55: Chapter 55 Golden Rice

The young man's arrow shifted Lu Hu's attention from educating Tiger Brother to the arrow itself.

Tiger Brother was also rescued from his suffering; seeing Lu Hu observing the arrow, the young man realized this was a good opportunity to escape.

Giving Tiger Brother a look, the young man prepared to quietly flee.

"Roar!"

Tiger Brother shook his head. His little brother's arrow just now had clearly misunderstood his relationship with his big brother. Tiger Brother shot back a look, then walked behind Lu Hu with a depressed and sorrowful expression.

Since childhood, his evil big brother had always bullied him. He and Tiger Sister lived a life of misery under their big brother's clutches.

His childhood experiences were deeply etched into his memory, causing him to subconsciously flee after recognizing his big brother.

But after getting beaten, he also realized that today was different from the past.

His big brother had claws, and so did he. His big brother could use palm strikes, and so could he.

Big brother was strong, and he was strong!

My claws are no less sharp!

Why couldn't he resist?

The result...

Why?!

When he was weak as a cub, he could still occasionally resist successfully, sneak an attack on his big brother, or escape his pursuit!

Now that he had become so strong, why was he even worse off than when he was a cub?

He couldn't escape at all, and he couldn't resist at all!

Why on earth was this?!

"Uh..."

Seeing Tiger Brother's actions, the young man was stunned. So Tiger Brother actually knew this tiger!

Family? An elder?

It must be. Otherwise, Tiger Brother wouldn't have stayed without running even though he couldn't win the fight.

The young man couldn't help but feel lucky. It was a good thing that arrow was poorly made; if he had actually injured Tiger Brother's elder, there would have been a rift in his relationship with Tiger Brother.

The young man did not approach the two tigers. After all, tigers were fierce beasts. He believed Tiger Brother wouldn't hurt him, but he couldn't be sure about the other tiger.

"Roar~" (Go prepare some food for me.)

At this moment, Lu Hu unceremoniously ordered Tiger Brother.

"Roar~"

Tiger Brother nodded. He didn't move, but instead let out a roar where he stood.

'Has this kid not been taught enough?'

Lu Hu was puzzled, but after a while, when a wolf's howl echoed from the forest, Lu Hu understood. Tiger Brother had tamed a Wolf Pack and was having them hunt for him.

When tired, he had a comfortable large hammock to sleep in; when bored, he had hairball toys for entertainment; when hungry, the Wolf Pack caught prey for him.

Good grief, you don't do a damn thing all day but wander around, being waited on hand and foot. How can your life be so comfortable?

This King still has to work hard at farming every day!

How infuriating!

"Roar!" (You go hunt too. I want to see a tender young deer tonight.)

Lu Hu said. He wanted to eat prey caught by his younger brother today.

After sending Tiger Brother off to hunt, Lu Hu looked at the young man.

"Roar~" (Come here!)

"You're calling me over?"

The young man hesitated. This tiger seemed even more intelligent than Tiger Brother, so it should be easy to get along with. Taking a deep breath, the young man stepped forward and looked at Lu Hu restrainedly.

Up close, the young man discovered that this tiger had a round head, bright fur, and looked soft—it was truly beautiful. Most importantly, this tiger emitted a unique aura that refreshed one's spirit and invigorated their blood and qi.

It was magical, as if he had taken a powerful tonic, leaving him in a state of excitement.

"Roar~" (What is this thing?)

Lu Hu picked up the arrow with the broken tip and wrote to ask what kind of arrow it was. He wrote in kun script; these characters became increasingly useful as his cultivation progressed, with every stroke containing a profound artistic conception.

"What magical characters."

It was a rare thing for a tiger to be able to write, but what shocked the young man even more was that he could actually understand the meaning of the characters. He had clearly never seen this kind of writing before. What kind of world had he transmigrated into?

He had thought Tiger Brother was just a bit smart and slightly larger, but now, this tiger's performance exceeded his range of understanding...

The young man frowned. The appearance of this tiger made him realize that his current intelligence was incorrect. Should he still try to overthrow the dynasty?

"Awoo~~" (Hurry up and tell me what this is!)

Lu Hu urged, snapping the arrow shaft. The inside was hollow and incredibly smooth. This arrow was made from the stalk of some plant. It was gold—not the yellow of ripe wheat, but a shimmering, metallic gold. A plant stalk... he seemed to have discovered the purpose of this trip.

"A stalk of golden rice."

The young man said. It was also his first time seeing golden rice, but his predecessor's memories contained this crop; a few years ago, villagers in his village were still planting it.

This kind of rice was precious, and the cultivation process was strict. Ripe golden rice was for the exclusive use of high-ranking officials and nobles, and the seeds were distributed by the government.

After planting the golden rice, villagers had to keep detailed records of its size, quantity, and leaves.

Once ripe, everything—from the leaves to the stalks—had to be handed over. Villagers were not allowed to keep any for themselves, and the government would issue rewards based on the harvest.

However, as the Pi Kingdom's taxes grew heavier and the grain tax per mu exceeded the actual yield, the villagers stopped farming. His predecessor hadn't seen precious things like golden rice since then.

The young man picked up the broken golden rice stalk. This thing, when fitted with an arrowhead, could be used as an arrow shaft; no wonder the government strictly controlled golden rice.

He glanced again at the broken arrowhead on the ground. The outer layer was iron plating, but the inside was filled with dirt. Cutting corners like this—the money must have been embezzled from the military budget.

