Chapter 387 - 322: Hasn’t Returned
"BANG!"
"BANG!"
"BANG!"
The first shot. The bullet went straight into the Black Bear’s chest.
The impact of the bullet made the bear’s upper body jolt. It had been about to bite the back of Zhang Yuanmin’s head, but its body froze for a moment.
The second shot was a headshot.
A spray of blood erupted from the back of the Black Bear’s skull, and it fell backward.
The third shot missed.
"WOOF! AWOOO..." Da Huang, who had just arrived, lunged forward, latched onto the Black Bear’s ear, and began tearing at it ferociously.
At that moment, Little Bear also snapped out of it, abandoning the Little Black Bear and running straight toward them.
"Quick!" Zhao Jun roared, tossing his gun aside and sprinting toward Zhang Yuanmin.
Li Baoyu darted out from behind a tree, reaching Zhang Yuanmin at almost the same time as Zhao Jun.
Zhang Yuanmin was lying face down on the ground, completely still. Looking at his back, his cotton-padded jacket had been torn open by a Bear’s Paw, and fresh blood was seeping from the rip in the fabric.
"Go on! Get! Get away from here!" Zhao Jun hurriedly shooed Little Bear and Da Huang away, then worked with Li Baoyu to heave the Black Bear off Zhang Yuanmin.
Then, without even checking the wound on his back, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu rolled him over.
They saw Zhang Yuanmin’s eyes were shut tight, his face contorted in pain. His mouth was open, and the dirt that had gotten inside had mixed with his saliva to form mud.
"Get the canteen!" Zhao Jun yelled at Li Baoyu while holding Zhang Yuanmin.
Li Baoyu frantically swung his satchel from his back to his front, pulled out a military canteen, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun was very experienced. He turned Zhang Yuanmin’s head to the side and poured water onto his right cheek. Some of the water trickled in from the corner of his mouth, washing away the dirt inside.
As the cool water flowed, Zhao Jun gently patted Zhang Yuanmin’s cheek, calling softly, "Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang!"
"Ah... uh... ah..." Zhang Yuanmin suddenly started convulsing, letting out pained moans.
Zhao Jun quickly shoved the canteen back at Li Baoyu and forcefully helped Zhang Yuanmin sit up.
As soon as he was upright, Zhang Yuanmin’s eyes fluttered open and he mumbled, "Did I get stomped by the Black Bear?"
’This guy is really something else,’ Zhao Jun thought. ’He can still crack out local slang at a time like this.’
"Brother Zhang, it’s okay, it’s okay." Zhao Jun let Zhang Yuanmin lean against him and comforted him in a low voice, "You’re fine. Nothing’s wrong."
"Brother," Zhang Yuanmin turned to look at Zhao Jun, tears streaming down his face. "How come I can’t feel my body?"
"It’s nothing, Brother Zhang," Zhao Jun said. "The Black Bear sat on you for a bit. You’ll be fine after you rest for a while."
A big Black Bear weighed over three hundred jin. If one sat on a dog, it would cause the dog to lose control of its bladder and bowels. A person would fare a bit better, but they would still experience the symptoms Zhang Yuanmin was having now.
However, just as Zhao Jun had said, he would be fine after a little rest.
"Oh, brother," Zhang Yuanmin was only shedding tears, not making any crying sounds. His voice was small as he choked out, helpless, "You can’t just leave me."
"Brother Zhang, don’t talk right now. The Black Bear scratched your back. I’ll bandage it for you." At this, Zhao Jun glanced at Li Baoyu and saw him sitting there in a daze. Zhao Jun barked, "Baoyu, what are you staring at? Get the wound medicine and bandages, quick!"
"Right, right." Li Baoyu was also flustered. If Zhao Jun hadn’t spoken, he wouldn’t have known what to do.
Now, following Zhao Jun’s command, Li Baoyu set the canteen aside and pulled bandages and wound medicine from his satchel.
They called it wound medicine, but it was really just crushed-up painkillers.
Back when things were tight, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu would bring tobacco flakes for hunting in the mountains. Now that they had more money, the two of them had bought several packs of painkillers.
They had crushed two hundred tablets together and filled a pouch with the powder, just in case.
