Infinite Hunter

"A brown bear..." Cheng Yijiu thought. He figured that if nothing unexpected happened, this bear would be the one he needed to hunt. "You guys must have given that bear a name, right?" Cheng Yijiu asked with a hint of amusement. The other person was already a little drunk. "Ah, Chijia—because it has red fur, like it's wearing red armor." It was indeed a typical Japanese name...

Cheng Yijiu would take time out every day to walk up the mountain and familiarize himself with the terrain—a map would never reveal it; a clear contour map would be top secret. He hadn't expected to encounter the one-eyed brown bear—until there was clear evidence of it eating humans, the cabin wouldn't let its target get close enough to his sight. Furthermore, Cheng Yijiu vaguely remembered hearing a similar story long ago.

The first snow had fallen, and it was indeed the first time Cheng Yijiu had ever seen such heavy snowfall—even heavier than the one in Hokkaido. Within a day and a night, the snow on the ground had reached knee-deep. Cheng Yijiu promptly activated the heater, and the natural convection heat warmed the bedroom. He even burrowed into the kotatsu to watch TV—Japanese TV was still quite watchable these days, relatively untouched by moral turmoil.

He placed the gun on the table, and Cheng Yijiu prepared to perform some maintenance, switching the original gun oil to winter oil. "I haven't fired a single shot since I came on this mission," he muttered, wiping the parts while watching TV. The trigger guard had been enlarged so that he could fire while wearing gloves during winter hunting. There were oranges in this area, and the villagers had brought him a large basket.

The locals are truly simple and honest. Cheng Yijiu often receives vegetables directly from the villagers—of course, Cheng Yijiu also treats them to drinks. The village has already begun mobilizing to accommodate the influx of skiers—these people will flock from places like Tokyo and Osaka to the various ski resorts in the north, bringing in significant income for the residents. Sure enough, after the heavy snow, the town immediately deployed additional snowplows, and tourists began arriving on the third day.

"As expected, they're college students." These days, Japanese college students are incredibly happy. Academic pressure isn't high, the future is promising, and of course, there's plenty of money to spend. Skiing in winter is one of the healthiest activities—and it's also a relatively inexpensive option. Students at prestigious public and private universities like the University of Tokyo often go skiing in the Alps. Some even head to Hawaii to enjoy the tropical winter scenery. Those who go to Okinawa are usually broke.

University students and office workers quickly filled the village's guesthouses, bringing smiles to the faces of shopkeepers in the village and town. Villagers also took on part-time jobs—taking guests to the ski resorts, teaching them how to ski, and so on. Cheng Yijiu himself was one of them, as he wasn't very good at skiing; he'd never learned before. Last time in Hokkaido, he'd also been tracking brown bears on snowshoes.

From this moment on, the snow almost never stopped. The heavy and light snow plus the wind in the valley really made Cheng Yijiu feel colder than the last time he went to kill the White Walker's dragon - that time he was radiating warm light from the inside out, but this time he was not so blessed, just like usual.

Chapter 6 Happens

Cheng Yijiu hadn't considered heading up the mountain to look for the bear yet. While it might be cruel, he felt the bear wouldn't be discovered until it had killed the first person within its current range. Furthermore, going up the mountain during a blizzard wasn't a wise choice. The snow and wind had been incredibly strong the past few days, but starting tonight, it was only light snow and a less-than-strong wind.

Cheng Yijiu also fell asleep, which might be the last peaceful sleep he had since arriving here. It must be said that falling asleep peacefully in a warm bed listening to the sound of snow falling outside was a truly enjoyable experience. The next morning was a beautiful day, and the sunlight shone on the snow, presenting a golden-red glow. Although the new snow was too soft to slide easily, the tourists who had already arrived were actually eager to get going.

Led by the villagers, the tourists, carrying their ski gear, boarded the repaired cable car to the ski resort. Even Cheng Yijiu grabbed his skis and prepared to learn how to ski. While it might not be useful for chasing bears, it would be fun, wouldn't it? He had a feeling that this would be the last day of his free time.

He learned to ski with a skateboard, and his waist and buttocks looked very cool when he twisted them. The college students were quite open-minded, and they quickly became familiar with Cheng Yijiu and chatted happily - college years are probably the most cheerful time in many Japanese people's lives. "Hey, are you here for a skiing vacation too?" Several college girls asked - unfortunately, most of them were not good-looking, and Cheng Yijiu just smiled and replied, "No, I'm here to hunt. Skiing today is just for fun."

These college students immediately exclaimed in delight, and some even asked if hunting was too cruel. Cheng Yijiu just smiled and boasted without arguing.

Around noon, the snow began to fall again, and the wind picked up a bit. Cheng Yijiu had already gone down the mountain. He was having lunch in a village restaurant and killing time. The villagers were busy serving the tourists and making money. The children in the village were running around, and Cheng Yijiu heard someone shouting something was born. "Oh, is the Akita dog giving birth?" He listened for a while, "It's the offspring of Tian Wulang's bear hound."