It's truly a miracle that the Pi Kingdom can still hold onto its territory!

"Good stuff."

The young man's eyes lit up. A golden rice stalk was still a rice stalk—hollow and very smooth inside. The stalks were also large and had high toughness; they could probably be used as gun barrels.

Since it could be grown, the government must have accumulated a large amount of golden rice stalks.

Lu Hu took the quiver from the young man's back; over a dozen arrows were all made from golden rice stalks.

Could that golden rice be the golden crystal rice?

"Roar~"

At this moment, Tiger Brother returned with his head held high. Behind him was the Wolf Pack; thirteen wolves were working together to drag a wild boar and a small deer.

At the same time, there was a black bear draped in red cloth following behind Tiger Brother, alertly scanning the surroundings like a bodyguard.

Tiger Brother gave Lu Hu a smug look. So what if he couldn't win in a fight? Could you tame a Wolf Pack? Do you have a bear as a lackey?

"I do!"

"Not only that, I even have a magical two-legged lackey!"

"My dear big brother, surely you aren't still eating raw meat?"

Tiger Brother ran to the young man's side and pointed at the small deer and the wild boar.

"Roar~" (Little brother, cook it up fragrant for me. Make him drool with envy!)

"Tiger Brother, I understand!"

The young man gave an OK gesture, picked up his kitchen knife again, and skillfully began skinning the deer.

Meanwhile, Tiger Brother paraded the black bear and the Wolf Pack back and forth in front of Lu Hu.

Lu Hu looked up and stared at him coldly. Tiger Brother's body stiffened, and he waved a paw, dismissing his lackeys.

Looking at the black bear wearing what looked like a cassock, Lu Hu's gaze fell back onto the young man processing the ingredients.

A black bear in a cassock—this was clearly the man's twisted sense of humor.

One thousand tons of golden crystal rice—even if he just wanted seeds to plant himself, it would be a significant amount.

Could he get this guy to handle it?

After a long while, once the wild boar and small deer were roasted, Lu Hu asked about the young man's situation while he ate.

The young man's surname was Li, his given name was Jiao, and his courtesy name was Tetler.

A villager from Kaoshan Village, he encountered Tiger Brother three months ago and survived his claws by using a Tiger-as-Father Recognition technique.

The quick-witted Li Jiao met Tiger Brother, whose intelligence was just beginning to develop. With a log cabin den, a hammock nest, taming the Wolf Pack, and the temptation of gourmet food, the favorability rating soared.

With Tiger Brother as his backer, Li Jiao roamed the mountains without hindrance, digging up ginseng to sell for money.

Perhaps the ginseng money made people too envious; when the yamen soldiers collected taxes, they even included taxes for Li Jiao's parents, who had been dead for three years!

Even after paying all his money, it wasn't enough, and they wanted to seize Li Jiao for corvée labor.

Li Jiao lost his temper and beat up the soldiers, and was then pursued into the mountains.

"This corrupt nation deserves to be destroyed!"

Li Jiao took a huge gulp of water as if it were wine. His blood boiled with righteous indignation.

"Tiger Brother, join me! Let's overthrow this dynasty, overthrow this world!"

"Roar?"

"When the time comes, you'll be the Tiger God, Tiger Brother! Revered by ten thousand tigers, your name will be passed down for eternity! Countless beautiful tigresses will fall for you!"

"Roar!" (Well said, little brother! I'll join you!)

Tiger Brother roared excitedly, putting an arm around Li Jiao's shoulder. His eyes grew misty as he unconsciously fantasized about that future.

"Tiger Brother! My dear brother!"

"Roar!" (Little brother, my dear brother!)

Li Jiao and Tiger Brother embraced emotionally, their passion infecting the surroundings.

Lu Hu watched calmly. Tiger Brother's acting was too heavy-handed. It seemed Li Jiao and Tiger Brother had planned this many times before, and now they were trying to set their sights on him.

Sure enough, after Li Jiao and Tiger Brother had both worked up the atmosphere, they turned their heads together to look at Lu Hu.

"Big Brother Tiger! Your great talent amazes heaven and earth; it shouldn't be buried in these mountains. Why not come with me and establish..."

"Roar~~" (Get lost.)

Lu Hu's icy roar extinguished Li Jiao and Tiger Brother's passion. The rejection was so decisive that the man and the tiger immediately gave up any thought of further persuasion.

Disappointment flashed in their eyes as they silently ate their food, speaking no more.

After a while, Lu Hu said:

"Do something for this King, and this King can give you some help in return!"

"Please speak, Great King!"

Li Jiao's spirit was refreshed, his eyes shining. It looked like there was hope for recruiting this Great King Tiger into his startup team!

"Get this King one ton of golden rice seeds."

"Consider it done!"

Li Jiao immediately agreed and said excitedly:

"That damned County Magistrate raises taxes every year; the gold, silver, money, and grain in the warehouse are piled high as mountains.

If the Great King captures the county seat, not only will you rescue the people and gain boundless merit, but there will be plenty of golden rice as well!"

Tiger Brother also said expectantly:

"Roar!" (Big brother, let's set off right now! Kill the County Magistrate, open the warehouse, and rescue the people!)

Wait, you're a tiger. Why are you rescuing humans?

Lu Hu slapped his forehead. This kid had been completely dazed by Li Jiao's smooth talk.

He's even helping an outsider scheme against his own big brother!

Whatever, let's go. Get the golden rice sooner and go home sooner.

...