Infinite Hunter

I wonder if the hunting lodge will give him a hound. Karelian Bear Dogs are a rare breed in China and aren't suitable for city breeding. But I can imagine what kind of dog the lodge will give him. Maybe it'll be a beagle. Anyway, what he needs is an energetic dog with a strong pursuit instinct. I don't expect their fighting ability, although beagles can be quite capable.

Cheng Yijiu often drives out along mountain roads. His main purpose is to familiarize himself with the terrain. Although he cannot go deep into the mountains, he can at least use a telescope and a map to memorize the features of the mountains in his mind - after all, to check the terrain, one must observe it with one's own eyes, and cannot rely solely on a map.

Time passed, and by May, Cheng Yijiu had become quite familiar with the villagers. His cheerful and outgoing personality was very popular, especially when chatting and bragging with the men—because he not only knew how to make jokes, but sometimes even played along and made fun of certain people. "If I weren't such a good person, you all might have a hard time telling me about your wives..." Cheng Yijiu was so knowledgeable and experienced that he was truly no match for these Akita monkeys in the Japanese countryside.

Chapter 12: Spring Blossoms

The snow in the mountains began to melt, and the water volume of the stream suddenly became very large. Every year at this time, the wooden bridge built in the mountains would be washed away. "Can't they build a concrete bridge or a steel bridge?" Cheng Yijiu went into the mountains again and complained as he looked at the wooden bridge washed away by the river. Two villagers went into the mountains with him, and they also carried hunting rifles. "If they built that kind of bridge, our master would only make money once."

That's right, the local councilors and village heads in this damn place are all old people - they have been local lords since the Warring States Period, and have experienced the shogunate, the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras, and they are still the same few families now.

"Now it's time to show off my flying iron claws. If I were in the Warring States Period, I would have been a ninja with this skill, right?" Cheng Yijiu was also joking. He took out a rope and a hook from his package, swirled it above his head, and then aimed and swung it out. The steel hook flew across the river, hit the crown of the tree opposite, and wrapped around it. Cheng Yijiu pulled hard, "Not bad, who weighs the least? Remember to fasten the safety rope."

A villager attached a pulley, tied a safety rope, and slid across. He then began further work—building a cable bridge with ropes. This was temporary, and would be processed into a wooden bridge later. This was done every year. Several hunters also slid across using the pulleys. Cheng Yijiu and his team continued their patrols in the mountains. In May, the snow melted, and the bears should have emerged from their dens. The mother bears would give birth in their dens, bringing with them cubs around two to three months old.

This time, they had entered the mountains on a mission from the village to deal with a bear crisis. The national highway had been confirmed to pass through this area, so it was imperative to shoot any bears that had attacked people. Not only here, but the other two counties had also joined forces, with at least three or four hunting teams, over twenty hunters, entering the mountains to try to kill the dangerous killer bears. Tian Wulang also entered the mountains, but he didn't join Cheng Yijiu and the others.

Not long after they started walking, a hunter's hound began barking. While it couldn't be called a bear hound, it could at least indicate something, so that was enough. The dog couldn't get close enough to disturb the bear, not because of a lack of courage, but simply because it wasn't good at it. "If we really let that dog go, I think the bear would kill it in three to five seconds at most," Cheng Yijiu sighed. Fortunately, the trained hounds at least dared to approach the bear and could indicate what the hunter saw.

Cheng Yijiu immediately spotted the target. "With this size, and with cubs, should we shoot the mother bear too?" This actually violates the hunter's code. Pregnant bears and those with cubs are not to be killed. This has been a rule for hunters since ancient times. The villagers looked at each other, a little hesitant. They were also hunters, although they hunted deer and wild boars, but they still had such rules. "Well, it will offend the mountain god, so forget it."

"Forget it then." Cheng Yijiu had the villagers recall the hounds, allowing the mother bear and her cubs to flee in panic. The patrol continued. "I say, have any children gone up the mountain?" Cheng Yijiu half-crouched on the ground and pointed with a gloved hand. It was a half-print, very fresh because there was no spider web at all. Although the winter snow had just melted, the forest was already full of insects, and the spiders were also very active. Traces like footprints would be covered with spider silk in about half an hour.

"Damn it!" someone said. "Let the dogs sniff it out, and find this little guy quickly. A deer wouldn't be a big deal, but a wild boar or a bear would be dangerous," Cheng Yijiu said. Naughty kids exist in every country, and Akita is especially rich in monkeys. The children in this village are as naughty as monkeys, but as tough as wild boars. Cheng Yijiu has seen more than once that troublemaker gets beaten by their fathers with firewood. They look miserable, but at most half an hour later they're back to life.

Cheng Yijiu saw the boy named Dazuo running around with his dog all day. The dog was of bear hound descent and looked quite good. The boy was also very strong. Cheng Yijiu saw that he was always staring at the mountain in a trance.

