Chapter 185: Bear!! An Unexpected Surprise!

By now, night had fallen. Everything around them was a blur of white. With less movement, everyone was cold and hungry, especially since the sweat on their bodies had cooled, making them feel even colder.

Old Man Gao was building a fire, while Lin Heng and his uncle were reinforcing the shelter. Suddenly, the three of them heard Lin Yue shouting from a distance. They immediately stopped what they were doing and looked over.

Before anyone could say a word, Lin Yue’s voice rang out again: “A bear! These are definitely bear tracks!”

“A bear!!”

The three of them froze, halting their work on the spot.

This was something unfamiliar to them—they had never even considered the possibility of encountering a bear here.

“Are you serious?” Lin Heng was the first to speak, clearly skeptical that there could be a bear in this area.

They had lived here for nearly a month during the summer and hadn’t seen a single sign of a bear.

Lin Yue nodded. “I’m serious. Come take a look. Do you think I’d joke about this?”

“Let’s go check it out,” said Old Man Gao, putting down his work and grabbing his double-barreled shotgun.

Li Baiquan slung his shotgun over his shoulder too. Lin Heng didn’t bring anything—if there really was a bear nearby, those two guns would be enough. Whether he brought one or not didn’t matter.

In less than three minutes, the three of them had arrived. Lin Yue looked at them and said, “Look at the size of this paw print—it’s definitely a bear’s.”

As he spoke, he placed his hand inside the print. It was clearly larger than his palm.

“These really are bear tracks!” Li Baiquan exclaimed in shock.

Lin Heng shook his head repeatedly. “Unbelievable!”

Bears were extremely rare in the Qinling Mountains—running into one was about as likely as stumbling across a pile of gold.

The tracks came from the southwest, then followed the ridge toward Mount Taibai.

Suddenly, a cold wind swept through, making them all shiver and snapping them out of their thoughts.

“Should we track it or what? Let’s decide quickly and get out of here—it’s freezing,” Lin Yue asked.

Lin Heng shook his head. “No way we’re tracking it. It’s already dark, and it’s snowing. One wrong step and we could be done for.”

Li Baiquan frowned. “Then this place isn’t safe anymore. What if the thing comes here at night while we’re asleep? We wouldn’t stand a chance.”

That was exactly what Lin Heng and Lin Yue were worried about. Whether it was a panda or a black bear, an attack wouldn’t be a joke.

One swipe could crush a person’s bones. That kind of weight was no joke.

Old Man Gao spoke up then. “This is actually pretty normal. No need to worry. In winter, bears have a hard time finding food, so they roam further. I’d say it’s highly unlikely this one will come back.

We definitely can’t go looking for it tonight. We’ll talk about it in the morning. As for the camp being attacked, don’t worry—I brought bells in my backpack. I’ll set up a warning system in a bit.”

Lin Heng looked at Old Man Gao in surprise. He actually brought bells? But they hadn’t heard a sound.

“Of course you didn’t hear anything—I stuffed the bells so they wouldn’t ring,” Old Man Gao said with a chuckle, clearly noticing Lin Heng’s confusion.

“Impressive, Grandpa. You really came prepared,” Lin Heng said with admiration.

“Alright, let’s head back.”

With the plan set, they cut some vines and quickly returned to camp.

Once the fire was lit, the camp immediately warmed up. The four of them brushed the snow off themselves.

After warming up, Lin Heng set up the iron pot, and they all went out to gather snow to melt for water.

“What’s for dinner?” Old Man Gao asked with a smile.

Lin Heng pointed at the two frozen stiff hazel grouses and grinned. “We’re definitely eating these birds tonight. We brought plenty of supplies, so I’ll prep the birds, chop them up, and braise them.

Leave it to me—I promise it’ll be delicious.”

“Alright, I’ll help clean the birds,” Li Baiquan nodded.

“Lin Yue, come with me to set up the warning lines,” Old Man Gao said, pulling out the bells and rope.

Once the water was boiling, they plucked the birds. Lin Heng and his uncle handled the prep.

Xiong Ba sat nearby, staring hungrily, but all he could do was watch.

They cleaned out the innards, chopped the meat into small pieces, and started stir-frying.

By the time Lin Heng was cooking the chicken, it was completely dark. Lin Yue and Old Man Gao had strung a rope around the perimeter of the camp with two bells attached. If anything crossed the line, the bells would ring.

Lin Heng poured oil into the pot, added fermented tofu and soybean paste, and began stir-frying the chicken. Before long, a rich aroma filled the air.

Everyone was already starving. Their stomachs growled, and the smell made them swallow involuntarily.

