Chapter 174: Chapter 149: Someone’s in for It
That day, the large brown bear had just swatted Zhang Yuanmin onto the snow when it heard a series of barks.
The brown bear looked toward the sound and saw eight dogs descending the western slope.
The eight dogs raced down, kicking up snow from the hillside until it billowed like smoke and dust.
Seeing this, the brown bear ignored Zhang Yuanmin and turned to leave.
That’s a bear for you!
No matter how big it is, a bear’s first reaction to seeing dogs is always to run.
This brown bear took large strides, heading east. Every couple of steps, it would glance back.
Barking incessantly, the eight dogs charged into Jumping Stone Pond one after another.
As soon as they entered Jumping Stone Pond, two dogs suddenly fell behind. They ran to the side, sniffed around, and then lifted their legs to pee.
Just then, Chen Dalai, who had been hiding behind a large boulder, ran out. He rushed to Zhang Yuanmin’s side. Seeing that he was severely injured, then looking at the six hounds surrounding Xiong Ba, Chen Dalai was instantly caught in a dilemma.
On the one hand, Zhang Yuanmin was injured and needed immediate medical attention. On the other, according to the rules of the hunt, the newcomers had just saved both their lives, which meant he was obliged to help them take down the bear.
Of course, if they killed the bear, he would get a share of the Bear Gall.
But just then, a voice called down from the slope.
"Hey, you! Stay back!"
Chen Dalai frowned. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite place who it was.
Chen Dalai had a stubborn streak. Seeing that the newcomer had no respect for the rules, he immediately hoisted Zhang Yuanmin onto his back and left.
The people coming down the slope were none other than Qin Qiang and his party of five. The one who had shouted was Zhang Laibao.
That kid only ever saw personal gain. All he knew was getting rich off Bear Gall, and he completely disregarded the rules of the hunt.
As Chen Dalai carried Zhang Yuanmin uphill, Qin Qiang and his men headed down. The two parties quickly met. Seeing it was Chen Dalai, Qin Qiang let out a surprised, "Well, if it isn’t Brother Chen."
As he spoke, Qin Qiang glanced at Zhang Yuanmin and asked, "How did Big Pants get hurt this badly?"
"Yeah," Chen Dalai replied curtly.
Qin Qiang saw the displeasure on Chen Dalai’s face and immediately understood. He gave Zhang Laibao a shove and said, "You’re young, so you don’t know the rules. That’s no way to behave on a hunt."
Chen Dalai looked up at Qin Qiang, a smile finally breaking on his face. "It’s nothing. I need to get Big Pants back right away anyway. You guys go ahead and take down Xiong Ba."
With that said, Chen Dalai continued climbing with Zhang Yuanmin on his back.
Qin Qiang shot a look to the side, giving a signal to his men. Zhang Laibao and the Tao Brothers quickly followed him down the slope.
By the time they reached the bottom of the ravine and looked back, Chen Dalai had already carried Zhang Yuanmin to the top.
"Brother Qiang," Zhang Laibao asked Qin Qiang, "did I offend him?"
"No," Qin Qiang said dismissively. "We just saved their lives. He’ll have to come to our homes to thank us later."
Just then, Qin Qiang noticed the two dogs that had wandered off to pee, and he couldn’t help but frown.
Having hunted for many years, he naturally knew what was wrong with those two dogs. But the thought of the six dogs surrounding Xiong Ba made him quickly call out to Tao Dasheng, "Dasheng, with me, now!"
Qin Qiang and Tao Dasheng raised their guns and ran toward the fight between the bear and the dogs, while Zhang Laibao, Tao Ersheng, and Tao Sansheng stayed behind to watch.
This had been the plan all along. In Qin Qiang’s opinion, with two semi-automatic rifles and twenty rounds of ammunition, he wasn’t afraid of failing to kill the bear; he was afraid of riddling it with so many holes that they damaged the Bear Gall.
By the time Qin Qiang and Tao Dasheng were fifty or sixty meters away, the brown bear had already reached the far end of Jumping Stone Pond and was about to climb the opposite slope.
The whole way, the six dogs had been relentlessly harassing it. But every time it turned on them, the dogs would scatter in an instant.
The brown bear gave chase twice, but finding it couldn’t catch the pesky creatures, it simply lowered its head and forged ahead.
The bear, weighing over a thousand pounds, had a visual impact no less stunning than the Pig God’s when it stood still.
Faced with such a massive bear, the six dogs didn’t dare to attack rashly. They just surrounded it, barking nonstop.
