By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 217 The Curtain Falls [Two Chapters Combined!]

Weeks later, when the footage of Li Younan shooting an arrow at a grizzly bear appeared on television screens, it had a huge impact on everyone.

Everyone remembers that when Pacini, also a wilderness survivalist, faced another grizzly bear, that bear appeared to be slightly smaller than the one Li Younan was facing.

When such a ferocious beast charged toward him, the thrilling and oppressive feeling could be felt even through the screen, so everyone understood Pasini's choice.

People who have never actually seen a bear, lion, or tiger—such large carnivores—cannot feel the fear that comes from their genes and bloodline.

This kind of instinctive fear is very difficult to overcome.

But Li Younan gave a completely different answer despite being in almost the same situation.

He actually shot an arrow at that ferocious animal on his own initiative?
Pasini was enjoying a cup of yogurt when he saw the footage.

The next moment, he unconsciously exerted force with his hand, and the yogurt burst.

He stared in disbelief as the arrow flew away.

No one was more shocked than him by the audacity of Li Younan's actions—this was not courage, it could even be described as suicide!

Doesn't he know that a bear, which may appear fat and bulky, can actually run at speeds far exceeding those of humans?

Doesn't he know that while an arrow can indeed harm a grizzly bear, it's far from enough to kill it?

Doesn't he know that grizzly bears are very vengeful and highly intelligent creatures?
The most ingenious part of the show is that this is not the last episode.

The program ended abruptly after Lee You-nan fired that arrow, leaving the duel between Lee You-nan and the Grizzlies as a major suspense point, abruptly cut short.

Countless viewers flooded the show's official website with comments, criticizing the show's selective release of content.

Now let's rewind to the point in time when Li Younan fired that arrow.

The grizzly bear heard Li Younan's voice immediately, but as soon as it raised its head, before it could even see Li Younan, it felt a sharp pain on its neck.

Then it spotted the two-legged creature in the forest.

The stinging pain in its neck made it roar angrily to the sky.

Li Younan squinted and coldly watched this scene.

The arrow pierced the grizzly bear's nape, but it must be said that the grizzly bear, being of such a large size, has an astonishingly strong defense.

Unlike herbivores, its neck was covered with a thick layer of fat. Although the arrow hit its mark, it did not pierce its neck. Li Younan even suspected that it had not pierced its artery.

Of course, one reason is that the distance is a bit far, and another reason is that this hunting bow is not the kind of high-weight carbon fiber bow that Li Younan himself has.

If he were to use his own bow and arrow, along with a specially made arrowhead, Li Younan was confident that he could severely injure the bear with a single shot.

But this attack has not only failed to incapacitate the grizzly bear, it has also enraged it.

Grizzly Bear raised its head and stared at Li Younan.

But the grizzly bear, being a ferocious beast, quickly realized that Li Younan was not afraid of it.

Large carnivores are often highly intelligent, and they are also more afraid of getting injured in the wild.

Right now, Li Younan had hurt itself in a way it couldn't understand, and he was still standing there, which made the grizzly bear somewhat frightened, so it didn't rush towards Li Younan rashly.

However, with the grizzly bear remaining still, Li Younan was ready to launch another attack.

He nocked an arrow in his hand again and drew the bowstring taut.

Although Li Younan's archery skills have reached the master level of hitting any target within 70 meters, he is limited by the power of his bow and arrow. To attack the grizzly bear at this distance, he needs to use a slight arc.

Moreover, the grizzly bear is not a stationary target that stands there for you to shoot, so it is difficult for Li Younan to hit the grizzly bear's eyes, ear holes and other vital parts with such precision.

So Li Younan's second arrow was aimed at the grizzly bear's face, but he didn't expect it to hit its eye.

The arrows were fired at an astonishing speed, and the grizzly bear was hit before it could react.

The arrow struck the bird the instant it lowered its head, piercing the back of its neck.

The grizzly bear now fully realized that it was the two-legged creature that had attacked it. It let out another miserable cry, stared intently at Li Younan, and then turned and ran away.

When a grizzly bear starts running, its speed is astonishing.

