The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

"AWOO... HMPH! HMPH!"

Attacked repeatedly, the Black Bear spun around in fury. The moment it moved, the two dogs released their bite and scattered to either side.

When the Black Bear turned, Da Huang was the first thing it saw, so it charged straight for him.

It put all its strength into the pounce.

The Steel Wire Rope instantly snapped taut!

The Black Bear’s body stopped in mid-air!

The other end of the Steel Wire Rope was tied to a felled tree. Its base was as thick as a grown man’s calf and it was over four meters long. Lying horizontally on the mountainside and wedged between other trees, the Black Bear couldn’t budge it at all.

This kind of trap setup was called a "drag-log."

And with the Black Bear’s all-out struggle, the Steel Wire Rope cut deep into its flesh!

In an instant, blood began to seep out from all around the bear’s waist.

"HMPH! HMPH! HMPH! HMPH..." The Black Bear roared again and again. Unable to break free from the Steel Wire Rope, it took two steps back. But the cable had already dug into its flesh, and with its level of intelligence, it couldn’t help itself.

The Black Bear reared up, standing like a man. It held its Bear’s Paws in front of its chest, its small eyes darting around maliciously as it shook its head from side to side, glaring at Little Bear and Da Huang.

Little Bear and Da Huang stood on either side of the Black Bear, about three to five meters away.

As long as the Black Bear didn’t move, Little Bear and Da Huang didn’t advance.

They were waiting for Zhao Jun.

Although the Black Bear didn’t know they were waiting for someone, it lunged straight for Da Huang.

By the time the Black Bear landed, Da Huang had already scrambled out of its reach.

This Black Bear wasn’t stupid. It knew it couldn’t reach Da Huang even if it kept going that way, so it immediately turned and charged at Little Bear instead.

Seeing this, Little Bear turned and ran.

This time, the Black Bear gave up the chase after just two steps.

Its earlier attacks to the left and right were meant to force Little Bear and Da Huang further away, as if only that could give it a greater sense of security.

But to the Black Bear’s fury, Little Bear and Da Huang kept circling behind it. The bear wasn’t as fast as the dogs, and the snare was cumbersome, so it kept getting bitten from time to time.

The Black Bear was absolutely livid. After chasing Little Bear for another two steps, it reached an oak tree. Planting its front paws on the trunk and kicking off with its hind legs, it scurried up the tree.

The Black Bear tried to climb the tree, but Little Bear and Da Huang weren’t having it. They both rushed forward, leaping and snapping at it from below.

This particular Black Bear was truly unlucky. If it had turned back to climb the tree anchoring the drag-log, it could have gotten quite high, since the other end of the snare was right at the tree’s base.

But the oak tree it was climbing was nearly two meters away from the drag-log. The Black Bear hadn’t even climbed half a meter before the Steel Wire Rope went taut.

By now, the Steel Wire Rope had cut into its flesh. When the bear tugged on it, the pain was excruciating.

The crucial thing was, its hind paws were less than half a meter off the ground. Little Bear and Da Huang leaped up. Da Huang, being longer, bit directly onto the Black Bear’s rear, while Little Bear latched onto its lower leg.

The two dogs bit down hard, hanging from the bear’s body, shaking their heads and swinging their bodies to drag it back down.

The Steel Wire Rope bit into its waist, soaking its long fur with blood that dripped to the ground. DRIP. DRIP. On top of that, two dogs were hanging off it, their bites causing sharp, searing pain.

With a push of its front paws, the Black Bear instantly dropped from the tree.

Little Bear and Da Huang ran off with their tails between their legs. After getting several meters away, they stopped, and turning back, raised their tails and let out a series of roars at the Black Bear.

The Black Bear roared back at them, but at this point, it could do nothing more than make a show of aggression.

Just then, Zhao Jun, Li Baoyu, and Zhang Yuanmin arrived.

