, Second Brother, but that old physician fixed you up with just a few acupuncture needles…”
Seeing Xie Zimiao’s frustrated expression, Xie Chengze couldn’t help but chuckle and flicked his forehead. “Alright, no need to worry. Your Second Brother knows his limits.”
Xie Zimiao rubbed his flicked forehead and was about to say something when a commotion erupted outside. Someone shouted in panic, “Physician! Physician, help! My brother was bitten by a big cat! Please save him!”
A big cat?
Xie Chengze and Xie Zimiao exchanged glances and immediately rose to step out of the inner room of the clinic. They saw a middle-aged man carrying an unconscious man who had large chunks of flesh torn from half his leg, almost revealing the white bone beneath!
Someone recognized the man carrying the injured. “Isn’t that Old Sun? Didn’t you all go to Black Tiger Mountain early this morning to gather firewood? Where are the others? Why haven’t they returned?”
“The big cat came down the mountain! The big cat came down!” Old Sun said with a panicked expression. “It killed many people! I barely escaped! Physician, please save my brother!”
“What?!” Passersby outside the clinic were horrified and began asking those around them, “Did your husband go gathering firewood today?”
“Oh no! My son went up the mountain today! I hope he’s alright!”
“My husband’s right eyelid kept twitching this morning, so he didn’t go… Thank goodness, thank goodness…”
“So there really is a big cat on Black Tiger Mountain… The rumors weren’t false after all! What a calamity!”
Hearing this, Xie Zimiao stepped forward and asked the old man who had spoken, “Elder brother, what rumors were you referring to just now?”
“You must be from out of town, right?” Seeing Xie Zimiao’s luxurious attire, the old man shook his head and sighed. “The rumor is that there’s a Black Tiger Fort on Black Tiger Mountain, home to many bandits. Their Da Dangjia keeps a white-skinned big cat—a white tiger—that comes down the mountain every so often to specifically rob passing merchants!”
“Nobody knows if it’s true or not, though, since no one has ever seen Black Tiger Fort on the mountain or spotted a tiger. The authorities say it’s false. But sometimes we really do hear what sounds like a tiger’s roar from the mountain…”
“Now that someone’s been bitten, it seems there really is a tiger on Black Tiger Mountain, and bandits too!” the old man said fearfully. “I was planning to go gather firewood to sell tomorrow, but now it seems my life is more important!”
Xie Zimiao couldn’t help but glance at Xie Chengze.
Xie Chengze pondered for a moment and asked, “Why do the authorities say the rumors are false? Have they searched the mountain?”
“Yes!” The old man nodded. “They’ve gone several times but found nothing!”
A non-existent Black Tiger Fort, a man-eating tiger, robbed passing merchants, and the missing Shen Yuan… What connection could there be between all these?
Xie Chengze rubbed the red fur coat tie at his collarbone, feeling as though these clues were as tangled as the knot in his hand. He lowered his gaze in thought until, at a certain moment, he suddenly snapped back to attention and asked, “Elder brother, aside from Black Tiger Mountain, are there bandits on any other mountains?”
“Oh my, there are far too many!” The old man shook his head and kindly advised, “Besides Black Tiger Mountain, the other bandit strongholds don’t just rob merchants—otherwise we wouldn’t dare only go to Black Tiger Mountain to gather firewood! If you leave the city, you must be careful.”
Xie Chengze immediately smiled with understanding. “How interesting. It seems we really should rest here for a day.”
…
“Your Highness, what we’ve learned is quite similar.”
Back at the inn, Wuhen and Wuji compiled the information they had gathered and found it largely consistent.
Wuji analyzed, “Being able to conceal themselves so thoroughly suggests Black Tiger Fort shouldn’t be underestimated. If they’ve truly subdued the white tiger, their First Leader’s martial skills must be exceptional. Perhaps Shen Yuan fell into this person’s hands.”
“Second Brother, should we go to Black Tiger Fort to search for him?” Xie Zimiao pondered. “Maybe Shen Shilang is at Black Tiger Fort.”
“But isn’t Black Tiger Fort said to be untraceable?” Xie Chengze tapped his fingers on the table, narrowing his small eyes in thought. “The authorities have searched the mountains several times without success—how could we possibly find it?”
“What does Your Highness plan to do then?” Wuhen asked softly. “Should Wuji and I attempt to investigate?”
“No need.” Xie Chengze shook his head. “Didn’t you hear what the old man said? There are many bandits in these mountains, yet Black Tiger Mountain alone shows no trace of them…”
Xie Zimiao scratched his head in frustration. “I feel like my brain is going to explode. Second Brother, I really can’t figure this out.”
Xie Chengze smiled faintly and ruffled his hair. “The authorities show no interest in eliminating bandits from other strongholds, yet repeatedly focus on Black Tiger Mountain… There must be something peculiar about this. Tonight, we’ll sneak into the county government office.”
He suspected Black Tiger Fort both existed and didn’t exist.
And Shen Yuan was most likely no longer at Black Tiger Mountain.