Infinite Hunter

So, the exact nature of these beasts remains unknown. It can be said that the countries from Asia Minor to Central Asia are useless and completely untrustworthy. Drones haven't been able to locate these beasts, and even Russian reconnaissance planes haven't found them. The only way to determine where these monsters have moved is by following the routes they've been reported missing.

They were now in Central Asia, nearing Xinjiang, so they needed to rush there urgently. Unlike those Central Asian countries, the mainland had entrusted the reconnaissance mission to drones this time—a network of high, medium, and low-altitude drones capable of detecting anything larger than a small bird.

The business jet landed at an airport, clearly a military one. Everyone began boarding, their equipment in hand. This time, they were equipped with heavy-duty off-road trucks, fully enclosed. China had made significant progress in modernization, with a large number of heavy-duty all-terrain trucks deployed, including some for transporting infantry.

These all-terrain truck fleets form a complete unit. Several vehicles are actually camping vehicles with rooms divided out for the team members to live in. There are also water trucks and cooking trucks, and of course there are also heavy-duty trucks for transporting various equipment. There is even a medical vehicle that can set up a simple field hospital.

After driving for about a day, the truck stopped for camp, releasing a drone with night vision capabilities at night. Cheng Yijiu grabbed a box lunch from the kitchen truck and ate it in his small room. The box lunch, consisting of four dishes and a soup, tasted really good—almost all of it fresh, considering they had only been out for a day.

Based on previous records, it was estimated that it would take at least three days to encounter these monsters. This time, Cheng Yijiu came out without any weapons - just a small knife, and then he brought the huge lion claw, which was now emitting a faint luster. "No way?" Cheng Yijiu also frowned and muttered.

After a night, the convoy continued its journey, and Cheng Yijiu received the latest news: a high-altitude drone had apparently spotted what might be a flying beast. The footage it captured was from a great distance, and the heat had distorted the image, but it could be seen as two birds with enormous wingspans, likely some kind of eagle.

This creature's size was outrageous, with a wingspan of fifteen or sixteen meters, making it practically the largest flying creature ever to have walked the Earth. These creatures were likely to encounter the convoy that day, so everyone parked their vehicles and began setting up camp. Numerous drones were deployed in rotation, particularly to track any wildlife herds spotted nearby.

Almost everyone stayed inside the car to work, and Cheng Yijiu was also searching the sky through a telescope through the observation window. Of course, this was basically useless, and the main search task was left to the drone.

That afternoon, drone footage arrived, sparking cheers throughout the connected camps—the beast had finally been spotted. "Isn't that a griffin?" everyone who saw the footage exclaimed. Indeed, it was. There was no explanation for how this strange beast, only thought of in legend, could actually appear in reality.

This monster had a massive eagle head and a forequarters similar to an eagle's. Its front claws were thick but still recognizable as eagle claws, while from the chest down it was the body of a lion. The computer almost instantly determined the size of these beasts. "Body length is estimated to be between six and seven meters, with a wingspan exceeding fifteen meters." Cheng Yijiu could see that a significant portion of the monster's length was made up of its neck and tail.

But that's enough. If we extrapolate from land beasts, this monster might weigh close to a ton. Taking into account the hollow bones for flight, it must weigh at least 500 kilograms. "Three-headed griffin, is this thing a bird or a beast? And how does it have six limbs?" Ever since fish arrived on Earth, creatures on Earth have always had four limbs.

In short, based on reality, the griffins have appeared, and that is the most scientifically plausible reason. These griffins may be the reason for the disappearance of herders and livestock. After all, they are ferocious beasts, and the facts prove this - they swooped down on a group of wild donkeys and killed two of them.

"Should we capture them? Apply a large dose of anesthetic! Let the drone fire!" Drones are more suitable than using humans to capture these creatures. This creature's flight isn't particularly agile. Because it's a creature on all fours, and it only has a lion's tail, it's much more clumsy than a flying bird.

Its flying speed was no more than 60 kilometers per hour, and its diving speed was around 80 kilometers per hour at most. A closer look revealed this creature to be "not very scary." This was Cheng Yijiu's opinion. He felt that with a gun, he could definitely shoot the griffin down with one shot. At least so far, no creature had appeared that was invulnerable to modern firearms.

It does reduce the power, but are griffin feathers that strong?

A tranquilizer gun was mounted on the drone. The gunpowder-propelled tranquilizer gun was loaded with a double dose of tranquilizer bullet—the amount needed to tranquilize a full-grown elephant. Cheng Yijiu watched as the gun struck the griffin, but it was useless. He observed that the bullet had indeed lodged itself in the lion's hide, and the tranquilizer had definitely entered the creature's body.

