The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

From a distance, Zhao Jun watched as the four dogs surrounded the bear, constantly harassing and sneak-attacking it. He held his rifle in his left hand, and with his right, he reached into his pocket and pulled out three bullets.

Of these three bullets, one was wedged between his right middle and ring fingers, and another between his ring and pinky fingers.

He clutched the third in the palm of his right hand.

Then, Zhao Jun advanced with his rifle, crouching low with the muzzle pointed down and forward.

The gun in Zhao Jun’s hands was no longer his old Type 56 semi-automatic, but the 16-gauge single-shot hunting rifle Zhou Chengguo had given him.

Compared to the Type 56, this rifle had a shorter range and poorer accuracy, and it couldn’t fire in succession. But there was one thing Zhao Jun loved about it: after being modified with a semi-automatic rifle barrel, it had become even more powerful.

But because of its short range and poor accuracy, Zhao Jun only stopped when he was less than forty meters from the brown bear.

By now, the brown bear was enraged from being repeatedly toyed with by the four dogs. Each time one bit it, it would chase the dog for a great distance.

Just then, Daqing took a bite, and the brown bear roared as it lunged at him. But the bear was severely wounded and its movements were hampered; the more it chased, the farther Daqing ran.

Before it could catch Daqing, Hua Xiao’Er and White Dragon latched onto its hindquarters. The brown bear twisted around, swiping at them. It had just taken a few steps toward Hua Xiao’Er when it suddenly looked up and saw Zhao Jun standing nearby.

"ROAR..."

The brown bear let out a furious roar that echoed through the mountains, a truly heart-stopping sound.

Ignoring the hounds, the brown bear charged straight for Zhao Jun, its massive paws kicking up flurries of snow as it ran.

When Hua Xiao’Er and the other dogs saw the bear charging at Zhao Jun, they all leaped onto its back, biting down hard. But even with them hanging off its body, they couldn’t slow it down.

"BANG!"

Zhao Jun pulled the trigger, his eyes locked on the bear as the bullet struck.

The shot had pierced its shoulder.

A spray of blood erupted from the other side of the bear!

The bullet from the 16-gauge rifle created a small entry wound and a massive exit wound.

The entry wound was the size of a goose egg, while the exit wound was as large as the mouth of a bowl, gushing blood.

"GRAAAH... OWW..."

The brown bear bellowed in pain, its speed surging. It seemed to stagger an incredible two meters to the side before charging at Zhao Jun again. The distance between them was now less than twenty meters.

Zhao Jun kept his eyes on the bear, but his hands moved without the slightest hesitation. He lowered the left hand supporting the rifle, and with his right thumb and forefinger, he snapped the action open. Then, he used the same two fingers to pull out the spent casing.

The instant his thumb and forefinger pulled out the casing, he deftly slid in the bullet held between his middle and ring fingers.

He snapped the rifle shut as the spent casing hit the ground. Raising the weapon and bringing the stock to his cheek, he fired another shot into the brown bear’s chest.

The whole process sounds complex, but Zhao Jun completed the entire sequence in less than two seconds.

"BANG!"

Another gunshot rang out.

A spray of blood erupted from its back.

The brown bear faltered. Its speed dropped, and its gait became unsteady.

Again, Zhao Jun broke the action. As his thumb and forefinger ejected the empty casing, he slid the bullet from between his ring and pinky fingers into the chamber.

He snapped the action shut, raised the rifle to his cheek, and pulled the trigger.

Two seconds later, another shot struck the bear.

"BANG!"

The brown bear toppled backward. The four dogs biting it from behind instantly scattered. Once it was down, they swarmed it again, pouncing on its body and savagely tearing at the carcass.

Zhao Jun broke the action open, pulled out the empty casing, and loaded the last bullet he’d been holding in his palm.

With his rifle still raised, Zhao Jun slowly walked toward the bear. Li Baoyu, who had been hiding, emerged from behind a pine tree and ran over.

By the time he reached the bear, Zhao Jun had already lowered his gun. He turned to look at Li Baoyu and said, "Gut it!"

"You got it!" Li Baoyu answered cheerfully. He pulled the Invasion Blade from the small of his back and began to gut the bear.

