The three of them had lunch at the Rising Cloud Inn. Before they left, Manager Li gave Zhao Zhan a share of twenty silver and urged him to quickly send over some more beans.
Fang Tianliu refused to stay at the inn no matter what and followed them back to Willow Village. Master Sun was also with them.
The luxurious carriage attracted a lot of attention when it entered the village.
Zhao Zhan and Yue Jiaojiao remained in the carriage and did not show their faces. The villagers watched as the carriage drove through the village and discussed among themselves. “Could this be Zhao Zhan’s family’s carriage?”
“I thought they went to Huai County. Did they go back to his lady’s maiden home to ask for money?”
The horse carriage stopped in front of the thatched house. Zhao Zhan got down and carried Yue Jiaojiao down.
Li Miao heard the commotion at the door and ran out. “You’re back? Did you hear about Zhao Kuazi’s family?”
“Zhao Kuazi?” Yue Jiaojiao shook her head in confusion. “I didn’t hear anyone talking about them when we passed by the village.”
Zhao Zhan had already brought Fang Tianliu into the courtyard.
Li Miao dragged Yue Jiaojiao around the corner and said in a low voice, “Before Zhao Zhan left, he told me and Dashan to keep an eye on the movements in the cave on your mountain. He was afraid that someone would go up and take the things when you were not around.”
“Dashan and I were thinking that since we’ve finished planting everything in the field, we could take turns to guard the place. but when Dashan came over this morning to call me up, something happened to Zhao Kuazi! ”
“What happened?”
“She ran into a blind tiger at the entrance of your cave!” Li Miao was so excited that she couldn’t control her voice. “You didn’t see it. When she came down, her face was as white as snow, and her pants were wet.”
“Lizheng was alarmed. He even asked Zhao Kuazi how she managed to escape after encountering a tiger. However, Zhao Kuazi was scared out of her wits and was dumbfounded. He didn’t manage to get anything out of her.”
Li Miao pointed to the back of the thatched house. “The village chief asked someone to tie a rope between the trees at the foot of the mountain. He reminded everyone not to go up for fear that the tiger would hurt them. So, I didn’t dare to go up. ”
Li Miao said apologetically.
When Yue Jiaojiao saw this, she patted her hand to comfort her. “It’s a good thing that you and Dashan are fine. Otherwise, Zhao Zhan and I would definitely not be able to forgive ourselves. I have to tell Zhao Zhan about the issue in the mountain.”
“Yes, yes, yes, Zhao Zhan is a hunter. He has even killed wild boars before! We should let him know.”
“Zhao Zhan.”
Zhao Zhan, who heard his name, quickly walked over.
Li Miao didn’t stay to listen. She turned around and went to find Yang Dashan.
“What’s wrong?”
“Zhao Zhan, the tiger you met in the mountains last time. The one that scratched your stomach. What did you do to it?”
“I blinded it in one eye.” Zhao Zhan looked nervously at his lover. “Did you see the tiger?”
“I’ve been with you every day, how would I encounter the tiger?” Yue Jiaojiao shut his worries down. “Zhao Kuazi went into our cave when we weren’t around for god knows what. In the end, she got scared out of her wits. She said that she had met the tiger at the cave’s entrance and nothing else.”
“Jiaojiao, you should go to Lizheng’s house first, I’ll go up the mountain to take a look.”
Zhao Zhan said as he reached for his bow.
“Wait,” Yue Jiaojiao tugged at the hem of his shirt, “Even if the tiger is blind, it’s still a tiger. Zhao Kuazi managed to escape because the tiger didn’t want to hurt her. We should go check up on her first.”