Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

"What? How could it be gone?"

Li Han asked with a smile.

"He was still there in the afternoon. I just went to deliver the soup. The lights were still on inside, but he was gone."

Jin'er's voice had risen eight octaves, sounding even more anxious than Li Hanxiao.

"He's gone down the mountain? That can't be. If he left, the three Nguyen brothers wouldn't have kept quiet..."

A thought flashed through Li Hanxiao's mind: had Wu Song gone down the mountain?

However, Li Hanxiao immediately dismissed this idea. After all, it might be possible for Wu Song to sneak down the mountain in other places, but Liangshan Marsh was a vast expanse of water, spanning eight hundred li, and Wu Song was ill, making it impossible for him to swim across.

If one wants to cross the lake, one must take a boat, but all the boats are currently controlled by the three Ruan brothers' water fortress. If Wu Song wants to take a boat, he must pass by the three of them.

However, the three Ruan brothers obviously did not inform Li Hanxiao about this.

That means there's a high probability that Wu Song is still on the mountain.

"Don't rush, could it be a temporary departure, to use the restroom? Or perhaps for a walk?"

Li Hanxiao calmed down first. After all, Wu Song had been protected too well these days, and had basically been recuperating, sleeping and eating. If it were Li Hanxiao himself, he would also want to go out for a walk.

"What's going on here?"

Just then, Instructor Zhang heard the commotion and came over to see what was going on.

"Instructor Zhang, have you ever met Brother Wu Song?"

Li Han asked with a smile.

Instructor Zhang calmly pointed to the back mountain and said, "He asked me how to get to the back mountain today, saying he wanted to go and take a look, to hunt some wild animals. He must have gone to the back mountain."

"Go find him quickly! There are many wild beasts in the back mountains!"

Li Hanxiao knew something was wrong as soon as he heard that!

Liangshan Marsh is not only a vast body of water, but its central land area also stretches for nearly a hundred miles, including not only mountains but also extensive marshes and plains.

The vast back mountains of Liangshan are home to many animals. Although Wu Song has the ability to fight tigers, he is still ill and it is nighttime, a time when wild animals like to come out. Who knows if Wu Song will get into trouble?

"what?!"

Upon hearing this news, Jin'er screamed, covered her mouth, and her face turned deathly pale.

Li Hanxiao whistled, summoning his hounds and gathering his men to search for Wu Song in the mountains.

Li Han smiled and looked at everyone. The ones most familiar with the back of Liangshan were the original leaders of Liangshan!

"Song Wan! Du Qian! Where are they?"

Li Han laughed and shouted.

"here!"

"Cloud-Piercing Vajra" Song Wan and "Touching the Sky" Du Qian immediately ran over.

"Let me ask you, what kind of wild animals live in the back mountains? Are there any ferocious beasts?"

Song Wan and Du Qian exchanged a glance and slowly said, "Chief, we were outnumbered before, and we only knew that there were wild animals in the back mountains, but we didn't know exactly what kind. We just surrounded the area with wooden fortifications to prevent them from being attacked by wild animals. As for what kind of wild animals are inside, we dare not say we know..."

What ferocious beasts have you seen in the back mountains?

Li Hanxiao continued to press for answers.

"There were wild boars, lynxes, and I even saw a leopard."

As Song Wan spoke, Li Han smiled and pondered. Wu Song could handle the wild boar, but the lynx and lynx were too small to pose much of a threat to him.

The leopard is a relatively troublesome thing, but even though Wu Song is sick now, as long as there aren't two leopards, Wu Song should be able to fight one leopard alone without being defeated.

"Hmm... but I think I heard a tiger roar in the back mountain... I wonder if there really is a tiger... after all, I've never seen one with my own eyes..."

Du Qian said hesitantly.

"A tiger's roar?!"

Li Hanxiao never expected that there was a possibility of tigers roaming the back mountains of Liangshan!

This is bad news! Wu Song has encountered a tiger, and his chances of survival are slim!

"Ten men per team, follow me into the mountains to search for Brother Wu Song!"

Li Hanxiao knew that if they delayed any longer, it would be even harder to find him once it got completely dark. So he led his team into the mountains and dispersed the pack of dogs, since these dogs had a keen sense of smell and could help in the search for Wu Song.

Lin Chong, Si Xingfang, and Wang Yin, these experts, each led a team into the mountains, while Lü Fang, Guo Sheng, Ou Peng, and Deng Fei, who were slightly less skilled, went in pairs to search the mountains.

Li Hanxiao, wielding a three-pointed double-edged sword, chopped down all the plants blocking his path and quickly searched the back mountain.

After walking for about half an hour, a gust of wind suddenly rose from the woods and rushed towards them.

Li Hanxiao found it very strange; the forest was so dense that there was no wind at all, so where did such a strong wind come from?

