Chapter 64: Entering the Mountain Forest, the Old Tiger Encounters Disaster

  Ma Chao and the others ran until dusk before they saw a small village, Ma Chao and Cui An were fine, after all, they had long been accustomed to it, but the other three couldn't take it.

  Zang Jie was old and had just recovered from a serious injury, but he hadn't fully recovered yet. He couldn't withstand the long ride on horseback, and Ma Chao could tell that he was already at his limit. As for Zang Ba and Sun Guan, both of them were seriously injured, although not to the point of being fatal, they couldn't be delayed for too long either. From any perspective, Ma Chao had to dismount and enter the village. Originally, he wanted to go to a bigger place, but after running for so long, he only saw this small village.

  All that can be said is that Ma Chao was unfamiliar with the roads in this area and had bad luck. After leaving Hua County, he walked on this road to Xiao Wang Village, which was the closest place. Of course, there were more places further ahead, but under current circumstances, Ma Chao couldn't move forward for the time being.

  They entered the village and found a household to stay in. The host family, seeing Ma Chao's group of people, an old man and four young men, two of whom seemed to be injured, kindly took them in. Ma Chao could see that this family was very poor, but the host had a good heart.

  The family is poor, but there is still a place to live, although it's not very big. A few people can only squeeze in. For Ma Chao, having a place now is good enough, after all, it's better than sleeping in the wilderness. Fortunately, he had foresight and prepared a lot of dry rations in advance, which they could eat on the road, otherwise they would have to trouble the host family to prepare food for them.

  The five of them rested for a night, and the next day they thanked the host and left early. From his experience, people like their host who took them in wouldn't accept any money or goods, so Ma Chao didn't give it to them directly either. Instead, he put the money in the room where they stayed as a way of thanking the family for their kindness, although the family wasn't doing it for the money.

  A few people continued on their way and finally arrived at a county town. After entering the city, they naturally found a doctor to treat Zang Ba and Sun Guan's injuries before settling down.

  "Zang Ba, I don't know what you're planning?"

  With nothing better to do, Ma Chao asked Zang Ba. After many days of treatment, Zang Ba's injuries had almost completely healed.

  "Ba naturally follows En Gong's side!"

  Zang Ba was indeed grateful to Ma Chao, who had saved his father and himself. His own life was nothing, but if anything happened to his old father, it would be a lifelong pain for him.

  Ma Chao heard this and thought it sounded strange. "That Zhang Fei, you don't need to call your own name, just refer to yourself as 'I'!"

  "Yes! Everything will be done as you command, sir!" Zang Ba said respectfully.

  "And don't call me 'Master Ma' anymore, just use my courtesy name!" Ma Chao was indeed not very used to being addressed in this way.

  "Sir, how can this be? If you don't like being called 'sir', then I'll call you 'master' instead. In any case, I will follow you closely!"

  Ma Chao heard this and thought that he didn't mean it himself, but Zang Ba was a person he admired, so Ma Chao naturally wouldn't stop him.

  "Mount Tai's Zang Ba has met with Master, I swear to follow Master to the death, everything depends on Master's horse head!"

  "Hurry up and get up!"

  Ma Chao hastily helped him up, nowadays his subordinates have become more and more numerous, this is a good phenomenon, and his subordinates are not bad, he thinks highly of them. This is not to say that each one has great abilities or anything, but rather that they all have their own unique characteristics, and are all useful people.

  Zang Ba submitted to Ma Chao as his lord, and he also made the decision after consideration. At that time, being besieged, his old father was in danger, he was holding on to the only hope to ask Ma Chao for help, unexpectedly Ma Chao, this passerby, really helped him out of kindness and saved his old father, while he himself was wanted.

  This made him grateful and tearful, and what Zang Ba didn't expect was that Ma Chao, in order to save him and Sun Guan, raided the prison and finally took them with him as he broke out of the city gate.

  These made Zang Ba feel that he could not repay Ma Chao's great kindness, and he was deeply convinced by Ma Chao. Although Ma Chao is younger than himself, his ability is stronger than his own, and the one beside him, Cui An, is not a good person either. More importantly, Ma Chao's character, Zang Ba has always been particular about righteousness, he thinks Ma Chao is an upright and righteous person.

