Infinite Hunter

Everyone started talking about what had just happened, and the female officers joined in as they cleaned up the restaurant. "Oh, such a big bear," someone said. "It's a brown bear. Not a crescent bear." The doctor added, "I don't know how it got from Hokkaido." The police captain also spoke. "How could such a strange story appear in this place? Madam, there haven't been such rumors before, have they?" Cheng Yijiu also asked, although he had some ideas about it.

"Oh, really not," the local women all said. Meanwhile, the village chief, having heard the boss's call, braved the snow and came over. He was incredibly brave, not even afraid of running into a ghost story and getting himself killed. The first thing he saw was the claw marks on the restaurant floor and walls, and he made a groaning sound, somewhat excited. He rubbed his hands, while the police captain poured cold water on him, saying, "Attracting tourists is great, but what if this ghost story kills a tourist..."

The problem lies precisely here: Kyoudan are uncontrollable. Even if this were Japan's first confirmed case of a kyoudan with eyewitnesses, it's still true. While tourists flock to the area to make a killing, if someone dies, the entire village will likely be in trouble. Therefore, it's best for the legends to survive, while the kyoudan themselves disappear. The question is, if kyoudan emerge, can onmyoji or other high-ranking monks handle them? This question is difficult to answer.

Cheng Yijiu returned from another hot spring soak, where everyone was still buzzing with the ghost story. This time, Cheng Yijiu had brought his rifle—if the bear came back, he'd have to deal with it. The bullets he'd loaded were all silver-tipped, demon-destroying bullets. If he was right, he might have to head back into the mountains again after daybreak.

Chapter 6

Although Cheng Yijiu was still thinking about the bear, the others were already relaxed - "Yeah, don't think too much about things that are uncertain, and there's no point in thinking when the information is so scarce. Since it's a mission, it will eventually come to me." Cheng Yijiu relaxed. The temperature in the cafeteria was very comfortable - this was because a considerable amount of hot water gushing out from the spring would enter the pipes, heat the room temperature in the cafeteria and other rooms on the first floor, and then be mixed with hot water as cooling water and injected into the open-air bath.

The room was warm as spring, and everyone was in a cheerful mood, drinking beer and eating skewers. Of course, they started talking about the bears seen during the day. Everyone remarked on the size of the crescent-shaped bears they'd never seen before. "This one's really huge! I used to think black bears were just fat, tailless dogs." Ginzanji was drinking juice—he actually wanted to drink, and even tried to secretly give some to his female classmate, Mikoto. Everyone knew what he was up to, but the inspector saw through it and suppressed him.

Cheng Yijiu laughed, "That's because you haven't seen an American black bear. That thing can be as big as a female brown bear in Japan." He took a sip of wine and bit off a large piece of chicken. "In the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kodiak Peninsula, I have seen even larger brown bears - guys bigger than male polar bears. The biggest one I've seen was in the U.S. National Park near Yellowstone."

Cheng Yijiu smiled and held up a finger. "One ton, that thing weighs a full ton." But Cheng Yijiu didn't mention that the thing was actually a so-called atavistic cave bear. He glanced out the window at the dark night—the double-glazed windows and small windows effectively blocked the cold outside, while the thick walls lined with concrete and wood also kept the heat in the room.

"There are no street lights in this damn place." Cheng Yijiu sighed. There was light inside and darkness outside, so even with his night vision it was difficult to see the situation outside through the darkness. The reflection from the glass blocked his sight.

The room was warm and there was plenty of alcohol - the higher-paid doctors even asked the female general to bring whiskey and fill everyone's glasses - of course there was no alcohol for the underage children... "Haha, they can already have children, but they can't even drink a sip of alcohol." Cheng Yijiu laughed at Ginzanji and Mikoto wantonly. The two little boys and girls blushed with shame, and the inspector and others also laughed wildly.

Ginzanji's eyes darted around, as if he was planning to let the drunken adults play a joke on him and Mikoto by locking him in a room. However, the heat evaporated a little of the alcohol, and the idiot Ginzanji collapsed onto the sofa, blushing—which then prompted even louder laughter from the adults. "That stunt is definitely worthy of television! I've never seen such a 'good man,' hahahahahaha!" Cheng Yijiu laughed uncontrollably.

