Infinite Hunter

Chapter One

Cheng Yijiu packed up and mainly picked up the M70 rifle. He did not bring a pistol - Japan is also a country with gun control, and pistols are not allowed to be carried privately, so Cheng Yijiu did not bring a pistol. He only brought a rifle and a hunting knife. He was also wearing an ordinary windbreaker and a hunting hat, and then he opened the door.

"Ah, is this Hokkaido?" Cheng Yijiu muttered, feeling the cool air around him and looking at the mountains. Within his sight, there was a suspension bridge between two mountains, and he was on the riverbank diagonally below the suspension bridge. Cheng Yijiu climbed up the cliff from the side and saw an asphalt road.

After walking along the road for about ten minutes, Cheng Yijiu saw the bus station. No one was waiting for the bus, and the poster on the side was from the 1990s. Judging by its age, it seemed to have been put up recently. The schedule showed only one bus a day. "My luck! It hasn't come yet." Cheng Yijiu sighed and took out his coins to pay for the bus.

Not long after, a bus slowly approached, and Cheng Yijiu boarded, to the driver's rather surprised gaze. There were only a few people on the bus, and Cheng Yijiu's gun was in its case, so it didn't trigger anyone's fear. Cheng Yijiu finally understood where he was—not in Hokkaido, but in the northeastern region of the small book, just across a strait from Hokkaido.

The bus was headed for a place called Feilong Village, then took another route back to the city. Cheng Yijiu got off at the village, which didn't arrive until around noon. The village didn't seem very big, like one of those dying Japanese mountain villages—a country whose population has been concentrated, with many small and medium-sized towns dying out, and it was quite strange that a mountain village like this still existed.

The year was clear; it was indeed the mid-1990s, meaning it was now the autumn of 1994. The mountains were ablaze with red maple leaves, a truly rare sight—but unfortunately, there weren't many tourists, only about ten or so on the same train. There was a general store at the station, and Cheng Yijiu casually asked around and found the only small inn in the village to stay at.

It also operates a restaurant and hot springs, managing to survive on the villagers and a few tourists—this time, over a dozen visitors arrived, much to the delight of the female commander. The recent Showa boom had also left a legacy—the village roads were good, and the inn wasn't a traditional Japanese building made of wood, but rather a concrete structure.

The female generals here were all in their thirties or forties, or rather, Cheng Yijiu hadn't seen many people in the village so far, let alone young people under the age of twenty. Cheng Yijiu had no shortage of money, especially with hundreds of thousands of Japanese yen, which was enough to last him through the mission.

The inn still retains its former splendor, consisting of a three-story Japanese-Western-style building. The first floor houses the front desk and restaurant—also known as the "canteen" facing the village. The second and third floors are guest rooms, while two Japanese-style one-story buildings on either side form a closed "口" (a character "口"). These Japanese-style buildings house the staff and a few guest rooms, with an open-air bath enclosed in the middle.

Surrounding the buildings are vegetable fields and orchards, roughly thirty meters wide, and beyond that, the mountains. The entire village is nestled in a valley between the mountains, with a river winding through it. The tall Cheng Yijiu casually strolled through the village, "It's really rare to see people here. The few I do see are middle-aged or elderly, at least forty years old."

He looked at the distant mountain range. "Another bear attacking a village?" He'd hunted the most man-eating beasts, bears. He hadn't even managed to kill a single Bengal tiger, the beast that devoured the most people. It wasn't surprising. Bears, as omnivores, were prone to coming into contact with humans, and compared to big cats, they were far less capable of hiding.

They'll even proactively search human trash cans for food. For some bears, human villages are food hotspots. This creates a situation where they can easily injure humans. Once bears have gnawed on human flesh, they'll find humans easy food—although they might not taste good.

Man-eating tigers don't eat humans simply because they find them tasty. This wouldn't be because they're unable to prey on other animals. Of course, Cheng Yijiu, the man-eating tiger from Dahar, is an exception. This fantastical man-eating tiger is an extremely strong, adult male that feeds solely on humans. Unfortunately, this story is only circulated in certain worlds; it doesn't exist in Cheng Yijiu's world.

However, in this world... Cheng Yijiu returned to his room and turned on the TV. He randomly selected a channel that was playing something that might have been a documentary or a movie. It was nothing special, but it happened to mention man-eating beasts. This piqued Cheng Yijiu's interest. "Ah, it turns out to be the famous satellite channel BBC, and it turned out to be the documentary "Man-eating Beasts."

