Infinite Hunter

Chapter 4 Reward

Even with a flashlight, finding the path in the jungle at night was difficult, let alone finding tracks. However, Cheng Yijiu managed to find the victim's crawling and tumbling tracks, and based on this, he found the bear's tracks. "It's exactly as I expected," Cheng Yijiu illuminated with his flashlight, extending his other hand to indicate the footprints on the ground. The last time he saw bear tracks was when he had just entered the cabin, hunting the three-haired man-eating bear.

He compared the sizes of the footprints in his memory and said, "That one was left in the snow. It's several times larger than the real footprint. The one in front of me is the real big footprint. It's more than 30 centimeters wide." The average weight of male cave bears was confirmed to be about 700 to 750 kilograms in Cheng Yijiu's time. A few large individuals might reach one ton, but basically it fluctuated around 700 kilograms.

This is already a legendary behemoth among today's brown bears and polar bears - don't listen to people saying that the Kodiak brown bear weighs 800 kilograms and the polar bear weighs one ton. Until many years later in the 21st century, the largest brown bear hunted was only 544 kilograms, and the largest polar bear hunted was estimated to be more than 600 kilograms but less than 700 kilograms. Earlier records are almost unreliable.

If this bear weighed 750 kilograms, it would be nearly twice as heavy as an average brown bear and at least one-third larger. Standing at a height of over three and a half meters, it should be stable. So Cheng Yijiu shone his flashlight upwards, trying to see if he could find the claw marks marking its territory. "Damn, I can't see clearly," he complained. Cheng Yijiu wasn't too worried about the bear roaming around here. After so many people bustling around here investigating a case, the well-fed bear should have already moved to higher ground.

Unlike humans and cats, bears don't kill or hunt for fun, so a well-fed bear will simply crawl to a safe place to sleep. Two people's food is more than enough to fill the bear's stomach. Cheng Yijiu followed the trail up until he found the campsite by the stream. It was also surrounded by yellow tape, indicating the crime scene.

Cheng Yijiu lifted the belt and walked in. Blood was visible in the mess; the victim had naturally been carried away. The traces here weren't as clear as in the cabin, so it was difficult to reconstruct the attack. However, after spending over half an hour, Cheng Yijiu finally found the direction the bear might have rushed from. "From a high vantage point..." He sighed, looking at the likely broken bushes and the higher mountain behind him.

Hunting a man-eating beast at night was not a good idea, so Cheng Yijiu decided to go back and look for the bear again tomorrow morning. "Damn it! I haven't even had dinner yet." On the way back, Cheng Yijiu felt hungry and remembered that he had been so busy checking the situation that he had forgotten to eat.

The return trip was quick, and Cheng Yijiu arrived at the campsite around nine o'clock in the evening. Many people had already driven away from the dangerous area, but several more cars arrived, filled with curious tourists who weren't afraid of death. Having heard about the bear-eat-man incident, they drove up almost immediately—this kind of crowd of onlookers has existed throughout history, both in China and abroad. There were also groups of gun-toting men, ready to hunt the bear for fun.

The bounty hasn't been paid yet, and officials haven't said for sure that a bear killed and ate the two girls—at least not in the current announcement, probably to avoid causing panic. "Closing the park is impossible!" the management office said.

Cheng Yijiu returned to his RV. Interestingly, Mary hadn't left, and neither had her companions in their rickety car. They remained, enjoying themselves. Cheng Yijiu gathered some dead wood and built a simple stove with rocks at the campsite. He pulled a large tomahawk steak from the RV's refrigerator. The ribs must have weighed over two kilograms. He rubbed the surface with salt, then held the steak by the bone and placed it over the lit fire to roast.

After searing the surface to seal in the juices, Cheng Yijiu cut two notches in the ribs and hung the large tomahawk steak with wire over the fire, slowly roasting it. He then found some vegetables and potatoes, along with a special steak spice blend and olive oil. Cheng Yijiu added butter and salt to the vegetables, wrapped them in tinfoil, and tossed them into the fire. He peeled the potatoes, added spices, salt, and butter, and likewise sealed them in tinfoil and tossed them into the fire.

In preparation for tomorrow's grueling hunt, Cheng Yijiu decided to treat himself to a good meal. Mary joined him, but they had already eaten dinner. Cheng Yijiu poured the spice blend and salt into a bowl, stirred it with olive oil, and then fumbled out a few bottles of Coke—he didn't like red wine, but thought steak would go well with Coke. The beef, hanging over the flames, dripped fat continuously. After half an hour of low-temperature roasting, the aroma of the steak had already wafted through most of the camp.

