Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Zhao Jun in Danger

The large ma lu wheeled around and charged straight for Li Dagua and Li Dong. The dogs that tried to block its path were all sent flying!

Li Dagua wanted to run, but if he did, what would happen to the unconscious Li Dong?

Wei Lai tried to shoot, but he had just broken open the action and hadn’t had time to load a new cartridge.

Just as the two of them were despairing...

"BANG!"

"BANG!"

Two gunshots rang out.

The ma lu was hit in the lower back. Its entire hindquarters, along with its two back legs, twisted violently to the side.

The ma lu staggered, the rear half of its body now useless. It tried to push itself up with its hind legs, struggling to get up and flee, but it couldn’t stand.

"WOOF WOOF WOOF..."

A string of barks erupted as the five hounds swarmed forward, tearing at the large ma lu and pinning it down.

With its hind legs unable to support it, the ma lu couldn’t attack with its forelegs either. It could only shake its head violently, using its massive antlers to force the hounds back.

By now, Wei Lai had reloaded his gun. He saw the ma lu swinging its head from side to side, its branching antlers driving back the hounds in front of it.

The hounds on either side dodged away, giving Wei Lai a clear shot.

"BANG!"

Wei Lai seized the opportunity and fired. The bullet struck the back of the ma lu’s neck. The force of the impact snapped its head forward, and its great head slammed heavily into the snow, blood pouring from its mouth and nose.

All five hounds leaped onto the ma lu, pouncing on its body and tearing at it relentlessly. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Seeing that the deer was dead, Wei Lai turned, looked at the opposite slope, and shouted, "Who fired those shots?"

Zhao Jun called back in a clear voice, "Zhao Jun, from Yong’an Village."

His voice echoed through the mountains. Wei Lai froze when he heard the name; he had no idea who Zhao Jun was.

But over there, Li Dagua, who was pressing the philtrum of Li Dong’s nose to revive him, heard this and turned to Wei Lai. "He’s Zhao Youcai’s son."

"Oh!" Wei Lai realized, but what he thought was: ’Zhou Jianjun’s little brother-in-law!’

Wei Lai lived in the same village as the Zhou Family. He knew the couple, Zhou Jianjun and Zhao Chun, and he knew that Zhao Chun had a younger brother, but he never knew the brother’s name.

Seeing him today, he realized Zhao Chun’s brother wasn’t very old, but his marksmanship was incredible.

The two slopes were probably five or six hundred meters apart. For Zhao Jun to be able to wound the ma lu from that distance... that kind of marksmanship was truly rare.

In fact, it wasn’t just Wei Lai who admired Zhao Jun; Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin were also sincerely impressed.

"Brother," Zhang Yuanmin said, "you’re one hell of a shot! That must be at least five hundred meters, right?"

"More than five hundred meters," Zhao Jun said.

When he’d put the rifle to his cheek and aimed, the large ma lu had looked smaller than his front sight.

What did that mean?

An experienced hunter like Zhao Jun knew it meant the ma lu was definitely more than five hundred meters away.

Zhao Jun hadn’t been sure about the shot, but seeing that Li Dong and Li Dagua were in danger, he had flicked off the safety and fired twice.

It had to be said, fate was on Li Dong’s side. Zhao Jun’s second shot had hit its mark, saving his life.

Just then, Li Dong groggily regained consciousness. Wei Lai, extremely grateful for Zhao Jun’s help, shouted across to the other slope, "Brother, there are two deer! One’s for you!"

"Just leave me a small one!" Zhao Jun wasn’t shy and shouted back.

He had earned it.

Besides, even after taking one of the deer, Li Dong and Wei Lai would still owe him their thanks.

Then, Wei Lai’s voice came from the opposite slope again: "Alright, I’ll leave it for you at the bottom of the gully."

"Let’s go!" Zhao Jun called to Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin, and they continued on their way.

After walking another three li or so, they arrived at the place where Zhang Yuanmin and Chen Dalai had fought the bear the day before.

While they were still some distance from the spot, Zhao Jun took his rifle in hand and told Li Baoyu to cut a wooden staff to mount the Invasion Blade on.

Zhang Yuanmin, carrying his Large Axe, walked beside Zhao Jun.

The three of them advanced cautiously. When they reached the broken tree trunk, they saw the surrounding snow littered with rotten wood chips and chunks. It seemed their guess was right—Zhang Yuanmin had just been incredibly unlucky.

Zhao Jun walked to the side and saw bright red bloodstains and Black Bear tracks in the snow. When he reached the spot above the gully Zhang Yuanmin had rolled into yesterday, he saw bear tracks coming up from the south.

Zhao Jun studied them closely. The tracks followed the slope south without circling around or even pausing.

