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Perhaps it was the bond between father and son. After hearing the cry of the Tiger Child, Liu Ming raised his head and seriously looked at the child.
He saw the Tiger Child's arms, legs, head, eyes, nose, and that mouth which resembled his own so closely. Overwhelmed with emotion, he rushed towards the child, murmuring, "My child! This is my child! My child... he... he is not a monster!"
"Of course, the Tiger Child is not a monster! He is your Son!" Sister Tiger said with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, staring motionlessly at Liu Ming, who was still in the iron cage. "Husband, take a good look at him; he is your Son."
"Take the Son home to see! Do you really think this court is a place for idle chatter?" The County Magistrate waved his hand, impatiently ordering the Yard Officers, "Open the cage! Really now, what’s all this fuss about? There are no monsters here in broad daylight. In my opinion, there are no monsters, but there is indeed one madman. My dear Wife, if your Husband is ill, find a doctor to treat him properly. Stop making such a ruckus about monsters; it only causes panic and trouble for me."
Upon hearing this, Sister Tiger hurriedly turned around with the child and bowed deeply to the County Magistrate. "Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!"
"No need for that. Quickly take your Husband and your child home. I only feel pity for you; having just given birth, you look pale. It's hard to watch you come out here because of your crazy Husband causing a scene. Hurry back home; everyone should go back!"
The Yard Officers opened the cage, but Liu Ming refused to come out no matter what. He kept mumbling that his Son was not a monster and that Sister Tiger was the monster. If he went back with Sister Tiger, she would surely make him eat something to restore his health. The County Magistrate would not allow this; he directly ordered the Yard Officers to use their clubs to force him out. Seeing him in a daze, Sister Tiger kindly stepped forward to support him.
Unexpectedly, while the Yard Officers were distracted, Liu Ming stumbled and snatched a dagger from one of them, aiming it at Sister Tiger. As Sister Tiger dodged out of the way, her weakened body revealed hints of her tiger form on her face. This time, not only Liu Ming saw it; everyone in the courtroom noticed.
Taking advantage of Sister Tiger's moment of shock, Liu Ming rushed forward to grab the Tiger Child and then hid behind one of the Yard Officers.
"I tell you she is a monster... she really is a monster! Catch her! Quickly catch her! Lock her in the cage and burn her alive!"
"Husband—"
Sister Tiger looked at Liu Ming shaking his head repeatedly. She did not understand why he could not let go of her when everything was fine now. She had just told him she was leaving; why was he still forcing her into a corner?
Sister Tiger wanted to retrieve her child but found herself increasingly exhausted after dodging earlier. As she saw the Yard Officers approaching with clubs and daggers, she weakly reached out towards Liu Ming and then fainted on the ground.
"Sister Tiger, is she finally going to give up?" Xing Ruyi shook her head and turned her gaze to Liu Ming, saying angrily, "This Liu Ming, such a cowardly scoundrel. What has Sister Tiger been blinded by to fall for him?"
"Perhaps it's a karmic bond from a past life," the Fox quietly remarked, then looked down at Fox Demon and asked, "Should we save Sister Tiger?"
"Let's wait a bit longer. I want Sister Tiger to completely let go. No matter how useless that person is, he is still the Tiger Child's biological father. If we don't let Sister Tiger cool off, I'm afraid she will continue to be entangled with him for the rest of her life. That wouldn't be good for either Sister Tiger or the Tiger Child. Anyway, with you around, you won't let Sister Tiger be burned alive, right?"
"Of course not!"
The Fox nodded and also directed its gaze at Liu Ming.
In the courtroom, the Yard Officers had carefully carried the unconscious Sister Tiger into a cage. The County Magistrate had been quite frightened earlier; seeing that Sister Tiger remained asleep without any reaction, he cautiously stepped out from his hiding place and approached the cage to take a closer look. He then asked Liu Ming, "Is she really a monster?"
Liu Ming hurriedly nodded, "Yes! She is indeed a monster!"
"A monster! How can there be such a beautiful monster who speaks so gently?" The County Magistrate sighed while looking at the child still sleeping in Liu Ming's arms. "If this mother is a monster, then what about this child—"
"The Tiger Child is not a monster! He is my son! My son cannot be a monster!"
"But I see that your whole family is made up of monsters!" The County Magistrate said angrily, then waved his hand and ordered, "Lock them up! Lock them all up! This wife, and this Liu Ming along with the child in his arms—lock them all up! A monster! How dare a monster appear in my jurisdiction? If this gets back to the palace, will I still have my head? Burn them! Burn them all!"
