Chapter 808 - 416: Cows Have Tempers Too

Chapter 808: Chapter 416: Cows Have Tempers Too

Zhang Dashuan had been calling out for a while when Liu Heizi suddenly spoke up. "There’s a sound! Listen, Mr. Zhang—"

Zhang Dashuan perked his ears, tuning out the wind. A distinct RUSTLE RUSTLE echoed from the mountain forest, growing louder by the second. It was the sound of a living creature traversing the woods, snapping twigs, rustling vines, and trampling over the vegetation.

Overjoyed, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Black Bull, come home!"

A chorus of MOO MOO instantly erupted from the woods, accompanied by a chaotic bout of struggling, though it was impossible to tell exactly what was happening in the dark.

A sudden ARGH pierced the air, followed by dead silence. Then, two robust water buffalo burst from the gloomy woods, greeting Zhang Dashuan with a happy MOO MOO as they trotted toward him.

Liu Heizi was quick to react. Hearing the unmistakable sound of a human cry, he ignored the dark, dim woods and charged blindly toward the source of the noise. "Don’t run!" he bellowed. "Son of a bitch, daring to steal cattle!"

Despite his joy, Zhang Dashuan’s heart sank. Someone really was stealing cattle!

The two buffalo trotted up to Zhang Dashuan, affectionately nuzzling against him. He continuously stroked the fur on their necks. "Why are you so silly?" he muttered. "Following anyone who leads you? Changhe, hurry up and bring the torch over! Let’s see who’s over there. Hmph, daring to steal cattle! Black-hearted scum, do you think cattle are just yours for the taking? Just wait until I drag you to the government office!"

He had already heard Zheng Changhe shouting as he approached with a torch, which prompted his command.

Zheng Changhe arrived panting. He was thrilled to see the cattle back safely, but hearing that someone had tried to steal them sent him into a rage. "Where is he?"

Zhang Dashuan pointed toward the woods ahead. "Over there. Heizi went after him. Let’s go take a look too. Light this torch as well. Black Bull, stay here and don’t run—" He suddenly brought the torch closer to the bull’s head to get a better look. "This bastard actually tore its nose open! That rotten piece of trash!"

He was absolutely furious. When the Black Bull heard him calling earlier, it must have tried to run toward him, but the cattle thief had forcefully yanked the rope to stop it. The violent tug had snapped the wooden peg in the bull’s nose, tearing the flesh open. Dark red blood seeped from the wound, blending into the ash-black hide so seamlessly that it was easy to miss. Fortunately, the other black bull was unharmed.

His heart ached for the poor creature. Stroking its head, he yelled toward the woods, "Don’t let him get away! That son of a bitch, treating a bull like this!"

Zheng Changhe said, "It’s pitch-black in there. I’d like to see where he thinks he can run. Dashuan, you wait here. I’ll go drag him out. Heizi, did you find him?"

Zhang Dashuan didn’t wait; he lit his torch and followed right behind him.

The two men didn’t dare rush blindly, terrified of accidentally setting the trees on fire. They carefully parted the branches and made their way deeper into the brush.

"Over here!" Liu Heizi yelled from the darkness. "Haha! Playing possum, are we? I bet he got gored by a horn. I heard him scream earlier and knew it had to be bad news. Don’t die on me now, alright? Mr. Zhang, come shine a light over here."

Although there was no moon that night, it wasn’t exactly pitch-black either. A blanket of stars illuminated the sky, and Liu Heizi was well accustomed to navigating in the dark. He had spotted a dark, humanoid lump huddled near the bushes, deducing it was the cattle thief. The bull had been mooing in this exact spot earlier, and he had simply followed the sound.

After a bit of a scramble, Zhang Dashuan and Zheng Changhe finally reached the spot. They shone their torches on the cattle thief lying on the ground, looked at each other, and immediately regretted ever stepping foot into the woods.

Why? The man had indeed been gored by the bull’s horn. He was curled up in a tight ball on the ground, completely silent, with dark blood staining the dead leaves beside him. It was impossible to tell how badly he was injured.

The three burly men hesitated. They couldn’t exactly let the guy who tried to steal their cattle off the hook, let alone pay a doctor to treat his wounds. Yet, as honest men, they couldn’t just walk away and ignore him either. Who knew if they’d wake up to find a dead body here tomorrow morning?

Zhang Dashuan felt incredibly stifled. He was fuming! If they had just turned around and left earlier, they wouldn’t be caught in this moral dilemma.

Lending a hand now would inevitably lead to trouble. The man was clearly a local farmer who had resorted to stealing out of poverty. If they paid for his medical treatment, they could forget about ever getting that Silver back. This meant that after the man stole the Zhang family’s cattle and got injured by the bull, Zhang Dashuan would still have to foot his medical bill. No one would be happy with a situation like that.

Liu Heizi felt a deep pang of guilt, knowing he was the one who had charged in first. "Mr. Zhang, what should we do?" he asked sheepishly.

Zhang Dashuan replied gloomily, "What else can we do? If we don’t get him out of here, I won’t be able to sleep a wink tonight. Seriously, what kind of mess is this? Why is everything going wrong today? Actually, nothing has gone right these past few days."