After sniffing the tracks, the dog quickly trotted off. Cheng Yijiu and the others, unconcerned with the noise, simply followed the hounds. "Sure enough, it's that brat!" Cheng Yijiu, who had the best eyesight, cursed with a smile. Dazuo and his beloved dog, a young bear hound, were facing off against a wild boar. Since they'd seen it, it wasn't a big deal. The sudden appearance of the hounds startled the boar, causing it, estimated to weigh over a hundred pounds, to turn and flee.

The puppy didn't charge forward to provoke him. Apparently, despite its small size, it had plenty of intelligence. "Dazu! You again!" Among the villagers was Dazu's uncle, who immediately shouted, "I'm going to tell your father! Damn it!" He immediately gave Dazu a smack in the face. "Do you know how dangerous this is?" Of course it was dangerous. Dazu was unarmed, relying entirely on a six-month-old puppy for protection. Fighting a wild boar was a death wish.

"Alright, stop arguing, we're in trouble." Following the loud barking of the hounds, Cheng Yijiu raised his rifle. They spotted a rather large bear just over a hundred meters away. "Luckily, we were downwind, so the dogs smelled it first." The bear had also spotted the humans, but instead of running away, it repeatedly growled at the hunters. "How strange." Cheng Yijiu picked up his binoculars—although his eyesight was sufficient to see the large bear, binoculars could magnify it.

Other villagers raised their binoculars. "Red Armor's bloodline," someone exclaimed. Indeed, the reddish-brown fur on its shoulders and back, along with the hybrid characteristics, proved this bear to be a descendant of the dangerous man-eating bear. "The face is long and ugly. This bear's bloodline makes it more like a black bear—the shaggy neck hair and bald head are the reasons I don't think it has red hair."

"This one should be ready to be shot. It's a mature male bear and a descendant of Chijia, naturally a very ferocious large bear," Dazuo's uncle said. Cheng Yijiu nodded. "It's not very scientific, but I agree with you. Of course, another reason is that it's too ugly." At this distance, the Murata hunting rifle was helpless. So Cheng Yijiu raised his M70 and locked the crosshairs on the bear through the white light scope.

As the bear moved, it would stop and roar, and it was moving closer and closer to people. "How did a fool like that survive to adulthood?" Cheng Yijiu muttered softly. He had already adjusted the scope's scale and aimed at the base of the bear's left front leg. He held his breath for two seconds before pulling the trigger.

Chapter 13 Incident

I don't know about other bears, but this bear must have died of stupidity - Cheng Yijiu accurately shot the base of its left front leg. The Winchester Magnum bullet easily cut into the flesh. Under the resistance, the carbide tip began to cut into the soft lead bullet behind it. The entire bullet began to expand and bloom, ensuring that all the kinetic energy was released into the muscles and internal organs of the bear's body.

This direction is aimed at the bear's heart. Even if it does not hit the heart, it will cause massive bleeding in important organs such as the lungs, causing the animal to die in the shortest time possible - this is also considered merciful. This is a legal requirement in the United States. This type of bullet must be used to kill prey.

So the bear collapsed. Even with its ferocious Red Armor bloodline, it wouldn't survive a Magnum round. After the bear collapsed, Cheng Yijiu led the villagers closer. The distance looked only a hundred meters, but the climb up and down the mountain required at least a kilometer to reach their destination. After half an hour, they finally reached the spot where the bear had fallen.

It was indeed dead, as its movements hadn't changed at all, and even the blood that flowed out had begun to darken—starting to coagulate. So Cheng Yijiu had no intention of shooting it again. Instead, he and several other hunters carefully observed the bear. "This hybrid is a terrible failure, very ugly. But it's certainly quite large, much larger than the average black bear—this bear must be over 400 or 500 pounds, right?"

Cheng Yijiu made an estimate, and several hunters nodded after evaluating it, "About that, about 500 kilograms. It's not easy to carry a body of this size down the mountain, so we'd better skin it and cut it into pieces." Dazuo's uncle looked up and asked Cheng Yijiu, "Oh, that's it." Cheng Yijiu pulled out his hunting knife and threw it to him. The other party smiled and refused, "My knife is more convenient and sharper." He took out his own knife.

Cheng Yijiu laughed and retracted his knife. The other man's knife was indeed very sharp, but it rusted easily, which was not a good thing. Several people used wooden sticks to turn the dead bear over. Cheng Yijiu and the man with the dog kept watch while the others began skinning and cutting up the bear meat—not many people wanted to eat bear meat, and most dogs wouldn't eat it if fed to them. Bear fat was useful—it had many benefits, from treating burns to relieving the pain of rheumatoid arthritis, and it could even repel parasites. Although it tasted unpleasant, it was also a good medicine for replenishing blood and qi.

