Chapter 191: Chapter 166: Black Bear Cubs
As the third shot rang out, Zhao Jun quickly backed away.
At the same time, he broke open his shotgun and stuffed the shell clutched in his right palm into the chamber.
With a dull thud, the Black Bear lunged forward and collapsed onto the snow.
The Bear Head landed right in front of Zhao Jun’s toes.
If Zhao Jun had taken one less step back, the bear’s head would have crushed his foot.
Zhao Jun retreated another two steps, aimed his gun at the Bear Head, and fired one more shot to be sure.
As the gunshot faded, Li Baoyu came running over, knife in hand.
"Brother, are you okay?"
Zhao Jun shook his head and pointed at the Black Bear. "Gut it."
Li Baoyu unscrewed the Invasion Blade from the Fraxinus mandschurica Stick, stuck it in the snow beside him, and then went to haul the Black Bear.
This Black Bear wasn’t huge, weighing around two hundred and eighty pounds, but when Li Baoyu rolled it over, he couldn’t help but call out to Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun came over to look, then raised his head in surprise toward the poplar tree that housed the Xiong Cangzi.
"Get the Bear Gall out first," Zhao Jun said, then walked toward the poplar tree himself.
Reaching the poplar, Zhao Jun pressed his ear against the trunk. He couldn’t hear anything through the wood, so he walked back to Li Baoyu’s side.
Seeing that Li Baoyu had already gutted the Black Bear, Zhao Jun felt his pockets. They had come out to check their lynx traps today, so he hadn’t brought the cloth bag for the Bear Gall.
Having no other choice, Zhao Jun unbuttoned his cotton-padded jacket, tore off a large piece from the front of his tank top, and used it to receive the Bear Gall from Li Baoyu.
Zhao Jun wrapped the Bear Gall carefully, stuffed it into his jacket’s inner pocket, and pointed at the poplar tree. "Brother," he said to Li Baoyu, "you know what’s inside that tree?"
Hearing this, Li Baoyu didn’t even have to think, blurting out, "Bear cubs!"
The words had barely left Li Baoyu’s mouth when he and Zhao Jun both started walking toward the poplar tree in unison.
The large Black Bear lying on the ground was a nursing mother, which meant there were likely Little Black Bears inside the poplar tree.
Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu reached the poplar and looked at the hole in the trunk. Li Baoyu shook his head, indicating he was too big to crawl inside.
Zhao Jun handed the gun to Li Baoyu and began to climb the tree himself.
Normally, when raiding a Bear Den, after killing one bear, you had to be on guard for others still inside.
But since the sow was nursing, it meant she had only mated last year. So, the only thing inside this tree hollow could be newborn cubs.
Zhao Jun climbed to the mouth of the hollow and peered inside. But his body was blocking the only source of light, so what could he possibly see?
However, he could hear SQUEAKING sounds coming from within.
Zhao Jun carefully stuck his head into the hollow first, then slowly squeezed his upper body through the opening.
The mouth of the hollow was about three meters off the ground, and from the base of the tree, there was over half a meter of solid wood before the hollow began.
That meant the distance from the opening to the bottom of the hollow was about two and a half meters.
The key thing was that the hollow was not wide; a person could only squeeze their way in.
Furthermore, before hibernating, a bear cleans its den thoroughly, scraping the inner walls smooth with its claws.
Because of this, Zhao Jun didn’t dare go in headfirst. If his hands or feet slipped and he couldn’t brace himself, he’d plunge head-down and smash his skull on the solid wood at the bottom. He’d be lucky if his head didn’t get driven into his neck.
With no other option, Zhao Jun had to spread his arms, brace his hands on the inside of the hollow, and slowly inch his body in.
Once his upper body was completely inside, his stomach rested on the edge of the hole, with his waist and legs still outside.
Zhao Jun stretched his arms out flat, bracing against both sides of the trunk, and moved his hands upward one at a time.
Inside the poplar, there was a little less than half a meter of space above the opening.
Zhao Jun shimmied to the very top until his head touched the solid wood. He then pushed his head forward and shifted his body up a little more.
Then, he curled his legs and placed both feet on the lower edge of the hollow’s opening.
