The Human Bear's eyelids were extremely long; when it squinted, its long lids would droop down, and reopening them required some effort. At that moment, the Human Bear thought it had hugged Fatty while embracing the Birch Wood Sleeve, and it licked it wildly. However, the feeling was wrong. It lifted a paw, flicked its eyelid, and upon seeing it was clutching a piece of rotten wood, its anger intensified. A roar erupted, and the bear's bellow stirred up a foul wind that echoed across the wilderness, even drawing responses from the distant valleys.
I advanced with the Hunting Fork to provide Support for Fatty, just as Fatty managed to Escape. This maneuver placed me directly in front of the Human Bear. I was suddenly shaken by the bear's sound, and my legs instantly felt weak. This was the first time I truly felt how vulnerable humans are before raw, primal, immense power. Seeing the Human Bear stand up, Baring Teeth and Waving Claws, and charge toward me, I dared not confront it. I dragged the Hunting Fork and turned to flee.
In this situation, Yanzi also dared not fire her gun carelessly. The Hunting Rifle used by mountain hunters was a very primitive firearm. Even shooting the head at close range would not be enough to bring down a Giant Bear in one shot; a gunshot wound would only incite its frenzy. A maddened bear wounded by a gun could often tear an entire bull apart, making the situation even harder to manage.
The Human Bear failed to catch anyone after several attempts and became enraged, beginning to chase us around the large tree. My Dog fur hat was lost, and sweat poured down my body. After running a few laps, my mind gradually calmed down. I watched the Human Bear crash into one tree and pounce toward another in the dense forest as it chased us wildly. Although we could temporarily evade it by using the thick trees for cover, human stamina is ultimately limited. If this continued for too long, it would inevitably catch us. So, while running, I urged Fatty and Yanzi to quickly deploy the "Sticky Stuff."
Yanzi seized an opportunity, picked up a few scattered Yellow millet sticky bean buns from the Ground, and threw them toward the Human Bear. The Human Bear, seeing objects flying toward its face, paid no mind. It waved its Bear paw and casually grabbed, crushing the Sticky Bean Buns into pulp. The outside of the Sticky Bean Buns was smooth from the cold, but the inside was still soft and sticky. The Human Bear smelled the sweet aroma, picked up the Sticky Bean Buns, and stuffed them into its mouth.
The Human Bear was inherently dull-witted. After eating the Sticky Bean Buns, it forgot about chasing people and lowered its head, focused only on picking them up. We gained a temporary respite and quickly used our Dog fur hats to gather more Yellow millet sticky bean buns. Once the hats were full, we tossed them near the Human Bear. The Human Bear's paws became covered in sticky paste. It ate with great relish, and in its excitement, it squinted. Its large eyelids immediately drooped down, covering its eyes. It then habitually tried to use its hands to flick its eyelids open, but its hands were covered in the sticky Bean Buns. This resulted in everything sticking to its eyelids. The more it tried to flick them, the less it could open them, instantly losing its sight. Its paws were round, allowing it to stand upright for a long Time, and it didn't need its front paws to support itself when sitting. At that moment, it didn't care where it was; it sat on the Ground and violently pulled at its eyelids.
I never expected this "Sticky Stuff" to be so effective. Seeing the Human Bear sitting on the Ground, preoccupied with tearing at its eyelids, I knew this was a fleeting opportunity. I quickly made a gesture to Fatty and Yanzi. The three of us, each armed with Tools, swiftly encircled it from the front, rear, and left. Fatty raised the logging Kai Shan Axe, gripping the long handle with both hands, and swung it with the force of "Splitting Mount Hua," hacking fiercely at the bear's head. Simultaneously, I stabbed into the bear's eyes with the Hunting Fork, one in front and one behind, while Yanzi aimed her Hunting Rifle at the Human Bear's ear and fired a shot straight through it.
We all exerted our utmost strength in this thunderous strike. Even if it couldn't cause the Human Bear to Fall Dead on the Spot, it would at least cripple its senses, making it difficult to harm people. Under this life-risking, combined assault, we only heard the Human Bear let out a long, miserable scream. Its head cracked open, and its body, heavy as a great mountain, crashed down with a rumble. It was impossible to distinguish between brain matter and bone fragments; large patches of pink bloody foam splattered onto the snow, resembling blooming flowers. Blood and gore flew before our eyes, and we assumed the Human Bear was certainly dead. Unexpectedly, that Human Bear was too ferocious. Its head was so mangled that its facial features were unrecognizable, yet it suddenly stood up, roared wildly, charged a few steps, knocked over a large tree, and then fell backward, looking up at the sky. Blood gushed from its head like a spring gushing, and its limbs twitched a few times before finally becoming still. The entire forest immediately fell silent, transitioning from the clamor of a life-or-death struggle.
