In the end, Zhao Jun didn't abandon Black Tiger after all.
It was for one simple reason: when he'd left the dog with the dead Black Bear earlier, the animal had somehow managed to suppress its gluttony and resist the temptation of the meat right under its nose.
To Zhao Jun's surprise, he discovered the dog actually had some good qualities.
Once in the truck, Black Tiger lay down beside the Black Bear and looked at Zhao Jun, its tail wagging back and forth. The desire for a piece of meat was written all over its face.
Zhao Jun smiled and held out his hand. Black Tiger obediently leaned in, letting Zhao Jun grab its head and give it a vigorous rub.
When Zhao Jun finished, Black Tiger shook its head hard, then looked back at him, its face still full of anticipation.
"I'll feed you when we get home." After speaking, Zhao Jun's gaze swept over Black Tiger. He suddenly rose, held the dog down, pulled its tail up for a look, and then sat back down.
Black Tiger flicked its tail and tilted its head, watching Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun looked back at it.
He'd had the dog long enough to figure out that Black Tiger was three years old at most. It must have been a hunting dog that had worked in the mountains before he got it, but it had clearly never hunted wild boar or Black Bears. He guessed its primary prey had likely been roe deer and stags.
Zhao Jun knew that even if a dog had never hunted boar or bears, as long as it could hunt roe deer and stags—or even just badgers—it could join a pack hunt for larger game, provided other dogs were there to lead it.
But Black Tiger's performance had been a real disappointment to Zhao Jun.
Of course, what Zhao Jun didn't know was that without Black Tiger, the earlier fight by the river might not have gone so smoothly. The Black Bear might have escaped long before he, Wang Dalong, and Li Baoyu even arrived on the scene.
And today, if not for Black Tiger, Gu Yang might have lost his life.
Zhao Jun was unaware of all this; he just looked at Black Tiger with suspicion. 'Logically, a dog with a big asshole should have a lot of courage,' he thought. 'So why does this Black Tiger run at the first sign of a fight?'
'Maybe he's an exception.'
But there was another way to gauge a dog's courage: see if it showed fear when integrating into a new Dog Gang.
When you introduce a dog to a pack of unfamiliar dogs, if its tail is held high, it's a brave dog. But if it tucks its tail between its legs, it's a coward.
But Black Tiger? Zhao Jun remembered the first time it saw Little Bear, Da Huang, and White Dragon. Far from being afraid, Black Tiger had relentlessly and gleefully provoked the other three dogs.
While Zhao Jun was mulling over Black Tiger, Lin Xiangshun had already driven the truck into Yong'an Village. The trip only took a few minutes. When the truck pulled up in front of the Zhao family home, Wang Meilan and Zhao Youcai heard the noise and were quite surprised.
Their son had gone out to chase the dog, and he'd been gone for over an hour, almost two.
Now that a truck had shown up, Wang Meilan and Zhao Youcai figured Black Tiger must have been too fast for Zhao Jun to catch on foot, forcing him to borrow a vehicle for the pursuit.
Then they heard the dogs in both their yard and the neighbor's erupt into a frenzy. Wang Meilan and Zhao Youcai quickly dropped what they were doing and came out of the house together.
But when they came out, they saw Zhao Jun, Lin Xiangshun, and Zhang Yuanmin hauling a Black Bear off the truck.
Meanwhile, Black Tiger was leaping and bounding around Zhao Jun, looking utterly impatient from start to finish.
Hearing the barking, the neighbors, Li Dayong and Li Baoyu, also came out of their house. The father and son joined Zhao Youcai to help. Together, the six of them dragged the Black Bear into the Zhao family's yard.
The scent of the Black Bear sent the dogs from both households into a non-stop barking frenzy. This was especially true for the four dogs in the Zhao family's yard; the moment they saw the bear's carcass, they couldn't stop themselves from trying to pounce on it.
"Get to it," Zhao Youcai ordered. "Cut some meat and feed the dogs, quick."
At a time like this, the only way to quiet the dogs was to stuff their mouths with meat.
Zhao Youcai had barely finished speaking when Wang Meilan emerged from the house carrying a large iron basin. Inside were a pointed knife, an Invasion Blade, and a butcher knife.
Zhao Jun asked and learned that their family's large pot was already in use, stewing vegetables. So, he took the Bear Gall out of his pocket and gave it to Li Baoyu, telling him to take it home and soak it in boiling water.
Meanwhile, Zhao Jun, Lin Xiangshun, and Zhang Yuanmin each grabbed a knife and began carving meat from the Black Bear's belly.
After cutting off a piece of bear meat, Lin Xiangshun instinctively offered it to Black Tiger. He was a traditional Hunter; according to custom, every dog had to be fed well after a hunt, regardless of whether it had contributed or not.
That was how you turned a dog into a real hunter.
Lin Xiangshun held the meat to Black Tiger's muzzle. Once the dog had taken it, Lin Xiangshun bent back down, preparing to cut more for the other dogs.
The slices he cut were palm-sized and about a finger thick. Even a dog with the strongest jaws would need some time to chew through a piece like that.
But when Lin Xiangshun cut another slice and turned to give it to White Dragon, he found Black Tiger blocking his path. Its mouth was empty; the slice of meat was long gone.
Lin Xiangshun glanced at the ground. Seeing no sign of the meat, he chuckled. "You're a fast eater." With that, he handed the new slice to Black Tiger.
Then Lin Xiangshun quickly went back to carving, because Little Bear and White Dragon were getting anxious over there.
But when he looked up again, he found Black Tiger still in front of him, its mouth empty once more. This time, he didn't even have to offer it—Black Tiger craned its neck and snatched the meat itself.
Lin Xiangshun stared dumbfounded at Black Tiger. He watched as the dog bit the meat, flicked it into the air, loosened its jaw, and caught it again with more than half the piece already down its gullet. Then Black Tiger tilted its head back, snout to the sky, and the entire slice of meat slid down its throat.