Li Younan knew very well that he couldn't catch up with the grizzly bear, so he slowly walked up to the little ewe.

The ewe had already died. Li Younan sighed slightly, buried the ewe with the snow beside him, and then fixed his gaze on the direction the grizzly bear had fled.

He checked the equipment he was carrying.

He always carried the same three items: bow and arrow, hunting knife, and axe, no matter what his purpose was.

Li Younan snorted coldly and then crept towards the direction the grizzly bear had fled.

He was going to track down and hunt down the grizzly bear completely!

In fact, he now has a reason to hunt down this grizzly bear completely.

It wasn't just because the grizzly bear had killed his ewe—although Li Younan was furious at the time, upon reflection, he realized that in nature, survival of the fittest is the only thing to do. The grizzly bear was simply following its instincts to hunt, and there was nothing wrong with it acting from its own biological position.

However, what Li Younan could not tolerate was that the grizzly bear was only about a kilometer away from his shelter.

This means that their shelter is located within the bear's hunting area.

This grizzly bear is enormous and incredibly intelligent, possessing a keen sense of smell; it has memorized its own scent.

Although Li Younan didn't know if these beasts would seek revenge, it would definitely not be a wise thing to let such a giant predator live near his sanctuary.

Nature employs natural selection, where the strong prey on the weak.

And I am now a part of nature!

In a previous season of the show, a master named Roland hunted a bear, but he hunted a black bear, not the grizzly bear we see here.

Black bears are also found around Lake Chilco in Canada, but compared to grizzly bears, their living environment is much more difficult. Their main food sources are easily accessible foods such as insects, carrion, honey, and fruit, and their numbers are even fewer than those of grizzly bears.

After Roland hunted the black bear, the production team received a warning, and the footage of Roland hunting the black bear was banned from being broadcast.

However, grizzly bears are different; it is legal to hunt grizzly bears near Lake Chilko.

The production team naturally secured the opportunity for each contestant to hunt grizzly bears, a comprehensive preparation they made after learning from past mistakes.

Footage of the grizzly bear hunt can be broadcast normally.

However, hunting a grizzly bear is an incredibly difficult task for contestants without a hunting rifle, so the production team never expected the contestants to be able to hunt a grizzly bear.

Previously, Pasini had even developed a psychological trauma from being frightened by grizzly bears.

Li Younan knew very well that the Grizzlies were seriously injured, but neither of the two arrows was fatal.

This large wild animal is very resilient. If it were released today, the grizzly bear would indeed suffer from the arrow wound for some time—especially the arrow in the back of its neck, which it might not be able to remove on its own.

However, the grizzly bear's forepaws also have a gripping function, so it is very likely that it can pull the arrow out of its neck by itself.

If the artery is not damaged, it is not impossible for it to heal completely after a period of time.

Because of animal protection organizations, the special bows and arrows provided to them by the program team had high-strength arrowheads but no barbs.

This design makes it easy for players to reuse the bow and arrow, but it also creates a potential hazard for creatures like grizzly bears to pull out the arrows.

Regardless, Li Younan must track down and kill this grizzly bear completely.

At this moment, Li Younan exuded a chilling aura.

He still had seven arrows in his body.

Hunting an adult grizzly bear is no easy task.

The bear's defensive capabilities are truly astonishing. To hunt it, one must maintain sufficient patience and leverage the human advantage—superior endurance—to gradually wear down the bear's stamina before striking at the opportune moment.

This process must be extremely dangerous, but Li Younan was exceptionally confident. He even turned on the action camera to explain his plan to the audience: "The most important thing in hunting this grizzly bear is to maintain a safe distance from it, and on that basis, continuously wear it down from a distance with arrows. This process will not be accomplished overnight, and we must maintain sufficient patience."

Tracking a grizzly bear is even simpler. It's winter now, and there's snow on the ground. As the grizzly bear runs away, it inevitably leaves behind a trail of footprints. Li Younan just needs to follow the footprints.

To Li Younan's surprise, the grizzly bear changed direction twice during the journey, and then headed towards the lake shore, which was the area where he had found the wild rice earlier.

However, the grizzly bear still needs to cross a forest before reaching the lake shore.