So they scraped off most of the fat and took the bear's gallbladder and stomach. The bullets these hunters used were iron, while Cheng Yijiu used lead alloy bullets, which didn't shatter, only deformed, so they could be safely taken and eaten. There were quite a few people here who knew how to dry-roast the bear's gallbladder, and the bear's stomach was smeared with white wine and then air-dried. Cheng Yijiu didn't want the bear's paws, and this time he didn't even want the claws, but he still collected the bear's skull.

The skull of the bear he had hunted last time had been processed and defatted. Cheng Yijiu had measured it and studied it. According to statistics, it was considered large for Japanese bears, and normal for a male brown bear in Hokkaido. Its skull looked like this. Just by looking at it, this bear's skull was smaller than that one, by about ten percent, perhaps even more.

There was no such thing as a continuous bear kill. Everyone had a good harvest today—a bear of Chijia's bloodline, which would earn them a small bounty from the village office. Selling the bear paws would also bring in a decent profit. Cheng Yijiu didn't want the bear's stomach or gallbladder, so he distributed them to the others. But they insisted on giving the bear's skin to Cheng Yijiu—Cheng Yijiu was a skilled marksman, and the bear's skin had only one bullet hole that could be patched up to be invisible.

Bears, after all, aren't wild boar or deer, so their density isn't that high—it's generally believed that there are a maximum of ten to twenty adult male bears in this area, and under normal circumstances, there should be fewer. However, Cheng Yijiu has seen North American black bears traveling in groups of two or three. In human towns, they completely change their activity patterns, becoming specialized trash scavengers. Consequently, intraspecific competition is less intense, and small groups of two or three appear.

This is a script, not the US. Trash cans aren't plentiful enough to feed a bear. "The bears' behavior here is quite unusual, somewhere between normal and abnormal," Cheng Yijiu thought as he walked, carrying the bear skin and head. The dog started barking again, and in the distance, barking and gunshots could be heard. "Damn it!" Cheng Yijiu tossed the bear skin and head aside, then ran towards the gunshots, rifle in hand.

Everyone was running as fast as they could. Some were even firing threatening shots into the air as they ran, because they could tell the barking belonged to old man Tian Wulang's bear hound. Of course, the barking sounds of dogs were different, and anyone who paid close attention could easily tell them apart. When it came to climbing, Dazuo and the half-grown puppy were surprisingly the fastest. Cheng Yijiu was furious, "Damn it! Dazuo, why are you running? Follow your uncle!"

His uncle also cursed loudly, wishing he could give the kid another big slap.

The puppy barked, a clear sign of trouble. Dazuo then shouted, and Cheng Yijiu became anxious—he didn't want to see the child attacked by a bear. He immediately sped up and rushed over, regardless of the danger. The bear hound had disappeared. Tian Wulang fell to the ground, covered in blood. His gun was broken and thrown aside. The ground was a mess, with claw marks everywhere. Cheng Yijiu cursed "Fa Ke" in English.

He ran to Tian Wulang and said, "The old man is still breathing! Call for help! Call a helicopter! Otherwise, it will be too late." The old man had lacerations on his chest and arms, clearly caused by bear claws and teeth. His ribs were definitely broken, but fortunately his stomach hadn't been opened. At his age, he might not have been able to withstand such a blow. Cheng Yijiu searched for bleeding points—flesh injuries didn't matter; the key was whether any major blood vessels were torn.

He pulled a tube of rubber from his backpack and squeezed a transparent green gel from it, applying it to the old man's wound. The gel quickly solidified and stopped the bleeding. "Hemostatic gel, from the US military," Cheng Yijiu boasted. He shoved the gel into another person's arms and said, "See if there's any other bleeding on the old man's body. Apply it to him." Cheng Yijiu, on the other hand, began to carefully observe the area.

The more Cheng Yijiu looked, the weirder it seemed. He used his palm to gesture at the footprints on the ground, jumping back and forth, and then returned to the old man to check his wounds. Cheng Yijiu wiped the blood off his hands with alcohol disinfectant wipes, grabbed his hair and said, "There are at least two bears here...at least!"

Chapter 14 Wild Dog

"Two bears?" someone asked, and Cheng Yijiu frowned and said, "There are at least two. You can see that the sizes are different, and the prints are different. Both bears are big, but one is bigger." He looked at Tian Wulang, "The old man is extremely lucky to be alive." His bear hunting dog is missing, and it may be dead - Cheng Yijiu found dog paw prints, and there are many surrounding the bear paw prints. It seems that the dog really fought hard.

In the end, the bear was unable to kill the old man and escaped before the large group of people arrived. But the old man's bear hound was probably gone, and Cheng Yijiu didn't know where it had gone. The hunter clenched the rifle in his hand and prepared to follow the footprints. "Please don't do this, it's too dangerous." Someone held him back. Cheng Yijiu looked at the sky, "If we chase it now, we still have a chance to catch up. If we wait a while, there will be no way."

