Returning to hometown to farm: The apocalypse system arrived ten years earlier?

Chapter 196 Raising Tigers is Like Raising Pigs

The morning sun rises, shining with golden light.

Li Xiang had unknowingly "fought" his way out of the primeval forest. He stood on the top of a mountain and looked far into the east. His eyesight was excellent and the weather was fine today, so he could actually see the sea and sky merging into one in the distance.

This is because Vietnam has a long and narrow territory, with a coastline of more than 3,000 kilometers. Although his phone was not turned on and thrown in the system warehouse, he could find his way home just by the direction and coastline. Simply put, as long as he ran north, he would enter the border, which was either Yunnan Province or Guangxi Province.

There seemed to be a small town at the foot of the mountain in the distance. Since Li Xiang was here, he thought about buying some local specialties.

In places like Vietnam, most transactions are done in cash. Although there is an official currency, the Vietnamese Dong, it is also possible to use US dollars directly. Not only is it possible, it can even be a symbol of status.

Myanmar had three treasures before, and Vietnam naturally has three treasures as well, which are the famous Vietnamese specialties: White Tiger Balm, Vietnamese perfume and Vietnamese ox horn comb.

But after a round of shopping, Li Xiang found that many tiger bone plasters were fake, so he only bought some perfume and an ox horn comb.

Then, the Baihu Huoluo ointment produced by some big manufacturers, although not fake, the "Baihu" in it is just the name of a medicinal material, or just a trademark pattern, and there is no real tiger.

Just like there is no wife in wife cake.

"Brother, do you want to buy authentic tiger bone ointment?" A man came over and spoke Chinese.

This man had been following him for a long time, and Li Xiang was still wondering what his intentions were. He didn't expect it was because of this.

It may be that he had asked many shops before, but he was noticed by the other party because he only asked and did not buy.

Wearing a hat, sunglasses and a mask, Li Xiang nodded and said, "Do you have any real ones? I don't want fake ones." He has an excellent sense of smell and can tell whether something is good or not with just a sniff. In fact, it was learned from his previous experience of looking for black truffles.

"Of course it's real. We only accept US dollars, but the price is a little higher. You'll know if it's real when you go over and take a look." The man said, patting his chest.

"Are you Chinese?" Li Xiang followed the other person and asked curiously on the way.

“No, I taught myself Chinese.”

Li Xiang praised: "You speak Chinese very well."

"It's all about making a living. I go to China quite often."

The two walked and chatted along the way, and soon they arrived at a remote courtyard. The stench was strong, but mixed with the stench was some strong medicinal fragrance, which was very pure.

A tiger roar was heard, but it was not powerful enough.

The man quickly comforted Li Xiang: "Don't be afraid, they are all locked in iron cages, they are very safe."

Then, Li Xiang saw an astonishing scene.

In the dark basement, dozens of tigers were locked in iron cages, and not far away was a "medicine workshop". Many tiger skins were placed on the ground, bloody, probably just peeled off not long ago, and there were several "medicine pots" bubbling with "ointments".

There are also some tiger meat, tiger claws, and tiger bones on the shelves.

Those tigers were not fierce at all, and all of them were terrified, listless, and without spirit. One tiger growled, probably the one that roared before, and a man used an electric baton to teach it a lesson, and also poked it with an iron skewer, and the tiger immediately lay down and dared not make any more noise.

Li Xiang secretly took a look around and found that no one had extraordinary potential.

Li Xiang: “…” I thought to myself, you guys are even more cruel than me.

He had heard that the underground tiger trade in Vietnam was rampant, but it was still shocking when he saw the real scene for the first time.

In comparison, when he hunted wild beasts, he would kill them directly and quickly, which was much more "gentlemanly".

"No wonder I didn't find any wild tigers in the primeval forest. I guess you guys have caught them all." Li Xiang thought to himself.

In fact, these tigers are cubs purchased directly by local people and raised by them. Some of them come from neighboring Laos. They are not wild tigers captured directly.

Vietnam used to be the main habitat of the Indochinese tiger (Southeast Asian tiger), but due to the strong underground industry chain, it is difficult to see wild tigers. Perhaps only Thailand has slightly more.

Li Xiang felt that if he wanted to find wild tigers, he might have to go to Thailand, India, or Siberia. Of course, when his speed increased, he would also go to the African grasslands, where there were more ferocious beasts such as lions and hyenas.

The American continent, especially South America, is also a place where wild animals gather.

However, it was difficult to keep these beasts as spiritual pets unless he encountered a cub with extraordinary potential. But even if he encountered a cub with extraordinary talent, he probably couldn't bring it back. He could only let it roam freely in the local area and take it back when the end of the world came.

Unlike Tuan Tuan, who is a national treasure and has a gentle personality.

Some people have suggested sending Tuantuan and his mother back to the original forest reserve, but no one knows where they came from. A professor in the expert group suggested not to interfere too much and to respect the independent habitat selection of wild giant pandas, which is also a very important research topic. Tuantuan and his mother live in the bamboo mountain of Lijia Village, which is convenient for them to take samples, investigate their living habits, and establish a wild giant panda genetic gene bank.