After tracking for several hours, Li Younan finally caught up with the grizzly bear at the edge of his field of vision.

The arrow was still stuck in the back of the grizzly bear's neck, but the arrow in front was gone, which surprised Li Younan and even shocked him. Sure enough, the grizzly bear was much more intelligent than he had imagined.

Just as Li Younan spotted the grizzly bear, the bear suddenly turned around and roared angrily.

Perhaps angered by the prolonged pursuit, it seemed unwilling to wait to die any longer and charged towards Li Younan.

The distance was quite far. Li Younan estimated that the grizzly bear was about 100 meters away from him.

It came through the forest, and with the trees providing cover, it was difficult for arrows to hit it, but Li Younan remained calm.

The action camera captured the scene, and afterwards, all the viewers who saw it felt a chill for Li Younan.

Compared to black bears, grizzly bears have a significant disadvantage: they are very poor climbers.

In fact, grizzly bears are quite good at climbing trees when they are young, but as they gain weight, climbing trees becomes very difficult for them as adults, as their claws can hardly support their enormous weight.

Along the shores of Lake Chirko, the forest coverage is astonishing, with trees as thick as a person's waist visible everywhere.

As the grizzly bear charged toward him, Li Younan slung his bow and arrows over his shoulder and, in a few breaths, climbed up a tall tree over ten meters high. This was effortless for someone with his top-notch rock climbing skills.

The grizzly bear quickly arrived at the tree, looked up at Li Younan, roared angrily a few times, and then tried to paw at the trunk with its claws.

This is a large tree with a straight trunk.

This was the moment Li Younan had been waiting for.

He used his feet to stabilize his body on the tree branch, and as the grizzly bear clumsily placed its front paws on the trunk and leaped up with its hind paws, Li Younan drew his bow and shot an arrow.

Because the arrow was at close range, it was incredibly powerful and struck the grizzly bear directly in the face.

The grizzly bear let out a miserable cry, rolled haphazardly down the tree, and dared not climb it again, turning tail and running away once more.

At this moment, Li Younan no longer conserved his arrows. He quickly nocked an arrow and fired several more, emptying his sack and hitting the grizzly bear with every single one.

Li Younan did not rush to chase after it immediately. Instead, he waited until the grizzly bear staggered out of sight again under the cover of the jungle before slowly climbing down from the tree.

He glanced in the direction the grizzly bear had gone, then quickly looked away and began searching the forest.

Soon, he found a piece of tough wood that was of moderate thickness, just right for gripping, and about two meters long. He chopped it down with the axe he carried with him and then sharpened one end of the wood.

The wood was very similar in texture to bamboo, incredibly tough, and its sharpened tip was so keen it could easily pierce a bear's fur. Holding this homemade spear, Li Younan, his face grim, tracked the grizzly bear in the direction it had gone.

Grizzly had just been hit by a lot of arrows, especially one that struck him in the face, which was a real blow.

Li Younan was going to give it a quick death.

……

The grizzly bear, riddled with quills, didn't get far before Li Younan, wielding his homemade spear, quickly found it.

At this moment, Li Younan's action camera was still on, and he stood calmly in front of the grizzly bear.

Blood was seeping from the grizzly bear's mouth. Severely injured, it could only lie on the ground, looking at Li Younan with resentment.

The grizzly bear appears to have lost its ability to move, but if you really think it has no ability to attack, you will most likely be killed instead.

Li Younan had no intention of wasting time. He lightly weighed the wooden spear in his hand, took out a hunting knife with his other hand, and then lunged forward.

Sure enough, just as he got closer, the grizzly bear suddenly stood up and lunged forward.

Li Younan was prepared; he thrust his spear forward fiercely, piercing the grizzly bear's abdomen, before quickly withdrawing it.

Li Younan's skills include a set of ancient Chinese sword techniques. Although this set of sword techniques can only be used with a sword to unleash its full power, it does not mean that one cannot draw on sword moves when using other weapons.

The sword is an extremely difficult weapon to learn. To unleash its power, even a single thrusting motion requires thousands upon thousands of repetitions of practice.

Li Younan simply used the spear in his hand as if it were an even longer sword.