The air was thick with the smell of alcohol, and nearly everyone—even the sober Miqin—was tipsy. Cheng Yijiu was in a strange state, as if he were viewing the scene from a third-person perspective. "So what did I see?" From an angle he absolutely shouldn't have seen, he saw a wisp of white mist seeping through the gap in the door, which should have been sealed by the threshold and velvet.

This is completely unscientific; the situation should be exactly the opposite. Of course, the mist entered at a rapid speed, gathering into a huge mass at the entrance within a few breaths. Cheng Yijiu then watched, unsurprised, as the mist took shape, transforming into a giant brown bear. Having shot so many bears, distinguishing between brown and black bears was easy. "Is it really a Hokkaido brown bear? Judging by its size, it must be around 400 kilograms, a rare giant."

Only a brown bear of this size could stand up and leave claw marks at such a height, though it was still a far cry from that man-eating cave bear. Cheng Yijiu found it quite amusing that he could still think calmly, a feeling of indifference. "Still some weird shit. Can't we do something more normal? Like a five-headed shark..." Cheng Yijiu thought.

After the giant bear took shape, it turned and poked its round head into the cafeteria. A single white-collar woman, still giggling, caught sight of the drunken crowd. Cheng Yijiu thought it might be possible to play with it if he really put a little more effort into it, but now wasn't the right time. The woman was stunned for a moment, pointing and laughing a few times, then erupting in hysterical screams. Cheng Yijiu even noticed she seemed to have peed herself.

Everyone was stunned, then saw the bear's head. The temperature in the room suddenly dropped, as if they had suddenly sobered up. They just collapsed there, yelling and screaming. The strongest one just ran behind the sofa and screamed. Cheng Yijiu was the only one who remained calm—perhaps because he was still slightly drunk. He casually pulled out a Rambo knife from under his bathrobe, and as his muscles flexed, he was ready to fight.

"If I'd known this would happen, I should have just taken my gun. Maybe this is fate." Somehow, Cheng Yijiu felt at ease. As a man chosen by the God of Light and one who had slain a lion, he was naturally fearless with a knife in hand. He'd been drinking quite a bit, and his courage was strong. "Bears? It's not like I haven't killed them before!" The knife in his hand was also a Demon-Slaying Blade he had forged himself—he was a devoted spectator of the sword-forging competition, but unfortunately he couldn't participate.

The scream must have irritated the brown bear. The bear-man rose to a height of over three meters and roared loudly, his lips curled up. It was a threatening roar; if nothing unexpected happened, he was about to attack. Cheng Yijiu rushed forward without a second thought—his physical strength unleashed a speed no less powerful than that of a beast, especially one as swift as a tiger.

He was holding back. He couldn't just lunge in and die there. Wouldn't the bear's embrace be the end of him? Therefore, he had to be vigorous. Cheng Yijiu lunged forward, ducking down to deliver a single strike. He then planned to spin around and get behind the bear. With the exception of primates, especially humans, other animals don't have such a wide range of shoulder motion. If someone were to use a naked choke on another animal, a dog as heavy as a human would undoubtedly be strangled to death.

Bears can't do anything unless they curl up and scratch with their hind legs. As for cats, as long as they're not afraid of injuring their arms... didn't Cheng Yijiu strangle a lion that way? Cats have a very limited range of motion in their shoulders—at least they can't scratch the back of their heads...

chapter eight

Everyone excitedly recounted strange tales from various locations, but unfortunately, these were mostly hearsay, nothing like the now confirmed sighting. That night, the ghostly bear didn't return. The female commander gathered her bedding and slept in one room. Each room had its cracks sealed with tape. The kerosene stoves were kept shut to avoid suffocation, and the room temperature was maintained by double-glazed windows and the heat from the hot spring pipes.

It was still a bit cold, but I just needed to cover myself with more blankets to keep the air out. That night passed like this, and the next day, even local reporters came over to interview him. Cheng Yijiu declined, while everyone else happily went downtown for interviews. A few photographers also came to take pictures of the scene—and the village chief warmly welcomed them with a strange feeling.

"I don't know if we're crazy or foolish, but we keep running forward." Cheng Yijiu casually recited a line of poetry, summing up the village chief's mood. He continued to stay at the inn in the village. Fortunately, Ginzanji and Mikoto were planning to bring in a fellow enthusiast to study ghost stories. These two young men and women were completely fearless—after all, when they saw the bear, their screams were equally loud.