"If the bear had been within five kilometers, it would have charged right here," Cheng Yijiu joked. The steak was slightly burnt on the outside. Cheng Yijiu removed the meat and, using a sharp knife, cut the beef from the bones on a wooden chopping board. He tossed the bones to a nearby dog ​​and sliced ​​the meat into two- to three-centimeter-wide slices, arranging them in a wooden bowl and coating them with the olive oil seasoning.

The two foil-wrapped packages were also taken out. When they were torn open, they revealed fragrant butter cabbage and tomatoes. The potatoes were also fragrant. Cheng Yijiu devoured them with his hands and spoon. After eating and drinking, Cheng Yijiu had no intention of continuing to entangle with Mary. He just chatted with her in a friendly manner for a while, gave them a bottle of whiskey, and then went into the RV to sleep under the pretext of needing to rest - this time he didn't need to lock the door.

Cheng Yijiu woke up at eight the next morning, showered, had breakfast, and headed up the mountain with his rations and weapons. It was already eight-thirty. This time, he went directly to the victim's campsite—police were on duty there, while Cheng Yijiu continued to survey the scene. There were many local and foreign hunters flocking in, and Cheng Yijiu felt incredibly dangerous—it was very easy to accidentally shoot someone in this situation, mistaken for a bear, and get shot...

Therefore, Cheng Yijiu thought it would be better for him to return to the camp first. It might be better to wait until the group of people left before going up the mountain. He was sure that with this group of chattering so-called "hunters", there would definitely be a mistaken shooting incident today, and if things went wrong, more than one person would be mistakenly shot.

Chapter 5 Nightfall

Things turned out just as Cheng Yijiu had anticipated. He had only been in the camp until noon when he heard that four people had been shot. "Can you believe it? They were shooting at almost everything that moved!" the officer complained to Cheng Yijiu, praising him for not joining in the chaos.

Four people were shot, one of whom died, and his chances of getting to the hospital were slim. Those who accidentally shot others were arrested, and they may have to pay a large sum of money. The park announced on the radio that no one without a hunting license or permission from the police could enter the mountains.

However, Cheng Yijiu won the permission of the police with his actions. After many people were forced to go down the mountain without finding anything, Cheng Yijiu was finally able to go up the mountain to search the next day. Although he wasted a day, Cheng Yijiu knew very well that the bear would not attack again. After all, it was a wild animal, and it would not attack again the next day after eating.

Mary and the others stayed, and the hunters who returned to camp also had a reward: a bear cub. Perhaps they could sell it to the zoo and make some money. The park police didn't know about this because they were busy driving people out of the mountains and trying to find the man-eating grizzly bear.

The bear cub was placed outside the car, tied with a rope, while the guys sang, drank, and ate barbecue in the circle formed by the cars, making a lot of noise.

Cheng Yijiu, holding a can of beer and a Thompson on his hip, leaned against the RV and watched the group having fun, while Mary and the others played and sang by the fire. Cheng Yijiu's attention was not entirely on these people. He was thinking about how to search the mountains tomorrow. "Although it is inhumane, if there are new attacks, it may be easier to find this beast..."

Even as he pondered this, the beast in the darkness approached the camp—the aroma of barbecue and the scent of its newly found "easy prey" had drawn it there. But on the outskirts, it spotted a bear cub. Acting on instinct, the male bear thrust its massive paw toward the cub. The cub's cries were muted amidst the singing, but Cheng Yijiu sensed something unusual.

He didn't actually hear any sound, but an intuition made him alert. Instinctively, he felt that something was moving in the darkness and was very close to the camp. Cheng Yijiu walked to the fire, took out a burning wood, and threw it directly at the place where he felt something was very wrong.

"Hey! Man! It's going to cause a fire!" someone else shouted. Cheng Yijiu didn't answer. He squinted his eyes to watch the torch's trajectory as it fell. Suddenly, he pulled out his gun and fired in the direction of the landing. The shot was muffled but loud. After firing, Cheng Yijiu quickly pushed the trigger, and the gun opened, ejecting the shell. He quickly took out a bullet and reloaded it. With a click, the gun closed again.

"The bear is outside!" Cheng Yijiu shouted at this time. The instantaneous light was enough for Cheng Yijiu to see the outline, so he opened fire in that direction without hesitation. The people who were a little drunk immediately sobered up, grabbed their guns and aimed in that direction, while those who did not have guns ran away.