Cheng Yijiu bypassed the interception, took a quick look, and ran directly along the mountainside. The footprints on the ground and the broken branches told him the direction of the prey's escape. Cheng Yijiu loaded a bullet into the gun chamber and made all preparations. He would not chase too fast. Hunters do this, hanging on to their prey and looking for opportunities. There is also a dangerous problem. These are two bears. If the two bears separate, which one should he chase? Will the other one turn around secretly and come back?

Once again, Cheng Yijiu felt that it would be nice to have a dog, but it just had to be Dazuo and his half-grown puppy. This guy had sneaked up on them, so Cheng Yijiu decisively caught them both and handed him over to his uncle. "Oh, another big bastard. Now the balance is right. I guess I'll have to eat wood-chopping meat when I get back..."

The puppy's eyes were very bright, which made Cheng Yijiu look at it a few more times. However, it was still too small. If it wanted to go bear hunting, it would have to be at least one year old.

Cheng Yijiu followed the tracks, sometimes even smelling the faint scent of wild animals on tree trunks or in the air. After following for about a hundred meters, he saw that the two bears had indeed separated at the mountain pass. One followed the path at the pass toward the mountains, while the other turned and began to climb the ridge. The footprints on the ground showed this: the larger bear had gone deeper into the mountains, while the smaller one had begun to climb upwards.

Cheng Yijiu stood at the pass, gazing at the rolling hills ahead. Beyond this peak was Guishou Mountain, over 1,300 meters high. Next to it was Erzitong Pass—two connected peaks between 1,100 and 1,200 meters high. The large bear was most likely Chijia, while the one-eyed bear would only be seen from behind. Cheng Yijiu, gazing at the forest ahead, had a feeling the bear was perhaps less than 500 meters away.

After watching at the pass for about a minute, Cheng Yijiu turned and followed the path up the ridge. This was definitely a beast path, likely used by wild boars, deer, and bears. The hunter moved cautiously, always paying attention to his left, right, and behind him. When Cheng Yijiu reached the ridge, he had a strange look on his face. He saw at least a dozen wild dogs ahead. "Are wild dogs so rampant? And they look like they're all large and medium-sized dogs."

These dogs were mostly hounds or mastiffs. "Wolfhounds, Dobermans, Dogo Argentinos..." Cheng Yijiu watched for a moment and realized they were attacking a bear. He knew at a glance that this wasn't the bear he was looking for, as it was much smaller. The smaller bear he was looking for weighed at least 600 kilograms, while the one being attacked by the wild dogs weighed only 400 kilograms at most.

These dogs were indeed unusual. Cheng Yijiu had witnessed conflicts between wolves and bears in North America—wolves normally wouldn't attack bears, especially when there was plenty of food. The fur of each of the wild dogs below looked sleek and shiny, definitely not the kind of malnourished, starving dogs forced to attack other beasts. Furthermore, the coordinated tactics these wild dogs displayed during the attack struck Cheng Yijiu as somewhat odd.

"Are dogs that smart?" he wondered.

After watching for a while, he knew that the bear was beyond saving and that it was impossible to track it, so Cheng Yijiu turned back. By then, the helicopter had arrived. Old man Tian Wulang was wrapped in an emergency stretcher and hoisted onto the helicopter. The others also gathered and went down the mountain. Cheng Yijiu went to retrieve the bear skin and skull and returned to the village. The old man went directly to the town hospital for emergency treatment. This time, even if his injuries healed, he would never be able to go up the mountain to hunt bears again.

After returning home, Cheng Yijiu began tanning the bear hide—a job he'd done many times before, even back in the cabin. He'd also finished tanning the bear hide during the previous winter. After lining the bear's head with a frame, it could easily be used as a carpet—though most people wouldn't dare step on it. The tanned bear hide didn't have a nauseating odor, but instead had a refreshing scent of lemon oil.

This was nothing. Cheng Yijiu had seen a giant Kodiak brown bear carpet—a bear weighing over 500 kilograms, its fur covering almost half the living room. Of course, this was just a visual effect, but at least it looked like that.

Dazuo was indeed beaten to a pulp by his father, but just a day later, he was back to being as lively as a mountain monkey. The puppy was also like a cat, constantly jumping onto the roof. Cheng Yijiu noticed that the puppy's eyes were very lively, and his IQ was probably a few percentage points higher than his owner's... Smart beasts were nothing, Cheng Yijiu had seen quite a few of them so far.

Tian Wulang's life was once again safe, but he looked older.

On the third day after Tian Wulang was attacked, while Cheng Yijiu was stretching the hides, news arrived: hunters in Iwate Prefecture had been attacked by a bear, resulting in one death and two injuries, and the attack had been initiated by the red-armored bear. It seemed that the bear had used other bears to distract the hunters, and then the spotted bear suddenly attacked from behind, drawing the hunters and hounds' attention to the spotted bear that rushed out from behind. Finally, it suddenly attacked from the side and dealt the hunters the final blow.

