Second Song's face was slapped crimson red, swelling rapidly.
Oldest Song, standing beside him, trembled all over, frightened. In all these years, their father had never hit them.
His right cheek burning hot, Second Song steeled himself and said, "How can things be divided so clearly between family? As juniors, it's only right to show regular filial respect. If I had Jinzhao's abilities, I'd be willing to support not just four, but even eight people."
Another slap landed abruptly on his left cheek.
Old Man Song's face was livid, his aged and cloudy eyes now burning with fire, his heart filled with utter disappointment.
"You refuse to repent even facing death. Look at yourself, is there any trace of an elder about you?"
"As a son, you are not filial to your parents; as an uncle, you do not care for your orphaned nephew and niece; even as a father, you fail in your duty."
"Don't covet what isn't yours to covet. From now on, except for coming to the old house, your second branch need not interact with the third branch. I will tell Jinzhao to take back the five mu of land rented to you and lease it to others."
Second Song's eyes widened in disbelief, and he wailed, "Father, you can't do this! How will our second branch survive without those five mu?"
Old Man Song's tone was unyielding. "You managed just fine before you had those five mu."
Second Song's hands shook violently, a pang of regret in his heart.
"Yaozu still needs to study. We'll only need more silver in the future. Everything I did was for him."
Old Man Song snorted coldly. "If you truly cared for your child, you wouldn't laze around at home during the farming off-season instead of finding work in the city. In the harsh winter, how many families in the village weave bamboo baskets and raincoats to earn money? Only you and your wife lie at home enjoying your ease."
"Now you claim it's for the child? It's too late. I will definitely have Jinzhao take back the land. Better that than helping you only to inflate your ambitions and raise an ingrate."
"And don't even think about causing trouble for Jinzhao. If you dare, I will sever our father-son ties."
A thunderclap exploded in Second Song's mind.
He collapsed to the ground, body trembling slightly, face deathly pale, throat dry and gasping for air.
Oldest Song stood rigid, not daring to make a sound.
He never imagined things would come to this. Severing father-son ties—such words had been spoken. He was serious.
In the room, Old Lady Song sat on the bed, her expression dazed, her tightly clenched hands icy cold in the palms.
On the other side, Elder Aunt Song covered her young son's ears, hoping he wouldn't cry.
She certainly didn't want her own family to end up like the second branch.
No amount of pleading made Old Man Song relent. On the way home, Second Song's legs were weak, and he nearly slipped three times.
He collapsed just inside his door and remained dazed for a long time. No matter how Second Aunt Song called to him, he didn't speak.
The words "sever our father-son ties" kept circling in his mind, hammering at his skull, making him increasingly uneasy.
It felt as though something very important was drifting away, with nowhere to land, about to fall and shatter.
Old Man Song returned to his room somberly.
Old Lady Song looked up and said, "Weren't your words a bit too harsh?"
Old Man Song gritted his teeth. "If I don't speak harshly, he won't learn. If he and his wife dare to make trouble in front of Jinzhao again, the third branch might not be willing to come back at all in the future."
Second Song didn't speak all night. It wasn't until the next day when Old Man Song came for the lease agreement that Second Aunt Song learned they had lost the five mu of rented land.
Second Aunt Song kept shoving Second Song, wailing, "Say something! What on earth happened?"
Second Song said nothing. He turned, went back to the room, took out the lease, and handed it to Old Man Song.
This time he was afraid. Afraid Old Man Song would truly sever their ties.
To lose one's parents is to lose one's roots.
When Old Man Song brought the lease agreement to Song Jinzhao, a flicker of surprise passed through the young woman's eyes.
She hadn't expected Old Man Song to go this far, after all, Second Song was his son.
Old Man Song's gentle voice held a trace of weariness. "From now on, you don't need to pay any mind to whatever the second branch says. The eldest branch has enough land. Whether you rent these five mu to Tudan's family or someone else is up to you."
Song Jinzhao looked at the black and white lease, stamped with Second Song's red fingerprint.
"To Tudan's family. They had the highest yield last year."
Old Man Song nodded.
Watching his aged, retreating back, Song Jinzhao tapped her fingers rhythmically on the table.
Song Qiming came out of his room and asked, "Elder Sister, when are we returning to Anyang?"
Apart from being able to see their parents' graves, coming back wasn't all that interesting.
In Anyang, they never had to trouble themselves with such trivial matters.
Song Jinzhao gave a faint smile. "We leave on the sixth. Four more days."
Song Qiming nodded and went back to his room to read.
Song Shixue walked to the doorway and looked toward the back mountain. After a long moment, she came and sat down beside Song Jinzhao.
"Elder Sister, when we return to Anyang, let's make new memorial tablets for Father and Mother, okay? Then we can offer incense to Father and Mother every day."
