"GRUNT... GRUNT..."

The furious roars of a bear echoed from within the cave, growing louder and louder.

A large, dark brown Bear Head poked out of the stone cave, its small eyes filled with rage.

With a tilt of its head to the left, its right shoulder was brought out; with another tilt to the left, its left shoulder also emerged from the cave.

Then its right shoulder moved, and its right forearm appeared. It pawed at the snow, and with a push from its left shoulder up and to the right, its left arm came out too!

The process is lengthy to describe, but in reality, it happened very quickly—in less than five seconds.

But for Zhou Chengguo, five seconds was enough time to kill the brown bear two or three times over.

However, he didn’t make a move.

If he shot now and killed the bear, its dead body would get stuck in the cave entrance.

It might look easy for the bear to squeeze out on its own, but if it were motionless, it would likely take a dozen men working together to pull it out.

Not only were there not that many people around, but even if Zhou Chengguo went back to the village for help, what would be left by the time he returned?

Why was he risking his life to hunt this bear?

It wasn’t for the thrill, but for the Bear Gall.

But a Bear Gall had to be harvested as quickly as possible after the bear’s death. Otherwise, the bile inside would be absorbed by the liver, and a Bear Gall without bile was worthless.

So, facing the large brown bear emerging from its den, Zhou Chengguo remained perfectly still, his rifle aimed forward.

"GRUNT! GRUNT..."

With two heaves, the dark brown bear had already pushed most of its body out of the cave.

BANG!

Just then, the gun fired!

The shot landed half a meter in front of the brown bear, kicking up a cloud of snow.

"GRUNT! GRUNT!"

The brown bear roared furiously. Planting its two front paws, it heaved its body upward, and with a kick of its hind legs, it was completely out of the stone cave!

But this time, Zhou Chengguo didn’t fire again.

That last shot wasn’t meant to kill the bear, but merely to provoke it and make it exit the cave faster.

That was why he had aimed for the open ground, leaving the bear unharmed.

Now, the large brown bear was fully outside the stone cave. Its body, weighing well over seven hundred pounds, was like a small mountain. With a roar, it charged toward Zhou Chengguo.

A plume of snow billowed in its wake!

Zhou Chengguo stood his ground, not retreating a single step.

The enraged brown bear was incredibly fast, closing the distance to within two hundred meters of Zhou Chengguo in an instant.

BANG!

A shot rang out!

A spray of blood erupted from the back of the brown bear’s head.

The brown bear’s charge came to an abrupt halt. Its mountain-like body collapsed with a crash, its head plunging into the snow.

BANG!

The instant the brown bear hit the ground, another bullet slammed into its head.

The bear’s head jerked up violently before crashing back down.

BANG!

Another shot!

Again, a shot to the head!

This time, the brown bear didn’t move an inch. Its massive head was nearly blown apart.

Zhou Chengguo cleared his rifle, ejecting the four remaining cartridges.

He had just fired six shots from a full ten-round clip: three to call the bear, three to kill it, leaving these four.

Zhou Chengguo pocketed them, then took out a fresh ten-round clip, loaded it into the rifle, and held the weapon at the ready.

Zhou Chengguo raised his rifle again and fired toward the stone cave’s entrance.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three consecutive shots landed in front of the cave, but there was no movement from within.

Zhou Chengguo stood his ground with his rifle raised. After waiting for over a minute, he fired another three shots.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three more shots, and the stone cave remained silent.

But Zhou Chengguo didn’t let down his guard. He continued to wait with his rifle raised for about another minute.

Only then did he lower the rifle and sling it over his shoulder.

Zhou Chengguo had roamed these mountains for years, and he relied on far more than just his marksmanship.

It was true that he was bold because of his great skill, but as a former soldier, there were certain mistakes he would never make.

His current predicament was by no means due to carelessness, as Li Baoyu had suggested.

This was something every mountain Hunter knew to watch out for when hunting a Xiong Cangzi.

Namely, how many bears were in the den.

Although most Bear Dens housed only a single bear, it wasn’t unheard of for two to live together.

It was even possible for there to be three.

Bears do not live together as mated pairs. However, a mother bear gives birth in the winter and will keep her Little Bear with her, living together for three years.

After three years, when the Little Bear reaches sexual maturity, the mother and child will separate.

Therefore, it was very possible that the Xiong Cangzi you were hunting housed a whole family of bears.

There was another possibility, one more common in an Earth Granary: a den might originally be inhabited by one bear.

Then, after winter set in and this bear entered hibernation, another bear might come along one day, squeeze inside, and become a neighbor to the original resident.

That’s why Hunters are especially careful when hunting a Xiong Cangzi. It’s not over just because you’ve killed one bear.

Otherwise, if you weren’t paying close attention, another bear emerging from the den could cost a Hunter his life.

Zhou Chengguo hadn’t been unprepared. He had calculated it himself: all in all, he had fired twelve shots. In his mind, if there were another bear in the cave, it should have been awake by now no matter what.

Hearing no sound from the cave, Zhou Chengguo finally relaxed and, at last, moved his feet.

From the moment Zhou Chengguo had taken his position before this Xiong Cangzi, whether firing to call out the bear or shooting to kill it, he had not moved a single step.

This was true even when the brown bear was less than two hundred meters away from him!

He slung the rifle onto his back, drew an Invasion Blade from behind his waist, and found a nearby green poplar tree thicker than his forearm. He chopped the tree down and took its main trunk.

Sheathing the blade, he took the wooden pole over to the brown bear and began to slowly pry its body up.

This brown bear weighed nearly eight hundred pounds. It had died on its stomach, and to get the Bear Gall, he needed to cut into its chest, which meant he had to flip it over.

With a weight of nearly eight hundred pounds, pulling and hauling it by himself was impossible. After a tremendous amount of effort, Zhou Chengguo finally managed to get the brown bear onto its side.

He then chopped the pole into several pieces, used them to prop up the brown bear, and then slowly pushed it over, making it easier for him to open the chest and retrieve the Bear Gall.

This amount of work was truly difficult for one person to handle alone.

By the time he had stuffed the Bear Gall into his cotton-padded coat, Zhou Chengguo was drenched in sweat. He plopped right down onto the snow, planning to rest for a bit.

At the same time, he took the rifle from his shoulder and stuck it upright in the snow in front of him.

The snow was knee-deep, enough for the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle to stand firmly, making it easy for Zhou Chengguo to grab if something happened.

This was the innate vigilance of a top-tier Hunter; he had to be ready to face any danger at a moment’s notice.

But just as Zhou Chengguo was catching his breath, another enormous body squeezed out of the stone cave.

When its eyes fell on Zhou Chengguo, it made no sound from its mouth or nose, but instead rushed swiftly toward him.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

In just a few bounds, it was right behind Zhou Chengguo. By then, he had heard the sound and instinctively reached for his rifle.

But in that instant, Zhou Chengguo felt the light above him dim.

Then, a chill ran across the top of his head, followed by a warm stream that flowed down his face.