The hormones of teenagers can really control their rationality. Fortunately, their savings and their parents' rationality should be able to prevent them from seeking death again. For now, Cheng Yijiu is the only guest in the hotel, but in the near future, there may be many guests. At least Cheng Yijiu heard that there was an appointment on the phone below, and it seemed to be from a TV crew from Tokyo. "I hope they get rich and don't get into trouble."

If this ghost story really gets serious, it's not impossible that this village will become deserted.

This time, Cheng Yijiu actually changed into warm clothes at night and headed out with his rifle. He was completely wrapped in fur, his face covered with a protective mask and snow goggles. He'd already changed the oil on his rifle to ensure a smooth bolt action and prevent it from freezing. The pattern of ghost story activity was still unknown, and Cheng Yijiu just hoped he could find this guy in time. He really didn't want to be on another punishment mission.

Cheng Yijiu was partially buried in the snow, and he had taped several heating pads to the inside of his waterproof fur—he was a fool not to use modern technology. He hadn't seen any signs of the ghost talk all night, so during the day, Cheng Yijiu returned to the hotel to bathe, eat, and sleep, preparing to return that night. The two previous incidents had both occurred at night, so he assumed the ghost talk was active at night.

Soon, news leaked out. "Confirmed Ghost Story!" Headlines like these appeared in newspapers, and even some of them appeared on television news broadcasts—unfortunately, they were all hand-drawn images; even photos of this village were rarely circulated. And the day after Cheng Yijiu's night watch, he saw a TV crew from Tokyo check into the hotel, occupying almost every room. This was a supernatural show, and now they were courting disaster.

Perhaps the presence of so many people is also a factor that triggers the monster to appear? This time, Cheng Yijiu didn't go out. Instead, he sat at the top of the stairs with his weapon in hand, overlooking the gate. Beside him was a pot of sake and some sushi—although it was just fish or meat covered in small rice balls, it was at least easy to eat. "It's not worse than the God of Sushi. After all, it's just a small rice ball. Even if you exaggerate it, it's just like that. It's not even that much skill."

Cheng Yijiu pondered this while the film crew gathered in the restaurant, the atmosphere lively. Initially, they also wanted to film "The Man Who Attempted to Hunt the Strange Tales Mist Bear," but Cheng Yijiu refused, saying he would sue if they filmed him. However, Cheng Yijiu didn't care if his face wasn't in the picture. He didn't express his suspicions, and the crew were somewhat frightened at first, but after three rounds of drinks, they were no longer afraid.

The Japanese have a low tolerance for alcohol but are good at drinking. After drinking too much, they are completely unaware of their ugly behavior. Cheng Yijiu casually stuffed a piece of sushi into his mouth, and then drank a glass of sake in one gulp, "It's not coming yet? I won't get drunk at this rate." He had already drunk a whole bottle of Daiginjo, and his alcohol tolerance was second to none among the guys below.

Cheng Yijiu waited patiently, listening to the strange laughter and music below—perhaps someone was already doing the monkey dance with plates on the table, as the Japanese do when they're drunk. Something in his heart felt like it, his sixth sense telling him, "Here it comes!"

But Cheng Yijiu's movements remained unchanged. He continued to leisurely eat his sushi and drink glass after glass of wine, his rifle resting across his knees, the first bullet already loaded. It was a silver-tipped demon-slaying bullet. All this time had passed, and Cheng Yijiu's alchemy level hadn't increased. His silver bullets were only about ten percent more powerful than when he first began making them. His experience had increased, his success rate had improved, but his level hadn't risen.

Wisps of mist seeped in from the crack in the door—only this time it didn't come through the main entrance, but instead emerged from the still-unrepaired wall and flowed in from the side door of the bathhouse. The giant bear gradually took shape, its enormous body and light footsteps—after all, it was mist, so it had no weight. Cheng Yijiu turned his head slightly, his eyes meeting the bear's face through the wall.

The bear's nostrils wrinkled, its lips lifted to reveal its fangs, and it opened its mouth to roar. The sound wasn't particularly loud, at least not for the drunken Japanese. The music and the strange cries drowned out the beast's cries.

The bear knocked open the door, and the banging sound attracted everyone's attention. Cheng Yijiu calmly put down his wine glass, grabbed the butt of the gun with his right hand, with his index finger outside the trigger guard, and his left hand supporting the handguard under the barrel... The bear appeared in front of the little notebooks in the cafeteria who ran out to watch. Some people were indeed carrying cameras, but no one knew whether they turned them on.

