The two of them shoved the young man with the battered face along, kicking him as they went and constantly urging him to hurry up.
After taking a beating and getting bitten by dogs in who knew how many places, he hurt all over. How could he walk fast? Still, he deserved every curse and blow he got!
The dogs were getting impatient too. They ran ahead, only to come back a moment later and bark furiously a few times.
It was midnight, and the villagers were sound asleep. An occasional bark would not disturb their sleep, but frequent, furious barking could easily wake them.
As they slowly pushed the thief back toward home, a neighbor opened a window and cursed, "Where did these damned dogs come from? Barking nonstop in the middle of the night! Don't the rest of us need to sleep? Get lost!"
Ye Yaodong's dogs were no pushovers either. They all ran straight beneath the neighbor's window and barked furiously.
"Where did all these strays come from? Tomorrow I'll get some rat poison..."
As the neighbor spoke, a glass bottle came flying out of the window. It shattered on the ground, scattering shards everywhere, and Ye Yaodong and the others immediately took two steps back.
The dogs were startled too and retreated to his side.
Ye Yaodong nudged the dogs with his foot. "You cowards. One little scare and you don't dare bark anymore? If you're done barking, hurry home. Stop dawdling. What are you running back and forth for? All of you came out, so who's watching the house? Get back there. Don't let someone lure us away and hit the house."
Seeing the dogs still lingering around his feet, he kicked at them again. "Go on! The courtyard gate's still wide open. Get back