As expected, cats are incredibly powerful. The top five man-eating animals are all big cats. Fifth is the lion pride, a rare large pride of man-eating lions. Four male lions, along with nearly thirty lionesses, devoured over 1,500 people before being killed by hunters in the 1930s. Fourth is the Tsavo man-eating lions of the late 20th century. Two brothers, each male lion, devoured at least 200 people before being killed at the end of the last century. Third is the Bonnar man-eating leopard, which claimed over 400 lives before being shot by the renowned hunter Jim in the 1910s.

The second is the famous Champawat man-eater. This elderly, injured tigress, unable to hunt other animals, resorted to attacking humans. Before she was shot and killed by Jim in the 1920s, she had eaten over 500, possibly 600, people. All of these individuals are known in black and white photographs and even specimens. The tigress and leopard, in particular, have obvious injuries that rendered them incapable of predation.

The person at the top of the list only had a blurry black-and-white photo of a tiger drinking water. "Ah! Isn't that me?" Cheng Yijiu recognized himself. The picture showed a massive Bengal tiger. "He's making false claims again... but at least he's not exaggerating about the size this time," Cheng Yijiu thought as he listened to the original voice.

The introduction claims that the tiger that ate at least a thousand people was a healthy adult male tiger—at least, no dental problems, as the film crew and biologists even went to India to excavate the victims' graves and extracted tooth marks from the remains of several victims for reconstruction. The restoration showed that the tiger had no dental disease and was strong enough to hunt and kill adult white-lipped gaur.

It was also very large, considered a large Bengal tiger, much larger than the average Amur tiger. The satellite data focused on the number of people killed by Cheng Yijiu. They mentioned that this tiger may have preyed on more than 2,000 people over a period of ten years or even longer, and possibly even more because many people did not report the incident, so the tiger actually killed more people.

This is too exaggerated.

This is also the only man-eating beast that has never been shot by hunters from beginning to end. It is also considered to be the most powerful tiger - Dahar's man-eating tiger.

Cheng Yijiu was in a good mood, so he changed into his bathrobe and prepared to go take a bath...

Chapter two

The bathhouse is safe from peeks because it has a small sloping roof. Of course, if you really want to be seen by the people above, you can jump to the other side. Even so, only the male side will be visible. The irregular shape of the open-air bathhouse makes the female side completely invisible. After washing, Cheng Yijiu soaked in the natural bath. The spring water had a slight sulfur smell, but the temperature was no longer hot after it was drained, and it was very comfortable to soak in it.

"Are there man-eating beasts here?" Cheng Yijiu pondered as he soaked in the pool. Then, laughter echoed, coinciding with the falling snow. They were the tourists who had taken the same bus as Cheng Yijiu, as well as those who had arrived in their cars while he was checking in. Six of them were men, and four were women. Cheng Yijiu hadn't paid much attention to them before.

Because in his eyes, these people were just ordinary Japanese men and women, except that the oldest was probably in their forties, and the youngest seemed to be less than twenty years old. Anyway, after hearing that they had won the tour group through lottery, Cheng Yijiu ignored it. Now he saw these men getting out of the pool and even greeted him.

These guys seemed a little afraid of Cheng Yijiu, probably because he was tall and strong - Cheng Yijiu, who was about 1.8 meters tall, was indeed much stronger than these Japanese guys who were about 1.7 meters tall. Moreover, he was the chosen one of the God of Light, and his muscle lines were much stronger than these fat guys.

Cheng Yijiu nodded and greeted them, and from the other side of the bamboo fence came the sounds of women's laughter and even some lustful words. As a result, these men looked for holes in the bamboo fence to peek, while Cheng Yijiu just sat aside and watched these people perform Japanese-style obscene acts.

The atmosphere suddenly became very relaxed. Cheng Yijiu watched the men jumping around for a long time without finding a hole to peek through, and a smile appeared on his face. Seeing that he had soaked like a shrimp, he quickly got out of the water, dried himself, put on his bathrobe, and returned to his room. There were a total of 24 rooms on the second and third floors. The men were all arranged on the second floor, and the four women were on the third floor. The attic was a storage room.

