Free Web NovelChapter 272: Chapter 233: A Dog’s Luck (Part 2)
Zhang Yuanmin’s question stumped Li Baoyu. To agree would be a bald-faced lie, but to disagree would be rude.
Just then, Lin Xiangshun stepped forward, pulled Li Baoyu behind him, and said to Zhang Yuanmin, "I don’t know if you look like some ’Yan’ or whatever, but I think you look like the Short-legged Tiger."
Zhang Yuanmin was taken aback. He had only read a few books about *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* and had never read *Water Margin*, so he didn’t know who this "Short-legged Tiger" Lin Xiangshun was talking about.
But just from the name "Short-legged Tiger," it sounded like he was being mocked for his short stature.
Just as Zhang Yuanmin was about to retort, he saw Lin Xiangshun usher Li Baoyu into the vehicle. Li Baoyu gave Zhang Yuanmin a nod, got back in the vehicle, and started the engine, driving off toward the Forest Farm.
"Brother Zhang, you know Master Lin from our Forest Farm?" Ma Xiaoguang asked as he came forward.
"Yeah," Zhang Yuanmin nodded. "We’re from the same village. Before the New Year, him, me, and our Village Chief were all drinking together."
He wasn’t lying. When Zhao Jun’s family hosted a dinner before the New Year, they had indeed eaten at the same table.
But the way he said it made him sound like a big shot, leaving his three companions completely dumbfounded.
"Then, Brother Zhang, if you’re on such good terms, why didn’t you tell him we’re going to hunt a Black Bear?"
Zhang Yuanmin shot Li Yuan a look. "Are you stupid? If I told them, what if they insisted on coming? If they came, wouldn’t you guys get a smaller share of the money? Would I take your money and give it to my buddy?"
"Brother Zhang, you’re a true friend!"
"Of course!"
The four of them headed downhill. Halfway down, they cut diagonally across the ridge, traversed over five hundred meters, and then headed down into the gully.
After descending into the gully, the four climbed the opposite slope. Once at the top, they just had to follow the ridge ahead and go up one more slope to see the Black Bear’s Den.
Zhang Yuanmin stood there and looked left and right. Seeing no sign of Jiang Jinyou, he said, "That Elder Jiang... he’s holding up important business. I’m gonna have to deal with him."
"Don’t be angry, Brother Zhang. He’ll be here soon," Li Wei whispered, trying to console him.
"Fine, let’s head up first." Zhang Yuanmin could only tell the other three to start climbing. But just then, they heard a cry from above.
"A Black Bear?" Zhang Yuanmin froze. He looked at Ma Xiaoguang beside him and asked, "Don’t tell me Elder Jiang flushed out the Black Bear?"
"No way." Ma Xiaoguang didn’t believe Jiang Jinyou had the guts.
Just then, a gunshot rang out.
"BANG!"
It was immediately followed by the furious roar of a Black Bear: "ROAR..."
The bear’s roar echoed through the mountains. The forest seemed to shudder. Ma Xiaoguang and the others had never hunted a Black Bear before; their scalps tingled with fear, and they trembled uncontrollably.
Among the four, only Zhang Yuanmin could be called "battle-hardened." Hearing the sound, he said to the other three, "The Black Bear is out! All our preparations were for nothing. Quick..."
Zhang Yuanmin was just about to lead his underlings in a hasty retreat when, up on the slope, the Cannon Shooter reloaded his gun. But before he could fire, the Black Bear was already upon him. The Cannon Shooter dodged sharply to the side, and the Black Bear, unable to stop its momentum, plunged headfirst down the slope.
The Black Bear tumbled from the top to the middle of the slope, rolled, and got back on its feet. It lifted its head and immediately saw the four men, who were frozen in a state of utter shock.
The Black Bear let out a "ROAR" and charged straight at the four men.
"Run!" Zhang Yuanmin roared, grabbing his knife and turning to flee.
His flight snapped Ma Xiaoguang and the others to their senses. They all spun around and took off running.
They all ran in the same direction. Although Zhang Yuanmin had a three-second head start, he was short, had short legs, and his baggy pants were cumbersome, making it difficult for him to run. He was quickly overtaken by the other three.
Zhang Yuanmin was instantly dumbstruck.
He knew that in this situation, the other three didn’t need to outrun the Black Bear; they just needed to outrun him.
At this thought, Zhang Yuanmin let out a strange cry and tried to speed up. But no matter how he pushed himself, he couldn’t outrun the other three.
Just as the Black Bear was about to catch up to Zhang Yuanmin, he remembered the terror of being chased by a Black Bear on three separate occasions in the past. In an instant, Zhang Yuanmin clamped his mouth shut, forcing himself not to scream.
The Black Bear was chasing Zhang Yuanmin from north to south. At that very moment, from the Chicken Claw Ridge to the west, a horse-drawn sled came speeding downhill.
The big black horse pulling the sled was neighing incessantly.
Whether it’s a horse or an ox, the scent of a Black Bear will spook it, and its first instinct when spooked is to run.