In addition to the muscle memory of movements that are deeply ingrained in his body, the ancient sword techniques also endowed him with extremely agile reaction speed, as well as a calm mind and clear judgment when facing danger.

At this moment, Li Younan didn't even feel the adrenaline rush. His mind was incredibly clear, and he was focused on analyzing the bear's condition, its next possible move, and his own more efficient response.

After the bear missed its first pounce and suffered an even more severe piercing attack, it lay down on the ground again.

Li Younan swiftly moved to the bear's side, then raised his hand and thrust his spear into the bear's abdomen again. Before the bear could react, he quickly retreated to create distance.

After several attacks, the bear was finally unable to stand up.

Li Younan approached the bear from behind, drew his hunting knife from his waist, and sighed softly.

At this moment, he had mixed feelings and said earnestly to the camera, "I am very grateful for this program. It has truly made me deeply understand the philosophical relationship between man and nature."

"This is the real wilderness."

After saying this, Li Younan ended Xiong's life with a single stab from behind.

……

After killing the bear completely, Li Younan quickly composed himself and began to use his slaughtering skills to dismember the bear into eight pieces.

When he did this, his movements were unsurprisingly skillful and precise.

He peeled and cut the bear's skin, so precisely that he could clearly see where the bear's arteries and veins were, that even the blood didn't splatter excessively.

Soon, just like the bison before, this bear used its skin to hold the bear meat.

However, unlike the bison, Li Younan did not intend to take most of the bear's meat back with him.

One little-known fact is that most of a bear's meat doesn't taste good.

Everyone thinks bear paws must be a delicacy, but actually bear paws aren't necessarily that delicious.

The reason why bear paws were considered a top delicacy for a long time is similar to the reason why shark fins were popular among the upper class. The core reason is that in ancient times, it was not an easy thing to eat bear paws.

Putting aside the difficulty of hunting a bear in an era without hunting rifles, cooking a bear paw into a dish was no easy feat either.

Bear meat is very tough, while bear paws, though not tough, are very hard and chewy.

In ancient times, cooking bear paws to an edible state required simmering over low heat for at least seven or eight hours, which consumed a great deal of manpower and timber.

In ancient times, wood was not something that ordinary people could afford to consume at will.

In addition, the finished bear paw has a sticky, soft, and chewy texture, just like shark fin.

People who prefer this kind of texture are often the elderly.

As is well known, in any era, those who have more say and greater influence in society are often older people.

Various factors have contributed to the reputation of bear paws as a luxury item.

Therefore, Li Younan did not intend to take the whole bear meat back. While dissecting and butchering the bear, he explained interesting facts about bear paws to the camera.

Time flew by while he was doing this, and he quickly finished dissecting the bear.

He casually chopped down some wood nearby and made a simple sled. He placed the bear skin underneath, loaded it with about 40 to 50 kilograms of the bear's four paws and some of the relatively tasty bear meat extract, and then pulled the sled back home.

Li Younan did not plan to come back to retrieve the remaining bear meat.

With this forty or fifty kilograms of bear meat and the bear's head...

With four enormous bear paws and the grain from his own home, Li Younan could easily stay here for at least four or five more months.

However, he felt it shouldn't take that long. It wasn't arrogance, but rather thinking about the other competitors; there was no reason for them to continue outlasting him.

Not long after Li Younan left, he heard a noise behind him.

He glanced back and saw several small coyotes suddenly darting out from elsewhere, their target naturally the grizzly bear meat he had left over from the slaughter.

It's not surprising that the grizzly bear was detected by a coyote with its extremely sensitive nose, given that the slaughter took a considerable amount of time and the bear's blood could travel far in the wilderness.

The moment Li Younan turned around, the coyotes were so frightened that they quickly darted back a distance, then stared at Li Younan with pleading eyes.

If Li Younan didn't move, they dared not move.

Seeing this, Li Younan found it somewhat amusing.

Come to think of it, animals that can survive in the wild are not stupid, especially carnivores. They can judge which animals pose a threat.

In particular, killing a grizzly bear would not only have a huge psychological impact on a person, but would also bring a great shock to these coyotes.