But it just didn't work.

Unfortunately, this creature is considered "rare" and only three have been found so far, so it's not easy to kill it directly with a gun. This creature is definitely a national protected species, so an application must be submitted. The scientific expedition team began to think of ways to capture it. If that didn't work, considering the safety of people, they had to shoot it down with guns, hoping it wouldn't be fatal.

Cheng Yijiu, however, only felt the lion's claws glowing, and he actually hoped for another flying creature. After all, these flying "chimeras" weren't limited to griffins; hippogriffs were similar creatures, as were manticores. Cheng Yijiu wondered if the manticore might be nearby. He actually wanted to see if it was Arudimurra, the manticore he'd previously contracted—griffins were certainly less intelligent than manticores, as they didn't seem to be able to speak.

Chapter two

Griffins have a high probability of becoming protected species, as long as their range can be restricted to the vast uninhabited areas of Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Tibet. Such creatures are definitely at the top of the food chain. In Cheng Yijiu's opinion, they are critically endangered species that are listed on the Red List every year - if there are only these few. Even if the population of these species in the uninhabited areas is small, it is estimated that at most 1500 to 2000 griffons can be supported.

This covers the entire Central Asia and even the entire Asia. After all, this thing should have a wide adaptability and can be distributed from the frigid zone to the subtropical zone.

The drone attack was effective. A triple dose of anesthetic was used, and a powerful, heavy-charged gunpowder cannon was used to finally deliver the anesthetic. One griffin lay on the ground, while the other two were driven away by the blasting noises. Undeterred by the danger, the expedition team rushed over to examine the griffin, preparing a reinforced radio beacon to be placed on the creature's back.

Unfortunately, they couldn't drag the massive beast into the facility for examination. They could only perform preliminary scans with simple handheld X-rays and a portable CT scan, while also taking blood and feather samples. Cheng Yijiu could only examine the metallic-shimmering feathers, assessing their defensive capabilities. This creature was truly the largest flying creature yet, and practically the largest land beast, measuring six and a half meters from the tip of its beak to the tip of its tail.

However, it possesses a long bird neck and a lion's tail, making its torso roughly the size of the largest polar bear. Its forequarters are covered in feathers, its claws are sturdy eagle claws, and the feathers on its back gradually transition into a mane. If you pry open its mouth, you'll find tiny, serrated teeth nestled within its eagle hooks. In short, it's a rather bizarre "composite beast."

The muscles attached to the wings are on the back and chest, which are indeed very strong. The bones must be hollow or they would be too heavy. This monster weighs almost 600 kilograms. How it can fly is something that scientists have to think about. Cheng Yijiu only thought of one thing: what is the weak spot of this monster? Then he could think of how to hunt it. His claws were getting hotter and hotter, until his face changed, "Damn! There are big guys!"

He waved his hands. "Quick! It's not just the griffin!" The surveillance personnel inside the car echoed the same cry. The drone in charge of the situation spotted another monster flying over. Just then, the griffin began to stir, the anesthetic's effects beginning to wear off. "Triple! Six times the dose of an elephant's anesthetic, and this monster can only be tranquilized for this short period of time?!"

Everyone quickly evacuated, running back to the armored vehicles—a carbon-based creature would likely struggle to penetrate the several-centimeter-thick composite armor plating with its claws and teeth. The drone footage was visible on all the screens inside the vehicles. The griffin outside had already risen, and two more were circling overhead for protection. Cheng Yijiu saw a brown flying beast in the footage, and the drone, at a higher altitude, began to zoom in.

The beast flew at an altitude of approximately one hundred meters, and its speed was similarly slow, perhaps only forty kilometers per hour. The monster in the image had a wingspan of almost twenty meters, and was larger and more robust than a griffin. Without a long neck, it looked like a flying "lion" from above. Its wings, however, were completely different from those of a griffin, more like those of a bat. "Scorpion lion?" Cheng Yijiu was the first to recognize it.

Others then started saying it was a creature straight out of Arabian mythology. "Who knows when a flying dragon will appear?" someone said, and everyone felt the world had become unscientific. The griffin was hard to explain, and the manticore was even more outrageous—who could imagine a monster the size of an Asian elephant, capable of soaring through the sky under its own power?

Cheng Yijiu felt like he recognized this scorpion lion. While each one certainly looked different, it was unlikely that anyone other than the scorpion lions themselves would recognize one at first glance—even a familiar zoologist could probably do the same. The scorpion lion's face was half human, half lion. Cheng Yijiu looked left and right and roughly determined it was most likely Arudimurra. "Can the monsters from the mission also enter reality?" He was truly unsure.

