What's Wrong With Being A Salted Fish?

Don't Touch My Tail 15

Don't walk on mountain roads in the middle of the night. If you hear voices, don't look back.

A scholar was walking on a small path in the mountains, carrying a bamboo basket and holding a lantern. He had just returned from another province and was crossing the mountain to return to his hometown.

The scholar was one of the few educated people in the village. He usually taught the children in the village to read and write in the school, which was his source of income.

He had been away from home for quite a while these days and had to go back quickly.

In order to save time and since there was no one to stay at on the road, the scholar decided to cross the mountain road in the dark so that he could return home as soon as possible.

Listening to the rustling sounds in the woods, the scholar clenched his hands, trying to reassure himself that it was only the sound of the wind.

He has walked this road many times and nothing happened. Don't scare yourself.

The scholar plucked up his courage and walked forward hurriedly. If he was not afraid of falling, he would have wanted to close his eyes.

"..."

Suddenly, he was startled and stood still.

It seems like someone is calling me?

The scholar looked around for a few times, and there was no one in front of him or behind him.

Strangeness?

He was very confused, because he really heard someone calling him just now.

However, what frightened him even more was that he was standing alone on the mountain road with a lantern in his hand, so he could only continue walking forward hurriedly.

Unconsciously, the bright moon was above his head. The moonlight poured into the woods, illuminating the way ahead for him and making the shadow behind him look slightly strange.

"..."

!!!

The scholar stopped and looked back again.

He really heard clearly someone calling his name.

"Is... anyone there?"

The scholar held the lantern tightly in both hands, his voice trembling, and he comforted himself that it might be a neighbor in the village. Maybe he was also on his way back?

But his voice seemed to travel far away and there was no response.

The scholar got goosebumps all over his body. For some reason, he suddenly remembered the rumors in the countryside.

"There are tigers in the mountains that will eat people!"

"Don't talk nonsense, the tiger is the incarnation of the mountain god!"

"Really? The guy next door... was eaten. It is said that he heard someone calling his name, and then he was swallowed by the tiger in one gulp!"

"Is there any evidence?"

"It's been eaten, it's been eaten!"

"Eaten by a tiger, eaten by a tiger!"

The children who gathered around them sang a strange tune.

Weird? Who were they talking about being eaten?

The scholar ran forward without stopping with confusion and fear. He didn't dare to walk anymore and wished he could leave the mountain in the next second.