"Everyone go back to your cars!" Cheng Yijiu shouted, "Who has a powerful flashlight? Shine it over there!" Cheng Yijiu didn't have time to run back to get his gun, but his shouting must have gotten a response from everyone - when someone gives a specific and clear order, people will subconsciously obey.

The light illuminated the swaying bushes and the shadow—the bear that was moving away quickly. Almost everyone was firing, but Cheng Yijiu felt that no one was hit. The bear disappeared, and Cheng Yijiu took a flashlight and walked over. What he saw was a murder scene—there were not many cubs left, most of them had been eaten by the giant bear.

Cheng Yijiu used a branch to turn the bear cub's broken head over, squatting down to carefully examine the broken surface. "It was severed in one bite..." He once again shone his flashlight across the slaughter site, searching for any remaining traces. He found claw marks and even hair. "Come here," he gestured to the "hunters."

He pointed at the footprints and said, "I personally suggest that you go home quickly. Look at these footprints... This bear is probably a big brown bear that has never been seen before. It is not a grizzly bear. And it runs very fast. Look at the span of the footprints. The height of this bear when standing up cannot be less than three meters and five." He wanted to use this to drive these people back home. After all, if he went to search in the mountains, a group of people looking around in a mess might accidentally hit him, right?

However, this actually aroused the interest of the group. Cheng Yijiu shook his head and said, "Well, at least everyone should keep some distance. Maybe we can drive the bear out and see who is lucky enough to shoot it down with one shot."

Given the lax gun laws here, the park had no way to deal with this group of people, and even the police couldn't stop them all. The next day, Cheng Yijiu set off relatively late, but he started his search from the place where the bear cub that was attacked and eaten the night before had been dumped. Following the bear's footprints, he would always be able to catch it.

Four legs are indeed very capable of moving. Cheng Yijiu followed the bear's path, walking along the mountainside in hunting gear and carrying a rifle. Mary definitely wouldn't come with him. These hippies thought this place was quite interesting, so they were all huddled in the camp listening to the radio and reading newspapers. Bears eating people? This kind of thing is rare in North America these days.

Cheng Yijiu followed the herd and saw deer. "There are so many deer in Yellowstone!" he exclaimed. The vegetation was being destroyed, and how could a cave bear catch so many deer? Perhaps the bear had sustained an injury that prevented it from catching deer and had to resort to attacking humans.

But cave bears are primarily herbivorous. Even the invaders only eat a slightly higher percentage of meat, which is nothing compared to the purely carnivorous cats. If this quest were about a giant short-faced bear, it would be fine, as it's indeed primarily carnivorous, but where would a giant short-faced bear come from in the mountains? Furthermore, it's already extinct, so there's no chance of a brown bear reverting to a cave bear.

The more Cheng Yijiu tracked, the more certain he became that this bear was a cave bear-brown bear hybrid, a reversion to its ancestral form. Voices could be heard from the foot of the mountain; it seemed they had indeed spread a vast net and were gradually searching the mountain. Some had brought hunting dogs, their barking echoing through the mountains.

Cheng Yijiu sat on a tree stump, eating lunch, his gun leaning against his side. The bear should still be some distance away—that's what Cheng Yijiu thought...

Chapter 6: Stagger

There were no movie scenes where a bear suddenly appeared while he was eating lunch; the bear might be somewhere else. Cheng Yijiu ate quickly, and after finishing, he continued to follow the trail. The only traces he could find were those of deer, many of whom roamed the area. The cave bear's footprints were also buried among the deer tracks and those of other brown bears, making them difficult to distinguish.

The grizzly bears in this area weighed around 300 kilograms, less than half the size of the one Cheng Yijiu was tracking. However, their size difference was likely similar, so their footprints were easily confused, especially when they were incomplete. Cheng Yijiu had found nothing all afternoon. He stood on a rock, gazing at the mountain. "The bear is somewhere here..." he breathed a long sigh, and prepared to return to camp.

He would not spend the night in the mountains, especially in the current situation. Is a person here giving meat to bears?

On the way back, Cheng Yijiu pondered. There were many plants in the mountains, including many edible sprouts and fruits, but this bear ate almost none of them. A giant bear that enjoyed meat like this wasn't common, but perhaps it could scavenge? There were so many deer, and quite a few of them were dead. As he pondered this, Cheng Yijiu's footsteps kept decreasing in altitude.