"How is it? It's absolutely authentic. The recipes are all ancient secrets passed down among the people. The efficacy is absolutely good." The man greeted the people inside in Vietnamese, and finally took out a few bottles of tiger bone ointment and handed them to Li Xiang.

Li Xiang unscrewed the lid and took a sniff. It was indeed very authentic.

"How long does it take you to boil these tiger bones?" Li Xiang looked at the large medicine jar not far away and asked curiously.

The man said, "Usually seven days."

Li Xiang nodded, pointed at the tiger skin on the ground, and said, "How much is the tiger skin?"

The man said, "It depends on the size. The lowest price is US$6,000 per ticket."

"Too expensive." Li Xiang shook his head. He didn't have that much US dollars. Moreover, this underground workshop was so rampant, it was obvious that they were not good people. He would not rob ordinary people, but he would not be soft-hearted to such "local tyrants" involved in gangs.

"You brought me directly to the workshop, aren't you worried about the news leaking out?" Li Xiang asked.

"Haha, since we dare to do this business, of course we have arranged everything well." The man looked at Li Xiang and said in a deep voice, "I advise you not to ask for trouble, otherwise you will die miserably. Even if you are Chinese, I can make sure you can't leave Vietnam alive."

As for Li Xiang calling the police after returning to China, the man didn't take it seriously. Vietnam is an independent country. They are doing this business in the local area and there are people protecting them.

"I won't do that." Li Xiang smiled, paid for the tiger bone paste, and left quickly. The man thought Li Xiang was scared, and flicked the US dollars in his hand with great pride, thinking that it was easy to rip off the Chinese, and the price was two or three times higher than usual.

The next day, the people in this underground tiger workshop were dumbfounded. All the live tigers, peeled tiger skins, and packaged tiger bone pastes had disappeared, and the iron cages had been violently destroyed. Only the medicinal materials boiled in the pot and the tiger meat on the shelf were left.

Several people on duty were knocked unconscious and knew nothing when asked.

In the following days, tigers and tiger skins were looted by mysterious people in various parts of Vietnam. According to incomplete statistics, there were at least more than 70 "underground workshops" involving more than 1,000 tigers and thousands of tiger skins.

Oh my god, when the news spread, people were shocked.

"Do we have so many tigers in our country? I remember the official number was only over 300."

"You also know that it was revealed by the authorities. These were not discovered before and all came from the underground trading market."

"Raising dozens of them in a pen, are you raising pigs or tigers?"

"Isn't it said that the Indochinese tiger is endangered and about to become extinct?"

“Endangered refers to wild tigers, which are indeed on the verge of functional extinction. Farmed tigers shouldn’t be counted, right?”

Some people argued: "This is not our fault. These tiger skins and tiger bone pastes are basically smuggled to China, South Korea and Japan. The Chinese are the ones who buy the most. If there is no trade, there will be no killing. It's all their fault!"

Li Xiang felt that mats, clothes and boots made of tiger skin were naturally more comfortable to wear than ordinary cloth, but he couldn't use them yet.

How can ordinary fabric, even pure cotton, compare to real fine fur?
At the end of the world, it was covered with ice and snow, and Chunyang's tiger skin was naturally a top-notch treasure.

He tried the tiger bone ointment himself and found that it was of good quality and had no side effects or allergies. So he distributed some to the elderly in the village, including his grandmother and grandparents.

For example, Grandma San, she is old and often complains of pain here and there, but after using Li Xiang’s tiger bone ointment, she feels much better.

The main effect of this tiger bone paste is to relieve pain, promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis. It is effective and quick, especially for rheumatism, joint pain, sciatica, lumbar spine, neck pain, shoulder pain, pain in the bones of the limbs and joints, and muscle numbness and swelling. It has a good effect on sleeping stiff neck, cramps, sprains, small burns and scalds in life. At the same time, because it contains peppermint oil, it has a good auxiliary effect on motion sickness during travel, mosquito bites and insect bites, skin itching, and heatstroke in summer.

Ox horn comb, grandma also likes it.

This ox horn comb is made of real ox horn, not fake. It is thicker than domestic ones, with fine workmanship, smooth surface, and is strong and durable. It is said to remain unchanged in shape or color for a thousand years.

Moreover, as a green and environmentally friendly natural material, ox horn has been a good traditional Chinese medicine since ancient times. It is said that ox horn products can also ward off evil spirits and protect the house.

As for those perfumes, Li Xiang gave some to Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, Lei Xiaohui and others.

Vietnam was once a French colony, so Vietnamese perfume can be considered as "descendants of a famous family" and is still very good. Several girls like it very much.

Li Xiang said that it was a gift from a friend. Anyway, everyone knew that the boss had some extremely wealthy friends, so no one suspected anything.

These perfumes and ox horn combs were all bought with his own money, unlike the tiger skins looted from underground workshops of criminal gangs.

(End of this chapter)