The County Magistrate's loud voice startled the Tiger Child in Liu Ming's arms. The Tiger Child kicked his legs and began to cry.
Xing Ruyi had initially planned to rescue both Sister Tiger and the Tiger Child, but upon hearing the child's cries, she felt reluctant to let him spend the night in prison with Sister Tiger at such a young age. She poked the Fox and suggested, "How about you hold the Tiger Child first? After all, you are his uncle; you can't just stand by while your nephew is in trouble."
"That's right!"
The fox lightly agreed, waving to the inside, and the Tiger Child actually broke free from Liu Ming's arms, then floated outside.
The County Magistrate was stunned and mad. He pointed at the child floating in mid-air and muttered, "A flying child, indeed a monster! A monster! Someone, quickly bring this monster down for me! And those two big monsters, take them out and burn them, hurry up and burn them!"
Xing Ruyi watched the Tiger Child giggling as it floated in the air and rubbed her temples with a headache. "It's over, I seem to have given you a troublesome idea. According to Yamen's usual practice, even if they want to burn Sister Tiger, they would choose to do it at noon. But with such a commotion, they've scared the County Magistrate."
"Isn't that just perfect? When we came here earlier, I don't know who was eager to raid the Execution Ground. Old Xu must have heard it, so he specially helped you fulfill that thought." As the fox reached out to catch the Tiger Child, she also wrapped her arms around Xing Ruyi's waist and silently recited a spell, temporarily taking them away from the Yamen.
Xing Ruyi licked her lips and poked the fox with her hand, quietly asking, "How should we raid this Execution Ground?"
The fox glanced at her and replied, "How would this Husband know? This Husband has never raided before."
Xing Ruyi glared at the fox in frustration and began to seriously think about how to raid this Execution Ground and how to save Sister Tiger.
Time was tight, leaving no room for Xing Ruyi to think too much. By the time the fox brought her into view again, she was already standing outside what was called the Execution Ground.
The Execution Ground actually resembled a simple altar.
Sister Tiger was still locked in an iron cage, which was placed on a high platform piled with firewood and dry grass. Liu Ming was tied up with hemp ropes next to the iron cage. He hung his head low, not knowing if he had fainted or fallen asleep.
The bustling noise awakened Sister Tiger from her stupor. She first looked at the ordinary people surrounding the iron cage and then searched for Liu Ming's shadow. When she saw that Liu Ming was also bound and that the Tiger Child was missing, her emotions began to spiral out of control. She rushed to the side of the iron cage and tightly grasped its bars, asking Liu Ming desperately, "Where is the Tiger Child? What happened to our Tiger Child? Husband, what did you do with our Tiger Child?"
“Tiger Child?” Liu Ming shook his head, “I don’t know! Tiger Child flew away!”
“What does that mean?” Sister Tiger asked, confused.
“What does that mean?” Liu Ming first chuckled, then raised his head and stared at Sister Tiger with resentful eyes, “You lied to me! You monster, you actually deceived me! He is not a curse; he is my Son, he is not a monster. But he flew away! Can a human fly? Let me tell you, humans cannot fly; only you monsters… you monsters can fly!”
“Tiger Child is not a monster!” Sister Tiger helplessly collapsed in the iron cage. She looked at Liu Ming’s bloodshot eyes, which seemed like they wanted to swallow her whole, and with tears in her eyes said to him, “You have to believe me, Tiger Child is really not a monster! I know you want a Son, and I also know I am a monster. So, I prayed to Guanyin, asking her to grant me an ordinary child, one as ordinary as you but just as good. But now, I feel like I was wrong. I would rather Tiger Child be a monster like me, both of us monsters!”
Sister Tiger cried as tears streamed down her face.
“Why? Why do you treat me this way? Why do you treat Tiger Child this way? You know that I brought Tiger Child here to save you. You are Tiger Child’s father, my Husband, and I cannot just watch you burn to death. But what about you? Why do you treat me this way? Just because I am a monster! Just because I am different from you! But Husband, have you ever thought that I love you? Have you ever thought about the days we’ve spent together? Have you ever considered that if I really wanted to harm you, why would I wait until now and why would I bring Tiger Child to save you? Have you ever thought about that?”
The iron cage creaked as it shook from Sister Tiger’s anger, but Liu Ming only raised his bloodshot eyes and kept muttering at Sister Tiger, “Monster! You are a monster! Tiger Child is also a monster! Burn them all! Burn them all!”
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