This was difficult to explain. Could it be that the real mission world was the past of this world? Cheng Yijiu was inclined to believe that the mastermind behind this was just having fun, releasing the monsters originally in the mission world into this world. The most important thing was that this world was actually a "mission world" in a sense, and Cheng Yijiu had already suspected this before.

The manticore quickly landed, its wings folded on either side of its back, and walked along the ground—this time captured in much clearer footage. "Weighing at least two tons," everyone concluded. The beast undoubtedly dethroned the griffin, taking its place as the largest existing carnivore and largest flying beast. The most bizarre-looking part of the creature was its segmented tail, terminating in a spike-like structure.

But the most terrifying thing was undoubtedly that face—a face that looked like a fusion of human and lion, the uncanny valley effect in full effect. The griffins had all fled, and this scorpion lion made everyone except Cheng Yijiu feel threatened. Cheng Yijiu didn't think it was that dangerous—a mere scorpion lion couldn't even stop a .12.7 caliber bullet, let alone the .12.7 heavy machine guns on the escort truck.

Even if this world possessed some kind of shoddy magic, it wouldn't be able to stop high-speed physical ammunition. Arrows might work, but high-powered bullets definitely wouldn't. So, while you're amazed, there's really no need to worry about the manticore injuring anyone. The creature took about five minutes to reach the spot where the griffin had captured its prey and began gnawing on the remains. Meanwhile, Cheng Yijiu had gotten out of the car, his lion claws already glowing—but it seemed like this light was only visible to him?

He had just stepped out, and of course, the other team members were shouting at him not to take risks, and the captain was yelling at him not to violate the rules. So Cheng Yijiu stood at the car door and didn't move forward. The scorpion lion raised its head and saw Cheng Yijiu. Then it watched as the guy swung his scorpion tail up and down, making a clacking sound, and then slowly walked towards Cheng Yijiu - the machine gun had quickly turned and aimed.

The scorpion lion suddenly fell to the ground and rolled around, exposing its belly...Okay, now it's 100% certain to be that Aldimullah.

third chapter

Cats roll on the ground with their bellies exposed, a gesture of friendliness. So, after Cheng Yijiu recognized Arudimuola, he waved a hand to indicate safety and approached the manticore. The others watched, ready to fire at any moment.

Cheng Yijiu approached closer and closer, while the scorpion lion remained belly-up, making no other movements. Both sides must have been trying to relieve tension. Finally, they were within three meters of each other. The scorpion lion slowly turned its body, from belly-up to lying on the ground. Its huge head, surrounded by lion mane, rested its chin on the ground, and its eyes were about the height of a person, staring at Cheng Yijiu.

"Long time no see." As soon as the Latin words left his mouth, Cheng Yijiu knew things were about to get worse. Not only would people know about the Scorpion Lion's intelligence, but the real trouble was exposing his "acquaintance" with it. How could he explain it? Could the Scorpion Lion have mistaken him for someone else? But for now, he could only say, "Long time no see, Arudimurra."

His mind raced, trying to figure out how to explain it, but the scorpion lion in front of him still let Cheng Yijiu touch its forehead. "Can this creature talk?!" someone exclaimed through the headset, and someone else said, "With such a large head and a human face, it's normal for it to have considerable intelligence."

"How do you know this monster? Can you convince it to cooperate with the research?" Cheng Yijiu listened to the words in the headset with a bitter look on his face. He had thought of a way to answer, which was to keep silent. There would be no problem if he didn't explain - if he asked the scorpion lion, regardless of whether the scorpion lion would answer, if the scorpion lion said that he knew it hundreds of years ago, that would also be an answer.

Cheng Yijiu felt his background had been thoroughly investigated by the relevant authorities, and even his time in the US had likely been investigated, so he didn't need to explain himself because he couldn't. "I'm just a consultant anyway, and I haven't broken any laws. The most they can do is kick me out of the relevant department's team. That would save them a lot of trouble. Fortunately, I haven't applied for a weapon, and I don't even have a banned knife at home."

Thinking about it this way, it seems that there is nothing to worry about, so Cheng Yijiu brought the scorpion lion back to the center of the surrounded convoy. "Although I don't know the situation, this scorpion lion has a name. It is called Arudimula. I think its IQ is at least at the level of a teenage human boy." Cheng Yijiu said, and almost all the biologists in the scientific expedition team had their eyes shining and surrounded them fearlessly.

