As the sky was twilight, a dog-pulled plow drove out of Baiqiao Village and headed for the depths of Baekdu Mountain.

The gray-haired old man in the driver's seat shook his whip, shaking the snowflakes on the trees.

There were four people sitting in the car, wearing fur hats and thick cotton jackets, with knives, guns, bows and arrows and other weapons beside them, as well as pockets full of food.

They were Zhou Paotou, Zhao Lin, Zhu Dachun and Liang Song, who went into the mountains to hunt Xiong Zhen.

"Zhou Paotou, the snow hasn't melted yet, what are you doing in a hurry to go into the mountains?"

The old Zhuang head who was driving the car asked.

Lao Zhuangtou is also a hunter, because he is old and can't hunt, so he raises more than a dozen local dogs, and sends people up and down the mountain with a climbing plow in winter to earn money for running errands.

Zhou Paotou asked him to send a few people into the mountains to save him the physical strength of a long journey.

"Hitting children on a rainy day, idleness is idleness, and going into the mountains to try your luck." Zhou Paotou said casually.

The old man looked back, "You don't still think about that bear, do you?" ”

Zhou Paotou snorted, "I haven't thought about it for a long time, I haven't seen that beast for several years, maybe it's already old and dead." ”

Zhao Lin listened to the two chatting with each other, and the scene when he said goodbye to his parents this morning flashed in his mind.

"Dad, mother, my brother's business is almost done, I have lived in the city for the past two days, it is convenient to run the relationship, and I won't come back at night......"

His parents believed him and told him to come back early.

"Don't worry, our family will be reunited soon!"

Zhao Lin regretted saying this at the time, feeling that he was setting up a flag, and the people who said this kind of thing in the movie did not end well.

"That's it, the old man doesn't dare go inside."

The snow crawled and ploughed for nearly two hours, and the old farmer pulled the reins, and the dogs lay on the snow and stuck out their tongues, and spewed out big mouthfuls of hot air.

Zhao Lin looked up and saw a mountain ridge dozens of meters high appearing in front of him, shaped like a bird combing its feathers.

He had heard of this place, and it was called Lao Ou Ling.

To the north of Laoyu Ridge is the hinterland of Baekdu Mountain, where there is a real deep mountain and old forest, and it is a place where strange beasts are rampant.

Only a very small number of experienced old hunters, who have found a few relatively safe paths over the years, dare to go in and hunt occasionally.

"Thanks, Lao Zhuang."

Zhao Lin and the others took things and climbed the plow in the snow, and Zhou Paotou took out a small handful of copper coins from his pocket and gave it to the old Zhuangtou.

The old Zhuang Tou counted the money in his hand, and his old face smiled into a chrysanthemum, "Come to pick you up at this time tomorrow?" ”

"yes, we'll wait an extra day if we don't come."

The old man blinked, "Zhou Paotou, don't blame the old man for speaking unlucky, what if you don't come after a day?" ”

"Wait for two days at most, and you don't have to wait if you haven't seen anyone for two days." Zhou Paotou said in a normal tone.

The old Zhuangtou people were old and fine, guessed the purpose of their trip, and did not break it, and disappeared in the snow field in the snow field with a snow plow.

"This path was handed down by my grandfather's generation, and it is safer to not touch strange beasts."

Zhou Paotou led the way in front, and Zhao Lin and others followed behind, bypassing Laoyu Ridge and walking into a rough birch forest.

Unlike the outside of the mountains, the deep mountains are full of snow, except for the tall trees, everywhere is white.

Zhao Lin glanced up at the gloomy sky, and thought: "No wonder it is said that it is easy to get lost in the deep mountains and old forests, and it is the same in all directions, and if you are not familiar with it, it is really easy to be trapped in it and unable to get out." ”

The four of them watched vigilantly as they walked, and there might be other fierce beasts here besides Xiong Zhen.

The journey through the thick snow was very exhausting, and they stopped and stopped all the way, and around noon, they came to the foot of a small hill.

"Xiong Zhenzi is squatting in that tree."

Zhou Paotou pointed to a tall and stout giant tree in the distance, and lowered his voice.

After the snow falls in winter, after a lot of eating and drinking in autumn, the fat and strong black bears burrow into tree holes and burrows.