"What's that? A mountain monkey being given tactical guidance by a bear?" Cheng Yijiu was at a loss for words. He had already prepared to go hunting in the mountains again, and this time he decided to go alone. As for the trophy, it didn't matter. He just had to complete the mission. "What's so special about a mere Japanese brown bear? It can be bigger than a polar bear? Don't mention that I've hunted a cave bear subspecies before." Thinking of that bear, that cave bear that almost weighed a ton, this red-armored bear in front of him should not be a match.

Chapter 15 Mountaineering

Animals can't grow indefinitely, especially terrestrial creatures. Gravity is their greatest enemy. Doubling their size increases their surface area by the square, while their volumetric weight increases by the cube. Eventually, their bones, muscles, and especially their heart will be unable to bear the weight. This is the limit of static growth. However, animals need to move, eat, and escape, so their hearts also have to cope with the work of strenuous exercise. Simply growing to their maximum capacity is even more impossible.

Furthermore, mammals don't naturally grow that fast. Cheng Yi had seen this red-armored bear before, and it stood no taller than three meters. Even if it were incredibly tall, it could only reach three meters in just six months. This would be a formidable bear in Japan, and even among Zanchakan and Kodiak brown bears, it's a behemoth. The only larger bear is the polar bear.

Cheng Yijiu sorted through his gear—a tight, breathable cashmere sweater for warmth, a pure cotton undershirt, and a plaid worsted cotton shirt underneath. He wore a denim jacket and a hunting vest, also made of denim, over a pair of thickened jeans with high-elastic, high-tension sleeves for knees and ankles. He also wore specialized leg guards on his calves, which effectively prevented varicose veins and effectively relieved muscle fatigue—this wasn't just 1990s technology.

All of this was concealed by his jeans, and naturally, he wore a pair of hiking boots. He carried a rucksack packed with all sorts of outdoor gear—from water purification tablets to canned high-energy food, topped with a roll of aluminum foil and tarpaulin, and, of course, a large water bladder. His bullets were in a cowhide case hanging from his belt, and his hunting knife was also slung at his waist. Cheng Yijiu was prepared for a long pursuit.

Cheng Yijiu put on his baseball cap—he had bought it instead of bringing it with him—and put on his sunglasses. He closed the door and prepared to leave. He had left early in the morning, of course, and as soon as he stepped out, he saw Dazuo and his puppy whizzing by—the mountain monkey was so naughty that his father's spirit-infusion stick was completely useless. "It's a pity the dog is so young. If it were a year old, we could take it up the mountain," Cheng Yijiu sighed.

When Dazu saw him, he shouted, "Uncle, are you going up the mountain to hunt bears? I want to go too!"

Cheng Yijiu immediately shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Hey! Dazuo's father! Your son is going up the mountain again." Immediately a middle-aged man came out with a spirit injection stick. Dazuo made crazy faces at Cheng Yijiu, and then ran away quickly.

Cheng Yijiu followed the mountain path into the mountains, using a pulley to cross the river. His target was Erzi Pass, approaching from Guishou Mountain, as it seemed likely the so-called Red Armored Beast was there—again, based on several sightings of its activity. Along the way, he took out his pipe and smoked as he walked. It was only May, and the mountains weren't hot yet, but the insects were already plentiful. He walked quite quickly, making noises to scare off the deer and boars.

As for the bear? So far, he hadn't seen any fresh paw prints, let alone feces or anything like that, which meant the bear hadn't come near here. Cheng Yijiu quickly arrived at the spot where Tian Wulang had been attacked a few days ago. Once there, he was extremely cautious. The footprints were old and useless, but Cheng Yijiu was watching for any new ones. Since Tian Wulang had been attacked here, it was highly likely that a bear had appeared there.

At this moment, a dog barked. Cheng Yijiu sensed something was wrong and quickly turned and ran in the direction of the barking. Soon, he saw Dazuo and the puppy, and then a bear. The man and the dog were cornered on top of the dam. The bear was quite large, with reddish-brown hair on its head and shoulders, visible from above. Cheng Yijiu didn't pause for a moment, aiming his gun and quickly hitting the bear in the head.

This shot from above directly ended the bear's life, and the next moment Cheng Yijiu slid down the hillside. Arriving at the cement dam, he said, "Dazuo, you're completely irresponsible and looking for death. If it weren't for this little dog holding the bear back, you'd be dead now!" Cheng Yijiu looked at Dazuo and shook his head, "I'll take you back! It's too dangerous!"

Dazuo was unwilling to go bear hunting. He wanted to go up the mountain and hunt bears. "You don't even have a gun, how can you hunt bears? No, where did you get this bow?" Cheng Yijiu noticed that Dazuo actually brought an American hunting bow, which was not a toy for ordinary children. "Okay, you follow me." Dazuo would definitely run away, so Cheng Yijiu had to bring him with him. Cheng Yijiu first examined the bear. The bullet entered from the top of the head, completely crushing its brain, and then the bullet flew out from the lower jaw.