At this time, Cheng Yijiu saw old man Tian Wulang walking up the mountain with his bear hound outside the window. "Going out hunting today?" He heard a child muttering something like "Chijia". It seemed that every winter the old man would take his dog up the mountain to look for the brown bear. Cheng Yijiu drank the wine in the glass in one gulp. He also wanted to go back to get his equipment and prepare to go into the mountains.

Cheng Yijiu put on his backpack, put away his ammunition box and other things, and then strode out of the house. He walked in the direction that Tian Wulang had left. At this time, the snowstorm had started again, so most of the skiers and college students had already gone down the mountain and went to the ski hotel to rest and drink coffee. Of course, they also saw Cheng Yijiu walking by with a rifle on his back. "Oh, he really is a hunter?"

Cheng Yijiu was wearing a sheepskin hat with ear protection; it was a good idea to wear a hat in cold weather. He strapped snowshoes to his feet and walked into the mountains on the fresh snow. After entering the mountains, he was actually one step away from Tian Wulang and the others. It was still relatively bright, so walking in the woods was not a big problem. He would never walk in the woods at night.

Without hunting dogs to search, Cheng Yijiu had no choice but to follow his experience, observing the terrain as he moved. He thought, "How would a giant bear move?" Cheng Yijiu didn't have that experience, but he did have plenty of experience with how a man-eating tiger moved in tropical jungles and wetlands. After all, he had once been the most successful man-eating tiger in the world...

A bear's movements are different from a tiger's, with different routes and behavior patterns.

Cheng Yijiu casually turned up his thick fur collar to block the wind and snow. He carefully scanned the ground through his snow goggles. The snow covered the ground, so he had to move carefully to avoid accidentally falling into the ravine. Cheng Yijiu soon gave up the halfway point and went down to the ravine. Even in the heavy snow, there was still a stream flowing, but Cheng Yijiu would not drink from it unless he had diarrhea.

He exhaled a long, white breath. "I haven't seen any animals yet—and it's not the time for deer and wild boar to come out to feed. The bears should be hibernating. We could try to dig out their dens." Black bears hibernate in caves under tree roots or in half-dead tree trunks—at least, that's where the black bears in the northern part of the continent hibernate. They don't dare hibernate in caves—because tigers will dig out bear dens...

Many black bears are dragged out of hibernation by tigers and eaten; tigers are very good at this. Tropical bears don't hibernate, but Cheng Yijiu figured he'd be pretty good at it, too—at least he could find a den. Just as he was thinking this, Cheng Yijiu's head snapped toward the ridge. "Did I hear a scream just now?" He paused for a second before heading toward the sound.

Wearing gloves and snowshoes, Cheng Yijiu trudged through the mountains and rivers as if they were flat ground. His physical fitness was already near-supernormal. He also strained his nose, trying to pick up scents from the wind like a dog. "It seems to be working!" His breath continuously emitted a white mist, somewhat like the breath of a large cat in winter. He smelled a faint, animal odor.

Cheng Yijiu removed his rifle from his shoulder and quickened his pace. He could hear the barking of dogs from further away. "It looks like the situation is bad. The hunters are letting the dogs bark first, scaring off the prey." This situation should be about saving people and scaring off the beasts that attacked humans. Cheng Yijiu saw a rather miserable scene: a woman leaning against a tree trunk, incoherent and incontinent, and a headless man lying on the side.

Turning around, Cheng Yijiu saw the man's head, which had rolled five or six meters away and was covered in snow. Three dogs soon appeared from the opposite side. They were none other than Tian Wulang's dogs, and soon after, Tian Wulang and the village chief appeared. Meanwhile, Cheng Yijiu was examining the woman and comforting her, "She definitely needs to see a psychiatrist. It would be great if she could forget about it." The girl had no external injuries, but she should get down the mountain quickly—she was incontinent and could get frostbite.

"Are there any snowmobiles?" Cheng Yijiu looked up and asked, "Yes! Yes!" The village chief was also surprised when he saw Cheng Yijiu. He immediately replied, "Take this girl back quickly and don't stay here any longer." When Tian Wulang saw Cheng Yijiu, he also showed a hint of surprise.

Chapter 7 Witness

Cheng Yijiu watched the village chief helping the girl walk down, "Wait! Are you going to go down there? Damn it! Wait a minute, I'll go down with you - if the bear intercepts you halfway, you'll be finished!" Cheng Yijiu took out a piece of waterproof aluminum foil from his backpack, "Wrap yourself up! Prevent the wind from causing you to get hypothermia quickly! It's not convenient to take off your pants here, in fact, it's best to change into dry pants quickly." He gave the cloth to the shivering and dazed girl.

