28: Chapter 28 Searching for the Tiger in the Mountains

The next day, Jiang Hanzhou changed into an inconspicuous set of gray cloth short clothes, applied a little makeup to his face, and disguised himself as an ordinary herb gatherer, entering Flying Fish City with the sparse flow of people.

He first went to several large, reputable pharmacies in the city.

"Hundred-year-old tiger bone?" The shopkeeper raised his eyelids to look him over, then shook his head like a rattle-drum. "Customer, that thing is not easy to find. It exists in the city, but it is all being hoarded by those martial arts halls and aristocratic families, or it was reserved long ago by forces like the Patrol Inspection Division and the White Dragon Gang. If a tiny bit occasionally leaks out, it is immediately snatched away by someone at a high price. My small shop... really does not have any."

He asked three shops in a row, and the answers were much the same.

Jiang Hanzhou had already anticipated this, so he was not too disappointed.

Exotic beast Materials were already in short supply, let alone High Grade items like tiger bone for tempering bones.

He touched the remaining few hundred taels of silver notes in his bosom, and while pretending to buy other auxiliary medicines at the fourth pharmacy, he asked indirectly: "Shopkeeper, if one really wants to find this thing, besides trying one's luck in the city, are there any other ways?"

The shopkeeper was an old man with a kind face. Seeing that he was buying auxiliary medicines for Body Tempering medicinal diets in large quantities, he guessed that he was also a bitter cultivator, so he lowered his voice and said: "If the customer is in a real hurry and is not afraid of risk... you might as well go to the 'Wild Market' in the west of the city to try your luck. There are many hunters and mountain runners who set up stalls directly there, and occasionally you can encounter fresh goods just brought out from the mountains. However..."

The old man paused, his voice lowering even further: "The mountains haven't been peaceful lately. I heard the triennial minor beast tide is coming. Powerful exotic beasts are becoming very restless, so fewer hunters are going into the mountains, and the Wild Market has also become quite desolate. Even if there are goods, the prices are bound to skyrocket, and it's hard to tell the real from the fake, so the customer needs to keep his eyes peeled."

Jiang Hanzhou thanked him and turned to walk towards the west of the city.

The so-called 'Wild Market' was actually an empty space at the foot of the city wall, with stalls set up casually using simple straw sheds and wooden boards.

At this moment, there were indeed few people, and what was displayed was mostly ordinary animal skins, herbs, and mountain goods. Occasionally, there were a few pieces of animal bone of average quality, but they were far from what he needed in terms of age and type.

He walked around once, but had no gains. A vague sense of restlessness and unease permeated the air, and even the stall owners were listless.

Feeling a bit of hunger in his stomach, Jiang Hanzhou saw a noodle stall with a carrying pole not far away, steaming hot, so he walked over, ordered a bowl of plain noodles, and sat down on a small wooden stool in the corner.

Just as the noodles were served, three men came to a table nearby. They were travel-worn, wearing coarse fur coats, and carried the scent of mountain soil and a faint mixture of blood, clearly hunters who had just entered the city.

The three of them also ordered noodles, and while slurping them down, they started chatting with sighs.

"Damn it, these days are impossible to live!" A man with a full beard slammed his bowl down heavily. "In previous years, this was the best time for us to go into the mountains to make some money, but now, with the commotion in the mountains... who dares to go? The market of our 'Black Mountain Hunting Gang' hasn't even been open a few times this month!"

"Who's to say it isn't," another tall, thin man chimed in, his tone worried. "The triennial minor beast tide is nothing to joke about. Those fellows who usually hide in the deep mountains and great marshes are all rushing to the periphery. If you bump into one, you'll lose half your life. The gang said to keep a low profile lately, and if you really can't do anything, go home and farm..."

"Farm? I only know how to handle bows and blades, how would I know how to tend to crops!" The third one was a scarred face, cursing. "But I heard that a few villages in the old forest area to the north seem even weirder? The commotion is especially loud?"

The tall, thin man looked left and right, then lowered his voice: "My home is in Shiling Village, which is by the mountains to the north. These past few nights, tiger roars have been coming from the old forest behind the mountain. The sound... it's like rumbling thunder, making the paper windows vibrate! The old hunters in the village all say that it is definitely not an ordinary tiger, but likely an exotic beast that has attained power, coming out to assert its authority or find food during the beast tide. The village is in a panic, and those with connections are all moving out."

He sighed, his face full of worry: "I only have my old mother left at home, and her legs and feet are not convenient. I can't stay in Shiling Village anymore. I plan to pack up some things first thing tomorrow morning and take her to my uncle's house. My uncle lives in Zhao Village in the south, far from the mountains, so it should be safer."

The scarred hunter clicked his tongue: "An exotic beast tiger? That thing is a treasure from head to toe... but you have to have the life to take it. Shiling Village is remote, I'm afraid the Patrol Inspection Division can't look after it."

The bearded man shook his head: "Look after it, my ass! Those masters in the city are all focused on their own properties and the city wall defense right now; who cares about the lives of the small villages in the mountains? Saving your own life is what matters. Hei Zi, hurry up and take your mother away; that's the sensible thing to do."

The three of them lamented the difficulty of making a living for a few more sentences, finished their noodles, paid, and left in a hurry.

Jiang Hanzhou slowly finished the noodles in his bowl, put down a few copper coins, stood up, glanced in the direction the three hunters had left, and then turned and walked quickly towards the direction of leaving the city.

He did not follow the three men directly, but first returned to a hidden hut he had temporarily rented outside the Water Dock to quickly change his attire.

He applied some medicinal mud to his face to change his skin tone, put on a bamboo hat, changed into a tight-fitting outfit suitable for mountain movement, and carefully packed his water-dividing thorn, spare medicines, rope, fire starter, as well as knives and other items, especially hiding the secret record of blood gu and the jade bottle containing the Gu close to his body.

Once prepared, he determined the direction based on the information he heard, such as "Shiling Village," "north by the mountains," and "old forest behind the mountain," combined with the rough map in his memory.

He then unleashed his movement technique, choosing only secluded paths, and sped towards the northern mountainous area.

About an hour and a half later, a dilapidated village located at the foot of the mountain appeared before his eyes; it was indeed Shiling Village.

The lights in the village were sparse, appearing exceptionally quiet.

He took a deep breath and pushed his Breath Concealment Method to the limit, his presence nearly non-existent.

The extraordinary perception brought by his fourth-rank fate was fully unleashed, his hearing and vision sharpened several times over. The subtle sounds in the mountain forest, the changes in air currents, and even the faint breath of plants and trees... were all clearly reflected in his mind like ripples on water.

He did not take the path commonly used by the villagers. Like a shadow blending into the night, Jiang Hanzhou chose a steeper but more direct route, sneaking towards the depths of the back mountain, where the terrain was more majestic and the Origin Qi seemed to be more intense.

The trees became denser, vines were tangled, and the layer of fallen leaves and humus underfoot was thick and soft.

After moving away from human habitation, the mountain forest regained its primitive wildness and tranquility, but beneath this tranquility surged a heart-palpitating potential danger.

He proceeded with extreme caution, stopping from time to time to observe.

Soon, on the wet, soft mud by a stream, he found his target.

Several paw prints were deeply embedded in the mud, their outlines clear, the hook marks at the front sharp, and their size far exceeding that of an ordinary ferocious tiger.

The paw prints were still fresh.

Jiang Hanzhou squatted down, his fingertips lightly touching the edge of the paw print. Feeling the residual violent aura within it, his eyes became sharp.

"This is the place."