Cheng Yijiu was in the room on the second floor, across from the elevator exit to the left. He had just lit the kerosene heater and opened the ventilation duct. He took his rifle from his gun bag and began to organize it. "I still can't imagine there would be an attack here," he muttered. Outside, the wind and snow began to pick up. I heard that this was the first snow of the year, and at this rate, the snow would probably reach his calves by tomorrow morning.

Amid the rustling of falling snow, Cheng Yijiu didn't join the party in the cafeteria downstairs, but fell asleep. It wasn't until midnight that Cheng Yijiu suddenly woke up. He heard a sound and felt a strange feeling. "Something happened." This was his intuition.

He quickly put on his clothes, gloves, and grabbed his rifle. Cheng Yijiu pulled down his goggles—they were better for the snow. He went to the window and slightly opened the curtains—it was pitch black outside, and he couldn't see anything at all. There were no public street lights in this place, only the dim lights at the doorsteps of each household that illuminated a little bit of the wall.

After standing in the middle of the dark room for a moment, Cheng Yijiu put his rifle back into its holster. He walked silently to the door, opened it, and glanced around. "Yes, something did happen. But let's wait until daytime to confirm." He closed the door, took off his clothes, and went back to bed.

By dawn, Cheng Yijiu had already risen. He could hear and see the chaos on the street outside. At least a dozen villagers were running around, and the hotel hostess was also in a panic. The guests were still asleep, and only Cheng Yijiu had come down to the restaurant for a Japanese breakfast. "What happened?" he asked.

"Don't worry, guest. It's all right." Although she couldn't hide her panic and even fear, the female general still tried to "comfort" Cheng Yijiu. The hunter just grinned. "All right? I don't think so." He stood up, pushed his lunch box aside, and walked out of the hotel.

After walking along the street for about ten minutes, I saw a Japanese-style house in front of me. Several male villagers were standing there with hunting rifles and daggers in their hands, and some were muttering about when the police would come. There was a telephone in the village, but no police station. If the police drove from the city, it would take at least an hour and a half, and even two hours was normal. This was the result of no speed limit on rural roads.

"What happened?" Cheng Yijiu remained silent, standing aside, not provoking the villagers. The man who spoke was a forty-something man from the group that had come yesterday. "Hey, this is none of your business," a villager said. "I'm Inspector Kinoshita, the Tokyo Inspector." The man pulled out his ID from his chest, which bore a chrysanthemum emblem.

"Oh, it's Inspector." The villagers used somewhat old-fashioned words. "Dosan has been killed. Please go and take a look." Inspector Kinoshita frowned. "Oh, damn it. I didn't expect to encounter such a thing when I came out for vacation." He walked towards the house, and Cheng Yijiu followed silently. Seeing that he was also an outsider, the villagers did not stop him, but followed everyone.

Inspector Kinoshita didn't notice the people behind him, and then Cheng Yijiu saw a teenager - this boy was the most excited about the peeping activity yesterday. When he tried his best but failed, he saw his whole body turn pale. This boy was running ahead, chatting with Inspector Kinoshita with a playful smile.

All of this disappeared when they saw the victim. Both of them turned very serious. Cheng Yijiu also saw the victim who had been killed in the house. His appearance was horrible. There were huge lacerations on his body. Three long wounds almost cut the whole person open. His internal organs were also torn. The smell in the air was not pleasant at all. Blood was everywhere - on the floor, walls, and even the ceiling.

There were very clear marks in the pool of blood, and similar marks also appeared on the wall—claw marks, clearly those of a bear. And the large, irregular hole in the wall also revealed how the killer had gotten in. "Don't go in! Protect the scene!" the inspector shouted, demanding everyone stand outside the door—he had immediately checked the doorway, but unfortunately, it was covered in footprints and nothing could be seen.

The boy and the police captain both put plastic bags on their feet and carefully avoided the bloodstains on the ground as they approached the body...

third chapter

"This is Honshu Island. Can a brown bear from Hokkaido cross the strait?" Looking at the size of the hole, Cheng Yijiu couldn't believe it was made by a black bear. The Japanese black bear subspecies is small, most of them are about the size of a large dog. These crescent-shaped bears couldn't make a hole that big. And they probably don't have enough strength. This Japanese-style house is built with wooden planks sandwiched between straw and mud. After being compacted, it's actually quite sturdy.

