Since it was the first time they followed their Father and Little Father to the mountains to play, Nizi and Wang Qing were both very excited. Yesterday, something big had happened at home. Wang Qing cried so much that his eyes were swollen. He didn’t feel like going to school today, so Wang Shijing decided to give him a three-day leave. 

Wang Shijing held Shao Yunan’s hand, Shao Yunan held Nizi’s hand, Nizi held Jiang Moxi’s hand, and Jiang Moxi held Wang Qing’s hand. The three children each carried a small basket. Today was the day that they also discovered that the mountain behind their house actually belonged to their family.

On the way, Shao Yunan shared his knowledge about tea with the three children and they listened with great interest. Without taking any breaks along the way, the three children wanted to see their own tea trees immediately and were unwilling to rest. They had much more physical strength than their peers, because of the spiritual spring water and diluted spiritual milk in their daily diet.

When they arrived at the tea site, Wang Qing and Nizi ran over joyfully. These were the tea trees. Jiang Moxi walked over like a little adult and touched one tree after another.

“Little Father, is this one the tea leaves?”

“Yes.”

“Little Father, I’ll pick it.”

“You can pick the tea leaves below. Do you want to climb the tree or do you want to take a rest first?”

“No, we’re not tired.” The three children rolled up their sleeves and prepared to work. Seeing Wang Shijing also getting ready to work, Shao Yunan said, “Take a rest before climbing the tree.”

“What’s this little distance? I’m not tired.” Wang Shijing, who no longer wore an eye patch, had scars on his face that hadn’t been deliberately concealed, making him look much more ferocious. People outside would still be afraid of him, but no one in their family was scared of him.

“Children, come and have some water first.”

“Coming.”

After giving the three children water with a drop of spiritual milk added to restore their energy, Shao Yunan let them play freely, only reminding them not to run off to other places. Wang Shijing also drank the water, then agilely climbed up a tree. The three children immediately gathered around to help. 

Wang Shijing still didn’t allow Shao Yunan to climb the tree; he and the three children stayed below to catch the tea leaves. Facing upward and illuminated by the light filtering through the trees, Shao Yunan’s face appeared bruised and swollen. If you asked why he didn’t quickly remove the bruises to avoid suspicion, Shao Yunan would counter with a question, “Do you know about the fake pain strategy?” He believed Marquis Hengyuan’s son would benefit more the longer he wore this face.

The family was busy to the point of being blissfully unaware. Accompanied by the crisp laughter of Wang Qing and Nizi, even Jiang Moxi’s eyes seemed to be smiling. However, he still spoke word by word and couldn’t form complete sentences. But even if he remained like this for his entire life, no one would ask for anything more.

Feeling thirsty, Jiang Moxi put the tea leaves he had picked into a cloth bag, then picked up a water bottle and took two sips of water. Afterward, his movements paused, and he turned his head to look in the direction of the deep forest. After gazing for a while, he turned back to see Uncle Yunan and Shijing, who were still busy, then turned back in that direction.

“Moxi, are you tired?” Noticing that Jiang Moxi had been standing there for quite a while, Shao Yunan spoke up. Jiang Moxi blinked and shook his head, closing the cap of the water bottle.

“Moxi, the basket has food in it. If you’re hungry, go and eat.” Nodding, Jiang Moxi didn’t go to get food. Instead, he continued to look in that direction. After a while, he walked toward that direction while holding the water bottle. Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the forest. Wang Shijing, who was up in the tree, also heard it and looked down. Seeing Jiang Moxi walking into the woods he immediately shouted: “Moxi, where are you going? Don’t go in there.”

Shao Yunan, Nizi, and Wang Qing all hurriedly looked over. Jiang Moxi stopped, but the rustling sound continued. At that moment, Wang Shijing shouted, “Moxi, come back! Yunan, take the children and go quickly!”

Shao Yunan hadn’t realized what was happening yet, when Wang Shijing jumped down from the tree. Then, with a roar, a huge golden beast leaped out from the dense forest, heading straight for Jiang Moxi.

“Moxi!” Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing shouted as they rushed toward Jiang Moxi.

“Roar!” Two more roars sounded. At the same time, slightly smaller beasts dashed out from the other two sides, targeting Nizi and Wang Qing.

“Ah! Ah!” Nizi screamed in fear, while Wang Qing hugged his sister and turned to protect her, closing his eyes in fear.

“Brother Qing! Niz!”

“Moxi!”

