“I’ll go check. It wouldn’t be good if Er Niu bites Fifth Brother,” Yu Jin hurriedly followed.
Seeing Prince Xiang’s face darkening, Prince Qi patted his arm reassuringly.
Prince Shu suggested: “Fifth Brother and Seventh Brother have both gone to look for Er Niu, why don’t we all go and see?”
Prince Xiang could only nod.
As the host, even if Prince Shu hadn’t said anything, he would have to follow.
Prince Lu, running at the front, had already spotted Er Niu and shouted from afar: “Er Niu, stop running around, come back quickly!”
The agile big dog ahead paid no attention and quickly widened the distance.
Prince Lu got annoyed: “You, Er Niu, I don’t believe I can’t catch up to you!”
His speed was well-trained, ordinary people couldn’t keep up.
A strange sight appeared in Prince Xiang’s mansion: a big dog running in front, a string of princes chasing behind, causing numerous servants to join the pursuit.
Prince Lu watched helplessly as Er Niu ran more and more off course, suddenly leaping over a courtyard wall and jumping into a yard.
Prince Lu caught up and realized the yard was in a remote corner of Prince Xiang’s mansion. The gate was locked, looking as if no one had entered for a long time.
What was Er Niu doing running here? Even if he was greedy for food, shouldn’t he have run to the main kitchen?
Prince Lu thought, panting and puzzled.
Suddenly, fierce barking came from beyond the wall. Prince Lu hesitated briefly, then raised his foot and kicked the gate hard.
The locked gate held strong for a moment but was soon kicked open.
Prince Lu took a breath and strode in.
He wanted to see what Er Niu was up to.
“Er Niu, Er Niu—”
The yard was full of withered plants, desolate and empty, echoing Prince Lu’s calls.
The dog’s barks came, seeming to respond to Prince Lu’s shouts.
Prince Lu looked around, pinpointed the source of the barking, and quickly passed through a moon gate into an even more empty and dilapidated backyard.
Er Niu was barking furiously at a well in the backyard.
Prince Lu walked over quickly and saw a large stone pressing down on the well, its bottom covered in moss, clearly unmoved for a long time.
Er Niu barked twice, then grabbed Prince Lu’s trouser leg with his teeth and pulled hard towards the well.
“Er Niu, what are you doing?”
Er Niu let go and started barking at the well again.
Prince Lu thought for a moment and tentatively asked: “Do you want me to move the stone?”
“Woof woof!” Er Niu’s barks became more urgent.
“I guessed right, watch me!” Prince Lu rubbed his hands together, took a deep breath, and moved the large stone away.
Before Prince Lu could look into the well, Er Niu jumped down and started digging frantically with his front paws.
After who knows how long, the big dog jumped back up, shook off the dust and dirt, and barked twice at Prince Lu.
Prince Lu somehow heard a sense of pride in the barks and instinctively peered into the well.