A small plot of land in a mountain village

Chapter 15 "Thugs"

While everyone was patiently waiting for the prey to appear.

Zhang Niu, however, found a small, round wooden stick in the grass. It was a few dozen centimeters long and the perfect size. He had been worried about not having a handy weapon, so he picked it up. The machete was too heavy and not very useful.

After a long wait of five, ten, and thirty minutes, the calm lake surface suddenly began to churn in a small area.

Finally, Zhang Niu arrived, his eyes fixed intently on the lake. He planned to wait until the poachers lowered their guard, then he and King Kong could take care of the two with shotguns, and the remaining one would be easy to deal with.

From a distance, the lake surface looks like boiling water.

A dark shadow gradually emerged from the churning waves. The shadow was about two meters long, with thick, gray-black scales and a long tail that occasionally slapped the lake water.

The shadowy monster seemed oblivious to anything amiss, quickly scrambling onto the sand. It bit into a chunk of flesh with its gaping maw, seemingly swallowing it whole without much chewing.

Only now have people realized that what is in front of them is a juvenile crocodile that is two meters long.

The bearded man watched the little crocodile quietly from the side. After swallowing a large chunk of flesh, a victorious smile appeared on his lips. It seemed everything was under control. The flesh contained a sleeping potion he had specially purchased at a high price on the black market, specifically made for large birds of prey and containing a catalyst for them. It would only come to the prey within a certain range belonging to birds of prey.

Beard has captured many birds of prey with just a tiny bit of powder; usually, a little powder is enough. Today, however, he used almost half a bottle, investing heavily to ensure success. Half a bottle of this medicine could easily knock out ten elephants.

Zhang Niu kept his eyes fixed on what was happening in front of him, while the little one on his shoulder kept jumping around restlessly for some reason.

If I hadn't warned the little one not to make a sound, he probably would have been making a fuss by now.

As the baby crocodile swallowed the last piece of meat and turned to return to the lake, the bearded man raised his gun and fired beside the crocodile, splashing a small wave to prevent it from going back into the lake. The bearded man dared not shoot the crocodile, fearing that if he injured it, he wouldn't be able to sell it for a good price.

The little crocodile turned around, its big eyes fixed on the bearded man's direction. The bearded man was hoping that the effects of the sleeping potion would take a few minutes to wear off.

Seeing what was happening, Zhang Niu quickly realized that it must be related to the drug.

The opportunity is fleeting; while the group's attention is focused on the baby crocodile, we should be able to succeed by sneaking around from behind the bushes as long as we make little noise.

He whispered some instructions in King Kong's ear, then gave a soft hum and pushed his fangs forward.

He turned and crawled behind them.

While the bearded man was getting excited, the bald man next to him became a little anxious and said, "Will your thing even work against this guy? By the time you run out of bullets, I'm afraid that little crocodile will make us its dinner."

"It's alright, the medicine will take effect in another minute. It can take down not just this little crocodile, but dozens of them. We can just skin it and the meat is pretty good too, you can have a taste later."

The little crocodile collapsed onto the sand, filled with resentment. Its eyes still held confusion; why was it acting this way today, when it was usually so fierce?

The group of people who were happy to see the crocodile fall to the ground were unaware that danger was approaching from behind.

With a shout of "Go!", before Beard and his men could react, Zhang Niu swung his stick and smashed it directly into Beard's wrist. Beard's wrist hurt, and he dropped his shotgun, thus averting the danger.

Only when he felt the pain did the man with the beard realize that the person in front of him was a young man over 1.7 meters tall, who was swinging a wooden stick at him.

Unarmed, Beard was quickly put on the defensive. Meanwhile, King Kong charged out before Baldy could even react. Sharp fangs pierced Baldy's thigh, causing him to fall to the ground in agony. King Kong pounded the hunting rifle several times. Under King Kong's relentless blows, the once-powerful weapon was now nothing more than a pile of scrap metal.

The remaining burly men were so frightened by the sight of King Kong running out that their legs went weak. The sharp tusks of that huge wild boar terrified them.

King Kong circled the bald man, grunting and barking. The bloodshot tusks on his tusks made him even more hesitant to move. In their eyes, wild boars were creatures that could fight bears. Now, let alone, those tusks alone could easily send them on their way.

Every swing of Zhang Niu's staff was delivered with genuine skill and force. After blocking countless blows, the bearded man was in so much pain that he couldn't even lift his arms. Zhang Niu quickly ended the fight.

They herded the bearded man and the bald man together. Zhang Niu replaced his wooden stick with a hunting rifle, preventing them from even considering escape. The presence of King Kong nearby added to their safety.

The bearded men found it hard to believe that the money they had almost obtained would ultimately be lost to this man and this pig.

After some investigation, Zhang Niu learned that they were migrant workers from out of town who worked in the county. They had discovered the crocodiles in the lake while hunting in the mountains and wanted to catch them to sell for a good price. After learning that a wild crocodile skin had been auctioned for a high price on the black market a few days earlier, the man with the mustache, along with some old friends, spent a lot of money buying a small potion. Using this potion as a test subject, they hunted many animals before finally coming to the lake to catch crocodiles.

Zhang Niu was furious after learning the cause of the incident.

After binding the bearded man and his gang's hands with vines, King Kong tied a long vine to a tree trunk and left him to watch over them. Anyone attempting to escape would be dealt with severely.

Upon reaching the sandy shore of the lake, Little Dot was already beside the baby crocodile, though it was unclear whether the medicine wasn't working or what. The grayish-black baby crocodile had already woken up. Little Dot squeaked in front of it, and the baby crocodile then made gurgling sounds.

It's better for Zhang Niu to stand at a distance; it's better for this guy to be far away. It would be bad luck if this little crocodile carried the genes of some man-eating crocodile.

Seeing Zhang Niu in the distance, the little one darted back onto his shoulder, leaving a faint plum blossom mark under his clothes.

When the little crocodile saw the little one run onto Zhang Niu, it seemed a bit unhappy and turned around to crawl towards Zhang Niu.

Zhang Niu remembered that the last time Little Dot brought home the wild boar King Kong, it seemed like it would be the same this time, but this time the animal was truly outrageous.

Just as expected, when the little crocodile crawled next to Zhang Niu, it made a gurgling sound, opened its blood-red mouth, and had bits of meat left on its sharp teeth, which immediately made my hands covered in goosebumps.

Seeing the crocodile that was over two meters long, they had no choice but to let Little Dot lead it into the bushes and then into the space. They left Little Dot inside and told it to keep an eye on the crocodile so it wouldn't eat all the fish in the pond.

After leaving the space, under King Kong's escort, they were finally delivered to the village committee by evening. Having handed over the furs and hunting rifle, the rest was no longer Zhang Niu's concern.

Back at the cabin by the mountain, I lit a lamp and herded the ducks into the shed. It was getting chilly at night, and I was worried the ducks would freeze if they stayed outside.

After releasing the little guy and the baby crocodile, the once spacious room suddenly felt much narrower—after all, this guy was unusually large.

From then on, the third member of the Zhang Niu family, "The Thug," gloriously moved in.

Second update. Thank you all for your support. Please continue to add "Great Summoning Spell" to your favorites and recommend it.