Chapter 166 - 71: Impervious to Coercion or Persuasion (Part 2)
If it keeps stiffening its neck, the vertebrae might get snapped. Its chin was forced down to the ground, its hooves kicking, and its mouth still grumbling discontentedly as it struggled.
Sitting heavily on the goat, Chen Zhou gave it a hard slap.
Chen Zhou grabbed the goat's horn with one hand to control its head, while the other hand reached for the rope loop, trying to free it first.
Hmm~ Hmm~
The billy goat panted heavily. Whenever the force on its head was slightly relieved, it would lift its neck, trying to stand up. Its forehoof, tightly bound by the rope, kept moving restlessly within a limited range, which increasingly frustrated Chen Zhou.
"Lai Fu!"
He called to Lai Fu, who had been sitting nearby with menacing eyes, to lift the goat's head and turn its mouth towards Lai Fu.
"Bite it!"
Woof!
Lai Fu charged forward, biting the goat's nose. The pain drove it into a frenzied struggle, and soon the fur on its face was stained red with blood.
"Good, let go."
Fearing that Lai Fu might bite too hard after tasting blood and damage the breeding buck, Chen Zhou hurriedly stopped Lai Fu, feeling that the punishment was sufficient.
Awoo~
Lai Fu obediently released its grip, stepped back two paces, and fixed its eyes on the billy goat. Should it dare resist again, Lai Fu would be ready to strike once more.
The billy goat's head drooped to the ground, and its body seemed to deflate suddenly. Its taut muscles relaxed, and its hooves ceased their reckless movements, leaving it only to pant heavily, its blood-smeared nose occasionally blowing up a red bubble.
"Wouldn't it have been better if you'd been like this all along? You've been caught, so what's the point in putting on airs?"
With hands now free, Chen Zhou attempted to untie the loop. After several tries, he couldn't pry the rope that had dug into the flesh, so he had to take out the dagger to cut the rope directly. Rising from the goat, he tugged at the rope, trying to urge the goat to get up and walk.
Once laying flat, the defiant billy goat seemed to have undergone a personality change.
Earlier it had been defiant unto death, and now it lay there unresponsive, like a dead pig unafraid of hot water, ignoring Chen Zhou's attempts to pull it up with the rope.
"Ha, this is the first time I've dealt with such a despicable creature."
Chen Zhou laughed in exasperation, pulling out his dagger, he nearly wanted to stab the obstinate fellow to death.
"Seems like you don't respond to soft or hard tactics. You only respond to the lethal kind.
If I don't show you something fierce, do you think I can't handle you?"
He casually snapped off a half-dry shrub branch, shaved off the bottom branches for ease of grip, and stowed away his dagger. He then lifted the branch and began thrashing the billy goat lying on the ground.
The tips of the branch cut through the air, whistling.
Chen Zhou, filled with rage, swung with full force every time. The branch was already dry, edges sharp as though sprouted with thorns; hitting the goat's head and neck, leaving a bloodline after just a few hits.
Baa~
Pain instilled new strength into the goat, which suddenly transitioned from a state of paralysis to normalcy, scrambling to get up and running forward in agony.
Lai Fu stared at the billy goat with a wolf-like gaze, stepping sideways to block the goat's path.
Baa~
After being bitten hard, with several bloody holes on both sides of its face, the goat greatly feared Lai Fu and dared not advance. Just when it considered turning back, Chen Zhou's branch whipped down again.
...
He beat the goat so thoroughly that all his bottled anger dissipated.
It wasn't until all the small twigs on the branch broke off and half of the branch itself snapped that he, brimming with indignation, stopped and threw away the bit smeared with goat blood and wool. He gave the goat a kick.
With its head hanging low, the billy goat entirely lost the haughty demeanor it had when they first met. Its front half was covered in scars, and it stood obediently, silent.
"Still pretending to be paralyzed?"
He patted the goat's back as he inquired.
The goat naturally didn't respond, like a wronged young bride standing there dumbfounded.
"Damn it, if it weren't for the fact that you're valuable for breeding, I'd have hacked you with an axe and skinned you already."
He tugged on the rope, pulling the goat forward.
It hesitated slightly but seeing Chen Zhou raise his hand, it quickly took its first step, limping after this terrifying stranger.
Successfully leading the billy goat to the grassy area where the nanny goats had been tied, he changed the slipknot on its neck to a fixed one and secured it in the usual spot.
At the forest's edge, Chen Zhou grabbed a few broad leaves, wiped the blood off its face, and, after confirming the tie was secure, returned to the cave with Lai Fu.
...
On March 14th, it was still sunny when he awoke in the morning, but the clouds were obviously thicker than the day before.
Knowing that the island couldn't sustain long periods of sunshine during the rainy season, and predicting clouds would pile up for rain by the afternoon, Chen Zhou dared not delay his work.
After breakfast, he brought some rum to the pasture to disinfect and clean the billy goat's wounds, managing the hair near the groove left by the rope on its foreleg in passing.
After the beating, the billy goat didn't dare make eye contact with Chen Zhou, only casting timid glances upwards. Any accidental clash with Chen Zhou's gaze resulted in it hastily lowering its head, fearing another thrashing.
During cleaning, even when the alcohol aggravated the wound, it dared not move.
It just stood there compliantly like a lamb Chen Zhou had raised since childhood.
Just as he finished cleaning the wounds, the nanny goat and her kid emerged from the woods downhill. Seeing Chen Zhou with the billy goat, they paused, observing from a distance these two unrelated beings, completely unable to understand the situation.
"Cluck Cluck Cluck~"