The group let out cries like chickens being pinched by the neck, which then turned into high-pitched screams. The men's screams were even sharper and louder than the women's, and some even peed themselves. Judging from their appearance, they were definitely unable to move. If the bear pounced, it would be a massacre. However, the brown bear simply slammed into the elevator and disappeared with a crash.

Cheng Yijiu had already stood up and leaped to the second floor in a few steps. But as soon as his toes touched the second floor, he immediately jumped back, completely ignoring the fact that his feet were landing on the stairs. And the sharp claws, with a strong wind, almost fell on his hair...

Chapter nine

The Mist Bear had already reached the second floor via the elevator shaft. Cheng Yijiu, sensing the monster's ambush, immediately stepped back, avoiding a slap. As for landing on the stairs? For a man as agile as a large cat, that wasn't a big deal. The bear's slap missed, cracking the wooden floorboards on the second floor.

The monster, missing Cheng Yijiu, lunged down the stairs with its hind legs. Cheng Yijiu, however, had already stepped onto the stairs, immediately raising his rifle and pulling the trigger without hesitation. The sound of gunfire shook the entire hotel—there were still screams downstairs, but the sound of the gunfire undoubtedly drowned out the screams.

As the gunshots rang out, the screams also subsided - perhaps they felt a little relieved. Cheng Yijiu continued to retreat while firing. This guy seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. His steps were fast and steady, and he soon reached the corner - even if a bear pounced on him, it would not be able to hit him immediately.

The shot hit, exposing the entire front of the charging brown bear to Cheng Yijiu, and his shot also hit the largest part of the bear's trunk. As he retreated and turned, he was sure that he had hit the bear's chest, but the question was, would it work?

It seemed to have worked, for the bear had lost control of its body as it lunged, stumbling headfirst into the wall. With a thud that shook the chandelier, half its body disintegrated into smoke. Centered on the spot where it had been struck, the bear's physical form continued to dissipate into smoke.

Although the bear's low growls revealed its efforts to regroup, these efforts were in vain, its body disintegrating and growing larger. "Looks like the bullet didn't penetrate. This thing at least materialized when it was hit. Bad luck for it!" Cheng Yijiu muttered, pulling the bolt and ejecting the shell to reload.

He wasn't sure whether to fire the second shot, as the bear's right side, from the shoulder down to the waist, had disappeared by a quarter. The monster could only attempt to stand, its forelimbs unable to support itself—part of its spine had turned to smoke, unable to support its head or left forelimb.

This thought took less than a second. Cheng Yijiu raised his gun, aimed again, and fired—this time hitting the bear's abdomen. The silver bullet tore through the flesh and penetrated the bear's body. The flexible bullet deformed, releasing the full force of the impact. Of course, the demon-slaying power within was also fully activated. The bear's belly visibly disappeared, and its two legs, without pelvis, caused the remaining upper body to roll to the ground.

This strange story did not disappear, but turned into smoke and dissipated. Cheng Yijiu heard the sound of metal falling to the ground. Under the light, he also saw the place where the monster disappeared. There were two deformed bullets that had turned black. "Well, it's like it was washed with acid. I think this monster is not finished yet, otherwise the door would have appeared by now."

Cheng Yijiu picked up the shell casing and placed the two deformed, blackened bullets into a pocket. He strode into his room, donned all his gear for going out, donned his snow boots at the entrance, reloaded his gun, and returned to the first floor. "Hey, it's okay," he called to the still-trembling crew member.

"It's okay. This weird monster has already taken two bullets. I'm afraid it won't be able to come back in the next few days... maybe even in the next few years or even more than ten years." Cheng Yijiu said based on his own feelings, "This is a serious injury, if not a fatal injury." After a pause, "So I have to find it and get rid of this thing once and for all."

Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to return and would be cheated, so Cheng Yijiu pushed hard to open the door, which was a quarter covered with snow. If there weren't steps outside, it would be really difficult to open. Taking a deep breath, Cheng Yijiu walked into the evening wind and snow. He had some ideas about this strange story. It seemed like some kind of attached monster, so the other party's origin must be nearby.

Most likely it's a skeleton. To form such a monster, the skeleton must be a bit weird.

"It's probably a Hokkaido brown bear that came here and died hundreds of years ago. It's very likely that it killed local people and was even worshipped as a mountain ghost out of fear. After that, it died and condensed into something like this hundreds of years later." This is what Cheng Yijiu speculated. He thought it would probably not be far off the mark - recently he has been reading various examples and analyses from relevant departments as if they were fantasy novels, and he has learned a lot.

