This time entering the mountains, Wang An and his three companions had no specific objective. To put it bluntly, they were just seeing what they could find and fighting whatever they encountered; if they didn't run into any damn things, they'd just treat it as a stroll through the mountains.
Just as Wang An was gazing at the mountains, feeling that sense of exhilaration and peace that can only be experienced after entering the wilderness, he heard Mu Xueli speak to him
"Brother-in-law, do you remember those two bear dens Old Xiao Pao mentioned about a month ago?"
Hearing Mu Xueli's question, Wang An snapped back to his thoughts and said nonchalantly
"What about them? Did someone already raid them? Who's got the guts?"
If Mu Xueli hadn't brought it up, Wang An would have forgotten the matter entirely.
Mainly, Wang An had zero interest in these bear dens—risky, grueling work that often resulted in a harvest as small as a fart.
Mu Xueli nodded first, then shook his head and said
"The day before my eldest nephew and niece's one-month celebration feast, Su Zhanqiang and Su Zhansheng from our village went to raid them. The tree den was quite good; they got an iron-gall bear. But as for that ground den, they said a bear weighing over 800 catties lived inside, and well, the two of them ended up failing miserably."
The term "failing miserably" (shā tū lū) had several meanings locally, but here, it meant the job wasn't completed.
For hunters, the preferred target is actually a tree den because they are located in the trees, allowing the hunter to make ample preparations when raiding.
Furthermore, when a bear emerges from a tree den, the window for the kill is longer; even if they fail to kill it, the raider has a high chance of escaping.
Ground dens were different. Since they were earth or stone caves, no matter how long a hunter prepared, the bear would emerge extremely quickly.
Consequently, not only was the window for the kill shorter, but if the hunter failed to kill the bear instantly, the moment the bear left the cave, it became a disaster for the hunter.
Before Mu Xueli could finish, Wang Li interrupted
"Holy shit, they failed to kill an 800-catty big bear? Didn't the two of them get sat to death by that big bear?"
Whether it was a black bear or a brown bear, although their bite force was strong, when attacking humans or hunting small animals, they mostly grabbed the prey and pinned it under their backside, using their body weight to crush the prey before tearing and clawing at it.
After Wang Li spoke, Wang An gave him a dissatisfied glare and said
"Stop talking damn nonsense. If they'd been sat to death, would the news have even reached us? Stop interrupting and let your Brother Mu finish, alright?"
Wang Li blinked, scratched his head, and fell silent.
Seeing Wang Li get scolded, Mu Xueli seemed genuinely pleased. He looked at Wang Li with a beaming smile before continuing
"The eldest, Su Zhanqiang, was seriously injured. The bear ripped his scalp right open, and his thigh was crushed and broken by the bear. If it weren't for their lead dog protecting its master—leaping up and biting the bear's nose without letting go—Su Zhanqiang probably would have perished right there in the mountains."
After hearing this, the three of them fell silent for a few seconds. After a while, Wang An asked with great regret
"The loyal dog didn't make it?"
Mu Xueli nodded
"Nope, the lead dog is gone, and the three backup dogs are gone too."
Pausing for a moment, Mu Xueli added with a face full of pity
"Those four wolf-hounds of theirs were from the same litter, and they came from the same mother as my three blue dogs. Theirs were from the third litter, and mine were from the fourth."
Wang Li looked at Da Qing, who was running wildly alongside the sled, and said with a pained expression
"Tsk tsk, such good dogs, all wasted. Fuck."
It should be noted that among Mu Xueli's three blue dogs, aside from Da Qing being a "low-head fragrance" (a minor flaw), they were in no way inferior to Wang An's three black dogs in terms of strength.
And if talking purely about price, Wang Li's four yellow dogs weren't as valuable as Mu Xueli's three blue dogs.
There was no helping it; when it came to mountain dogs, more didn't mean more value. The same applied to other livestock—only the elite were truly valuable.
For example, the price of one fine horse could equal the price of a whole herd of ordinary horses.
Wang An and the others discussed the fate of the Su brothers and their four dogs briefly. As for Huang Zhong, he remained silent throughout, listening intently to the other three.
Suddenly, as if discovering a new world, Wang An asked Mu Xueli with some excitement
"Xueli, that ground den—do you know where it is? If you do, we could..."
Before Wang An could finish, Wang Li interrupted excitedly
"Yeah, Brother Mu, where's that ground den? We can just go and kill that big bear, right?"
Wang An glared at Wang Li again for interrupting, but he didn't say anything. It wasn't a big deal, and Wang An was truly too lazy to beat Wang Li.
Mu Xueli looked at Wang An, then gave Wang Li a meaningful look, as he had already anticipated that Wang An would eventually have to deal with Wang Li.
Mu Xueli waited a moment, and seeing no sign of Wang An taking action, he spoke
"I only know the general direction. Old Xiao Pao tried to play me before; since I didn't agree to his terms, he wouldn't tell me the exact spot, only that it's around Dayashan."
Wang An pursed his lips and nodded
"A general direction is enough. Since that bear has left the den, it probably won't squat in there again for ten days or so. Since we're just wandering today anyway, we might as well go take a look."
With their weapons, equipment, and marksmanship, they could kill almost anything they encountered in these mountains except for tigers and leopards. Thus, Wang An didn't worry much about the ferocious big bear.
Wang Li chimed in with a grin
"Exactly! If we can take down that big bear, it'll be a great start. That means we won't be coming back empty-handed for the rest of the winter, hahahaha..."
Not returning empty-handed was the dream of almost every mountain hunter. However, for Wang An and his group, who possessed a large pack of dogs, this dream was not difficult to achieve.
And so, with Mu Xueli driving the sled, the party of four, along with the pack of dogs and wolves, headed toward Dayashan.
About four hours later, the second horse was panting heavily, and the horses driven by Mu Xueli and Wang Li had begun to snort continuously.
It was evident that the three horses were truly exhausted. Fortunately, they were now near Dayashan.
However, there were several large hills around Dayashan, so finding that specific bear would not be easy.