Chapter 569: Chapter 438: The Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon Acknowledge Only Zhao Jun
Cutting out that extra mile would save them a lot of time and energy. More importantly, it was a better way to keep the hounds from getting injured.
‘In that case, Black Tiger is pretty impressive,’ he thought.
But what Zhao Jun couldn’t figure out was why the Black Bear had been chasing Black Tiger, and so relentlessly at that.
With this in mind, Zhao Jun stood up and walked over to the dead Black Bear.
The moment it saw Zhao Jun approaching, Black Tiger immediately stopped barking, quietly moved to one side, and lay down.
By the time Zhao Jun reached them, all the dogs—except for Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon—were lying on the ground.
As Zhao Jun scanned the nine large dogs, he noticed that with the exception of Black Tiger, even Little Bear, Big Fatty, Da Huang, and White Dragon—who were already eating meat—were panting heavily, their fur bristling in several places.
They only looked like this after a major battle.
Black Tiger, on the other hand, was lying there with its tongue lolling out, but its breathing was even. It was probably just hot. Moreover, when Zhao Jun glanced its way, the dog even yawned.
‘Maybe I’m overthinking it.’ Zhao Jun shook his head, pushing the thought to the back of his mind.
Just then, Li Baoyu and Jie Chen joined in, and the three of them began cutting up meat to feed the dogs.
But per Zhao Jun’s instructions, Black Tiger was to be fed last. So, seeing that the other large dogs were being fed, Zhang Yuanmin cut off two pieces of bear meat, walked over to Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon, and placed a piece in front of each of them.
But to his surprise, the two dogs glanced down at the meat, then looked up at Zhao Jun almost in unison.
Seeing that Zhao Jun wasn’t making a move, Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon both trotted over to him.
“Hey!” Zhang Yuanmin exclaimed, shouting to Zhao Jun, “Brother, why won’t these two eat?”
Zhao Jun finally snapped back to reality. As he looked at Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon by his feet, Black Tiger darted over and, in two gulps, devoured the meat the other two dogs had left behind.
After swallowing the two pieces, Black Tiger began wagging its tail at Zhang Yuanmin again.
“Brother!” Zhang Yuanmin called out to Zhao Jun. Seeing Zhao Jun wave his hand dismissively, he cut off another piece of bear meat.
Zhang Yuanmin held out the meat and gestured to Black Tiger, who trotted over eagerly.
For every piece Zhang Yuanmin cut, Black Tiger swallowed it whole. Zhang Yuanmin knew how formidable this dog was, so he kept cutting and feeding it.
At this point, Jie Chen asked with concern, “Brother Zhang, is it okay to feed a dog like that?”
As soon as Jie Chen finished speaking, he saw Zhang Yuanmin laugh. By this point, including the two pieces it had snatched from Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon, Black Tiger had already swallowed six pieces of meat.
Then, Black Tiger ran off to one side!
It was the first time Jie Chen had ever seen a dog regurgitate its food, and he suddenly understood what people meant by the phrase “live and learn.”
Li Baoyu laughed heartily. “Don’t worry,” he said. “That dog’s been at our place for over half a year, and I’ve never once seen it get an upset stomach from eating.”
With that, Li Baoyu turned to look at Zhao Jun. Just then, Zhao Jun was crouching in front of Cyan Dragon, giving it a physical check-up.
After checking over both Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon and finding neither was injured, Zhao Jun looked up at Li Baoyu. “Baoyu, cut off a strip of meat.”
Hearing this, Li Baoyu deftly used his Invasion Blade to slice off two strips of bear meat and walked over with them in his hand.
Once he got there, Li Baoyu crouched down, took one strip of bear meat, and offered it to Cyan Dragon. But the dog just turned its head to the side.
Li Baoyu froze for a moment, then offered the meat to Black Dragon’s mouth. But Black Dragon did the same, turning its face away.
“Hey!” Li Baoyu exclaimed. “What’s with these two? Did the Black Bear spook them?”
Hearing Li Baoyu’s cry, Zhang Yuanmin and Jie Chen also gathered around. But then they heard Zhao Jun say, “Baoyu, just put the meat down in front of them.”
Normally, you had to feed dogs separately. Otherwise, if two dogs next to each other lowered their heads to eat at the same time, they were likely to start a fight.
However, Li Baoyu knew that Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon never fought, so he placed the two strips of bear meat down, one in front of each dog.
But just like before, Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon glanced down at the bear meat in front of them, then looked up at Zhao Jun in unison once more.
This time, however, they were already right beside Zhao Jun, so they didn’t move.
Suddenly, Zhao Jun seemed to understand. He reached down and picked up the meat in front of Black Dragon, whose gaze followed the strip as it moved.
