It was another brown bear!

It wasn’t as large as the one Zhou Chengguo had killed, but it still weighed over five hundred pounds.

These two brown bears weren’t mother and child. The one Zhou Chengguo had killed earlier was a wanderer.

This one, however, was a local.

This brown bear had been holed up in this stone cave since the very beginning of winter.

When the wandering bear found this stone cave yesterday and crawled inside, it immediately smelled another of its kind. It was smart enough not to venture any deeper.

The bear below had a fairly mild temperament. It was sleeping soundly and had no desire to move.

So, the two brown bears kept to themselves, leaving each other in peace.

When Zhou Chengguo killed the first bear, this one heard the commotion from below. But it didn’t make a sound, simply crawling out stealthily.

As it emerged from the cave, it spotted Zhou Chengguo sitting with his back to it.

The brown bear was behind Zhou Chengguo in just a few steps. By the time Zhou Chengguo heard a sound, a massive shadow was already looming over him, engulfing him completely.

’This is bad!’ Zhou Chengguo knew he was in trouble. Before he could even grab the gun propped up in front of him, he felt a sudden chill on his head, followed by a warm current streaming down from his crown.

The brown bear, it turned out, had sent his dog-skin hat flying with a single swipe of its paw.

But that wasn’t all. The Bear’s Paw descended, clawed, dug in, and tore, ripping the entire scalp clean off the top of Zhou Chengguo’s head.

Then, the brown bear shot out a paw, dragged Zhou Chengguo over, and shoved him underneath its rear end.

But Zhou Chengguo, being ex-military, remained calm in the face of death. Prone on the snow, he reached back with his right hand, bent his right knee, and grasped the spike strapped to his right calf.

Just as Zhou Chengguo got the spike in his hand, the brown bear was beginning to sit down.

If it sat squarely on him, the weight of over five hundred pounds would have been enough to crush him.

Afraid the brown bear would start biting him, Zhou Chengguo kept the rest of his body perfectly still. He twisted his right arm upward, flipped his hand over, and plunged the spike straight into the brown bear’s rear.

With a loud grunt, the brown bear leaped up and bolted.

The pressure on Zhou Chengguo instantly vanished. He flung the spike aside and tried to push himself up, but as soon as his upper body was raised, he felt as if all his strength had been drained away. He collapsed heavily back onto the snow.

... 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The snow was knee-deep, making it incredibly difficult to walk, let alone carry another person.

Thankfully, after coming down the slope, Zhao Jun had headed for the main road. He had a feeling Zhou Chengguo wouldn’t last much longer.

In Zhou Chengguo’s current condition, he would likely die before they even made it back to the village.

Elder Zhang’s shack was closer, but it would be useless to take him there.

Their only option was to head for the main road. Once they reached the logging road, they could only hope to flag down a passing vehicle to save Zhou Chengguo’s life.

And what do you know, Zhou Chengguo was a lucky man. Just as Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu hauled him onto the logging road, they heard the blare of a truck’s horn.

’You’re a lucky one,’ Zhao Jun thought, looking at the unconscious Zhou Chengguo on the stretcher, hovering between life and death.

In this life, he had Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu to save him. But in his past life? Zhou Chengguo had frozen to death on this very mountain.

Elder Zhang, who had waited for him all night in his shack, went up the mountain the next day and found him completely frozen solid.

There was a saying in the mountain villages: those who died an unnatural death could not be brought back into the village. That was why Zhou Chengguo’s funeral hadn’t even been held at his home.

Over the past month, ever since being screwed over by Minister Li and Li Erchen, Zhao Jun had done a lot of thinking.

The past life and the present were already different, so the outcomes wouldn’t be the same. The events of this life weren’t necessarily the same as the last, and its people weren’t necessarily the same either.

It had also forced him to reflect for a long time. After his incredible rebirth, he truly had a new kind of vigor, as if the impoverished, lonely Zhao Jun of his past life would never resurface.

But based on recent events, he was still just as immature. This realization put Zhao Jun on high alert.

’Rebirth doesn’t guarantee anything,’ he thought. ’Even with a second chance, whether the outcome is good or bad is still up to me.’

’I can’t get carried away or be reckless. I need to keep my feet on the ground, in life and in everything I do.’

The more he thought, the more Zhao Jun realized that his father’s drunken words that day had been right: do what you’re supposed to do, and don’t do what you’re not.

Take Zhou Chengguo’s accident, for instance. Zhao Jun had known about it for a long time, he just couldn’t remember the exact date.

It wasn’t until he ran into Elder Zhang that Zhao Jun realized today was the day Zhou Chengguo was fated to be gravely wounded by a brown bear and die.

However, Zhao Jun was no friend or relative of Zhou Chengguo. There was no way he would risk his own life to save him.

But based on his calculations of the timeline, Zhao Jun knew he could probably get there without putting himself in danger, and he might even be able to save Zhou Chengguo’s life.

That was why he had brought Li Baoyu along.

As for why he chose to save Zhou Chengguo, accumulating good karma was one reason. Another was his belief that Zhou Chengguo, once saved, would not fail to reward him.

"Second Brother?" As the truck drew closer, Zhao Jun saw that the driver was none other than Lin Xiangshun.

Lin Xiangshun had also spotted Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu. When he saw they were carrying a stretcher with someone on it, he quickly stepped on the gas to reach them faster.

He stopped the truck in front of Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu and quickly jumped out. "Jun! Is that... Zhou Chengguo?"

"Second Brother, a bear scalped him! We have to get him down the mountain, now!"

"Get him on!" At Zhao Jun’s words, Lin Xiangshun leaped into the truck bed. He grabbed a pile of burlap sacks from the corner and laid out several layers.

The three of them then worked together to lift Zhou Chengguo into the bed, after which they covered him with more sacks, layer by layer.

The open-bed truck was sure to be cold, especially once it got moving and wind started whipping into the back. If they didn’t cover Zhou Chengguo with enough layers, he might not even make it to the hospital.

There was no other choice. The truck only had a driver’s seat and one passenger seat, and in his condition, Zhou Chengguo certainly couldn’t sit upright in the cab.

"Baoyu, I’m going with Second Brother. You take the dogs and head back."

After giving his instructions to Li Baoyu, Zhao Jun climbed into the truck bed as well. He could have taken the passenger seat, but someone needed to watch over Zhou Chengguo.

Just then, Lin Xiangshun also instructed Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, when you get back, go to the Village Office and have Zhao Guofeng call Yongsheng Village. Tell Zhou Chengguo’s family to rush to the town hospital."

Without waiting for Li Baoyu’s reply, Lin Xiangshun climbed into the cab, started the engine, and tore off down the road, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The truck bumped along for over two hours before finally reaching the town hospital. During the journey, Zhou Chengguo developed a fever, and his face became flushed bright red.

By the time they arrived at the hospital, Zhou Chengguo was barely hanging on.

Now that they were at the hospital, Zhao Jun and Lin Xiangshun began lifting Zhou Chengguo off the truck. Just as they were about to head inside, Zhao Jun suddenly stopped Lin Xiangshun.

To Lin Xiangshun’s confusion, Zhao Jun unbuttoned Zhou Chengguo’s padded cotton jacket, pulled a cloth pouch from an inside pocket, and revealed a large Bear Gall within.