Chapter 324 - 264: A Troublesome Dog
THWACK!
The Ma Lu, its hind leg bitten, lifted that very leg and kicked backward, its hoof landing squarely on the black dog’s left foreleg.
"AWOOO..."
With a miserable yelp, the black dog was sent flying. It crashed onto the slope and tumbled down a couple of times.
BANG!
BANG!
Two more gunshots rang out. Zhao Jun had fired twice.
The first shot missed, the bullet flying over the Ma Lu’s spine. But the second bullet shot straight into the Ma Lu’s neck.
The instant the bullet hit the Ma Lu’s neck, its two forelegs reared up before it collapsed to the side. Blood gushed from the wound, and it soon stopped breathing.
Only then did Xiaohua arrive. It pounced on the Ma Lu’s body and began to tear at it.
"Quick!" Zhao Jun didn’t have time to check on the prey. He quickly turned and waved Li Baoyu over.
The two of them ran to the black dog’s side. When they saw it, they exchanged a look and both thought the same thing: ’This is bad.’
The black dog’s left foreleg was broken. Seeing Li Baoyu and Zhao Jun approach, it tried to stand, but it couldn’t get its bearings. It kept trying to put weight on the injured leg, collapsing every time.
"Hurry!" Zhao Jun pointed at the black dog. Li Baoyu understood, quickly reaching out to hold the dog and stop it from trying to stand again.
"It’s done for!" Li Baoyu, holding the dog and seeing the extent of its injury, couldn’t help but grimace. "It’s got the same problem as Brother Huang."
"Don’t talk nonsense." Zhao Jun slapped Li Baoyu’s arm, glanced back, then said, "Don’t say another word. Just carry this dog back down."
It didn’t matter if it was their dog or not, or whether it was a good hunting dog. They had brought it up the mountain, and now it was injured. They couldn’t just leave it behind.
Hearing Zhao Jun, Li Baoyu pointed at the Ma Lu’s carcass and asked, "What about that big fella?"
"You don’t need to worry about that." Zhao Jun pushed Li Baoyu’s shoulder, gesturing for him to turn and carry the black dog. "Hurry and carry the dog down. Once you’re back, have Mr. Tao find a doctor for us. We’ll get its leg splinted and set. I think it can still recover."
Li Baoyu knew they had to save the dog no matter what. He hoisted it onto his back and strode off down the mountain.
But Li Baoyu had only taken a few steps when the black dog on his shoulders began to paw and bark.
When it barked, Li Baoyu quickly looked back at Zhao Jun. Hearing the bark, Zhao Jun thought a mountain beast was coming. He crouched, raised his gun, and scanned his surroundings.
But no matter where he looked, he couldn’t see any wild animals. Besides, they had just fired a gun here. What beast would dare approach?
Zhao Jun turned to look at the black dog, then followed its gaze. He immediately smiled and waved Li Baoyu over.
"Huh?" Li Baoyu was confused. ’There’s no prey around here, so why is he calling me back?’
As Li Baoyu walked over, Zhao Jun had already gutted the Ma Lu, pulling out its intestines and stomach.
He set the Deer Heart aside on the snow. Once it froze, it would be easier to transport the Deer Heart Blood inside.
By the time Li Baoyu reached him, Zhao Jun had already used his knife to cut open the skin on the deer’s foreleg and pull several strips of meat from the thigh. He held one strip directly to the black dog’s mouth.
The black dog, lying on Li Baoyu’s shoulders, bit one end of the long strip of venison, lifted its head, then quickly opened its mouth and chomped down again, swallowing the entire strip.
"This..." Li Baoyu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "It’s in this state, and it’s still eating?"
"Let it eat its fill first." Zhao Jun offered the dog another strip of meat. "It did put in the effort, after all."
"It... fine." Li Baoyu was speechless. ’Some effort. It took one bite of the big fella and got its leg broken. If this black dog had tried any harder, it probably would’ve gotten itself killed.’
Zhao Jun fed the black dog five more strips of meat, then told Li Baoyu to hurry down the mountain with it.
