Chapter 30: Scared to Pee

That night, a strong wind rose.

A waning crescent moon hung in the sky like a hook, shedding clear light over the ground.

In ancient times there was little entertainment; people ate their fill and then slept.

Du Ruo lay down early, and the two little ones also closed their room door early.

People were asleep, but the dog was wide awake.

Since eating the Marrow Cleansing Pill given by the lady, Tie Dan's energy has become abundantly overflowing to an unbelievable degree; at this moment, deep into the night, it wished it could go up the mountain to fight a tiger.

However, after thinking it over, the dog gave up.

The male master is not at home, the female master has grown that fat, and as for the little master and her foolish older brother, they're even less worth mentioning—none of them are useful.

In the kitchen there lay a pile of tasty food; if thieves were to break in, one could count on it.

Tie Dan lay against the corner of the wall, boredly eating mosquitoes.

Creak.

Outside the courtyard wall there was suddenly a sound, as if something had stepped on a branch.

The dog immediately became alert, pricking up its two ears.

Who? Is someone there?

The next second, a pointy-mouthed, monkey-cheeked head poked out from the wall; seeing the dog, the eyeballs on that head instantly widened.

"Oh my goodness!" he exclaimed.

Over there, a woman anxiously asked: "What's wrong, Zongbao? Are you alright?"

Jiang Zongbao steadied himself, "It's fine, give me the bun."

He lay on the wall, wagging the bun in his hand at the dog, coaxing in a servile tone: "Good Tie Dan, this is a delicious meat bun, oh, do you want to eat it?"

The dog looked at him with the eyes of one looking at an idiot.

Seeing it not bark, Jiang Zongbao assumed his strategy had succeeded, filling him with even greater confidence for tonight's action.

He threw the meat bun onto the ground, excitedly saying: "Hurry up and eat it; once you finish, you'll never suffer in this world again—remember in your next life to be reborn as a human, got it?"

Tie Dan tilted its head, then indeed walked over to the bun, lowering its head to sniff it.

Taking the opportunity, Jiang Zongbao heaved himself into the courtyard with a grunt; the moment he landed, he almost sprained his ankle.

He didn't have time for that, but instead went feeling his way to the kitchen, familiar with the route.

The kitchen wasn't locked; a push opened it.

By the cool moonlight, Jiang Zongbao saw a long piece of meat that looked to weigh seven or eight catties, hanging on the wall; there were also several sacks of grain, a basket of eggs, and many fresh vegetables laid out on the ground.

Especially that jar of glistening white salt at the innermost part of the stove, which almost dazzled his eyes!

"This little lass is really generous, buying such good things..." but after tonight it'll all be his, hahaha.

Jiang Zongbao grabbed the meat and was about to leave, but in the instant he turned his head, he saw a dog already sitting at the doorway.

The dog's gaze was extremely icy, cold as if it were looking at a corpse.

Jiang Zongbao was startled.

This skinny dog actually didn't eat that bun? Impossible, the temptation of a meat bun is such that even a heavenly hound couldn't resist.

Before he could figure it out, the dog bared its teeth and lunged, biting his leg in one snap.

Intense pain quickly spread upward from the point of impact, finally reaching his brain.

Jiang Zongbao instinctively opened his mouth and let out an anguished cry.

Ah!!!

Cao Shi outside the courtyard wall was eagerly waiting for her son to bring out the tasty food; hearing this anguished cry, she shuddered all over and immediately realized something had happened.

"Zongbao?" Cao Shi called out in a suppressed voice.

In response came an increasingly shrill anguished cry.

The people inside the house were awakened by the noise; someone warily asked: "Who's there?"

Cao Shi panicked completely; her maternal love made her forget about being discovered, she dashed over and pounded on the door, crying: "Zongbao! Zongbao, how are you?"

This commotion finally stirred the surrounding households; one oil lamp after another lit up.

Many people rubbed their eyes and came out to see what was happening.

Jiang Zongbao crawled outward while screaming, dragging his body.