The scratches on the deceased's body weren't what a black bear could have made. The gaps between the claws indicated it was definitely a large creature, though it was unclear whether it had been eaten. The village had no doctor, but there was a nurse—a woman in her fifties who had retired from the big city. Her husband was also the village chief. Of course, there weren't the conditions for an autopsy, but one of the tourists, a man in his late thirties or early forties, claimed to be a surgeon.

These people knew each other. Two hours later, after the city police arrived, the surgeon performed a preliminary autopsy in an abandoned house in the village. Cheng Yijiu, of course, had no chance to intervene. Instead, all tourists and villagers who came here were required to register their identities and give their statements. His foreign identity was, of course, exposed. In fact, the hotel hostess knew he was a foreigner from the moment he registered—to avoid trouble, Cheng Yijiu registered as a Chinese American and produced a US passport.

The dads of Daddy Country are the ones Xiaoben dared not touch, so there wouldn't be any trouble. Besides, there was a security guard on duty on the first floor that night, and the main door was locked. Opening the door from the inside would automatically ring a bell in the security guard's room. However, the bell had broken down two days ago and hadn't been repaired yet. Hanako, the female officer on duty, said no one had left. There was no need to investigate the hotel staff; these tourists likely didn't know the victim, Zusaku, so there was no motive.

Besides, it was now obvious that Zusaku had been attacked by a bear.

From morning till night, as a "foreigner," Cheng Yijiu struggled to gather any further intelligence. He'd actually wanted to see the victim's body, but unfortunately, he had no reason to. But Cheng Yijiu could patrol at night. He had a hunting license—the same as before, a gun license from the Daddy Country headquarters in Honko, proving he was one of Daddy Country's wealthy and privileged men.

How dare a grandson interfere in his grandfather's affairs?

So when Cheng Yijiu showed his ID and said he wanted to go on patrol at night to see if he could shoot the bear, the police looked hesitant—they didn't want to take responsibility for any casualties. But facing his father's ID, they still couldn't do anything to Cheng Yijiu. And Cheng Yijiu also said he would guarantee his own safety, so they just believed him.

Cheng Yijiu saw the young man—his name was something like Yinzanji. He had a female classmate named Mikoto next to him. "This feels like déjà vu. Isn't it just a detective and his partner? Once upon a time, Holmes had to have a Watson, and Poirot had to have Hastings?" The young man looked thoughtful. Cheng Yijiu heard people talk about young detectives. "Murder case?" Cheng Yijiu wasn't sure. Anyway, he went out with his gun bag on his back, and the first thing he did was to go back to the scene to see.

The house was empty. The village chief and the villagers had already cleared the deceased's property, under the watchful eyes of the police, and brought it to the village office, preparing to hand it over to the heir—rumor has it that he has a son studying in a big city. Cheng Yijiu stood at the breach in the wall, observing the marks. "It was definitely caused by a huge smash..." He looked at the shattered wall inside the room, then carefully examined the blood and claw marks on the wall and floor.

"It's really complete... How can this guy be so calm?" Cheng Yijiu muttered, touching his chin. Then he half squatted down and pointed at the bloody claw marks with his fingers, smiling, "Well, interesting. I think I know why there are young detectives." Cheng Yijiu stood up straight and felt relaxed. His eyes were still casually passing over the footprints and claw marks on the wall.

Suddenly, his sight paused. Cheng Yijiu walked to the bottom of the wall and looked up, then brought a ladder and climbed up. Now the claw mark was right in front of him. Cheng Yijiu covered the claw mark with his palm - his hand could only cover the other party's "palm" at first. Cheng Yijiu's fingers slid through the grooves created by the claws, feeling the unevenness and splinters on the edge.

After a long while, Cheng Yijiu finally breathed a sigh of relief and his expression became serious.

"What a surprise! Damn it!" He walked out of the house and began to search the ground diligently, focusing on the direction towards the mountain. He spent half a day searching until dusk before he finally reached the area close to the mountain. Cheng Yijiu stood up straight, feeling somewhat confused. He hadn't found any traces of the owner of the paw prints.

In the hotel cafeteria, Cheng Yijiu ordered a large pork chop rice. Don't call the Japanese petty; they also have large rice dishes. The pork chop was bigger than my face and as thick as my palm, and there were two of them! Along with a large bowl of rice weighing a pound and a large amount of shredded cabbage, Cheng Yijiu also bought a jug of draft beer. It must be said that even a place could deliver fresh beer. Japan was quite impressive during its afterglow.