“Xiao Lin, your cooking skills are impressive,” Old Man Gao couldn’t help but praise him.

Lin Heng laughed. “Haha, it’s nothing fancy—just simple dishes.”

Once the chicken was nicely browned, he scooped it out, added water and rice to the pot, then put the chicken back in to make braised chicken rice.

By the time the rice was cooked and the chicken tender, it was already 7 p.m. Everyone was starving like wolves.

“Come on, dig in!”

Lin Heng mixed the rice and chicken together and served everyone a big bowl.

The rice had absorbed the sauce, turning a golden-orange color and releasing an irresistible aroma. Just the smell was enough to make their mouths water.

Lin Heng scraped up the crispy rice from the bottom of the pot and took a bite. The sauce-soaked crust was unbelievably delicious.

“Xiao Lin, this is amazing! So good! From now on, you’re in charge of cooking. Tomorrow, let’s hunt more game,” Old Man Gao said, full of praise. The chicken was tender enough even for his old teeth.

“Yeah, this rice is so good I could eat my tongue,” Li Baiquan said in awe. The braised rice was just too tasty.

“Haha, it’s all thanks to the flavorful sauce,” Lin Heng replied, then dug in with big bites.

With the hot food in their bellies, everyone looked visibly more comfortable. Even though the cold wind still blew in through the door, being full made it all much more bearable.

Xiong Ba pitifully gnawed on some bones nearby. After everyone had eaten, Lin Heng fed him the leftover rice.

Lin Heng rubbed his head. “If you want meat, you better work hard tomorrow. The more we hunt, the more you get to eat.”

“Awooo~”

Xiong Ba let out a happy whimper and buried his head in the food.

After dinner, they stepped outside to take a look. The snow had stopped, with only a few flurries drifting down.

Inside the shelter, there was no chimney, so the smoke made their eyes sting and tear up.

Outside, it was too cold. But there was a more pressing issue—where were they going to sleep tonight?

They hadn’t had time to make beds before nightfall, and sleeping directly on the ground was definitely not an option.

“We’ll have to find some wood and lay it down. At least we can sleep on top of that,” Lin Yue said with a sigh.

Everyone nodded, grabbed flashlights, and braved the cold night to search for wood.

“Holy shit!!”

Lin Heng was chopping wood when he heard a splash followed by his brother’s startled shout.

“What happened? You okay, bro?” Lin Heng called out, running toward the sound. It sounded like his brother had fallen into water.

“Too slippery—the leaves are hiding ice underneath. I slipped into the water. Good thing it’s winter and not too deep,” Lin Yue said, reaching out his hand.

“What rotten luck.”

Lin Heng quickly pulled him out. From the knees down, Lin Yue’s pants were soaked. “Damn it,” Lin Yue muttered, shaking his head before rushing into the house to take off his pants and warm up by the fire.

Lin Heng went back to chopping wood and warned the others to be careful.

By the time they finally got the beds set up, it was already 9:30. They could at least lie down and get some rest.

Lin Heng and the others could sleep with their clothes on, but Lin Yue wasn’t so lucky—he had to strip off both his pants and shoes.

They gave him the most sheltered corner, where it was least drafty.

Exhausted in both body and mind, they drifted into a restless sleep. The wooden beds were hard and uncomfortable, making it nearly impossible to sleep well.

That night, no one really got much rest—they were half-asleep at best.

The next morning, they woke up still feeling drained, the lack of sleep weighing on them.

Lin Yue was the first to wake, fiddling with his shoes and clothes from time to time.

“Hey, are they dry yet?” Lin Heng asked, looking over at him.

“More or less. They’re dry now, but a spark burned a hole in my pants. My wife’s gonna chew me out when I get back,” Lin Yue said with a helpless smile, pointing at the burn mark.

“No worries. We’ll bring back something big from the hunt and she’ll forgive you,” Lin Heng said with a grin, patting his older brother on the shoulder.

Then he set up a pot to boil water. They had pickled cabbage and flour in the basket, so he made a simple breakfast of pickled cabbage dumpling soup—filling and energizing.

After breakfast, they began planning their next steps.

Lin Heng asked the key question: “Are we heading out today, or should we explore the area a bit first?”

Li Baiquan thought for a moment. “I’d like to explore nearby. Let’s get the shelter properly set up and rest a bit before heading out. That way, if we come back this way, we’ll have a place to stay. Once we go down to Mount Taibai, we won’t be able to make it back in a day.”

“I agree,” Lin Yue chimed in.

Old Man Gao waved his hand. “Then let’s rest here for two days. No need to rush.”