Our original plan was for one of us to slip an arm wearing the Birch Wood Sleeve, holding the Yellow millet sticky bean buns, into the bear cave to set the "Sticky Stuff." Once the Human Bear's eyes were stuck, we would stab it to death inside the narrow bear cave. However, we didn't expect this Giant Bear to be outside its bear cave, leading to a sudden, unexpected battle. The process was brief but soul-stirring. Although it ended with the Human Bear's Death, the shadow of death had equally enveloped us. If we had been slightly less courageous at that moment, only thinking of escaping instead of counterattacking at the right Time, the one lying dead on the Ground now would have been human, not bear.
The three of us were completely drained, our minds blank, our chests pounding wildly. We lay sprawled on the Ground, unable to believe we had actually killed a Giant Bear in a direct confrontation. Watching the large snowflakes drift down from the sky, we realized it had started snowing at some point. We needed to take advantage of the Human Bear's recent Death to quickly retrieve the fresh Bear gall. We managed to pull ourselves up from the Ground, poked the bear carcass with the Hunting Fork to confirm it was completely dead, and then the three of us began chopping the Bear paw and gouging out the Bear gall.
The most valuable parts of the Human Bear were one paw and one gall; the entire Bear skin was secondary. I had previously heard that mountain delicacies included items like Bear paw and orangutan lip, which were extremely expensive delicacies. I planned to chop off two Bear paws to take back. However, Yanzi explained that only one Bear paw was edible. This was because when deep winter arrives, the Human Bear hibernates in its cave, neither moving nor eating, entering a near-death sleep. During this Time, it constantly licks one Bear paw. The paw it licks has the highest nutritional value, but it uses the other paw to cover its rear end during the winter, so it is inedible. Furthermore, the Bear skin is also unique; the Human Bear has a purely Yang constitution, and its fur is thick and tough. A grown man cannot wear a Bear skin coat; it is only suitable for the elderly and frail.
We took the Eastern Gallbladder to treat the granddaughter of the old man named Knocking Mountain. Chopping off one Bear paw could be saved for the Spring Festival to exchange at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative for a large amount of New Year's goods. This time, we truly returned laden with treasure. If we could carry the entire Human Bear back, the Party Branch Secretary would surely look at us with new respect. But with the strength of just the three of us, it was impossible to drag the whole Giant Bear back. If we left it in the forest to find help, the carcass would surely be stripped clean by wolves by the Time we returned. It was too much of a waste to just leave it.
I suggested an idea: we should simply butcher this Human Bear into several large pieces of bear meat, hide them in the bear cave, and then move Stones to seal the entrance. Heavy snow was starting to fall, so we didn't need to worry about the meat spoiling; we would have ample Time to go to the Village and find people to help. Fatty and Yanzi both agreed this was a feasible plan. So, I lit a pine resin Torch and went to check the Tree hollow to see if there were any other Exits, lest we seal the front entrance only to leave the Backdoor open.
But as soon as I bent down and crawled into the Tree hollow, I discovered that the Hole under this tree was large and deep, and the Cave below had passages leading in all directions. It seemed many large trees in the forest had hollows beneath them. I dared not enter rashly and immediately returned outside the Tree hollow. Earlier, I was too focused on taking the gall and chopping the paw to clean up the battlefield. Looking closely now, on the Ground near a few Old trees, some had been uprooted or knocked over by the Human Bear during the fierce fight; some were broken in half, and some were even pulled up by the roots. In the Soil pulled up by the roots, two or three half-buried Stone Figures and Stone Beasts, with Ferocious and strange Facial features, were vaguely visible.
I found it strange and turned to ask Yanzi why there were these "Four Olds" in the Deep mountains and old forest. When I turned back, I saw Yanzi was also staring intently at those Stone Beasts, her face frighteningly pale, as if she had seen something more terrifying than a Man-eating Bear. Before I could ask her, she said to Fatty and me in a trembling voice, "It's bad, this is the mountain's Ghost... Ghost Yamen! Run... run away."