During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, a woodcutter found that someone had been attacked and killed in Leiyang Mountain in southern Hunan, and immediately went down the mountain to report to the local security guard, who rode a fast horse to report to the county yamen. Upon receiving the report, Chu Tianyuan, the county magistrate of Leiyang County, immediately led Hukuai and Yuzuo to the scene in a hurry.

After a few minutes of incense, he came to report that only two heads, one body, and one body were missing from the two corpses. Judging from the wound marks, the two died from the bite of a beast, and this beast is likely to be a tiger that has been extinct for many years, and the other body should have been eaten by a tiger.

When Chu Tianyuan heard the word tiger, he couldn't help but tremble. There were tigers in Crouching Niu Mountain more than ten years ago. At that time, there was a siege and suppression, and several tigers were killed. Since then, the tigers have disappeared, could it be that the tigers have appeared again? Chu Tianyuan called the land guard and asked in detail, and the land guard nodded affirmatively, saying, "Yes, this tiger appeared this spring. Hunters, chopping firewood, and digging medicine have all seen it. This is the first time that people eat people..."

Chu Tianyuan listened and fell into deep thought. At this time, Catcher Nian suddenly handed over a blue cloth bag, saying that he found it at the scene. Chu Tianyuan opened the cloth bag, and inside was a scroll, unfolded the scroll, and it turned out to be a famous painting: Tang Bohu's "Lady Picture." Chu Tianyuan stared at the painting for a while, and said to Catcher Nian Meng, "Take it back."

After returning to the county yamen, Chu Tianyuan ordered people to post a notice, informing pedestrians that there were tigers on the mountain, and remember to pay attention to safety when going up the mountain. The county will soon go up the mountain to encircle and suppress them. Then Chu Tianyuan ordered Nian to quickly find out the identities of the two deceased, then returned to the study, and opened the "Lady's Picture" again to take a closer look.

The next day at noon, Nian Meng led a rich old man to the yamen and reported, "The identity of the deceased has been found out. They are the two escorts of the Leiyang Mighty Escort Bureau, Wang Fu and Li De. They are escorts to Changsha, and the darts they received belong to this old gentleman."

The old man went forward and introduced himself: "This old man's surname is Le Mingsi Shen. He asked the Mighty Escort Bureau to escort the darts to Changsha a few days ago. I didn't expect to hear from Captain Nian today that they were killed by a tiger in Crouching Niu Mountain. It's really unfortunate!"

Chu Tianyuan heard that the old man was called Le Sishen, and his eyebrows couldn't help but jump. Chu Tianyuan had heard of Le Sishen. He used to be a capital official in the imperial court, but later resigned due to illness and returned to his hometown, and had been living in seclusion.

Chu Tianyuan saluted deeply and said, "So it's Mr. Le! I'm rude, I'm rude."

Le Sishen hurriedly returned the salute and said, "I don't dare, I don't dare. This time, I came to explain the situation. Second, I was entrusted by my father and fellow villagers.

Chu Tianyuan said: "The old gentleman's righteous act is really respectable. I wonder what kind of dart you entrusted to the Mighty Escort Bureau?"

Le Sishen said, "This old man loves collecting antique calligraphy and paintings. The dart he entrusted this time is an ancient painting, Tang Bohu's" Lady Picture ", which was given to a dog doing business in Changsha. I wonder if this painting has ever been found?"

Chu Tianyuan glanced at him and said, "I will send someone to look for it immediately, and I will notify you as soon as there is any news."

The next day, at dawn, a few trappers who had been sent to Crouching Cow Mountain to look for tiger tracks returned. They reported that the tiger had been found easily, because the tiger's mouth and nostrils shot out clouds of white light, which was very scary, and it was this white light that exposed its whereabouts. When they saw it, they did not dare to take action, and they even rolled back down the mountain that night.

Chu Tianyuan was astonished when he heard the report. He called the local security guard and asked why there was a white light in the nostrils of the tiger's mouth. The local security guard said in surprise, "There are also people who have seen a tiger at night, but have never heard of it emitting light! What's going on?"

When Chu Tianyuan heard that, he couldn't help but feel even more puzzled. He found the local garrison and asked the garrison to send twenty well-trained soldiers and ten archers to Crouching Cow Mountain to kill the tigers. The garrison readily agreed.

As night fell, everyone held torches and walked up the mountain. After walking for more than two hours, they suddenly saw a white light not far away. Catcher Nian pointed to the white light and said to Chu Tianyuan, "My lord, that white light is from a tiger."

Chu Tianyuan looked up and saw that there was really a big tiger lying there, and the white light was shot from the tiger's mouth and nostrils. He was a little stunned for a while: It's incredible, could this tiger have become a spirit?