The first beast pounced on Jiang Moxi before Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing could reach him. The other two beasts, while Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing were desperate, got past Wang Qing and Nizi and lunged at the backpack containing water and food.

Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing’s hearts raced. Nizi and Wang Qing trembled with closed eyes, and Jiang Moxi was completely submerged under the massive beast. Wang Shijing rushed towards Jiang Moxi, while Shao Yunan, with his scalp tingling, turned and ran toward Wang Qing and Nizi.

“Roar!”

“Roar! Roar!” These were not ordinary golden beasts. They were clearly the rulers of the jungle, tigers! Three of them! The largest tiger, the one that had pounced on Jiang Moxi, menacingly roared at Wang Shijing, then, under his terrified gaze it backed away, revealing Jiang Moxi beneath its massive body.

“Moxi!” Regardless of whether he would be eaten by the tiger or not, Wang Shijing rushed over and cradled Jiang Moxi’s head in his arms, with the tiger’s ferocious face almost touching his own. The scent of the wild beast assaulted his nostrils as Wang Shijing stared at the big tiger, struggling to pull Jiang Moxi out. His voice unsteady as he asked, “Moxi, are you injured? Don’t be afraid, Uncle Shijing will save you. Don’t be afraid.”

“Uncle Shijing…” Jiang Moxi seemed unaware what kind of beast it was. His expression and voice remained calm. Seeing that he didn’t show any signs of pain, Wang Shijing’s heart eased slightly and he quickly glanced around. Over there, Wang Qing and Nizi were nowhere to be seen. Only Shao Yunan could be backing away, while facing the two bewildered young tigers.

The big tiger also stared at Shao Yunan, seemingly puzzled as to why the two children suddenly disappeared. Taking advantage of the tiger’s confusion, Wang Shijing pulled Jiang Moxi out by force. Meanwhile, Shao Yunan had already retreated behind Wang Shijing, who pushed Jiang Moxi towards Shao Yunan. Shao Yunan held onto Jiang Moxi, and in the blink of an eye, Jiang Moxi also disappeared.

Shao Yunan grabbed Wang Shijing’s hand, ready to enter the space at any moment. The reason they hadn’t entered yet was that these three tigers somehow stopped attacking. They could still gather information from the outside, but it would be more dangerous to enter the space and come out later. The space couldn’t be moved, and if the tigers were still guarding here, they couldn’t keep hiding in the space.

Upon closer inspection of the three tigers, the one with the largest body was clearly an adult tiger. The other two were considerably smaller in size, probably not yet adults, but rather young tigers.

The backpack containing food and water had been completely crushed. The two young tigers occasionally growled at Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing, but their expressions weren’t fierce. They seemed more like threats. 

The adult tiger pulled out the stopper from the water bottle that Jiang Moxi had dropped to the ground, lowered its head, sniffed at the bottle, and then impatiently bit the cap and pulled it off.

Water spilled out of the bottle, and the big tiger stopped paying attention to Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan, extending its tongue and licking the water. The two young tigers became agitated. One of them mimicked the other by lowering its head, pulled out the stopper from the other water bottle in the backpack, and licked the water. 

The other one was anxious because it couldn’t drink and started growling at its own sibling. However, the young tiger shook its tail as if it hadn’t noticed its sibling’s impatience and continued to drink the water, not even sparing a drop that had flowed into the soil.

The water in the bottles were a mixture of spring water from the spiritual spring and boiled mountain spring water in a 1:1 ratio, with a drop of spiritual milk in each bottle. This was the water that the important members of the family drank every day.

“Roarrrrr—!!” The young tiger, unable to drink the water, became agitated and fiercely slapped its own sibling with its claws, knocking it aside, and then lowered its head to drink the spilled water.

“Roarrrrr—!!” The young tiger that was knocked-off the water bottle got up angry and forcefully rammed into the other one, continuing to drink with its head lowered.

“Roarrrrrrrrrrr—!”

Wang Shijing, who had turned to look at the scene, turned back and saw the big tiger rolling the water bottle around with its paw. It glared at them after looking at the water bottle that had rolled around several times with no water coming out. It was likely empty and even if there was a little water left, the tiger couldn’t hold it up to drink.

Shao Yunan cleared his throat and tugged at Wang Shijing, speaking softly. “Shijing, did they come here just to drink water?” Just now, it seemed like the two young tigers bypassed Wang Qing and Wang Nizi and went straight for the backpack. Wang Shijing pulled Shao Yunan into his embrace, held him tightly and looked at the big tiger, trying to sound as calm as possible. “Are you only here to drink water?”

