Chapter 177: Chapter 152: Beating and Bamboozling
"WOOF! WOOF! WOOF..."
"WAAAAH..."
East of Yong’an Village.
Tied to a tree, Daqing barked incessantly. Not far away, Zhang Laibao raised an arm, using his sleeve to wipe the tears from his face.
It was no wonder Zhang Laibao was crying. His two dogs were worth over a hundred yuan combined. They had faced that massive Xiong Ba without a scratch, yet today they had been ruined by the three dogs belonging to Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu.
The Qing Gou was in a miserable state. One of its front legs couldn’t touch the ground anymore. The worst part was that Hua Xiao’Er had ripped its testicles out, and they were now dangling between its legs, making it impossible for the dog to even stand.
It sat crookedly on the ground, its hind legs spread apart. It stuck its tongue out to lick itself, but every lick sent a spasm of pain through its body, and a whimper escaped its mouth.
The black dog, on the other hand, had avoided serious injury, but it was covered in minor wounds and drenched in blood.
Just then, the victorious Hua Xiao’Er trotted a lap around the area like a triumphant general.
It happened to pass by Zhang Laibao. Having just lowered his arm, Zhang Laibao saw Hua Xiao’Er and lunged at the dog.
Hua Xiao’Er wasn’t afraid of strangers and never expected Zhang Laibao to act more like a dog than he did. By the time it reacted and turned its head, it saw Zhang Laibao’s leg swinging in for a kick.
Hua Xiao’Er dropped low, its hind legs propelling it forward in an instant, causing Zhang Laibao’s kick to hit nothing but air.
"Fuck!" Li Baoyu roared, rushing over and kicking Zhang Laibao onto the snow.
Zhang Laibao lay on the ground, a stream of curses spilling from his mouth.
Li Baoyu strode forward, straddled Zhang Laibao, grabbed his collar with his left hand, and swung his right hand in a huge slap across Zhang Laibao’s face.
SMACK!
"Hey, hey, hey!" Zhao Jun said in a soft, drawn-out voice as he ambled over. "Stop fighting, stop fighting."
After taking the slap, Zhang Laibao’s ears were ringing. He couldn’t hear a word Zhao Jun was saying. His mouth just kept moving, spewing a string of curses at Li Baoyu.
Li Baoyu slapped him again with the back of his hand, and Zhang Laibao’s other cheek instantly swelled up. He looked a whole size plumper than he had two minutes ago.
"Li Baoyu, you’re not a fucking human, you..."
"Alright, alright." Seeing this, Zhao Jun hurried over, pulled Li Baoyu aside, and then helped Zhang Laibao up from the snow.
By now, Zhang Laibao’s face was swollen like a pig’s head. His nose was broken, and blood mixed with snot and tears streamed down his face.
Zhang Laibao was crying, messily wiping his face with the sleeve of his cotton-padded jacket, all while relentlessly cursing Li Baoyu.
Hearing this, Li Baoyu started to move forward again but was blocked by Zhao Jun.
"That’s enough," Zhao Jun said, giving Zhang Laibao a push. "If you don’t shut your trap, I won’t stop Baoyu when he comes for you."
"He hit me..." Hearing Zhao Jun’s threat, Zhang Laibao actually stopped cursing, but he kept muttering, "He hit me."
"With a mouth like yours, who else would he hit?" Zhao Jun barely managed to suppress a laugh. ’These days, people don’t report fights to the authorities to extort money. They might try to settle the score later, but I’d be surprised if the Zhang Family even dared to show up.’
With that thought, Zhao Jun turned to pacify Zhang Laibao. "I’m not trying to criticize you, but they’re just dumb animals fighting. You jumped in, so what does that make you? An animal too?"
Zhang Laibao froze, feeling like Zhao Jun was insulting him.
Seeing Zhang Laibao staring at him with wide eyes, Zhao Jun quickly added, "I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s a dog fight. How could you get involved?"
"I..." Zhang Laibao was at a loss for words. When you put it that way, he really was in the wrong. But feeling the burning sting on his cheeks, his anger flared. He pointed a hateful finger at Li Baoyu. "Li Baoyu, you just wait!"