Lin Heng nodded. “Alright, let’s explore in the morning and come back around three to fix up the shelter. Sound good?”

They definitely needed to rebuild the shelter or at least set up another small one. The current one was too cramped for four adults.

The bedding also needed work—without proper sleep, they wouldn’t be able to do anything. Lin Heng had barely slept the night before.

“Sounds good. Let’s scout the area,” Li Baiquan agreed.

“Should we follow the bear tracks from yesterday? It didn’t snow overnight, so the prints should still be there,” Lin Yue asked.

Everyone turned to look at Old Man Gao—he had the most weapons, including ones with semi-automatic fire.

Old Man Gao grinned. “Alright, Lin and I will track the bear. Let’s see which way it went.”

“Okay,” Lin Heng nodded.

Once everyone had their tasks, Lin Heng and Old Man Gao headed into the mountains with Xiong Ba, following the bear tracks.

They hadn’t gone far when Lin Heng heard something. Looking up, he saw a red-furred squirrel darting across a large rock.

“There’s food here—probably chestnuts.”

Grinning, Lin Heng ran over to check. Sure enough, behind the rock was a big pile of chestnuts.

“A pound or two—plenty. If we get a Hazel Grouse today, we can make chestnut stew,” he said with a smile.

“Then I’ll make sure to get you one,” Old Man Gao chuckled.

Too bad for the squirrel—it had spent a long time gathering those nuts, only to have humans raid its stash.

“Nice,” Lin Heng laughed.

They continued on. In no time, over an hour had passed. The bear tracks led to a stream and then up the mountain.

Eventually, Old Man Gao shook his head. “Let’s head back. That thing’s gone to the base of Mount Taibai. We won’t catch it anytime soon. No point wasting energy.”

Lin Heng nodded. He was thinking the same thing. Bears were hard to track, and even if they caught up, it would only be worth it if it was a black bear.

If it turned out to be a giant panda, that would be a disaster.

They changed direction and started heading back. Not long after, Lin Heng spotted a firethorn tree covered in bright red berries, standing out vividly against the snow.

Several Bamboo Partridges were perched on the tree, pecking at the berries. Lin Heng counted—five in total.

“Leave it to me,” said Old Man Gao with a grin. He loaded a shell into his shotgun, aimed, and fired.

Boom! The burst of tiny pellets scattered, instantly killing all five birds.

“Dead-on!” Lin Heng gave him a big thumbs-up and ran over to collect the Bamboo Partridges. They’d secured meat for the day.

“I don’t usually like using guns, but with this many targets, there’s no other way,” Old Man Gao said with a grin.

“If it needs shooting, shoot. The snow muffles the sound anyway,” Lin Heng replied with a smile. Light snow was still falling, and the sun showed no signs of coming out.

“Let’s head that way. I have a feeling there’s more to find,” Old Man Gao said.

Carrying the Bamboo Partridges, they changed course again, with Lin Heng following behind, learning as they went.

Old Man Gao pointed at some kiwi vines. “Told you—this place has kiwi fruit. Be careful, though. Wild boars love these.”

Lin Heng nodded, brushed away the snow, and picked up two kiwis hidden beneath.

He peeled one open—inside was a vibrant emerald green. Post-snowfall kiwis were sweeter and less tart, a real treat in the mouth.

The silent forest, blanketed in white, was breathtaking.

Lin Heng gathered a few more kiwis—they were especially large here.

“Look—wild boar tracks!”

Suddenly, Old Man Gao called out from ahead.

Lin Heng rushed over. The snow had been rooted through, exposing dark soil that stood out starkly against the white.

“This must’ve happened last night. Awesome.”

Lin Heng was thrilled—on their very first day in the mountains, they’d already found signs of wild boar.

Old Man Gao glanced at him and chuckled. “Don’t get too excited. Wild boars can run far. We might not catch up.”

“I doubt it,” Lin Heng said with a grin. He was confident the boars hadn’t gone far.

Unlike bears, boars forage as they go, rooting around for food. They wouldn’t be moving fast.

With their gear ready, the two men and one dog took off in pursuit. There were four sets of tracks.

The largest set was three fingers wide; the others were about two fingers each.

Judging by the prints, the three smaller ones were around 100 jin each, and the big one was closer to 200 jin.

After nearly an hour of tracking, Lin Heng suddenly got excited.

“Old Man Gao, the boar’s just up ahead—look at this fresh dung. It’s still warm!”

He pointed at the pile on the ground.

“Looks like we’re having pork tonight,” Old Man Gao said with a grin.

Old Man Gao walked over, took a look at the pig dung, and chuckled as he spoke.

(End of Chapter)