In front of Cheng Yijiu, the scorpion lion named Arudimula was very cooperative. The scientists were first very happy to find that the knowledge of this scorpion lion might be better than most people - this guy knows at least two foreign languages, Latin and Arabic, although they are both ancient languages, and of course their native language, Scorpion Lion language.

IQ tests have proven this manticore to be the most intelligent animal besides humans, roughly on par with killer whales, aside from their association and imagination. A physical examination revealed the creature weighed a ton and a half, making it undoubtedly the heaviest and largest flying creature ever. No one could fathom how its bat-like wings, stretching over twenty meters across, allowed it to fly.

However, it managed to fly. "If it weren't for the hollow bones and air sacs in its body, such a large beast would weigh over three tons in minutes." Air sacs were found in the scorpion lion's body, so it can breathe efficiently like birds. However, this creature, like the griffin, cannot find any close relatives in the history of biological evolution.

The scorpion's tail is completely different from a real scorpion, and the stinger is primarily composed of tendons. The stinger is neurotoxic, though weak. The scorpion lion's body offers roughly the same level of defense against a 9mm pistol round, offering decent damage reduction against intermediate-power rounds, a natural trait.

When someone asked how the self-aware scorpion lion knew Cheng Yijiu, it replied that it didn't know—this monster most likely doesn't lie. This then raises the question of how many scorpion lions there are, a question also unknown; only one has been discovered so far. Both scorpion lions and griffins are ferocious beasts, ill-suited to living in human cities.

The right thing for them is to separate themselves from humans and live in their own suitable places, so it is impossible for the scorpion lion Arudimula to follow Cheng Yijiu back to the Magic City. Fortunately, the scorpion lion is not a loyal dog-like creature. It is more like a cat and has no problem living alone.

Now it was Cheng Yijiu's turn to be questioned. The captain, of course, asked, "How do you know this scorpion lion? There's absolutely no reason, right? We have your past records here, and you're not an ordinary person without any abnormalities..." Cheng Yijiu, of course, had no interest in revealing that he was from the hut. He also said very directly, "I know nothing."

That's enough. He didn't break the law, he just didn't know it. This is just the way things are in this world. You can't explain it, you just have to accept it.

A month has passed since we returned to the Magic City. Both the griffins and the scorpion lions have been "settled" in the vast uninhabited areas of Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet and Inner Mongolia. Thanks to the ecological protection efforts over the years, the biological populations in these uninhabited areas have recovered quite well, enough to support the survival and reproduction of three waves of seven griffins in total, and of course, the survival of the only scorpion lion, Arudimula.

At Cheng Yijiu's request, Arudimuara accepted the "control" of the relevant authorities, agreeing to work for them in exchange for compensation—perhaps a few cows. Because the mantis lion is truly formidable, scientists have discovered that it can exhale acidic digestive fluids and refined phosphorus fire, essentially a biological white phosphorus bomb...

If a monster like this were used to clear out "abnormal creatures" that appeared during certain emergencies, it would definitely be effective. Furthermore, this monster could speak and understand human language, and most importantly, it had a good relationship with a certain person in China and was willing to work for them. This was truly fantastic.

After Cheng Yijiu returned, he knew he was likely to be put on a special list, and he wouldn't be able to get by without joining certain relevant departments. He might even end up becoming a real civil servant. "Alas, I really don't want to do that," he sighed. "I've never taken the civil service exam, so what's the big deal?" If he dared to say that in Shandong or Henan, he'd probably be beaten to death.

This was indeed the case. Not long after he came back, he received a notice asking him to report to a certain unit. He was not an intern or a contract worker, but a formal civil servant with a regular position and a cadre.

Chapter Four

"Forestry Bureau? Affiliated to a unit under the Forestry Bureau?" Cheng Yijiu looked at the document in his hand. His position was in the Forestry Bureau's patrol team, a regular section-level, second-level chief clerk, a safe rice bowl. Could his monthly income, including subsidies, be 10,000 yuan? He wasn't sure, but he'd just report in first. He went to Jiaozhou Road in Jing'an District—the Magic City's Landscaping Bureau and Forestry Bureau were the same team, but two separate entities.

He reported to the Personnel Department with his notice and ID card, only to be summoned for a meeting by the director. The director was extremely polite, confirming to Cheng Yijiu that the Forestry Bureau was merely a staffing organization, with actual control not in their hands. His department, however, was a place for people like him—he was the deputy director, and the head was a middle-aged man who seemed primarily responsible for logistics and mission planning, not actually carrying out missions himself.