At this moment, Li Younan felt a little regretful. He suddenly thought that it might have been quite interesting to keep a coyote as a pet some time ago.

However, this absurd idea only lingered in my mind for a moment before slowly sinking into my heart.

It was already evening when they dragged the bear meat back to the shelter.

After hunting the grizzly bear, Li Younan returned to the shelter, his mindset completely transformed.

How should I put it? I felt a strange sense of calm at the same time, and a strange sense of exhilaration... I was the king of this region.

And this is indeed the case; in the area where a grizzly bear lives, there is a high probability that there will be no other adult grizzly bear, let alone a male grizzly bear.

At this point, Li Younan was undoubtedly the king of the region.

He hung the bear's head on the door, and after that, it's highly unlikely that any other wild animals would dare to venture into the area.

The next step is to process the bear meat.

Since it was already winter, Li Younan no longer needed to smoke the meat. The little house where the ewe had slept was perfect for storing the bear meat. In this kind of weather, it was a natural freezer, and the bear meat would not spoil before the end of winter.

Li Younan put most of the bear meat into this natural freezer, and then took out a bear paw and a small piece of tender bear chest meat.

Aside from the bear paws, which are quite a gimmick, the meat from the bear's legs and chest is actually the most delicious.

Bear leg meat, due to its high activity level, has a firm texture and tastes similar to beef shank. It also absorbs flavors more easily and has a delicious taste. The meat from the bear's chest is known as "heart-protecting fat," with layers of fat, fascia, and tendons, resulting in a rich aroma.

Li Younan plans to have pan-fried heart-protecting fat for dinner today.

It is worth mentioning that bear livers have extremely high vitamin A content, far exceeding that of other animals, with each gram containing as much as 1 to 3 international units.

In fact, eating just a piece of bear liver the size of a fingernail would exceed the metabolic threshold for adults, causing vitamin A poisoning. Of the other organs, only the bear heart was considered palatable, so Li Younan discarded most of the bear's internal organs.

While cooking, Li Younan explained these facts to the video camera.

Meanwhile, the bear paw that was taken out at the same time was chopped into small pieces by Li Younan and put into a pottery jar to simmer over low heat.

Don't be fooled by the fact that there's only one bear paw; it's enough to last for several days' dinner... it's really big.

This process takes a long time, but Li Younan is not in a hurry. He is like an ancient nobleman, with enough time and energy to enjoy this top-notch delicacy that has been passed down through the ages.

After finishing dinner, Li Younan realized that he had left his skis at the ski spot where he had skied before, and sighed slightly.

It's okay though, I can just pick it up tomorrow. I don't have anything to do right now anyway.

Then he turned on his crystal radio and listened to the latest episode of Late Night Music while taking a bath.

Inside the shelter, the sound of bear paws slowly simmering in earthenware pots could still be heard, and the aroma wafted out gently.

……

Two more weeks passed, and winter had fully arrived.

Kanna's situation is very dire; she only has one day's worth of food left.

To make matters worse, she had a fever all night yesterday, and although the high fever subsided this morning, she is still very weak.

The medical staff from the program arrived. After completing the examination, the staff said with a serious expression, "Kanna, although I admire your strength and optimism, you can't keep going like this. Your body needs to return to modern civilized society to recuperate."

Upon hearing this, Kanna felt as if the sky was falling.

She had been forcing a smile, but finally broke down in tears: "Please, I think I can still manage. My weight only dropped because I had a fever last night. As long as I eat lunch today, I'll be back to normal. Really, you have to believe me."

The staff members looked at each other, truly moved by this strong woman.

But reality is so cruel.

After a moment of silence, the team leader patted Kanna on the shoulder and said seriously, "Kanna, your physical condition is no longer up to standard. The rules of the show are the rules."

Seemingly wanting to ease Kanna's psychological burden, he continued, "Your only rival, Li Younan, recently hunted a bear."

At this moment, even the air seemed to become still.

Kanna seemed to have all her strength drained away as she slowly sat down, remaining motionless for a long time, as if still processing this astonishing news.

After a while, a bitter smile appeared on her lips, and she nodded slightly.

"I see!"

(End of this chapter)