I became an immortal in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 36 Li Bai Awakens
Chen Erniu was horrified to see a huge, striped tiger just two feet away from him.

The ferocious tiger's head was pressed against his head, and when it roared, it opened its blood-red maw, revealing long fangs, and its tiger eyes stared intently at him.

I've never heard of such a huge tiger!

It's probably a tiger spirit with magical powers in the mountains.

Upon realizing what he had just been talking about, Chen Erniu's face turned deathly pale.

A tiger has come knocking on our door!

The two men trembled and lay prostrate on the ground, repeatedly begging for forgiveness. Then the enormous, terrifying tiger spirit let out a long roar that shook the forest. The yellow dog, terrified, lay on the ground, barking wildly.

The tiger laughed loudly, its roar dissipating in the wind.

"Considering that you have not spoken ill of them, we will forgive you for now."

As he spoke, he walked past the two men, step by step, until he became a silhouette.

The remaining echoes.

"Since I began my cultivation of the Tao."

"It is free from the smell of fish and meat, and does not contain blood."

"Do you remember?"

Chen Erniu heard the sound growing fainter and fainter until it was completely carried away by the wind. He looked up and saw that the tiger had indeed left.

Just breathed a sigh of relief.

With a sigh of relief, his body went limp on the ground, unable to lift a single finger. He lay there for a while, his heart pounding, filled with lingering fear.

He escaped death again.

The magistrate's servants came to their senses.

He exclaimed in horror, "It's a talking tiger!"

"There's a tiger demon that's become a spirit on the mountain?!"

To be honest, he came to Chenjia Village to ask Chen Erniu about the encounter with the immortals only because he was entrusted with this task; the county magistrate wanted to hear these stories. He himself did not believe them at all.

What a load of nonsense about encountering immortals, and what about the green-robed immortal god who subdued a fierce tiger. He thinks it's all made up by Chen Erniu to scam money. How could such a thing happen under the jurisdiction of the county magistrate?
Unexpectedly, they actually encountered a tiger.

Chen Erniu was still in shock: "This howl is exactly the same as the one I heard that day. The tiger isn't dead."

"Thank goodness, thank goodness..."

Fortunately, he wasn't particularly bold, nor was he arrogant enough to fabricate stories about ghosts, gods, and immortals. He only added some details and didn't spout nonsense about the tiger and demons.

In just a quarter of an hour, he was covered in a cold sweat.

The servants felt better and looked at Chen Erniu, feeling a sense of empathy, as they had shared the hardships. They were still shaken and needed someone to calm their nerves.

He said, "Luckily, this tiger is good at recognizing people. Just now, I almost thought I was going to be eaten... Phew, that was terrifying."

……

……

Tea stalls in the city.

Four scholars are drinking tea to cool off in the summer heat.

The teahouse was quite crowded. Some were laborers who had worked hard all day and wanted to rest and fill their stomachs with cheap tea that cost a penny a bowl. Others were traveling merchants, weary from their journey but quite wealthy, who were invited upstairs for better tea and left their horses in the care of the waiter. The majority were local residents of Xiangyang, chatting idly in groups of three or four, reminiscing about the strange events of the past few days.

Several people surrounded the scholar.

Dai Xiu, holding a teacup in one hand, was describing how terrifying the tiger was.

"The tigers on that mountain are incredibly fierce; they devour one person every month..."

Everyone listened intently, holding their breath, as if the terrifying tiger were right beside them, their expressions constantly changing as Dai Xiu and the others spoke.

A full half hour passed before Dai Xiu finished speaking, sipping the fine tea the shopkeeper had given him to moisten his throat, and said:

That's all for today.

He swept the loose change off the table with his sleeve, nonchalantly, and took it with him.

They went into an alley and Dai Xiu divided the spoils with the other three.

Wang Zishen carefully counted them one by one before putting them in his pocket, saying, "I didn't expect this could make money. It's a good job."

"We did benefit from the wild beasts on the mountain."

The other person took the money.

He frowned, thought for a moment, and hesitated before asking, "Is that tiger really dead? If it's still alive, it's not something to be trifled with."