Seeing that the girl was still in a state of dismay, Cheng Yijiu simply wrapped her up and said, "Wait a minute! Let me take a look at this unlucky guy." He squatted beside the dead body and said, "Damn it! This bear is really strong. It knocked my head off in one blow and even took a few bites here. We can't let this bear live. A bear that has eaten humans is as dangerous as a tiger that has eaten humans - if not more dangerous."

After looking at it, Cheng Yijiu stood up straight and said, "Old man, will you go down the mountain with us? Let's send the girl back first, and then we will take the victim's body away together." But old man Nada Goro shook his head and said, "I want to chase the bear and kill it as soon as possible!" The old man would not listen to advice, so Cheng Yijiu did not continue to speak, but asked the village chief to support the girl and prepare to go down the mountain and rush back to the village.

The bear had already fled less than a minute before they arrived, so it certainly hadn't gotten far. But the snowstorm had suddenly picked up, and visibility had dropped dramatically. Cheng Yijiu didn't think chasing the bear was a good idea under these conditions. While a bear's vision was impaired in this situation, just like a human's, its sense of smell and hearing were stronger than a dog's.

Since the old man had three bearhounds protecting him, they had no choice but to let him go. Cheng Yijiu led the village chief and the others down the mountain. He had good hearing and a good sense of smell, and he felt more at ease with his gun in hand—even a cave bear wouldn't be able to withstand a single shot from him. If that bear showed up, Cheng Yijiu felt he would have completed his mission. "Don't go through the woods, let's go down below. It's better to take a short detour... Wait! There's a motor! It's a snowmobile! Hey! Hey! Over here!" Cheng Yijiu shouted, motioning for the village chief to shout as well.

Soon, a snowmobile broke through the snow and appeared before them. "Ah! It's Dazuo!" The village chief recognized the boy. Cheng Yijiu had also seen him before. Just before, he had heard the twelve or thirteen-year-old boy talking to his classmates about Chijia. "Hurry up and take this young lady back, Dazuo," the village chief said. "Village chief, you squeeze in and go back too. I'll go and talk to old man Ueda Goro. I don't think the bear will be able to catch up with you on a motorcycle."

After Cheng Yijiu finished speaking, he turned around and walked back to where he had come from. The barking sound was right above him, and it seemed that the bear had also habitually run to the ridge. Cheng Yijiu stood on a slightly higher place, first watching the snowmobile leave and disappear from his sight, and then turned around and walked to a higher place. The wind and snow blew down from the ridge, making it really difficult to walk. Snow accumulated on Cheng Yijiu's wool collar, and he had to shake it off from time to time - otherwise it would be melted by the heat and flow down his neck, which was uncomfortable.

Cheng Yijiu paused for a moment, buttoning his collar tightly so that the snow would slide off the outer skin instead of melting and flowing into the fur. The price he paid was that his hearing and sense of smell were compromised, but fortunately, Cheng Yijiu moved very cautiously.

The roar erupted almost suddenly, from a cliff about fifty meters above Cheng Yijiu's head. Along with the roar, a large amount of snow slid down from above, causing the hunter to slip and fall, half buried in the snow. The falling snow also dragged him down more than ten meters. "Damn it!" Cheng Yijiu cursed inwardly. He grasped the rifle with his right hand and quickly climbed up with his left hand and feet.

He wasn't too worried about the climb—the wind was blowing toward him, preventing the bear's scent from reaching him. It also seemed unlikely the bear would circle around behind him, and Cheng Yijiu wasn't blind. As he climbed up, he saw the bear. "What a big bear!" The bear was about thirty meters away, and from his low angle, Cheng Yijiu could tell it was no smaller than the three-haired brown bear he had shot.

"This is ridiculous! How did a brown bear get across the strait?" Cheng Yijiu muttered as he raised his gun and took aim. It wasn't a good angle to shoot from, but the bear was clearly digging through a crack in the rock. Old Man Tian Wulang had vanished without a trace, but Cheng Yijiu could hear a low growl besides the bear's roar, the threatening sound of a dog. He had just raised his gun when the bear actually glanced in his direction. This time, face to face, Cheng Yijiu saw that the bear had distinct reddish-brown hair running from its head to its shoulders and back, and that it was blind in one of its right eyes.

The bear vanished with a movement completely out of place in its massive structure. Cheng Yijiu continued to climb, but he realized it had vanished in a matter of seconds. He could hear the sound of falling snow. "How could you be so cunning?" Cheng Yijiu complained. The bear seemed to be very decisive as it rolled down the steep slope without even a moment's hesitation. This actually made Cheng Yijiu quite excited. This was a rare opponent...

An Akita dog emerged from a crevice. Cheng Yijiu looked over and saw that it was a bear hound led by Tian Wulang. The dog barked and wagged its tail at him, signaling him to look at the crevice. Cheng Yijiu took a look and said, "Damn it, we have to call for help! This old man is doomed!" Since it was a loyal dog, it was probably smart enough to understand what Cheng Yijiu meant. Cheng Yijiu pointed in the direction of the village and said, "Go! Go call for help. I'll be guarding here!" He pointed at himself and patted the rifle in his hand.

