The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

A mother black bear will raise her cub in the mountain forest for three years after giving birth. The pair only separates once the cub reaches sexual maturity.

This pair of bears, one large and one small, had been foraging on this hillside today. But the little black bear wasn’t paying attention and got caught in a snare.

The snare tightened, and the little black bear, unable to free itself, sat on the hillside and wailed. The mother bear paced anxiously around it, but there was nothing she could do, so she could only stand guard nearby.

She stood guard for two hours. Her stomach was empty, and the hunger was becoming unbearable. Seeing that her cub couldn’t get away but wasn’t in immediate danger, the mother bear went to scrounge for some food nearby.

She truly didn’t go far, but she went over the ridge to the other side of the slope, and the mountain blocked the sound.

So, even when the little black bear started fighting with Little Bear and Da Huang, she didn’t hear a thing from the other side of the mountain.

It was only when the mother had eaten her fill and was heading back to continue guarding her child. When the mother bear reached the top of the Gangjiansi ridge, even with her poor eyesight, she could hear her cub’s piercing cries from below.

In a panic, the mother bear came tumbling and scrambling down. Halfway down the slope, she heard Zhao Jun’s gunshot, so she got up and charged straight for him.

BANG!

Seeing a massive black bear sliding down the slope and instantly appearing before Zhao Jun, Li Baoyu panicked and immediately raised his rifle to shoot.

As the shot rang out, a bullet tore into the mother bear’s left shoulder. Almost simultaneously, a spurt of fresh blood shot out from her back.

"ROAR—"

The bear’s roar instantly enveloped the three men. At the same time, three gunshots rang out.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Zhao Jun fired three consecutive shots!

But he wasn’t shooting at the mother bear—he was shooting the cub!

Zhao Jun knew this was another life-or-death moment. But this was hunting; anything could happen.

’He also knew that in times like this, you absolutely couldn’t lose your cool. Of the mother and cub, one had to go down first.’

’Since I’m already aiming at the cub, I’ll take it out first.’

After the three shots, the little black bear collapsed to the ground. Its head twitched slightly, and its body convulsed.

Little Bear and Da Huang, catching up from behind, pounced on the little black bear and started biting it.

Dogs aren’t people, after all. Their eyes were fixed only on the little black bear; they hadn’t even noticed the mother bear charging toward Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu.

And after firing three shots, Zhao Jun spun around—not toward the mother bear, but toward Li Baoyu behind him.

"Run!" Zhao Jun shoved Li Baoyu, who was reloading, and then dashed forward in a single bound.

At that moment, the mother bear was already upon the two of them.

When Zhao Jun bolted, Zhang Yuanmin, who was farthest from the bear, immediately reacted, turning to run after him.

And so, the mother bear was now right in front of Li Baoyu.

A black bear’s attack is different from a dog’s. A dog charges and bites with its mouth, but a black bear doesn’t.

A bear gets close, rears up on its hind legs, and uses its paws to swipe.

The mother bear reared up and swiped at Li Baoyu with its left paw, but Li Baoyu had already turned. With a stride of his long legs, he covered two meters in three steps.

The mother bear’s left paw swiped at empty air. By the time she raised her right paw to try again, Li Baoyu had already caught up to Zhang Yuanmin.

Zhang Yuanmin was pumping his legs for all he was worth. Seeing Li Baoyu overtake him scared him half to death.

Zhang Yuanmin, who had only attended three days of school, would never forget the three sentences his teacher told them on his first day.

The first was: "Master math, physics, and chemistry, and the world is your oyster."

But to this day, Zhang Yuanmin still had no idea what "physics and chemistry" were.

The second was: "Language is the mother of all knowledge."

This sentence resonated deeply with Zhang Yuanmin, who had recently become obsessed with comic books, because there were many characters in them he didn’t recognize. And then there were many characters that he recognized but couldn’t pronounce.

And his elementary school teacher’s third sentence was: "If you don’t study well and end up last in your class, you’ll have to fight the wolves."

Back then, Zhang Yuanmin, who sat in the front row because he was short, raised his hand and asked the teacher a very pointed question.

He asked, "Teacher, we live in the mountains, but there are no wolves here. How are we supposed to fight them?"

The teacher was about to get angry, but after glancing at this student who, even when standing, was barely taller than his desk, a trace of pity stirred in her kind heart. She patiently explained to Zhang Yuanmin, "If you and your classmates are chased by wolves, the wolf will always bite the person who falls behind."

"To survive, that person has to turn back and fight the wolf. What I meant by that sentence was to tell all of you to study hard so you don’t end up being the one left behind to fight the wolf."

Although Zhang Yuanmin dropped out of school two days later, he always remembered his teacher’s three sentences.

Right at this moment, a thought suddenly flashed through Zhang Yuanmin’s mind: ’Teacher, even though I never got to fight a wolf, I think I might have to fight a bear today!’

All sorts of nonsense was running through Zhang Yuanmin’s head, but his pace didn’t slow one bit. It’s just that no matter how desperately he ran, due to his natural disadvantages, he couldn’t outrun Li Baoyu and Zhao Jun.

The deadliest part was, he couldn’t outrun the bear.

The wounded bear, having lost its cub, was seeing red. It caught up to Zhang Yuanmin in just a few steps. The bear straightened its body, reared up, and a massive paw sliced through the air.

Zhang Yuanmin felt his body go light, and then he realized he was in midair.

Meanwhile, Zhao Jun had already ducked behind a Pine Tree. He spun around, swinging the muzzle of his rifle back.

There were still three bullets left in his semi-automatic rifle. Zhao Jun was going to use those three bullets to kill the mother bear.

But as Zhao Jun turned, he saw the mother bear hoist Zhang Yuanmin into the air.

Zhang Yuanmin hung in the air, his arms flailing and his short legs kicking wildly, shouting, "Brother, save me! Brother...!"

His voice was already cracking with sobs.

’Even with all his experience, Zhao Jun panicked at this moment. He wanted to shoot, but the mother bear was holding Zhang Yuanmin up like a shield, pinning him right in front of her. How could he possibly take the shot?’

"Da Huang! Da Huang!" Li Baoyu, hiding to one side, grew desperate at the sight. He yelled hoarsely for Da Huang while breaking open his rifle to reload.

Hearing its master’s call, Da Huang, who had been tearing at the little black bear, lifted its head. Seeing the mother bear, it got up and charged in their direction.

The mother bear grabbed Zhang Yuanmin and slammed him down. Weighing over 130 pounds, Zhang Yuanmin was like a plank of wood in the bear’s grasp, pressed flat against the ground.

Zhang Yuanmin was face down. He tried to open his mouth to scream, but only got a mouthful of dirt. With his mouth clogged with mud, Zhang Yuanmin tried to shout again, but no sound came out.

The mother bear spread its hind legs, took two steps forward, and planted its rear paws on either side of Zhang Yuanmin’s waist.

The mother bear sat down. Zhang Yuanmin’s head jerked violently upward as muffled whimpers escaped his lips.

At that moment, dirt kept falling from Zhang Yuanmin’s mouth, and tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.

’This is bad!’ Li Baoyu, who had just finished reloading, was horrified at the sight.

He knew that once a black bear sits on you, it will bite wherever you move.

If you move your arm, it’ll bite your arm off. If you kick your leg, the bear will turn and claw your leg to shreds.

The deadliest part was, if you moved your head, the bear’s canines could pierce right through your skull.

Li Baoyu leveled his rifle, just as three shots rang out from nearby.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Zhao Jun had fired all three of the remaining bullets in his rifle!