Now it was being put to use. As Zhao Jun supported Zhang Yuanmin, Li Baoyu reached out to take off his thin cotton-padded jacket.
It was still quite cold in the mountains of the Northeast at this time of year. A gust of mountain wind made Zhang Yuanmin shudder, and he finally felt the pain in his back.
"Brother," Zhang Yuanmin cried. "How bad did the Black Bear get me this time?"
"It’s nothing, Brother Zhang." Zhao Jun glanced at the wound before turning back to Zhang Yuanmin. "The wound isn’t deep. It’ll heal up in a month or so."
"That’s good, then!" Although Zhang Yuanmin said this, his tears wouldn’t stop streaming down.
It was from the fear!
Zhang Yuanmin had killed bears four times before, narrowly escaping death each time. He had basically cheated death four times over.
But this was the time he had felt the terror of death most acutely.
Zhang Yuanmin was scared stiff!
Zhao Jun took the wound medicine and bandages to dress Zhang Yuanmin’s wound, simultaneously ordering Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, hurry up and gut the two bears. Take out the galls."
"Right, right, you got it!" He had been so focused on whether Zhang Yuanmin would live or die that he’d forgotten they’d just killed two bears. Snapping back to his senses, Li Baoyu answered and scrambled to his feet to gut the mother Black Bear and her cub.
After gutting the Little Black Bear first, Li Baoyu returned with the Bear Gall, planning to give it to Zhao Jun before going back to gut the big one.
But when he got close, he saw Zhao Jun was still wrapping the bandage around Zhang Yuanmin.
Seeing Li Baoyu approach, Zhao Jun, still supporting Zhang Yuanmin with one hand, reached into his pocket with the other, pulled out a white cloth pouch, and tossed it to him. "Baoyu, put both Bear Galls in here, and you hold onto them for now."
Li Baoyu said okay, picked up the cloth pouch, put the Little Black Bear’s gall inside, and then went back to gut the Big Black Bear.
After taking out the second Bear Gall, Li Baoyu cut some bear meat to feed the dogs, letting Little Bear and Da Huang eat their fill.
By this time, Zhao Jun had finished bandaging Zhang Yuanmin. He had him lean sideways against a tree, then walked over to Li Baoyu and said, "Baoyu, take off this Big Black Bear’s paws, nose, and kneecaps. We’ll take them and the Little Black Bear with us on the cart today. Tomorrow..."
He trailed off, glancing back at Zhang Yuanmin, who was leaning motionless against the tree. Then he turned back to Li Baoyu and said, "Our brother won’t be able to come tomorrow. So you’ll drive and come with me again. We’ll dig up the Ginseng and haul this Big Black Bear back."
"Okay, okay."
Zhao Jun added, "Baoyu, let me tell you something. Even though we didn’t get them today, when we dig up those Fourth-grade and Sixth-grade leaves tomorrow, Brother Zhang gets a share."
"Of course." Li Baoyu agreed instantly, then sighed. "Brother, that scared me to death just now."
"Sigh." Zhao Jun shook his head and pointed at the Big Black Bear. "Get to work. I’ll carry Brother Zhang back and get him to the cart."
"Huh?" Li Baoyu craned his neck to look at Zhang Yuanmin. His injuries weren’t actually that serious; he could definitely walk on his own. But seeing his dazed, shell-shocked expression, Li Baoyu handed his Invasion Blade to Zhao Jun and said, "Brother, let me go."
Whenever Li Baoyu was with Zhao Jun, he always volunteered for the heavy lifting. Compared to carrying Zhang Yuanmin, butchering the Black Bear’s paws was much easier work.
"Alright," Zhao Jun nodded, adding a word of caution, "Go slow, then."
Li Baoyu agreed, then went over to hoist Zhang Yuanmin onto his back. Zhang Yuanmin was like a man who’d lost his soul; as Li Baoyu carried him, he was completely limp, as if Li Baoyu were carrying half a pig carcass.
Logically, the trip there would be difficult for Li Baoyu, carrying Zhang Yuanmin on his back, but the return trip would be much easier. The round trip should have taken an hour at most.
But an hour later, Zhao Jun had finished butchering the Big Black Bear, and there was still no sign of Li Baoyu.