At that moment, he stumbled upon a scene that made him pause. From where he was, he saw a thicket of trees, but the slanting light of the setting sun shone down, reflecting a golden glow. It was a large bear, its brown-black fur reflecting a pale golden light from the slanting sunlight. Cheng Yijiu stared at the animal, less than fifty meters away, and was stunned for a moment.

He quickly grabbed his gun, but the giant bear seemed incredibly alert, tumbling down from the bushes in a heap. "Abnormal! Absolutely abnormal! What normal creature would behave like this?" Cheng Yijiu didn't shout out, only frantically thinking. This bear wasn't normal; it reminded him of the man-eating tiger he'd once incarnated. However, Cheng Yijiu didn't believe it would be punished the same way he was.

With this thought in mind, Cheng Yijiu returned to the campsite. He had heard that the bear had attacked a group of hunters at noon, resulting in two casualties, one seriously injured and the other dead. Inside the campsite, Mary and her group had already left. Cheng Yijiu offered only a fleeting blessing to these casual sex partners. He returned to his RV. There were only a few RVs and tents left in the campsite now, as many had left under the persuasion of the police.

No one was sure the bear would attack the camp, especially since many had left immediately after word got out about the hunters being attacked—shortly before Cheng Yijiu returned. After all, the camp hadn't forgotten the bear's visit the previous night... Cheng Yijiu wasn't too worried. His RV had a metal frame, and ordinary beasts simply couldn't penetrate it.

After cleaning himself, Cheng Yijiu carefully recalled what he had seen, then tuned in to the local radio station—and sure enough, he heard the local police warning. Local reporters had also gathered and dug up a lot of information, creating a terrifying atmosphere on the radio. There was a lot of information, both true and false, and Cheng Yijiu knew there wasn't much to use—besides him, perhaps only two or three other people had seen the bear.

After all, when those two were attacked, there were several other companions there...

Later in the day, new news came that the seriously injured hunter had also died.

Having already killed four people, Cheng Yijiu suspected the bear would continue its attacks—it had lost all fear of humans. Such a ferocious beast was truly terrifying. A peaceful night followed, suggesting the cave bear hadn't attacked the camp. No new reports of attacks were heard on the radio the next day. Cheng Yijiu packed some food and water and set out on the hunt again—compared to yesterday, at least two-thirds fewer hunters were still searching.

The police were still searching for the bear, even deploying a helicopter. Cheng Yijiu was walking through the mountains, his first choice being the location where he had seen the bear the previous evening. He then found brown hair hanging from a bush. The traces of the fall were still visible, and there was nothing he could do but follow them. Cheng Yijiu knew the bear would run all over the mountain, and following it was not a good idea.

But what else could he do? Set up a decoy? Compared to that, Cheng Yijiu felt that while continuing to follow was foolish, it might actually be the best option. However, if he did that, he would have to sleep outdoors. "Time seems to be running out," he thought.

After a day of chasing, Cheng Yijiu could only say that he noticed the bear was circling. All he could determine was the bear's likely range of activity, its territory. Later that evening, while in his RV, he heard the bear attack again—this time, a family of tourists who had been hiking in the mountains for the past few days and were attacked on their way back to camp.

There were four people in the family. Before the helicopter found them, one woman had been dragged away by the bear, and the other man had sustained serious injuries. Two other teenagers also suffered minor injuries. The officers in the helicopter chased the bear in the direction it had taken the people, but they only found the victim, half-eaten. Cheng Yijiu returned this time simply to pick up supplies and headed directly to the site of the attack.

He surveyed the area where the carcass was last found, using that as a starting point to search for the bear's whereabouts. After a night of fruitless activity, Cheng Yijiu moved through the darkness, rifle in hand. He saw many deer and a bear—"much smaller!" This bear wasn't the one he was hunting. At daybreak, he descended the road and saw the campsite below in shambles, police cars and ambulances everywhere...

He walked down quickly. "Hey! You!" A police officer called him, his right hand habitually resting on his gun. "Officer, what happened here? My RV is over there." Cheng Yijiu said, pointing at the RV in the camp with his gun on his back. In fact, the officer named John also said a few words. After seeing clearly, the other party was relieved. "This bear attacked the camp last night. I advise you to leave quickly, man."

