Liu Tiezhu's expression instantly tensed. He crouched low, raising the compound crossbow in his hand, aiming it toward the source of the sound.
The crackling noise grew closer and closer.
Hidden behind the bamboo, Liu Tiezhu couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Footsteps? Could it be a hunter entering the bamboo grove?
Liu Tiezhu froze for a moment, then crouched even lower, peering ahead.
Suddenly, a "moo" rang out, and an old yellow ox emerged from the dense bamboo.
Behind the ox, a man dressed entirely in black followed closely.
The man in black looked nervous, glancing around constantly.
He held a bamboo switch in his hand, repeatedly striking the ox's hind legs to urge it forward.
Liu Tiezhu recognized it at once—this was Liu Yang's family ox.
In the entire Liu Family Village, only Liu Yang's family kept an old yellow ox.
This ox was seven years old, weighing over six hundred jin, and was very intelligent.
Damn it, he's run into a cattle thief.
Liu Tiezhu cursed under his breath, mulling over how to rescue the old yellow ox.
Liu Yang's family was sharp-tongued and mean, but the ox was innocent.
Since he'd stumbled upon this, he couldn't let it fall into the thief's hands.
By now, the ox was just six meters away from Liu Tiezhu.
Sensing a familiar presence, the ox let out a series of "moo" sounds, as if begging for help.
The big man following behind grew impatient, raising the bamboo switch to strike the ox's hind leg again.
"Damn it, you dare steal my family's ox?"
Liu Tiezhu shouted loudly to bolster his courage, blocking the big man's path.
At the same time, he pulled the trigger on the compound crossbow, firing an arrow that landed right at the edge of the man's foot.
The big man was already guilty and skittish.
Hearing the shout and seeing Liu Tiezhu holding the crossbow, he turned and ran without a second word.
Liu Tiezhu didn't bother chasing. He took the ox's rope and led it toward the edge of the bamboo grove.
The old yellow ox was docile, letting itself be led, occasionally letting out "moo" sounds.
As man and ox emerged from the grove, his elder brother Liu Tieshan had also returned.
Seeing Liu Tiezhu leading Liu Yang's old yellow ox, Liu Tieshan was completely stunned.
"Zhu, what's going on?"
"How did you end up with Liu Yang's ox?"
"This ox was stolen, and I happened to run into it. What should we do now?"
Liu Tiezhu recounted the incident in full detail.
"What else can we do? Take it back to Liu Yang, of course."
"If the old ox is missing, they're bound to be worried. I'll lead it back now."
Liu Tieshan took the ox's rope and started heading back.
"Brother, be careful. We'll meet back here later."
Liu Tiezhu gave a quick instruction, then picked up the compound crossbow and re-entered the bamboo grove.
After about ten minutes, Liu Tiezhu reached the center of the grove.
The damp ground was covered in several dozen centimeters of bamboo leaves, and the dense bamboo blocked the view.
This kind of place was perfect for snakes to hide, so Liu Tiezhu didn't dare move too fast.
Every spot his flashlight illuminated, he examined carefully several times before daring to take a step.
After another few dozen steps, Liu Tiezhu's flashlight stopped ahead, his face showing disbelief.
In the thick layer of bamboo leaves ahead, countless bamboo tips were poking out.
These were winter bamboo shoots, extremely rare.
Liu Tiezhu rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
Finding bamboo shoots in winter—he had to admit his luck was incredible.
Usually, bamboo shoots are only dug up after spring, when the bamboo sprouts.
In winter, bamboo doesn't sprout at all.
So finding bamboo shoots was nearly impossible.
Yet here was a huge patch, weighing several hundred jin.
Certain he wasn't hallucinating, Liu Tiezhu's hands trembled with excitement.
Besides the bamboo shoots, he also noticed many porcini mushrooms growing on the thick layer of leaves.
Porcini mushrooms were also edible fungi, with nutritional value no less than meat.
This patch in front of him—he had no idea how many jin it weighed.
Liu Tiezhu took out a machete, cleared away the thick leaves, and began pulling up the mushrooms by their roots.
There were so many porcini mushrooms around that Liu Tiezhu grew more excited with each one he picked.
In an hour, two burlap sacks were full.
Liu Tiezhu estimated that the two sacks weighed at least over two hundred jin.
And that was only a third of what was there—a large patch still remained.
"No, I need to call Second Uncle and the others to help."
Liu Tiezhu thought it over, then cleared a small area, gathered dry bamboo leaves, and lit a fire.
Under the pitch-black night sky, the flames were especially striking.
Seeing the fire, Second Uncle and Ergouzi, who were in the cornfield, quickly headed in that direction.
Half an hour later, the three met up.
Seeing the ground covered in bamboo shoots and porcini mushrooms, Second Uncle stood with his mouth agape in shock.
"We won't need to trade meat for vegetables anymore."
"These bamboo shoots and mushrooms will last us months."
"Dog, get the sacks ready. Let's get to work."
Second Uncle swallowed his saliva, speaking with delight.
"Got it!"
Ergouzi grinned from ear to ear, immediately pulling out the sacks.
An hour later, they had filled three more sacks.
Second Uncle signaled for everyone to rest, then lit a fire, skewered two dressed mountain chickens on a bamboo stick, and set them to roast.
"Zhu, where's Brother Shan?"
Ergouzi warmed himself by the fire for a while before realizing Liu Tieshan was missing.
Hearing this, Second Uncle turned his gaze to Liu Tiezhu.
"He went to return the ox to Liu Yang's place."
Return the ox?
Second Uncle paused, then asked, "What happened?"
Liu Tiezhu didn't hide anything and recounted the earlier events.
After hearing it, Ergouzi cursed, "Damn it, those bastards have some nerve."
"If it were me, I'd have put an arrow in his leg just now."
No sooner had he spoken than he got a slap on the head.
Second Uncle glared at Ergouzi and scolded, "You don't know anything. Better to avoid trouble than to court it."
"What if you pissed off that cattle thief and he fought you to the death?"
"Zhu did the right thing—scaring him off was enough. No need to stir up more trouble."
Ergouzi rubbed his head and dared not speak again.
Second Uncle took a swig of strong liquor and continued, "By the way, Liu Yang's family isn't reasonable."
"Could Shan returning the ox cause some misunderstanding?"
Hearing this, Liu Tiezhu's eyelids twitched.
His brother had gone to return the ox nearly two hours ago.
Logically, he should be back by now.
Thinking this over, Liu Tiezhu voiced his concern.
"Second Uncle, if that's the case, I'm worried Liu Yang's family might mistake my brother for the thief."
"He wouldn't dare. I'd skin him alive."
Ergouzi stood up, machete in hand, eyes blazing with anger.
Second Uncle thought for a moment and said, "Dog, take a sack of mushrooms back first and check on things."
"If Liu Yang's family is unreasonable, come tell me right away. Don't start a fight with them, understand?"
"I'll head back now."
Ergouzi nodded, slung a sack of porcini mushrooms over his back, and hurried toward the village.