The dog was indeed clever. After looking at its owner in the crevice, it barked and quickly ran along the snowy road towards the village. Cheng Yijiu, on the other hand, was waiting at the crevice, rifle in hand. He couldn't possibly go in and pull the old man out for inspection in this situation. He could only hope that the old man was lucky enough—if a bear appeared while he was pulling him out, those two would be doomed.

Now that Cheng Yijiu was guarding here, the bear would definitely not come over. From the moment they exchanged glances, Cheng Yijiu knew something was wrong, something very wrong. Neither the dog nor the bear was right. He saw hatred in the bear's eyes, which was unlikely to happen in the eyes of a wild animal. Dogs could read expressions, and their eyes could indeed show pleading, but a brown bear?

Cheng Yijiu shook his head. "Really...it will probably take at least half an hour to forty-five minutes for the rescue to arrive. I hope this old man can hold on."

Chapter 8 Afterwards

The snowstorm intensified. Cheng Yijiu tucked his hand warmer into his arms. The moisture began to seep into the iron powder, heating it up. Thanks to this, he could move freely in the snow without freezing—fur clothing and hand warmers were the guarantee of human mobility in icy places. He recalled the brown bear he had just seen. "Is it about two meters four or two meters three long? Standing nearly three meters tall, definitely not small. On par with Sanmao's."

The reddish-brown fur wasn't surprising; brown bears have a wide range of fur colors. Cheng Yijiu remembered that Tibetan brown bears even had several transitional colors, making them the most beautiful bears—though the contrast wasn't as good as that of giant pandas. Brown bears ranged in color from all brown to all black, and some had similar patterns. Other brown bears had reddish-brown fur in a cassock-like pattern, but this bear was reddish-brown from the top of its head to its shoulders.

How many pounds? Judging from its size, it must be about 400 kilograms. Cheng Yijiu pondered the bear's eyes while looking around vigilantly. He also had to pay attention to whether the old man inside was dead - it was hard to see from this angle, but at least he was still alive. Cheng Yijiu tried hard to block the wind to prevent the old man from hypothermia. Fortunately, Japan still had money now. Soon, the sound of helicopter propellers came from overhead. Cheng Yijiu took out the hand-pulled signal flare and pulled it hard.

The helicopter didn't land. It circled for a moment before moving away—downwash wasn't good for those below. Then there was the sound of motorcycles, and the rescue team arrived... When the old man was pulled out, Cheng Yijiu knew his bear hunting career was likely over—his right calf was definitely gone, severed by the bear. He was unconscious from blood loss, and considering his age, he'd likely be in the hospital for at least six months.

The loyal bear hounds watched anxiously as their master was loaded onto a stretcher, wrapped, and sent down as quickly as possible. Cheng Yijiu also discovered the whereabouts of the other two bear hounds—their bodies were half-buried in the snow, their bodies covered with large claw marks. It seemed their master had been ambushed, and the three hounds had fought desperately to protect him, with two losing their lives in the process. "It's the hounds' fate to die wherever they are," Cheng Yijiu said, burying them in the snow.

He also headed back down the mountain. It was already dark, and tracking a brown bear at night was definitely not a wise idea. If Cheng Yijiu was punished by being transformed into a Siberian tiger, he would have dared to take a chance, but hunter? Forget it. Before dark, Cheng Yijiu returned to the village. He took off his leather jacket, quickly wiped the snow off it, and hung it up to let the warm air gradually dry it. Then he oiled it.

The rifle was set aside, its ammunition fully ejected. Cheng Yijiu turned his snow boots upside down to dry them, then quickly filled himself up with water to relax. The mountains of Akita County were a good place to be: hot springs abound. And right in his rented house, there was a small hot spring. While the water flow wasn't large, it was perfectly adequate for a single bath. Soaking in the warm water, a semi-open-air setting, Cheng Yijiu gazed at the distant peaks for a long, speechless moment.

He had a feeling that the battle of wits and courage with this brown bear would continue for some time...

After showering, Cheng Yijiu felt refreshed. He donned a sweater and trousers, a popular style of the era, and headed to the ski café to while away the hours. While it was a café, it also offered accommodations. Several buildings around the café were hostels, housing university students. When Cheng Yijiu entered, they were gossiping about two of their companions who had gotten into trouble. Although they knew it was a bad idea, both the speaker and the listener were beaming with joy.

"Really? Acun's head got hit like a baseball, 'whoosh!' It flew off like a baseball. I heard the bear even took a few bites of his neck!" This shifty-eyed guy spun around, his mouth spitting and gesticulating. The female college students all exclaimed, "Ouch!" like chickens with their necks pinched, shrinking back in amazement. But their eyes sparkled, indicating they were listening and eager to hear more. "How's Xiaowu?" one of them asked.

