Mr. Ba picked up the syringe and caught a strange smell. He roared, “Tell the truth! What have you done to my cows?”

Mr. Ba was a hardworking farmer in a small rural village. His family’s livelihood depended on their ten healthy cows. But for the past three months, on every full moon night, one cow would suddenly collapse and die. Red, strange spots appeared on their bodies—unlike insect bites or any ordinary disease. Mr. Ba was baffled. He invited veterinarians from across the region to investigate, but no one could explain the cause. Medicines, charms, even rituals were useless. His herd dwindled, from ten cows down to just seven.

On this month’s full moon night, Mr. Ba resolved not to sleep. Holding a flashlight, he sat in the cowshed, eyes wide open, watching closely. The night air was cold, filled with the sound of crickets. Near midnight, he heard a rustling in the corner of the shed. Thinking it was a rat, he crept forward—only to be stunned when a shadowy figure appeared.

It was Tí, his distant nephew who had moved in with him just a few months ago.

“Tí! What are you doing here?” Mr. Ba barked, gripping the handle of his hoe tightly.

Startled, Tí dropped a small syringe. He stammered, “I… I was just checking on the cows, Uncle Ba!”

Mr. Ba picked up the syringe and sniffed it. A strange odor burned his nose. He roared, “Tell the truth! What have you done to my herd?”

Under the pale moonlight, Tí lowered his head and trembled. Finally, he confessed. He had been lured by a cattle trader from the province. The man paid him to inject a slow-acting poison into the cows every full moon. The drug caused the red spots and killed the cows one by one, making it look like a mysterious disease. The goal was to frighten Mr. Ba into selling his herd cheap. Tí, desperate for money and drowning in gambling debts, had agreed.

Mr. Ba stood frozen, unable to believe that the nephew he had taken in had betrayed him. But the real twist came when Tí raised his face, eyes bloodshot, voice shaking:

“Uncle Ba… I didn’t want to… but he has photos of me gambling. He threatened to report me to the police. And he said… if I refuse, he’ll kill our whole family!”

Mr. Ba’s heart sank. This wasn’t just a greedy cattle trader—it was part of a larger criminal network targeting the entire village. The cows were only the first step in their plan to take control of the land.

The next morning, Mr. Ba didn’t go to the police right away. Instead, he quietly reached out to old comrades from his days in the army. Together, they began secretly planning a counterattack—to protect not just the herd, but the whole village.