Mountain Looting: Targeted by a Leopard at the Start
Chapter 166 - 165: Little Black’s Puzzling Behavior, Digging a Hole to Bury Himself?

Chapter 166: Chapter 165: Little Black’s Puzzling Behavior, Digging a Hole to Bury Himself?

Xu Yang served himself a plate of dragon fruit, planning to eat it while watching TV in the evening.

He peeled and cut one, placing it on a plate.

At that moment, the quacking of ducks came from outside.

"Hmm? Are there ducks out? Didn’t they go back?"

Xu Yang got up to chase the ducks back.

A few ducks outside seemed to have returned late and weren’t noticed.

Now they couldn’t get back to the duck coop, so they started quacking in the living area.

Xu Yang went to drive them back to their nest.

By the time Xu Yang returned, the dragon fruit on the plate had vanished without a trace.

Xu Yang had a yard of his own, his house consisted of two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, with several more rooms to the side.

The decoration in Xu Yang’s living room and study was quite nice, and the computer in his study was even high-end.

The place looked like a bungalow from the outside, but inside it was another story.

The door had been left open earlier, so surely one of the little rascals had sneaked in and eaten the dragon fruit.

"Who ate my dragon fruit?"

"Where’s my dragon fruit?"

Xu Yang couldn’t help but laugh.

He took out his smartphone and turned on the video recording function—it was the perfect chance to make a video.

"I just cut up some dragon fruit here, went out to chase a duck, and when I came back, it was gone."

"Let’s see who the culprit is."

As he filmed, Xu Yang provided commentary.

The camera first showed the empty plate, then Xu Yang turned it towards the yard and called out:

"Little Black, Yuanbao, come here!"

Xu Yang understood the temperament of the farm animals all too well.

He didn’t even need to think about it to know who had stolen the dragon fruit.

Sure enough, it was Little Black.

His mouth was covered with traces of the eaten dragon fruit, a bright red smear.

This guy sure loved to eat.

"Who stole my dragon fruit?"

Xu Yang raised his voice and asked.

As his words fell, Maquan stood tall and proud, squinting his eyes, his head almost tilted back to the sky.

Little Black, however, hung his head low, not daring to make eye contact with Xu Yang, only occasionally lifting his gaze to sneak a peek, then quickly burying his head again.

This guy was quite the actor.

"Who ate it?"

Xu Yang, finding the scene entertaining, asked again.

An even more interesting scene unfolded: Maquan lifted a front paw and actually pointed towards Little Black.

Little Black, trying hard to pretend it wasn’t him, turned his head and saw this gesture.

Shock appeared in his eyes.

"Woof!"

He barked at Maquan.

The sentiment was clear: "So it’s you who’s the tattle-tale?!"

Xu Yang walked over laughing, pressed down on Little Black, and tapped its head.

"And you blame others, with your mouth all covered in dragon fruit, who wouldn’t notice it was you!"

"You even dare to eat from my table!"

"Quite the guts you have!"

Xu Yang tapped Little Black’s head again.

Little Black squinted his eyes, shrunk his neck, and took the scolding firmly.

Maquan beside him couldn’t help but smirk knowingly.

But after Xu Yang gave Little Black a couple of taps, he didn’t do anything else, instead going back to fetch another dragon fruit and feeding it to Maquan, as fairness was key.

Once Xu Yang walked away, Little Black resumed his goofy demeanor.

Then he looked at Maquan and barked once more.

It was as if he was saying, "Are you actually a dog?"

Maquan, full of self-satisfaction, ignored him completely.

His response was clear:

"I am, indeed, a dog."

The antics of the two brought a more relaxed atmosphere to the place.

Xu Yang quickly uploaded the video to his short-video account.

After watching the video, his online followers commented:

"Hahaha, Little Black is really sneaky!"

"Little Black: What evidence do you have that proves I ate the dragon fruit?"

"You hit him too lightly!"

"Today he dares to eat from a plate, tomorrow he’ll dare to eat from the pot!"

His fans loved the animals on the pasture.

They always quickly liked and commented whenever Xu Yang posted a video.

Mainly because the farm animals each had their unique traits; ordinary characteristics simply wouldn’t attract much attention.

But these animals were different.

Each of them was unpredictable.

For example, the aloof cats that liked to show off, either flaunting a mouse in front of Xu Yang or parading back and forth in front of him with much pretension, all full of little schemes.

Xu Yang could see right through these little ploys, but he never exposed them, and in fact, he played along quite well.

He’d give praise when it was due, and feed when necessary.

Then there was the big rooster who liked to stand on the roof, crowing every morning at 8 o’clock.

It was hard to guess what was going on inside its head, or what it pondered every day on the roof.

However, roosters have tiny brains, so it might have just been zoning out.

In the evening, Xu Yang ate some dragon fruit, watched TV for a while, finished his nightly routines, and went to bed.

He had made a nest for the little leopard on the heated brick bed, telling it to sleep there.

"You sleep steady tonight, don’t climb on me, got it?"

"You need to consider your weight; you’re over 100 pounds now, how could you press down on me?"

Before going to sleep, Xu Yang didn’t forget to give the Leopard a couple of instructions.

He now completely treated the Leopard like a big cat, caring for it the same way other people would care for a domestic cat.