Cheng Yijiu ordered a cup of coffee and sat back, listening and laughing to himself. He also thought this guy's ability to get information was really amazing. Usually, according to Japanese custom, such matters are suppressed and covered up, or at least the details are not revealed. This guy's vivid description was not without his own interpretation, but many details and the overall framework were correct.

When talking about this, the guy was a little stuck, so Cheng Yijiu helped, "It's okay, the girl named Xiao Wu was just scared and wanted to change her pants, she was not physically injured. As for whether she should see a psychologist, it depends on herself." Cheng Yijiu is tall, and although his appearance is very ordinary, he has a special temperament - sunny and cheerful, so he quickly became friends with this group of college students.

"You're a hunter too, a young master's hunter?" the female college students teased. Cheng Yijiu also laughed. "Honestly, you guys probably have to go back. After what happened on the mountain, I don't think the ski resort will reopen... If another person is killed by a bear, the ski resort here will probably become a haunted place." Cheng Yijiu said as he stirred his coffee. "That bear is no ordinary one."

This statement immediately ignited the enthusiasm of all the university students present. "Hey, have you seen that bear? What does it look like?" Several girls were practically climbing onto Cheng Yijiu. "Let me ask you, how big would a bear be to blow a person's head off with one blow? I'm telling you, a regular brown bear couldn't possibly do that. This bear, standing up, must be nearly three meters tall. At the top of its head..." Cheng Yijiu offered a vivid description.

"Bears that have eaten humans, or at least injured humans, are extremely dangerous because they have lost their fear of humans. Even the big brown bears in North America are afraid of humans in most situations and will actively avoid them. But once a bear has attacked a human, it loses its fear of us and may even attack us. That's incredibly dangerous—second only to tigers, I'd say."

"A tiger that has eaten a man is the most dangerous beast in the world." Cheng Yijiu's conclusion set the university students ablaze with activity, and many of them wanted to ask for his contact information—many of them female university students. However, these days, most men couldn't afford to support female university students or office ladies; it would take three men to support one. Although Cheng Yijiu was wealthy, he hadn't considered supporting a Japanese woman.

Two people were in the morgue—the one in the town—and the other in the hospital. The village office and the town council were holding a meeting overnight to discuss what to do. The mountain had to be closed immediately. If anything else happened, it wouldn't be solved with just a bow and an apology. Closing the mountain was the easiest solution. As for tourism revenue? That wasn't even a consideration.

Chapter 9: Accident

After all, they were university students. One of their companions had died, and the other was hospitalized. They mourned the deceased for a moment, then quickly returned to their usual happy vacation routine—skiing was out, but they should still have enough time for a beach vacation in Okinawa. The local villagers were visibly distressed. Several had borrowed money to expand their guesthouses, hoping to make some money this year, only to find themselves in serious trouble.

The village office put up a sign at the entrance to the mountain, saying, "Bears in the wild, beware!" The cable car was also stopped, and the office was trying to find hunters to search for and kill the bear. Cheng Yijiu, of course, wanted to join the search. Early the next morning, he joined several hunters from the village. Going alone was forbidden. Facing a man-eating bear, it was too dangerous for one person to go into the mountains alone, and the village office wouldn't allow it.

This time, four people went into the mountains together, but unfortunately, they didn't have a single dog—bear hounds are quite difficult to train, and only Old Man Tian Wulang had one. "What a shame! Not every dog ​​can be trained to be a bear hound, even among the breed. Most puppies aren't up to par," one of them sighed. Cheng Yijiu also lamented, "Without a hound to guide us, we'd have to be incredibly lucky to even find that bear."

"Have you heard? The town seems to be issuing a bounty. Whoever shoots this bear will get a reward." A hunter said this. Cheng Yijiu smiled and said, "Let's talk about it after we find the bear. But I think it would be better for you to change your gun. Wouldn't the power of the Murata hunting rifle be too small for a bear?" Those guys all smiled bitterly. If they could afford it, they would change it. Isn't this too troublesome? Japan's gun control is still very strict, and the procedures for changing guns are very complicated.

In short, the group followed the snow line, spreading out into a relatively tight formation where they could see each other. No one wanted to be ambushed by a bear, nor did anyone want to be mistaken for a bear and taken by their own bullets from a distance. Cheng Yijiu himself wouldn't kill a teammate, but he couldn't guarantee that others wouldn't. The group was so nervous that Cheng Yijiu even worried about an accidental discharge. Without their hounds, they walked along the mountain for a long time without seeing a bear.

There were no fresh paw prints, let alone bear scat. They returned home disappointed that day. Cheng Yijiu didn't go back to the mountains for the next two days, nor did the other hunters. They heard that hunters from other places had gone into the mountains, and that people from nearby villages had gone in search of the bear. For the next week, no one had found any traces of the brown bear. Perhaps it had left. Cheng Yijiu looked at the contour map that the village office had produced.

