Chapter 8 (continued)

Shi Wen took a sickle and soon cut enough grass to fill two baskets.

As he carried the baskets past the sheep shed, Heiwa heard him and came running out. He followed Shi Wen, barking at him, his little tail wagging furiously.

Carrying the baskets, Shi Wen nearly stepped on the puppy darting around his feet. Laughing, he called to Heiwa, "Stay away from me. No causing trouble."

Shi Wen walked on with the baskets, and Heiwa followed behind, sniffing left and right and barking every now and then. He had clearly caught an unfamiliar scent and was a little excited.

After entering the cattle shed, Heiwa immediately spotted the bad-tempered cow tied to the railing.

The bad-tempered cow spotted the little fellow too. She glared at him and bellowed, "Moo!"

Not to be outdone, Heiwa barked, "Woof, woof!"

The cow was tied up, but Heiwa was free to move. He marched straight up to her, puffed out his little chest, and barked loudly.

The bad-tempered cow immediately lowered her head as if preparing to charge.

Heiwa clearly disliked this big cow who dared challenge his authority. He crouched down, ready to rush in and fight.

The dog and cow looked like they were about to go at it.

Shi Wen put down the baskets and hurried over. He pressed a hand against Heiwa's back to push him down, then scooped up the puppy. "You're so little, and you already want to fight?"

Heiwa kicked his legs in the air, clearly unwilling to back down. "Woof, woof!"

Shi Wen lowered his head and rubbed his chin against the dog's head. Smiling, he said, "When you're bigger, you two can go fight outside."

Then Shi Wen looked at the bad-tempered cow. "You too. Stop provoking him!"

After getting the two little animals under control, Shi Wen carried the freshly cut grass to the feeding trough. He also crumbled some rapeseed cake and put it in with the grass.

The distinctive oily aroma of rapeseed cake wafted out.

The scrawny cow walked over to the trough, sniffed it, and began chewing on the grass.

The bad-tempered cow had clearly caught the fresh scent of the feed too. Forgetting all about the puppy confronting her, she shifted her hooves, moving left and right as she tried to break free. She also opened her mouth and let out a long "Moo" at Shi Wen.

After putting the feed in place, Shi Wen patted her neck. "Weren't you refusing to go in just now?"

The cow couldn't understand a word Shi Wen was saying. She just kept straining toward the feeding trough.

Shi Wen untied the rope. This time, he didn't need to herd her in. She ambled into the shed on her own and began munching on the grass.

Shi Wen watched her from outside the pen. "I didn't expect you to be such a glutton. They said you had a bad temper, but a little feed was enough to win you over. Looks like your temper isn't really that bad."

The cow kept eating without raising her head.

Shi Wen reached out and patted the cow's neck. "How about I call you 'Good Temper'? Hopefully, you'll have a better temper from now on. Eat well and grow strong."

As he spoke, Shi Wen smiled and turned to the scrawny cow. "You can be 'Big One.' Hopefully, you'll really grow big enough to live up to the name."

The scrawny cow mooed at Shi Wen. "Moo-"

After naming the two cows, Shi Wen fetched his tools and began cleaning the pen.

He had only given it a quick clean and disinfected it before. If he was going to keep the two cows here, a quick clean certainly wouldn't be enough. It needed a thorough cleaning and disinfection.

As he scattered slaked lime over the floor, Shi Wen looked at the bare ground and considered drying some grass or buying some straw.

Otherwise, once the cows relieved themselves over the next couple of days, the floor of the pen would surely get very muddy. Some grass for bedding would help keep the ground cleaner and make it easier to clean.

The dirty grass, dung, and urine he cleared out could then be piled together for compost.

Shi Wen's thoughts gradually wandered. He didn't know how much time had passed before Heiwa's frantic barking startled him back to his senses.

Thinking Heiwa and Good Temper were at it again, he called through the fence, "Heiwa, stop barking!"

This time, Heiwa didn't obey. He kept barking furiously, putting so much effort into it that even the base of his tail strained.

Puzzled, Shi Wen draped his rag over the railing and was about to go out and intervene. To his surprise, when he stepped outside, he saw Big One in the pen, eating ravenously with her head down and paying no attention to Heiwa outside.

Heiwa had his head raised, but he wasn't barking at Big One. He was barking at something outside the cattle shed.

Heiwa was barking so fiercely that Shi Wen looked out at the open grassland, pitch-black in the darkness, and immediately broke out in goosebumps.

What did this little fellow see? Why is he barking so fiercely?

A whole stack of horror novels flashed through his mind—it was a dark, windy night in a remote place like this. It wasn't impossible for something to happen.

Heiwa was still barking. Shi Wen tried to peer outside, pricking up his ears to listen for any sounds.

He didn't know whether he was imagining it, but he seemed to hear a mournful cry.

Before long, a faint scent of blood drifted to his nose. It was very faint, but he caught it with his keen senses.

At that moment, Shi Wen had a hunch that the smell of blood might not have come from a human, but from some kind of animal—a large wild animal at that.

It was too late, and it was too dark outside.

Shi Wen didn't dare risk going to look. He called the police instead.

After hearing what he had to say, the police told him to stay on the ranch and said they would be there soon.

Shi Wen shut the cattle shed's main door and no longer had the heart to work.

With his arms around Heiwa's neck, he sat on a small folding stool in the cattle shed and waited quietly.

After more than twenty minutes, lights and sounds came from the distance. Shi Wen realized the police had arrived.

He picked up a flashlight from the windowsill and put a leash on Heiwa, who was beside him, braced for a formidable enemy. "Heiwa, let's go."

Heiwa immediately ran to his feet. Once Shi Wen had put the leash on him, he followed him outside, looking up at him from time to time.

On the summer night, the evening wind howled past them, flattening the newly sprouted grass.

Before Shi Wen and Heiwa had even left the ranch, he saw people gathered in a circle on the road. Voices clamored and lights flashed in confusion, while police cars stood along the roadside like a city wall. At the same time, Shi Wen caught a stronger smell of blood.

A strong, musky animal scent mingled with the smell of blood. Now he was certain that the injured party was no human.