The big tiger tilted its large head, then licked the water bottle, unable to get any more water. It lifted its head and stared at Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan fixedly, just like before. On the side, the two young tigers also couldn’t drink any more water. The young tiger that hadn’t drunk much whined at Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing, expressing its grievance.

“Shijing, could they really just be here to drink water? The question is, how do they know we have spiritual spring water?”

“Oooh ……” The young tiger was still whimpering. The other young tiger that hadn’t drunk enough continued to search. It caught the scent of braised meat that Shao Yunan had brought with him and opened its jaws without any courtesy.

“Roarrr!”

The young tiger that hadn’t drunk water sensed it and angrily pounced. Wang Shijing whispered, “Darling, bring out some water.”

With this thought, an additional bottle of mineral water,  filled with spiritual spring water appeared in Shao Yunan’s hand, which was . As soon as the bottle appeared, the big tiger’s body moved, ready to pounce.

“Hold on!”

Wang Shijing shouted loudly, startling the two young tigers. Raising their heads they saw that Wang Shijing had water in his hand, so they ran over while carrying pieces of meat. Meanwhile, the fastest-moving big tiger had already knocked down Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan snatched the water bottle, and bit through it with its sharp teeth, instantly spraying Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing with water.

The two young tigers ran over and also got some water on themselves. But they wasted no time in licking the water from their own bodies and then proceeded to lick the water from Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan’s bodies.

“Stop, stop, stop! Our faces will be injured!” Shao Yunan, who was being licked by the tiger’s tongue, shouted in pain. The barbs on its tongue would scrape the flesh! Upon hearing his spouse’s painful cry, Wang Shijing instantly forgot that the other party was a tiger. He grabbed the thick fur on both sides of the tiger’s neck and exerted force, lifting the tiger’s head.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch!” Shao Yunan crawled out from under the big tiger as if fleeing for his life. His already swollen and bruised face now looked even more pitiful. The big tiger didn’t resist Wang Shijing, but simply shook off his hand disapprovingly, then lowered its head to lick the water off Wang Shijing’s face, causing him to quickly dodge.

“Yunan! Get more water!”

This time, Shao Yunan directly took out three bottles of water, and immediately, there were cheering ‘roar’ sounds. “Don’t bite!” Shao Yunan felt like he had never been in such a sorry state in his life. Wang Shijing forcefully pushed away the two young tigers that had pounced on Shao Yunan and shielded him behind his own body, shouting. “Stay still! Otherwise, we won’t give you any more water!”

Seemingly understanding Wang Shijing’s meaning, the two young tigers became anxious, calling out and wagging their tails, but they didn’t pounce. However, the big tiger paid no attention and after pushing away Wang Shijing, lunged towards Shao Yunan. In a desperate moment, Shao Yunan yelled, “If you pounce again, I won’t give you any water!”

The upper body of the big tiger froze in place, its tail swaying, and its extended front paw slowly descended, no longer pouncing. They could actually understand human speech!

Shao Yunan handed the water to Wang Shijing, and with a motion, he took out a clean basin. Wang Shijing opened a bottle of water, and amid the excitement of the three tigers, poured it into the basin. Meanwhile, Shao Yunan directly poured water into the basin. The basin quickly filled and Shao Yunan pulled Wang Shijing aside.

“Drink it. That’s all we have, there’s no more.”

“Roar!”

The young tiger that had drunk the least excitedly pounced forward. The three tigers ignored Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing and busily started drinking water.

“Darling, quickly use the spiritual milk to wipe your face, you’re bleeding.”

There was no immediate danger to their lives, but Wang Shijing was heartbroken. Shao Yunan winced in pain and said, “Using spiritual spring water in this state on our face will probably be deadly.” Thinking of the three children in the space, he added: “You go in. I don’t know how to explain it. it will just give me a headache. I’ll first see what’s going on with these three and then come in to find you.”

Wang Shijing was uneasy. “You go in, I’ll stay outside.”

“You go explain.” Shao Yunan lowered his head. “The kids must be scared. There are so many things in there that don’t exist in this era, and I don’t know how to explain. These three just wanted water to drink. I’m fine.”

Wang Shijing glanced at the three tigers eagerly drinking water and thought about the three children and the space before he said, “Alright, send me in. But whether you like it or not, after half an hour, either you take me out or you enter.”

“Okay.” Shao Yunan sent Wang Shijing into the space, leaving the task of explanation to him.