With Niu Ba's generous help, Cheng Yu soon reached the place Niu Ba had mentioned.
But it was the same old trick. Aside from a small rocky hill, there was nothing there.
Cheng Yu first asked,
"Are you sure this is the place, Niu Niu?"
Niu Ba nodded, then raised a forehoof and pointed at the rocky hill ahead.
"There! The smell is coming from inside."
Cheng Yu nodded slightly, then looked at Niu Ba again.
"Niu Niu, if I do it myself, it'll take quite a while. Why don't you handle it instead? You're so powerful, after all. I'm sure you could punch through this little rocky hill in just a few hits."
Niu Ba tossed his head proudly.
"Of course. A little hill like that? Once I get serious, I can smash right through it without breaking a sweat."
Standing beside him, Cheng Yu nodded solemnly.
"Right. Come to think of it, I've never seen you fight. How about broadening my horizons today?"
By now, Niu Ba's grin was harder to keep down than an AK's muzzle.
"All right! I'll show you what I can do."
With that, the devilishly muscular bull was back in action.
Whoosh! Niu Ba shot forward so fast Cheng Yu could barely follow him with the naked eye.
Boom!!!
When the dust cleared, the round-bodied Niu Ba stood proudly atop the rubble, looking down at Cheng Yu.
"Well?! Pretty impressive, right?"
Cheng Yu applauded as he walked toward the cave exposed in the ground, making sure to give Niu Ba all the praise he wanted.
"Impressive, impressive, impressive."
There were no lights inside the cave, and it was pitch-black, but Niu Ba said,
"The smell's getting stronger. It should be just ahead."
After walking a little farther and rounding a bend, Cheng Yu