It wasn't long since he parted with his family over the last bit of nasty business they had together, however, Lee Song was an upright man willing enough to rebuild himself from the ground up even after he left his father's inheritance to his squabbling greedy siblings.
Although he had served as a soldier, working in the Murim was not his ideal occupation. Nevertheless, it was the only way he knew to earn a living, apart from working in his father's business. Fortunately, he was single and had no dependents, so supporting himself was not a significant challenge. Despite his friends' frequent jokes about his solitary lifestyle, he was content with his situation, at least for the time being.
But as of late, the commission agency in Shuangliu was buzzing with escort requests from the small merchant caravans that pass through the southern part of Sichuan. One merchant, in particular, seemed to have put half of his fortune to hire escort warriors and vagabonds to hunt down the thing that was causing trouble in the region.
They called it the Yaoguai of Shuangliu, a creature from hell that crawls out of its den at night and attacks the passing caravans and helpless travelers before disappearing with whatever prey he can carry in the forest, that prey is usually human though.
While the people were saying that it might be a fierce tiger that moved from up north and attacked the people at night, most of the warriors thought it would be better for the hunters to take care of such a thing before that bounty came along. Once it did, the best local warriors of Shuangliu, Lee Song included, lined up for the bounty.
As the area right to the south of the city of Chengdu, where the large Murim powers like the Tang Clan reside, there was a lack of decent warriors in Shuangliu. In the commission agency of Shuangliu, there were only four First-rate martial artists, Lee Song included. This bounty gathered them all together.
There was a limit, however, on how many people could be hired. As their foe is just a single creature, the quantity wasn't as important as the quality, and only the four First-rate escort warriors were hired by the merchant along with a Hunter and five Second-rate escort warriors.
And so they hit the road on the day the caravan was organized to move.
As the caravan consisted of three wagons and four horses, two of the horse riders had to be at the front while two stayed at the rear. Naturally, the merchant gave the horses to the four First-rate Warriors and rode on the first carriage himself. Lee Song, along with his acquaintance First-rate Warrior, Bang Su, rode at the front and kept their senses focused on the road.
The caravan wasn't really carrying much so it was light and the carriages were unhindered by the wet riverlands of Shuangliu. Still, once Lee Song took a look inside one of the carriages earlier, he could see a large cut of meat peeking from one of the barrels as if whoever prepared this was outright inviting a beast.
Lee Song couldn't rest easy and had to retreat with his horse towards the merchant riding the first carriage.
"Merchant Wan!" Lee Song spoke with a slight nod.
"Warrior Lee, excuse my rudeness. I was focused somewhere else just now." Wan Jung, the merchant who hired the warriors, replied in a flustered manner.
"It's alright, sir." Lee Song felt that the man was quite distant and spacing out a lot despite the critical nature of the job.
With an easygoing attitude, Lee Song approached the merchant yet again.
"It was a bad loss, huh?" He asked in a know-it-all manner.
"Wha… what?" Merchant Wan turned to Lee Song with a puzzled face.
"Your last caravan, I mean. Must have been quite the loss for you to keep calculating everything in your head like that." Lee Song said.
The merchant's expressions didn't change and got slightly more solemn than what they already were.
"You think that's what I was doing? Worrying about my losses?" The merchant asked with obvious anger, "What? Do you think all merchants calculate their losses for every step we take? We're humans too, you know! We don't think with our money and mourn over it…"
"I'm… I apologize!" The warrior changed his attitude immediately, "That was insensitive. I didn't realize you were mourning."
"I… I am sorry." The merchant apologized as he returned to his wits, "I was just… my head isn't thinking straight. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that."
"It is fine." The warrior spoke in a reaffirming voice, "I'm sorry to intrude but who are you mourning?"
"My caravan partner… my brother…" The merchant spoke in a sad yet angry voice, "The monster… it grabbed him by the neck and I saw him… dragged away. I couldn't do a thing in the darkness. I couldn't even chase them in the trees. I couldn't bring anything for his wife and child."
"I understand. What happened to him is not right." Lee Song said, "We will hunt that thing whatever it may be. You will give your brother a proper burial."
As those words were exchanged, Lee Song rode back to the front beside warrior Bang Su.
"So?" Bang Su asked.
"It's a revenge mission. The beast killed his brother." Lee Song replied.
"That's why he's like that?" Bang Su looked back at the merchant who was still dazed in his thoughts then returned with his eyes to Lee Song, "You could have shaken him off for more money, you know! It is how business is done."
"It is not how business should be done." Lee Song replied dismissively.
Before the two could start diverting the subject of their talk, they spotted a man coming from the other side of the road.
"Warrior Lee, is that the hunter?" Bang Su asked.
The two checked out the man coming their way before nodding to each other.
"It is him." Lee Song said.
Bang Su rode ahead to meet the hunter hired by the merchant and as the two spoke to one another before the caravan arrived, they waited with heavy looks on their faces.