Zhao Jun offered the meat to Black Dragon’s mouth. The dog opened its jaws and bit one end of the strip. As Zhao Jun let go, Black Dragon tilted its head back, flicked the strip up, and swallowed it whole.
Then, Black Dragon lay down on the ground, cocked its head, and began to chew.
Seeing this, Zhao Jun picked up the other strip and fed it to Cyan Dragon. Just like Black Dragon, it began to eat the meat Zhao Jun had given it.
“Brother Jun!” Jie Chen was the first to catch on. “Your two dogs… they won’t take food from anyone else!”
“Tell me about it!” Li Baoyu said. “They wouldn’t even take it from me.” As he spoke, he glanced over at Little Bear.
Little Bear used to be the same way, never eating anything offered by strangers. If it hadn’t been, Huang Gui would never have entrusted the dog to Zhao Jun.
But ever since it came to the Zhao Family’s home, Wang Meilan had been the one to feed the dogs daily. Back then, Little Bear lived inside the house, and Zhao Hong and Zhao Na would pop over from time to time to sneak the three dogs bits of flatbread, cornbread buns, and other treats.
That undisciplined Little Bear couldn’t resist the temptation and finally caved. From that day on, it would eat food from anyone who offered it.
Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon, on the other hand, had grown up at the Zhao Family home. Besides the large nanny goat that nursed them, only members of the Zhao Family had ever fed them.
What Zhao Jun hadn’t expected, however, was that the two dogs had such distinct personalities that they wouldn’t even take meat from Li Baoyu.
At that, Zhang Yuanmin cut a few more strips of bear meat and came over. As if conducting an experiment, he, Jie Chen, and Li Baoyu took turns offering the meat to Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon. But after repeated tests, they confirmed that the two dogs would, in fact, only eat food given to them by Zhao Jun.
Once Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon had eaten their fill, and the three men had tired of their game, Zhao Jun stood up and looked around. Of all the dogs, only Black Tiger hadn’t finished its meal.
“Brother!” Zhang Yuanmin pointed to the dead Black Bear and asked Zhao Jun, “Do we drag it down the mountain, or skin it here?”
“Skin it,” Zhao Jun said. “We’ll do it right here. After we skin it, we’ll butcher it, and then we’ll divide the meat on the spot.”
As he spoke, Zhao Jun pointed to Zhang Yuanmin, then to Li Baoyu. He then held up four fingers. “We’ll divide it into four shares,” he said. “You, me, and Baoyu, plus Gu Yang. One share per family.”
The tip about this Black Bear had come from Gu Yang, so even though he hadn’t been present, he was definitely getting a share of the meat.
As for Jie Chen, he was staying at Zhao Jun’s family home, so he wouldn’t get a separate share of meat. However, when the Bear Gall was sold, Jie Chen would get a cut of the money, whereas Gu Yang would not.
Last time, Gu Yang had been the one to lay the bait, so he had gotten a share of the Bear Gall. This time, however, he hadn’t shown up, so there would be no share of the gall for him.
The four men skinned the Black Bear, butchered the meat, and packed it all into four burlap sacks. Each shouldering a sack, they started back up the slope.
Along the way, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu whistled, and the Dog Gang followed them to the truck.
Jie Chen drove again, carrying the three men, eleven dogs, and four sacks of bear meat on the return trip to Yong’an Village.
Sitting in the bed of the truck, Li Baoyu looked at the four sacks propped up to one side and chuckled. “That Gu Yang… Said it was a seven or eight-hundred-*jin* Black Bear. This is half that size at best.”
“Heh,” Zhang Yuanmin chuckled. “He’s a timid one. If he weren’t, he wouldn’t be at home putting up with that whole situation.”
“Putting up with what?” Li Baoyu asked, his curiosity piqued.
Zhang Yuanmin faltered, not daring to discuss Gu Yang’s personal affairs. He quickly changed the subject, saying to Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu, “Let’s just grab a quick bite for lunch when we get back. Tonight, you all come to my house for dinner.”
As he spoke, he gestured toward the back of the truck. “Bring this brother along too,” he said, referring to Jie Chen. “I’ll have your sister-in-law cook up a few dishes. We’ll eat and have a few drinks.”
“Deal!” Zhao Jun didn’t stand on ceremony with Zhang Yuanmin and accepted immediately. Then he turned to Li Baoyu. “Baoyu, do you have work tomorrow?”
“Yep,” Li Baoyu nodded. “I’ve got work I can’t get out of. Brother Shunzi only gave me today off.”
“Then you should go to work,” Zhao Jun responded, then turned to Zhang Yuanmin. “Brother Zhang, in that case, tomorrow morning you, me, and Jie Chen—the three of us—will go after that den of Fragrant Musk Deer.”