Chapter 122: Zhou Sinian’s Fear

At the Liu family home, on the warm, heated brick bed, Ming Dai sat hugging the wooden box, smiling with delight.

A whole box full of tiger bones!

In her previous life, she hadn’t even had the chance to see them. But in this life, they belonged to her!

For a doctor who possessed countless prescriptions that required tiger bones, this was an irresistible treasure.

Only Ming Dai herself could truly understand this feeling. Others, like Zhou Sinian, simply couldn’t.

At that moment, he stood on the floor by himself, staring at the wooden box in Ming Dai’s hands from afar, his brows tightly furrowed, completely unwilling to climb onto the heated bed.

Ming Dai was too busy marveling at the box to pay him any attention. Zhou Sinian watched quietly for a long while before slowly edging closer, shuffling to the edge of the bed to sit down, but still refusing to climb up.

After carefully inspecting the tiger bones and confirming they were well-preserved, Ming Dai asked Zhou Sinian to help her move the box down. The bed was too warm, and the heat would harm the preservation of the bones.

Zhou Sinian blinked and silently took a step back, using his actions to show his refusal.

In the end, it was Liu Laifu, who was standing nearby, who took the box and placed it gently on the ground.

Ming Dai felt Zhou Sinian was acting a little strange, but there were many people around, so she decided to ask him about it after they returned home.

Before Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian arrived, Aunt Huang had already given the money to her two nephews. Now, the two men were grinning from ear to ear.

Ming Dai didn’t rush to leave. Instead, she sat on the bed with Zhou Sinian, cracking hazelnuts while listening to Aunt Huang chat with her nephews.

Aunt Huang gently stroked her nephews’ frost-reddened faces, her heart aching for them. “It’s so cold. How did you make it down the mountain? It must have just snowed up there, right?”

Hei Laohu gave an honest, simple smile. “We trudged through the snow. We wore fur pants and fur coats, and the two of us looked after each other. It was fine.”

Huang Dalian touched the leg of lamb her family had sent along and spoke with joy, “Brother Huzi, my mother said we should follow you up the mountain this time. She has quite a few good things she’d like to exchange with you.”

Aunt Huang nodded in agreement. Her elderly mother was aging too fast, and her sister-in-law had said she was becoming more and more muddled. She wanted to take the chance to visit her more often.

Hei Laohu looked a little troubled. “Aunt, that might not be possible. The tigers in the mountains are acting strange this year.

Originally, one male and one female tiger each guarded their own mountain. Other than mating, they stayed out of each other’s way. We could even pass through small paths with guns and have no problems.

But this year, for some reason, the male tiger has wandered over to the female tiger’s territory. The two of them are constantly fighting in the mountains, roaring day and night. It’s been so scary that we can’t even sleep well at night.

Luckily, we haven’t hunted any prey from the female tiger’s area, so they haven’t come into the village to hurt anyone. But taking you back with us isn’t going to work — it’s just too dangerous on the road.”

Aunt Huang and Huang Dalian couldn’t hide their disappointment. But they understood all too well how unpredictable things could get in the mountains, and they didn’t dare push their luck. They could only hope to visit after the New Year.

The more Ming Dai listened, the more uneasy she felt. She glanced at Zhou Sinian, who was still frowning, his eyes fixed on the box on the ground.

Could it really be such a coincidence?

She vividly remembered that day on Daqing Mountain, when they were herding sheep and gathering mushrooms — they had heard tiger roars.

Could it have been that tiger?!

Guilt crept over her. If food shortages drove the tiger into the village and it hurt someone, that would be on her conscience.

She cleared her throat and said, “Um… Auntie, I have some animal repellent medicine. Maybe I could give some to this comrade?”

Hei Laohu was startled and turned to look at the young woman sitting on the bed. “You have animal repellent medicine?!”

Aunt Huang’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Oh my, Xiao Ming, you really have something that good? My family only had a little bit left from my grandfather’s time. Once it was gone, we never saw it again. I thought no one knew how to make it anymore!”

Ming Dai smiled sheepishly. If it weren’t for the tiger trouble possibly being her and Zhou Sinian’s doing, she wouldn’t have mentioned it on her own.

“The herbs are limited, so I didn’t make much,” Ming Dai said. “Hang it along the paths where the tigers are most likely to come down the mountain. It should have some effect. Just make sure not to let it get wet.”

Hei Laohu and Hua Baozi exchanged a glance, then rubbed their hands together in excitement. “Thank you, Ming Zhiqing! This really helps us a lot. There aren’t just tigers in the mountains — there are wolves too. Although the wolves haven’t come down this year, in past years they would come into the village several times. They even dragged off a child from our village once. If this animal repellent really works, we owe you big time!

Tell us how much it costs — we’ll buy it. We can’t let you suffer a loss!”

The wolves: We’d love to come down the mountain, but all our strong ones got beaten to death by Zhou Sinian. The rest of us weak ones? Go into the village during the New Year just to become a feast? No thanks. We’d rather pull sleds and get big bones to gnaw on. Delicious!

Ming Dai asked them about their schedule, and when she learned they wouldn’t head back until the next day, they agreed she would bring the medicine over tomorrow. As for payment, Ming Dai told them to pay her with next year’s hazelnuts instead. The hazelnuts from the mountains were truly fragrant and delicious!

