Chapter 566: Chapter 439: Black Tiger Grabs the Bear’s Groin
In the Northeast’s winter, heavy snow sealed the mountains, and the world was a blanket of white.
Such a harsh climate was a trial for the Northeasterners. It was also a trial for the region’s wildlife.
And of all these trials, the most crucial was food.
In the Northeast, vegetation stopped growing in winter. The mountains and rivers were covered in ice and snow. Roe deer could only gnaw on the tips of trees in secondary forests, rabbits chewed on locust bark, and squirrels and badgers had their stored food. Wild boars, on the other hand, would root through the snow for thatch grass and dried fruits.
Bears, however, survived the harsh winter by hibernating. Therefore, they would accumulate a sufficient amount of fat in the autumn.
Bears are omnivores with a wide-ranging diet. They eat hickory nuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, and even dare to tear apart hornets’ nests for the honeycombs within.
But for a bear’s massive gut, these foods were too much of a hassle to eat.
Never mind the honeycombs—if that was all they ate, bears would have starved to death long ago. As for the nuts on the trees, a climbing bear could reach them, but moving from branch to branch was too exhausting.
Thus, the primary food source for a bear fattening up for winter was the hardy kiwi.
Hardy kiwi is a type of wild kiwifruit. It is usually green with soft, smooth, hairless skin, and can be eaten directly.
Hardy kiwis picked in late autumn after the first frost are even more delicious and are one of the few fruits available to Northeasterners.
Hardy kiwi grows on vines that usually twine their way up large trees. The denser the vines climb, the more fruit they bear.
They mostly grow in the Bojiwaizi on the mountainsides, which was why Li Baoyu could roughly deduce the location of the Black Bear as soon as he heard what Zhao Jun said.
This was the experience of a hunter: using the season and the animal’s habits to determine its location.
This method saved time and energy, avoiding unnecessary detours.
Finding this Black Bear was also simple. All they had to do was bring the hounds and follow the ridge.
If a mountain were a person’s nose, the ridge would be the bridge, and the slopes on either side would be the flanks of the nose.
When hiking in the mountains, walking along the ridge saves energy. Furthermore, during a hound hunt, by following the ridge, the dogs can catch the scent of prey on either slope.
It had been nearly a month since the bear hunt across the river in early August, and the minor injuries a few of the dogs had sustained had all healed.
Today, as they headed up the mountain, all ten of the other dogs, including Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon, were excited—all except for Black Tiger.
They ran about, sniffing everywhere, then would circle back to Zhao Jun’s side from time to time. Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon, the two pups, were the same. They rarely stayed in front of Zhao Jun, constantly darting back and forth.
And the two of them moved as one!
“Brother.” Li Baoyu had also noticed something different about the two pups. He stood in place and waited for Zhao Jun to catch up. When he did, Li Baoyu pointed at Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon, who were running down the eastern slope. “You’ve got a good eye. Those two little ones might just become lead dogs.”
“Haha.” Zhao Jun chuckled and nodded, then said without a trace of modesty, “It’s not ‘might.’ Those two are definitely going to be lead dogs.”
Hearing this, Li Baoyu just smiled. He took it as nothing more than wishful thinking on Zhao Jun’s part.
Zhao Jun continued walking, but after just two steps, he felt someone step on the back of his heel.
It was a good thing Zhao Jun was wearing boots, or that would have pulled his shoe right off.
Zhao Jun jutted his chin, his right hand whipping back to grab the semi-automatic rifle slung over his right shoulder.
“Brother, calm down!” Seeing this, Li Baoyu quickly tried to placate him. “A great battle is upon us! It’s bad luck to execute a general beforehand!”
“Get outta here!” Zhao Jun laughed and gave Li Baoyu a shove. He then turned to look at Black Tiger standing behind him, pointed, and chuckled, “This sorry thing counts as a general?”
Black Tiger seemed oblivious that Zhao Jun was insulting him, and just kept wagging his tail furiously at him.
That’s right, he was the one who had stepped on his heel.
The other dogs had all run off, but he alone stuck close to Zhao Jun, never leaving his side. But he followed too closely, right on his heels.
In the Dog Gang, this was the sign of a worthless dog.
But Black Tiger didn’t seem to think so. He stood there with his mouth open, tongue lolling out, panting happily. Seeing Zhao Jun looking at him, his tail wagged even more joyfully.
Zhao Jun raised a hand, pointed at Black Tiger, and bellowed, “I’ll spare your doggy head for now!”
“WOOF WOOF…”
The words had barely left Zhao Jun’s mouth when Little Bear’s barking echoed from up ahead. Zhao Jun looked up and saw Little Bear tearing down the western slope like a streak of smoke.
Xiaohua, who was always right on Little Bear’s tail, followed close behind him down the slope.
Hearing Little Bear’s continuous barking, Da Huang, White Dragon, Big Fatty, San Pang, Flower Cat, and Hua Lang, who were scattered in all directions, all converged on the western slope.
Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon, however, came up from the eastern slope and stood on the ridge, peering west. They heard Little Bear’s barking but didn’t go after him.
“Tsk! Tsk!” Zhao Jun clicked his tongue and waved his arm to the west, but Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon only ran a few meters before stopping again to look back.
Zhao Jun knew the two dogs were too young. It would be a while before they had the courage to bite.
But Zhao Jun wasn’t worried. He knew this was a necessary part of a hound’s training. Besides, he was confident that in this life, these two dogs would achieve even more than they had in their last.
Just then, Zhang Yuanmin and Jie Chen, who had been trailing behind, caught up. Zhang Yuanmin was just about to speak when Black Tiger, beside him, let out a series of frantic yelps and shot out from Zhao Jun’s side.