There were four deputy section chiefs, Cheng Yijiu being one of them. And how many people were in the entire section? Cheng Yijiu didn't even know—there were only twelve officially appointed officers, the rest were non-official. "They could be called auxiliary police..." Cheng Yijiu knew that without sufficient experience and, most importantly, the ability to communicate and seemingly have a good relationship with the scorpion lion, he wouldn't have been able to secure this position.

His income was strictly in accordance with national regulations, and he received subsidies for field work, but it was likely that his side business would be difficult to sustain. Unless Miss Tang hadn't resigned, but unfortunately, she was gone. Looking at this girl's circle of friends recently, her relationship journey seemed to be going smoothly, which was great. Cheng Yijiu's parents had been nagging him to find a girlfriend for a long time. Cheng Yijiu originally wanted to tell them that he had slept with more than one foreign girl, but then he thought that would only cause trouble.

His current position didn't offer much of an advantage. Shanghai didn't prioritize civil service positions, and the salaries weren't high. Furthermore, many positions in Shanghai were reserved for locals, so his situation wasn't surprising. Even though the new assignment had been delayed for so long, Cheng Yijiu still felt at ease. His regular get off work schedule also made him feel at ease—most importantly, there wasn't much to do at work, so he could just spend the day with a cup of tea and a book...

Every desk has a computer and internet access, allowing them to do whatever they want, as long as they're not playing online games. Crucially, their daily work doesn't involve any KPIs, meaning there's no pressure unless they're on a mission. "I could do this kind of work forever. Being an invisible guardian would be even better."

Cheng Yijiu quickly understood his primary mission: to comfort and communicate with the scorpion lion. That bastard, Arudimura, was having a good time now, with a professional team ensuring its well-being, though Cheng Yijiu felt that this was more of a research project. The need for a scorpion lion to fight was extremely rare. China was relatively peaceful, while less peaceful regions like the United States and Russia's vast central and eastern regions wouldn't easily release a scorpion lion, even if a request came in.

It should be said that it's absolutely impossible—these old scholars have barely added a record to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, let alone allowing this precious monster to travel abroad. Although Cheng Yijiu wanted to say that according to mythology, the scorpion lion originated from Arabia and Asia Minor and seemed to have nothing to do with China, no one would listen... This is the only monster with sufficient intelligence that humans have been able to control so far.

There are indeed more terrifying and intelligent monsters, but those that do not cooperate with humans prioritize cannibalism - such as the Wendigo that appears in Canada and the United States. These monsters are very terrifying and their IQ is even higher than that of most humans when they are hunting humans.

The mainland has largely suppressed information about griffins and scorpion lions, publicly denying the ability to control them. Cheng Yijiu's mission is to regularly visit the scorpion lion's location, communicate with it, and appease the beast. His new mission hasn't arrived yet, and his family's elders have been sending him out on blind dates over the weekend. "Well, I have a small, street-level two-story house in Fengxian... and a Wuling."

Cheng Yijiu, who was like a dish name, asked this question right from the start when the girl he was going on a blind date with asked, "Well, of course I'm a civil servant, working as a deputy section chief at the Forestry Bureau, with a regular position." This wasn't a big plus, but of course if I went to Shandong or Henan, I should be able to find many beautiful girls. The girl was introduced to him, so she knew all this basic information and explained her situation.

"Oh, you're a freelancer and like traveling? I see." Cheng Yijiu didn't say much and simply started enjoying his lunch. Of course, he also chatted with the girl occasionally - he had given up and was too lazy to get married. He couldn't do anything about blind dates, but he could just keep turning them down.

He had never been so eager for a new mission, as it might allow him to escape from his boring daily life for a while.

Now, every night when he returned to the cabin, Cheng Yijiu wandered the hall of trophies, looking at each specimen and recalling the process of hunting them. The joy was incomparable. Every beast here was a murderous beast, and in the end, he killed them one by one. He had endured hardships and even life-threatening dangers to kill these beasts. Cheng Yijiu looked at the golden lion, the lion as big as a wild bull - this was the beast he had strangled alive.

Cheng Yijiu clenched his fists, feeling the same strength coursing through his arm muscles as he had at that moment, a surge of pride rising within him. Finally, the mission arrived. "Seven days? That's a small mission. And another brown bear?" An interesting little mission, set in Hokkaido, Japan. "Another man-eating brown bear? But this is modern times." In a place like Hokkaido where bears outnumber cars on the roads, this wasn't surprising.

