Chapter 21: Hunting the Fierce Tiger

  Zhou Jian turned his head and asked Feng Xi: "Is everything ready?"

  "Feng Xi hurriedly said: 'Reporting to Your Honor, everything is ready.'"

  Zhou Jian waved his hand, "Pack up and let's go."

  Feng Xi responded with a "yes" and immediately led fifty Han men to move out more than 50 backpacks from the old earthen house, each weighing 40 kilograms, containing half a month's worth of rations and living supplies.

  Fifty Han men, although very reluctant, no one dared to say anything, and they carried their backpacks in a hurry.

  Zhou Wu and two attendants also put on their backpacks

  Feng Xi led the way, and more than 50 people immediately shouted in unison, rushing out of the village like a swarm of bees, dashing down the mountain slope behind the village towards a nearby mountain valley.

  Three attendants also rode horses, supervising from front and back.

  Less than ten miles into the run, more than half of the people were already panting and out of breath.

  "Bang!"

  The last Han man's eyes rolled a few times, just about to fall over and pretend to be unconscious, when he was immediately whipped with a horse whip, the pain made him gasp for breath, and a loud shout rang out beside his ear, "Run quickly, if you can't finish the whole course, your hands and feet will be broken."

  The boy shivered with fear and no longer dared to be lucky, and quickly used all his strength to run wildly.

  Zhou Wu let out a cold laugh and spurred his horse on, rushing towards the next man who had just slowed down.

  Zhou Jian followed behind on horseback, while the fifty ruffians recruited by Feng Xi were in charge of Zhou Wu's training. He didn't interfere too much, but secretly observed these fugitives and soon discovered that these fifty men were even more inferior to Jiang Qin's two hundred water bandits.

  Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai's water bandits are the real fugitives, specializing in robbery and living a life of bloodshed. Those who claim to be fugitives are actually quite forced. At most, they are just a group of Jianghu people, with a few more ruthless ones, but compared to the real robbers, they are still much inferior.

  However, these men also have an advantage - they are young, and none of them are over thirty years old.

  People who have reached a certain age, with wives and children at home, who would come out to roam the world.

  Those who come out are all young men without a home or a job. If they are trained properly, they still have great potential.

  More than 50 people ran along the mountain path, running nearly 40 miles, turning over three mountain passes, before arriving in a valley, everyone was exhausted like dead dogs, lying on the ground and not moving.

  The mountain valley is a good place for Feng Xi to find, and it is said that the person in charge will often have bandits coming and going, but they are not a big deal.

  There are also hunters living in the mountains who often move around nearby.

  Spring returns to the earth, all things revive, and a hint of greenery covers the vast mountain valleys.

  Zhou Wu tied up the horses and immediately shouted loudly to the whole team. After shouting a few times, no one got up, so he started to punish them. Two attendants dragged a Han man to the ground and beat him with solid wooden clubs, making loud cracking sounds.

  These men were exhausted to death, originally very unhappy, and seeing that they still had to go on stage, the crowd immediately became outraged.

  "Isn't this going too far? Not only is it a waste of effort, but it's also a crime."

  "Damn it, I'm not getting up, and you can cut off my balls if you want."

  Several men angrily scolded and cursed, if they still had the strength, they would probably gang up to surround Zhou Wu.

  Feng Xi also lay down on the ground, but he didn't join in the commotion with everyone else.

  Zhou Jian's twenty followers were not weak, that night he was captured by one of his followers, and under the hands of that follower, he barely held on for ten rounds before being captured alive.

  Zhou Wu is the leader of the 20 followers and also has the strongest martial arts. Meaningless resistance will only end in a more miserable defeat.

  Feng Xi thought he was a ruthless person, never knowing what fear was. After being captured by Zhou Jian, he finally realized what it meant to be truly ruthless. Compared to these ruthless people, the little bit of ruthlessness he had been proud of was simply child's play.

  Because Feng Xi knew what kind of people Zhou Jian and his followers were, he didn't want to follow them blindly and suffer again.

  As expected.

  Zhou Wu soon shut up several loud-mouthed men, and a few troublemakers were stripped naked, hung upside down from trees, with a special powder that attracted mosquitoes applied to their bodies.

  Such an unconventional punishment method naturally comes from Zhou Jian's special forces training course, and the 20 followers are all veterans.

  Just then, a loud roar like thunder suddenly came from the dense forest on the left, and a giant white-browed vulture burst out of the forest, startling everyone.

  Zhou Jian stood at the edge of the dense forest, and the giant insect seemed to have lost its way, rushing straight towards him.

  "Be careful, young master."

  Zhou Wu and two attendants hastily shouted together.

  "Good fellow, there is actually a tiger here."

  Zhou stood firm and unafraid, instead becoming excited, and charged forward to meet the large insect that was rushing towards him.

  "Oh my goodness!"

  Fifty Han men sucked in a breath of cold air and burst out shouting.

  I've seen people with big guts, but never anyone as reckless and unscrupulous as this.

  What is a tiger, that's the king of the forest. Just now, that tiger's roar was already frightening people, and looking at this big bug's body length of nearly three meters, it actually came forward to pounce, isn't this like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth?!

  However, before everyone could recover from their shock, they were stunned again.

  Only to see Zhou Jian rush to the front of the tiger, almost colliding with it, but suddenly dodging to the side and avoiding a head-on collision. He then swiftly reached out and grabbed a handful of hair on the tiger's back, flipping over and landing on the tiger's back.