"Come on, then! Right now!" Li Baoyu pulled off his mittens and started forward, scaring Zhang Laibao into hiding behind Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun quickly blocked Li Baoyu, then turned to lecture Zhang Laibao, "Will you just cool it for a second? Or I won’t help you drag your dogs back!"
Zhang Laibao said in a tearful voice, "The dogs are in this state, how can we even drag them!"
"Hey," Zhao Jun said, patting him on the back. "Your two dogs don’t have any life-threatening injuries. Just take them home and let them recover for a while. By the time they’re better, it’ll be spring, just when the bears come out of hibernation. I’ll take you hunting for black bears."
"Well..." Hearing this, Zhang Laibao hesitated.
Just then, Li Baoyu noticed Zhao Jun frantically signaling him with his eyes. He instantly understood and walked up to Zhang Laibao. "Hey, Zhang Baozi, it’s not my fault I hit you today. When dogs fight, what kind of owner jumps in? Alright, stop crying. Come up the mountain with us tomorrow, and I promise I won’t hit you again."
Zhang Laibao glared resentfully at Li Baoyu, but then he heard Zhao Jun say, "Alright now, Zhang Laibao, if you want to come up the mountain with us, we all have to get along. Why are we fighting all day? With this much energy, wouldn’t it be better to hunt a couple of black bears? Haven’t you heard? The price of Bear Gall has gone up again."
"I..."
Just as Zhang Laibao was about to speak, Zhao Jun put an arm around his shoulder and said gently, "Our two packs of dogs, you know, it’s normal for them to fight the first time they meet. Next time, we’ll just keep them all leashed and let them get familiar with each other for a bit."
"I..."
"You know, if you trust me, you’ll go home and buy a gun," Zhao Jun continued to coax him. "Your family isn’t short on cash. Buy a gun, find a place to practice, and then get a few more tough dogs. You’ll be unstoppable then."
What Zhao Jun said was exactly what Zhang Laibao wanted to hear, and he couldn’t help but be tempted.
Zhao Jun saw that Zhang Laibao was tempted and decided to strike while the iron was hot. "Hurry home and find Doctor Han to patch these two dogs up. Once they’re healed, we’ll team up. I guarantee you’ll get a share of any Bear Gall we get. If you have a gun by then, I can even give you an extra share. You’d get more than Baoyu."
Zhang Laibao’s eyes lit up. He nodded repeatedly with his swollen cheeks, agreeing with everything Zhao Jun said. He didn’t notice that Li Baoyu was standing to the side, looking at him like he was an idiot.
Just then, Zhao Jun picked up the dog-fur hat Zhang Laibao had dropped in the snow and casually plopped it crookedly on his head.
Zhang Laibao looked at his two injured dogs and asked Zhao Jun, "Brother Jun, what do I do now?"
Zhao Jun pointed at the black dog. "That one can walk on its own. You’ll have to carry the Qing Gou back."
Zhang Laibao paused, surprised. "Don’t I have to carry it on my back?"
The fool didn’t have much experience. After the fight with Xiong Ba with Qin Qiang and the others, they had carried three injured dogs down on their backs, so he assumed all injured dogs had to be carried that way.
Zhao Jun shook his head. "Its testicles have been ripped out. How are you going to carry it on your back?"
"Oh, right," Zhang Laibao grunted. Following Zhao Jun’s instructions, he clumsily picked up the Qing Gou.
The skinless testicles dangled down, and any movement of the dog’s lower body made it yelp in pain.
"Brother Jun, I’m heading off then."
"Take it slow."
Watching Zhang Laibao’s retreating figure, Zhao Jun quickly gestured for Li Baoyu to untie Daqing.
As Li Baoyu untied Daqing, he asked Zhao Jun, "Brother, why did you have me tie Daqing up?"
Zhao Jun laughed. "I was afraid he’d kill his two dogs."
When Daqing first arrived, he weighed just over 110 pounds. After months of campaigning south and north with Zhao Jun and eating meat often, he was now approaching 121 pounds. If he had joined the fight just now, even if those two dogs hadn’t been killed, they would have been crippled for life.
Li Baoyu said nonchalantly, "So what if he killed them? It was a dog fight. What’s he going to do, make us pay for it?"
Zhao Jun gazed at Zhang Laibao’s distant figure and smiled. "If they were killed, that would be the end of it. How could we mess with him next time?"