When the horse started downhill, it hadn’t caught the bear’s scent yet. But as it came further down, the Black Bear also came tumbling down from the northern slope.
The bear’s tumble closed the direct distance between them, and the horse finally smelled the Black Bear.
On the downhill sled track, the horse couldn’t turn back. It could only gallop forward on all fours, dragging a large log behind it.
When it reached a fork in the path, the horse veered south, heading straight for Zhang Yuanmin.
And at that moment, the Black Bear arrived!
As the saying goes: truth is stranger than fiction.
The nearly five-hundred-jin log, pulled by the horse, came down the slope and slammed sideways into the Black Bear’s leg.
"CRACK!"
With a sharp snap, the Black Bear’s right hind leg broke completely.
"ROAR... AWOOO..."
The Black Bear’s body fell onto the log, and its left hind leg was instantly caught underneath it.
Another agonized cry came from the Black Bear. As the log was pulled away by the horse, the bear collapsed to the ground, howling in pain.
"Elder Zhang, get on the sled!" By now, the horse-drawn sled had caught up to Zhang Yuanmin, and Jiang Jinyou shouted to him.
"Alright!" Just as Zhang Yuanmin was about to get on the sled, he suddenly remembered something. He looked back and saw the big Black Bear’s hind legs dragging limply on the snow, bleeding profusely as it moved.
"HAHAHA..." Zhang Yuanmin threw his head back and laughed three times, then turned and pointed his long knife at the Black Bear.
"Elder Zhang! Elder Zhang!" Jiang Jinyou shouted from behind. Seeing that he couldn’t stop him, he tried to rein in the horse, but the animal was spooked. How could it possibly stop?
When Zhang Yuanmin charged up to the Black Bear, its hind legs were completely broken. It could only use its front paws to prop itself up and face him.
The Black Bear tried to stand but couldn’t. It swiped a paw at Zhang Yuanmin, but he easily dodged it.
Zhang Yuanmin circled around to the bear’s back and, raising his Invasion Blade, stabbed it behind the heart.
The white blade went in, and the red blade came out.
Amidst the Black Bear’s agonized cries, he stabbed it again.
The Black Bear desperately twisted its body and swiped a paw, trying to grab the knife in Zhang Yuanmin’s hand. Zhang Yuanmin quickly pulled the blade out, dodged to the side, and stabbed the bear in the throat.
"SPURT..."
The Black Bear roared. After two more stabs from Zhang Yuanmin, it collapsed onto the snow. Though it had stopped breathing, its eyes remained wide open.
The Black Bear died with its eyes open, as if in defiance.
Zhang Yuanmin couldn’t care less about that. Leaning on his knife, he stood and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Elder Jiang, Ma Xiaoguang, Li Yuan, Li Wei... Dammit, not a single one of you is useful! You’re all fucking worse than my brother, Zhao Jun!"
Zhang Yuanmin muttered a few words, then struggled to flip the Black Bear over. He used his Invasion Blade to cut it open and took out the Bear Gall, placing it in a small cloth pouch.
Zhang Yuanmin had secretly brought a bunch of these small pouches from home before coming to the Logging Camp.
"I, Elder Zhang, am one lucky dog," Zhang Yuanmin mumbled as he stuffed the gall bladder into his pocket. Once he had secured the Bear Gall in the inner pocket of his cotton-padded jacket, he went back to cut off the Bear’s Paws, kneecaps, and Bear Nose.
Meanwhile, Jiang Jinyou had finally managed to rein in the horse and had caught up with Ma Xiaoguang and the others.
Jiang Jinyou tied the horse to a nearby tree and called for the three men to go back and rescue Zhang Yuanmin.
When they heard from Jiang Jinyou that Zhang Yuanmin had been left behind, the three men, though terrified, still had a shred of conscience. They followed Jiang Jinyou and started heading back.
They hadn’t gone far when they saw Zhang Yuanmin walking toward them, step by step, with a knife in one hand and a Bear’s Paw slung over his back.
"Elder Zhang!"
"Brother Zhang!"
The four of them hurried to meet him. When they got closer, they saw that not only was Zhang Yuanmin unharmed, but more importantly, he was also carrying a Bear’s Paw.
Li Yuan asked in astonishment, "Brother Zhang, how did you manage to kill the Black Bear?"
"Heh." Zhang Yuanmin sneered. "I, Elder Zhang, have stolen the credit from Heaven itself!"
Zhang Yuanmin mistakenly thought "stealing the credit from Heaven" was a compliment, as if to say he was so blessed by the heavens that he was able to hunt the Black Bear.
"Brother Zhang, what about the Bear Gall?"
Hearing Ma Xiaoguang’s question, Zhang Yuanmin reached into his pocket, pulled out the Bear Gall, and waved it in front of them. "What? You all fucking ran when there was trouble, and now you want a share of the gall?"
At Zhang Yuanmin’s words, the men flushed with shame and embarrassment.