The only option was to take the kid hiking. Cheng Yijiu went back up and over the mountain pass. The puppy showed unusual characteristics - it looked quite like it was true. Cheng Yijiu walked to the place where he saw the wild dog last time, and found bear bones, large and scattered bones. "Sure enough, it was killed by a dog, and it was gnawed so cleanly." Cheng Yijiu muttered, "This wild dog will be a problem again in the future."

Cheng Yijiu walked along the mountainside, not seeing either the dogs or the bear until the puppy barked. About forty meters ahead, a group of dogs appeared. He didn't prepare to shoot, as he didn't sense their murderous intent. Soon, accompanied by a bark, the dogs ran away in an orderly manner. Cheng Yijiu continued to venture deeper into the mountain...

As the puppy barked, Cheng Yijiu discovered the bear's feces. He picked it up with a branch and said, "It's still relatively fresh. The bear is not far away."

As the sky began to darken, Cheng Yijiu began to search for a campsite. The best place to camp was in a cave, as long as they could ward off any bears that might be inside. A second option was to stay close to the large rocks, using them to block the evening wind. But just then, a bear suddenly appeared. It was a crippled bear, quite large, with only one front leg. Cheng Yijiu remembered this bear; he had seen it in a photo at the village office. This one-armed bear had once killed several forestry workers in a row, making it a very dangerous creature.

But appearing in front of him now? If he didn't appear, it would be fine. But if he did, wouldn't that be courting death? So Cheng Yijiu directly raised his gun, but he didn't shoot. Instead, he suddenly turned around and opened fire.

Chapter 16: City Residence

Cheng Yijiu turned and faced the massive black bear with striped fur a few meters away. It was likely that the bear had been lying in wait, but it hadn't attacked until the one-armed bear attacked, drawing the hunter's attention. Even the puppy hadn't noticed, let alone the master, who had been frozen in place like an idiot. He had been dreaming of shooting the bear with his bow, but the sight of the bear itself was met with a sense of terror.

Before, it was still possible to say that the bear had appeared suddenly, but now Dazuo was completely frightened by the horror of the killer bear. However, the bear did not face him, but pounced on Cheng Yijiu - Dazuo was just an extra. As long as the adult hunters were dead, this child could be easily killed. Cheng Yijiu turned around, his expression unchanged, and his gun was very steady - at this distance, the white light scope was actually useless.

Here, he could only aim roughly, and quickly. Cheng Yijiu took aim and pulled the trigger. Then, with remarkable reflexes, he leaped sideways, swiveling the gun and striking upwards with the butt. His buttstock was meticulously crafted, made of genuinely high-quality wood reinforced with epoxy resin. If used to strike, it would pack no less power than a cast iron hammer.

The butt of the rifle did scrape against the bear's shoulder, its thick muscles and fur deflecting Cheng Yijiu's blow—perhaps bruising, but nothing like the damage from a bullet. Cheng Yijiu had seen records of this spotted bear being shot seven or eight times by local hunters, but instead of being killed, it became even more ferocious, killing four hunters before fleeing. Later, it engaged in multiple attacks, resulting in at least seven casualties.

The hunters used lead bullets, some even round bullets, whose lethality plummeted at greater distances. Otherwise, seven or eight shots to the stomach wouldn't have killed the bear. Cheng Yijiu, on the other hand, used hard-pointed shrapnel bullets, which had a completely different power. His shot missed the bear's skull, hitting its shoulder blade instead. The bullet caused a serious injury, possibly even damaging its spine.

However, the bear remained violent. Cheng Yijiu turned around and once again faced the two giant bears heading in the same direction. He quickly drew the bolt, ejected the shell, loaded the rifle, and aimed. He was only about five meters away from the spotted bear, and only thirteen or fourteen meters away from the one-armed bear. The spotted bear must have been injured, so it wasn't as nimble as before, and the one-armed bear was always slower than a normal bear.

Cheng Yijiu aimed at the spotted bear, which was now facing him sideways. He quickly opened fire, pulling the bolt and firing another shot. With the previous shot that killed the bear, he now had only one bullet in the chamber. The spotted bear had already fallen to the ground. Even if it had withstood seven or eight lead bullets from local hunters, it would still fall to its knees after taking three rounds of Cheng Yijiu's Winchester Magnum .300 bullets.

This was a powerful bullet, capable of killing an elephant in one shot. Two side shots would have destroyed the bear's internal organs, ensuring heavy bleeding. And it was doomed—unless, by some miracle, the bullet deflected upon impact with the ribs and exited through the subcutaneous fat. This had happened before, but twice in a row?

The one-armed bear didn't continue its attack. In fact, when the spotted bear collapsed, it had already slipped away, moving at a remarkable speed, tumbling and crawling away. And the red armor hadn't appeared. Cheng Yijiu immediately reloaded his ammunition, which only took two seconds. Above them was a cliff; no one in their right mind would have leaped down from it. Behind them was where the spotted bear had been lurking, also a continuous mountain range leading upwards. At least for now, no red armor had appeared.