Cheng Yijiu was heading into the summer, so he changed into a simple hunting shirt, jeans, and hiking boots and prepared for his mission. His weapon of choice was, of course, an M70 bolt-action rifle, along with a Rhino revolver and, of course, a Rambo knife. Otherwise, he only needed a camping kit. Cheng Yijiu opened the door and disappeared, hunting rifle under his arm.

"Ha, the scent of the forest." Cheng Yijiu reached a suspension bridge, where a map lay at the end. "Hmm, this is actually a plateau. Is this suspension bridge the only way in or out? If not, can we just climb down the cliff?" Although the map wasn't very detailed, Cheng Yijiu could tell that the terrain was treacherous, a dead end—the scenery was beautiful, but it was a dead end, and no army would be stationed here.

chapter Five

The forest here was dense. When Cheng Yijiu carefully examined the map, he realized it was a horseshoe shape—even if one could climb down from the opposite side, they still had to climb up to get outside, and to do so, they had to traverse a considerable length of forest. The forest terrain in the valley gradually rose, ultimately culminating in the height of the platform. "This is an absolute dead end," Cheng Yijiu said, stepping onto the suspension bridge. His target lay right there.

There was definitely more than one brown bear here. Even though Cheng Yijiu had killed so many man-eating beasts, he still found it difficult to explain how a strong and healthy beast could feed on humans. Normally, man-eating beasts were old, weak, sick, and disabled, but the brown bears he had hunted several times were not like that. Now it seemed that this one was the same.

With his rifle tucked behind his back, Cheng Yijiu crossed the suspension bridge. A footpath opened on the other side, suggesting it had once been used as a hiking trail. A sign reading "Bears! Beware!" adorned the road, though it looked rusty and old. From the roadside, it looked like no one had been there in a while. Cheng Yijiu, rifle under his arm, walked slowly along the path, occasionally raising his nose to sniff.

Humans have a highly sensitive sense of smell, just as good as dogs'. They just vary in sensitivity to certain scents—dogs are more sensitive to urine, but humans are far more sensitive to many aromas. Cheng Yijiu, at the pinnacle of human natural senses, naturally strives to discern scents in the air. If he's at a disadvantage, he can indeed pick up some scents and track a brown bear.

They didn't encounter any brown bears along the way, but instead found a wooden cabin in the mountains. "It's okay, probably a hunting cabin regularly maintained by local hunters." The wooden cabin had a raised floor and a central fire pit, with moss and mud filling the cracks. In winter, it should be habitable with a fire, but you'd definitely need a down sleeping bag.

Cheng Yijiu put down his backpack and sat on the floor to rest for a while. But not long after he sat down, he raised his head and sniffed, "Something's wrong." Cheng Yijiu went out with his gun, and when he went around to the back, he found something unusual. "There are claw marks on the wall, and there's a smell of urine at the base of the wall. This smell doesn't seem human." Of course, Cheng Yijiu didn't continue sniffing, so he returned to the door of the cabin.

"A trap..." Cheng Yijiu muttered. He had gathered a good deal of wood and planned to spend the night here—in fact, he was using this place as a hunting base. "Why risk camping outside when there's a hunter's cabin like this?" A fire lit in the central hearth, and the heat instantly dispelled the gloom in the room—even in summer, one had to be careful of hypothermia at night.

Would a brown bear come in at night? He couldn't rule it out, but with his gun, Cheng Yijiu didn't have much of a problem. He only had one small question: "Are there really man-eating bears here? If there were, there would have been a major incident long ago—given the nature of the Japanese." As expected, the night passed without incident. Cheng Yijiu hung his bag on the beam and headed out, carrying only his secondary weapon, dagger, water bottle, and some dry food. This time, he planned to continue into the forest, descending along the plateau to the river valley.

At the same time, a group of people were walking across the suspension bridge. Among them were three teenagers, and there were about ten people from the local TV station. Cheng Yijiu had no idea that someone was coming, and he also noticed something unusual at this time. This was an open space in the woods. It looked like someone was having a picnic here, but was attacked. Because Cheng Yijiu saw claw marks and black blood on the surrounding trees. "At least one person was attacked, and the other three ran away. As for whether they escaped, I don't know."

The marks had been there for at least two or three days, and the brown bear had long since disappeared. Cheng Yijiu, walking through the forest, felt as graceful as a large cat. "Brown bear," he muttered silently. About eighty meters ahead of him, there was a brown bear. Cheng Yijiu leaned against a tree trunk to shield his back, raising his binoculars to observe. "Not likely. It's a female bear, not very large... at least it doesn't look like the bear that left the claw marks."

