The old man's three cows were tied to a mango tree about ten meters away from his house: two adult cows and a half-grown calf.
The old man also kept a dog, a black dog.
When Yuan Mengge passed by, Duoduo followed. She found a rock, climbed up, and sat down.
Duoduo wandered around aimlessly, and was spotted by the old man's black dog.
"Woof woof woof—howl howl howl—woof woof woof woof woof!" The black dog saw another dog trespassing into its territory and immediately barked to warn it.
After being warned, Duoduo wisely didn't approach and instead turned and walked into the nearby woods.
Yuan Mengge sat on a rock, swatting a mosquito with her left hand and another with her right.
The weather in the south is hot, and even in winter, mosquitoes don't take a break.
Just after Yuan Mengge swatted a bunch of dead mosquitoes, Duoduo suddenly ran back, stood next to the rock where she was, pricked up her ears and craned her neck, staring at the other side.
Upon seeing this, Yuan Mengge realized what it had witnessed.
She gently rolled off the rock, hid behind it, and peered in the direction Duoduo was looking.
A short while later, the sound of slow footsteps could be heard. The footsteps were slow, each step light and gentle on the ground, in order to minimize the noise made by the feet.
A figure slowly emerged from the darkness, walked around to the back of the house, and then went to the other side where the cows were sleeping.
The big black dog seemed to have noticed something and suddenly started barking at the back of the house again: "Woof woof woof! Woof woof woof woof woof—"
After hearing the dog bark, the man stopped, intending to wait for the barking to cease before continuing his actions.
"Woof woof woof—roar roar roar—"
However, the big black dog kept barking at him.
Duoduo, who was lying on the ground next to Yuan Mengge, was staring intently at the other side with her ears perked up.
After waiting for a while, and feeling that the barking of the dogs was gradually decreasing, the figure walked towards the cow's location again.
Yuan Mengge squatted in place, observing the commotion from a distance.
She can't go over there now. What if the old man finds her and comes out but doesn't see the cow thief, then he'll mistake her for the cow thief.
The other party's attention was completely focused on the wooden house and the cow, and they didn't notice anything else around them.
As he approached the place where the cow was tethered, he quickly began to untie the rope.
"Woof woof woof! Woof! Woof woof woof woof—" The black dog started to get agitated, but it was chained to the door of the cabin and couldn't rush over, so it could only bark frantically.
After its frantic barking, the lights finally came on inside the house.
Then a hunched-over person came out of the room.
When the man who had untied the ox rope noticed someone coming out of the house, he quickly dropped the ox and ran into the dark forest.
After the old man came out, he looked in the direction the black dog was barking and found that it was barking in the spot where the cow was sleeping.
He suddenly walked nervously toward the cow and saw the untied rope lying on the ground.
The cows all stood up, but they weren't too frightened.
Domesticated cattle are generally not afraid of people.
Some cows will recognize their owner, but most cows are quite docile and will not attack people casually.
Upon seeing the cow's rope untied, the old man immediately began cursing in his dialect.
"Which bastard tried to steal my cow? Why not steal from anyone else, but come to these mountains to steal mine? Do they think I'm all alone and easy to bully?"
The old man cursed and swore, then tied the cow rope back to the tree.
Then he went back and unchained the black dog, took a machete from the house, and started searching the surrounding area with a flashlight, hoping to find the cow thief.
"Woof woof woof!" As soon as the black dog was released, it immediately chased after the direction in which the cattle thief had fled.
The old man ran after the dog, knife in hand, cursing, "I'll see who dares to steal my cow."
The black dog quickly caught up with the man, then bristled and barked wildly at him: "Woof woof woof woof woof—"
It wasn't a trained police dog, and it was still somewhat afraid of humans, not daring to rush up and bite them directly.
The only way to let its owner know is by sound.
Seeing that the black dog was chasing him and barking, revealing his location, the man decided to go all in and picked up a stone to throw at the dog.
However, the black dog nimbly dodged his stone.
The old man ran over at that moment, shouting, "Who is it! Who tried to steal my cow!"
The man immediately turned and fled, running into the deep mountains.
Yuan Mengge quickly followed.
She felt that the man was going to lure the old man into the deep mountains, then kill him and bury the body.
That way, when he comes back and takes the cow away, no one will notice.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
