"Come in."
Chapter 154 The Hound's Trap and the Golden Track
Su Wei stepped over the threshold.
A wave of heat hit me from inside the room.
He closed the heavy wooden door behind him with a muffled thud, shutting out the wind and snow.
Five hunting dogs surrounded them.
The black-backed male dog named Caesar was the first to approach, its wet nose sniffing intensely at the outside of Su Wei's thigh.
A low growl rolled in its throat, and its claws scratched at the floor with a soft, rustling sound.
It also recognized Su Wei; his scent told Caesar that he was an acquaintance.
The other four dogs spread out in a semi-encirclement, not attacking, but simply remaining vigilant.
Black turned and went deeper into the house.
"Put down your gear and stomp the snow off your shoes."
A calm sound came from inside the room.
Su Wei did as instructed.
He took off his snow-covered down jacket and hung it on the antler hook behind the door. He stomped his tactical boots hard, shaking the ice chips stuck in the anti-slip treads onto the rubber mat in the entryway.
The walls were covered with animal skins, including huge brown bear skins and complete wolf skins, each one meticulously crafted.
In the very center of the room was a huge cast-iron furnace, the logs inside burning brightly, the orange-red flames flickering through the cracks in the furnace door.
Several well-maintained hunting rifles were locked in a gun cabinet against the wall, next to which were neatly arranged ammunition boxes and a whetstone.
Black sat on the gleaming leather sofa by the fireplace.
He held an enamel mug in his hand and pointed to the hardwood chair opposite him.
"Sit."
Su Wei walked over and sat down.
Black picked up the kettle from the stove, poured a cup of black coffee into another empty cup, and pushed it in front of Su Wei.
The coffee was pure black, steaming hot.
3:59.
Black glanced at the wall clock, picked up his glass, and took a sip.
"Did you drag that spruce tree away yourself?"
"A winch and pulley system were used, with a birch tree as a fulcrum."
Su Wei held the scalding hot cup in both hands, warming her stiff fingers.
"Luckily, it didn't get stuck."
This isn't luck.
Black put down his cup, his deep-set eyes fixed on Su Wei.
"That was your first test. If you chose to turn back or call for help, you're now back on your way out."
Su Wei didn't speak, but simply took a sip of the bitter coffee.
"Let's get down to business."
Black leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
Laurent gave you $100,000. That's enough to buy a decent secondhand fishing boat in Kodiak, or to live comfortably here for two years.
"But that's assuming you're alive to spend it."
"In this season, during a blizzard, I went alone to provoke a fully grown male brown bear that was making its final push for hibernation."
Black's voice turned cold.
"Tell me, are you trying to commit suicide, or do you actually have a plan?"
Su Wei put down his cup.
He pulled a folded topographic map of the northern Kodiak Island from his inner pocket and spread it out on the coffee table in front of Black.
Point your finger at an area on the map with dense contour lines.
"The guy I'm looking for is here."
Su Wei's voice was steady as his finger slowly slid along a contour line.
"On the north slope of Pillar Mountain, at the junction of the scree belt and coniferous forest in the upper reaches of Pilan Creek, Uncle Kash provided information that an adult male bear with a triangular piece missing from its right ear was active in this area about a week ago."
" Old Kash?"
Black glanced at the map.
"You dare to believe everything that old drunkard says?"
"So I did cross-validation."
Su Wei took out a notebook from his pocket and opened the pages of notes he had kept over the past few days.
"I reviewed the weather records for the north slope area over the past two weeks and the rangers' sighting reports. There's a late-ripening blueberry bush in this area, and it's near a backwater of a stream, which is the only place where you can still find the last dead salmon that have migrated."
"For a male bear that desperately needs to store up fat for winter, that's the only place it can find food."
Su Wei drew a circle on the map with his finger.
It won't go far.
Black looked at the markings on the map and remained silent for two seconds.
"Continue."
"The terrain on the north slope is a typical valley."
Su Wei traced the valley's contours with his finger.
"In this type of terrain, wind direction changes between morning and evening. Mornings are downwinds, and evenings are upwinds. But the recent blizzards have disrupted the normal airflow, making the wind direction erratic."
This is the biggest risk point.
Su Wei raised his head and looked directly at Black.
"If I hadn't discovered it before it smelled me, I would have been the one to die."
Black didn't argue; he simply picked up a cigar from the table and deftly cut off the cap with a cigar cutter.
"So what are you planning to do? In this awful weather, visibility is less than fifty meters. No matter how good your marksmanship is, you're useless if you can't see your target."
I won't search blindly.
Su Wei pointed to a cliff on the map.
"I'll establish an observation post here. This rocky outcrop is located on the upwind flank, offering a view of the bushes and river bend below. Most importantly, it's backed by a sheer cliff, so there's no need to worry about being attacked from behind."
"If it appears, I will keep the engagement distance within 300 meters."
Su Wei reached his hand to his lower back, a habitual gesture he made to check the location of his hunting knife.
I have two plans.
"First, the sniper. My .300 Winchester Magnum uses.220-grain Nosler Partition Bullet. These bullets can penetrate the scapula and damage the heart and lungs. I'll wait until it's sideways to me and then fire; the first shot must incapacitate it."
Black struck a match, lit a cigar, and his expression was obscured by the swirling smoke.
What if the first shot misses?
"It will charge."
Su Wei answered quickly.
"A brown bear can sprint at speeds of up to 56 kilometers per hour. Even on snow with obstacles in the middle, it would still take it half a minute to reach me over a distance of 300 meters."
Thirty seconds.
Su Wei crossed his arms.
"I'm confident I can finish it off with a few more shots. If those shots don't take it down, or if it uses a blind spot in the terrain to get within fifty meters..."
He patted his waist.
"I'll throw away my rifle and use this Ruger Super Redhawk."
"A large revolver with .454 Casull caliber."
Black exhaled a smoke ring.
"The recoil of this thing could break your wrist. And do you think you can keep succeeding just because you succeeded once last time?"
"I believe in myself. I've practiced many times in the woods behind the cabin."
Su Wei's tone remained unchanged.
"I'm confident I can kill it from ten meters away."
"Of course, this is the worst-case scenario."