Cheng Yijiu walked up to the spotted bear. The bear's head was tilted, and its tongue slid out from between its upper and lower jaws and fell to the ground. Cheng Yijiu saw three bullet holes, all of which were bleeding and even dyed the fur dark black. The shoulder was not so bad from the front, but the ones in the body, which were roughly the fourth and fifth ribs and the side of the belly, were fatal. "The internal organs should have been a mess, completely useless - I don't know if the bear's gallbladder was broken."

The bear was large, but smaller than Cheng Yijiu had estimated. It was about 400 kilograms—a massive beast even for a brown bear. This bear was also a Hokkaido brown bear, not a tarsiers. Cheng Yijiu brought a tree trunk and said, "Da Zuo... come here. Did you wet your pants? Forget it, help me turn the bear over." The boy only just realized what was happening, and his face was as big as a monkey's butt.

Fortunately, this kid was a man of shame and courage, and he had considerable strength—if he weren't big enough, he wouldn't have been able to draw the bow. Together, he and Cheng Yijiu pried the 400-kilogram spotted bear over. Cheng Yijiu drew his knife and began skinning it. It took him almost half an hour to finally remove a massive piece of the bear's hide. Just then, the faint shadows of wild dogs emerged from the woods. Cheng Yijiu quickly used his knife to cut through the cervical vertebrae and removed the skull.

He leaped aside, carrying the bear's head and skin. The pack, ignoring Cheng Yijiu's presence, rushed out, surrounded the bear's carcass, and began to feast. "Seventeen wild dogs, almost all of them famous hunting breeds. What's going on?" Cheng Yijiu never understood what was going on. The master said that some hunters would lose their hounds in the mountains, while others would get lost while tracking prey.

Cheng Yijiu laughed immediately. He certainly didn't believe this. Unlike in the United States, Japanese hunters wouldn't bring a pack of hounds up the mountain. Hounds were also very valuable. So, they deliberately abandoned the hounds in the mountains? Are you kidding?

Regardless, now that he had the dogs, Cheng Yijiu, along with Dazuo and the little dog, prepared to return to the village. He hadn't wanted to do this, but since he'd discovered Dazuo, he had to send him back. This time, he'd successfully shot a man-eating bear. Cheng Yijiu had taken photos and had the bear skin as proof. He should be able to get a reward, and if Chijia had really built his own castle, as old man Tian Wulang had said in his sleep...

"If that's the case, I've also killed a general under Chijia, hahaha." Cheng Yijiu chatted with Dazuo cheerfully, carrying the bearskin roll and head without any strain at all. Dazuo's condition wasn't very good. After returning, he was afraid that he would have to eat as much spirit infusion stick as he could and would definitely be grounded.

Chapter 17: Going into the Mountains Again

It was already dark when they returned to the village. As expected, Dazuo was given a beating and completely grounded, forbidden to go outside except to watch TV. The puppy was found the next day, having escaped overnight, presumably to the mountains. Cheng Yijiu was praised by the village, and the village office promptly reported the harvest and paid out the prize. Everyone marveled at the bear skin; once it was unzipped, it was truly enormous.

Bears of that size are rare, so Cheng Yijiu doesn't mind and is willing to donate the bear skin to the village office so that they can make a specimen to attract tourists. The problem is that they have to negotiate with the village in Iwate Prefecture, after all, the bear used to live there.

As for the bear's head, Cheng Yijiu was removing all the flesh, cleaning out the brain and internal tissues, and now soaking it in a pot of caustic soda to remove any remaining organic matter. Afterward, the skull would be degreased in gasoline or acetone, a task Cheng Yijiu was already familiar with. His shooting of the spotted bear, according to Tian Wulang and his companions, had shaken the foundation of Chijia Castle—this bear would actively allow other bears to roam in its territory, allowing them to help it drive out humans and protect its territory.

This statement was tantamount to treating Chijia as a monster with an intelligence close to that of a human. The sight of wild dogs roaming in this area and fighting bears also gave Cheng Yijiu a strange feeling. However, Cheng Yijiu still trusted his gun. He had already shot a large bear that had injured someone, so continuing to track and shoot was not a problem. After two days of rest, Cheng Yijiu set out again. This time, Dazuo was truly unable to keep up - not to mention that he was confined at home, even the puppy had disappeared.

Without the puppies, even if Dazuo escaped, he couldn't go into the mountains—he wasn't foolish enough to go bear hunting like that. Without the puppies, he'd be courting death. Without this minor inconvenience, Cheng Yijiu could focus on hunting seriously. He followed the same route as last time to the spot where the spotted bear had been killed—not surprisingly, even the large bones had been dragged away, leaving only a few broken bones and broken plants as evidence of a large animal's fall.