He brought his right leg into the hollow, planting his right foot against the inner wall. Then, his left foot, still on the edge, quickly followed. Just as his body began to fall, he kicked out and braced it against the wall as well.
For a moment, Zhao Jun was spread-eagled, his hands and feet braced against the inner trunk, suspended inside the poplar tree.
"Baoyu, come on up," Zhao Jun shouted out of the hole. After hearing Li Baoyu’s reply, he began moving downward, alternating his hands and feet.
When Zhao Jun had descended about a meter, he could see something moving slowly at the bottom of the hollow in the faint light filtering in from the opening above.
Any further down, it grew too dark for Zhao Jun to see clearly.
But he maintained his spread-eagled position as he descended, ensuring he wouldn’t step on anything, even when he reached the bottom.
Once Zhao Jun reached the very bottom, he kept his feet braced apart but freed his hands and felt around the floor of the hollow.
When he felt something fluffy, Zhao Jun used both hands to pick it up.
It was pitch-black inside the hollow, so he couldn’t see anything, but the little thing felt about twenty-five centimeters long in his hands.
It was a Little Black Bear.
Zhao Jun undid a few buttons on his cotton-padded jacket, tucked the Little Black Bear inside against his chest, and then felt around the bottom of the hollow again.
He found another one!
Zhao Jun picked it up, tucked it into his jacket as well, and felt around again. There were no more.
Zhao Jun braced his hands again and began to slowly move his body upward, just as he had on the way down.
By the time Zhao Jun reached the opening, Li Baoyu had been hugging the tree and waiting for a while.
"Baoyu, open your jacket."
Li Baoyu immediately did as he was told.
Zhao Jun braced his feet against the trunk, gripped the bottom edge of the opening with his left hand, and undid his jacket with his right. He pulled out one of the Little Black Bears and passed it out.
Li Baoyu hugged the tree with his left arm and legs, took the Little Black Bear with his right hand, and tucked it inside his own jacket.
"Brother, how are you going to get out?" Li Baoyu was worried now. He could see how Zhao Jun got down, but coming back up, there was nothing to brace against.
"I don’t know either," Zhao Jun said. "The fucking second I got in here, I regretted it."
"Huh? Then what do we do?"
"Never mind that for now," Zhao Jun said. "There’s one more. You take it too."
"Another one?" Just as Li Baoyu voiced his surprise, he saw Zhao Jun hold out the second Little Black Bear.
Li Baoyu took the Little Black Bear, tucked it into his jacket, buttoned up, and slowly climbed down the tree.
With the Little Black Bears sent on their way, Zhao Jun looked around. Getting in had been hard enough, but getting out was even harder.
He tried to imitate the Black Bear, hooking his hands over the bottom edge of the opening. But he didn’t have claws, so he couldn’t just scale the trunk like a bear. He could only brace his feet on either side of the trunk and slowly shimmy upward.
When he finally managed to get his chest out of the hollow like the Black Bear had, he didn’t know what to do next.
He wanted to keep imitating the Black Bear, but he couldn’t.
It was for the same reason: a Black Bear has claws. It can dig into the trunk for a solid grip, then swing its legs up. With claws on its feet too, it can climb down however it pleases.
It could even dive headfirst without much of a problem, then just get up, dust itself off, and walk away.
But Zhao Jun couldn’t do that. His hands couldn’t grip the tree. The moment he moved his legs, he would plummet.
And who knew what part of him would hit the ground first?
What if he landed on his head?
Don’t forget, Zhao Jun had packed down all the snow around the tree. If he landed headfirst on that, it would be a huge problem.
Down below, Li Baoyu was out of ideas too. What were they supposed to do?
You climb a tree head-up, feet-down, and you climb down a tree head-up, feet-down. This isn’t just for humans; Black Bears do it the same way.
Zhao Jun looked up. They had only come out to check their traps today, so they hadn’t brought any rope. Otherwise, he could have tied it to something up top and rappelled down.
At this thought, a flash of inspiration struck Zhao Jun. He shouted to Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, hurry and check all the traps! Take the wire off them, twist a few strands together, and tie it to something up here for me!"
Li Baoyu’s face lit up. He turned and ran, disappearing into the mountains to check the traps.
