By the time she reached North Mountain, the sky was beginning to lighten. The birdsong in the mountains sounded particularly loud now, as if celebrating the imminent sunrise.
Song Jinzhao stood on a twenty-meter-high cliff. The mountain stream wasn't far, about a hundred meters away, but she needed to find a way down first.
She walked along the cliff edge for nearly half an hour before spotting a towering poplar tree growing up from below. Its trunk was so thick it would take two people to encircle it.
Leaning over and looking down along the trunk, she saw its roots reached all the way to the base of the cliff, some burrowing into rock crevices, clinging tightly to the cliff face as they grew.
She wrapped her arms around the trunk and climbed down step by step, her shoes finding purchase on the bark.
Crossing the stream, she crouched on a rock. Not far off, three sika deer were grazing with their heads down. No sign of wolves nearby.
Song Jinzhao lay still on the ground until a stag moved within range of her bow.
She drew the longbow to its full extent, the muscles in her arm taut and bulging. The moment the arrow left the string, a sharp whistle split the air.
The stag had no time to react. The arrowhead plunged deep into its neck, and blood gushed forth.
The other two deer, startled, fled and disappeared into the woods.
Song Jinzhao jumped down from the rock. The stag, still drawing breath, reared up and kicked out with its front legs, as if to trample her organs to pulp.
She seized one leg with one hand, and with the other, drove a sharp dagger fiercely into the stag's heart. It fell silent in three seconds.
Hoisting the deer onto her back, she climbed back onto the rock and threw it with force to the opposite bank.
The smell of blood would attract large predators roaming nearby. She had to leave quickly, or danger would follow.
A low, resonant roar came from behind. Turning her head to look, she saw a fully grown tiger.
Its body was a full four meters long, its sharp teeth gleaming menacingly, its golden eyes burning intently as it charged toward Song Jinzhao's location.
Song Jinzhao took a quick running start and leaped to the opposite bank, then hefted the stag and sprinted toward the poplar tree.
The powerful tiger gathered itself and leaped. The five-meter-wide stream was nothing to it.
Seeing it was about to catch up, Song Jinzhao thrust her dagger hard into the tree bark and scrambled up the tree like an ape.
The tiger's sharp claws scraped the bark as it followed right behind her, its jaws snapping repeatedly, trying to drag her down.
Fortunately, the tiger wasn't much of a climber. It managed only four or five meters before it could go no higher.
Once she reached the cliff top, Song Jinzhao looked back fearfully at the tiger struggling on the trunk.
This tigress was too large. She had seen larger exotic beasts before, but now she was alone. An ordinary arrow couldn't inflict a fatal wound through such thick hide.
Song Jinzhao tightened her grip on the dagger and quickly left the spot, heading for the back mountain.
She needed to get out of the woods, the sooner the better.
Carrying the stag, she made her way down the mountain and hurried toward Xining City via a small path. The scorching heat made the deer blood smell especially rank. The moment she paused, insects and flies swarmed around.
The soldier guarding the city gate widened his eyes, astonishment filling them. "It's her again."
The leopard she brought last time was shocking enough, and now she'd hunted a stag. This girl not only had great skill, but also no fear for her life.
"Hurry, bring a bowl to catch the deer blood!" Manager Li exclaimed, his heart aching at the sight of the blood trail.
A pound of deer blood was worth half a tael of gold. Song Jinzhao had taken two hours to walk from North Mountain, and the blood had long since drained dry.
The sticky blood on her clothes was nauseating.
Song Jinzhao asked Manager Li, "Do you have hot water? I'd like to bathe."
Manager Li immediately called for a servant to prepare it.
Upstairs in a room, an old woman who helped in the kitchen knocked on the door, holding a set of new clothes. "Miss, the manager asked me to bring you clothes."
Wiping hot water from her face, Song Jinzhao replied, "Come in."
The woman placed the clothes on a rack behind the screen. "Miss, the clothes are here. The manager is waiting for you in the backyard."
"I know. You may leave."
Seeing her clean and ready, Manager Li directly held up four fingers. "Forty taels of silver. I'll take it all."
