Chapter 957: A Pack of Dogs vs. the Man-Bear

Standing and walking on its hind legs, the man-bear suddenly dropped to all fours, causing its height to plummet from over two meters to just over one meter.

The three Wolf-Qings, who were lunging forward and were already airborne, could not stop in time and collided directly with each other right in front of the man-bear.

Immediately following this, the three Wolf-Qings crashed to the ground simultaneously, landing right before the man-bear.

To be honest, the scene looked quite comical, as if the three dogs had intentionally landed in front of the man-bear.

After landing, Da Qing and the other two dogs reacted quickly and tried to scramble away, but the man-bear gave them no such opportunity.

With a single swipe of its right front paw, the man-bear sent San Qing, who was on the far right, crashing into Da Qing in the middle; subsequently, those two slammed into Er Qing on the far left.

The successive collisions left the three dogs howling in pain, demonstrating just how powerful the man-bear's single blow was.

It should be noted that Mu Xueli's three Wolf-Qings were roughly equal in size to Da Hei, Er Hei, and San Hei.

In other words, the combined weight of the three Wolf-Qings was a full three hundred seventy or eighty jin, yet to this man-bear, that weight seemed nonexistent; a single paw strike sent the three dogs flying two or three meters away.

The most severely injured among them was San Qing, who had been on the far right.

Once they hit the ground, Da Qing and Er Qing quickly stood up with their tails between their legs and fled, while San Qing struggled and howled several times before managing to crawl up.

It was clear that this blow had truly dealt a heavy hit to San Qing.

However, at this moment, the importance of the armor was fully realized.

Because beyond the sheer power of a bear's paw, the knife-sharp claws are the most lethal part.

A bear's claws are not like those of felines, which can retract; they remain extended at all times.

Therefore, when a bear's paw hits a dog, it is both a blunt force impact and a slashing attack from the claws.

It was no exaggeration to say that without the protection of the armor, that single strike from the man-bear would have disemboweled San Qing instantly.

One had to admit that the *bugu bei* fabric, combined with the dense stitching, was actually quite sturdy.

Although the armor prevented San Qing from being disemboweled, the man-bear had still torn a hole where the armor plates connected.

Normally, if a dog and a black bear encountered each other in this situation, the bear would generally ignore the dog and go about its business.

Perhaps it was because dogs seemed insignificant in the eyes of a black bear, or perhaps because black bears had no interest in dog meat; regardless of the reason, black bears typically ignored dogs.

However, nothing in the world is absolute, and the man-bear before them was an exception.

Just as San Qing struggled to stand and attempted to escape, the man-bear charged straight toward him. Clearly, the man-bear intended to kill San Qing.

It must be admitted that good hunting dogs, when facing wolves, may not be able to beat them, but they are willing to risk their lives.

Especially with their owner nearby, a dog's combat effectiveness increases infinitely, and they know no fear.

This is what people call "a dog acting tough because of its master."

But when facing large predators like black bears and tigers, they can collapse in a single blow.

If the owner is beside them, a hunting dog might have the courage to fight; if the owner is not, the dog instantly becomes a coward, utterly useless.

The man-bear's strike had completely crushed San Qing's will to fight. Seeing the man-bear charging at him, the already heavily injured San Qing let out whimpering, mournful cries, struggling to shuffle forward to avoid the attack.

In truth, San Qing's pathetic display now was not because he was a poor hunting dog; if any other dog, or even a wolf, were in San Qing's current physical state, the result would be the same.

Right then, Da Hei let out an urgent bark. Immediately after, Da Hei sprinted a few steps and leaped onto the man-bear's back, biting down hard on the bear's only remaining ear.

As Da Hei's barking rang out, Er Hei, San Hei, Xiao Hei, as well as Da Huang, San Huang, and Si Huang, all lunged forward, indiscriminately biting into the man-bear's limbs, armpits, and tail.

The most vicious of them, Er Huang, took advantage of the man-bear trying to shake off Da Hei and stand up, and bit directly onto the man-bear's nose.

This bite from Er Huang truly hit the man-bear's weak point.

Because for a black bear, the nose is its greatest asset, but it is also its most vulnerable spot.

It is said that repeated blows to a black bear's nose can even cause it to faint.

Consequently, Er Huang's bite instantly sent the man-bear into a state of blind rage, and a loud, roaring bear howl erupted.

Immediately, the man-bear attempted to rear up on its hind legs, both to shake off Da Hei from its back and to swat away Er Huang in front of it.

It must be said that despite the combined suppression of eight dogs, they truly could not hold the man-bear down once it exerted its strength.

In a flash, the four spotted dogs, who had been unable to find a place to bite, finally found an opening and clamped down on the man-bear's thick belly skin.

Clearly, the dogs were treating the man-bear like a wild boar.

Unfortunately, a man-bear is completely different from a wild boar.

If twelve dogs attacked together, even a five-hundred-jin "cannon-ball" boar would likely be taken down.

But the man-bear before them, although it seemed to be at a disadvantage and suppressed by the twelve dogs, was a different story.

In reality, aside from Er Huang biting its nose—which caused a certain amount of damage—even Da Hei biting its ear meant nothing to the man-bear.

Just as the man-bear was about to stand up and began swinging its paw toward Er Huang, Xiao Hei, who had been biting the bear's tail, suddenly let go and quickly thrust his head forward, biting dead-on into the bear's testicles.

One had to admit, Xiao Hei was truly a dirty fighter; he clamped onto the bear's balls and refused to let go, pulling back with all his might.

The man-bear froze instantly, letting out an incredibly loud roar.

But after the freeze, the man-bear's front paw still swung out. Although the force seemed greatly reduced, it still landed solidly on Er Huang's belly.

Even with reduced force, a man-bear's strike was not something a dog could withstand. After the blow, Er Huang could no longer hold onto the bear's nose and was knocked over a meter away.

At this point, the man-bear had gone completely berserk.

(End of Chapter)