A white birch tree, as thick as a man’s thigh.

At the top of the tree, a Little Black Bear clung to the trunk with all four limbs, constantly looking down.

Below, two dogs stared up at the bear, barking incessantly.

A closer look revealed Xing Zhuyong and Li Hu, taking turns hacking at the tree with their Invasion Blades.

What in the world were they doing?

Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu were completely baffled!

They couldn’t fathom the bizarre logic of Xing and Li. In their minds, if you wanted to kill a bear, you just aimed your gun and fired.

The Little Black Bear was motionless up in the tree. It was a stationary target. Couldn’t the two of them kill it with one shot each?

Even if they couldn’t kill it, surely they couldn’t miss?

As long as they hit it, the Little Black Bear would definitely fall from the tree. Then they could just finish it off with another shot.

So what was the point of all this exhausting effort chopping down a tree?

In the depths of the Great Northeast’s winter, the trees were frozen solid. Hacking at one with an Invasion Blade was incredibly difficult.

Who knew how long the two had been chopping before Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu arrived. Just as they watched, having hacked more than halfway through the birch, the two men put away their Invasion Blades. Flanking the tree, they mustered all their strength and began kicking it.

Li Hu kicked first. The impact sent the birch tree swaying. The Little Black Bear on top bounced up and down as if it were holding onto a spring, letting out terrified squeals.

"Brother, what are they doing?" Li Baoyu truly couldn’t understand and couldn’t help but ask Zhao Jun.

"Heh!" Zhao Jun scoffed and shook his head. "Who knows!"

Even with twenty years of hunting experience from his past life, Zhao Jun had never seen a spectacle like this.

Then they saw Xing Zhuyong deliver another kick from behind the hacked portion of the trunk.

CRACK!

With a dull thud, the birch tree crashed down. The Little Black Bear slammed into the snow with a WHUMP.

A flurry of barks followed as the two dogs instantly pounced, surrounding the Little Black Bear and snapping at it.

The Little Black Bear rolled to its feet and swiped a paw at Hua Xiao’Er, who was right in front of it.

Hua Xiao’Er dodged to the side, and the fearless Daqing charged forward, biting the Little Black Bear’s neck and yanking it, sending the bear tumbling.

Hua Xiao’Er pounced again, seizing the opportunity to bite the Little Black Bear’s left leg. The two dogs, one on each side, were about to start tearing at it.

A Black Bear’s paw is like a human hand. Their formidability lies in the incredible flexibility of these Bear’s Paws.

With Daqing latched onto the back of its neck, the Little Black Bear swung its right paw out and clawed Daqing’s right foreleg.

Its sharp claws instantly left bloody gashes on Daqing’s leg. Crying out in pain, Daqing released its grip and retreated.

The Little Black Bear, lying on the ground, rolled over. As it righted itself, it nearly knocked over Hua Xiao’Er, who was still biting its leg.

Hua Xiao’Er let go and attacked again, going straight for the Little Black Bear’s rear.

Just as the Little Black Bear got up, it was bitten from behind. It swiped back with a paw again.

Having roamed the mountains for years, Hua Xiao’Er was naturally experienced. It hastily dodged the swipe, then pounced and bit again.

As for Daqing, it was fearless and ferocious, launching one attack after another at the Little Black Bear.

But every time Daqing charged, the bear would shove it away with its paw.

In an instant, the one bear and two dogs were a chaotic whirlwind of fighting.

At this point, Zhao Jun had already raised his gun and was aiming directly at the Little Black Bear. The bear might be small, but Zhao Jun knew just how dangerous it could be. He was sure it would soon be able to temporarily shake off Hua Xiao’Er and Daqing’s assault.

That would be his chance to fire.

"Brother, don’t shoot!" Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side and grabbed Zhao Jun’s wrist.

Zhao Jun frowned and turned his head. Seeing it was Xing Zhuyong, he was taken aback. "Second Brother-in-law, what are you doing?"