Chapter 7 Gran

Cheng Yijiu returned to his RV. The first thing he did was eat something, then take a shower and wash and dry his dirty clothes. He opened a map and marked it with a pencil. Cheng Yijiu was trying to delineate the bear's range of activity. He had a feeling that the bear was not far away from him, and had been circling around him intentionally or unintentionally.

An irregular shape appeared on the map, and Cheng Yijiu couldn't determine where the center was, but he could mark several attack points and then several sightings of the bear, basically confirming the range and route of the bear's activities - after all, it was also a wild animal, and wild animals had relatively definite activity paths, and they usually didn't take new paths.

Cheng Yijiu had a good sleep, and when he woke up, he was really refreshed. He put on his hunting clothes, took some dry food and water, and set out again with his rifle on his back. However, on his way out, he met a policeman. The policeman had spoken to Cheng Yijiu before, so Cheng Yijiu stuffed a cigarette into his pocket and said a few words. "Oh, there's a hunter from Alaska. I heard he's a veteran," the policeman said.

"That's the best. Honestly, I've never heard of such a severe bear attack." Cheng Yijiu said, and he took out his pipe. The police officer and I nodded sympathetically. "Yes, it's a terrible thing." Cheng Yijiu smoked for a while. "Okay, I should go hunt that bear. I have found out the bear's tracks and have some idea of ​​its movement routes."

"Is that so?" a voice called out from behind them. Cheng Yijiu turned and saw it was a policewoman. He'd seen her before when he'd first arrived—she should have been in Hollywood, not working as a forest police officer here. She made a lasting impression on him. "I'll go with you," the policewoman said. Cheng Yijiu knew the police were the most powerful in this area, so it was best not to go against their opinions.

He didn't say much, just watched the girl pick up a rifle and walk with him. Cheng Yijiu was looking for topics along the way, "Have you seen this bear?" he asked. The policewoman named Gran shook her head, "I haven't seen it." She said a little disappointedly. "That's a good thing, this bear is different. Generally speaking, brown bears are mostly vegetarians, but this bear is obviously a carnivore and is actually used to preying on humans."

Cheng Yijiu continued speaking before entering the mountain, trying to dissuade the girl from following him. "And this bear is very large. I discovered it when I was following its tracks. You should have discovered it as well through the on-site investigation and autopsy." Gran nodded. "It was indeed a very large bear. The old sheriff who has worked here for decades has never seen such a beast."

"You don't want me to follow, do you?" Gran looked at Cheng Yijiu. "Yes, it's too dangerous. This bear is probably close to twelve feet tall. It's definitely not an opponent a girl like you should face." Cheng Yijiu's tone was sincere. However, Gran just glanced at him and ignored him. Instead, he gestured for Cheng Yijiu to lead the way seriously. Cheng Yijiu also shook his head, sighed, and opened the map.

"Let's go to the site of the last attack first. To be brutally honest, there haven't been enough attacks to fully map out this bear's movements," Cheng Yijiu said, his pencil outlines of the attack sites and a dotted line depicting its movements. "Since this bear is used to eating people—well, it ate half a woman last time—I think it's probably hungry again and will continue to wander around this area in search of prey."

"I don't know why it learned to prey on humans. Logically, carnivorous bears mainly prey on deer." Since he was facing a beautiful woman, it was normal for Cheng Yijiu to talk a lot. Gran looked at Cheng Yijiu, "Don't you know?"

"I think this bear has some kind of injury that's preventing it from hunting deer," Cheng Yijiu said. Large brown bears aren't actually very formidable predators—at least, they'd be too clumsy to hunt deer, but they can hunt moose. Of the large deer species in North America, only elk and moose are relatively easy prey for a large brown bear—but they probably can't catch them. So, they could try to steal the wolf's prey.

"Which country in the East are you from?" Gran was also a little curious—it's not like she'd never met Orientals before, but it was rare to find someone this outgoing and cheerful. "I'm from... Mainland China, not Taiwan," Cheng Yijiu decided to reveal. Americans of this era were curious about the Eastern powers, but they didn't harbor any significant ill will, as they had all but officially broken with the Soviet Union.

Nixon had already visited China, and relations between the two countries had been normalized. So Gran looked at Cheng Yijiu with a look of surprise. "Where are you from?" Cheng Yijiu interrupted her. "Yes," she said, pointing to the ground. "Don't keep asking me how I got here. We've found footprints." He gestured for Gran to look at the large depression in the ground. Cheng Yijiu squatted down and placed his palm close to the depression, comparing it.

