Song Jinzhao furrowed her brows and said to Song Chun and Tudan's mother, "Shout his name loudly, stimulate him."
The two, whose hearts were dead with grief, didn't know what to do.
Song Jinzhao continued inserting the silver needles: "Song Shigen, if you don't wake up now, your son is going to die. Tudan is going to die~"
After Song Chun snapped out of it, she immediately leaned close to Song Shigen's ear and shouted, "Son, wake up quickly. Tudan is waiting for you to save him."
"You have to save your son, you have to save him..."
Just as Song Jinzhao pulled out the silver needles—
"Tudan, run! Climb up! Save Tudan." A weak voice came from Song Shigen's mouth.
Song Jinzhao's expression turned stern, and she immediately used a silver needle to seal an acupoint on the top of his head.
Song Shigen slowly opened his eyes.
His parents and wife threw themselves beside him, crying and shouting with all their might, hysterically.
His turbid eyes held a trace of lucidity bordering on death.
Song Shigen said with a faint, thread-like voice, "Tudan is on a tree up the mountain. I told him to climb up and never come down. Save Tudan, save my son."
Doctor Liu stared blankly. The two points where the needles had been inserted at the top of the head were major taboos in medicine; the slightest mistake could mean death.
She had actually managed to gauge it so precisely, truly making him wake up.
Tudan's mother turned and knelt on the ground, pleading bitterly, "Village Chief, I beg you, save my son. Please save my son."
Song Mancang scanned the young and middle-aged men standing in the yard and outside the house. "Everyone, go home and get your tools. We're going up the mountain to save him now."
Song Daniu spoke up, "Village Chief, it's been so long. The child might already be dead. Going would be a waste."
Another villager shrank back. "How could we be a match for a black bear? The wolf pack that escaped last time is still on the mountain. If we run into them together, we might not come back."
Wild beasts fear fire, but it was daytime now.
It wasn't like when the wolf pack entered the village. As long as they didn't go up the mountain, the black bear wouldn't come down.
Hanging on by a thread, Song Shigen endured the pain, trying to get up to beg them. "That tree is very tall. The bear can't climb it. Tudan must still be alive."
Blood spurted from his chest along the silver needle. Song Jinzhao pressed down on his shoulder and scolded, "Don't move."
Her sleeve was pulled. Desperate eyes shot straight into Song Jinzhao's own.
"Please save my son. When I lured the bear away, he was just crying on the tree. Save him."
Hearing this, Tudan's mother turned and knelt before Song Jinzhao, kowtowing incessantly. "Jinzhao, you have the skill. You can definitely save Tudan."
"I was wrong. I shouldn't have withheld milk from Anhao for money. Please forgive me."
"As long as you're willing to go up the mountain, I'll serve you like an ox or a horse for the rest of my life to repay you."
Song Jinzhao quickly crouched down to stop her from kowtowing.
She was decades older than her; she couldn't accept such a gesture.
Song Jinzhao's father's eyes flickered. He wanted to walk over and take Song Jinzhao away immediately.
But looking at the courtyard that seemed on the verge of ruin, his feet felt nailed to the ground, finding it incredibly difficult to move even half a step forward.
Song Chun was the oldest generation in the village; one could say she already had one foot in the grave.
The gaunt, withered old woman looked at Song Jinzhao with profound grief. "Girl Jinzhao, Tudan is the only grandson in our family. If he's gone, this family will fall apart."
If Song Shigen died, Tudan would be the only male heir in the family.
In this era, that was tantamount to taking the whole family's life.
A villager spoke up, "Song Jinzhao can hunt a leopard and kill five wolves alone. If she goes up the mountain, we can definitely fight the black bear."
Many nodded in agreement.
Song Mancang hesitated and called out, "Jinzhao?"
With so many men in the village, asking a teenage girl to go up the mountain to save someone was something he couldn't bring himself to say, yet he truly had no other choice.
Song Jinzhao stood up, not with anger but with calmness. "Saving the child is urgent. I'll go back to get my bow and arrows."
Tudan's mother struggled to get up from the ground. "I'll go too."
Song Jinzhao turned her head to look at her. "You'll just hold me back."
Song Shuisheng stepped forward and said loudly, "Jinzhao, I'll go with you."
Song Lahuang followed closely, "I'll go too."
Oldest Song swallowed hard. Seeing the three quickly heading out, he clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and said, "Wait for me. I'm coming too."
Song Mancang turned and ordered his son, "Dazhuang, you go home immediately, get a knife, and go up the mountain with Jinzhao to save him."
Then he raised his fist, his voice thundering like a drum: "Tudan is a child we've all watched grow up. As long as there's a sliver of hope, we cannot give up. Those brave enough to save him, come up the mountain together. There's strength in numbers. If we meet the black bear, we kill it."
At the village chief's call, many people began returning home to get weapons.
A few cowards remained, shrinking in place, exchanging glances. Song Daniu licked his lips and took another path home to hide.
Song Jinzhao tied the wrist-crossbow to her arm, picked up her crossbow and dagger, and walked out.
Song Shixue walked out of the house, worried.
"Everyone from the village is going. It'll be fine. Wait for me at home. Older sister will be back soon."
Looking at the claw marks scraped by bear paws on the ground, blood beads staining the tender green grass, this was where Song Shigen had escaped down the mountain.
Following the trail upward, a child's crying came from afar, tearing at his throat as if his life depended on it.
Everyone quickened their pace, rushing toward the direction of the sound. The scene before them left everyone dumbfounded, their legs going weak, unable to stand firm.
A brown bear was fighting a fierce tiger.
The villagers who had abruptly intruded into the battleground became intruders, unwelcome sneak attackers in their eyes.
Seeing people coming to save him, Tudan immediately wanted to climb down from the tree.
Song Jinzhao shouted sharply, "Don't come down! Stay on that tree!"
The situation before her was worse than she had imagined.
The people behind her turned and ran. If they didn't run, they'd lose their lives.
They had thought there was only a bear, or at worst, they might run into wolves. They never expected a tiger as big as a mountain, one that could swallow them whole in a single bite.
The hoe in Oldest Song's hand trembled, his throat quivering. "Niece, should we run?"
"Too late."
The tiger was already charging toward them.
Song Jinzhao raised her hand, firing five bolts from her wrist-crossbow in unison.
She drew her crossbow, wanting to scare the brown bear away first.
Otherwise, being attacked from both front and back, she might save herself, but the other villagers would be in danger.
Song Shuisheng, who had killed two wolves before, raised his hoe and smashed it with all his might at the brown bear's head.
Seeing Song Jinzhao dart past him to fight the tiger alone, Oldest Song made a decisive decision, gripped his hoe tightly, and charged forward to fight the brown bear alongside Song Shuisheng.
Song Lahuang opened his mouth wide, gritted his teeth, and roared to bolster his own courage.
The villagers who had run a hundred meters away saw that the four not only weren't fleeing but were already fighting the brown bear and the tiger.
After hesitating for a few seconds, they clenched their teeth, turned around, and ran back to help.
Song Jinzhao grabbed the tiger's tail, mustering all her strength to throw it to the ground.
The crossbow was ready; the arrow she shot pierced the tiger's softest, most vulnerable belly.
The air was filled with the smell of blood. The wounded tiger let out a earth-shaking roar and flipped over to get up from the ground.
Song Jinzhao decisively fired another arrow. Seizing the moment the tiger dodged, she swiftly drew her dagger and pounced.
Perched on the tree branch, Tudan stared at the chaotic battle on the ground, his eyes wide with fear, unable even to cry.