Japan's earth veins are very active, and strange things easily emerge - it's estimated that this kind of change in the world has just begun. Cheng Yijiu also learned from the relevant department's information about a theory proposed by some creative people: that when the solar system revolves around the center of the Milky Way, it often enters certain "anomalous zones."

The characteristic of these abnormal zones is the emergence of "supernatural" forces. The process of entering and leaving has formed the supernatural phenomenon of the ebb and flow in the history of the earth... This theory is also a typical daydream. It can neither be confirmed nor disproven. It can only be said to be a hypothesis.

According to them, the decline of the supernatural on Earth began in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and had completely returned to zero by the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. It was not until the last five years that it returned to its initial state again. According to this situation, the abnormal belt may not be called abnormal at all, but no one knows how long it will last this time.

What about the so-called anomalous zones before human history? It's impossible to know—in some sense, maybe dinosaurs were anomalous zone creatures? These creatures grew rapidly and with high mass, going from tiny to giant in the blink of an eye. Forget about that. Therefore, another theory is that supernatural events require the emergence of intelligence, that is, human imagination and imagination combined with "spiritual tides" to be considered supernatural.

Mammals before the emergence of dinosaurs and humans were not capable of causing these events.

Thinking about these messy things, Cheng Yijiu began to search on the mountain - this kind of monster couldn't be too far away from its original prototype. Cheng Yijiu estimated that it was about five or ten kilometers away. However, he looked at the continuous mountain range and said, "Oh my god! Damn it! I can only rely on my intuition as the chosen one of Apollo! I will offer sacrifice to the god tomorrow morning!"

chapter Ten

Although Cheng Yijiu said so, he still tried hard to search the mountain at his feet for two hours. Not surprisingly, he found nothing - the snow was almost knee-deep. If he could find anything, he would probably be the son of God.

So he had no choice but to return to the hotel. As soon as he stepped into the hotel, he was surrounded...

The crew's hosts, a young Japanese woman and a middle-aged man, approached him, telling him they wanted to interview him and discussing the interview fee. Cheng Yijiu didn't mind talking, so they conducted the interview in the tidy restaurant.

There were definitely some gags—that was quite amusing. The Japanese weren't exactly known for their outgoing sense of humor, but they just loved this kind of spoofy antics. Cheng Yijiu found it a bit awkward watching them. "Isn't this just tickling the audience's armpits when they can't laugh?" he muttered to himself. Fortunately, the interview process became somewhat more serious... Don't underestimate the chick host, who mainly acts silly, gets pranked, and shows off her body. She actually graduated from a prestigious university and is quite clever when it comes to actually interacting with people.

On the contrary, the middle-aged man was inferior to the girl in terms of the depth and breadth of knowledge. The girl chatted with Cheng Yijiu and asked what the bear was all about. "It's a brown bear, right?" The girl pointed it out directly. Cheng Yijiu glanced at her and nodded. "Yes, it is indeed a Hokkaido brown bear, a branch of the Ussuri brown bear."

"So, what is this ghost story about? There is no ghost story in this village. In fact, this village was only established during the Meiji period." The woman said, "In my opinion, it is probably from an earlier era, similar to the earth-possessed spirit." Cheng Yijiu was not going to talk much, but after listening to it, the two people talked a lot of nonsense to each other and were shocked.

By the way, they actually took some pictures before. Although the pictures were blurry and shaky, they could still make out the huge brown bear.

Cheng Yijiu listened to their nonsense while secretly observing the girl. She was dressed in the same yukata you would find at a local hot spring hotel. It was normal for her to be selling her body. Since she was selling her body, she naturally had to have some voluptuousness. The girl in front of him was only showing a little bit of her breasts, and Cheng Yijiu could tell that she was at least a D-cup. Although petite, she was still big, and her hips were not small either. She was a real stunner.

Cheng Yijiu had no other thoughts, he just wanted to feast his eyes, and he didn't think about anything else. "I want to buy a sheep. Can I get it tomorrow morning?" Cheng Yijiu asked the boss lady, and the boss lady nodded repeatedly and said that it could be done - because now it seemed that Cheng Yijiu was a capable person, and satisfying his request was a very important matter. He was secretly looking at the girl, and of course she noticed him and gave him a charming smile.

