"Me! Me! Hey, look here!" Ke Xun, held on the other hoof, suddenly struggled violently, shouting and flailing his limbs with great force, appearing exceptionally excited and belligerent.
The giant bull seemed to laugh, bending down and placing Ke Xun in the arena.
"Ke Xun!" Mu Yiran's voice was filled with anger. Ke Xun turned to look at him, seeing an expression he had never seen on Mu Yiran's face before.
"You are no match for him, step back!" Seeing his indifference, Mu Yiran's cold anger flared, and he punched the giant bull's hoof that was holding him.
He couldn't hurt the giant bull, of course, but it was enough to make it feel pain. The giant bull's hoof loosened slightly, and Mu Yiran quickly broke free.
"Don't…" Mu Yiran strode towards him, his eyes filled with an unprecedented depth and helplessness. "Always so willful."
Ke Xun stared at him intently, then smiled. "In my life, I'm only willful with three people. My dad, my mom, and you. Because you are all the people I cherish most."
"Since you cherish them, you shouldn't be willful." Mu Yiran had already reached him, his brows slightly furrowed as he scolded, "Step aside." "
I won't step aside." Ke Xun stood still. "Whether I'm a match for you or not, we'll only know after we fight. Mu Yiran, you don't really think I can't beat you, do you? I can tell you've seriously studied combat, grappling, and maybe even boxing. If you're from an academic background, then I'm a self-taught fighter. It's not certain who will win between an academic and a self-taught fighter. And this big guy, judging from his fighting style, is definitely a self-taught fighter. It's more suitable for me to deal with him."
"His size and strength are superior to yours," Mu Yiran frowned at him. "In a head-on confrontation, you're more likely to be at a disadvantage. You can only win by using finesse and skill. Ke Xun, I don't need your protection, nor do I need you to do anything for me. If you see me that way, it's an insult to me. Understand?"
Ke Xun lowered his head, rubbed his forehead with one hand, then looked up and smiled helplessly: "I hate arguing with you intellectuals. You can twist anything, good or bad, into something else entirely. Fine, protection and sacrifice are an insult to you, then Mr. Mu, tell me, you…" "What are you doing now? I'm the one chosen to face the giant, what are you doing here? Trying to dissuade me, saying I'm no match for him, isn't that humiliating me?"
Mu Yiran was speechless for a moment, about to speak again, when Ke Xun suddenly took a step forward, staring straight into his eyes with a smile: "But I like it. Feel free to humiliate me. But I'll still do what I want to do. Take care."
Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly tilted his head and leaned forward, lightly and quickly kissing Mu Yiran's cheek, then turned back and walked towards the giant who was poised to attack.
Mu Yiran was stunned for a moment, but didn't stop Ke Xun, because he knew that this willful and capricious guy wouldn't change his mind once he made up his mind. Mu Yiran glanced around, wondering why the giant bulls hadn't reacted after talking to Ke Xun for so long.
The giant bulls seemed to be conversing and discussing something. Just as Ke Xun reached the massive bull, another bull placed a cage in the arena, opened the cage door, and rushed out a man who looked incredibly strong, muscular, and agile.
Mu Yiran felt a huge bull hoof push him from behind, propelling him into the arena as well. The surrounding bulls bellowed excitedly.
Mu Yiran suddenly realized: seeing how he and Ke Xun were vying for a spot, the bulls had changed the betting method to two against two, or perhaps they preferred a four-on-four brawl, since the muscular man who had just been put in didn't seem to be on the giant bull's side.
Mu Yiran caught up with Ke Xun in a few steps and grabbed his arm: "Don't rush into a fight, it's two against two now."
Ke Xun had already understood and didn't act rashly. While keeping an eye on the two menacing figures opposite him, he lowered his voice and spoke to Mu Yiran: "Let's watch these two fight it out first, and then we'll make our move."
Mu Yiran hummed in agreement.
Ahead, the big guy and the strong man didn't immediately start fighting, but instead cautiously approached Ke Xun and Mu Yiran while remaining wary of each other.
"Hey, big guy," Ke Xun suddenly spoke up, "You were amazing just now. Are you the greatest leader in the world? But your leadership doesn't seem to have much of an impact. This kid over there shouldn't be a match for you, right? Even this kind of trash dares to act tough in front of you. Shouldn't you reflect on something? Some people, if you don't teach them a lesson, they won't know who the real strongman is, don't you think?"
The big guy's expression didn't change after hearing this, but the burly man opposite him was furious and shouted, "Shut up, man! If you want to die, I'll grant your wish!"
"What, you look down on Leader Big Guy?" Ke Xun teased, "People like you are really despicable. Any man with blood wouldn't tolerate your attitude. If I don't teach you a lesson, you really won't respect anyone."