Cheng Yijiu wandered through the mountains, with no particular goal in mind. He simply moved through the valley like a wild animal, stopping every now and then to check for bear paw prints on tree trunks and any feces. After crossing Guishou Mountain and standing on the peak, Cheng Yijiu picked up a telescope and carefully observed his surroundings—it was safer here; bears generally wouldn't climb that high.

Just like Simba standing on Glory Rock, Cheng Yijiu also stood on the mountaintop, looking down at his surroundings. He recalled many vague memories. It seemed that he had stood on the mountaintop like this long ago, looking down at his territory, and his majesty was even greater than that of the Lion King. Cheng Yijiu carefully observed the opposite mountain through a telescope, observing it inch by inch. "If they are on the back, then there is nothing we can do."

The hunter spotted his target. On the sunny side of Guishou Mountain, a one-armed bear was patrolling its territory. However, it was too far away for Cheng Yijiu. Adjusting the telescope, Cheng Yijiu concluded it was at least 1.5 kilometers away, far out of reach of his gun. Cheng Yijiu observed the bear very carefully. Probably due to its one arm, the bear's forearms were surprisingly strong, but it posed no more of a threat to Cheng Yijiu than the spotted bear.

After all, he is a disabled person.

Chijia hadn't seen anything. Cheng Yijiu turned his telescope to the opposite mountaintop, but unfortunately, he didn't see anything. Perhaps after severely injuring old man Tian Wulang, the bear had truly become indifferent to desires? There had been no recent reports of Chijia harming anyone, which didn't seem to be in line with the beast's habits. In Cheng Yijiu's experience, beasts that had eaten humans would become accustomed to constantly attacking humans, whether they were bears, tigers, leopards, or lions.

And judging by frequency alone, bears are even more frequent, just like the three-haired brown bear he shot that year. This red-armored bear has a history of attacking humans and has even eaten them—even if it was just a few bites. So, if you want this bear to stop attacking people? The only way is to die. Cheng Yijiu turned around and looked at the dark side of Guishou Mountain. He now had plenty of time to observe—in fact, Cheng Yijiu had already decided to camp today in a recess just below the peak. He only needed to gather some firewood.

If a bear wants to attack him, it has to climb up first and then go around him, or it won't be afraid of fire. Cheng Yijiu squatted on the top of the mountain. Although it was very high, the top of the mountain was quite flat. Unfortunately, the wind was very strong and it was impossible to set up a camp there. Cheng Yijiu observed for a long time with a telescope on the top of the mountain and found traces of several bears. "After all, it only takes a little patience..."

The situation wasn't optimistic. He'd seen at least two descendants of the Red Armored Bear, both quite large, weighing at least 300 kilograms. They were male bears, but their range was closer to the periphery, outside of Ghost Head Mountain. This wasn't a big deal; they could just be shot if seen. Cheng Yijiu had a hunch there were probably more bears here than just these few. He'd also seen stray dogs, lots of them, at least forty of them.

Moreover, they were organized into several small teams in an orderly manner. Cheng Yijiu was quite familiar with the Akita dog in the lead. "Isn't this the missing bear hunting dog of old man Tian Wulang? It turns out it's not dead. Why doesn't it go back?" Cheng Yijiu didn't believe that the dog was lost. However, the crisscrossing scars on the dog's head and front body also showed that it had indeed suffered serious injuries some time ago - injuries that had just healed.

The dogs whistled past, always staring at the bears with malicious intent. Direct conflicts were rare; Cheng Yijiu only witnessed one, and that one ended with the dogs retreating, with at least four dead. Cheng Yijiu dragged up a dead tree and split it with his Rambo knife. He had forgotten his wire saw, but the thick-backed knife, combined with his strength, made it easy to split the small tree.

Cheng Yijiu built a ground stove and set up split planks as a reflector, reflecting the heat from the fire back into his triangular shed, which he constructed with waterproof cloth, branches, and ropes. He also placed aluminum foil around the back to reflect the heat back again, maximizing the use of the fire's thermal energy. The fire Cheng Yijiu lit on the stone provided enough heat to heat food and water over the flames.

Behind him were the rocks on the top of the mountain, and on three sides were rocks, so the wind wasn't strong, and he only had to pay attention to one side - the bear wouldn't be smart enough to attack from above...

Chapter 18 Raid

It was almost June, and the nights in the mountains were still quite cold. Without a fire, it was unbearable. Thanks to the two reflective surfaces, Cheng Yijiu's area remained quite warm. He poured the roasted rice into a cashew-shaped lunch box, added a little water, opened the can of meat, and poured it all into the lunch box. He also found some vacuum-dried vegetables and threw them in, then placed the lunch box on the edge of the flame to toast.

The lid of the lunch box flipped over to reveal a soup pot with a handle. Cheng Yijiu filled it with water and placed it on the stone platform in the fire. Once it boiled, he would throw in a large block of instant miso soup stock. With rice, vegetables, meat, and soup, this meal would be quite good. Following his old habit, he threw in the can of braised pork, a 340-gram can. The aroma wafted out as soon as the flame heated it.