It turns out that in this world, clouds are born from dragons and winds are born from tigers. As soon as Li Hanxiao hesitated, he heard a roar that almost echoed throughout the entire Liangshan Marsh.

The power of that sound was just like the heavy artillery that Li Hanxiao had heard on the battlefield. Except for the lack of a shockwave, the power was basically the same, making people feel their hair stand on end and their bodies feel uncomfortable!

It's a tiger's roar!

Li Hanxiao was absolutely certain.

He knew that the power of a tiger's roar lay in its ability to generate infrasound, which, when combined with sounds audible to humans, could produce an effect that temporarily impaired a person's senses.

Tigers' roars are loud enough to cause discomfort to people's ears and internal organs, and may even rupture eardrums and dislocate hoof bones. Therefore, tiger roars are considered to be tigers' secret weapon.

Judging from the noise, the tiger must be extremely angry; its roar is filled with fury!

Li Hanxiao ran over, ignoring the bushes blocking his way, letting the branches tear his clothes to shreds and leave his skin covered in red marks!

They hadn't run far when they saw Li Hanxiao arrive at a wide open area. It was a vast expanse of stone, with an underground spring in the very center.

On either side of the spring, a man and a tiger are facing off.

Beside the spring stood Wu Song, bare-handed, confronting the tiger.

You could see that his clothes were soaked with sweat, but his eyes revealed a look of longing!

That tiger was much bigger than the tigers Li Hanxiao had seen in zoos in his later years. It was practically the size of a minivan. Only a tiger of that size could be worthy of the title "Mountain King"!

What's even more surprising is that this tiger is entirely black and white; it's actually a rare white tiger!

"Brother Wu Song!"

Just as Li Hanxiao was about to throw the three-pointed double-edged sword in his hand to Wu Song, the white tiger moved!

The white tiger moved with extreme speed. It lowered its shoulders, pressed its paws slightly on the ground, and then leaped out.

The jumping ability of felines is beyond doubt. It leaped down from mid-air, heading straight for Wu Song's head, like a white cloud pressing down on the top of Wu Song's head.

Regardless of what other attack methods the white tiger might use, its sheer size alone could crush Wu Song into a pulp!

When Wu Song saw the tiger rushing towards him, he quickly dodged and used the "Jade Ring Step" to spin around and dodge behind the white tiger.

The white tiger missed its target, its two front paws leaving deep scratches on the stone, a sight that sent chills down one's spine.

Although Wu Song managed to dodge its pounce, the white tiger was very agile. Moreover, tigers are known for their difficulty in seeing people from behind. So, it placed its front paws on the ground, lifted its hips, and launched itself up like a martial arts master slashing with his sword from behind, then lunged at Wu Song again.

Wu Song immediately pushed off the ground with both feet, using the force of the push to retreat quickly. He then reached out and touched the ground, forcibly changing his direction of retreat and hiding to the side.

At this moment, Wu Song was quite close to the white tiger's head. He saw it clearly and, before the white tiger could raise its head, kicked it on the head.

"Ouch!"

The white tiger missed him and took another kick. Wu Song's kick wasn't a thousand pounds, but it was at least a hundred pounds. The white tiger roared in pain, but it was like a thunderclap in the sky, shaking the hillside.

The tiger's roar was earth-shattering. Wu Song was closest to it, and his eardrums throbbed with pain, and he felt dizzy. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the white tiger raised its iron-like tail and swept it towards Wu Song's crown.

"you dare!"

Li Hanxiao turned the three-pointed double-edged sword in his hand into a white light and threw it out. With a "whoosh", it cut off a piece of the white tiger's tail.

Wu Song, having recovered his senses, saw the tiger in pain and stepped aside to observe it closely.

Throughout the world, whenever a tiger tries to grab someone, it only takes one pounce, one flip, and one snipe; if it fails to grab them with these three moves, half of its anger will be gone.

The tiger, its tail injured, roared in pain and, enraged, pounced on Wu Song with a single leap.

Wu Song stepped back, luring Wu Song to exert his strength, and then jumped back ten steps to the left.

Wu Song was originally backed by a pine tree as thick as a bowl. When the white tiger crashed into it, the pine tree broke with a "crack," and the tiger was also knocked senseless.

The broken pine tree fell and hit the white tiger squarely on the back, causing it to fall flat on the ground with its two front paws on the ground. Although it tried to support itself, it was unable to move because of the weight of the tree.

"Hey!"

Wu Song seized the opportunity, leaped onto the white tiger's back, grabbed its head by the scruff of its neck, and slammed it down, then began to smash it with his fists.

The white tiger struggled desperately but couldn't move. First, it was pinned down by the pine tree; second, Wu Song had used all his strength to hold it down, and he wouldn't loosen his grip even a little; third, it had been hit by half a pine tree and was already injured. At this moment, it was truly a "tiger fallen into the plains".