"Alright," Song Jinzhao agreed without hesitation.
The siblings' attachment to their hometown was gradually fading. They were already considering not returning for several years, or even longer.
To give them something to do, and not waiting until the fourth day, Song Jinzhao took them up the mountain again.
This time, they didn't leave Song Anhao at the old house but brought him along.
Dressed in a white rabbit-fur coat, Song Anhao stood tiny in the snow, as if blending into heaven and earth.
His large, bright, smiling eyes sparkled with liveliness, the two little dimples by his mouth seeming capable of lighting up the whole world.
His small hand, clutching snow, suddenly shot into Song Qiming's collar, giving him an icy shock.
"Anhao, what are you doing!" Song Qiming shivered from the cold on his chest, pulling open his collar to find the snow already melted.
The little one giggled with delight, turned over, and began rolling on the ground. The whole mountain was his playground.
Song Jinzhao strode over and lifted him up. His face was covered in snow, some even in his mouth.
"You don't mind it being dirty?"
Song Anhao shook his head. "No taste."
"Of course it has no taste." Worried he might catch a cold, Song Jinzhao held him in her arms and didn't let him down again.
At just over two years old, he understood nothing. Many things were driven by instinct and unreasonable.
He was undoubtedly adorable, but sometimes truly boisterous.
The game in the back mountain had been hunted clean by the three siblings. The survivors had fled deeper to relocate.
Following the tracks along the path, Song Jinzhao looked at the familiar cliff. Across the ravine was North Mountain.
Song Qiming turned his head and said, "Elder Sister, didn't you say before that North Mountain has the most game?"
Song Jinzhao nodded in agreement. "Quite a lot. There's also an enormous female tiger, one I wouldn't dare confront head-on."
After many consecutive days of hunting, having killed bears and fought wolves, the siblings' courage was far from what it used to be.
Ordinary beasts, apart from being killed for money, no longer posed a challenge. Hearing Song Jinzhao say this suddenly piqued their curiosity.
Elder Sister had killed tigers before. Was this one really that formidable?
Seeing their expressions, Song Jinzhao knew what they were thinking. Holding Song Anhao with one arm, she freed her right hand to gesture.
"That female tiger's size is nearly double that of an ordinary tiger. Its limbs are strong and powerful, capable of leaping dozens of meters in a single bound."
"I've encountered it twice. The first time was on North Mountain, the second time was deep in the old-growth forest far behind the mountains. It ambushed and killed a soldier from Shuobei and ate his flesh."
Song Qiming shook his head, trying to clear the gruesome image of the tiger devouring the corpse from his mind.
Song Shixue tightened her grip on the long sword in her hand, her eyes brimming with fighting spirit.
"Only a powerful opponent can temper our will and martial arts. Sister, should we go look for it?"
Song Qiming stared blankly at his younger sister. "You're becoming more and more like Elder Sister." Her courage was even greater than his, actually thinking of delivering themselves to its doorstep.
Song Shixue was not ashamed but rather proud. She lifted her chin high and declared proudly, "I was taught by Elder Sister hand-in-hand. Isn't it only right that I resemble her?"
Song Jinzhao gave a gentle smile. "That tiger roams all over the mountains and wilderness. It might have long since changed its territory."
"We didn't bring the Lingyun Spear today, and Anhao is with us. We should still be careful."
If a real fight broke out, someone would have to protect the child.
Hearing this, the two simultaneously shifted their gaze to their younger brother, who was shaking his head and grabbing at Song Jinzhao's hair. He was a bit of a hindrance.
Out of consideration for Song Anhao, they didn't go to North Mountain.
They walked along the cliff edge, hunted two wild boars, and then began their return journey.
All was silent, save for the cold wind whistling through the bare branches, accompanied by the rustling sound of snow clumps falling.
Just as the three turned around, a sharp chorus of bird cries erupted from the woods across the mountain stream.
The next moment, countless black migratory birds flapped their wings into the sky, creating a scene reminiscent of "dark clouds bearing down, threatening to crush the city."
A faint tiger's roar could be heard, carrying defiance mixed with a touch of mournful cry.
Song Qiming and Song Shixue both looked at Song Jinzhao. "Elder Sister, that's a tiger's roar."
For it to carry this far, it must be an adult tiger.
On the mountain cliff, the three stood for a long while.
The tiger's roar gradually grew fainter, as if growing weaker, until it finally vanished completely.
"Let's go take a look."
Song Jinzhao grabbed Song Anhao's hand and made him hold tight around her neck, then climbed down the cliff face using the large trees.
Leaving the wild boars behind, Song Qiming and Song Shixue quickly followed. The three crossed the mountain stream and ran towards the direction from which the birds had just startled.
