Chapter Seventeen: Roasted Bear Paw

Qin Fei arrived at the front of the bear cave, beneath the birch tree. Climbing up, he sat on a branch and peered into the cave’s darkness.

The brown bear slept in the same position as last time, its head facing outward toward the entrance.

Qin Fei pulled a wooden bow from his backpack, nocked an arrow, aimed at the bear’s head, and released.

The arrow struck the bear’s right shoulder.

A bow’s accuracy was far inferior to a hunting rifle, and its range didn’t compare. Even with the bear lying still, letting Qin Fei take careful aim, the shot went astray.

A guttural roar erupted.

Awakened by the pain, the brown bear sprang from its sleep and charged out of the cave.

Blood began to trickle from its right shoulder, but the wound was far less severe than those inflicted by a rifle. Though startled and in pain, the bear did not lose its senses as it had before, nor did it flee in panic.

It paced agitatedly at the cave entrance for a short while, gradually calming down. Then its keen sense of smell revealed the intruder hidden in the tree above—Qin Fei.

The brown bear glanced up at him.

For a bear, it lacked the intelligence to realize Qin Fei was the one who had fired the arrow. Yet, discovering an intruder in its territory, it was determined to eliminate him.

The bear lumbered over to the base of the tree and began to climb.

Damn!

Qin Fei, watching from above, was startled—weren’t bears supposed not to climb trees?

Fear gripped him.

With his usual courage, Qin Fei would only dare attack while the bear slept. Animals, too, held grudges and remembered injuries. Now, with the bear fully awake, Qin Fei didn’t dare shoot at it in full view, afraid to provoke its wrath.

But now the bear intended to climb up to his perch!

Panic seized Qin Fei.

If he didn’t act, his life would soon be forfeit...

The bear climbed slowly, halfway up the trunk. Qin Fei instinctively nocked another arrow, aimed at the bear’s head, and fired.

The distance between him and the bear was dangerously close, and shooting downward from above, the arrow struck the bear’s head with precision.

The bear let out a pitiful cry and tumbled from the tree.

It lay beneath the branches, howling in agony, limbs twitching from the pain.

Qin Fei gazed upon the bear’s suffering and felt a pang of pity.

It was truly tragic...

But he knew that compassion now would cost him his life. Qin Fei nocked another arrow and finished the bear with a shot to its prone form.

At such close range, and again firing downward, he struck true—another arrow embedded in the bear’s skull.

The brown bear was not a fool.

After suffering two arrows, it finally realized that the projectiles came from the man hiding in the tree.

Raising its head, the bear glanced at Qin Fei with a surprisingly human expression of terror. It struggled to stand, intent on fleeing.

But three arrows now pierced its flesh, two lodged in its head. The grievous wounds quickly overcame it; it staggered only a few steps before collapsing once more.

Strike while the foe is weak.

Qin Fei nocked yet another arrow and fired at the bear’s head.

After the fourth shot, the beast lay motionless on the ground.

Yet Qin Fei did not hurry down. He remained in the tree, sending four more arrows into the bear’s skull.

By the end, seven arrows bristled from the bear’s head, densely packed.

Even so, Qin Fei stayed vigilant.

He lay on the branch, periodically tossing sticks toward the bear’s body to test whether it was truly dead.

He feared the bear might be feigning death.

Half an hour passed.

Chilled to the bone in the tree, and now fairly certain the bear was dead, Qin Fei finally descended.

He examined the bear—its massive body weighed at least three or four hundred kilograms. There was no way he could carry it back.

But the snow offered little friction, and the cave was nearby. Qin Fei dragged the bear’s corpse to the mouth of the cave.

The freezing temperatures outside had taken their toll; after so much time exposed, Qin Fei could barely endure the cold.

He set the bear’s body at the entrance and built a fire.

Compared to the snowy wilderness, the cave was much warmer. Qin Fei hurried to process the bear’s carcass inside.

The cave was saturated with the pungent scent of brown bear. Scattered bones littered the ground—remnants of the bear’s meals, though what animal they belonged to was unclear.

He saw no excrement.

Any animal with a bit of sense would not soil its own den...

While processing the bear, Qin Fei did not worry about the blood attracting wolves and such.

Within the brown bear’s territory, not even a single wolf hair could be found.

Wolves, upon catching the scent of a brown bear from afar, would steer clear, never daring to trespass.

Qin Fei worked with extreme caution, especially with the bear skin, which would be invaluable.

If he fashioned the skin into clothing and wore it, the scent alone would cause wolves to instinctively avoid him.

As for the organs, he kept only the stomach and intestines, packing the rest in his backpack for future use as fishing bait or trap lure...

In the wild, unless food was desperately scarce, it was best to avoid eating the liver of animals.

Carnivore organs contained high levels of heavy metals, and consuming them in quantity could lead to vitamin A poisoning.

Of course, this was not Qin Fei’s main reason for discarding them.

His backpack held only a bit of garlic powder and nothing else for seasoning.

Without spices to mask the odor, the organs’ stench was overwhelming—utterly inedible.

As he processed the bear, Qin Fei also placed a tin can of snow over the fire, boiling water.

He sliced off half a bear paw and roasted it in the flames—tonight’s dinner.

Bear paw, especially in winter, was rich and fatty. As it cooked, oil seeped out, sizzling and crackling, filling the cave with the aroma of roasting meat.

The cave’s unpleasant bear odor was soon replaced by the savory scent.

But with his meager supply of garlic powder and salt, and his reluctance to use them generously, the gaminess of the bear paw remained strong.

It was not for the faint-hearted.

Still, after sprinkling garlic powder, at least the bear paw was edible.

Each bite brimmed with oil.

The satisfaction of eating high-fat food was incomparable...

The bear paw’s rich fat was far more satisfying than the dried meat Qin Fei had eaten before.

Today, at least, his diet had improved.