That night, Cheng Yijiu went out with his gun, planning to circle the village. It was nearly impossible to stop the bear attack. The village had no walls, and a big bear could enter from any direction and attack any house. The commanding heights of this place weren't in the village, but on a mountain not far from the hotel. The mountain was over a hundred meters high and low, but it was within the village, and there was even a signal tower on it.

This mountain isn't connected to the others; it's simply a mound. To get good visibility, you have to climb to the signal tower; otherwise, it's all pine trees and you can't see much. "Night vision can see a lot, but no bears. Forget it, let's go back." The snow was falling harder, and Cheng Yijiu returned to the hotel. He felt the female officer on duty roll his eyes at him. The open-air bathhouse was open 24 hours a day because it was fed with groundwater.

Cheng Yijiu took a warm, comfortable bath, put his clothes and shoes in the hallway to dry, and then went back to his room to sleep. Even if a bear appeared tonight, he wasn't going to join the fight. "I need more information," the hunter told himself.

It might have been early in the morning when a sudden scream woke Cheng Yijiu up. He quickly put on his bathrobe, grabbed his rifle and rushed out.

Chapter Four

This time, the screams came from the female officer on duty. Cheng Yijiu had just rushed out when he realized that nearly all the male guests on the second floor had opened their doors and emerged. Except for one room, he ran over with his weapon in hand. Everyone, even the police captain, was crowding the entrance. The door to that room was shattered, and the scene inside was similar to the one where the villagers were killed by the bear the previous day. There was blood everywhere, claw marks everywhere, and the man in his thirties lay in a pool of blood.

The body was also nearly dissected open. This time, the doctor immediately performed an autopsy. The inspector, after filming the scene with a camera from the hotel, also began investigating the scene. Yin Shanji was also among those inspecting the scene. Cheng Yijiu initially watched the surgeon perform the autopsy, focusing on the wound. "No, this isn't a bear laceration; it's likely a specially made claw," Cheng Yijiu said, immediately expressing his opinion.

The doctor looked at Cheng Yijiu through his glasses, then at the wound. "You're right, the wound is so smooth it must have been made with a blade." Cheng Yijiu didn't continue, but looked at the claw marks carefully. This time there were no traces of high places. It looked as if a bear had broken through the door, killed someone, and then ran away. There were bloody footprints in the corridor. It must have run to the first floor and then backed out, tearing through the wall of the Japanese-style house and running away.

That place should also be the place where they entered, and there are still some shaved hairs left. "It looks like the real thing," Cheng Yijiu muttered. "This is a murder, not a bear attack," the doctor said from above. Well, this mystery show has turned sour from the beginning. Now the previous attack has become a murder. Who is the murderer? It's not certain at this time.

This wasn't the right choice for Cheng Yijiu. He wasn't interested in the murder case; he was focused on the claw marks. "In the last attack, only one claw mark looked wrong. It was a real bear claw mark—judging by the height, the bear must have been quite large." Cheng Yijiu shook his head. The claw mark still looked a bit strange. The fingers were slightly longer, more like a gorilla's paw than a bear's paw.

But it doesn't mean that bears can't have longer fingers, right? However, it's very frustrating that there's no trace of this bear. There's already snow outside, but there aren't any bear footprints? This really makes Cheng Yijiu puzzled. This is completely unscientific, but existence is reasonable, so he needs to make some preparations. The bullets in the gun chamber may need to be replaced. If something happens that completely disrespects him as a hunter, he must give the other party a good look.

He wasn't needed for this matter. Before the police arrived, Cheng Yijiu went to the village office to look for some information. "Some local folk legends..." Cheng Yijiu said to the village chief. The short man looked embarrassed. "There's really no record of this. About ten years ago, a folklorist from Tokyo visited, but he didn't say there was anything. Our village wasn't established in ancient times. It only existed during the Meiji period."

The village chief had no time to chat with Cheng Yijiu. Two people had died, and it was murder. He had a lot of troubles. Cheng Yijiu didn't want to bother this poor man any more. According to his estimation, in ten or twenty years at most, this village would be abandoned.