Seeing the Black Bear trapped by the Steel Wire Rope, unable to advance or retreat, Zhao Jun raised his rifle and aimed at its chest.

"Brother." Suddenly, Li Baoyu called out to Zhao Jun from the side.

Zhao Jun kept the rifle raised but turned his head to look at Li Baoyu. "What is it?" he asked.

"Let me shoot it." Li Baoyu took Zhao Jun’s old break-action shotgun from his shoulder and said, "This Black Bear is pretty much done for anyway. Let me do it."

"No," Zhao Jun refused without a second thought. "A Black Bear isn’t like a wild boar. If it were a boar, I’d let you. But if you don’t kill it in one shot, the dogs will hear the gunshot and rush in. They could get hurt, couldn’t they?"

"Ah, then I won’t do it." Although Li Baoyu was eager for some real action to scratch his itch, he cared more about the hunting dogs. Hearing Zhao Jun’s reasoning, he didn’t insist.

At that, Zhao Jun aimed at the Black Bear’s chest again. He was holding a semi-automatic rifle capable of continuous fire, so he wasn’t worried about missing with a single shot.

Just then, the Black Bear chased after Little Bear. The dog made a circle and then leaped toward the bear. The bear happened to turn just in time to lunge at Little Bear.

Little Bear cleverly stopped, turned, and ran.

Little Bear’s retreat led the Black Bear right toward Zhao Jun, while Da Huang pounced from behind, sinking its teeth into the bear’s lower leg.

Afraid of hitting Da Huang, Zhao Jun raised his muzzle slightly and instantly pulled the trigger.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Four shots in a row!

Unexpectedly, just as the first shot rang out, the Black Bear turned to chase Da Huang. As a result, the bullet grazed past its body.

The second shot went straight into the Black Bear’s shoulder.

As the Black Bear moved forward with the third shot, the bullet lodged in its rear.

The fourth shot missed completely!

Coincidentally, as the Black Bear chased Da Huang, it pulled the Steel Wire Rope taut, and this bullet skimmed right past it.

The bullet didn’t touch the Steel Wire Rope.

But anyone who’s ever hunted knows that a bullet doesn’t have to hit a Steel Wire Rope directly for it to break.

From the moment Zhao Jun had discovered the Sixth-grade Leaf Ginseng and shouted into the mountains, this Black Bear had been struggling up here.

Zhao Jun and the others had gone home and returned, and the Black Bear was still struggling here.

It had been thrashing about for a full two hours.

Then it fought with the two hunting dogs, twisting left and right against the Steel Wire Rope. Even without this last shot, the cable was already on the verge of snapping.

And as the bullet whizzed past, the Steel Wire Rope broke with a loud SNAP.

Freed from the Steel Wire Rope, the Black Bear instantly charged forward three meters. But it stopped, no longer chasing Da Huang, and instead turned straight for Zhao Jun.

"GRRR-ROAR..." The Black Bear charged, reeking of killing intent. Seeing this, Zhang Yuanmin quietly took a step back, while Li Baoyu gripped the gun in his hands tightly.

"AWOO! AWOO..."

Little Bear and Da Huang chased and bit at the Black Bear’s heels, but they could no longer hold it back.

But Zhao Jun wasn’t flustered at all. Seeing the Black Bear was still over ten meters away, he calmly held his rifle steady and aimed for its chest again.

But just as Zhao Jun was about to fire, he heard the rustling of branches and pine needles from the mountain to the north, followed by a bear’s roar that rolled down the slope.

Then came a thundering sound, like something heavy stamping on the ground. A cacophony of crashing and rustling followed, and a massive creature, accompanied by a jumble of chaotic noise, was suddenly right in front of Zhao Jun.

A huge Black Bear, weighing around four hundred pounds, had tumbled down the slope in an instant. It was now no more than five meters from Zhao Jun.

Li Baoyu cocked the hammer of the break-action shotgun in his hands, aimed it at the huge Black Bear, and fired!