"There are six or seven mountaintops here. Unless you use a helicopter, you might not even be able to search one in a day. The main peak in the middle is over 1,100 meters high. The terrain isn't particularly complex, but it could easily hide a bear," Cheng Yijiu complained. This area covers hundreds of square kilometers, and even in winter, deer and wild boar roam. The mountains have hot springs and geothermal zones, so some areas don't have snow and even grow some plants.

This week, Cheng Yijiu felt like he was on vacation, the tension of hunting suddenly relaxed a lot. One night, someone ran over and shouted, "Someone's been attacked by a bear!" Cheng Yijiu put on his clothes, grabbed his gun, and ran over. The man was lying in the house of a villager named Dazuo, covered in blood. He struggled to say that there were people in the hut and that a bear was attacking him. Then he fainted.

Several hunters knew the location of the cabin, and Cheng Yijiu also remembered the location of the hunting cabin on the mountain. This person was a hunter from the next village, and they had been looking for the bear.

Cheng Yijiu packed up and headed along the ridge. The snow and wind were particularly strong tonight, which was probably why the hunters had gone to the cabin for the night. "The question is, where are their guns?" Cheng Yijiu thought they might have run out of bullets. That's what happens when you're too nervous. If you run out of bullets in a row but don't hit or kill the target, then things will be difficult.

Cheng Yijiu walked along the ridge. The visibility was good here, but he was exposed to the wind. However, this was also the safest route—walking in the woods could kill him at any moment, and a bear wouldn't be visible if it pounced. Cheng Yijiu's physical fitness was still good, but unfortunately, he wasn't as strong in this world. However, he was still the fastest among the hunters. "There's smoke ahead!" Cheng Yijiu shouted, and the hunters behind him quickened their pace.

"Hope they're still alive!" someone shouted, but by the time they saw the cabin, it was already half-collapsed. Cheng Yijiu took one look and immediately aimed—a large bear was sprinting rapidly toward the woods from the other direction. The rifle was accurate, so the view was excellent, and at this distance, a scope wasn't necessary. The straight-line range was only about forty meters. Cheng Yijiu took aim and pulled the trigger.

Even the wind and snow could not cover up the sound of the gunshot. Cheng Yijiu knew very well that the Winchester Magnum bullet had directly hit the bear's hind leg. The power of this shot was enough to cause it to lose a leg - the bear was indeed disabled all of a sudden and rolled to the side.

The hunters also opened fire, but Cheng Yijiu could clearly see that none of them had hit a single target. They were old Murata rifles, single-shot, tattered rifles with enough power to penetrate a brown bear's fur only at close range, and now, in their excitement, they fired, sending bullets flying. Now, they were scrambling to reload, and some, in their nervousness, even dropped their bullets, forcing them to bend down to retrieve them—how could that be so easy in the snow?

Cheng Yijiu had already cocked the bolt and loaded the rifle. He quickly closed in on the bear. He had to adjust his position, or else he'd end up hitting the bear's rear end. He had to at least get to the side to shoot it through the heart. The bear was quite large, with reddish-brown fur covering its head, shoulders, and back. The ferocious bear roared, rising to its feet and lunging forward with its uninjured leg. At a distance of less than twenty meters, Cheng Yijiu fired a second shot, this one entering the base of the bear's outer forelimb.

He quickly cocked the rifle again. Now only ten meters away, the bear faced him head-on. Cheng Yijiu, still in his usual position, knelt on one knee, forming a triangle, his rifle pointed steadily at the bear. At a distance of about seven or eight meters, he fired a final shot. The shot struck the bear head-on in the neck, sending the bear sliding back to about three meters away, where it lay motionless.

Chapter 10 Bastard

Cheng Yijiu and the hunters circled the bear's back and poked it with long wooden sticks they'd found—some even used sticks to poke the bear's groin under its tail. Even if it was playing dead, the bear couldn't resist. The bear lay motionless on the ground, even as the crimson snow spread wider and wider, melting more and more. "If the bleeding continues, it means there's still a heartbeat. Don't rush in," Cheng Yijiu said calmly.

He had already seen the results of his three shots. The shot to the hind leg had penetrated the muscle, the shot in the middle had most likely damaged the bear's lungs—blood was oozing from its snout—and the shot to the front had definitely severed an artery and possibly even a bone. "It's not that bear," Cheng Yijiu said. "Both of its eyes are intact. And this bear looks a little strange."

Cheng Yijiu slowly circled the bear, observing it. "This bear looks like a hybrid, a cross between a brown bear and a black bear—except for the sable bear and the giant panda, other bears in the Ursidae family don't actually have reproductive isolation." One hunter commented, "Oh no! This suggests the bloodline of the ferocious Chijia bear is spreading—just look at its appearance and fur. This bear is probably a descendant of Chijia." Its massive size makes it look more like a brown bear, much larger than a crescent bear.

