「On the mountain ridge.」
The four hounds led the way, with Qin Qiang in the middle and the three Tao Brothers bringing up the rear.
Four dogs and four men, making their way to the top of the ridge.
And there, at the top of the ridge, a Black Bear lay resting beneath a crooked Daqing poplar tree.
A look at its snout, which rested on its paws, revealed the telltale signs of a gunpowder blast. Its left lip was torn wide open, a mangled mess of flesh and blood where two of its teeth were missing entirely.
Normally, the autumn harvest season was the perfect time for bears to fatten up. Winter was fast approaching, and they had to accumulate enough fat before hibernation.
But with its mouth injured, even opening it was agonizing, making it impossible to eat.
As the Black Bear stewed in its misery, a series of barks reached its ears, only adding to its irritation.
Not far away, Qin Qiang's dog, Qing Gou, was running and barking as it went.
Its barks were a call to its pack; this was the role of a lead dog.
Despite Qing Gou's small size, it was incredibly fast. It soon reached the top of the ridge and made a beeline for the Black Bear under the large tree.
But it skidded to a halt about three meters from the Black Bear, then quickly retreated, standing its ground and barking at the beast.
Ordinarily, whether it was a wild boar or a black bear, its first instinct upon seeing a dog would be to run.
It was true. Even if they were much larger than the dogs, they would still flee.
But this Black Bear was injured.
Anyone who frequented the mountains knew that under normal circumstances, a bear wouldn't attack a person on sight. You just had to knock on a tree or make some noise from a distance, and the bear would run off on its own.
However, there were three situations in which a bear would attack without provocation.
First, if a person and a bear met head-on, with less than ten meters between them, the bear would definitely charge.
It was a case of striking first to gain the upper hand.
Second, if it was a mother bear with her cubs. A mother's instinct to protect her young was absolute.
And finally, if the bear was injured.
An injured bear was the most dangerous kind of bear.
The Black Bear shot to its feet with a WHOOSH, standing up like a man and letting out a ferocious roar.
"GRROOAN! GRROOAN..."
What was that sound?
If one had to describe it, it was like the mournful cry a village cow makes when it smells the fresh blood of its own kind during a slaughter.
Here in the mountain forest, the bear's roar echoed, accompanied by the rustling of branches on the ridge, making it all the more terrifying.
The sound carried, sending a tingling numbness through the four men climbing the mountain, as if a current had shot through their bodies.
After the roar, the Black Bear's upper body dropped, its massive frame lunging forward with surprising agility. In an instant, it was in front of Qing Gou, its right paw swiping down with the force of a gale.
Qing Gou leaped aside. The Black Bear's claw missed. It immediately swung its body back up, and as it rose, its left Bear's Paw hooked upward from below.
Qing Gou dodged again, letting out a series of frantic barks.
At Qing Gou's barks, the two black dogs and the Yellow Dog arrived. The four hounds now had the Black Bear surrounded.
The Black Bear roared again and charged the black dog in front of it, which hastily dodged.
Just then, the Yellow Dog leaped up and bit into the Black Bear's hind leg.
Bitten from behind, the Black Bear didn't panic. Unlike a wild boar, its forelimbs were like a human's; it could simply swing its Bear's Paw back for a hook.
The bear's swipe was incredibly fast. The Yellow Dog couldn't dodge in time and was caught by the bear's claws.
The Black Bear ruled the mountain forests with its thick hide, tough flesh, sharp teeth, and deadly claws.
When dogs fought a wild boar, they could at least pick spots to bite that weren't protected by its tough "armor."
But the Black Bear was covered in thick, long fur, so a dog's bite could hardly injure it at all.
In a hunt like this, the dogs' job was to delay the prey, buying time until the hunters arrived to finish the bear with their guns.
And in this process, the risk to the dogs was far, far greater than when they hunted wild boars.
Don't listen to those who don't know any better when they say, "First boar, second bear, third Tiger," and claim that wild boars are more formidable than black bears and tigers.
In reality, that ranking is based on the level of harm these three animals cause to crops and farmers.
At this time in the Huaxia Land, the problem of feeding and clothing everyone had not yet been solved. In an era when even sparrows were considered one of the Four Pests, wild boars and black bears were both seen as menaces.
Every year around July and August, when the corn began to tassel and the kernels filled with milk, wild boars would descend from the mountains in herds to wreak havoc on the fields, and they were impossible to drive away.
Banging pots, setting off Mazes, or lighting two-shot firecrackers—none of it worked. Once they got used to the sounds, they became even more fearless.
Bears, compared to boars, were less of a problem, mainly because their diet was so broad. They could knock over logs to dig for ants, climb trees to raid beehives, and pick wild fruits...
Only in lean years, when there was no food in the mountains, would they come down to the lowlands to forage.
And as for Tigers, the apex predators, the Mountain Kings might not come down from their peaks for a stroll even once in several years.
If you happened to see one, it was probably a Tiger that had lost its way.
People always said a boar's tusks were deadly, but when it came to injuring a dog, how could pig tusks compare to a Black Bear's claws?
A Black Bear's Bear's Paws were armed with sharp, hooked claws. And since it wasn't a feline, those claws didn't retract. One swipe at a dog, and the claws would sink deep into its flesh.
In that instant, the Yellow Dog released its grip on the bear's leg. All that came from its mouth was a miserable yelp. Its four legs kicked and thrashed, but it couldn't break free from the Black Bear's grasp.
But in the next second, the Black Bear yanked the Yellow Dog in front of it, swung its powerful arm, and flung the dog through the air.
With a pained HOWL, the Yellow Dog flew seven or eight meters before it landed, drops of fresh blood spattering down as it fell.
The Yellow Dog slammed onto the ground, whimpering piteously. Its limbs twitched, but it couldn't move.
Along the Yellow Dog's back, a whole flap of skin from the nape of its neck to its hindquarters had been peeled away, exposing the tender flesh and blood vessels beneath. In moments, a pool of blood formed.
WOOF... WOOF... WOOF...
The remaining three dogs' eyes turned red with fury. They circled the Black Bear, barking as they began a hit-and-run assault.
Again, on any other day, this bear would have fled long ago.
But this Black Bear had been wounded by an explosive yesterday and was already agitated.
Now, another group had come to kill it. All its pent-up rage erupted, unleashed upon the three remaining hounds.
There, under the great poplar tree, the Black Bear sent the hounds scattering. A moment's carelessness and they would be wounded.
Just as Qin Qiang had expected, his four dogs had truly failed to contain this Black Bear.
The Black Bear suddenly reared up like a man again. It held its Bear's Paws in front of the white patch on its chest, its Bear Head shaking from side to side as its eyes darted about wildly.
Just then, Qing Gou lunged. The Black Bear swatted its Bear's Paw down like a volleyball spike, slamming the dog flat onto the ground.
Amidst continuous barking, the two black dogs charged the Black Bear from the left and right. The bear first scooped up one black dog with its right Bear's Paw, then squatted slightly, shoved the dog under its crotch, and actually sat down on it.
"ARGH..."
The black dog let out a horrific scream as shit and piss streamed from its body. It kicked its legs frantically under the Black Bear's rump but couldn't break free.
The Black Bear swung its right Bear's Paw to its left, forcefully ripping away the other black dog that was biting its left shoulder.
Its Bear's Paw held the black dog up to its mouth, and the Black Bear opened its jaws and bit down.
A soft CRUNCH was heard, followed immediately by a piercing shriek. The Black Bear had bitten clean through the dog's body.
Before the Black Bear could drop the dog from its mouth, a gunshot rang out.
BANG!