Arriving at a sunny small hillside, the three halted their steps abruptly as if hitting brakes.
Not far away, two massive tigers lay in the muddy ground overgrown with withered grass. The surrounding snow was churned into a mess.
Blood was splattered all over the ground, the red glaringly conspicuous.
Clearly, a fierce battle had just taken place here.
Uncertain if the two tigers were still breathing, Song Jinzhao handed Song Anhao to Song Qiming. "Stay here and don't move. I'll go check."
Sword pointed forward, she approached step by step. The tigers lying on the ground showed no reaction.
No breath. The bodies were still slightly warm. They hadn't been dead long.
One of them was the very tigress Song Jinzhao had encountered twice. Who would have thought it would die like this before they even had a chance to confront it.
She turned her head and called to the others, "You can come over now."
Song Qiming and Song Shixue excitedly jogged over. "Elder Sister, is it the tigress you mentioned?"
Song Jinzhao nodded, pointing at the larger tiger. "This is the one."
The two opened their eyes wide for a closer look.
Its size was that of two wild boars. No wonder Elder Sister was wary of it.
Song Jinzhao crouched halfway to examine the fatal wounds on the bodies.
The tigress had its throat torn out. The male tiger had a hole ripped in its belly by sharp claws and died from excessive blood loss.
But what puzzled Song Jinzhao was this: the male tiger's size was clearly about one-third smaller than the tigress. Given the tigress's lethality, it shouldn't have lost.
"Elder Sister, look at this! What is this?" Song Shixue's pupils contracted as she pointed in astonishment at the tigress's hindquarters.
Song Jinzhao stood up and walked over to the snow pile. She fixed her gaze downward, her chest suddenly heaving, her eyes filled with shock.
Stuck in the tigress's birth canal was a small tail, like that of an unborn tiger cub.
Tigers usually give birth headfirst. A tail presenting first meant a difficult birth?
No wonder it couldn't defeat the male tiger.
A mother tiger in the process of giving birth is exceptionally weak, let alone halfway through labor, struggling with a difficult birth while fighting an enemy.
She quickly used a dagger to slice open the tiger's belly, located the birth canal, and reached her hand inside.
Staring at the retrieved tiger cub, motionless... was it dead?
After checking, Song Jinzhao helplessly placed the cub on the mother tiger's belly, her eyes turning somber. "It's already dead."
Looking at the two bodies, one large and one small, the siblings felt a heavy weight in their hearts, as if a large stone were pressing down.
They had just spoken about killing a tiger for practice, but now, facing the dead mother and cub, their feelings were complex and indescribable.
Attacked by a male tiger halfway through giving birth, she not only lost her own life but also failed to bring her child into the world.
Song Jinzhao frowned and began pacing around the area. Noticing this, Song Shixue asked curiously, "Elder Sister, what are you doing?"
Song Jinzhao searched as she answered, "A tiger usually doesn't give birth to just one cub at a time. If there's none in the belly, it's possible some have already been born."
Hearing this, the siblings immediately scattered, searching everywhere.
"Brother, loosen up a bit." Song Anhao uncomfortably patted Song Qiming's arm.
Song Qiming stopped and looked at his younger brother's scrunched-up face. "What's wrong?"
Following his gaze downward, he realized his arm was wrapped too tightly, pinching the child's leg.
"Sorry, I used too much force. Does it hurt?" Song Qiming quickly loosened his grip and rubbed Song Anhao's leg.
Song Anhao lifted his toes and wiggled them. "Not too much. Put me down, I can walk myself."
Song Qiming scanned the surroundings, found a clean patch of snow, and set the child down. "Stand here and don't move. Everywhere else is dirty."
"Elder Sister, I found one!" Song Shixue exclaimed excitedly, turning her head to call out.
She was lying over a dried-up tree trunk, half her body inside a hollow, stretching her arm to reach for a faintly moving grayish-white shape lying on a bed of straw.
The touch was wet, cold, and sticky. The tiny body was wrapped in a semi-transparent membrane, slippery and unpleasant.
After wiping the mucus clean with her clothes, Song Shixue said in surprise, "Why is it white?"
Shouldn't tigers be yellow and black?
Song Jinzhao stared at the cub cradled in Song Shixue's palms. Within the white fur, faint light black stripes could be seen. "It's probably a genetic mutation."
Song Qiming looked puzzled.
Song Shixue asked, "What's a genetic mutation?"
Song Jinzhao frowned. This was a bit difficult to explain.
She thought for a moment and said, "You can think of it as copying a recipe and writing the wrong character. It said to add salt, but you wrote to add sugar instead. Braised chicken becomes sweet chicken."
The two seemed to understand, yet not quite.