The search of the cabin was over, and unsurprisingly, two bodies were found, both slain by bears and looking quite miserable. This time, someone had a walkie-talkie from the village office and contacted support. "Dead as a wreck, hard as a nut." Cheng Yijiu and his team used a wooden stick to pry the bear over. Sure enough, it was dead as a nut. He pulled out his hunting knife and prepared to skin it.

A sharp hunting knife tore through the bear's hide. This task was handed over to one of the hunters, Cheng Yijiu's skinning skills were not as good as his. By the time the backup arrived in a snowmobile, the bear's fur had almost been peeled off. "Take it back and cut it open in the village. I don't think it can eat people, but it's very ferocious and doesn't hibernate. It's very likely a red-armored species." Cheng Yijiu also got on the snowmobile and prepared to return to the village first.

At this moment, a bear's roar was heard, and everyone turned to look in the distance. About a hundred meters away, beside a large tree on the hillside, a massive brown bear stood upright, one front paw gripping the trunk, looking down and roaring. "Brown bears have pretty good eyesight. It should be looking at us," Cheng Yijiu quickly took aim, but most of the bear's vital parts were behind the tree, and at a distance of over a hundred meters, the sight was no longer effective, so he had to use a daylight scope.

Cheng Yijiu decided to buy a gun at the gun store when he got home. He hadn't carried one before out of habit. At this distance, the village hunters' Murata rifles were useless, and Cheng Yijiu had no intention of wasting bullets. The bear roared a few times, then fell to the ground and disappeared into the snow. Through the telescope, Cheng Yijiu and the other hunters saw the giant, reddish-brown Cyclops bear. "That's right, it's Chijia. It really stands about three meters tall."

The dead bear and hunter were transported back to the village, where the hunter's family would come and pick them up. The dead bear was then dismembered. The bear's stomach indeed contained no human flesh, indicating it hadn't yet eaten humans, but it was no longer afraid of them and would not attack. Cheng Yijiu, on the other hand, was studying the power of his three bullets. "The Winchester Magnum rifle ammunition is indeed powerful, especially since it has a heterogeneous pointed bullet. The first round of the expanding bullet actually shattered the muscles of the hind leg and broke the leg bone."

The second bullet nearly shattered a lung, and the shattered bullet also caused severe liver bleeding. This bullet was actually a fatal blow, but the bear was surprisingly tenacious and was able to make a final attempt to take its opponent with it. The third bullet had already penetrated, and before the full force was fully exerted, it penetrated the neck. The expanding bullet severed the artery and shattered the cervical vertebrae before flying out.

The bear probably survived for a few minutes after being hit by three bullets, but it was probably paralyzed by then. Cheng Yijiu gave the bear skin to the village office. Stuffing it would certainly be a tourist attraction—like a killer bear. After all, it's human nature to enjoy watching the spectacle, and that's certainly true of visiting the scene and viewing the specimens of killer beasts. He only wanted the bear's claws and skull.

After that, not many hunters ventured into the mountains—at least, during the winter snowy season, there were almost no hunters. Cheng Yijiu couldn't easily go into the mountains alone. Although he didn't care, the authorities didn't want him to go. As a hunter, Cheng Yijiu was patient—the current mission might drag on for a while, but he figured it would take a year at most. In that time, he would definitely find the one-eyed bear and kill it with a single shot.

Tian Wulang has been revived. The old man is in good health, so there's still hope—one of his right legs was amputated below the knee. The severed portion of his calf and foot is necrotic and impossible to reattach, and the rest of his injuries are just fractures from the impact and excessive blood loss. After the amputation and blood transfusions, the old man is no longer in danger of death. However, if he has to continue hunting...if it's not the end of his hunting life, then he'll have to give up hunting in the mountains for at least six months.

The old man's dog could not be borrowed, but the experience of the old man who was recuperating was still useful - the village chief and other hunters in the village, including Cheng Yijiu, had visited his ward. They told Tian Wulang everything that had happened recently, especially the hybrid bear that was recently shot by Cheng Yijiu, which may have the bloodline of Chijia, and the last appearance of Chijia.

"It wants to build its own castle!" Cheng Yijiu left the ward after hearing what Tian Wulang said. "This old man has a problem with his brain. He has been dealing with bears for too long that he has hallucinations and thinks that bears have turned into monsters..." Cheng Yijiu shook his head. "Citadel? Bears are territorial. Building a castle? Does it really think this one-eyed bear is a human? How about a bear daimyo, the Bear King? That's how the Japanese are!"

The Japanese love this kind of second-year mentality, and this has been proven beyond a doubt. Cheng Yijiu knew that this bear and the old man's bear hound were a bit strange, but not to the point of being almost demonic. "I can only say that perhaps their intelligence has reached that of a dolphin or a chimpanzee? It's a joke, but strengthening their territoriality is indeed possible." He looked up at the mountains in the distance. "Castle tower? First castle, second castle? Ridiculous!"

