Chapter 192: The Stars and the Dawn
Four days later, Jiang Minghan finally set off. He said goodbye to his hometown, his playmates, and the young and old from his fellow villagers, and set off with only a bag on his back.

He only had a little over sixty copper coins on him. He didn’t know how long this amount of money could last, but he would try to last as long as he could.

The reason why Jiang Minghan set out four days later was because he had not made up his mind in the previous three days.

Although he swore a solemn oath, Jiang Minghan was still a mortal after all, and was naturally hesitant as it was his first time to do such a big thing.

What finally made him decide to leave his hometown was the mental torture he had experienced over the past three days.

As long as he stayed in his hometown, memories of him and Wang Mengxian were everywhere. After all, they were childhood sweethearts who had grown up together, and everywhere was full of traces of their past playtimes.

It was precisely because he could not bear the feeling of being reminded of his hometown and feeling heartbroken when seeing things that Jiang Minghan decided to leave his hometown. Even if he would never return, he was unwilling to stay in this sad place.

Jiang Minghan left Qinzhou Prefecture and headed west. A month later, he crossed Liangjie Mountain. The journey was smooth and easy, but Jiang Minghan only had a dozen of the more than sixty copper coins left.

After passing Liangjie Mountain, the road becomes difficult to travel on. It is full of difficult and dangerous places, and the wilderness is full of mountains and wilderness.

Sometimes they would encounter poisonous snakes and ferocious beasts. Jiang Minghan had changed his cloth shoes into straw sandals, and his feet were covered with calluses and new blisters.

It was getting late that day. Jiang Minghan looked at the dark mountains and decided to spend the night there and not travel any further at night.

So he took advantage of the moonlight, found some dry firewood in the dark forest, piled it up and started a fire.

But at this moment, a strong wind suddenly blew in the forest, and the next moment a huge white-browed tiger with hanging eyes jumped out of the forest with a roar.

“Ah!” Jiang Minghan was shocked and screamed and stepped back, but the big beast opened its bloody mouth, leaped up and pounced towards Jiang Minghan.

Seeing that Jiang Minghan was about to die, there was a long “swoosh” sound, and the big beast screamed in an instant, and then fell to the ground with a “bang”.

The huge tiger head fell between Jiang Minghan’s spread legs. A pair of ferocious tiger eyes stared straight at Jiang Minghan, blood flowed from its gaping mouth, and a sharp sword pierced its head.

Jiang Minghan looked up in shock, and saw a tall hunter wearing a felt hat walking out from the night.

“Hahaha, little brother, are you hurt?” The hunter came to Jiang Minghan, stretched out his hand and said with a smile.

When Jiang Minghan saw the kind middle-aged hunter in front of him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to grab the hunter’s hand.

Suddenly, a huge force came and Jiang Minghan was lifted up by the hunter.

“Brother, you are so strong!” Jiang Minghan exclaimed.

“Hahaha.” The hunter laughed and said, “How dare you go up the mountain to hunt tigers in the middle of the night without any strength?”

After saying that, Liehu glanced at the tiger on the ground, then turned around, took out a tinder, and lit the pile of dry firewood prepared by Jiang Minghan.

The flames rising in the night made people feel extremely safe. The hunter invited Jiang Minghan to sit over, then took out some dry food and shared it with him.

“Thank you.” Jiang Minghan took the dry food and thanked him.

The hunter smiled and asked, “Looking at your appearance, you are less than seventeen years old, right?”

Jiang Minghan said, “I’m just sixteen this year.”

“Oh, where are you from, little brother?” the hunter asked again.

Jiang Minghan said: “I am from Qinzhou Prefecture.”

“Qinzhou Prefecture? It’s more than a thousand miles away from here. Did you just walk here on foot?” the hunter asked in surprise.

Jiang Minghan nodded, smiled innocently on his dark face, and said, “It took me a month to get here. If it weren’t for my elder brother saving my life, I would have died here.”

The hunter said, “The road is not easy to travel after you pass Liangjie Mountain. East of Liangjie Mountain is the old territory of the Tang Dynasty. The government is clean and the people live and work in peace. There are few bandits and wild beasts.”

Hearing this, Jiang Minghan asked, “Brother, I heard that Liangjie Mountain is no longer the border of the Tang Dynasty, is that right?”

The hunter laughed and said, “That’s old news. The Tang emperor is now at the peak of his military power. The 5,000-li territory west of the Two Realm Mountains has already been taken over by the Tang.”

“However, after passing Liangjie Mountain, we will officially enter the territory of Xiniu Hezhou.” said the hunter.

Jiang Minghan nodded in understanding. The hunter then asked, “Where are you going, little brother? To visit relatives? Or to visit friends?”

Jiang Minghan said: “An old man asked me to return something to Xiniu Hezhou before he died. I promised him and made this trip.”