"This doesn't mean anything." Cheng Yijiu said to himself in his heart, Japanese women's thinking is more green. Cheng Yijiu soaked for a while and went to sleep.

In the early morning, Cheng Yijiu got up early, dressed, and left the inn with his weapon and a sheep. He reached the top of the hill, built a simple altar with stones, and placed the sheep on it. "Bright and holy Apollo, please bless me and point out the location of my enemies. I will dedicate the prey I hunt this time to you." The sun appeared, and the first ray of sunlight emerged from the clouds, penetrating the gap in the clouds and shining on the altar and Cheng Yijiu.

Sunlight broke through the clouds, illuminating the distance. Interestingly, apart from the beam of light at Cheng Yijiu's location, this was the only beam of light illuminating a certain mountain. "Is this the guidance of the God of Light? Excellent!" Cheng Yijiu didn't care whether it was a coincidence or just his own persuasion. He couldn't possibly search all those mountains in such a short time, so he had to convince himself. He memorized the location and started walking.

He'd already confirmed the location, so he'd head straight up the valley. It would take about a day to get there—he wasn't afraid of camping in the mountains. Here in the small book, the Japanese wolf had long been extinct. The largest beast was a bear. He might encounter a brown bear, or a black bear, but wild boar was more likely. There were no large cats in Japan, not even medium-sized ones. It was a rather sparse species.

"Alas, animal species have become much poorer since the Holocene," Cheng Yijiu sighed. Trekking through the snowy mountains wasn't too strenuous, as his physical fitness surpassed that of ordinary people. With the blessing of Apollo, Cheng Yijiu could even walk briskly across the snow, even crossing mountains and ridges as if on flat ground. When they were about a hilltop away from their destination, it was getting dark.

It's best not to hike at night in unfamiliar mountainous areas, and even better, avoid doing so in familiar terrain. The most important thing is to camp after dark. The snow wasn't that deep here, so Cheng Yijiu dug out half of the snow near the rocks and pitched the tent inside. He even used his incredible strength to drag a dead tree over, chopping it up in a short time with a small axe. After starting a fire, he erected a reflector, which would keep the area much warmer.

The night passed uneventfully—brown bears and black bears alike were probably hibernating at this time—dangerous male beasts roaming the open air were rare, at least not in this area. Aside from the wind waking him a few times, Cheng Yijiu experienced no other disturbing creatures. The next morning, after packing up, he continued on his way, finally arriving at the spot illuminated by sunlight around noon.

It's unlikely that Apollo would point out the exact location directly, otherwise there would be no point in seeing it. So Cheng Yijiu had to do this last hurdle by himself. Fortunately, this mountain was not very big, but the terrain was a little complicated. Cheng Yijiu started to dig through the snow with his gun. Since it was a ground-bound spirit, the body must still be there. Cheng Yijiu climbed the mountain while clearing away the snow to observe. "It might take several days to search." The man cursed a little.

Fortunately, when the sun was about to set, he found a cave.

Now, they could camp in the cave, avoiding the cold wind and snow. This night should be much more comfortable. Cheng Yijiu also quickly dragged a fallen tree and chopped it up to make a simple reflector and "door" at the entrance of the cave. He then lit more broken wood inside the cave, and the place suddenly warmed up a lot. The temperature was at least ten degrees Celsius, much more comfortable than the ten or twenty degrees below zero outside.

Chapter 11

Cheng Yijiu glanced into the darkness behind him, leaning back against the wall and relaxing. Whether fighting or resting, relaxation was necessary, as a thunderous blow was likely coming. "If I'm not mistaken, the target is behind me." Cheng Yijiu was not afraid at all. He had already severely damaged his opponent before, and if this Mist Bear appeared now, he would easily defeat it again.

This is true whether it's with a knife or a gun. Since the advent of modern firearms, even these kinds of weird stories are much less harmful than they used to be.

Cheng Yijiu leaned leisurely against the cave wall, pulled out his hunting knife, and warmed it over the flame until a blue sheen appeared on the blade. He cooked some rations from the snow and ate happily. He wrapped himself in a blanket, leaned against the warmed mat, and fell asleep.

Nothing happened all night. It seems this so-called ghost story is really weak - well, it just started, what powerful ghost story can there be? It hasn't even transformed into a mythical beast. If this monster is powerful, it must be at least three to five times larger. Cheng Yijiu stood up, took care of some personal matters, chewed gum, and headed deeper into the cave with a flashlight.