"Don’t shoot, brother!" Xing Zhuyong said urgently. ’If I hadn’t been quick to stop him, Zhao Jun would have shot away my fortune,’ he thought.

"What?" Zhao Jun was even more confused. The words tumbled out of his mouth: "If we don’t shoot it, what are we doing?"

"We’re capturing it alive!" Li Hu popped out from the side, yelling loudly.

"You’re what?" Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu asked in unison, both stunned.

"Capturing it alive!" Li Hu said. "Didn’t San Quezi from your village raise one?"

"You mean Liu San’Er, the beekeeper?" Li Baoyu asked.

"That’s the one!" Li Hu grinned. "If he can raise one, why can’t we?"

Hearing this, Zhao Jun felt completely exasperated. He could only explain patiently, "The one Liu San had was from a raided Black Bear’s Den. It was only the size of a puppy when he brought it home."

"Look how big this one is. How are you going to catch it?"

"What’s the big deal?" Li Hu waved his hand dismissively, saying with an air of arrogance, "It’s only eighty or ninety pounds, right? You think the two of us can’t hold it down?"

"Exactly!" Xing Zhuyong chimed in, spouting nonsense. "Don’t you worry, brother. We two catch them all the time."

Zhao Jun laughed.

’Catch them all the time, my ass!’

In his past life, Zhao Jun had lived for fifty-five years, and he had never heard of anyone this badass within a hundred-mile radius.

Forget a hundred-mile radius. In the entire Baishan Mountain Range, even stretching all the way to North Korea, there was no one like them.

Seeing that Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu had fallen silent, Xing Zhuyong nudged Li Hu beside him. "Brother, get the rope!"

’They’re actually going to try and rope a bear.’

"Oh, crap!" Li Hu slapped his thigh and said anxiously, "I was in a hurry and threw it down the slope."

"Tch!" Xing Zhuyong stamped his foot in frustration. "What’s wrong with you? You knew we were going to catch it alive, and you still threw the rope away."

"It was the dog’s leash, wasn’t it? I just tossed it on the ground after I let the dog go." Li Hu had just started to explain when he remembered something. He looked Xing Zhuyong up and down and asked, "Hey, big brother, where’s *your* dog leash?"

"I..." Xing Zhuyong was speechless. He had also thrown his rope in the snow after releasing his dog.

Li Hu shook his head. As he tilted his head, he happened to spot Li Baoyu with his satchel and asked, "Hey, brother, what about your rope?"

"Huh?" Li Baoyu froze, then subconsciously reached into his satchel and pulled out two ropes.

One of these ropes was his for leashing Daqing. The other was the one Zhao Jun had dropped after letting Hua Xiao’Er loose, which Li Baoyu had picked up for him.

Li Hu’s eyes lit up when he saw the ropes. But when Li Baoyu didn’t hand them over, Li Hu grew impatient. He stepped forward and snatched the ropes right out of Li Baoyu’s hands.

Then Li Hu shook the two ropes out, untangling the knots. He took one in each hand, separated them, and shoved one into Xing Zhuyong’s hands. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

They heard Li Hu say to Xing Zhuyong, "Big brother, I’ll take the front, you circle around to the back!"

"Let’s do it!" Xing Zhuyong readily agreed.

Standing to the side, Zhao Jun almost burst out laughing. ’Take the front, circle to the back... you think you’re dogs?’

Watching Xing Zhuyong and Li Hu stride confidently toward the chaotic battle between the bear and the dogs, ropes in hand, Li Baoyu turned to Zhao Jun with a look of utter astonishment.

Zhao Jun gave Li Baoyu a helpless look and chuckled. "What are you looking at me for? Just watch their performance."

Li Baoyu asked worriedly, "Can you really catch a Black Bear with a hemp rope?"

"Heh!" Zhao Jun didn’t even know what to say.

The two men walked a couple of yards, then split up to the left and right. They approached from opposite ends of the fray, heading straight for the tangled mass of one bear and two dogs.