"This grove is about five acres. I hung twenty red ribbons in it. Some on the treetops, some on the roots."
"From now on, you must run at full speed through the forest. Do not stop."
Black raised his wrist, glanced at his watch, and his eyes were cold.
"I will give you instructions. When I say stop, you must find the nearest target and hit it within three seconds. If you exceed the time limit, or miss, do twenty push-ups in the snow."
Su Wei looked at the dark pine forest.
The snow covered the potholes and fallen trees on the ground, making running at full speed in that area dangerous enough, let alone stopping and shooting suddenly while moving at full speed.
Are you ready?
Black didn't even wait for his reply before letting out a furious shout.
"Run."
Su Wei suddenly rushed out.
The snow underfoot wasn't solid ground.
Sometimes you step into hard soil, sometimes into a half-covered pit.
Su Wei stumbled into the treeline, his heavy tactical boots kicking up clouds of snow.
After running only fifty meters, my breathing began to become rapid.
The cold air was no longer refreshing, but felt like a blade of wind scraping through my lungs, each breath accompanied by a burning sensation.
The heavy winter coat became a burden at this moment; every step required overcoming the enormous resistance of the snow, and my legs felt like they were filled with lead.
"Hurry up. Is this how fast you can escape?"
Black's voice boomed in his ear through the walkie-talkie.
"That bear is already chewing your bones."
Su Wei gritted his teeth and forced himself to accelerate.
He walked around a huge fir tree, when suddenly his foot was tripped by a thick tree root buried in the snow, and he lost his balance.
Instead of trying to brake, he rolled on the snow to dissipate the momentum, then pushed himself up with his hands and roared as he continued his sprint.
My heart is beating faster and faster.
"Thump. Thump. Thump."
My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest, my eardrums were filled with the roar of blood flowing, and my vision began to blur due to lack of oxygen.
This is the true state of hunting.
The calm and collected target practice of the past is a joke in the face of real life-or-death combat.
"Stop. Three o'clock."
Black's command came without warning.
Su Wei braked suddenly, sliding two meters on the snow before crashing into a pine tree to regain his balance.
His heavy breathing caused the gun barrel to heave violently with his shoulder, making it impossible to keep it steady.
Three o'clock position.
My gaze swept over it.
Black tree trunks, white snow, dim light.
Where.
The highlight notification did not appear.
This is not a living creature, so the system will not mark it.
You can only rely on your eyes.
Relying on those eyes that have searched countless times in the darkness.
Su Wei forced himself to hold his breath, even though this breath-holding caused his brain to feel dizzy from lack of oxygen.
Found it.
In the crevice between two pine trees, two meters above the ground, a red ribbon is tied to a broken branch.
The strip of cloth fluttered violently in the wind, mostly obscured by tree branches, appearing and disappearing intermittently, its area only about two fingers wide.
Two seconds have passed out of the three-second timeframe.
Su Wei had no time to catch his breath.
He felt his pulse pounding, following the rhythm of the gun barrel's rise and fall—it was the rhythm of his heartbeat.
The gun barrel jerked upwards, and my heart pounded.
The gun barrel fell, and my heart relaxed.
Just as the gun muzzle moved from top to bottom, the crosshairs swept across that red line.
Right now.
Pull the trigger.
"Bang."
For a moment, the world seemed to fall silent.
The red ribbon in the distance jolted violently, snapping off along with half a withered tree branch behind it, which spun and fell into the thick snow.
"Too slow."
Black's voice remained cold, but seemed to have lost some of its rage.
"That one shot is enough time for it to tear you in two. Keep running. Don't even think about slacking off."
Su Wei offered no explanation.
He swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva, a result of his rapid heart rate and prolonged running.
He picked up his gun, his eyes becoming fiercer than those of a wild beast, and charged once more into the depths of the snowstorm.
Six o'clock in the morning.
The sky remained a deep blue; the darkness before dawn was the most intense.
The snowstorm subsided slightly, but the temperature dropped to minus twenty degrees Celsius.
Inside the hunter's cabin, the fire in the hearth was still crackling.
Su Wei slumped unceremoniously on the floor, leaning against the still-warm bearskin.
His hair was wet and stuck to his forehead, the result of sweat freezing and then melting from his body heat.
His rain jacket was torn in two places by tree branches, revealing the white insulating layer underneath. There was a noticeable bruise on his left cheek, left from hitting a tree trunk while running.
Black sat on the sofa opposite him, meticulously wiping the Browning rifle.
"Including that last push-up, you still need to work on your physical fitness."
Black applied the gun oil evenly to the bolt guide rail.
"However, your gun handling is a bit better than I expected. At least you've learned not to stare so intently at that damn scope."
Su Wei's hands were shaking so badly that he managed to unscrew the kettle and take a sip of warm water.
The warm liquid slid down my throat, finally relieving the dryness a little.
That shot...
Su Wei was panting, his voice hoarse.
"I don't think I saw the crosshair for that last shot."
That's right.
Black placed the well-maintained rifle on the table with a heavy thud.
Looking at Su Wei's disheveled appearance, a rare, slight smile appeared on his lips.
"Your physical fitness is too poor. Prepare for the next test. If you want to kill that bear alone, you'll have to transform yourself into a wild beast first."
Chapter 156 Training Ends, Emily's Phone Call
"Don't lie there. Get up."
Black's voice was flat and monotone, the sound of his boots hitting the hard snow drawing closer.
Su Wei, still struggling to breathe, braced himself on his knees when a huge and absurd object appeared before him.
It was a thick, waterproof tarpaulin, wrapped with eight bags of wet sand, and tied into a bulky long strip with coarse hemp rope.
"That's the bear."
Black pointed to the pile of things, pulled a blood-stained tether from his lower back, and threw it at Su Wei's feet.
"Four hundred jin. That's just the weight of the meat after removing the internal organs and fur. It's considered light."
The old hunter glanced at his wristwatch, his tone chilling.