Wang Dahua heard the voice, wasn't that the voice of her man, Li Gui?
In panic, Wang Dahua's snow-white body tipped to the side.
With a "plop," she fell into the water.
It turned out that as soon as Wang Dahua went out to bathe, Li Gui worried that she'd be dallying with some rogue, making him a cuckold.
Wang Dahua hadn't been gone for half an hour before Li Gui followed right after her.
Sure enough, he caught them in the act, snagging them red-handed.
"A'niu, you dare fuck my wife," Li Gui picked up a wooden stick from the ground and ran towards A'niu in the water.
Wang Dahua, in a flurry, picked up her clothes from the ground to put on, fully aware of her own husband's violent temper. Without a second word, he'd strike open someone's head. Just now, she had initiated the flirtation with A'niu and wasn't sure if Li Gui had seen; she quickly thought of a plan, otherwise, she'd be tormented all night again, not spared for even three seconds.
With that thought, she glanced regretfully at A'niu, feeling pity that he wasn't her man.
Seeing Li Gui approaching, Wang Dahua wrapped her arms around his waist and cried out, "Where the hell did you go? I was almost raped by this fool. If you were any later, how could I face anyone?"
Li Gui shoved Wang Dahua away, grinding his teeth as he glared at A'niu, "I'll kill this son of a bitch."
At that moment, A'niu was still blissfully soaking in the water, "Ah, so comfortable. Sister-in-law, why did you stop playing?."
Hearing A'niu's voice, Wang Dahua cried out louder, "I can't show my face anymore, I might as well die."
Li Gui, seeing A'niu still daring to flirt with his wife in front of him, became so furious that veins throbbed on his forehead. He raised the stick and smashed it down hard on A'niu's head.
There was a "boom."
A'niu's body collapsed into a mist of blood, and the surface of the water instantly turned bright red.
Wang Dahua promptly stopped crying and scrambled to the edge of the irrigation channel.
As she watched A'niu sink into the blood mist, her face turned deathly pale.
"Dead, is he dead?"
The wooden stick in Li Gui's hand clattered to the ground, and hearing Wang Dahua's voice, he couldn't help but step back in fear.
But then he thought, being a man, how could he show weakness in front of his wife.
"He dared to mess with my woman, he deserved to be beaten to death."
Li Gui picked up the wooden stick, tossed it into the irrigation channel, and forced himself to calm down. He pulled Wang Dahua and they took the unmanned path over the back mountain to return to the village.
Meanwhile, A'niu drifted along the current into the deep mountains and finally got stuck at the entrance of a valley.
A'niu's body, propelled by the water's flow, kept bumping against the entrance of the cave.
"Cough, cough, cough."
A'niu felt a burst of pain all over his body and suddenly coughed several times, opening his eyes.
A large Luminous Pearl hung before him, shining brilliantly.
A'niu rubbed his eyes; the Luminous Pearl was as large as a fist.
Within its bright and gentle glow, it emitted a hint of golden luster.
A'niu reached out to grasp the Luminous Pearl, giving it a gentle tug, and surprisingly, it came off. It was warm to the touch. Unable to resist, A'niu held it up, studying it in fascination.
Suddenly the Luminous Pearl's light intensified, illuminating the cave as bright as day, blinding A'niu so much that he couldn't keep his eyes open. In a panic, he let go, and the Luminous Pearl floated mid-air before a flash of golden light, with a "swoosh," shot into A'niu's forehead.
A'niu's whole body jolted awake, and his mind immediately filled with all sorts of classics, including medicine, cultivation, I Ching, divination, and astronomy—everything was there.
"No matter how hungry or thirsty, just soak me in water, take one sip, and you will feel as if you have tasted the finest delicacies and wines of the human world."
An airy and distant woman's voice, like the sound of celestial music, echoed through the cave in waves.
A'niu suddenly opened his eyes, and two beams of golden light flashed from them.
With his fists clenched, A'niu crossed them over his chest. A warm current spread from his head to his entire body, sinking into his dantian, and he slowly sat up on the water's surface before extending his right hand to grab the Luminous Pearl.
He knew that the woman's voice he had just heard came from the Luminous Pearl.
In A'niu's hands, the Luminous Pearl began to shrink, eventually becoming as small as a rice grain, its light completely concealed.
A'niu stuffed the rice-grain-sized pearl into his ear, feeling a smooth and cool sensation that was extraordinarily comforting.
A'niu felt full of strength, and he walked out of the cave feeling clear-headed and refreshed.
Everything seemed unchanged.
But A'niu knew he was different now. His mind was very clear, he could think through all matters completely, he was no longer a fool, and he had returned to normal.
He thought of how Wang Dahua, that slut, had actually made advances on him of her own volition, wanting a child from him, yet it turned out she had bewitched her man, Li Gui, to kill him.
Clenching his molars, A'niu thought, "Li Gui, you just wait, I will kill that slut Wang Dahua right in front of you."
Stepping out of the cave, it was almost dark, and he still hadn't picked the fruit his aunt had asked for.
Thinking of his aunt Tian Mei, she really was a beautiful, good woman who had taken care of him for so many years, making him strong and healthy.
At noon, Tian Mei had held him tight, with her round and full chest constantly rubbing against his chest, causing a reaction in his little 'bull' which almost ran out. Could it be that Tian Mei has feelings for him?
To be honest, if it hadn't been for Tian Mei bringing him back and naming him A'niu, he would probably have been a nameless, wandering ghost by now.
Before, he did not understand, nor could he provide Tian Mei with a good life, so naturally, he had no such thoughts.
But now that he had returned to normal, with the Luminous Pearl in his possession and a set of skills, he was capable of giving Tian Mei a better life.
With this thought in mind, A'niu happily hummed a tune and headed towards the orchard.
In a matter of minutes, he had picked two large baskets of fruit. With one basket on each shoulder, he walked back along the path.
"Someone help, is there anybody there, help me!"
From another orchard not far away, suddenly a girl's cry for help rang out.
It sounded like Little Feng from Auntie Zhang's house. A'niu hurriedly carried the two baskets of fruit, running towards the sound with the agility of a soaring eagle.
It really was Little Feng, who stood in place crying loudly, with a person lying at her feet.
"Little Feng, what happened?" A'niu put down the two baskets of fruit and hurriedly asked.
"My mother has been bitten by a snake," Little Feng said through tears.
Little Feng, though only sixteen years old, had already developed a good figure, especially her chest which had ballooned and was round like big buns hidden under her clothes, and her delicate, slender waist which A'niu could grasp with one hand.
A'niu saw Auntie Zhang lying on the ground, with a deathly pale face, blackened lips, and her body devoid of strength, on the verge of losing consciousness.
Auntie Zhang, although thirty-five or thirty-six years old, still had a well-maintained figure. She was wearing only a printed dress, and the two bloody holes on her fair and plump thighs were very eye-catching.
With countless medical techniques in his mind, A'niu immediately recognized the marks of a snakebite.
"Brother A'niu, you're a fool, can you save my mother?" At this moment, Little Feng was in complete disarray. She could only hope for a miracle, her hands gripping A'niu's arms as her tears streamed down incessantly.