Hearing this, the hunter was immediately in awe and said, “Brother, you keep your promise, you are really like a chivalrous man in ancient times! Although I am a poor man, I also admire you for your character.”

After saying that, the hunter took a few bites of dry food and took out a sharp knife from his waist.

Jiang Minghan was shocked when he saw this scene, and his eyes were fixed on the hunter.

The hunter laughed when he saw his appearance and said, “Don’t be afraid, little brother. I am going to cut open the tiger and cut some meat to roast. I see that you are skinny and skinny, and look very pitiful at such a young age. You haven’t eaten meat for a long time, right?”

Jiang Minghan said: “My parents died early, and I have rarely eaten meat since I was a child.”

In the past, they had meat to eat every year because Wang Mengxian would bring some meat from home to his house every New Year. Jiang Minghan still felt a little sad when he thought about it.

This month’s journey has made him grow a lot, and he has never hated Wang Mengxian. Now Jiang Minghan has completely moved on and sincerely wishes Wang Mengxian happiness in his heart.

After an unknown amount of time, the hunter not only roasted the tiger meat for Jiang Minghan to eat, but also peeled off the tiger skin completely.

After all, he was an old hunter. The arrow went through the tiger’s eye, which can be said to have preserved the integrity of the tiger’s skin to the greatest extent.

Jiang Minghan ate a lot of meat and only stopped when his stomach was bloated.

“Little brother, take a nap after you’ve eaten. I’ll take you down the mountain tomorrow.” The hunter said to Jiang Minghan.

After eating and drinking, Jiang Minghan did feel a little tired, so he spread some dry grass on the ground and then went to sleep with his bag as a pillow.

Early the next morning, Jiang Minghan was awakened by a fragrance. He opened his eyes suddenly and sat up, only to see a hunter cooking meat in a small pot beside the campfire.

Seeing Jiang Minghan wake up, the hunter immediately said: “Brother, come, I cooked a pot of meat soup, let’s go down the mountain after we finish eating.”

Jiang Minghan looked at the pot of tiger meat, smelled the fragrance from the pot, and quickly stood up and said, “I’m going to relieve myself first.”

“Haha, go ahead.” The hunter laughed heartily.

Not long after, Jiang Minghan drank a few bowls of meat soup and suddenly felt warm all over and full of strength.

The hunter then sent Jiang Minghan down the mountain. Before they parted, the hunter gave Jiang Minghan the tiger skin with the blood dried on it.

“Take this tiger skin with you. You can use it as a quilt at night. It’s enough to keep you warm.” said the hunter.

Jiang Minghan hurriedly declined, but the hunter insisted on letting him take the tiger skin. Jiang Minghan had no choice but to thank him repeatedly and accept the tiger skin.

Then the hunter handed him another bundle and said, “There are some tiger bones in it. Take them with you. If you have no food to eat in the future, crack the marrow and cook a pot of tiger bone soup. It can save your life. As for the remaining meat, it is not easy to carry. If it is not air-dried, it will easily rot. I won’t give it to you.” Jiang Minghan said quickly, “That’s enough. These are enough. Thank you, brother. May I ask your name?”

The hunter waved his hand and smiled, “It’s fate that we met by chance, little brother, I wish you a safe journey.”

After saying that, the hunter turned around and left. Jiang Minghan bowed to the hunter’s back, then turned around and continued on his way.

After walking for another month, Jiang Minghan arrived at Shepan Mountain. By this time, he had used up all the tiger bones and was starving to death.

Seeing the green mountains in front of me, I thought there must be some mountain fruits here, so I wanted to go into the mountains to pick some fruits.

But after taking a few steps, he saw a group of people appearing in front of him, each holding a big knife, blocking Jiang Minghan from the front and back like ferocious monsters.

“I built this road and I planted these trees,” the big man in the lead was shouting.

But Jiang Minghan didn’t wait for him to finish, his face changed, and he bowed and said, “My lords, I have no money.”

Hearing this, the bandit leader’s face changed and he said angrily: “Now it’s not a matter of money, kill him for me.”

Jiang Minghan was shocked. He had encountered bandits before, but after searching him, other bandits let him go because they saw that he really had no money.

As for the sandalwood box, Jiang Minghan was very worried at first, but later he discovered that the sandalwood box seemed to only look real to him, and to others it was just a piece of rotten wood.

So the bandits in front thought he was a fool and did not make things too difficult for him.

But he had never seen a bandit who would start hacking people as soon as they met.

Seeing a large group of bandits rushing up with knives in hand, Jiang Minghan hurriedly shouted, “Wait a moment, my king.”

The bandit leader stopped the bandits and asked with a sneer, “Why? You have money now?”

Jiang Minghan said, “I really don’t have any money, but why did you want to chop me as soon as we met, my king?”