Under the illumination of the flashlight, Cheng Yijiu first discovered the remaining debris on the ground. He squatted down and fiddled with it with the muzzle of his gun, "This thing looks like an old broken hemp rope, and some are paper..." Cheng Yijiu looked to both sides and really saw something hanging on the wall of the cave, "Shimenawa?" Then he was probably right. This was where the superstitious activities were carried out in the little notebooks in the past.

Considering this village wasn't established until the Meiji era, and there's no real evidence of ghost stories, this place must have belonged to a nearby town—most likely a village back then—at least hundreds of years ago. After being harassed, it was commissioned by mountain ascetics to establish a shrine? It's hard to say for sure, but I can only say it's a place of some kind of ghostly presence... Continuing inside, a sudden enlightenment unfolded.

The cave was unexpectedly gourd-shaped, with a rather large, irregular space inside. It seemed quite high, and with zigzag reflections of light, it wasn't completely dark. Cheng Yijiu spotted a stone basin filled with condensed ash, possibly serving as an incense burner. There seemed to be nothing here until Cheng Yijiu's flashlight illuminated a raised platform.

"Is this... a claw?" He saw a small, black object. As an experienced hunter, Cheng Yijiu immediately thought it looked like a claw—he already knew he was looking for bear bones, and he'd seen plenty of bear claws. "Wow, looks like I've found it!" Cheng Yijiu climbed onto the platform. The gentle slope on one side made it easy to climb.

What unfolded before him was a corpse sprawled on the ground. It was quite intact, undisturbed. However, the passage of time had caused the cartilage and ligaments connecting the bones to rot, leaving the bones scattered. "That's a pretty big brown bear," Cheng Yijiu said as he approached the skull. "It's not from old age, but its teeth are all intact." This brown bear wasn't elderly; it seemed to have died of illness.

Cheng Yijiu briefly compared the size of the Mist Bear with the carcass. "That's you. What should I do with this thing?" It was simple—Cheng Yijiu shoveled away the snow outside and brought in a good amount of the frozen soil below. Then, he simply dragged in wood to burn and thaw the soil. He then spent a day setting up a kiln, sealing the chopped wood inside. He lit the fire from the top and gradually closed it to create charcoal.

He used the remaining soil, reinforced with steel wire originally used for traps, to create a high furnace with natural ventilation at the bottom. This was the furnace he planned to use to cremate the bones. Cheng Yijiu had already examined these bones and found them not yet dry enough to be easily burned. They still needed a temperature of at least 1,200 or even 1,500 degrees Celsius to reduce them to ashes. After the ashes were burned, Cheng Yijiu thought that taking them away and scattering them into the sea would solve the problem.

In reality, he should have used another method—a sacrifice to Apollo. Unfortunately, Cheng Yijiu didn't have that concept, so he didn't think of it. That evening, the charcoal was already burning, and Cheng Yijiu planned to burn the bear's skull first. After all, the skull was undoubtedly the most spiritual thing, and if this strange story had any place to go, it would definitely be the skull. However, as soon as he walked over, he saw the bones suddenly fly up, splicing together to form a bear skull.

"In the end, we'll just have to make a fool of ourselves, a last-ditch effort." Cheng Yijiu raised his gun, took aim, and opened fire. A skeleton bear was still a bear; it wasn't any faster just because it was a skeleton. It still lunged at bear speed. That gave Cheng Yijiu, who was over ten meters away, the chance to fire. His first shot hit the bear's skull, but the result surprised him.

"This is a full-powered Winchester Magnum rifle round, and it just bounced off me?" It was even an enchanted silver-tipped bullet, and it just deformed and shattered and bounced off like that? This monster, after leaning over the main body and throwing itself at the enemy, really had some skills. Cheng Yijiu ducked and raised the butt of his rifle heavily—he didn't have a chance to fire a second shot. The butt of the rifle struck the skeleton bear's jawbone, causing it to raise its head with a click and stumble to a stop.

A living animal would have at least suffered a concussion, and most likely suffered a broken cervical vertebrae and a shattered jaw from Cheng Yijiu's force, leaving it vulnerable to death. However, the skeleton bear hadn't broken its neck or shattered its jaw, suggesting it was also fortified to the strength of steel. "I should have enchanted the entire spear earlier. At least it could have been used as a warhammer," Cheng Yijiu pondered as he rolled over.