  He thought that following Ma Chao would be a good choice, first to repay his kindness and secondly he was already fifteen years old and should start thinking about his future. A man should make a name for himself, and Ma Chao was the most suitable master.

  "However, I don't know what other plans you have, sir?" Zang Ba asked Ma Chao.

  "My next stop will be Chenliu, I'll go take a look there."

  "I am willing to go with you, my lord!"

  Ma Chao then waved his hand, "Go to Chenliu, Fu Da can go with me. As for you, there are other things that need to be done!"

  It's impossible to bring Zang Ba along, and not to mention that he's already used to having fewer people around him, Zang Ba also has his father, besides, there are indeed more important things for him to do.

  "Everything will be arranged by Master!"

  Since his lord had entrusted him with a task, Zang Ba naturally listened to Ma Chao.

  "After a while, I will write a letter for you to take with you to Qingzhou to see someone named Guan Hai. You can temporarily help out at his mountain stronghold; although it's a mountain stronghold, you won't regret going!"

  Zang Ba didn't quite understand what it meant, so Ma Chao briefly introduced the situation of Guan Hai Mountain Stronghold to him again. This time he understood. As for himself, since he had already been wanted in Hua County, becoming a mountain bandit wasn't out of the question, let alone doing something for his lord.

  Zang Ba recommended to Guan Hai, which was what Ma Chao thought was the best and most suitable place for him at present. In Qingzhou, Guan Hai's martial arts were good, but he was more defensive than offensive. He was somewhat different from what Ma Chao had imagined. As for Wu Anguo, it was not necessary to mention that he was brave but lacked strategy, and he could charge into battle without any problem, but he was not good at planning and scheming.

  Zang Ba alone, after a short period of contact with Ma Chao, thought highly of him. As long as Zang Ba arrived at Guan Hai's place, he felt that the three of them would definitely be able to achieve something together.

  Ma Chao handed the letter to Zang Ba, and the next day Zang Ba bid farewell to Qingzhou with his father and Sun Guan. Ma Chao then set off in the direction of Chenliu with Cui An.

  The two were resting in a small forest, which was relatively remote and generally had few visitors, and was also quite dangerous. It was said that occasionally there would be fierce beasts appearing. But when Ma Chao first heard about it, he didn't believe it much, thinking that such a small forest could have what kind of ferocious beast, besides even if there were any, with his and Cui An's skills, they really wouldn't be afraid of anything, and he was quite looking forward to seeing one.

  Just as the two of them were resting under a tree and taking a drink, a tiger suddenly emerged from the forest. This was also Ma Chao's first time seeing a tiger in this life. To think that such an endangered species, which had almost gone extinct in his previous life, could still be found in a place like this - it was unclear whether this was good fortune or bad luck.

  The tiger looked like it was very afraid, Ma Chao just wanted to go forward, but Cui An jumped over first. He hadn't seen a tiger in a long time, and now there was one right in front of him, so Cui An wouldn't let it go.

  "Master, just hand it over to me!"

  As soon as he saw the tiger, how dare anyone block the king of the mountain's path? The little guy didn't want to live anymore, so he let out a loud roar and pounced on Cui An.

  This should be the legendary hungry tiger pouncing on its prey. Cui An saw it and shouted, "Come on!" He dodged to the right, and the tiger pounced into thin air.

  Ma Chao shouted from a distance: "Fada, you be careful yourself!"

  He wasn't worried about Cui An at all, this old tiger was no match for Cui An, besides if anything happened, didn't he have himself to rely on? So Ma Chao just acted as a spectator watching the show.

  The tiger saw Cui An and easily hid, his temper and tiger spirit immediately came up. He thought that today he must make you a delicious food for this king, so he pounced again, looking at the situation should be a fierce tiger digging heart. This time Cui An dodged again, and even punched the tiger, just like that, one man and one tiger fought in one place.

  Cui An was clearly in the upper hand, and after being punched by Cui An several times, the tiger became dizzy and disoriented. Indeed, this tiger was not an experienced adult tiger, but just a relatively young little tiger.

