Hearing Jiao Yulang's horrified words, Qi Jingzhi quickly explained to his grandfather: "That senior just looks vicious. He serves as a servant under the Mountain God, guarding the forest. He is half a ghost, not an evil ghost."
As he spoke, he put most of the vellus hair into old man Qi's hand: "Senior has already nodded. Grandpa, if you light the vellus hair, you can still be protected by it. It already knows the location of our house. If it comes to visit, Grandpa will treat it as a guest." Relatives will just entertain you."
Old man Qi was familiar with his grandson's temperament, so he immediately believed it and said hurriedly: "There are too many. You always go into the mountains, so you should bring more. Just leave two or three for grandpa."
Qi Jingzhi immediately shook his head: "I don't need so much at one time. Grandpa will just keep it for me first."
After hearing this, Old Man Qi felt that it made sense, so he gave up.
While the three of them were talking, the whole mountain village gradually became noisy with people shouting and dogs barking, and soon many villagers watching the excitement appeared on the mountain road.
The villagers, who had lowered their heads but didn't look up, rushed forward. When they saw the tiger skin, they couldn't help but exclaimed and made noises. They walked towards the county town surrounded by the Qi family's grandparents.
Along the way, people kept coming after hearing the news, and several big families in the village even drove their pigs and sheep to reward him.
The crowd covered Qi Jingzhi with pieces of red flowers and put him on a tall and strong mule. They beat gongs and drums and blasted firecrackers. After a long noisy delay, they rushed towards the county seat in a mighty manner.
The county town had already received the news, and the west city gate was crowded with people, even more furious than the day Lu Ao was taken away.
It was rare for the gatekeepers to come out so neatly. They all lit up torches and divided into two lines at the city gate, maintaining order with difficulty.
On the street, the people in the county supported the old and the young, stretching their necks one after another, all wanting to see the heroic figure of the tiger hunter.
Unexpectedly, the first person who came in through the city gate was not a tiger-fighting hero, but two people who sounded gongs to clear the way, followed by a large door panel carried by four people.
A huge tiger skin was placed squarely on the top of the door panel, with the ferocious tiger's head in front and its eyes slightly closed, as if it was just taking a nap.
This huge tiger skin was like a colorful brocade quilt, covering the tiger bed tightly. Four tiger legs and a tiger tail could not be accommodated. They drooped along the edge of the tiger bed, almost to the ground.
Seeing this scene, the noisy people on the street suddenly fell silent. Apart from the sound of gongs, there was only a continuous sound of breathing, as if a gust of wind was blowing on the ground.
Behind the tiger bed is a healthy mule surrounded by people. Sitting on the mule's back is a young man with upright eyebrows and bright eyes.
The quiet crowd suddenly became restless, and there were voices of discussion, but most of them didn't believe it.
"My dear, how can you kill such a majestic tiger at such a young age?"
"Didn't you say that the evil barrier on Nangang has been burned to ashes? Why did it pop up again?"
"Do you believe this? Look at the large burn on the back of this tiger skin! It's obvious that he wasn't burned to death in the first place and ran away with the injury!"
"Then you can't be wrong! This little brother is lucky enough to get such a big contribution for free. The reward from the big families in the county was up to one hundred taels, right?"
Wan Du rushed back to the county to report the news, and rushed to the city gate to greet him. He was following Qi Jingzhi at this time.
Hearing the comments around him, he quickly looked up and saw the young man on the mule's back looking calm, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, he was the one who pushed for this. If it went wrong and angered this evil star, it would not be fun.
With this thought in his mind, Wan Dutou immediately rushed to the front of the team, raised his hand to stop the team, and raised his voice: "Dear elders, I believe everyone knows me, and those who don't know me should know me. Wan Dutou. I guarantee with my life here that this tiger was indeed killed by Brother Qi!"
He said, and gave a fist to the young man on the back of the mule: "Today Wan went to the mountain village for business, and he happened to meet Brother Qi coming out of the mountain covered in blood and wearing a tiger skin. Several of my brothers saw it with their own eyes. All the young and old men in Shanqian Village can also testify!"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the team loudly echoed.
Wan Dou raised his head and pressed his hands down, and then said: "This beast narrowly escaped from the hands of Mr. Dong, Wuyun Division of the Demon Suppressing Academy, and secretly hid in Xiaosong Mountain to recuperate. If he hadn't been killed by Brother Qi, he would have died in the future. It’s about to come out, and I don’t know how many lives will be lost! Everyone, tell me, is Brother Qi a hero and a good man?”
Hearing what he said, most of the suspicions of the onlookers immediately disappeared. When they looked at Qi Jing again, their perceptions were completely different.
I heard someone shouting loudly: "Since Wandutou is the guarantee, why should we not believe it? Although Qi Xiaoxiong is young, he really does a good job!"
"What a young man who can defeat tigers, it's really impressive! We have such a good man in Songling County. From now on, we no longer need to be afraid of jackals, tigers and leopards when we go out!"
