Bear Hunt

"Why haven't Eighteen and that newcomer returned yet? Could something have happened?" The Wolf Cave Mountain bandits could not help but worry when the two failed to return for so long.

By their understanding, this time they were robbing a young military household couple. There should not have been much difficulty.

"Wait until nightfall. If they still haven't returned by then, something must have happened." The bandit chief, Xiao Chongyang, was not particularly concerned about the pair's safety.

"Big Brother, if something really happened, are we still going to keep fighting Lin Xuan?" Wolf Cave Mountain's second-in-command, Xiao Lidong, was not as indifferent toward the two as his elder brother.

Xiao Chongyang turned back to glance at Xiao Lidong and smiled.

"That kid should have some ability. We can only wait slowly for an opportunity; we absolutely must not act rashly. Send someone to keep an eye on them for now. Just watch them, don't make a move. Whatever he does, report it back to me."

"Big Brother means..." Xiao Lidong's brows relaxed slightly, as though he had guessed his meaning.

Xiao Chongyang's voice sank, his eyes narrowing. "Yes. I'll kill him myself. He practices martial arts so quickly—if I stew him and eat him, it will surely benefit my martial path greatly."

Before dawn, Lin Xuan was already practicing martial arts. Today, he mainly practiced the fist techniques within Grand Ancestor Internal Strength. It contained illustrated movements and detailed explanations, making it very easy to learn.

During this time, he had focused chiefly on increasing his strength and had not paid much attention to his fist techniques, leaving his strength mismatched with his combat skills.

With the new talent [Endurance], Lin Xuan could now practice martial arts intensely for two or three hours straight.

Lin An rose early as well. She was breathing and gathering qi. Unlike Lin Xuan, she did not have the Martial Prodigy boost, so her progress was slow, little different from that of an ordinary martial artist.

After daybreak, Lin Xuan made his preparations and planned to head to the place they had agreed upon yesterday to hunt the Black Bear Spirit with Qin Sheng.

"Be careful. If something feels wrong, slip away at once. You must come back safely." Lin An's lovely almond eyes were full of concern for him.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing." Lin Xuan smiled, slung his bow and arrows over his back, and left home.

Qin Sheng had kept his word. He was already fully armed, carrying a full-body iron lamellar suit with a helmet, as well as several triangular arrows.

"Brother Lin Xuan, this iron armor is exquisitely made and worth ten taels of silver! What do you think?"

Lin Xuan gave it a look. The silver gleaming plates were thick and densely layered, and its style was exactly the same as the armor Qin Sheng wore.

There was even an iron mask, fitted with brand-new straps.

Once it was worn, ordinary savage beasts would indeed find it difficult to injure him.

This showed that Qin Sheng had not fobbed him off. He had truly prepared the best protective gear Lin Xuan could get his hands on.

"Excellent. Brother Qin has been most thoughtful. With this iron armor protecting me, what concerns could I possibly have?"

Besides the iron armor, there was also a spear, roughly eight feet long.

Qin Sheng nodded. "Good. Since that is settled, let us depart."

The reason Qin Sheng had mobilized so few people for the bear hunt was mainly because he feared that if there were too many military household youths, there would not be enough bear meat to divide.

It would be even less feasible to bring ordinary military households along to hunt with him. They had little fighting ability to begin with; wearing armor, they could not run, while without armor, they would be slapped to death by a bear. Bringing them along as meat cushions would be far too inhumane.

Therefore, those joining him on this hunt were essentially the cream of the military households, men who could draw a bow and run while clad in armor.

Lin Xuan did not put the armor on immediately, waiting until they reached the foot of Rou Mountain.

Once he was fully equipped, he took a couple of steps. The armor did not burden him much at all; instead, it gave him confidence.

He felt that if he encountered those two bandits now, he would not need to pretend to sell candy. He could simply draw his blade and cut them down, and there would be nothing they could do to him.

"Excellent, truly gallant and heroic." Qin Sheng looked at Lin Xuan with a little more appreciation in his eyes.

He thought Lin Xuan was handsome, talented in martial arts, and not arrogant. He was a friend worth knowing deeply.

Qin Sheng said to Lin Xuan, "Next, you and Qin Huai will form one team, while Li He and I form another. We will search these mountains for the black bears. If you encounter one, remember not to fight alone. Blow the shrill whistle at once, and we will converge to surround it."

"Alright, I understand. Where is the whistle?" Lin Xuan asked.

Qin Sheng replied, "Qin Huai has it. One per team is enough. No more talk—we split up and act."

As soon as he finished speaking, he left with the other armored military household man. It was clear that he was extremely eager to hunt the bear.

Lin Xuan and Qin Huai exchanged a look. "Brother Qin Huai, let's set off as well."

Qin Huai nodded and headed deeper into the forest.

Lin Xuan followed behind him, activating his Sharp Eyes talent. His dynamic vision improved considerably, letting him catch every stir of wind and grass around them as much as possible, so they would not be suddenly attacked by some wild beast.

The two searched for a long while. They even spotted quite a few wild fruits in the mountains, yet there was no sign of the Black Bear Spirit.

Before long, they reached the place where Lin Xuan had hidden the bodies yesterday.

Lin Xuan's heart immediately began pounding. They had actually found this place!

Qin Huai suddenly spoke, his tone trembling slightly. "Strange. Why are there two human corpses here?"

He looked ahead. Both bodies had been almost entirely eaten by wild beasts. Qin Huai examined the traces and sharply drew in a breath.

Qin Huai thought to himself, These two were eaten by that black bear. The black bear may have passed through here, but why would these two have appeared in this place? Could they have been hunting too?

Just then, a piercing whistle rang out from afar, drilling straight into their ears.

"Go, quickly! They found the black bear." Qin Huai turned and urged Lin Xuan, no longer bothering to inspect the two corpses before them.

The two swiftly turned around and chased in the direction of the whistle. Though they wore heavy armor, neither of them ran slowly.

Yet the whistle did not draw any closer at all, because the person blowing it was constantly running. The Black Bear Spirit had a brain; it knew people blew whistles to encircle it, so it ran faster than anyone.

"I can't go on, Brother Lin Xuan. How can you still run?" Qin Huai was gulping down huge breaths of air. Although he too was at the Bone Binding realm, his endurance was far inferior to Lin Xuan's.

Lin Xuan felt tired as well, but he could still continue the pursuit.

"Follow along slowly." Lin Xuan called back to him, then continued chasing toward the whistle.

Along the way, he encountered Li He as well. Li He had also run out of strength and fallen behind, unable to keep pace with Qin Sheng.

"Brother Lin? You can still run?" Li He watched Lin Xuan continue the pursuit in astonishment. After all, Lin Xuan should have run even farther than he had, yet his stamina was vastly better.

"It's not a big problem." Lin Xuan could feel that he was getting closer and closer to the whistle.

Very soon, he saw Qin Sheng's back. Qin Sheng held a spear as he faced off against two black bears. One of them had been wounded by an arrow and had left a great deal of blood along the way.

The wounded black bear was smaller, likely only five feet tall when it stood up, while the larger one beside it was entirely different.