  "Roar!"

  The king of the forest was apparently enraged, let out a roar, and suddenly leapt up, charging towards a large tree.

  "Good grief, quite some strength you've got there."

  Zhou Jian pressed down the huge insect that was about to crash into the tree, and quickly turned over, grasping a large piece of fur on the top of the fierce tiger's head. After landing, he fiercely exerted his strength, pressing the tiger's massive head onto the ground.

  "Roar! Roar! Roar!"

  The yellow tiger roared incessantly, struggling with all its might. Its sturdy and powerful front paws dug into the ground, sending a cloud of dust flying everywhere. However, no matter how hard it tried, its head couldn't leave the ground, as if it was being pressed down by a massive boulder weighing thousands of kilograms.

  Zhou Jian felt a great deal of effort, several times almost being shaken off by this big fellow, and his heart was secretly frightened.

  The tiger's buttocks are indeed not so comfortable to touch, and this big guy's strength is absolutely over a thousand kilograms.

  Zhou Jian didn't dare to be careless, his left hand firmly pressed down on the tiger's head, while his right hand clenched into a fist and heavily smashed downwards. Each punch had a force of several hundred kilograms, and soon one of the tiger's eyes was smashed into a bloody pulp.

  Bang!

  Bang!

  Bang!

  The dull thud continued unabated, as if heavy hammers were pounding flesh.

  After half a stick of incense, the originally unstoppable tiger's roar gradually weakened, its struggling intensity also getting smaller and smaller. Finally, with one last mournful cry, its massive body slowly fell to the ground, silent once more.

  Everyone stared in shock, their backs chilled.

  Zhou Jian Song opened the tiger's head skin, got up and wiped his forehead with dense sweat beads, and finally let out a long breath.

  This big guy is indeed the king of the forest, not only has great strength, but also has hard bones that are frightening, after being hit with over a hundred punches, it was finally knocked out. With its power, an ordinary person would have their head cracked open with just one punch.

  The bones of an ordinary person compared to a tiger are like the difference between wooden sticks and iron rods.

  In this era, there were many more tigers than in later times. In any mountain forest, it was possible for tigers to inhabit and live, unlike in the 21st century when, due to humans' rampant hunting, tigers are almost on the verge of extinction.

  Zhou Jian had hunted and killed three tigers in Lujiang before, but none of them were as large as the one in front of him now.

  Tiger bone is one of the most precious and rare animal medicines, with functions such as tonifying kidney and essence, strengthening tendons and bones, benefiting intelligence and prolonging life, relaxing tendons and activating blood, and unblocking blood vessels, strengthening tendons and bones. It is the best supplement for martial artists.

  Zhou Jian has spent a high price to acquire them over the years, and adding his own hunting, the tiger bones consumed are not less than twenty pieces. Other precious medicinal materials are countless. It is precisely by relying on these valuable resources that he has cultivated a powerful physique.

  Otherwise, even if martial arts are practiced to perfection, physical strength and power cannot keep up due to physical limitations, and it is impossible to become a top-notch general.

  Before, Zhou Wu had seen Zhou Jian hunt and kill tigers, but in the past, he used a weapon, and the tigers he hunted were not as large as this one. This time, seeing Zhou Jian kill the tiger with his bare hands, he couldn't help but be shocked and amazed.

  "Congratulations, young master, on killing a fierce tiger with your bare hands."

  Zhou Wu hurriedly ran up to congratulate him, full of admiration.

  Zhou Jian burst out laughing and said, "This time we're in luck! We came out for a stroll and actually ran into a big tiger. Whoever sees it gets a share, this big fellow must weigh over 400 catties. Today everyone will get to taste fresh tiger meat."

  "Thank you, sir."

  Feng Xi and a group of men were overjoyed when they heard this, and they hastily gathered around to thank him.

  Zhou Jian said: "Young master killed a fierce tiger with his bare hands, and his strength has increased significantly."

  Zhou Jian nodded, his current body was only eighteen years old and had not yet reached the peak of physical fitness. As his skeletal system continued to mature, his strength was also in a period of rapid growth.

  Especially in the next few years, before the age of 26 when bone growth is complete, strength will continue to increase.

  Of course, necessary training cannot be neglected, otherwise it will inevitably lead to a decline in strength.

  Although having a strong physique and great strength does not necessarily mean one can become an ultra-first-rate warrior, to become an ultra-first-rate warrior, having a superior physique and strength is a prerequisite. If the physique is not up to par, it is absolutely impossible to become a true warrior.

  Zhou Wu looked at the tiger that had fallen to the ground, smacked his lips and said: "Young master, this guy's body is so big, its skeleton must weigh around 70 or 80 kilograms."

  Zhou Jian glanced at him and nodded, saying: "This tiger's bones will be divided among you half and half."

  "Thank you, young master."

  Zhou Jian was overjoyed, the tiger bone was definitely a good thing. The twenty followers had gained a lot of experience following Zhou Jian all these years and knew how important the tiger bone was for martial artists to hone their bones. It's just that resources were too scarce, in the past all resources had to be provided to Zhou Jian, so they could only occasionally drink some leftover soup, otherwise if there were enough resources, they would probably all become top-notch fierce generals.

  Just then, a hurried footstep sounded from the dense forest on the left side.