Seeing Li Baoyu leave, Xiaohua barked and ran after him, but after a couple of steps, it ran back to the deer carcass.
At that, Zhao Jun started feeding Xiaohua. Unlike with the black dog, Zhao Jun let Xiaohua eat as much as it wanted, feeding it until its belly was round.
Although Xiaohua hadn’t helped at all in taking down this big fella, a dog just brought up the mountain had to be fed well and to its heart’s content. As long as it could still eat, he had to keep feeding it.
And so, Zhao Jun fed Xiaohua until its belly was round. When he offered another piece of meat to its mouth, Xiaohua turned its head away.
Seeing that Xiaohua was full, Zhao Jun left it alone, letting it lie down and rest while he went to remove the deer’s legs.
This large deer weighed over five hundred pounds. There was no way Zhao Jun could drag the whole thing back himself. He removed the two hind legs, tied the hooves together with a rope, and started dragging them back.
Dealing with the dog had caused a bit of a delay, but from encountering the deer to killing it, everything had gone quite smoothly.
So, Zhao Jun still managed to get back early. When he entered the Yongxing Team from the village entrance, it wasn’t even eleven-thirty.
Zhao Jun continued dragging the deer legs toward Tao Xiaobao’s house. People kept looking at him along the way, but no one recognized him.
Just as he was about to reach Tao Xiaobao’s house, Zhao Jun saw Tao Fulun heading his way with a doctor.
Without a doubt, they were here to check on the black dog’s leg.
Sure enough, Tao Fulun spotted Zhao Jun as he was walking. But when his gaze fell on the deer legs, the old man stopped in his tracks, pointed at them, and asked, "Is that the deer?"
"Yep!" Zhao Jun nodded in acknowledgment.
"Aiya!" Tao Fulun clicked his tongue, shaking his head with a laugh. "You guys finally get a dog, and it gets ruined on its first trip up the mountain."
"Nothing to be done about it." Zhao Jun walked over with a smile and extended a hand to the doctor. "Doctor Qu, sorry to trouble you again."
"Don’t mention it, it’s what I should do." Qu Zanyang smiled and shook Zhao Jun’s hand. He knew Zhao Jun was the hero who had caught a tiger, but it was Tao Fulun who had secured his good attitude.
If Tao Fulun, the father of the Director of Security, hadn’t come to ask him personally, what real doctor would be willing to act as a vet?
The three of them returned to the Tao Family’s home together. Zhao Jun tossed the deer legs into the courtyard and followed Tao Fulun and Qu Zanyang inside.
Normally, he would have seen Li Yunxiang as soon as he opened the door, but today, upon entering the outer room, she was nowhere in sight.
But hearing the sound of agitated growling from the inner room, Zhao Jun couldn’t be bothered with anything else and headed inside.
But before he took two steps, he heard dogs barking.
Zhao Jun reached the doorway of the room he shared with Li Baoyu in two strides. He saw Li Baoyu on the kang, holding the black dog, while Tao Fei was on the floor, holding back Da Huang, and Li Yunxiang was using a burlap sack to block White Dragon.
Only Little Bear was at the far end of the room by the window, craning its neck to watch the commotion.
"Settle down!" Zhao Jun rushed to White Dragon in two steps and raised his foot as if to kick it.
As soon as White Dragon saw its master, it quickly shrank its neck, lowered its body, and lay obediently on the floor.
Zhao Jun was only making a gesture. After scaring White Dragon back, he lowered his foot and turned to subdue Da Huang.
But just then, a "GRRRR" sound came from the kang. The black dog was baring its teeth at the dogs below.
"WOOF! WOOF!" At this provocation, Da Huang and White Dragon lost their composure again, dragging their injured bodies as they tried to lunge forward.
And this time it wasn’t just the two of them. Even Little Bear couldn’t stand it anymore and came running from the window, barking all the way.
When the lead dog barked, Da Huang and White Dragon got even more worked up.