He had already had his staff notify the restaurant's regular customers: there would be fresh venison tonight.
The deer antlers would be cut off and sent to the owner. If the owner was pleased, Manager Li's standing in the Li family would be more secure.
Song Jinzhao shook her head. "This male sika deer weighs two hundred jin. Forty taels is too little. At least sixty."
"Aiyo!"
Manager Li slapped his thigh in distress, wailing, "If the deer blood were still here, I'd gladly give seventy taels, let alone sixty!"
"But not a single bowl of blood was collected. The price has to be heavily discounted."
Song Jinzhao looked at the gutted stag. The blood clinging to the meat had already dried.
"I encountered a tiger while hunting this deer. Almost lost my life. Forty taels isn't enough to buy my safety."
Manager Li looked at her, eyes full of expectation. "If you could hunt a tiger, forget sixty taels, it would sell for at least a hundred."
Song Jinzhao raised an eyebrow, using her hands to indicate the length. "Manager Li overestimates me. That tiger's lower leg was thicker than my waist. Clearly the king of the forest. Hunting it would likely cost me my life."
Manager Li withdrew his gaze, disappointed. "Then life is indeed more important. Since getting this deer was truly difficult, how about fifty taels? That's the highest I can offer."
Song Jinzhao's expression was conflicted. Just as she was about to say more, a kitchen worker placed a bowl of beef noodles in front of her.
Manager Li urged warmly, "Figured you hadn't eaten. A cow was delivered today. I specifically saved half a jin for a snack with wine tonight, and it's all in this bowl."
Song Jinzhao looked at the heaping bowl of noodles. He was trying to use food to shut her up.
Remembering the roast chicken he'd given her last time, Song Jinzhao closed her eyes and agreed. "Fifty taels it is. And pack ten steamed buns for me to take back."
"Deal." Ten buns only cost a few dozen wen. Manager Li agreed without hesitation.
Taking a bite of beef, she found it tough. "Why is this beef so chewy?"
The chef at Foodie's Record shouldn't have such poor skill.
Manager Li laughed bitterly. "It's precisely because it was so old that the authorities approved its slaughter. Healthy plow oxen can't be killed. This one had been stewing in the pot all day and still wouldn't soften."
In Dongzhao Kingdom, plow oxen couldn't be slaughtered arbitrarily. Only those too old to work or those that died accidentally could be butchered for meat. One needed real luck to come across it.
As evening fell and the sun began to set, Song Qiming, holding Song Anhao, stood with Song Shixue on the small path leading to the back mountain. Their gazes, fixed on the distance, were full of worry and anxiety.
It had been a whole day. Why wasn't Big Sister back yet?
Old Man Song, returning with firewood, saw them still standing there and asked, "Jinzhao isn't back?"
When they went to the flats to gather firewood at noon, they had seen Song Qiming standing here alone. Upon asking, they learned Song Jinzhao had gone hunting in the mountains after midnight yesterday.
Song Qiming's lips were dry, his face red from the sun. He nodded, his voice very low.
"I just came from home. Big Sister still isn't back."
Song Shixue stood beside him, constantly twisting the hem of her clothes with her fingers, her eyes stinging.
Oldest Song's thoughts took a turn, and he said in alarm, "She couldn't have run into a wolf pack, could she?"
Song Qiming's pupils trembled, recalling the wolf pack they had encountered in the mountains last time, and he almost failed to hold Song Anhao steady.
Song Shixue, who was already worried to the point of reddened eyes, lost control of her emotions and cried out in fear, "I want my sister. Grandpa, take me up the mountain."
Old Man Song shot a glare at Oldest Song. Why talk about such things in front of the child? It was just adding to the chaos.
"Don't cry, don't cry. Your sister can kill a leopard. Even if she encounters a wolf pack, she can fight them off."
Song Shixue's crying didn't stop, and she spoke through sobs, heartbroken, "There was only one leopard, but a wolf pack has many."
Old Man Song said, "Hunting takes a long time. Perhaps Song Jinzhao took a different path to the city to sell the game and earn some money. She'll be back soon."