"Brother!" Li Baoyu exclaimed after cutting open the bear’s belly. Zhao Jun glanced over to see him using his knife to pry and cut something out from inside. Then, holding a large Bear Gall, Li Baoyu ran toward him.

"I got it!" Li Baoyu yelled as he ran.

Zhao Jun looked and saw that the Bear Gall in Li Baoyu’s hands was as big as a child’s head and a brilliant, clear yellow.

Copper Gall!

"We hit the jackpot!"

"It’s huge!" Li Baoyu said, holding the Bear Gall and grinning from ear to ear.

Zhao Jun was grinning just as widely. He quickly pulled a cloth sack from his satchel. Knowing they were going after the brown bear today, he had specifically asked Wang Meilan to make a larger one yesterday. It was a good thing he did.

After putting the Bear Gall in the sack and stuffing it into his satchel, Zhao Jun said urgently to Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, hurry and feed the dogs. Pick out some good meat for them!"

"You got it!" Li Baoyu hurried over and carved some meat from the bear’s belly. He fed Hua Xiao’Er first, then Daqing, followed by Da Huang and White Dragon.

Zhao Jun, meanwhile, walked up to the large brown bear. He set to work as well, cutting off the Bear Nose and digging out its kneecaps. After a moment’s thought, he said to Li Baoyu, "Let’s leave the carcass here. We’ll find someone to help us haul it back tomorrow."

Li Baoyu glanced at the bear. "We’re not taking the Bear’s Paws either?"

Zhao Jun shook his head. A single Bear’s Paw weighed dozens of pounds. It would be a real struggle for the two of them to haul them down from this high up the mountain.

So, once the four dogs had eaten their fill, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu hurried home. By the time they arrived, it was already after four in the afternoon.

Zhao Jun went inside and handed the Bear Gall to Zhao Youcai, who had just recovered from his illness, to process. Wang Meilan was in the kitchen, busy cooking a meal for him.

Zhao Youcai seemed to have fully recovered. Seeing the Bear Gall Zhao Jun brought home, he couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement. He said to Wang Meilan, "The last time I saw a Bear Gall this big was when Dad brought one home."

Wang Meilan laughed. "See? My son is the capable one. And then there’s you. Went to all that trouble and expense to hunt a boar and still came back empty-handed."

Zhao Youcai shot Wang Meilan a look and went into the other room to grab his cotton-padded jacket from the wall.

"Where are you off to now?" Wang Meilan asked. "You just recovered and you’re already itching to go out and show off."

"I’m going to find Shunzi!" Zhao Youcai said. "We have to bring that Xiong Ba back tomorrow, don’t we?"

Wang Meilan snorted, then ladled the poached egg and hot noodle soup from the pot into a bowl for Zhao Jun.

The hot soup and noodles warmed him to the core. Just as Zhao Jun finished eating and set down his chopsticks, Zhao Youcai came in from outside. "Your second brother has work at the yard tomorrow, so he can’t go," he told Zhao Jun. "I already spoke to Wang Fu. He’ll go with you tomorrow with Elder Niu and the sled."

"Can Elder Niu really pull a bear that big?" Wang Meilan asked from nearby.

"He can," Zhao Youcai said. "Tomorrow, you can come straight down from the north side. Take the old logging road through the Third Work Section."

"We..." Zhao Jun started, then realized what his father was implying. He quickly said, "Alright then, Dad. You just recovered, so you should rest at home tomorrow. Baoyu and I will go."

Early the next morning, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu went to the general store.

When they arrived, they saw a short, stocky man hitching up an ox-drawn sled.

"Uncle Wang!" Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu hurriedly greeted him.

"Get inside, you two!"

Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu entered the general store and called out "Aunt Wang" to the proprietress behind the counter. The proprietress, Liu Xue, grabbed a handful of melon seeds for each of them. While cracking seeds, Liu Xue spoke to Zhao Jun.

"Xiaojun, Zhang Zhanshan was just here."

Zhao Jun’s ears perked up. ’There must be a reason she’s telling me this,’ he thought. ’She wouldn’t have mentioned him otherwise.’

Zhao Jun asked with a smile, "What did he come to buy?"

"It wasn’t that," Liu Xue said. "You know we butchered a sheep to sell before the New Year? He came to ask your Uncle Wang for a piece of sheep fat."

"Sheep fat, huh."