Volume One, Chapter 15: Superior Iron Courage

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Wang Dong hardly hesitated at all. He lifted the double-barreled shotgun in his hands and aimed directly at the dark, grimy bear’s head. As soon as the bear made any move, he would fire without hesitation! Whether he would hit it or not was a matter of fate. He had played with many slingshots before, but had only a few shotguns. However, at such close range, with a double-barreled gun loaded with buckshot, there should be no mishaps.

Yet, the bear merely glanced at Wang Dong a few times, didn’t even roar, and simply turned its head and slipped away. Only then did Wang Dong realize that the bear had fallen off a cliff. Though not dead, it was surely gravely injured! One of its ears was completely gone, its face bore several dried wounds, and its body was covered in bloodstains. Most tellingly, the bear was limping badly and coughing up blood as it moved.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Wang Dong hurriedly gave chase! Heaven’s will is not to be defied without consequence! This bear was clearly on the brink of death, and at any moment it might collapse and die right before him. Such an opportunity could not be missed. After a few steps, Wang Dong could already see the bear’s bulky rear, but he still couldn’t shoot.

Because at this moment, even if he hit that fleshy backside, it would be nothing more than a mere tickle. He needed to find the bear’s head or chest. But that was far more dangerous. After all, he only had two shots—if he failed to kill it with those, he would have to run. Fortunately, given the bear’s injuries, he was confident he could outrun it.

Taking a deep breath, Wang Dong charged forward about ten meters, positioning himself directly in front of the bear. Looking into those gleaming, black gem-like eyes, he shouted loudly to bolster his courage, then ran straight at the bear! Whether it was too badly injured to flee or simply startled by his shout, the bear froze in place.

What a perfect chance! Closing the distance to just five or six steps, Wang Dong could even see the twitching muscles beneath the wounds. He raised his shotgun.

Click! Bang!

“Roar!”

With a dull gunshot, the bear let out a miserable scream, a spray of blood misting from its head as it clutched its large face.

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But it wasn’t dead! The bear seemed to have roused the last of its fighting spirit from that shot—it paid no heed to the blood streaming from its face and lunged straight at Wang Dong! Wang Dong raised his shotgun high and aimed for the bear’s chest.

Click, bang!

Pft.

He then rolled sideways, narrowly avoiding the bear’s crushing charge.

Though the bear collapsed completely, motionless on the ground, Wang Dong dared not relax for a moment. This creature’s life force was tenacious. It had survived the cliff fall before, so who knew if it was truly dead or merely feigning?

He dropped the shotgun and picked up his axe, waiting for a full seven or eight minutes until the bear’s heavy breathing ceased. Only then did Wang Dong cautiously bring the axe down on the bear’s back of the head once more.

After swinging, he quickly jumped back, ensuring the bear no longer struggled. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking at the bear, which now resembled a small mound of earth, Wang Dong sat down on the ground, chuckling foolishly. He wasn’t losing his mind; a bear like this was every hunter’s cherished prize!

Bagging a bear like this gave a mountain man bragging rights for over a decade and enough stories to last a lifetime. After laughing for a while, Wang Dong leaned against a tree to stand up. His nerves had been stretched to the limit just moments ago; loosening up suddenly felt strange.

Holding his knife, he struggled mightily to flip the bear over. But when he stood next to the bear’s head with his knife in hand, he froze.

Wait, he’d never skinned a bear before! In his past life, he’d only ever received bear pelts, never hunted one himself, so he was unfamiliar with the process. Was it like skinning a greyhound, starting from the nose?

Forget it.

Looking at the bear’s battered head, Wang Dong gave a wry smile. What was there to ponder?

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One shot to the head, one to the chest, both with buckshot—no matter how fine the bear’s pelt, it was already ruined. Since that was the case, he wouldn’t follow the usual procedure.

Wang Dong plunged his knife into the bear’s neck to bleed it out, then cut down along the neck to open its chest and belly.

Soon, amid the bloody, foul mess, he carefully extracted a black gallbladder shimmering faintly with a yellowish glow.

Excellent—the iron gallbladder!

Wild bear gallbladders came in three types: gold, iron, and grass. There was also an oil gallbladder, but that wasn’t harvested from a living bear, so it didn’t count.

The gold gallbladder, also called the copper gallbladder, was the finest type. When dried, it took on a golden hue, translucent and shining like amber. These were the most valuable but rarest, only found in winter at bear dens or from bears just emerging from hibernation in early spring.

The grass gallbladder, or vegetable gallbladder, was common from spring to early summer. It was yellow-green or vegetable green, dull, almost impossible to dry, with thick walls and low market value.

The iron gallbladder, black in color, was what Wang Dong held now. It was a broad category between gold and grass gallbladders, appearing year-round but more frequently in summer. Its quality varied; some resembled grass gallbladders and sold cheaply, others were closer to gold gallbladders and commanded higher prices.

Wang Dong’s luck was fair—though his bear gallbladder wasn’t pure black, there was a faint yellowish sheen on its surface, indicating decent value. It might not fetch over a hundred, but eighty or ninety was guaranteed!

It wasn’t greed driving him, but the urgent need for a legal weapon. This gallbladder would surely allow him to acquire the hunting rifle he desired!

After securing the gallbladder, Wang Dong skinned the bear and took the four massive paws and plenty of meat—all packed into his bag.

Finally, he removed the bear’s scapula, stuffed everything into his sack, hoisted it on his back, and headed down the mountain.

He’d have liked to take more, but he simply couldn’t carry it all!