Chapter 12: Better Bitten by a Dog Than Pecked by a Goose

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In the Dongbei Gate vegetable market.

Steel Egg, a man as tough as iron.

A great father.

At this moment, he recalled an old saying: "Better to be bitten by a dog than pecked by a goose." But in his opinion, another line should be added: "And never bring your brat along."

His own son, Iron Egg, that little rascal, had utterly destroyed his image as a rugged, unyielding man today.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but lower his head, glancing at a burlap sack hanging from his waist.

The sack gave a slight wriggle.

Even Steel Egg's body of steel couldn’t help but shudder in response.

He was having an incredibly unlucky day—not only did he have to bring the little terror along, but he’d also been pecked by a goose.

His son, Iron Egg, had teased an old goose and angered it. The goose retaliated with a vicious peck.

Steel Egg, protective as ever, rushed to shield his son, but by some cruel twist of fate—who could have predicted it?—that damned old goose clamped its beak right onto his most vital spot.

It bit down like a snapping turtle and refused to let go.

The shopkeeper wouldn’t kill the goose—he fainted at the sight of blood—so all he could do was try to pull the bird off.

But the more they pulled, the more excruciating the pain.

So Steel Egg had no choice but to shove the goose into a burlap sack and carry it to the slaughter section himself.

Inside the sack, the old goose was relatively subdued, not thrashing much.

It simply twisted its neck, endlessly wringing—

Just like his wife playfully twisting his arm, only the location was rather different.

Steel Egg, this man of iron, stood in the heart of winter, drenched in sweat.

His son, that little devil Iron Egg, kept glancing back at him, clearly itching to laugh—if not for Steel Egg’s fierce glare, his son would have ensured his father’s dignity was shattered for good.

Thankfully—

No one seemed to notice his embarrassing predicament.

At the thought, all his suffering felt worthwhile.

Enduring the goose’s incessant wriggling, he shuffled forward, legs heavy as lead.

Thankfully, the slaughter section wasn’t far now.

Just a little further...

But he could never have anticipated what happened next.

Out of nowhere, a handsome young man rushed up and, without a word, began pummeling him. Meanwhile, his son Iron Egg was grabbed and held tight by a foreigner with an explosive afro.

“Let’s see you act tough now—go on, keep at it!” the young man taunted between blows.

Could it be that this stranger had discovered the embarrassing story of the goose?

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But why was he so worked up?

“And you even mimic goose calls! Aren’t you the fox demon brat?” the young man barked.

Steel Egg was bewildered. What on earth was a fox demon brat?

Had they mistaken him for someone else?

But when the burlap sack was yanked open and the old goose revealed, the young man and the foreigner with the wild hair melted into the bustling crowd, vanishing from sight.

The onlookers, who had just been enjoying the spectacle, burst out laughing when they saw the goose still biting Steel Egg, applauding and cheering.

What pained Steel Egg most was that his own son, Iron Egg, was laughing harder than anyone.

That little devil, just wait until we get home...

Li Changluo and Blackie awkwardly squeezed out from the crowd.

Fortunately, everyone’s attention was on the goose now; otherwise, some well-intentioned bystander might have dragged them off to the police.

Just as Xiaoqing told him that these two had demon energy, Li Changluo and Blackie, eager to complete their mission, charged forward, ready to subdue this pair of supposed little demons.

But partway through the beating, they realized Xiaoqing had vanished.

And the man they were hitting was being gently wrung by a goose at his most vulnerable spot...

In an instant, Li Changluo understood why the man had been walking with that devilish gait.

He also realized they’d been set up by Xiaoqing.

“Where’s that troublemaker Xiaoqing?” he muttered, looking around.

Only then did they see that Xiaoqing hadn’t abandoned them; she was on the other side, closely tailing another pair.

So it had all been a misunderstanding.

Li Changluo and Blackie, both deeply embarrassed, hurried after her.

“Where have you two been? I’ve been following these two for ages. By the way, did you hear a goose screaming miserably just now?”

“No, you must have imagined it.”

“I’m sure I heard it! Look, there’s a crowd gathering over there—I thought you’d both gone to join in the fun.”

“Please, just drop it, will you?”

“Oh, okay.”

Li Changluo and his group followed the two individuals Xiaoqing claimed registered as monsters with demon energy.

An elderly man and woman, both leaning on canes.

At a glance, they looked no different from the usual elderly shoppers in the market.

“Can you tell what kind of monsters they are?” Li Changluo asked Xiaoqing, puzzled.

“No idea. But they’re monsters, for sure,” Xiaoqing replied with a shake of her head.

“Stay close!”

“Okay.”

“Hey, what are you doing?”

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“Staying close, of course!” Li Changluo was exasperated. Xiaoqing was such a literal-minded girl—tell her to keep close, and she’d glue herself to the elderly couple, nearly heart-to-heart.

Squeezed between the old man and woman, Xiaoqing’s wide, hate-filled white eyes darted between them.

“Are you insane?!”

Sure enough, under Xiaoqing’s fierce glare, the two monsters dropped their canes and broke into a run.

Li Changluo hurriedly called for Blackie to give chase, but...

Blackie, the glutton, was crouched at a roadside stall, gnawing ecstatically on a discarded corn cob.

The stall owner stared in shock, phone in hand, snapping photos.

No doubt, her social media update would soon read: “Homegrown corn, so delicious it made the neighbor’s big black guy cry with hunger. If you want some, call 123****. P.S.: He’s really, really black!”

Li Changluo smacked his own forehead, headache mounting.

You really are a hamster, he thought.

And what’s with your cheeks all puffed out? For heaven’s sake, you’re a foreign monster! Where’s your sophistication?

Yanking Blackie up, Li Changluo chased after the direction the two monsters had run.

In the cacophony of the market, a wild chase between monsters was underway.

An elderly man and woman sprinted at full tilt, faces flushed with excitement.

Three young people followed, running themselves ragged.

But before long—

Xiaoqing disappeared from sight...

The elderly couple vanished as well...

Li Changluo and Blackie stood dumbfounded in the middle of the market.

“Man, those two old folks are bursting with energy, lively as can be—way too hard to catch,” Blackie gasped, marveling.

“Stop misusing idioms—they’re not old folks, they’re monsters, got it?” Li Changluo panted.

He glanced around. They were now in the clothing section of the market: pajamas, winter coats, even underwear—though the quality left much to be desired.

In Licheng, this seemed to be standard in every market.

Affordable clothing shops made buying clothes as easy as buying vegetables.

But Li Changluo’s attention was caught by something in front of a store—

Two children’s coin-operated rides.

A common sight these days; merchants understood that while the market was for adults, the future belonged to the children. Win the kids, win the market.

So, there were rides in front of baby formula shops.

Rides at supermarket entrances.

Even at pharmacies, rides awaited.

Thus, Li Changluo traded his compass with the shopkeeper for fifty coins.