Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu left the village with their three dogs, heading straight for the mountain forests.

Over a month had passed since their last failed hunt, and the two men and three dogs had been getting awfully restless.

Especially in the last few days, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu just couldn’t stay at home any longer. The two of them discussed it and decided to take the dogs into the mountains to see if they could try their luck and hunt something.

This was partly for meat, but more importantly, to scratch their hunting itch.

You see, a love for hunting, much like a love for fishing, is an addiction. And a powerful one at that.

They entered the mountains and wandered around all morning, but the dogs never made a sound.

By noon, both men and dogs were hungry and thirsty. Zhao Jun smashed a hole in the ice by the riverbank, and he and Li Baoyu took turns drinking "tail-up tea."

What’s "tail-up tea?"

It’s when you smash a hole in the ice, lie flat on the ground, stick your butt in the air, and lower your head to drink from the hole. That’s "tail-up tea."

After the two men had their fill, it was the three dogs’ turn to drink.

The ice-cold water quenched their thirst, but it left their stomachs feeling a bit unsettled.

Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu quickly gathered dry firewood, started a fire, and began roasting sticky bean buns.

After wandering all morning, the sticky bean buns in their backpacks were frozen solid. They placed them by the fire, eating them layer by layer as they thawed and roasted.

However, three of the buns were left by the fire. Only after they were roasted through and had cooled down were the three charred buns fed to the three dogs.

When hunting in the mountains, you can’t be hungry, but you can’t be too full either. After their simple meal, they continued to roam the mountains.

Before long, they heard dogs barking.

Hearing the sound, Zhao Jun quickly called out to Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, run! The dogs are caught in snares!"

Li Baoyu reacted instantly, his long legs carrying him swiftly across the snow.

Zhao Jun ran behind him, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Get Daqing free first!"

Li Baoyu ran faster and faster, pulling farther ahead. Zhao Jun, however, wasn’t worried and just jogged slowly forward.

When he reached the mountainside, he saw Li Baoyu talking with an old man. The three dogs were scattered around them—some lying down, some sitting, others sniffing about.

"Master Zhang!" Zhao Jun called out as he got closer and recognized the old man.

Zhao Jun’s "Master Zhang" wasn’t like the casual Beijing custom of calling any older man "master." This man was from his grandfather’s generation, and for a Northeasterner, that title was a sign of respect based on seniority.

"Ah, Zhao Xiao," the old man replied. His gaze then fell on the hound Daqing, and he said, "This dog you’re training is pretty good!"

Zhao Jun smiled. "He’s not fully trained yet."

"He’s close," the old man replied.

Just then, Li Baoyu chimed in, "Brother, you have no idea. If I’d been a moment later, Daqing would’ve choked to death."

Hearing this, Zhao Jun glanced at Daqing, who was lying on the ground licking his paws. "Let this be a lesson for him."

After speaking, Zhao Jun looked around at the numerous wire snares and asked the old man, "Master Zhang, did you set all these?"

"Ah, yes," Elder Zhang said. "I was just checking my snares up top today. I heard your dogs howling through the mountains, so I came down."

A moment ago, down below, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu had heard their dogs barking.

But it wasn’t the bark of a dog that had found prey. It was a howl.

A long, drawn-out howl, like a wolf’s.

Zhao Jun had realized it right away: his three dogs must have been caught in snares.

Either boar snares or roe deer snares.

This was a common occurrence in the world of mountain hunting with hounds. An experienced hunting dog wouldn’t struggle. It would sit right where it was, tilt its head back, and howl for its master to come and save it.

But a dog that hadn’t been through this before would panic.

Isn’t there a saying about a cornered dog leaping over a wall?

A panicked dog can easily choke itself to death.

There were three dogs in total, but he had only heard two of them howling. Zhao Jun knew that Daqing must have been struggling desperately. If things went wrong, a dog could easily die.