Once Lee Song and the rest arrived, the caravan all came to a halt.
"Warrior Lee, just ahead over that clearing, the beast seems to have done it again." Bang Su replied.
"Have you confirmed it?" Lee Song asked the hunter.
"I didn't get too close alone, just in case, but there are no Green Forest bandits lurking around these parts, so the only thing that can do that is definitely the beast." The hunter said.
This is the best confirmation on the Beast the group has got so far.
"Hunter Gan, lead the way, please." Lee Song said while
"Warrior Bang, Warrior Lee, it is best to be more cautious than this. I am smelling something fishy from the wagon over there."
"That's the point of the wagon…" Lee Song wanted to explain the situation to the hunter but Warrior Bang Su interrupted.
"And what is it to you, old man?! You guide us to the damn tiger and we slay it. Hurry up now." Bang Su said.
It was a worrying situation indeed but hunting the fierce beast needed at least such drastic measures.
"No matter what, the beast only attacks at night. We have time to prepare our traps and maybe make use of the lure the merchant brought." Lee Song had to sort out the situation between the agitated men based on what they knew.
"You're right." Bang Su replied and started to peek his head around just as they entered the area of the attack.
Just then, Merchant Wan started to look around the place as well with maddened eyes. He could recognize this distinct pattern of attacks as he saw it every night for the past two weeks in his nightmares.
"It is definitely it." The merchant said with a hardened expression.
"Look around the clearing! Don't get too close to the trees." Lee Song said as he jumped off his horse and instead of taking the sword on his side, he switched to a spear.
The same thing happened with most of the warriors as they preferred to have spears over swords while facing a fierce beast. Some were even readying their ranged weapons and positioning themselves in vantage points.
As for the first-rate warriors, they were suspecting that the beast wouldn't be in any close proximity to last night's attack site with all this blood splattered about. He must have eaten its fill and wouldn't show up for at least a few days but that would be the case if the thing was a tiger. Nobody saw the beast up close and survived anyway.
"Say, Old Gan. Do these look like tiger claw marks to you?" Bang Su asked while pointing at a flipped-over wagon.
"The claw marks are overall shorter and digging deeper into the wood than what a tiger's marks are supposed to. Moreover, Tiger claw marks vary in length from one another but these are almost the same length. That's why I don't think it's a Tiger."
"Something smaller?"
"Maybe."
"It would be easier to kill then." Bang Su said.
"But it would be faster than a tiger… even stealthier." The Hunter said.
Bang Su was revolted by the hunter's words and went to Lee Song instead.
"What do you think?" Bang Su asked.
"The horses mostly survived the beast." Lee Song said, "It is only after humans."
"Maybe its size doesn't help it." Bang Su said.
"And leave behind a big meaty horse? I know sense doesn't have to apply but why bother taking a few men and not a single horse?" Lee Song thought out loud, "And look how the carriages and the wagons are flipped over. It made sure to use them as an advantage."
"But can a small tiger or a leopard flip a wagon over?" Bang Su asked, "Can even a big tiger do it that easily?"
"Not sure." Lee Song replied, "It is quite bothersome."
"It is indeed." Bang Su agreed.
There were many contradictions in the puzzle, this would make it too chaotic to determine what they were up against.
To add more to the mystery, there was no way to track the beast's steps on the ground which would be a key factor in determining its origin. Part of the reason why people were calling the beast the Yaoguai of Shuangliu. It just appears and disappears like a ghost with no footprints to tell what it is.
Most hunters concluded that it can move on trees like most tigers can but most tigers don't bother hiding their tracks like that beast. They make their territory very known and lord over it with obvious audacity.
"Let's hurry and make a campfire. We'll spread the fire around evenly and make sure to post the guards right. We have to leave a gap in our defenses to lure it in and prepare an ambush." Lee Song started sharing the best strategy he could think of.
"It is like catching an assassin." Bang Su commented.
"Just pray it is as cunning as we think it is. We need to account for all possibilities too so let's prepare the traps."
The strategy relied on no such thing as luck but they would do anything to keep the fortune of heavens on their side during this hunt. They spread, put their traps together, and lowered their guard intentionally waiting for a night of long wait.
Wait they did but they weren't the only ones waiting, they weren't the only ones stalking. The beast—or the so-called tiger—they were all prepared for approached them quietly and could see the fire, smell the blood, and feel the motions of men acting around in an organized fashion.
The beast was up in the trees slowly observing and fully immersed in its senses for the hunt. They couldn't see what was coming but sure as hell the beast was already playing many scenarios on how to take on those foolish things with sharp metal sticks and pointy twigs.
It was stronger, faster, smarter, it could devour them all.
It… was seen.
"The h… HELP! TIGER!"
Once one of the patrolling second-rate warriors came out to secure the area west of the camp, he could see something monstrous looking at him.
Instinctively, he shouted and ran back while waving his torch towards the tiger in the woods. His screams attracted the attention of every warrior in the clearing and all their blades were pointed at the beast.