"Look, it's really big. This is the mark of the forefoot." Cheng Yijiu's palm couldn't even cover half the width of the footprint. Cheng Yijiu broke off a branch, outlined the footprint, and cleaned it up. "It's almost the entire sole, but considering the hair on the outside of the sole, it's not that exaggerated." He said to Gran. Gran's face was also serious. "What about the back foot?"

"The soil here is relatively soft, so I saw footprints. I'm sorry I'm not that experienced, so I really couldn't identify the ones before." Cheng Yijiu said, "Fortunately, since there are footprints here, we can follow them. Next, we must not only pay attention to the footprints, but also pay attention to whether this guy will hide somewhere and suddenly pounce."

"Brown bears can be 'invisible,' and sometimes you really can't see them in the bushes." Cheng Yijiu gestured for him to follow the footprints, while Gran kept a close eye on all sides. "Hopefully, if the bear jumps out, you can fire in time—don't even think about shooting it in the heart from directly under the shoulder blade. You might not have enough time to aim, so I say fire as soon as you're roughly aligned! The bullet you're using...is no good. Switch to a fully armored bullet—otherwise, you might not be able to penetrate its fur."

Gran used a fragmentation bullet, which was used to hunt foxes and the like, but even deer bullets wouldn't be enough to kill this bear. Cheng Yijiu, on the other hand, used steel-core bullets. He always shot his prey through the head or heart to kill them instantly, rather than using hollow-point bullets that would cause heavy bleeding and lead to a quick death.

Chapter 8 Encounter

Gran was holding an old gun, a Winchester M1903 from the same manufacturer as Cheng Yijiu, with a .22-inch caliber—it was too underpowered for hunting deer, and for brown bears, the only option was a fully capped steel-core bullet. Cheng Yijiu wasn't worried about his own M70. Even if it was a dinosaur—he was confident he could at least injure it with one shot. Carbon-based creatures probably wouldn't be able to withstand it, but whales, with their large size and thick skin, fat, and muscle, could probably withstand the damage.

Cave bears definitely can't do that.

He hoped to find the bear. After all, a bear, an ancient one at that, couldn't possibly compare to humans in intelligence—as evidenced by its weapons and tracking abilities. Cheng Yijiu, walking through the mountains, saw the bear's intermittent tracks, suggesting it had crossed the ridge and descended into the valley. There were streams in the valley, and hot water—Yellowstone National Park lies beneath a massive volcanic crater, rich in geothermal resources, with countless geysers and hot springs.

The rocks beside the stream were slightly yellow, and a hint of sulfur rose from the water. Cheng Yijiu looked at the stream. "It's still drinkable without risking poisoning," he muttered. "What did you say?" Gran asked curiously. Ever since Cheng Yijiu said he was from the mainland, the young forest policewoman had been curious. Now that she heard Cheng Yijiu speaking Chinese, she naturally had to ask.

"Nothing. I just think we might be close to that monster. If we run into it later, don't scream." Cheng Yijiu said, his gaze rising towards a cave entrance perched on the mountainside, about thirty meters above the stream. Would a cave bear seek out caves? Very likely, even if this one was an aggressive bear—burrowing is a common hobby for bears and humans.

Cheng Yijiu carefully observed the traces of ground nearby, especially those leading to the cave. From this high vantage point, if the bear really did break out from hiding inside, neither he nor Gran would have time to react. The ground was a bit bare, and Cheng Yijiu practically lay prone on it. He couldn't see any special traces. The ground was very hard, a mixture of rock and soil. "Still lacking experience."

He carefully scanned the surrounding bushes for broken branches or hanging hairs, but again, he found nothing. So, he cautiously approached the cave entrance, leaned against its side, and roared loudly into the cave. The sound echoed through the cave, but no animal emerged. Cheng Yijiu had no desire to go in, so he found a torch, lit it, and threw it in.

"There's no roaring, so it seems the bear might not be inside," he said to Gran.

The two of them left the area and continued along the stream. After about half an hour, they came to a cliff. Water cascaded down from the cliff, forming a waterfall. Behind the waterfall was a cave. "It shouldn't be that bad. Bears wouldn't choose a cave behind a waterfall—it would get their fur wet," Cheng Yijiu said, so they didn't explore.

Gran's walkie-talkie rang. "A bear attacked someone." That was all it said. Gran quickly spread out his map and circled a spot based on the direction reported by the walkie-talkie. "It's not far from us... Looks like we've caught up with it," Cheng Yijiu said. "While it might have been cruel to the victim, his sacrifice has allowed us to narrow the scope again."