’Looks like the bear isn’t resting nearby.’

Zhao Jun said to Zhang Yuanmin and Li Baoyu, "Big Brother, Baoyu, be careful. Don’t go too far. Let’s see if we can find the chainsaw."

The two agreed, and the three of them began searching for the chainsaw in the deep snow nearby.

Not even three minutes later, they heard Zhang Yuanmin whistling.

Zhao Jun looked up and saw Zhang Yuanmin whispering, "Found it, found it."

He was afraid the Black Bear was nearby, so he didn’t dare to shout.

"Brother!" Zhang Yuanmin came jogging over, clutching the chainsaw. He presented it to Zhao Jun as if it were a treasure and said, "I found the chainsaw! Should I take it to my uncle?"

"Don’t." Zhao Jun remembered what Zhao Youcai had told him yesterday and said to Zhang Yuanmin, "The Forestry Bureau is doing inspections today. We can’t deliver it. Take it home for now."

"Alright."

Just then, Li Baoyu returned to Zhao Jun’s side and asked, "Brother, are we going to hunt this Black Bear?"

Zhao Jun looked at Li Baoyu, then at Zhang Yuanmin. After a moment of thought, he nodded and said, "We’re already here. Let’s hunt!"

As the saying goes: you can’t enter a treasure mountain and leave empty-handed.

Besides, hunters are just like fishermen—they have a powerful addiction. Not having been up the mountain for the past few days, just hanging around the village, had really left Zhao Jun feeling cooped up.

Most importantly, the bear was right here. How could they not go after it?

"Everyone, be careful!" Zhao Jun instructed Zhang Yuanmin and Li Baoyu again. "I’ll take the lead. Big Brother, you watch the left. Baoyu, you watch the right."

Since they hadn’t brought the dogs, they had no canine early warning system. They had to be exceptionally careful when hunting a Black Bear.

This was especially true for an injured one!

The three of them followed the bloodstains and tracks south for about a li. The blood left by the Black Bear had already turned from bright red to a dark, purplish-black.

It was clearly seriously injured.

They went less than five hundred meters further before the Black Bear’s tracks suddenly changed direction.

And it wasn’t just a simple turn; the tracks made a large circle.

In fact, it had circled more than once!

Now, where the Black Bear had stopped was a mystery.

Looking ahead and to the sides, there was a gully to the left, a ridge ahead, and only to the right was a large, wind-snapped Daqing poplar!

The Daqing poplar had originally been four or five meters tall but was broken by a fierce wind. The trunk stood over two meters high from the roots, while the top half lay on the ground.

The fallen log was covered in snow.

And on both sides of the fallen log, there were more of the Black Bear’s bloodstains and tracks.

Zhao Jun pointed to the fallen log and whispered to Zhang Yuanmin and Li Baoyu, "Ten to one it’s behind there."

"Brother," Li Baoyu said, his expression troubled. "This is going to be a tough fight."

Zhao Jun nodded, gazing silently at the fallen log.

The fallen log was nearly two meters in diameter at its thickest point and over a meter at its thinnest. Lying on the ground like that, a person couldn’t see what was behind it.

If the Black Bear was lying down behind it, there was no way of knowing its exact position.

To get a clear view of what was behind the log, they could circle around it.

But what if, while circling around, you ran right into the bear on your side?

Coming face-to-face with a bear like that would be a disaster!

Zhao Jun took a deep breath and said to the other two, "You two wait here. I’m going to climb on top of the log."

Hearing this, Zhang Yuanmin immediately grew anxious. "Brother, that’s too dangerous."

"It’s better than trying to go around," Zhao Jun said. He walked forward and, under the worried gazes of Zhang Yuanmin and Li Baoyu, he reached the fallen log. He slung his rifle over his shoulder, grabbed hold of the wood, and pushed off with his feet to climb up.

Zhao Jun climbed onto the log with ease. Standing on top, he looked down and saw a Black Bear lying just below.

At that moment, the Black Bear wasn’t fully upright, but it seemed to have smelled something. It was unsteadily pushing itself up, trying to get to its feet.

But the gunshot and axe wounds on its body made its movements sluggish.

Zhao Jun steadily raised his rifle, flicked off the safety, and aimed for the back of the Black Bear’s head.

The Black Bear had not yet risen, unaware that death was closing in.

But just then, Zhao Jun’s foot slipped, and his whole body slid off the log.

As he slipped, the muzzle of his rifle pointed straight at the sky.

The sudden turn of events made Zhao Jun pull the trigger instinctively.

"BANG!"

The gunshot exploded in mid-air.

Hearing the shot, the Black Bear wheeled around ferociously and charged straight for Zhao Jun.

There was only a meter between them!