He had already drawn his hunting knife; it was a legitimate close-combat demon-slaying weapon, so it should be no problem for shaving bone. "First, let's figure out the soul fire of this thing—if there is one, where is it? Oh damn, can't it transform into a ball of fire and blaze between the two eye sockets of the skull?" Cheng Yijiu cursed inwardly, charging forward with the knife in his right hand and the rifle in his left.

The Skeleton Bear's strength was no less than impressive. Although it couldn't run as fast due to its lack of flesh and skin, its movements became more agile when in close combat. Cheng Yijiu was momentarily overwhelmed, but fortunately, his strength and physique were both quite high, so as long as he wasn't hit head-on, he could still withstand it.

Chapter 12

Cheng Yijiu, holding his hunting knife in reverse, engaged the skeleton bear in combat. He had an advantage: the skeleton bear was much lighter, easily toppling over. While the bear's claws were still sharp and wielded with great force, a hand-to-hand fight wouldn't have been enough to suppress the equally impressive Cheng Yijiu.

The hunting knife slashed across the claws, sending smoke and sparks flying across the contact surface. Cheng Yijiu wrestled with the bear like a god in the arena. His muscles bulged in large slabs, his clothes threatening to burst. He should have been stripping off his clothes and applying olive oil at this moment. He was a true example of the beauty of human strength.

The hunting knife was useful. Every time it slashed through the yellow bone, it left a charred mark, an indelible charred mark. Even a direct stab would have broken several of the bear's bones. The broken bones simply couldn't join together and simply fell to the ground.

Cheng Yijiu now wanted to sever the brown bear's spine, which would have made it easier to handle. However, he couldn't do that yet—the lumbar vertebrae were the most likely target, as they were unprotected by ribs but also the thickest. Furthermore, the bear's lowered body made it difficult to attack from the front. His clothes were already tattered. While the idea of ​​using a military coat to kill a tiger was a joke, it had to be said that thick clothing did provide some protection.

Cheng Yijiu only had bruises on his body, no open wounds, thanks to his thick clothes. The only downside was that the thick clothes somewhat restricted his movements, and the tattered clothes hanging down further hindered his fighting. So, between fights, Cheng Yijiu would tear off the tattered clothes and throw them aside.

"I've become a monster without realizing it." Cheng Yijiu stared at the skeleton bear in front of him, muttering to himself - the skeleton bear's movements were difficult to judge, because it was no longer a living creature, and the movement of its eyes and shoulder muscles could not be judged. One could only judge how to respond after the other party launched an attack.

If it weren't for his superhuman reflexes, any ordinary Japanese, even a hunter or martial artist, would have been killed by the skeleton bear by now. Cheng Yijiu couldn't be so close to the skeleton bear, and was even beginning to gain the upper hand. If this was a zombie bear, Cheng Yijiu would have killed it by now...

It is precisely because the Skeleton Bear attacks without warning and somewhat ignores physiology that the odds have been evenly matched until now.

Cheng Yijiu saw an opportunity and rushed into the inner circle like lightning, letting the bear's claws tear at his back. His clothes were still on his back, enough to block a few blows. As for the slaps? Because of his joints, he couldn't exert much force when slapping the skeleton bear towards his chest.

Killing a girl while holding her in his arms is a unique skill for gorillas, but bears might be a little lacking. Cheng Yijiu had killed so many man-eating bears, but he had never really studied this aspect in detail. Anyway, he was now ramming the bear's ribs, his left hand supporting his jaw to prevent the bear from lowering its head and biting him. His right hand was still at his waist, and he couldn't get it out for a while - because it was his right shoulder that was hit by the battering ram.

The impact was so powerful that the Skeleton Bear, originally on all fours, then slightly raised its body, and now, after being hit by Cheng Yijiu, it was completely upright on two feet, almost falling backwards. If it fell to the ground, it would most likely be doomed - this was the same for both parties.

The light-bodied skeleton bear fell, and Cheng Yijiu's clothes were almost torn by its claws. However, his skin looked shiny and oily, and the bear's claws were not as sharp as tiger's claws. When it grabbed Cheng Yijiu's back, the claws could not penetrate at all, but only left a series of concave lines and then could not continue.

"I knew it would be like this!" Cheng Yijiu exerted his core strength and pushed upwards, sending the bear's claws flying. Then, Cheng Yijiu contracted his waist and abdominal muscles, using his weight to push down and pierce the knife through the triangular space in the lower jaw, piercing directly into the skull's skull.

Sorry, I guessed wrong...