Aunt Huang was also delighted, feeling that Ming Dai was showing respect to her family and taking care of her nephews. After all, in times like these, money and ration tickets were much harder to come by than mountain goods.

Still preoccupied, Ming Dai called for Zhou Sinian to help her carry the box home. But Zhou Sinian continued to refuse, standing far away with his backpack on, unwilling to come near.

Ming Dai felt a headache coming on. The box was just too heavy for her to carry alone!

In the end, the Liu brothers helped her carry it back.

After seeing them off, Ming Dai turned to Zhou Sinian, who stood silently outside the door. Since leaving Aunt Huang’s house, he hadn’t spoken a word, just stared blankly at the box.

Ming Dai opened the box. Zhou Sinian immediately took two steps back.

She raised an eyebrow. “You’re afraid of this?”

Zhou Sinian looked away without replying.

Ming Dai grew curious. The fearless, battle-hardened Zhou Sinian — someone who feared neither heaven nor earth and would fight anyone head-on — was actually afraid of something?

This was the same man who could single-handedly take on two packs of wolves, practically a walking weapon. How could he be so afraid of tiger bones?

Then she suddenly remembered — last time, on Daqing Mountain, as soon as Zhou Sinian sensed a tiger’s presence, his first reaction had been to grab her and escape immediately.

At the time, Ming Dai had thought Zhou Sinian’s decision to retreat on Daqing Mountain was because he was with her and couldn’t fully fight, afraid they would both get hurt. But now, it seemed that wasn’t the reason at all.

Was he simply afraid of tigers?

Afraid enough that even seeing tiger bones could trigger a reaction?

Ming Dai looked at his pale face and didn’t dare to tease him. She carefully stored the tiger bones inside the warehouse of her space for safekeeping.

That night, the two of them went to sleep inside the space.

In the middle of the night, Zhou Sinian’s door quietly opened. He tiptoed toward the warehouse within the space.

He walked past rows of neatly arranged shelves until he stopped in front of the medicinal herb shelf that Ming Dai had specially set up.

The wooden box sat on the second shelf, looking completely ordinary.

Zhou Sinian stood at a distance, not daring to go closer.

He stared at the box, lost in thought, as if the tiger inside hadn’t died — as if its skin and flesh were still intact, its claws and fangs still sharp.

It felt as though the tiger was hiding inside that box, waiting for the perfect moment to burst out and deliver a fatal strike.

A sharp pain flared in his head again. His vision filled with crimson red, and in his ears rang desperate screams. The foul, bloody stench of a tiger’s breath seemed to linger at the edge of his nose.

Lately, his head had been hurting more frequently. At times, fragmented images would flash through his mind — too fast and vague to grasp. But now, those images became vivid and concrete, as if they were unfolding right in front of him.

Zhou Sinian squeezed his eyes shut, and large beads of sweat rolled down his face. His entire body began to tremble uncontrollably. The old wounds on his body seemed to ignite, burning so fiercely he wanted to scream, to release the fear and rage boiling inside him.

But his throat felt blocked, as though something was stuck there. No matter how hard he tried, not a single sound came out.

Finally, he collapsed weakly to the ground, like a fish stranded on shore — struggling desperately, yet drawing less and less air.

Amid the sea of blood-red in front of his eyes, a blurry figure appeared, screaming at him with all its strength:

“Sinian! Run! Run!”

Zhou Sinian desperately tried to see who it was calling out to him, but in the end, he was swallowed by endless darkness.

He had no idea how much time passed before he woke up, lying on the cold floor.

His entire body felt weak, drained of strength. He stared up at the warehouse’s dark ceiling — a reflection of the emptiness and confusion in his heart.

Who was he?

What had he experienced?

And who was that person screaming at him to run?

Blood. There was blood everywhere.

Someone had died.

Zhou Sinian lifted his eyes and looked at the box sitting calmly on the shelf. It remained still and harmless, showing no signs of threat.

But Zhou Sinian knew. He had seen it with his own eyes — that enormous, blood-soaked maw clamping down on a person’s arm, tearing it away along with flesh and veins, swallowing it in one horrific gulp.

He was supposed to be the one devoured. But that person had shoved him aside, forcing their own arm into the tiger’s mouth and giving Zhou Sinian the chance to turn and run.

“Sinian! Run! Run!”

And after that, all that remained was endless screaming and the hot spray of blood across his back.

That blood had scalded him, burning painfully against his skin.

When Ming Dai woke up early the next morning, the villa was unusually quiet.

She went downstairs to the kitchen, but the Zhou Sinian who always greeted her with a smile and told her to come eat breakfast was nowhere to be found.

She frowned and called his name twice — no answer.

She went to his room. It was empty.

Feeling more uneasy, she went outside to check the vegetable garden and the small pasture. Still, there was no one in sight.

Her frown deepened. She returned to the villa and glanced toward the warehouse. Her heart sank.

“Zhou Sinian?”

She called out as she stepped inside, walking deeper between the rows of neatly arranged shelves.

No response.

As she reached the shelves with the medicinal herbs, she was about to turn around when something caught her eye — the edge of a piece of clothing peeking out from behind the shelf.

She quickly rushed over.

Zhou Sinian was slumped against the back of the shelf, his face flushed an alarming red, his entire body burning with fever as though he were about to catch fire.