A man, an old hunter from Alaska, was attacked. He escaped the bear's clutches—badly wounded, but fortunately, he managed to escape and was fortunately met by patrolling forest police. Two officers rushed him to the hospital, while two others summoned a helicopter and immediately began tracking the bear, though with no success so far. "The helicopter will arrive in half an hour and hopefully will find the man-eating brown bear."

Gran was in high spirits. It looked like the bear that had disturbed the park and killed two female tourists she knew would be eliminated. Cheng Yijiu also felt a great deal of pressure—he didn't want to be punished. Turning into a tiger last time was fine. Turning into a bear this time? Sorry, he didn't want any punishment at all.

The dark golden monster suddenly burst out of the woods, rapidly growing taller and taller like an oversized mushroom. "Run! Gran!" Cheng Yijiu yelled. Gran moved closer to the giant bear. Her best option was to run; firing would keep him at bay. The beautiful policewoman froze for some reason—perhaps she was genuinely frightened.

The bear, standing nearly four meters tall, roared savagely and attacked, brandishing its massive claws. "Damn it!" Cheng Yijiu cursed inwardly, lunging forward with the force of a rugby player, catching Gran and sending him flying. However, the bear's claws grazed his body. Fortunately, his backpack blocked the blow, completely shredding the sturdy canvas, its contents spilling to the ground.

Cheng Yijiu rolled away from Gran, his rifle being chopped off with the force, nearly breaking his wrist. He quickly drew his pistol from his waist, quickly aimed at the bear, and opened fire. He no longer expected to kill the beast with one shot; he only hoped that wounding it would give him a chance to retrieve his rifle. He only had one bullet in his pistol, but it was his .30-06 rifle.

The recoil of the gun made his hand rise slightly, but the bullet must have hit the bear. Cheng Yijiu threw the pistol without even looking and dove for the place where the rifle fell. Gran was stunned at first, but after being rescued by Cheng Yijiu, she sobered up. She picked up the 1903 and opened fire, but the hit rate was...

The bear didn't seem to be hurt at all. Anyway, it roared and rushed over on all fours—and its target was Gran. "Run! Run in circles!" Cheng Yijiu roared, and at the same time, he was only three meters away from the rifle. Gran threw the rifle at the bear and ran directly behind the tree—but the tree was a bit thin. Fortunately, even the thinnest tree could stop the bear's attack for at least a second or two.

This was enough time for Cheng Yijiu to pick up his rifle. He just hoped that Gran was lucky enough not to be caught by the bear before he could aim. As soon as he raised his gun, Gran fell down, but the bear suddenly changed direction and ran away. The bear half rolled and half ran, and in the blink of an eye, it covered its body with rocks and trees on the mountain. "Damn it!" Cheng Yijiu couldn't chase him. He had to check if Gran was injured first.

Chapter 9 is approaching

Cheng Yijiu walked over to Gran. After the bear ran away, the woman sat on the ground, covering her face. "Are you hurt?" Cheng Yijiu asked. At the same time, he took a quick look and estimated that Gran should not have any skin injuries - the key was whether there were any injuries on her face. From the sound, the woman was crying softly, probably out of a mixture of fear and luck. "Let me see if there are any injuries. The bear hasn't gone far. We have to catch up and kill it."

Gran put down her hand. There were bloody scratches on her face from the branches. They were not too deep and just broke the skin. Cheng Yijiu found some disinfectant ointment and said, "Apply it. Then take your gun and let's go after it." When Gran stood up, Cheng Yijiu found that she had peed. Cheng Yijiu twitched her nose and said, "Luckily, she didn't poop, but it's really scary - for a girl like this."

He pretended not to notice. "Be careful and check yourself to see if you've twisted your ankle or anything. You can't stay here because I'm not sure if the bear will turn around while we're chasing it - and it's going to be a long walk back down there."

Cheng Yijiu picked up the pistol he had discarded and cocked it with a flick of his finger. The cartridge case ejected, and he fished out a new bullet and reloaded it. With a click, he closed the pistol and holstered it. His rifle was fine, except for the ripped belt, but his bag was completely shredded, its contents spilling to the floor. Cheng Yijiu quickly slung the ammunition box onto his belt and the water bottle onto his back, leaving the rest of his belongings behind.