Just then, Qin Qiang and Tao Dasheng closed the distance, taking cover behind a large rock thirty meters from the bear. Both men knelt on one knee in the snow.
Tao Dasheng already had his gun raised, while Qin Qiang stared ahead. Seeing that all six dogs were a safe distance from the bear, he gave the order, "Take careful aim and fire!"
Then, Qin Qiang began to raise his own rifle, but before he could even flick off the safety, a loud BANG went off next to his ear.
Qin Qiang froze. He instantly realized Tao Dasheng had fired. What he hadn’t expected was for Tao Dasheng to shoot before him.
What he expected even less was that Tao Dasheng only fired a single shot.
Normally, when hunting a bear with a semi-automatic, you’re supposed to keep your cheek welded to the stock and fire at least three or four consecutive shots—or even more—until you see the bear go down through your Gun Star.
Tao Dasheng was used to his 16-gauge shotgun; after firing once, he lowered the rifle from his cheek. He only realized his mistake when he instinctively went to break the action open.
At the same time, Qin Qiang flicked off his safety.
But at that moment, hearing the gunshot, all six dogs pounced on the brown bear.
ROAR...
YELP!
AWOOO...
...
The bear’s roars mingled with the dogs’ pained cries, echoing continuously.
Tao Dasheng’s shot had been aimed at the spot on the bear’s back over its heart, but it had gone slightly astray, entering through the ribs and passing clean through its front.
The brown bear spun around in a rage and charged straight toward where Qin and Tao were hiding.
That same shot was a signal for the six dogs.
Attack!
The six dogs latched onto the bear’s body as one. The enraged beast dragged them along as it charged straight for Qin Qiang.
Looking through his Gun Star, Qin Qiang was about to fire when he saw the bear reach its right paw to its left shoulder and pluck his dog, Xiaoqing, right off its back.
The bear flung its paw, and Xiaoqing went flying straight toward Qin Qiang.
Qin Qiang squinted, one eye closed. Through the Gun Star, his open eye could only see his own dog hurtling toward him.
By the time Qin Qiang shifted his aim and tried to find the bear again, Tao Dasheng fired another shot!
Immediately after, he heard Tao Ersheng and Tao Sansheng yelling from behind him to run...
...
"And you all just came back like that?" Li Baoyu sneered after hearing Zhang Laibao’s story. "Five men, eight dogs, and two guns to hunt one bear, and you still managed to screw it up that badly? How can you even show your face on a hunt anymore?"
Zhang Laibao’s face flushed red at Li Baoyu’s taunts, but he was in no mood to bicker. He turned to Zhao Jun and said, "Brother Jun, I bought three dogs in Lingnan, but now I’m down to two. These two don’t know how to handle a bear. I was wondering... could you take me up the mountain and help me train them?"
In reality, only one of Zhang Laibao’s dogs was uninjured. He was now claiming Qin Qiang’s uninjured dog as his own.
Zhao Jun looked at him and chuckled. "Zhang Laibao, you want me to help train your dogs? Does your father know?"
"My dad..." Zhang Laibao had his answer ready. He said to Zhao Jun at once, "Brother Jun, my dad and your Second Uncle don’t get along, but we’re still buddies, aren’t we?"
Zhao Jun sneered inwardly. ’In my past life, this son of a bitch tricked me the exact same way.’
When Zhao Jun didn’t respond, Zhang Laibao pressed on, "Look, brother, when have I ever treated you like an enemy? I always call you ’Brother Jun’ whenever I see you. If you’re going to be like this with me, that’s not very cool of you."
Hearing this, Zhao Jun looked at him, thought for a moment, and nodded. "You know, you’re right. We don’t really have any beef with each other."
"See? I told you," Zhang Laibao said. "Brother, I only want to go up the mountain with you to train my two dogs. I spent a lot of money on them, after all. Whatever we hunt, I won’t take any of it. It’ll all be yours, Brother Jun."
Hearing this, Zhao Jun smiled. "Alright then. Tomorrow morning at eight, bring your dogs and wait for me on the east side of the village. We’ll go pay another visit to that Xiong Ba."
"Okay, okay! Thanks, Brother Jun! Thank you, Brother Jun!"
Watching Zhang Laibao leave cheerfully, Li Baoyu leaned close to Zhao Jun’s ear and whispered, "Brother, are you really going to help him train his dogs?"
"Heh heh..." Zhao Jun chuckled, a sound that made the hair on Li Baoyu’s neck stand up. In his experience, whenever Zhao Jun’s father laughed like that, it meant someone was about to be in for a world of hurt.