Dai Xiu laughed and said, "What are you afraid of? Didn't they say that a master has subdued the tiger?"

Wang Zishen also offered advice.

"Even if it's still alive, can a beast understand human speech?"

The four of them divided the money in the alley, settled their respective portions, and prepared to leave.

"Roar------"

Suddenly, a tremendous tiger's roar rang in my ears. It was so loud it made my ears go numb.

A huge tiger appeared outside the alley, its cold eyes fixed on the four people inside.

"Found you!"

……

……

"Have you heard? Those storytellers from before have disappeared. Nobody knows where they went. Those stories were terrifying, but after a few days, you start to miss them."

"I heard that he was frightened on the mountain and fell seriously ill. He is currently recuperating."

"Huh? Why did you suddenly go up the mountain?"

"How would I know? If I keep telling those kinds of stories, the mountain spirits might not stand it and one of them might take action."

"Wasn't there supposed to be a deity? Where did that deity go?"

Jiang She put down his teacup and beckoned to the waiter.

"Bill, please."

"This young man looks unfamiliar." The waiter quickly glanced at the table, at the tea and snacks, and soon calculated the cost, "Sixteen coins in total."

Jiang She placed the money on the table.

"Thank you."

"You're too kind. Please take care, young man. Please come again soon."

After spending the afternoon outside, Jiang She returned to the courtyard, greeted Yuan Danqiu, and opened the notebook.

He overheard a few words at the tea stall earlier, which gave him some ideas.

The notes that appeared earlier described the experiences of hunters in the mountains. And a few days later, were there also records of the scholars being terrified by wild beasts in the mountains?

The book is opened.

Sure enough, there were a few more lines of text above.

……

Before long, news of the encounter with the immortal spread throughout the city. There were also rumors that there was a fierce tiger spirit in Yunshan that often devoured people.

"Upon hearing this, the mountain tiger descended the mountain. Seeing that the hunter's account was true, it released him. There was also a group of scholars who had fabricated stories about the tiger's violence. Out of respect for the immortal, the tiger was spared. The leader lost an arm, and the rest were terrified and fell ill for ten months."

……

That was the aftermath of the hunter's encounter with the immortal.

Jiang She looked at the words on the note.

"It really does resemble a historian holding a pen."

There's an unsettling feeling, like I'm encountering a legendary tale. I wonder if this journal will be filled with stories by the time I finish my journey here?

The sky gradually darkened, and the wind blew in clouds that heavily covered half the sky, suggesting a heavy rain was likely to fall that evening.

On the wall, the kittens from the neighbor's house had come out to play again. They were a bit bigger than before, with round heads and lively, playful faces, climbing up the tree. They were also very greedy, even reaching out their paws to grab the leaves above their heads and taking a few bites.

Jiang She happened to be free.

I sat at the table and observed for a while.

Reaching out to beckon, the cat seemed to only then notice that there was a person sitting there, much larger than the cat itself, with its fur standing on end, its back arched, and its round eyes fixed intently.

It's somewhat like the spirit of Koyama-kun.

Jiang She went to the kitchen to get it some chopped meat, rinsed off the salt with water, and handed it to it.

The cat was startled.

He sniffed the air tightly a few times, his eyes fixed on it.

"Eat."

The cat peeked at him while taking a few steps forward. Finally, unable to resist the aroma of the meat, it forgot its fear and began to eat it in small bites without biting.

Snoring softly.

Jiang She couldn't help but laugh.

"Squeak-"

The sound of a door opening came from behind, followed by a flurry of footsteps. There was Jiang She, playing with the cat.

“Jiang Lang… Mr. Jiang”

"How many days is it now?"

Li Bai emerged from the room, hastily donning a white shirt; his hair was somewhat disheveled, but he radiated health and vitality.

When I woke up, I felt like I was at a feast of gods and ghosts, and the sounds of talking and laughing with demons and ghosts were still ringing in my ears. It was only when I saw the familiar roof beams that I realized I was already at home.

After several days of heavy drinking, Li Bai awoke.

(End of this chapter)