Reborn in 1985, starting from the mountains of Northwest China

The forest grew denser, and the sky gradually darkened.

After walking for about the time it takes to smoke a pipe, Snowwalker suddenly stopped, pawing at the ground with his front paws and making urgent whimpering sounds.

Chen Feng's heart skipped a beat.

Twenty meters ahead, a crooked old pine tree had a dark hole at its base, about waist-high, with a few wisps of brown bear fur hanging from its edge. But the hole was empty.

Chen Feng crouched down and peered inside—it was covered with compacted dry grass, with a large depression in the middle, clearly a bear's den. But the den was cold.

"It's empty."

Old Huang reached out and touched the bear fur at the entrance of the cave: "It's cold. It's been gone for two days. The fur is completely dry."

Chen Feng looked around. The footprints around the tree hole all pointed outwards, towards the southeast, with long strides and a hurried pace.

"Go, chase after them."

The two followed the footprints. The footprints became clearer and clearer, and there were occasional traces of bears scratching at the snow.

Gnawed tree bark, dug snow pits, frozen wild fruit branches...

After chasing for about two miles, the footprints suddenly turned into a ravine.

The ditch is not deep, with shrubs growing on both slopes and a frozen stream at the bottom.

Ta Xue suddenly stopped, her ears perked up, and she made a rapid, whimpering sound in her throat.

Chen Feng followed its gaze—on the opposite slope, under a protruding rock, a dark shadow was wriggling.

It's that bear.

It lay on the outside of the rock, its head bobbing as it dug at something.

Chen Feng stopped breathing.

He slowly raised his gun and stared intently at the bear.

Old Huang lowered his voice: "It's facing away from us, perfect. I'll count to three, then we'll fire together."

Just then, the bear suddenly stopped and turned its head towards them.

"beat!"

Old Huang pulled the trigger first.

"Bang!"

Gunshots rang out, the bear's body swayed, and a flower of blood exploded on its shoulder.

But it only paused for a moment, then became enraged and turned to pounce on the two of them.

"Get out of the way!"

Chen Feng hurriedly pulled the trigger, but his hand was shaking so badly that the shot went astray and missed.

The bear charged at him instantly, a stench assaulting his nostrils. He instinctively rolled to the side; the snow was icy cold, and the butt of his rifle smacked painfully against his ribs.

Old Huang didn't have time to reload, so he swung the butt of his rifle and smashed it down on the bear's head.

With a swipe of its paw, the hunting rifle flew far away. Old Huang staggered backward, tripped over a tree root, and fell into the snow.

The bear roared and pounced on Old Huang.

"Old Huang!"

Chen Feng got up and picked up the gunpowder gun, but Lao Huang was right in the line of fire.

Just as the bear's paw was about to strike Old Huang's head, Old Huang suddenly rolled to the side, barely dodging the attack.

The bear slammed its paw on the rock behind him, and with a "crack," the rock split.

Chen Feng's hair stood on end.

He took a few steps around and finally found an opportunity.

The powder magazine was still there. He pulled the trigger, "Bang!"

The shot hit the bear in the hindquarters.

The bear lowered its body, roared, and turned around, blood flowing down its shoulders and hindquarters, staining the snow beneath its feet red.

But it was still able to stand, its four legs pushing off the ground as it charged towards Chen Feng again.

"Why can't I kill it?" Chen Feng panicked, frantically trying to fill the gun barrel with gunpowder while backing away.

My hands were shaking so badly that half of the gunpowder spilled out.

"Bear hide is thick! We need to hit the vitals!" Old Huang got up, picked up his hunting rifle, and shouted as he loaded it.

The bear pounced again.

Chen Feng didn't have time to load the gunpowder, so he could only hold the empty gun and retreat. He tripped over a bush and fell on his backside into the snow.

It’s over.

Just then, Ta Xue rushed out from the side and bit the bear's hind leg.

The bear, in pain, turned around and struck Ta Xue with its paw, sending him flying and crashing to the snow, howling in agony.

But this delay allowed Lao Huang to load the bullets.

He knelt on one knee, raised his gun, aimed, and aimed at the bear's neck—"Bang!"

The bullet struck the bear squarely in the side of its neck. Blood spurted out, splattering onto the snow in a horrifying sight.

The bear staggered two steps, a bloody hole burst open in the fur on its neck, and its front legs buckled, causing it to kneel on the ground.

But it wasn't dead yet; it was panting heavily, its eyes fixed intently on the two of them.

Chen Feng got up, loaded the gunpowder, walked forward, and aimed at the back of its head.

His finger rested on the trigger, and he stared into those eyes, momentarily stunned.

"Hurry up and attack!" Old Huang shouted from the side, "It's not quite dead yet!"

Chen Feng gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger.

"Bang."

Gunshots echoed through the valley.

The bear's body suddenly stiffened, then went limp and lay still.

Chen Feng put down his gun and gasped for breath.

The smell of gunpowder mixed with the stench of blood assaulted his nostrils; he felt nauseous but couldn't vomit.

Old Huang limped over and patted him on the shoulder: "He's dead, it's alright now."

The snow was still falling, fine and dense, landing on the bear's body and on the pool of blood that was gradually congealing.

"Don't just stand there, get to work." Old Huang put away his gun and drew a dagger from his waist. "It's getting dark. Once this smell spreads, it won't be long before wolves come."

Chen Feng snapped out of his daze and squatted down in front of the bear.

The two first turned the bear over so that it lay on its back.

Old Huang pointed to the bear's chest: "Open it up first and take out the gallbladder. This thing is precious, we can't break it."

Chen Feng nodded and used the dagger to make a cut in the bear's chest.

The skin was very thick, and the blade went in with a dull thud; it took a lot of effort to cut it open.

Old Huang helped hold the skin and flesh in place, and the two of them cut it down little by little.

After being gutted, a hot, pungent stench wafted out.

Despite feeling nauseous, Chen Feng reached into his abdominal cavity and began to search.

Old Huang pointed from the side: "To the right, further to the right, it's next to the liver, can you feel it?"

Chen Feng's fingertips touched something soft and slippery, like a large, soft persimmon.

He carefully picked it off, held it out, and saw that it was indeed bear bile.

It is purplish-black, full and round, covered with a thin layer of fascia, and has an oily sheen under the snow.

"You've got guts!" Old Huang's eyes lit up. "Look at the quality, the size! This could fetch a good price!"

Chen Feng held the bear gallbladder, his hands trembling.

Very good!

We have the money to treat Dad's illness!

He succeeded!

Chen Feng felt like crying; heaven knows how he had gotten through the past few days.

He feared that even if he were reborn, he would still be powerless to do anything but watch his father fall ill...

I'm afraid to see the disappointment in my family's eyes...

Fortunately, everything is now moving in a positive direction...

But now was not the time for sentimentality. Chen Feng quickly composed himself, as he had a lot to do next!

He wrapped the bear bile in oiled paper that he had prepared beforehand, layer upon layer, until it was completely sealed.

Old Huang lifted the bear's front paws, turned them over to look at the palms: "Look at these pads, so thick and soft, the lines on the palms are so clear—this is top-quality, the front paws are more valuable than the hind paws."

Following Lao Huang's instructions, Chen Feng first made a cut around his wrist bone to sever the skin, and then carefully removed the skin bit by bit along the joint.

This thing must be kept intact; the skin must not be broken, nor the bones dismembered.

He worked slowly and carefully, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, which, when blown by the cold wind, sent shivers down one's spine.