"Let's first confirm whether the bear was injured." Cheng Yijiu walked to the area where the bear had just moved with his gun and began to carefully examine the traces on the ground. "Gran, pay attention and see if the bear will come back. Be careful not to accidentally discharge the gun."

The ground was indeed a mess, with bear footprints everywhere. Cheng Yijiu stopped at a broken sapling and smiled. Gran, who had been observing him, came over and said, "Look, this is blood." Cheng Yijiu pointed at the red liquid on the leaves and said, "We are not injured, there are no large wounds with bleeding. This must be bear blood. We hit it." Cheng Yijiu stood up straight, "I don't know how serious the injury is."

Cheng Yijiu followed the bear's path, stopping occasionally to identify its tracks. Gran also spotted a trace of blood along the bear's path. Wild animals like these are known to be resilient, especially a brown bear of that size. They couldn't chase too quickly, as who knew if the bear would ambush and suddenly attack. "Can you contact the helicopter or other officers?" Cheng Yijiu asked Gran.

Unfortunately, the walkie-talkie was broken. Perhaps it had fallen while running? Without a commanding perspective, Cheng Yijiu had to move with even greater caution—a wounded beast was terrifying. He was also using his senses, his hearing fully activated. Of course, human vision was also very useful—for humans, many animals' camouflage colors were completely useless.

The bear's movements were as dramatic as a typhoon. "This thing is like a tank, charging forward like a hurricane," Cheng Yijiu muttered. Tracking the beast was a laborious task. The four-legged beast ran very fast. The sound of a helicopter could be heard, but it was invisible. Cheng Yijiu stared at the trees above him, unable to see the helicopter, which might be hovering several kilometers away.

The sky gradually darkened. "It's a shame we have to go back. It's too dangerous to track such a beast at night," Cheng Yijiu said, and Gran agreed. She looked like she should go back and have a good wash. It was indeed too dangerous at night. Cheng Yijiu would dare to go alone, but he would not take someone with him. Of course, they could take the shortcut back. Going out along the stream was the fastest.

And when you get to the highway, you can wait for the police car that comes for regular patrols, and then you can get back quickly.

Indeed, as they followed the stream, they encountered no brown bears. Cheng Yijiu noted the location on a map and planned to continue tracking the next day. A wounded beast would weaken, Cheng Yijiu had a feeling—he must have struck the bear in the torso. The bullet might still be lodged, gradually tearing open the internal wounds as the bear moved... Would the bear gradually weaken enough that he could eventually find the body?

A police pickup truck drove up the highway. Gran recognized the young male officer and his partner. "What's going on?" The other party seemed to be very friendly and caring towards the beautiful female officer Gran. After Gran said this, the other party shook hands with Cheng Yijiu and said, "Hurry up and get in the car. I'll take you home." Cheng Yijiu secretly opened the car window, otherwise the smell would be a bit unpleasant.

Gran would be taken to her own house, but Cheng Yijiu got off the car at the RV campground first. "Thank you, Officer Gran. Have a good rest."

After cleaning himself up, Cheng Yijiu went to rest. He had decided to leave early to find the bear and kill it as soon as possible. He left camp at 3:00 AM, headlamp in hand, and headed quickly towards the spot he'd last tracked. The headlamp wasn't very bright, as he didn't need it. His eyes only needed a tiny amount of light to see clearly, and it didn't affect his nighttime jungle activities.

At seven in the morning, after eating breakfast and drinking water, Cheng Yijiu arrived at the place where he left off yesterday. It had only been less than ten hours, and the traces left by the bear should still be traceable. Without Gran to hold him back this time, Cheng Yijiu decided to get rid of the bear today. The police probably hadn't gotten rid of the bear yet, so Cheng Yijiu felt he still had a chance. "Next time, I must bring a more powerful radio so I can intercept police communications."

He followed the tracks left by the bear, keeping his eyes alert and focused on all directions. He was afraid that the bear would suddenly appear and attack him. But then the bear's footprints went all the way down, and it seemed that it was heading down the valley. There were pebbles and streams below, and the warm water with a smell of sulfur erased the bear's footprints. "Did the bear go upstream or downstream? Or did it cross the stream to the other side?" The stream in front of Cheng Yijiu was about twenty meters wide. The depth was unclear, but judging by the water flow, it was probably one person deep.

Cheng Yijiu decided to search fifty meters upstream and downstream first. If there was nothing there, he would consider crossing the river. He took out a map and began to study the nearby terrain.