The claw marks were left by a male bear, a large one at that, with the claws spaced much wider than those of a female bear. Cheng Yijiu didn't shoot, but watched until the female bear finally left. Was this going to be another day of nothing? At that moment, he heard screams. Cheng Yijiu quickly ran in the direction of the sound, only to discover that the group was running towards the cabin. When he arrived, a group of people were hiding inside the cabin.

"Hey! Open the door! What happened?" Cheng Yijiu saw that they had bolted the door from the inside and shouted from outside. If only a man-eating brown bear came out, Cheng Yijiu could easily kill it with one shot if it was attacking the cabin. "There's nothing outside now." Cheng Yijiu shouted again. Only then did the door open. When they saw Cheng Yijiu with a gun, they were so excited.

"There's a bear! A bear is killing people!" someone shouted. "Sasuke's been dragged away by a bear! Go save him!" This seemed like a matter of course. Cheng Yijiu felt that they should also rush to save him. These people were just worried about their companions. "Where did it happen? Did anyone notice the direction the bear was moving?" Cheng Yijiu said, "Someone take me away and show me where it happened." In the end, only three children bravely stood up.

"Can't you guys come out? It's too much to let children give instructions?" Cheng Yijiu looked at these people, but these adult men seemed to be scared. After several minutes, two people stood up. "You young men, don't take risks. By the way, how about you just go back? I'll take you away." Cheng Yijiu finally made this suggestion. These people seemed to have finally figured it out, "Yes! That's it! It's too dangerous, let's go back!"

The group, having mustered their courage, walked back tremblingly. Every time they saw Cheng Yijiu's gun, they seemed to regain some of their courage - although their courage would still dwindle as they walked. Soon, they arrived at the place where the attack took place. "You said you were going to rest here, and then this Sasuke went to pee, and then the brown bear showed up and killed people?" Cheng Yijiu looked at the messy attack scene.

"The bear didn't chase you. It must have taken its prey and left..." Cheng Yijiu said. He half-knelt and watched the scene for a while. Then he stood up and patted his knees. "Forget it, I'll take you across the suspension bridge first."

Chapter Six

The suspension bridge wasn't far away, but it was broken. This was truly bizarre. Cheng Yijiu stared at the broken rope, "Are you kidding me? How did it break from the other side? Who the hell did this? Call..." Cheng Yijiu froze for a moment, "Bullshit infrastructure! Who brought a maritime satellite phone?" Everyone stared at him blankly, "Don't you TV stations bring emergency contact information when you're filming on location?"

I have to say these people are really bold. They probably think the wilds of Hokkaido are perfectly safe... Cheng Yijiu touched his gun. "Who would do something like this? I'll definitely call the police when we get out." He was also suspicious. A brown bear destroying a suspension bridge? How could a brown bear be that smart? And considering the terrain, if a brown bear could get here, it would be a huge undertaking. It would have to take a long detour and climb over the ridge.

But bears, that's understandable. Cheng Yijiu had hunted more than one or two brown bears, and one interesting thing was that those big cats killed and ate people in double or triple digits, but the overall number was not large, while brown bears usually ate three or five people at most, usually no more than ten. But as long as there was a brown bear, it would not pass up the opportunity to eat people... The probability of being attacked by a bear in the wild is greater than the probability of being attacked by a tiger.

Cheng Yijiu could only let these people go back to the cabin, "Wait for rescue, everyone. I guess if you don't go back, the TV station will call the police for rescue." Cheng Yijiu said to them, "As for me, I still have to go to the attack scene to see if I can find the bear and kill it." These Japanese are indeed worthy of being called little Japan. One by one, they gave reasons and hoped that Cheng Yijiu would stay here to protect them. Otherwise, if they were attacked, it would be Cheng Yijiu's responsibility?

Although they didn't say it that way, the meaning was pretty much the same. Instead, the three children were very tough and said that taking the initiative to kill the bear was a good choice.

Cheng Yijiu nodded to the three children, shook his head at the adults, and left. He arrived at the scene of the attack, identified the bear's footprints, and began to track... "It's quite big, but definitely not as big as Sanmao or that brown bear." Brown bears in Hokkaido are quite large, with records of individuals weighing 520 kilograms. Only brown bears in the Zamchatka Peninsula and Alaska can be comparable or larger.

The bear that Cheng Yijiu wanted to hunt was probably about two meters and four in length, so of course it had huge claws. Cheng Yijiu followed it slowly, gun in hand. He walked quite far, but now there was a problem - the place was quite messy, and he could hardly make out the footprints. Now that he had left the forest, Cheng Yijiu saw a hole on the cliff in front of him. Cheng Yijiu walked to the cave and said, "There are no claw marks on the ground. This is a trumpet-shaped hole, which may not be suitable for a big brown bear?"