Chu Tianyuan hurriedly commanded the soldiers to gather around. At this time, the tiger slowly stood up, and white light shot out from its nostrils. The tiger's face looked bright and dark, very strange and terrifying.

Chu Tianyuan shouted, "Don't be nervous, the archers are ready to shoot arrows."

Before the words fell, the tiger jumped up, the soldiers shouted, the long spears stabbed the tiger, and the archers outside the circle also began shooting arrows. Finally, the tiger had several arrows in his body and fell to the ground motionless.

Chu Tianyuan approached the tiger's corpse to take a closer look, only to see that the white light shot out of its nostrils did not disappear. If the tiger really became a spirit, then the white light should disappear with the death of the tiger... Chu Tianyuan's mind moved, and he looked at the dead tiger for a while, squatted down and waved his sword to cut open the dead tiger's abdomen, and then picked out a brilliant ball from the dead tiger's stomach. When Chu Tianyuan saw the ball, he couldn't help but gasp for air, because he recognized that the ball was a rare night pearl. From the perspective of size and light, it can be called a treasure of the world and is priceless.

Only then did everyone realize that the white light emitted from the nostrils of the tiger's mouth was not born, but the luminous pearl in its body.

The tip of Chu Tianyuan's sword shook, and the Night Pearl fell into his hands. He took a soft and thick black cloth from his arms, wrapped the Night Pearl, and put it in his arms. The moment the Night Pearl was wrapped, everyone felt that their eyes were darkened.

When everyone carried the dead tiger down the mountain, it was already dawn. On the way, they met Le Sishen leading the tiger extermination team towards them. When Le Sishen saw the dead tiger, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Just as he was about to go up and say a few compliments to Chu Tianyuan, he unexpectedly walked forward, grabbed his wrist and said, "Old sir, if you have anything to say, please go to the yamen and say it!"

After entering the lobby of the yamen, Nian Meng locked Le Si Shen with an iron chain. Le Si Shen was shocked and shouted, "Why did you lock this old man up without asking him indiscriminately? Where did this start?"

Chu Tianyuan glanced at him and said, "Le Sishen, what kind of dart did you ask the Mighty Escort Bureau to escort?"

Le Sishu said, "Tang Bohu's Lady Pictures."

Chu Tianyuan sneered and said, "But that 'Lady Picture 'is a fake. You love collecting antique calligraphy and paintings, but you can't tell?" With that said, Chu Tianyuan threw the scroll of ""Lady Picture"" in front of Le Si Shen. Le Si Shen glanced at the painting under his feet and was speechless for a while.

Chu Tianyuan said: "Let me tell you for you! The dart you entrusted to the Mighty Escort Bureau is a night pearl in the South China Sea, and this" Lady's Picture "is just a cover. Wang Fu of the Mighty Escort Bureau is a cautious old escort. He thinks that the safest way is to swallow the night pearl into his stomach and unknowingly pull it out in Changsha. But he never expected that the two of them would meet a tiger they hadn't seen for more than ten years in Crouching Niu Mountain. The tiger ate Wang Fu, and the night pearl stayed in the tiger's belly, so at night people could see the tiger's mouth and nostrils shoot white light."

Le Si Shen laughed and said, "Master Chu, what you said is really wonderful, but what evidence do you have to prove that this night pearl is the dart I entrusted?"

"Evidence?" Chu Tianyuan sneered, "Wang Fu was eaten by a tiger, and you were so anxious that you personally formed a tiger extermination team to go up the mountain, which makes people suspicious. Besides, this tiger has been in Crouching Niu Mountain for a day or two, and some people have seen it at night, but they have never seen white light shoot out of its nostrils. Only after eating Wang Fu, white light began to appear, doesn't that just mean that Wang Fu has this night pearl hidden in his belly?"

Beads of sweat began to appear on Le Sishen's forehead.

Chu Tianyuan continued, "When you were an official in the capital, you stole a priceless night pearl of the South China Sea from the palace. The Criminal Department investigated it for a year and couldn't find it. At that time, I was on duty in the Criminal Department, so I knew about it. A year later, you came back home from illness, and it turned out that the night pearl was in your hands."

When Le Si Shen heard this, he fell to the ground and fainted.

He wanted to send the night pearl to Changsha. His son in Changsha was suffering from a serious eye disease.

After Chu Tianyuan took Le Sishen into prison, he reported this strange case to Emperor Jiaqing according to the facts, and presented the night pearl of the South China Sea taken out of the tiger's belly. The Emperor Jiaqing saw the memorial and was amazed again and again. He praised Chu Tianyuan heavily and transferred him back to the capital.