There's no shrine in the village either. Even with eight million gods, there's still a lot they can't take care of. What local specialties are there? Wild vegetables, radishes, and potatoes, perhaps? In short, aside from the truly relaxing hot springs, there seems to be nothing else. "There's no legend, not even during the Warring States period. There's no village here at all. What could it be?" Cheng Yijiu wandered alone on the edge of the mountainside.

The mountains are all white, dotted with black tree trunks. Black bears should have started hibernating at this time, and even brown bears should have done the same.

The murder case was a kind of "locked room"—the first person to discover what had happened was a female attendant coming up from downstairs. She was awakened by a rattling sound, then came up to investigate and heard a crash. She saw the entire scene as she hurried over. There was no one else in the hallway at that time. By the time she realized there might be a bear, she was so frightened she couldn't move. Fortunately, no bear appeared, and it was only after about a minute that other guests from the second and third floors appeared.

Ginzanji said he noticed that almost everyone on the second floor had fled from their rooms, as he was the second to arrive. The doctor was the first to emerge. The women on the third floor were also the last to arrive, and the lock on the downstairs was locked. Did the bear escape through the gap? The footprints suggest so, but once it's confirmed that this was murder and not an assault, it all becomes a joke.

"The murderer is among us." said Yinshanji.

Then they had to start an investigation. Ginzanji, Mikoto, and Inspector Chayou interviewed everyone one by one, and they happened to find Cheng Yijiu. "Oh, this is my first time here. Of course, I'm here to hunt, so you see I brought a rifle and a hunting knife." There was no need to mention whether it was illegal here - first of all, these were people from Daddy's Country, and secondly, this was the countryside, and the laws were not that strict. "I don't know anyone here, and of course this is the first time you've seen them."

Speaking of the attacks, Cheng Yijiu nodded and said, "Yes, these are human-caused murders, but in the first case there was indeed a bear's paw print. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any trace of the bear."

Yin Shaner asked, "Mr. Cheng, when did you realize this was murder?" His eyes gleamed with curiosity. "From what you just said, you were sure at the scene yesterday that this wasn't caused by a bear."

Cheng Yijiu replied, "Footprints. Look at the distance between the footprints. They're too close together, too close for the size of the footprints. And... there are only two kinds of footprints here, and bears have four legs." He paused, "So that's when I knew all this was done by humans."

"But there really was a bear, a very large bear, that entered the scene, after the victim died and before anyone else discovered it." Cheng Yijiu said, "I never found it." The hunter's hand gripped the hilt of the knife, and the young detectives showed surprise. "Was there really a bear? Yeah, I really want to see it."

chapter Five

"It's better not to look. Bears are not very good at killing prey - of course, this is compared to cats, so when they eat, their victims are most likely still alive. Bears are also not afraid of people. The chance of encountering one in the mountains is much higher than encountering a tiger." Cheng Yijiu said, "Besides, it's not easy to see a bear. You can go to the zoo. If all else fails, just cross the strait. There are several large bear specimens in the museum over there."

"I'm not sure about this bear. I need to confirm some things first," Cheng Yijiu said, and then he saw three pairs of eyes shining brightly across from him. They weren't stupid people, so how could they not understand what he was saying? Besides, after Cheng Yijiu said the beginning and the end, even the somewhat foolish Miqin knew that when the bear entered the first victim's house, it didn't leave any footprints in the snow.

There were footprints, but the hunter couldn't tell they were from the real bear. That posed an interesting question—how did the bear come and go? Could it have transformed into a puff of smoke? Isn't that a strange story? The Japanese love strange stories. And Ginzanji seemed to have formed an opinion about the case. Perhaps one more chance would solve it.

Sure enough, on the third day, the police chief came forward and asked the hotel owner, the female general, and all the guests to gather in the first-floor cafeteria, where Yinshan II would reveal the true identity of the murderer. Cheng Yijiu thought it would be okay to waste some time... However, before the gathering, something unexpected happened.

In broad daylight, the bear rushed into the hotel—probably through the unrepaired gap and then directly into the hotel through the Japanese-style building. In return, there were screams and growls from the bear—like a dog barking, not scary at all. Cheng Yijiu was originally preparing to go down, but when he heard the screams, he grabbed his rifle, opened the door, and rushed down.