Of course, this was also very dangerous, so Cheng Yijiu decisively took out a flash grenade - he couldn't just rush in anyway, fighting a brown bear in a cave was not a good idea. After the flash, there was no roar of the bear, and Cheng Yijiu went in to see a woman who had fainted... "Oh, what a hell!" He dragged the girl out of the cave - it was really because the rock pillars in the cave were stuck, preventing a creature as big as a brown bear from entering.

"Hey, miss. Wake up." Cheng Yijiu patted the girl's face. Fortunately, the girl woke up quickly. As soon as she woke up and saw the sky, she screamed, "Don't be afraid, it wasn't a brown bear that dragged you out." Cheng Yijiu almost laughed. With this kind of terrain, the bear would get shot first if it came out. The girl hugged Cheng Yijiu tightly, but he pulled her away. "Calm down, drink some water first." Cheng Yijiu poured her a glass of water.

"Can you tell me about your situation?" Cheng Yijiu asked after the girl drank some water. "We are college students, and we are here for a hike," the girl began to speak, curled up and looking around as she spoke, showing her fear. Cheng Yijiu gave her a peanut chocolate bar to calm her down. The girl's name was Jing, and she was here for a hike with her boyfriend, her best friend, and her best friend's boyfriend. A total of four college students came here for a hike.

Then, not surprisingly, she was attacked by a brown bear - after hearing about this, Cheng Yijiu judged that it happened about three days ago, because the girl ran away frantically and couldn't remember the time after entering the cave. When asked when the attack took place, she couldn't recall... But she remembered the process of the attack very clearly. "If this goes on, something will go wrong sooner or later." Cheng Yijiu thought.

The brown bear attacked her boyfriend, but if she were to recall the location now, she definitely wouldn't be able to remember. As for her friend and her friend's boyfriend—they didn't run in the same direction...

Cheng Yijiu sighed. There was no point in searching for the attack site now, and the girl had suffered severe psychological trauma. The solution was simple. If she could just watch Cheng Yijiu shoot the bear dead, everything would be fine. Where was the bear? That was the problem, because Cheng Yijiu had forgotten to bring his dog. He was used to traveling alone, and if he had brought his dog...

"It probably won't be easy." Cheng Yijiu thought, "Why doesn't this damn bear come out to attack me? Look! I brought a 'bait'." A bear's sense of smell is definitely better than a dog's, so it can probably smell the "mood" and "hormones" of its prey and choose which prey to attack - of course, prey that is in panic and physically weak is the best. Cheng Yijiu may have been abandoned by the brown bear because he was calm and full of desire to hunt, and more like a Bengal golden tabby?

He was indeed an extremely dangerous creature—during those punishment missions, any beast he transformed into was more formidable than the brown bear. And as long as the world's conditions allowed, Cheng Yijiu, in his pure human form, would be a formidable being at the top of the food chain. He could slay a flying dragon with a greatsword, and he could certainly strangle a legendary, divine lion with his bare hands. This brown bear was just an ordinary Hokkaido brown bear, at most cunning and capable of attacking humans. He probably wouldn't be able to face the most terrifying of the monstrous upright apes head-on.

Fighting a brown bear with a dagger? It's not impossible, but it's unnecessary. Unless Cheng Yijiu lost all his guns and was cornered, he wouldn't do that. Cheng Yijiu was quite confident that he could kill a brown bear with a dagger. After all, this thing couldn't be more dangerous than a werewolf. The pure-blooded werewolves Cheng Yijiu encountered were more than three meters tall when standing up, and weighed at least five or six hundred kilograms. They were killing monsters, and the power of their claws was much stronger than that of a creature like a brown bear.

Chapter VII

He led the girl toward the cabin. Since the brown bear hadn't attacked, perhaps they should go back and take a look. If Jing wanted to, wouldn't it be safer to stay in the cabin? At least there would be more people there? Then Cheng Yijiu saw the cabin, a hole ripped open and covered in claw marks and blood. No one was inside. "Damn it!" Cheng Yijiu cursed. He hadn't expected the brown bear to be so cunning.

As for being brave? That's perfectly normal. Forget about brown bears that have eaten humans. Adult male bears are inherently dangerous carnivores with a relatively low reverence for humans. The girl was about to scream again, but Cheng Yijiu grabbed her hand. "Don't worry." He walked into the broken house. There were claw marks and bloodstains everywhere, but the situation here suggested that only two people had died, or perhaps even serious injuries.