  Just then, a loud shout came from the woods: "Don't move my prey!"

  Choi Ahn heard the shout, but he didn't care about these things. Except for his own master, there was no one in this place who could command him. He continued to fight with the tiger, while the newcomer had already arrived near them.

  He said to Choi Ahn: "You little devil, you've stolen my prey!"

  Choi Ahn's temper flared up at the mention of fire, thinking to himself, "How old are you anyway? How did I become the younger one?" And how did this tiger become your prey?

  "It's none of your business! If you have the ability, come and grab it yourself. If you don't, then stop talking nonsense!" Cui An said loudly.

  The newcomer also had a fiery temper. Upon hearing this, his anger flared up and he said, "Fine, I'd like to see just how capable you are!"

  He didn't fight with Cui An, but instead went straight to grab the tiger. Although it was a small tiger, its body wasn't small at all, and who knows what the newcomer was thinking. When Cui An saw that he really wanted to take away the tiger, she couldn't just stand by and do nothing. Seeing that the newcomer had already taken the lead in hugging the tiger's two hind legs, Cui An also quickly grabbed the tiger's two front legs, and both of them used force to try to pull the tiger towards their own side.

  The tiger was in a desperate situation, it also wanted to fight back with all its might, but unfortunately it had already been beaten to the point of exhaustion. Now it could only be slaughtered at will. The two men were evenly matched in strength, and in the end, the tiger's four limbs were torn off by the two men, along with some internal organs. After letting out a final mournful cry, the tiger was dismembered by the two men.

  Ma Chao's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he thought to himself, "These ancient people don't even know how to protect wildlife, and they use such cruel methods to kill animals. If this were in my previous life, it would have been enough to be sentenced multiple times already. Although the two of them did it unintentionally, Ma Chao still couldn't help but feel some regret. He should have stopped them at the time, but unfortunately, it's too late now.

  He was also surprised in his heart, and he had heard of tearing tigers and leopards, but it was really the first time he saw with his own eyes that all four limbs were torn off. He knew Cui An's skills, but the yellow-faced man opposite him also had Cui An's skills, and the fact proved that it was indeed the case.

  The two of them, as soon as they saw each other, only tore off the tiger's two legs. Of course, neither of them was satisfied, and they both rushed towards the tiger's body, wanting to get it in their hands first. But when the two of them approached, it seemed like they had discussed it beforehand and changed their minds again, ignoring the tiger and starting to fight each other instead. One punch and one kick, back and forth, what a lively scene.

  The two men were evenly matched, and Ma Chao knew that he could not let them continue fighting. As the saying goes, "When two tigers fight, one must be injured." It would be bad if either of them was hurt, and it would be even worse if they both ended up being wounded.

  "Stop right there, both of you! Listen to what I have to say!"

  Ma Chao's words were indeed effective, at least Cui An stopped fighting after hearing them and jumped out of the circle. And when the yellow-faced man saw that both sides had put down their hands, he naturally couldn't continue fighting either.

  Ma Chao made a fist at the yellow-faced man, "This friend, we are just passing by this place. And my friend doesn't know that the tiger is your prey, he just wants to fight with the tiger! Now the prey is here, you can take it away, we won't want it even half a bit!" Ma Chao said so, now the misunderstanding was only about the tiger, so speaking out would be fine.

  As for him, it's impossible to fight over the tiger, and Ma Chao can see that the yellow-faced man really wants this tiger, which is of course not as good as giving it to others.

  The yellow-faced man heard Ma Chao say this, and he also felt a bit embarrassed. "Normally, I wouldn't argue with you guys either, but my child has fallen ill and we can't afford to see a doctor, so I had no choice!"

  The yellow-faced man had been chasing the tiger for half a day, just to take his three-month-old son to see a doctor. Because he was so poor and had no money, he could only exchange the tiger for money to treat the illness.

  Ma Chao heard this and thought it was understandable that things had turned out this way, since there were reasons for what had happened. Besides, he thought, the other side had been chasing the tiger first, and the tiger had only been chased here as a result.

  "May I ask your friend's name?" Ma Chao asked.