"I'll kill you—" The burly man lunged at Ke Xun, but was stopped halfway by the big guy, who threw a heavy punch at his chest, which the burly man barely dodged. The two instantly started fighting.
"This kid's no match for the big guy either," Ke Xun concluded after only two rounds.
"Hmm," Mu Yiran said, his eyes glued to the arena.
"I think we shouldn't wait until they're completely finished," Ke Xun said. "If we wait until the big guy takes this kid out, Giant Bull might release another one to continue the two-on-two battle. Provocation doesn't always work. If a smart guy teams up with the big guy, we'll likely suffer."
"Hmm," Mu Yiran agreed.
"The worst part is going back to one-on-one. No matter which of us faces the big guy, the odds are hard to say." Ke Xun's lips curled slightly, a mischievous glint in them, like a wicked little hook.
Mu Yiran's attention was momentarily drawn to this glint, then he looked away expressionlessly.
"So what I mean is, seize the opportunity and eliminate the threat." Ke Xun pointed to the burly man who had already gained the upper hand. "While he makes his final blow, I'll go around to the front to draw his attention, and you attack him directly from behind." He
then turned to Mu Yiran with a smirk: "Can you knock him out in one hit? If not, I'll take over. You go to the front, and I'll go to the back."
"Take care of yourself." Mu Yiran gave him a cold look and then strode towards the center of the ring.
Ke Xun and he split up, circling halfway around to face the burly man, constantly changing direction as the man moved.
The strong man was gradually becoming unable to withstand the burly man's heavy punches, but he was still attacking with all his might, like a bloodthirsty chicken, covered in blood and with torn flesh, still frantically trying to kill his opponent.
Finally, the burly man's heavy punch landed squarely on the chest with a loud "bang," like the sound of a broken sternum. The strong man screamed and flew backward.
The burly man didn't stop, chasing after him for a few more steps and swinging his fist again, intending to knock him out completely. Suddenly, his vision blurred, followed by a sharp pain in his face. Then, with another "bang," he was violently struck by something hard, staggering back several steps.
Before he could even see who was in front of him, he felt a human finger suddenly reach out from behind and press heavily against his neck. He tried to break free with a back elbow strike, but everything went black, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Ke Xun rubbed his knee with one hand and gave Mu Yiran a thumbs-up: "This kid's really tough, his face is as hard as a rock. That hit almost shattered my kneecap."
The sudden turn of events on the field happened in an instant. The massive bull's fall caught the onlookers completely off guard. A moment of silence followed, then a chorus of gasps, seemingly mixed with cheers, erupted from the bulls.
Ke Xun and Mu Yiran's teamwork was remarkably clean and efficient, seemingly opening a new door for the bulls. They weren't in a hurry for the next round, but instead engaged in a long, animated discussion. Finally, the farm manager brought Ke Xun and Mu Yiran back off the field and threw them back into the farmhouse.
Wei Dong, Qin Ci, and Zhu Haowen approached; the three of them had witnessed everything that had happened from the window.
"You guys almost scared me to death!" Wei Dong patted his chest, still shaken. "They're treating you like dogfighting dogs! It's a fight to the death!"
"But why did the bulls let you two come back? Where's Dong Dong?" Zhu Haowen glanced back out the window and saw that it was Dong Dong who had been put back on the field.
"I thought they'd keep you two fighting forever," Qin Ci added, also expressing his doubts.
"I think they might have some new ideas," Mu Yiran said coldly, looking out the window. "They seemed to have discussed it just now."
Outside the window, Dong Dong had been forced into the arena, where he was fighting a strong man. The two quickly became embroiled in a fierce battle, exchanging blows without a clear winner. Dong Dong took several punches, but his opponent wasn't spared either. This was true hand-to-hand combat—raw, bloody, cruel, and bestial.
Since the two were almost evenly matched, the fight lasted for over ten minutes. Finally, Dong Dong won by a narrow margin, strangling his opponent to death on the spot.
The farmhouse was filled with noise; all the humans watched from their windows as their fellow humans fought each other. Some gasped, some cheered, some cursed, and some laughed.
Dong Dong was temporarily removed from the arena, and two other humans took his place.
Round after round of fighting ensued, with all the brought-in humans paired off to fight each other. One person remained after each round, and then the remaining humans would engage in a second round of fighting. This continued until late into the night, when all the fighting was over, and only one human, battered and bruised, survived.
The survivor was not Dong Dong.
Before Dong Dong's body was thrown into the slaughterhouse, the people outside the frame had stopped looking out the window. The nightmarish sight they had witnessed that night had made everyone speechless; they simply sat quietly in their own corners with their eyes closed.
The giant bulls, having finished their feast, did not disperse but instead set out tables, chairs, and dishes, drinking and eating late-night snacks.
Zhu Haowen opened his eyes and looked out the window, then saw the large, stewed bull on the table, and the braised Dong Dong.