Zhao Jun squeezed the trigger with his right index finger, and a BANG echoed.
Immediately after, his shooting hand flicked upward. As he pressed down on the gun's grip, the bullet clutched in his palm somehow appeared, pinched between his middle and ring fingers.
Then, he slid the bullet held between his middle and ring fingers into the chamber.
He snapped the gun shut and raised it to his cheek.
BANG!
Another shot!
The Black Bear, struck in the head, began to topple backward. The two hounds latched onto its hind legs sensed something was wrong and hastily scattered to either side.
Just then, another shot hit the Black Bear's belly, punching straight through it, yet the beast didn't even utter a cry.
The Black Bear crashed heavily to the ground. The two hounds immediately pounced, viciously tearing at its flesh.
Zhao Jun saw the Black Bear fall through his Gun Star, but his hands never stopped moving. He broke the gun open again, and as he did, another bullet materialized between his right middle and ring fingers.
He loaded the bullet with the same practiced motion. After snapping the gun shut, Zhao Jun advanced cautiously, rifle at the ready.
Just then, Li Baoyu arrived. As he moved to pass Zhao Jun, he was called to a halt.
"Don't go any closer!" The Black Bear was lying on the ground, motionless as the two hounds tore at it, but Zhao Jun didn't dare to let his guard down for even a second.
'In his past life, he'd hunted for many years and personally witnessed the incredible resilience of Black Bears on several occasions. The right thing to do now was to put one more bullet in its head.'
'But both hounds were all over the bear. A finishing shot now would probably deafen them.'
So, Zhao Jun could only keep his gun raised, ready for anything.
Li Baoyu didn't understand the situation. He had heard plenty of stories, but listening to a tale and living it were two entirely different matters.
However, he always trusted Zhao Jun's word. Since Zhao Jun told him to stay back, he simply stood beside him, knife in hand.
About three to five minutes passed. Zhao Jun still hadn't lowered his rifle, but he said to Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, gut it and get the gall!"
"You got it!" Li Baoyu was overjoyed. He set his knife aside, unscrewed the Invasion Blade head from its shaft, and walked over to the bear. He used the Invasion Blade to make an incision just below the Black Bear's throat, slicing all the way down.
After opening the chest cavity, Li Baoyu cut through the tissue around the heart and carefully removed the Bear Gall.
The Bear Gall was green and as large as two fists.
Li Baoyu plunged his knife into the ground beside the Black Bear and carried the Bear Gall over to Zhao Jun with both hands.
Zhao Jun had lowered his rifle by now. Seeing Li Baoyu approach with the Bear Gall, he pulled a small, white cloth pouch from his pocket.
After taking the Black Bear Gall, Zhao Jun placed it inside the small pouch.
"Brother, is this a Grass Gall?" Li Baoyu asked.
"Mhm." Zhao Jun nodded. "If it were a Copper Gall, it would be brass-colored."
After saying this, Zhao Jun paused for a moment before adding, "Brother, when we sell this Bear Gall, we'll split the money fifty-fifty."
"That... Okay." Li Baoyu was taken aback for a second, but after a moment of thought, he gave a firm nod. "Okay."
'To be honest, if they were to follow the traditional hunter's rules, the gun was Zhao Jun's and the lead dog was his. Each of those counted as one share, and then there was a share for each of them.'
'So when the Bear Gall was sold, Zhao Jun should have gotten three-quarters of the money.'
But Zhao Jun wanted to split it evenly with Li Baoyu, and Li Baoyu didn't argue.
That's what it meant to be brothers.
Brothers for two lifetimes.
"Brother, cut out the pluck and give it to me. After that, feed the dogs."
"You got it!" Li Baoyu answered. He went back to the Black Bear, picked up the Invasion Blade, and removed all the innards from its belly. He then brought them back to Zhao Jun.
'Dogs love Black Bear meat, but few will eat the organs. That made them the perfect offering for the Mountain God.'
'Truthfully, in his previous life, Zhao Jun hadn't believed in any of this.'
'But this new life had forced him to.'
Since they were in the Chaotic Stone Pond with no large trees nearby, Zhao Jun hung the Black Bear's innards on the Big Stone Cliff.
He then took a step back, closed his eyes, and muttered a prayer, "Mountain God, Elder Leader, grant my brother and me safety, keep our dogs safe, and may we never return from a hunt empty-handed..."
While Zhao Jun was performing Jingshan, Li Baoyu had already started carving meat from the Black Bear. The two brothers were both dog lovers and truly generous, specially choosing the tender belly meat to feed their hounds.
Once Hua Gou and Yellow Dog were each voraciously devouring their own pile of meat, Li Baoyu went to Zhao Jun's side and asked, "Brother, should we eat up here on the mountain?"
Zhao Jun glanced up at the sky, guessing it was around ten o'clock. He thought for a moment, then said to Li Baoyu, "Cut off the Bear Nose, the kneecaps, and all four Bear's Paws. Then we can head home."
"Right!" Hearing Zhao Jun's instructions, Li Baoyu went to work.
Following Zhao Jun's instructions, he first cut off the Black Bear's nose, then carved out the kneecaps, and finally severed the four paws one by one.
The Bear Nose and kneecaps were easy enough to handle. Li Baoyu tied the four Bear's Paws together in two pairs with hemp rope. This way, he and Zhao Jun could each sling a pair over their shoulder for the journey home.
As for the rest of the Black Bear's meat, it wasn't like the wild boar from the other day.
You have to understand, this Black Bear, having fattened up for autumn, was close to 450 pounds. Even after being gutted, it was still well over 350 pounds. There was no way the two of them could manage to get it all home.
When Li Baoyu set a pair of Bear's Paws in front of him, Zhao Jun picked them up and slung the rope over his shoulder.
One paw now hung against his chest, the other against his back.
Just as they were about to leave, Zhao Jun stopped abruptly. "Brother," he said to Li Baoyu, "cut off a bit more meat. We still have Daqing at home."
"Whoa, I almost forgot about him," Li Baoyu exclaimed. He quickly put down the Bear's Paws he was holding, went back to the carcass, and sliced off a five or six-pound chunk of meat from its belly. He tied it with a piece of rope to carry.
"Brother, how come you didn't bring Daqing along?"
Zhao Jun shook his head. "The dog's new to our home. If I brought him up the mountain, he might run off and get lost..."
Zhao Jun hadn't even finished his sentence when a strange sound came from behind them. Before he or Li Baoyu could turn to look, Hua Gou and Yellow Dog shot past them.
Zhao Jun didn't know what was happening, but his instincts took over. He flung the Bear's Paws from his shoulder, snatched up the rifle leaning against his leg, and in one fluid motion, broke the action, loaded a round, and snapped it shut before sprinting forward.
But he hadn't run more than a few yards when he skidded to a halt and raised his rifle.
Just then, Li Baoyu, who had run up behind him, saw a yellow shadow drifting toward them.
His own dogs stumbled and staggered as they ran through the Chaotic Stone Pond, but this yellow shadow moved completely unrestricted. Its speed was terrifying!
His dog, Da Huang, was the first to intercept the yellow shadow. The instant the two met, Da Huang let out a piteous cry.
Li Baoyu watched, wide-eyed, as an Exotic Beast pinned Da Huang to a rock, one paw clamped around its neck.
"Brother!" Li Baoyu's face went pale with terror. "It's a Tiger cub!"