Chapter 11 Killing Time

This world lacked mystical powers, and Cheng Yijiu's Apollo's blessing was meaningless. Perhaps it simply allowed him to transcend ordinary vision and see at night. Even so, he still relied heavily on binoculars when searching for prey. This winter, it seemed there was no way around it; the mountain closure order was being strictly enforced.

Hunting in the snow is ultimately very restrictive and makes human movement inconvenient.

Although Cheng Yijiu was unwilling to give up, he also felt that after the mountain closure order was issued, the bear might not come to tease humans again - if it was really as Tian Wulang, who might have lost his mind, said, that the red-armored bear wanted to build his own castle...

Cheng Yijiu didn't leave very far, just wandering around the mountain range. He drove to Iwate Prefecture and Aomori Prefecture to investigate the bear hunting situation in the surrounding areas. "This bear seems to be more ferocious than I imagined." He had received many reports of bear attacks, and there were indeed many very ferocious adult male bears in this large mountain area.

They are all very large and will actively attack people. "The bears here are even more ferocious than the brown bears in Hokkaido? Let me see..." Cheng Yijiu held in his hand a photo given to him by the other village office. It showed a typical mixed-breed bear, a hybrid of a brown bear and a black bear. Its fur was black but had striped brown markings.

This bear had eaten humans, and local hunters failed to kill it, allowing it to escape after being hit by several bullets. Local rifle bullets have limited power, and some even use lead bullets, which are completely ineffective against adult male bears at long ranges...

Elsewhere, he collected photos of a crippled male bear, missing a forelimb. This one-armed bear had surprisingly survived blood loss and infection, and had become a man-eating bear, having killed forestry workers who had gone up the mountain to conduct surveys.

As for the bears with a record of attacking, Cheng Yijiu roughly counted that there were no less than ten bears. "Do the bears in this damn place have a grudge against humans? Even in North America where big bears are thriving, the relationship isn't that tense. There haven't been many grizzly bears that attack people." Cheng Yijiu looked at the large contour map spread out in front of him, "Erzitoge..." This is a mountain close to the village, and it's also the mountain where the national highway is scheduled to be built.

The Chijia bear's range of activity was limited to Erzi Pass and the nearby Guishou Mountain, covering an area of ​​approximately 200 square kilometers. Cheng Yijiu began this mission at the end of November, and the first snow of the year arrived very late. He generally avoided climbing the mountain around the end of December—the mountain was closed in January.

Even before this, there had been virtually no guests. This year, the entire village was in a state of distress—income had plummeted. While they wouldn't starve to death, life was certainly difficult. Those in debt would be stuck for at least the next three to five years. Cheng Yijiu's landlord was probably the happiest person, as Cheng Yijiu gave him a year's rent in one sitting.

Japanese officials believed this man was a wealthy and powerful American—don't doubt that there were indeed some Asian Americans who held considerable power in the United States, and his ID was issued by the commander of the U.S. garrison, making it impossible for the Japanese to control him. Only a wealthy young man like him would waste a year doing nothing in a Japanese village—many Americans are just as naive.

Cheng Yijiu simply lived a rural life that could be considered as a way to cultivate his character - there were not many young girls locally. Girls in their teens and twenties had almost all gone to big cities to study and work, and those left in the village were women in their thirties and forties. Cheng Yijiu certainly had no intention of cheating - the key point was that the women here were not that good-looking.

So Cheng Yijiu used studying various local delicacies and calibrating guns as his pastime - yes, he bought a white light scope and a bunch of Magnum bullets, "These bullets are really expensive." He used these purchased bullets to calibrate the gun, otherwise the white light scope would not be usable.

He practiced rifle competition at various distances, which took him three days, and he spent the rest of the time enthusiastically trying to make his own smoked food. There was a lot of pine and maple wood in the mountains, and he dragged back a lot of dead branches and chopped them into firewood for later use. It was not difficult to build a smokehouse himself with bricks and clay.

There wasn't much else to do here, but they had plenty of agricultural products—cheaper than in Tokyo. While the Farmers' Association was incredibly powerful, it wasn't enough to stop people from buying directly from the village—the quantities were small anyway, so the people in the association turned a blind eye.

Cheng Yijiu marinated over ten pounds of pork ribs with salt and spices, leaving them outside without a problem. He then wiped off the salt and spices, hung them in a smokehouse, and slowly smoked them over maple wood. The result was delicious. He also considered trying to tame a bear hound, but the attempt failed.

The villagers thought he had little chance of success, but they didn't mind giving him or selling him an Akita puppy. Cheng Yijiu really didn't know how to train a dog. After much consideration, he gave up. He didn't need a fierce dog that could fight a bear, disrupt its escape, or attack hunters. He just needed a hound that could smell and track—but even that, he didn't know how to train.

"It seems that I really need to read more dog training books in the future. It would be best if I could learn how professional dog trainers train hunting dogs. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to find any in Shanghai, as those only train pet dogs. Even the police dog brigade only trains working dogs, guard dogs, and dogs for searching for special drugs." Cheng Yijiu thought.