Chapter 489 - 405: A Beast Crosses the Land, Black Tiger Howls

Zhu Dashan nudged Zhu Jiang, motioning for him not to interrupt, but still offered an explanation. "It’s Big Pants."

"Ah!" The name Zhang Yuanmin drew a blank from Zhu Jiang, but the mention of "Big Pants" brought instant recognition.

Zhu Aiguo continued, "I saw him with a rifle on his back, setting traps on the hillside. His family..." He trailed off, then looked at Zhu Dashan. "Maybe it’s better if you go, Dad."

Zhang Yuanmin had a strange personality. For people he respected, he’d give them the shirt off his back. But for those he looked down on, he wouldn’t accept a mountain of gold from them.

Take Zhao Jinshan, for example. Even though he was the Village Chief’s son, Zhang Yuanmin wanted nothing to do with him.

Zhu Aiguo, on the other hand, didn’t have much contact with Zhang Yuanmin. If he showed up asking to borrow a gun, there was a good chance Zhang Yuanmin wouldn’t lend it to him. But Zhu Dashan was different. He’d been on good terms with Zhang Yuanmin’s father back when he was alive.

"Alright!"

Just as Zhu Dashan agreed, he heard Wang Juan shout from the outer room, "Time to eat! Are you going to let these dumplings get cold?"

Hearing this, Zhu Dashan hurriedly said to Zhu Aiguo and Zhu Jiang, "Let’s go, let’s go. Otherwise, you two are in for it."

Without needing a reminder from Zhu Dashan, the father and son were already out the door, heading straight for the west room.

When Zhu Dashan arrived in the west room, he heard Wang Juan scolding Zhu Aiguo, saying, "You act like a hands-off boss all day. You come home and can’t even set the table."

Zhu Aiguo didn’t say a word, simply placing bowls and chopsticks around the kang table.

Seeing this, and partly to rescue his son and partly because he had real business to discuss, Zhu Dashan said to Wang Juan, "Juan."

"Yes, Dad." Wang Juan’s attitude toward her father-in-law was always quite good. Hearing him call her name, she quickly asked, "What is it?"

"Um..." Zhu Dashan took the chopsticks Zhu Aiguo handed him and said to Wang Juan, "The dumpling water..."

"Oh, Dad, I’ll get you a bowl in a bit." Wang Juan thought her father-in-law wanted some of the broth to drink. After all, there was the saying that the original broth helps digest the original food, though you were supposed to eat a few dumplings first.

"No," Zhu Dashan said, quickly stopping her. "While the dumpling water is still hot, use it to scald some cornmeal for the three dogs."

Zhu Dashan was being frugal. Boiling more water would mean burning more firewood, so using the water the dumplings had just been cooked in saved them the trouble. It would also lighten Wang Juan’s workload.

But the moment the words left his mouth, Wang Juan’s expression darkened. "And I’m supposed to feed them?" she snapped. "Do you have any idea what kind of trouble those damn dogs caused? Four of the chicks are dead! Not a single one left..."

"What?" Zhu Aiguo hadn’t expected such a disaster to happen while he was gone for just a day. "What happened?" he asked quickly.

As he spoke, Zhu Aiguo glanced at his father, but Zhu Dashan avoided his gaze and spoke only to Wang Juan. "They still need to eat. Those two in the storeroom haven’t had a bite all day. We need them well-fed if they’re going to help us with the Black Bear tonight."

Seeing his daughter-in-law’s expression was still grim, Zhu Dashan tried to entice her. "Aiguo and I are going to borrow a couple of guns in a bit. We’re going to the fields tonight. If we get that Black Bear and sell its Bear Gall, we’ll have enough money to find a wife for my grandson."

The moment Zhu Dashan said this, Wang Juan froze. Then her eyes lit up, and her expression changed in an instant. "Alright, Dad," she said with a smile. "I’ll do as you say!"

After saying her piece, Wang Juan turned and left. As she headed for the outer room, both Zhu Aiguo and Zhu Jiang gave Zhu Dashan a thumbs-up.

The old man laughed heartily, picked up a dumpling with his chopsticks, and popped it straight into his mouth without dipping it in soy sauce or vinegar.

「Later that night, after ten o’clock.」

Three generations of the Zhu Family—grandfather, father, and son—were dressed and ready. Zhu Dashan and Zhu Aiguo carried rifles on their backs, while Zhu Jiang had an Invasion Blade and a hand axe tucked into his belt.

Just as the three of them were about to leave, Wang Juan stopped Zhu Dashan and solemnly placed a small cloth pouch she had just finished sewing into his hands.

Zhu Dashan had suddenly remembered hearing Zhao Jun’s grandfather say that a harvested Bear Gall had to be placed in a small, white cloth pouch. That was why he’d had Wang Juan rush to sew one, finishing it just before they left.

"Let’s go!" With a command from Zhu Dashan, he led the way out of the house.

Wang Juan grabbed Zhu Jiang but looked at Zhu Aiguo and said, "You three be careful."

"Don’t worry!" Zhu Aiguo said with a smile. "We have two rifles. What’s there to be afraid of?" With that, he also walked out the door.

And so, the grandfather, father, and son left the courtyard with three dogs on leashes, heading straight south.

As Zhu Aiguo led Black Tiger, he couldn’t help but feel a little exasperated. After dinner, the three of them had put in a Herculean effort just to get a rope on the dog. Luring him with food had failed, and gentle coaxing had been useless.

In the end, it had turned into a full-blown chase, and half the family’s vegetable garden was trampled before they finally managed to pin Black Tiger down and get the rope on him.

The strange thing was, the moment he was pinned to the ground, Black Tiger became completely docile. He kept trying to lick Zhu Aiguo’s hands as he tied the rope around his neck.

Twenty minutes later, the three men and three dogs arrived at the South Land. They owned a plot of land here, but further south, closer to the mountain, was another plot that also belonged to them.

The plot near the mountain was one that Zhu Aiguo and Wang Juan had cleared with their own blood, sweat, and tears. But because it was so close, it was the first place the Black Bear went whenever it came down from the mountain.

The three of them pressed on. They were only about a hundred meters from their destination.

Suddenly, Big Fatty, led by Zhu Jiang, threw his head back and started barking at something ahead.

The sudden barking sounded exceptionally loud in the dead of night.

Immediately after, a loud RUSTLING and CRASHING came from the cornfield—the sound of a large animal plowing through, snapping stalks and scraping against the leaves!

"Release the dogs!" Zhu Dashan commanded. The grandfather, father, and son simultaneously yanked the slipknots, releasing the ropes from the three dogs’ necks.

The moment he was unleashed, Big Fatty stopped barking. San Pang, meanwhile, hadn’t made a sound at all.

Only Black Tiger stood before the three of them. Facing the cornfield, he threw back his head and, like a lone wolf howling at the moon, let out a long, drawn-out cry.

The eyes of all three Zhu men lit up, and they exclaimed in unison, "Good dog!"