  The yellow-faced man hesitated upon hearing this, "This, this..." and for some reason, he stuttered and couldn't get the words out.

  Next to him, Chui An looked unhappy. To say that the two of them were not happy before when they fought over the tiger, and now that Ma Chao said he wanted to give the tiger to the other side, he was even more displeased. But there's no way around it, who let Ma Chao be the master? And in the end, Huang Lian said it was for his son's illness, so Chui An reluctantly accepted and didn't mind as much. However, now that he saw Huang Lian's attitude, he became unwilling again. "You yellow devil, you're not being very forthcoming! My master asked you what your name is, what do you have to hide?"

  The yellow-faced man heard this and thought it was a big deal. "You ugly ghost, come on, let's have another battle of three hundred rounds!"

  "Bring it on! Who's afraid of who? You're the one who's scared!" Cui An said with a tone of defiance.

  "Fu Da retreats!"

  After Ma Chao said this, Cui An did not dare say anything more and retreated behind Ma Chao.

  "Since you don't want to say it, I won't force you. Let me introduce myself, my surname is Ma, and my name is Chao Mengqi. This is Cui An, Cui Fuda!"

  Ma Chao introduced him to the yellow-faced man, and when Ma Chao said this, he felt that if he didn't say his own name, it would be unreasonable. "I am Chen Liuyu, Tian Wei!"

  It was indeed Dian Wei, and Ma Chao wasn't overly surprised because he had already suspected that the yellow-faced man might be Dian Wei. He hadn't expected to run into him here; originally, Ma Chao's plan was to go find Dian Wei once they reached Chenliu, but now he had met the man himself before even getting there.

  "What illness is General Zhang suffering from?" Ma Chao asked.

  "Meng Qi, little brother, are you a doctor?" Dian Wei hastily asked.

  Choi An listened and curled her lips, thinking to herself: "You Huang Gui, what kind of eyesight do you have? How many people have you met? You're the first one to call Master Younger Brother."

  Ma Chao smiled and shook his head, "Not at all, I just know a thing or two!"

  "Great! Mengqi little brother you must go to my house and take a look at my son!"

  Dian Wei picked up the tiger and led Ma Chao and his men back to his own home.

  His house is not far from here, and soon they arrived. A very shabby room can be seen to be poor. Dian Wei shouted: "Auntie, there are guests at home!"

  Before long, a woman came out, who also looked like she was around twenty years old. She was better-looking than Dian Wei, but at first glance, you could tell that she was a working-class woman.

  "What's taking you so long, you dead ghost..."

  She hadn't even finished saying the two words "come back" when she noticed there were outsiders present, and what caught her eye was the tiger that Dian Wei was carrying.

  Dian Wei coughed twice in a hurry and thought to himself, "This woman doesn't even know how to give me some face in front of our guest." He quickly introduced both parties to each other, and they exchanged greetings.

  Ma Chao could see that Dian Wei was enthusiastic and hospitable, liked to make friends, and he introduced his family members to him, which meant he didn't treat them as outsiders. Then everyone entered the house, after entering the house Ma Chao said he wanted to diagnose the child's illness, Dian Wei hastily agreed, in fact, he was the most anxious one.

  Ma Chao took one look at the child's condition and determined that Dian Wei's son had contracted a cold, fortunately it wasn't too serious and hadn't lasted long, otherwise who knows what might have happened to a child this age. He remembered an excellent prescription for treating children with colds, but since there was no paper or pen available, Ma Chao could only go himself.

  Fortunately, the place is not far from the county town, and Ma Chao rode the white lion at the fastest speed to and fro. After buying the medicine back, he decocted it and finally fed the child a little bit. After that, everyone also put down their worries, Dian Wei and his wife were extremely grateful to Ma Chao, saying that they must give the tiger to him, but Ma Chao didn't want it.

  "Dian brother, don't be polite. This small matter is just a piece of cake for me, but you tigers can keep it, you need it more than I do. You can eat less, no big deal, but what about the kids? Can't let them suffer like you guys!"

  As expected, after listening to Ma Chao's words, Dian Wei also gave up. Because what Ma Chao said was not wrong at all, his own family indeed needed this old tiger more.