The area below was a mess, looking like a slaughterhouse—red everywhere, but Cheng Yijiu had a good sense of smell and could tell it was mostly tomato sauce. "A stealing bear?" He saw the female general running, and the bear chasing after her. "Impossible?!" Before him appeared a crescent-shaped bear.

Japanese black bears are small, but the one before him was enormous, nearly a Northeast Asian species, standing half a head taller than an adult man. At this angle, Cheng Yijiu fired his rifle immediately, but the opportunity was fleeting—the bear was about to catch up with the female general, who was out of range. A second later, the front half of its body might be blocked by the corner.

He aimed roughly in the right direction and fired at waist height. His wrist was a little sore from the shot, but the bullet accurately hit the bear just below the shoulder blade. After so many hunts, Cheng Yijiu was already a sharpshooter. At a distance of less than five meters, he was confident of hitting the bear's vitals in a very short time.

His left hand moved forward, and his right hand pulled the bolt to eject the shell, then pushed it to load the chamber. Without stopping, Cheng Yijiu didn't rush over to check even when he saw the bear roll over and lie motionless on the ground. Instead, he stood on the last step and observed. He turned his head and saw a man lying on the ground in the cafeteria on the way the bear came. He seemed to be dead.

After watching for a while, someone on the other side timidly ran to the person lying on the ground and turned him over - yes, it was a man. "He's dead." The police chief announced, then he picked up a chair, looked at Cheng Yijiu, and then threw the chair at the bear. The bear didn't move. At this time, Cheng Yijiu walked over and kicked it from behind, "Yeah, dead."

Soon, the villagers also arrived. Only one person died in the whole incident, and that was the murderer that Yinshan Er was about to expose. Now this situation made the young man a little speechless - Cheng Yijiu had heard some news that there were two murderers, and now one was dead, and the other one could not be identified at all.

"How could this be such a coincidence?" Cheng Yijiu signaled the villagers to begin treating the bear, while he himself grasped the bear's paw and examined its teeth. He walked over to the deceased and examined the wound. He and the doctor said in unison, "Yes, this man was killed by this bear." Cheng Yijiu added, "First, it tore and held him with its claws, then it bit him to death."

The bear's origins were clear, and Cheng Yijiu quickly tracked down all its tracks. "One last meal before winter, fattening up for hibernation?" Once the bear's hide was peeled off, there was still quite a bit of fat underneath—bear fat was incredibly fishy and bitter, making it inedible to humans. It was originally used as a medicinal herb. Bear meat wasn't actually edible, but perhaps the Japanese could handle it?

Bear bile is a valuable commodity, but Cheng Yijiu had no interest in taking it back. He had more important things to do, while Yinshaner and the others were already there, taking pictures with their Polaroid cameras—with the dead bear in the background. Since there was no evidence against the other murderer, there was nothing to be done. Besides, the other person had checked out and left immediately after being attacked by a bear that morning—yes, it was a woman.

I don't know if I will meet him again in the future, and I can't even be sure that it is his real name - there are no ID cards in Japan, and many people have fled for decades and changed their names.

These people probably had never seen such a large black bear in their daily lives, and they were having a great time taking pictures. The village chief seemed to be trying to turn this incident into an opportunity to make a specimen or something to attract tourists. Seeing this expression, Cheng Yijiu simply didn't say that it wasn't this bear at all - the bear that left the blood mark was definitely much larger, but that bear didn't kill anyone in the strict sense.

It just went to a murder scene, but Cheng Yijiu had an ominous premonition, "Something bad should happen." Cheng Yijiu took out a bullet and played with it. The bullet head of this bullet was silver... "I hope I don't have to use this." Cheng Yijiu sighed.

The case was over and the bear had been dealt with. The next day was the day for the tourists who came here for vacation to go home. Tonight, after taking a bath, everyone sat in the cafeteria to chat. Those who were younger than Yinshaner drank juice and milk, while Cheng Yijiu and the others each had a pitcher of draft beer and ate some grilled skewers while chatting.

Everyone was relatively relaxed now. Someone's death was a tragedy, but the fact that the case was "solved" and everyone was fine was a good thing. Even Cheng Yijiu couldn't carry a gun around with him at all times. So he could only carry a hunting knife under his bathrobe, to give himself some comfort.

