At the towering neon archway of the Gu Family Trans-Continental Night Market, White-Tiger Patriarch Hu Lie , at Rank 6 Mid Golden Core, stood nine feet tall. Clad in his snow-white striped battle armor, his golden tiger-eyes blazed with fierce pride.
Behind him, one hundred thousand heavy White-Tiger cavalrymen sat astride armored snow-tigers, their spears gleaming under the ten thousand warm golden spirit-lanterns.
Yet the terrifying military intimidation of the White-Tiger army was somewhat undermined by two small problems.
First, Captain Hu Biao and all three thousand of Hu Lie’s border scouts were sitting on wooden stools ten feet inside the gate. Wearing paper bibs, they were happily stuffing their cheeks with honey-glazed pork ribs while waving at their Patriarch:.
“Patriarch! Don’t smash the grill! The honey-glazed ribs have zero poison and taste like heaven!
Try the spicy squid too!”
Second, five thousand chubby, striped White-Tiger cubs ranged from three to eight years old, including Patriarch Hu Lie’s own youngest son, Little Prince Hu Bao. They were poking their fuzzy heads out from between the cavalrymen’s boots, sniffing the warm osmanthus-and-barbecue air with shining eyes!
“Father! Why is it so warm down here?!” six-year-old Little Prince Hu Bao tugged on Patriarch Hu Lie’s armored greave.