The bandit leader angrily asked, “Why? Because you offended me.”

Jiang Minghan asked, “How did I offend the king?”

The bandit leader said, “You interrupted me while I was shouting the command. Isn’t that an insult to my dignity?”

Jiang Minghan suddenly realized what was going on and immediately bowed and said, “Your Majesty, I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

The bandit leader said, “Is it enough to just say sorry? If saying sorry would be useful, what do I need a knife for?”

“Well, well, well.” Jiang Minghan thought quickly: “Then let’s start over?”

The bandit leader thought about it and nodded, “Okay.”

Jiang Minghan was overjoyed, and then the bandit leader shouted the command to rob again. After shouting, he let out a long sigh and said, “I feel relieved now.”

Then the bandit leader pointed at Jiang Minghan and said, “Search him to see if he has any silver.”

A group of bandits rushed up, pinned Jiang Minghan to the ground and started to search him without saying a word. In the end, they only found a tiger skin and the sandalwood box.

“My lord, he has no silver on him, but he has a piece of rotten wood and a tiger skin.” said a bandit.

The bandit leader was delighted: “Tiger skin? That’s a good thing.”

“My lord, do you want to see the rotten wood?” the bandit asked again.

The bandit leader waved his hand and said, “Take it back and show it to your mother. I don’t want to see it.”

“Hahaha.” The bandits laughed when they heard this.

Seeing that the bandit leader took the tiger skin, Jiang Minghan on the ground asked hurriedly: “My king, this tiger skin is for you. Can you let me go?”

The bandit leader glanced at Jiang Minghan, then waved his hand and said, “Guys, fight for me.”

“Ah?” Jiang Minghan was shocked. “My lord, since you have taken the tiger skin, why do you still want to fight?”

The bandit leader laughed and said, “The clothes you are wearing are obviously from the Central Plains. Are you from the Tang Dynasty?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Jiang Minghan nodded and said, “I am from the Tang Dynasty.”

The bandit leader grinned and said, “We are soldiers from a country destroyed by the Tang army. We became bandits because we didn’t obey the Tang court. Now that you have fallen into our hands, don’t expect to have a good life. Beat us.”

As they were talking, a group of bandits rushed forward and started punching and kicking Jiang Minghan. Jiang Minghan had no choice but to hold his head tightly with his hands and take the beating without saying a word.

However, at this moment, there was a whistling sound suddenly from the sky. The bandit leader looked up and his face changed drastically. He saw a dense rain of arrows falling from the sky.

“Oh no! Tang army!” the bandit leader shouted in shock.

‘咻咻咻’

‘Puff puff’

However, after a hail of arrows, all the bandits including the bandit leader were killed in the rain of arrows. Instead, Jiang Minghan, who was surrounded and beaten, was blocked by all the arrows because there were too many people beating him and the corpses were piled on him.

A moment later, a team of Tang troops led by a military school student came up the mountain, counted the bodies of the bandits, and found Jiang Minghan who was trapped underneath.

When Jiang Minghan saw Tang Jun, it was like meeting an old friend in a foreign land. He quickly bowed and introduced himself.

The military officer who was about to interrogate him immediately asked, “Are you from Qinzhou Prefecture?” when he heard his accent.

Jiang Minghan nodded repeatedly and said, “I am from Qinzhou Prefecture. Who are you, General?”

“I am also from Qinzhou Prefecture, a native of Longshang, Qinzhou Prefecture, haha.” The military school immediately became enthusiastic and asked Jiang Minghan why he was here. Jiang Minghan explained the whole story. After listening to him, the military school did not question him and said, “These bandits are rebels who are resisting the might of the Tang Dynasty. We were ordered to come here to wipe them out. I didn’t expect to meet fellow villagers here.”

Jiang Minghan was also filled with emotion. At this time, the tiger skin was sent to him. Jiang Minghan saw that the military academy had put the tiger skin away, so he did not say it was his.

The two fellow villagers chatted for a while, and then Jiang Minghan stood up to say goodbye. The military school took out three taels of silver from his armor and handed it to Jiang Minghan, saying, “Take this money, it will be useful on the road.”

Jiang Minghan quickly declined and said, “General, I don’t want the silver. Do you have any dry food? Just give me some.”

Hearing this, the military school officer saw that he looked thin, and without saying a word, he stuffed the silver into his hand, and asked someone to bring three naan bread to Jiang Minghan.

“If you continue to go west, the area within two thousand miles is now the territory of our Tang Army. If you have any difficulties, go directly to the Tang Army and they will help you.” The military school said with a smile.

Jiang Minghan was deeply moved and thanked him again and again. Then, after eating a little naan, he packed his bags again, picked up the naan as big as a pot lid, said goodbye to his fellow villagers, and continued to head west.

(End of this chapter)