The fact that Mu Xueli only smokes Changbai Mountain cigarettes was the point Mu Xueli had emphasized to Wang An!
Wang An was somewhat speechless upon hearing this, thinking to himself: *Why the hell is he talking about this crap instead of the main point? What the fuck is there to say about this? He just smokes; it's not a big deal! Dammit!*
Wang An stole a glance at Mu Xueli, but since Mu Xueli was in the middle of an enthusiastic retelling, he didn't have the heart to interrupt.
Although Mu Xueli hadn't been injured today, anyone who had suffered such a scare would have been seriously shaken! The fact that Mu Xueli could talk about it meant he was processing the experience again, which was actually a good thing.
While it seemed like Mu Xueli and Wang Li were bragging together, in reality, Mu Xueli was doing the talking and Wang Li was listening, and the topic was the mountain hunt!
Even though these were events that Wang An and Mu Xueli had experienced together, hearing Mu Xueli recount them in such a theatrical way actually made it quite engaging for Wang An!
It had to be said that if Mu Xueli became a storyteller in the future, he could probably make a decent living at it!
However, after a long time, Mu Xueli still hadn't gotten to the main point. He kept rambling on and on, and Wang An finally lost his patience!
He said helplessly, "I asked you to tell me about those mountain beasts, but you're telling me a bunch of stories about how you bragged. Were you scared stupid by the black bear too?"
Just as Wang An finished speaking, Mu Xueli, who had been talking happily, was suddenly interrupted and hadn't yet reacted when a reluctant voice came from beside them: "Fourth Brother, I wasn't scared stupid by the black bear, but I was almost slapped stupid by you!"
It turned out Wang Li had walked over at some point. The part of his face not covered by his hat was clearly bruised blue.
Wang An was stunned looking at his fifth brother's aggrieved expression. *What the fuck is going on? Was Wang Li conscious the whole time? But based on his expression just now, he was clearly scared witless!*
At this moment, Wang Li spoke again: "Fourth Brother, I actually didn't even have time to react before the black bear knocked me unconscious with a paw. Then, when I woke up and my head was still fuzzy, I got a slap from you..."
After saying this, Wang Li stood there in silence.
Wang An felt awkward. He smacked his lips, pondering for a long time, but couldn't figure out how to comfort this brother who was currently brimming with resentment!
He glanced at his right hand. *Dammit, it's all your fault!*
He scanned his surroundings and saw the black bear's corpse. Thinking about Wang Li's performance today, Wang An said, "I won't dwell on the relationship between the three of us. As for today's harvest, I'll take forty percent, and you two get thirty percent each. How does that sound to you two?"
The moment Wang Li heard this, his resentment vanished instantly. Mu Xueli, on the other hand, said happily, "That's great, Brother-in-law! I didn't even get a chance to tell you, Old Five's marksmanship is simply divine. He just raised the gun and fired, killing that black bear in one shot. If the gun hadn't jammed, we wouldn't have ended up like this."
Seeing that both were happy, Wang An figured the distribution plan was reasonable. Most importantly, the slap he delivered was now considered a thing of the past!
Now that his resentment was gone, Wang Li forgot the pain in his face. He was a bit excited but said shyly, "Brother-in-law, is this distribution reasonable? This is only my first day in the mountains..."
Before Wang Li could finish, Mu Xueli immediately interrupted him with a smile, "What's this about reasonable or not? Whatever your Fourth Brother says is reasonable. Your Fourth Brother *is* the reason! Just listen to your Fourth Brother from now on! Learn from me and see how obedient I am."
Having learned from Wang An, Mu Xueli was becoming quite the shrewd operator, his mind reacting lightning-fast. He knew that at this moment, it was most appropriate for him to take a stance. When it came to money, anyone with a bit of sense knew it had to be made clear, otherwise, conflicts and disputes were inevitable in the future.
Wang An felt a warmth in his heart; it seemed taking care of this brother-in-law hadn't been in vain. However, he said aloud, "Hurry up and go get the black bear's gall bladder! Why are you chatting so much?"
Mu Xueli wasn't angry and agreed with a chuckle, "Aye, you got it, Brother-in-law."
"Dammit, you two distracted me so much I forgot the main point. Quick, Wang Li, tell me, what exactly happened with those beasts?" Wang An suddenly remembered that he had just been listening to Mu Xueli's nonsense and hadn't heard a single useful word!
Wang Li didn't know how to tell stories or perform, so his language was very concise.
It turned out that while the two of them were talking after finishing their work, the three dogs suddenly started barking. They saw seven wolves suddenly emerge from the woods, surrounding them quickly. The two raised their guns and fired, each killing one wolf. However, as soon as the guns fired, the three dogs ignored the disparity in strength and pounced on them!
Actually, after the shots rang out, the remaining five wolves wanted to flee, but once the three dogs bit in, and since wolves are naturally cohesive, the five wolves didn't run. Instead, they fought with the three dogs!
However, the two men were afraid of hurting the dogs, so they were very hesitant to fire. One must realize that the slaughter between animals is incredibly fast; thus, in a short amount of time, all three dogs were wounded!
After a while, each man found an opportunity to kill another wolf. At this point, the situation was three dogs fighting three wolves one-on-one. The two men aimed their guns but didn't dare fire, mainly because the dogs and wolves were fighting with claws and teeth, constantly rolling and tearing at each other desperately!
Consequently, the two were anxious and focused entirely on finding a chance to shoot, which caused them to ignore their surroundings. They didn't realize that three black bears had approached.
It was Mu Xueli, who was circling the wolves and dogs looking for a shot, who accidentally spotted them. Mu Xueli shouted on the spot, "Black bears! Turn around!"
Immediately after shouting, Mu Xueli fired a shot. But because he fired in a rush, his marksmanship wasn't as good as Wang An's or Wang Li's!
The quality of one's marksmanship is most evident in moments like these! Therefore, Mu Xueli's shot was a complete waste; no one knew where the bullet flew.
Startled, Wang Li instantly turned around and saw three black bears charging toward them. Looking at the bears, Wang Li instinctively aimed at the lead one and fired!
In Wang An's eyes, Wang Li's marksmanship was that of a sharpshooter. Furthermore, Wang Li was using a break-action gun with a single slug, so the lead black bear was taken out by Wang Li's shot and dropped dead on the spot.
However, if a black bear runs in a straight line, its speed is truly not slow—faster than a wild boar! At the very least, it's much faster than a human. Wang Li and Mu Xueli only had the chance to fire one shot each.
With Wang Li's break-action gun, the fastest time from firing one shot to launching the second was four to five seconds—and that was with Wang An or Wang Li's speed, because the aiming time was extremely short!
As for Mu Xueli, pulling the bolt took nearly two seconds, and adding the aiming time, the interval between two shots was also four to five seconds!
In less than three seconds, the black bears were upon them. At this point, having fired his shot, Wang Li didn't have time to reload. He turned and ran, but he was caught by a black bear and hit with a paw. Wang Li's head went fuzzy, and he collapsed right there!
*** (End of Chapter)