Commonly known as squatting. Hibernation in tree cavities is called squatting in the sky warehouse, and digging a burrow to hibernate is called squatting in the ground warehouse.

Bears are exotic beasts, but their living habits are the same as those of ordinary black bears.

Before entering the mountain, Zhao Lin made up a lot of hunting knowledge, which was told to him by Zhou Paotou.

Zhao Lin stared at it and saw that the giant tree was more than ten meters above the ground, and there was an oval crack in the middle of the branches.

"Follow me."

Zhou Paotou said in a low voice, leading a few people into a "nest".

The nest is a snow cave.

In order to facilitate the observation of Xiong Zhen, Zhou Paotou dug it a few months ago.

The door of the Diwozi Cave is very small, and it is a space more than two meters long and wide that is drilled in, and the ground is covered with dead grass and roe deer skins, which can be squeezed down by four people.

Zhao Lin noticed a god statue embedded in the snow wall and asked, "What kind of god is that?" ”

"Mountain God, bless us Orion." Zhou Paotou took out the hot flatbread in his arms, took a bite and said vaguely.

Zhao Lin looked at the portrait again, and thought, "You'd better be effective, otherwise you'll ......"

Perhaps out of nervousness, the four of them didn't say anything, eating silently.

After eating and resting for a while, each took out a white cloth the size of a sheet from the package and covered his whole body from head to toe.

Before killing the warehouse, you must make sure that Xiong Zhen is not in the cave, otherwise you will be busy for a long time, and it will be fun to compete with an empty warehouse.

The four of them walked out of the nest one after another, slowly approached the giant tree, and lay down at a distance of about 100 meters, crawling forward.

"Damn, there are footprints on the ground!"

Zhou Paotou gestured to the group to stop advancing, and then wrote a line on the snow with his fingers.

Bears have a keen sense of hearing, and they can only communicate in this way when they speak.

Zhao Lin raised his upper body slightly, and saw that there were many footprints in the shape of a bear's paw on the snow in front of him, which were scattered in the snow in front of him, extending to the bottom of the giant tree.

The footprints are in the direction of each other, and it is impossible to tell whether they are coming out or entering.

Looking up along the giant tree, I saw that there were many paw prints on the tree, and judging from the damage to the bark, there were a few scratches that had just been scratched.

Zhao Lin also wrote on the snow with his fingers: "There are new paw prints on the tree, will the squatting be over?" ”

Zhu Dachun shook his head and wrote, "No, the time has not come." ”

He was not very literate, and wrote only six words, two of which were replaced by circles.

Liang Song helped him add: "If the bear is stuffy in the cave for a long time, it will come out to breathe, and then go back and continue to squat." ”

Zhao Lin frowned, thinking to himself if it was at home now?

It's okay to say at home, but if you're not at home, you dare to check it out, what if you come back?

Zhou Paotou lightly "shh ”

Zhao Lin and the others all thought that the idea was good, so they lay quietly in the snow.

The mountain wind gradually rose, and the snow and dust that blew up covered their bodies little by little, blending in with the environment.

An hour passed, two hours passed, and the sky began to darken......

Just when Zhao Lin thought that Xiong Zhen must be squatting in the tree hole to sleep, heavy footsteps sounded behind him, and the "creak" sound of snow being trampled flat.

Here it comes!

Zhao Lin's heart was raised, and judging from the footsteps, it was the bear that came.

Because the footsteps were heavy and light, and there was the sound of dragging—the bear had been badly wounded in the leg.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer, Zhao Lin held his breath, and glanced at Zhou Paotou and the three of them, just like himself, motionless like sculptures.

"Poof!"

A big furry foot appeared in Zhao Lin's sight, followed by thick legs, a wide and thick body like a door panel, and shoulders like a mountain......

Standing at over three meters tall, the bear is several heads taller than the polar bear, the largest bear in the previous life.

He has black and shiny black hair, and his roots are like iron.

Zhao Lin had imagined Xiong Zhen as a large black bear before, but after seeing it with his own eyes, he felt completely different, and the strong sense of oppression was suffocating.

The bear staggered to the foot of the tree, froze for a moment, and then climbed up to the tree with his hands and feet, and burrowed into the ground somewhat awkwardly.

After a while, a muffled snoring sound could be heard from the hollow of the tree.