The most ridiculous part was that as soon as the three dogs barked, the black dog instantly chickened out. It buried its head in Li Baoyu’s cotton-padded jacket and went silent.
Zhao Jun held Little Bear under one arm and grabbed the fur on White Dragon’s back with his other hand. The grip hurt, and White Dragon turned as if to bite, but upon seeing it was Zhao Jun, it immediately started licking the hand that was hurting it.
This was a good dog. Even if its master hurt it, it would never bite its master; instead, it would try to curry favor.
Zhao Jun was at his wits’ end. His three dogs were about to gang up on another dog inside the house. How could he let that happen?
He forcefully calmed White Dragon and Da Huang down. Just as the three dogs quieted, the black dog poked its head out from Li Baoyu’s arms again and snarled at the dogs below.
This time, however, before it could even make a sound, Zhao Jun smacked it right in the snout, silencing it.
The black dog whimpered and buried its head in Li Baoyu’s jacket. Li Baoyu then heard Zhao Jun shout, "What are you staring at? Get it out of here, now!"
"Where to?" Li Baoyu felt wronged. The dog was injured; it couldn’t stay outside.
But if not this room, then which one?
"Put it in our room for now." At that moment, Elder Tao, who had been watching the commotion from the doorway, spoke up with a smile. "Don’t let these dogs fight. They’re all already injured."
Hearing Tao Fulun’s words, Li Baoyu didn’t move immediately. Instead, he looked to Zhao Jun.
Only after seeing Zhao Jun nod did Li Baoyu pick up the black dog to leave.
But once held by Li Baoyu, the black dog felt it was in a higher, safer position, and it started staring and baring its teeth at White Dragon again.
What are you looking at?
I’m looking at you, so what?
This doesn’t just apply to people; it applies to dogs, too.
When the two dogs locked eyes, White Dragon was about to lunge.
Zhao Jun raised his hand and smacked the black dog on the head again, then quickly went to soothe White Dragon.
Any more commotion and White Dragon’s wounds would reopen.
"Brother Jun," Tao Fei, who was holding Da Huang nearby, whispered to Zhao Jun, "This dog you found... it doesn’t seem all that great."
Zhao Jun could only sigh. He got up and headed for the room where the Tao grandfather and grandson lived. No matter what, he had to get the black dog’s injury treated first.
When he got to the room, he saw Li Baoyu holding the black dog by the neck, Tao Fulun pulling on its good foreleg, and Tao Fei grabbing its two hind legs.
Seeing Zhao Jun enter, Qu Zanyang, who had just put on a pair of work gloves, pointed at the three men and one dog and laughed. "This looks like a dog slaughtering."
"Ai!" Zhao Jun sighed in frustration at the comment and said angrily, "Might as well just kill it."
"Really?" Qu Zanyang asked with a smile.
Zhao Jun closed his eyes with a smile, jerked his chin up, and gestured at Qu Zanyang.
Qu Zanyang said no more and stepped forward with a smile to feel the black dog’s injured leg.
Looking at the black dog struggling with its three limbs and head, Zhao Jun sighed again. But he stepped forward and took the dog’s leg from Elder Tao. The old man was getting on in years; he didn’t want him to pull a muscle or something.
After Qu Zanyang finished examining it, he looked at Zhao Jun and said, "This dog’s leg..." He trailed off, shaking his head.
"Is it no good?" Zhao Jun asked anxiously.
Qu Zanyang pursed his lips and shook his head slightly. "It can be set, but it won’t be like a healthy dog’s leg. It’ll have a limp."
"We still have to save it," Zhao Jun stated immediately. "Even if it has a permanent limp, I’ll still raise it. If it can be treated, let’s treat it."
"Righteous!" Qu Zanyang praised, then stepped forward to treat the black dog’s leg.
Just then, Li Baoyu, who was holding the dog’s neck and head, said to Zhao Jun, "It’s over. It won’t be able to hunt anymore."
Zhao Jun didn’t say a word. He felt helpless too. This dog was just too much trouble.