Xiao Hua had a simple demeanor, didn’t hunt, didn’t attack live prey; it would just turn to Xu Yang when hungry and spend the rest of the time playing and being cute.

Raising it this way was good, too.

Xu Yang lay in bed, closed his eyes, and after a bit of fidgeting, the Leopard gradually settled down and fell asleep beside him.

In the yard, after eating the dragon fruit and randomly munching on some other stuff outside, Little Black felt something was off, becoming groggy.

It lay down in its kennel, feeling unwell, and just like that fell asleep.

Until the next day.

After waking up, Little Black Dog felt weak and powerless, barely managing to stand and walk a few steps before starting to retch.

In haste, it went outside to find some grass for treating illness, consuming it all.

Animals do eat medicinal herbs, and they will seek them out when they are sick.

But Little Black felt very uncomfortable, as if the medicinal herbs were ineffective.

Its consciousness began to fade.

At that very moment, Xu Yang was busy arranging for employees to pick Dragon Fruits and then take them to the market to sell.

He also prepared some to sell in his parents’ store.

Dragon Fruit was not as easy to sell as strawberries; it took more days to sell them off.

In other words, employees would have to go out to sell Dragon Fruit every day from now on.

This was also a channel for the farm’s revenue, and external operations were essential.

Busy and bustling, evening approached.

At night, Xu Yang fed the little ones.

Only then did he realize that Little Black had been missing all day.

"Where is Little Black?"

Xu Yang asked the little ones.

Maquan and Leopard both looked astonished, having no clue where Little Black had gone.

"None of you saw Little Black? Where did this little guy run off to? Back to the village?"

Xu Yang wondered.

Little Black did like to return to the village to play, as it belonged to the village’s dogs and was acquainted with several Pasture Dogs there.

But it would never leave without a trace.

"Where has this little guy gone?"

Xu Yang immediately searched all over the farm for Little Black.

"Little Black!"

"Little Black!"

He called out several times near the greenhouses and the poultry houses, but received no response.

When the employees learned about this, they too started searching the farm.

After an unsuccessful search, it meant Little Black was not on the farm.

"Where could this little guy have run off to?"

Xu Yang felt a bit anxious.

Taken away by someone?

Impossible.

No one came near the farm, and considering its relative seclusion, Xu Yang was sure he would have noticed if any vehicle had come close.

Xu Yang walked out of the farm, following the road leading away from it.

"Little Black!"

"Little Black!"

Xu Yang called out loudly.

Leopard and Maquan followed him.

Walking along the road, about a hundred meters away, Xu Yang indeed spotted Little Black.

The little guy was lying in a patch of withered grass that seemed to be in a pit.

Xu Yang’s heart raced, and he hurried over to check on Little Black.

"What’s going on?"

Xu Yang quickly ran to Little Black’s side.

At that moment, Little Black opened its eyes, weakly looking up at Xu Yang.

There was sadness in its eyes, brimming with tears, and it looked somewhat aggrieved.

Xu Yang, relieved to see it was still alive, let out a sigh of relief.

"What’s the situation? How did you get here? What’s with this pit?"

Xu Yang squatted down, stroking Little Black’s head as he asked.

He examined the surroundings, trying to piece together what had happened.

Suddenly, Xu Yang saw the clue.

The pit had been freshly dug, and from the traces at the scene, it was evident Little Black had dug it itself.

It had made a pit for itself.

Xu Yang noticed Little Black’s pale face and realized it was sick, seriously sick.

"You didn’t think you were going to die and go out to find a pit to bury yourself, did you?"

A look of astonishment crossed Xu Yang’s face.

Pasture Dogs are incredibly loyal, and their bloodline carries many commendable behaviors.

For instance, Pasture Dogs on the brink of death will leave their owners and find a secluded place to quietly await death.

They do not wish to die beside their owner.

Such cases are not uncommon.

Xu Yang realized that Little Black must have thought the same.

Believing it was about to die, it left the farm on its own, dug a pit, and laid down in it, waiting for death.

Xu Yang felt both moved and amused.

This little guy had rendered him somewhat helpless.

But as moving as it was, the video still had to be filmed.

It had provided him with material.

Xu Yang recorded the video, briefly explained the situation, and then picked up Little Black Dog.

Little Black was quite sick, too weak to walk.

Xu Yang planned to take it to the pet hospital in town.

Xu Yang could treat animals’ external injuries, such as fractures and wounds, but internal diseases still required a doctor’s care.

"Don’t worry, Little Black, you’re young, you’ll be fine,"

"You probably just ate something bad,"

"I’ll find you a doctor,"

Xu Yang said, holding Little Black and gently comforting it.

Little Black’s condition was entirely different from before; it did not smile as usual but looked somewhat restrained and blank.

Carrying Little Black, Xu Yang returned to the farm and then got into his Audi A6 to take Little Black out for medical treatment.

The pet hospital had not yet closed.

Then, the pet doctor carefully examined Little Black’s condition.

"It’s Parvovirus; the symptoms have only just begun to appear. With proper medication, there’s nothing to worry about; recovery will be swift,"

"This dog is not fully mature yet, so its immunity is not that strong, which makes a little illness normal."

"Just take the medication on time,"

After the examination, the pet doctor gave these instructions to Xu Yang.

Hearing that the condition was treatable, Xu Yang’s anxiety ebbed away.

Despite this, thinking about the day’s events, he still found them quite astonishing.