Wang An shook his head and said through gritted teeth
"Who knows? Whatever happens, happens. Let's hurry home, grab the guns, and come back to deal with it. Dammit, I have to kill it today. That thing chased me so hard I almost shit my pants."
"Shit my pants" (拉拉胯了) is a local dialect term meaning one's legs have become clumsy, or that an external force has caused one's walking posture to become severely deformed.
After Wang An finished speaking, Wang Li suddenly laughed
"Fourth Brother, I noticed that when your two big legs start pumping, you're actually pretty fast. That black bear couldn't catch you at all."
Wang An gave Wang Li a sidelong glance and said irritably
"Cut the crap. If that black bear chased you, you'd run even faster than me."
As soon as Wang An said this, Wang Li immediately began to giggle foolishly, "Hehehehe..."
Ignoring Wang Li's foolish laughter, Wang An said with a face full of regret
"Two whole buckets of forest frogs, all wasted. I was thinking of stewing them for lunch. Every single day it's something."
Wang An was quite resentful about the fact that the black bear had knocked over the buckets of forest frogs, causing all the frogs inside to escape.
What was most infuriating was that Wang An had almost been messed up by the black bear himself.
Therefore, Wang An's hatred for this black bear had reached its peak.
Hearing this, Wang Li turned to glance at Wang An and said with equal indignation
"Exactly. It's just because we didn't bring guns; otherwise, that black bear's gall would be ripped out by now. I just wonder what kind of gall a black bear produces."
After Wang Li spoke, the two brothers fell silent.
Every mistake, the biggest mistake of all, was the mistake of not bringing guns. So, in the end, it was simply because the two brothers had been careless.
Ten minutes later, the sidecar motorcycle drove straight into Wang An's courtyard.
Stopping the sidecar at the door, Wang Li said to Wang An
"Then Fourth Brother, wait for me a moment? I'll go back and get my gun now, and I'll come pick you up in a bit."
Wang An waved his hand
"Why the hell are you going back? Just take one from my place. It's just one black bear; we'll just shoot it dead and be done with it."
Wang An's words were overheard by Mu Xueqing, who was leading the children in the courtyard. Her expression changed, and she hurriedly asked
"A black bear? Xiao An, you encountered a black bear?"
Regardless of the time, terms like "Big Claw," "Earth Leopard," "Black Bear," "Green Skin," "Red Dog," and "Cannon Egg" were extremely sensitive words in these mountains.
There was no helping it; every year, too many people were injured or even lost their lives to these wild beasts.
The "Green Skin" mentioned here referred to wolves; some people called wolves Green Skins, while others called them "lāi逮."
After Mu Xueqing asked, Wang An said with a nonchalant expression
"Yeah, ran into a black bear. It's just that neither of us brought guns, otherwise we would have killed it. Every single day it's something."
Mu Xueqing said with great confusion
"The South Hollow is so close to the village, how could there still be a black bear?"
Wang An said as he walked into the house
"Who knows? That black bear let all the forest frogs we caught escape, and it even ate a bunch of them. We're going to take the guns and kill it."
Mu Xueqing said with a face full of worry
"Why don't you take the dogs with you? It's safer with dogs by your side. Besides, the black bear might have already run off by the time you got back."
Wang An thought about it, mainly visualizing the surrounding terrain in his head, and then nodded
"Yeah, alright, we'll take them."
As he spoke, Wang An tied the Type 54 holster from the drawer under the living room coffee table around his waist, checked the magazine of the Type 54 pistol, and slid the gun into the holster.
He turned and went to the back room to get two Type 56 semi-automatics and four stripper clips, handing one Type 56 and two clips to Wang Li.
The two of them each loaded their chambers full of bullets, slung the guns over their shoulders, and turned to walk outside together.
At this moment, Mu Xueqing hurriedly asked
"Xiao An, are you leaving right now? It's almost time for lunch; why not go after you eat?"
Without looking back, Wang An waved his hand
"We'll be back in an hour at most. You guys eat your lunch; don't worry about us."
After stepping out the door, Wang An pointed at the sidecar
"Old Fifth, go drive the sidecar over."
After saying that, Wang An went to the kitchen shed to get two hunting knives and two urea bags. Once Wang Li drove the sidecar over, he tossed these items onto the vehicle.
Hopping onto the sidecar and sitting sideways, Wang An waved his large hand forward and called out to the dogs by the kennel
"Da Hei, Er Hei, San Hei, Xiao Hei, Xiao Bai, Da Lang, Er Lang, San Lang! Let's go, come out for a stroll with me."
The four dogs and four wolves, who had been lying there thinking about who-knows-what, immediately stood up upon hearing Wang An's call and trotted over eagerly.
Wang Li suddenly said
"Fourth Brother, don't we need to put the armor and collars on the dogs?"
Every time they entered the mountains, the group of dogs and wolves would be fitted with armor and spiked collars by Wang An and the others.
It was precisely because of this practice that the dogs had never suffered serious injuries when facing ferocious beasts.
Wang An thought about it and said with a frown
"No need to put them on this time. It's just one black bear, and we'll reach the spot in no time. Besides, Da Hei is so smart, he definitely won't let the other dogs rush in. It should be fine."
Dogs like Da Hei and Xiao Hei were veterans of many battles and had ample experience dealing with black bears. They were no longer stupid enough to proactively rush in to bite a black bear, which was why Wang An felt very confident in them.
Thinking of this, Wang An couldn't help but worry about one thing.
That was that Da Hei, a dog of extreme intelligence, was getting old. While Xiao Hei was also very smart, he was still quite a bit inferior compared to Da Hei. Crucially, Xiao Hei lacked experience in leading the hunt. If there came a day when Da Hei was no longer with him in the mountains, how frustrating would that be?
He had to admit that Da Hei's level of intelligence was extremely rare among all dogs; he could understand human speech, knew how to command other dogs to cooperate, and could assess a situation, avoiding stupid acts that were clearly futile.
At this thought, Wang An sighed softly and subconsciously looked toward Da Hei.
Noticing his master's gaze, Da Hei also looked back at Wang An. Although he didn't know what Wang An was thinking, Da Hei bared his teeth at Wang An in a way that seemed almost human.
Wang An beckoned, and Da Hei walked over to the sidecar. Wang An vigorously rubbed Da Hei's head and said
"In a bit, just help me find where that black bear is. Whatever you do, don't go up and bite it; you guys can't beat it."
Da Hei barked twice at Wang An, meaning he understood. Wang An then said to Wang Li
"Old Fifth, let's go."