Wah wah wah, it's too terrifying—the skinny dog of the second household has gone mad; his leg has been bitten full of holes, he's almost lost sensation…

Mother! Save me!

"Zongbao!" hearing her son's heart-rending wail, Cao Shi's heart felt like it would break; maternal love gave her courage, and she finally summoned all her strength to slam open the courtyard gate.

Jiang Zongbao lay on the ground, hair disheveled, his outer clothes torn to rags, leaving only a pair of underpants, with a large wet patch faintly visible.

A strong smell of urine spread throughout the courtyard.

Cao Shi threw herself onto her son while crying, "Zongbao, who did this to you? Who?!"

The dog sat calmly at the side, wearing an innocent expression.

Immediately, it turned its head to look toward the house.

Inside the house, Du Ruo kicked Jiang Cheng, "All right, we can go out now."

Jiang Cheng gave an acknowledgment, opened the door, picked up a lantern, and rushed outside.

"Eh? Aunt, cousin, why is it you?" he exclaimed in feigned surprise.

Du Ruo, following behind him, held back her laughter.

The foolish youngster still had a bit of acting talent; those unaware really thought he knew nothing at all.

Actually, from the moment Jiang Zongbao let out his first anguished cry, they had already awakened; Jiang Cheng was furious to death, rolled up his sleeves and prepared to go out to catch the thief, but Du Ruo stopped him.

This sort of thing, of course, should be left to our dog grandpa!

Never mind whose fault it is, if Jiang Cheng really injured Jiang Zongbao, could the main branch easily let him off?

But the dog is different; what does a dog know? It's just a dog.

Bit an intruding thief — that's merit in defending the master!

Mrs. Cao cradled the painfully wailing Jiang Zongbao, lifted her head and glared resentfully at the uncle and sister-in-law, "You have such vicious hearts, letting the dog do violence, injuring Zongbao like this — you mean to kill him! Du Clan, Jiang Sanlang, you… you won't die a good death!".

Let the dog do violence?

Du Ruo stepped forward and glanced at Jiang Zongbao — his body was like a plucked chicken, bare and obvious.

Tsk tsk, one look and you know his kidneys are bad.

Aside from two blood holes of moderate size on his right calf, Jiang Zongbao's other parts were completely unharmed; obviously the dog had held back, not going for a killing blow.

"Aunt, you're the wicked one crying foul first." Du Ruo relaxed, immediately began acting, putting on a put-upon daughter-in-law look, "My cousin himself came to our house to steal — how can we blame our dog?"

Saying that, she looked toward behind Cao Shi and raised her voice.

"Uncles and aunts, elder brother and sister-in-law, please come help me judge!"

Cao Shi's body stiffened, then she noticed the courtyard was already crowded with many people, some even holding torches that lit the tiny broken yard as bright as day.

Everyone wore the expression of watching a show.

"Exactly, Zongbao's mother — if Zongbao hadn't come to steal, could their dog have bitten him?" Those who liked to stir up trouble shouted that.

Cao Shi jumped up to retort: "Cut the crap, who said Zongbao stole anything? Which of your eyes saw him stealing? We just came out for a stroll after eating our fill, is that not allowed?"

"Wow, you walked far enough — all the way into someone else's yard."

The crowd burst into laughter.

Nobody's stupid; anyone with eyes can see what happened — stealing and ending up at your own cousin's house, truly despicable.

Jiang Zongbao's mind finally cleared; seeing many young married women among the onlookers, he panicked, grabbing a scrap of cloth from nearby to cover his privates.

"Enough, Mother, let's hurry away." His leg hurt, his face hurt more — so embarrassing.

Cao Shi hurriedly helped him up, heartbroken: "All right, Mother won't say more; Mother will take you to see a doctor..."

Just then, the crowd suddenly parted, and Village Chief Lin You Tian and the Jiang Family Elder Clan Head walked in.

The Jiang Clan Head said nothing, raised his cane and struck.

"Damn thing! You've disgraced the Jiang name!"