Wu Song used his fists and feet to strike the white tiger's face and head, causing the tiger to scream and roar in pain. The tiger kept scratching forward with its two front paws, as if trying to pull itself out of the place, but it was no use. Instead, it dug up two piles of yellow mud in front of it and threw it into a small pit.

Li Hanxiao picked up the three-pointed double-edged sword, moved closer, and was about to strike the tiger's head when Wu Song stopped him!

Seeing that the tiger was almost out of strength, Wu Song broke off a thick pine branch and shoved it into the tiger's mouth. With his other hand, he pressed the tiger's head straight into the mud pit.

Wu Song gripped the tiger skin tightly with his left hand, and with his right fist, as big as an iron hammer, he used all his strength to strike the tiger's head. Every punch landed squarely, breaking through flesh and bone. He was incredibly powerful, each punch faster and fiercer than the last. At first, the tiger struggled fiercely, but after fifty or seventy punches, blood flew from the tiger's eyes, mouth, nose, and ears. It was bleeding from all seven orifices and on the verge of death.

Li Hanxiao already knew that Wu Song was powerful enough to fight a tiger, but he never expected that Wu Song could be so brave even while ill. He used all his usual strength and martial arts skills to fight the tiger with his bare hands, and the white tiger was like a cloth bag being blocked, gradually becoming still.

At this moment, the Liangshan heroes also arrived at the scene. Upon hearing the tiger's roar, who could not know their location?

Sure enough, the pine forest was filled with a bloody storm, and the scattered hairs fell on the mountainside. Up close, it seemed to have the power of a thousand pounds, but from afar, its majestic aura was subdued.

Now his body lies scattered on the wild grass, his mottled spots gone; his eyes are tightly closed, no light shines; the white tiger has lost his life on the hillside!

None of the people had ever seen anyone kill a tiger with their bare hands. They had only heard of Bian Zhuangzi stabbing a tiger and Li Cunxiao fighting a tiger to save his father in ancient times. They never expected that Wu Song would also have such a feat.

"Wu Erlang, you are truly a celestial being!"

Looking at the scene before him, Wen Huanzhang couldn't help but sigh.

Seeing that he had finally killed the white tiger, Wu Song, fearing it might not be dead, grabbed a tree trunk and smashed it on his head again. Only after hearing the sound of bones cracking did he feel relieved. He jumped off the white tiger and laughed, saying, "Brother Li, this tiger skin is perfect for making a fur coat for my sister-in-law."

Li Hanxiao quickly grasped Wu Song's hands and examined them carefully.

"Brother Wu Song, are you injured? What fur coat? A thousand tigers, ten thousand tigers, can't take down one Wu Erlang!"

Seeing Li Hanxiao's red eyes, Wu Song couldn't help but laugh. However, due to exhaustion from fighting the tiger, he collapsed into Li Hanxiao's arms.

"Brother! Brother!"

Li Hanxiao was almost scared to death, but when he found out that Wu Song had fainted from exhaustion, he was relieved. He quickly told Lü Fang and Guo Sheng to carry Wu Song back and ask a doctor to come and treat him.

At this moment, Wen Huanzhang walked over to the white tiger and examined it carefully.

"Auspicious omen, auspicious omen indeed!"

The White Tiger, one of the Four Symbols of Heaven in ancient Chinese mythology, is a god of the West. Later, it was worshipped by Taoism and together with the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, they are known as the Four Gods of the Four Directions.

The ancients believed that the white tiger was an auspicious omen. The Yuan Shen Qi states: "When the virtue of a king extends to birds and beasts, the white tiger will move."

During the Han Dynasty, the Hetu Kuodi Xiang recorded: "When a sage king rises in response to the appointed time, a white tiger roars at dawn, and thunder rumbles in the four fields."

The Ba people also revered the white tiger as a god of war, elevating it to the status of a martial deity, fully reflecting their martial spirit. Therefore, the Ba people's white tiger worship was in fact a form of martial god worship.

The Kuo Di Xiang states: "When a sage king arises in response to the appointed time, a white tiger roars at dawn, and thunder resounds across the four fields."

In ancient times, the most important thing was to have a legitimate reason for being. The appearance of a white tiger in Liangshan Marsh was undoubtedly a very good way to create momentum for Li Hanxiao.

Wen Huanzhang could have started from here and portrayed Li Hanxiao as a "chosen one".

Just like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang hiding a book in a fish's belly and the fox's cry over a bonfire before their uprising, and like Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, slaying a white snake to start his rebellion, it all follows the same principle.

Moreover, the story of Wu Song killing a tiger with his bare hands will surely be passed down as a legend in the future.

"My lord, the white tiger has appeared in Liangshan! This is an auspicious sign from heaven, indicating that our great undertaking will be accomplished!"