Chapter Six

The bear took a heavy hit, and Cheng Yijiu concluded from the feel, "Damn, this thing isn't some fake balloon monster. It feels like a real, solid brown bear." The force of Cheng Yijiu's impact nearly knocked the brown bear off its feet, and it quickly shifted its center of gravity to land on all fours. Cheng Yijiu's strength was actually comparable to that of the brown bear, given that he was chosen by Apollo and his physical fitness had already reached the peak of humanity.

Humans are also relatively large animals, with well-balanced upper and lower limb strength. In terms of sheer strength, they're at least as strong as wolves. Cheng Yijiu's strength is now easily enough to strangle a full-grown male wolf and take down a leopard. Comparing their strength against this multi-hundred-kilogram brown bear reveals that he's surprisingly not inferior. This is how it should be; he's a monster who once strangled a lion.

What was there to fear from a brown bear like this? Cheng Yijiu stabbed it but didn't notice much blood. As he turned behind the bear, it roared and charged into the restaurant. Its massive body immediately knocked over tables and chairs, blocking the center. The group showed remarkable mobility as the bear charged. They were no longer the screaming losers in horror movies. Instead, they dispersed with incredible speed, using sofas, tables, and chairs as a cover.

Cheng Yijiu leaped onto the bear's back, his fingers twisting to hold his hunting knife, and stabbed it across the bear's neck. The bear suddenly reared up, attempting to flip Cheng Yijiu over. The hunter quickly leaped down, his knife slicing through the bear's flesh. Mist thickened, and the bear let out a long roar. While the bear and Cheng Yijiu struggled, the inhabitants struggled to escape through the doorway.

"Hey, at least get me a gun." Cheng Yijiu couldn't quite run away right now. There was something wrong with the bear's movement. Cheng Yijiu thought it lacked a sense of solidity. At least, there wasn't the vibration of the floor when it moved—"It didn't feel heavy enough. There was some vibration, but it was too small!" And after several encounters, it was clear that this thing was incredibly strong, but it wasn't commensurate with the size of a brown bear.

No one brought a gun, but the bear dissipated into mist in one pounce. Cheng Yijiu stood up straight and tugged at his yukata—he'd already lost his genitals during the fight, and now he was dressed again. Looking at the claw marks on the ground, he knew he wasn't injured. At most, the close contact had caused the hard bear fur to rub against his skin, leaving many red marks.

Cheng Yijiu stood there for a long moment. The brown bear disappeared without a trace. Ginzanji's head peeked out from the top of the stairs, and even further down, Mikoto's head peeked out. These two little students were incredibly brave, their curiosity so strong. They weren't even worried about what would happen if they peeked out and made eye contact with the brown bear. Would the bear reward them with a slap? One slap each on the head...

What they saw was a somewhat nonchalant Cheng Yijiu, playing with a huge hunting knife in one hand. The bear was gone—not alive or dead. Cheng Yijiu looked at them and said, "This is a strange story, the Mist Bear. This thing can really kill people." Ginzanji and Mikoto's eyes almost lit up. "A strange story? This is a strange story! I'm so excited!" Speaking of excitement, Mikoto was actually more excited. She took out a notebook and wrote furiously.

Ginzanji was a bit embarrassed. "Kwaidan enthusiasts will do that," he said. Mikoto had completely changed her cute and silly appearance and turned into a "real" reporter. She kept asking Cheng Yijiu about what happened, while carefully observing the battle with her eagle eyes. She even checked the doors and windows. Seeing the snow piled up to her calves outside, she confirmed that the door could not have been opened.

The meticulousness of this on-site inspection was like Ginzanji observing a crime scene. "You're truly passionate about strange stories, just as you are about reasoning. Are you from the Reasoning Research Society? You kid?" Cheng Yijiu said this with a tongue-twisting caduceus, imitating the Japanese gangsters he had seen. Meanwhile, other guests and female officers began to emerge. After hearing that this was actually a strange story, the tourists' eyes lit up, while the female officers trembled all over.

"How could such a monster exist!" the innkeeper nearly burst into tears. "Ah, wouldn't a real ghost story attract a lot of tourists? Your business is booming!" someone said. "What's the point of money if you're dead? No, I'm moving to the city!" The female commander and the innkeeper both said the same thing. Mikoto wrote about the Mist Bear in her notebook, even trying to depict the bear she saw in her memory—it must be said that China is truly a country of manga, and this high school sophomore can draw quite well.