"No, whoever has passed through Nangang these days is not worried? Now he is completely relieved!"
For a time, the streets were filled with cheers and cheers.
Seeing this, Mandu waved his hand with satisfaction, and the long snake-like team moved forward again, but much slower than before, because the onlookers rushed up to the middle of the street, all wanting to get a closer look at the young man on the back of the mule.
Those in the front row who were closest to him finally saw clearly the traces of blood on the young man's body, and their faces couldn't help but add a bit of awe.
Mando turned around and saw that under the firelight, the young man still had clear eyes and a calm expression, as if the previous doubts and the current compliments had nothing to do with him.
Jiao Yulang raised his head and said with a smile: "Young man is a tiger general! My brother's nickname is much more prestigious than my little brother's Flying Rat!"
Qi Jingzhi was too lazy to pay attention to him, and his thoughts were far away from him: "Originally, in order to completely settle Chen Er's matter and avoid causing trouble to Grandpa, I just agreed to Wan Dutou, but I didn't expect that the quarrel would be so big. The two of them The demon boy escaped easily, but the tiger king behind him killed many of his men and even damaged a so-called flower dress, so he will definitely not give up."
"Originally, the tiger spirit is dead, and most of the demonic references to people are no longer effective. The tiger master doesn't know my name, so he will only go to Xiaosong Mountain to seek bad luck from his predecessors. But now that my reputation has spread, sooner or later he will fall into his ears. If you don’t, you will bring trouble to me. Alas, if you don’t pay attention, you will be in trouble!”
"But if we don't agree to Wan Dutou's request, neither of us can really feel at ease. Chen Er's affairs are always hanging over our heads, and there will be endless troubles. We can't kill all the officials present, right?"
"It's useless to regret now. It's better to go to the Demon Commander in the county town and tell the truth about Tiger Lord. This is the matter of the Demon Suppression Academy. How can I be allowed to carry it alone with my small body? "
While the young man was thinking a lot, the team was approaching the county government office.
A minor official stood guard at the gate of the yamen and said loudly with a smile on his face: "Wandutou, the county magistrate has known about the righteous people of this county to eliminate the tiger problem, and specially held a banquet in the flower hall to entertain the grandsons of the Qi family. You and the brothers all have rewards, but it’s getting late now, so we’d better let everyone disperse first to avoid any trouble.”
Wan Dutou immediately responded, and after giving instructions to his men, he led the Qi family's grandson and Jiao Yulang to the back hall of the county government office.
When the clerk saw it, his smile faded, but he didn't say anything.
The group of people soon arrived at the flower hall in the back hall and saw that a sumptuous table of banquets had been placed in the hall. Magistrate Songling, dressed in casual clothes, stood in front of the hall to greet them early.
There were two companions beside the magistrate, one was Master Meng whom he had met not long ago, and the other was a tall, thin, middle-aged man with slightly dark complexion, whom Qi Jingzhi did not recognize.
Old man Qi on the side suddenly grabbed his grandson's arm and whispered: "Don't be stupid later!"
At the same time, Wan Dutou had already rushed forward to greet him: "I have met the county magistrate and Dian Shi in my humble position! Master Meng is in front of you, so Wan is polite!"
The leader, Songling County Magistrate, was about forty years old. He was fair, fat, and very kind-faced. He was not wearing official uniform, so he looked more like a wealthy businessman.
He nodded towards Mandu, smiled kindly and said, "Since you are here, please stay with me."
Wandutou was overjoyed when he heard this and quickly introduced him to everyone.
The county magistrate's surname is Xiong and his given name is Taifeng.
Dian Shi's surname is Hou and his given name is Changqi.
Because of Grandpa's instructions and the presence of Master Meng, Qi Jingzhi just looked at Hou Dianshi expressionlessly, then looked away without having an attack on the spot.
Hou Dianshi seemed to have a good face, and he also turned a blind eye to the young man's indifference.
Originally, the descendants of the Qi family were all common people and should kneel before officials. Magistrate Xiong knew the inside story of the tiger spirit and did not dare to make excuses at all. The smile on his face was as warm as the spring breeze. , please take your seat quickly!"
After saying that, the county magistrate came forward with great enthusiasm, held Old Man Qi's arm and let him into the hall. He even said something "old man" in his mouth, and he couldn't help but invite Old Man Qi to take the seat of honor.
Then, Magistrate Xiong arranged for Meng Fuzi, Qi Jingzhi and Jiao Yulang to sit around the right side of Old Man Qi, while he, Hou Dianshi and Wan Dutou sat on the left side of Old Man Qi.
After a table of people were seated, several government servants had already brought in the tiger bed, with a tiger head facing everyone.
Just when Wan Dutou was about to ask the two gentlemen to take a look, he saw Magistrate Xiong’s slightly plump body suddenly bounced up from his seat, with a look of horror on his face that could not be concealed: “Hurry up and take it out! It’s lying here. , How can I afford to eat?"
