Chapter 127: Big Tiger Fears White Tiger

"What are you standing around for?" Someone snapped out of it and roared, "Xiao Hei has kidnapped Great-Aunt! Quick, after them!"

"Oh, oh, right, right! Quick, everyone, let's go!" The others regained their senses and immediately bolted in the direction Xiao Hei had taken.

"Xiao Hei, stop running!"

Good heavens, how could Xiao Hei just run off with Great-Aunt like that? What if she didn't hold on tight and fell off? What would they do then? Everyone was incredibly anxious; Xiao Hei was making off with their Great-Aunt!

"Stop, Xiao Hei, you must stop!"

"Xiao Hei..."

They ran until their legs burned, using every ounce of strength they had, yet they could only watch as Xiao Hei, carrying Bai Xi, vanished further into the distance. Some people started to cry. It was over; Great-Aunt had truly been stolen by Xiao Hei.

Although Xiao Hei had restrained its speed, it still left the pursuing villagers far behind. It felt quite smug. *As if*, it thought, *if I let you catch me, where would I hide my face?*

Bai Xi vaguely heard the cries about her being "stolen," and a look of speechlessness and helplessness flashed across her eyes.

Xiao Hei was fast. Just as Chen Dailiu and his group were about to clash with the people from Xiaxin Village, a deafening tiger roar echoed through the air. Both sides froze and turned in unison toward the sound.

They saw Bai Xi riding on Xiao Hei's back, the tiger pacing forward with deliberate, heavy steps, carrying her along. Under the scorching sun, Bai Xi’s cheeks were flushed from the heat, and the two small hair buns on her head had become quite disheveled from the wind, making her look a bit pitiful. Yet, no one dared to laugh.

Whether from Xiaxin Village or Niuluo Village, everyone stared blankly at Bai Xi and Xiao Hei. The approach of the girl and the tiger left the scene in dead silence. As Xiao Hei drew closer, the people of Niuluo Village instinctively parted to clear a path.

Xiao Hei carried Bai Xi slightly in front of the Niuluo villagers, giving her a clear view of the situation. They were at a gentle slope bordering the back hills of Niuluo and Xiaxin Villages. Both sides were standing on their respective village land in a standoff, while in the middle, four children around eight or nine years old were pushing and shoving each other.

To be precise, the children had been fighting, but the sudden appearance of Bai Xi riding Xiao Hei was so shocking that the Xiaxin villagers were stunned into silence. Taking advantage of the distraction, the Niuluo boys, Xiaoshanzi and Xiaoliuzi, shoved the other two children from Xiaxin Village.

"Let's see you be arrogant now! Just because you have more people, you think you’re tough? Try being arrogant again!"

"Our Great-Aunt is here now! Let's see if you dare to bully anyone!"

The boy who was half a head taller than Xiaoshanzi was shoved back several steps. The people of Xiaxin Village were so dumbfounded by the sight that no one dared to speak; they simply watched as Bai Xi approached and came to a halt.

"Someone tell me, what is going on here?"

Bai Xi spoke, her soft, sweet voice waking the Xiaxin villagers from their shock.

"Who are you?" asked the leader of the Xiaxin group, who appeared to be their village chief.

Chen Dailiu took a bold step forward and introduced her proudly, "This is our Great-Aunt."

Great-Aunt? Was this the elder from Niuluo Village who had fallen into the creek last year? She was this small?

"So what if... look, you’re just a child, you don’t understand. We adults are handling business here. Go hide and play, lest you get hurt." Zhou Dahu had intended to say "So what," but when he met the gaze of the white tiger Bai Xi was riding, he gulped, and his tone faltered.

His name might be "Dahu" (Big Tiger), but he wasn't a real tiger. The creature before him, however, was a genuine white tiger. He had looked closely—it was definitely a white tiger. He didn't know why such a beast would listen to a little toddler, but he wasn't mistaken. The tiger was staring straight at him as if ready to pounce at any moment. Who wouldn't be scared?

After speaking, Zhou Dahu hurriedly shifted his gaze to Chen Dailiu and said, suppressing his discomfort, "Chen Dailiu, why don't you take your 'Great-Aunt' aside? If a fight breaks out, swords and blades have no eyes; don't blame us if she gets hurt." *And take that white tiger with you!* he added silently in his heart.

"Exactly," the Xiaxin villagers chimed in. "Don't come crying if you get knocked down later."

They had heard that Niuluo Village had a formidable Great-Aunt, but no one knew this "formidable" person was actually a toddler who looked only five or six years old. The Niuluo villagers were such braggarts; how could such a tiny child be formidable?

"How dare you!" The people of Niuluo Village were instantly enraged.

"Zhou Dahu, if you dare touch a single hair on our Great-Aunt’s head, I’ll fight you to the death!"

"Come on then, you think we're afraid of you?" The Xiaxin villagers didn't back down.

"That's enough! Quiet!" Bai Xi raised her hand, and the Niuluo villagers went silent immediately. The Xiaxin villagers kept shouting for a moment, but under Xiao Hei's piercing glare, they quickly shut their mouths as well.

Once the other side was quiet, Bai Xi patted Xiao Hei’s head in satisfaction and turned to Chen Dailiu. "What happened?"

When Xiao Hei had returned, it had only said the village was about to fight another; she didn't know the details.

Chen Dailiu bowed slightly and said respectfully, "Great-Aunt, it’s like this: two months ago, Xiaoshanzi and Xiaoliuzi discovered a watermelon plant here with two fruits on it. They’ve been coming every day to check on it, waiting for them to ripen so they could bring them back."

"Today, they came as usual and saw the watermelons were ready to be picked. Just as they were about to take them, they ran into the people from Xiaxin Village, who insisted the melons were theirs. The children started fighting, neither side could get the upper hand, so they went back to their respective villages to call for help."

As Chen Dailiu finished, Xiaoshunzi scurried over to Bai Xi, though he kept a distance of about a meter because of Xiao Hei. He said aggrievedly, "Great-Aunt, you don’t know—the people from their village are so shameless! They bullied us because they had more people, two or three of them beating up one of us."

Bai Xi looked and saw clear bruises on Xiaoshunzi’s face, with some cuts at the corners of his mouth. Looking at the others, they were in a similar state.

Xiaoshitou also chimed in, "That's right, Great-Aunt! We found these watermelons first. We even hid them among the rocks and covered them with weeds. We were just about to pick them when they popped out and claimed they saw them first, trying to snatch them away."

"You're spouting nonsense! Our village found those watermelons first!" The Xiaxin villagers protested.

"Exactly! You little brat, how old are you to be making such false accusations? Are all you Niuluo villagers so unreasonable?"