As it turned out, within a three-hundred-meter radius, Elder Zhang had laid a field of snares—seven or eight of them scattered about. Not a single one of the three dogs had escaped.

It just goes to show, Li Baoyu’s long legs weren’t for nothing. Thanks to his timely arrival, Daqing was saved from being "buried in the mountains" today.

Just then, Zhao Jun noticed Elder Zhang’s gaze kept drifting toward South Mountain. He asked, "Master Zhang, what are you looking at?"

Elder Zhang shook his head. "I’m thinking about your Brother Zhou."

"Which Brother Zhou?"

Elder Zhang answered, "Zhou Chengguo, of course."

"Whoa!" Hearing the name, Zhao Jun’s heart skipped a beat. This was the hero Zhao Youcai had spoken of—the man who killed a Northeast Tiger with two shots. The true number one shot in Yong’an!

Li Baoyu grew curious too. "Why are you thinking about him? What’s he here to hunt?"

"A Xiong Ba!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu’s eyes lit up with excitement. They asked in unison, "How big?"

"Didn’t see it," Elder Zhang shook his head and said. "But from the paw prints, I’d say it has to be seven or eight hundred jin!"

"That’s no small thing."

So, what is a Xiong Ba?

There are two types of bears in these mountains: black bears and brown bears.

Black Bears are smaller; even the heaviest one, after fattening up for winter, won’t exceed five hundred jin.

But brown bears can grow far beyond five hundred jin.

Eight hundred, nine hundred, even a thousand jin is possible.

The people here have a habit of calling any brown bear over five hundred jin a Xiong Ba.

Why call it a Xiong Ba?

The exact reason is unknown; it’s just what the older generations have always called them.

Some speculate that a bear that grows so large must be the overlord among bears, thus earning it such a grand title.

Once, an educated youth came to the Forest Farm, and he had a different explanation.

He said that since ancient times, there has been the term "xiong-pi" for ferocious beasts, where "pi" refers to the largest of bears.

He believed that the illiterate mountain folk mispronounced "xiong-pi" as "xiong-ba," which gradually evolved into the "Xiong Ba" (Overlord Bear) everyone knows today.

His theory was quite plausible, but his condescending attitude and the way he looked down on the mountain folk were truly detestable.

That’s why, during his two years at the Forest Farm, he never had a full meal.

The reason was simple: the person he had contradicted that day was none other than Zhao Youcai, a man known throughout Yong’an as Zhao Ergudong.

"Hah!" Li Baoyu scoffed. "Master Zhang, you’re worried about him? You don’t have to be. What kind of man is Zhou Chengguo? With that semi-automatic of his, forget a Xiong Ba, he could take down a Tiger!"

Elder Zhang shook his head. "He left my shack this morning, and I’ve had a bad feeling ever since. I wanted to go with him, but he wouldn’t let me."

Hearing Elder Zhang’s words, Zhao Jun gave him a deep look and thought, ’Maybe this old man knows something... some kind of foresight?’

With this in mind, Zhao Jun said to him, "Master Zhang, don’t you worry about it."

As he spoke, Zhao Jun pointed south. "He went that way, right? Baoyu and I can go take a look."

"Well..." Elder Zhang hesitated. "Maybe you two shouldn’t go. Chengguo is a solitary person."

"It’s fine," Zhao Jun said. "We’ll just consider it a stroll. We’re not after a share of his meat."

"Hey now, what kind of talk is that?" Upon hearing this, Elder Zhang’s expression soured. "What’s this about meat? You think we’re short on that?"

At this, he sighed. "Alright, you two go on then. I’m just really uneasy. When you’re done and heading back, stop by my shack. I’ll give you a roe deer."

Hearing this, Zhao Jun laughed. "Hey now, what kind of talk is that? A roe deer? You think we’re short on that?"

At Zhao Jun’s words, Li Baoyu and Elder Zhang burst out laughing.

With that, there was nothing more to be said. Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu took ropes from their backpacks, leashed the three dogs, and led them up the southern slope.