As they walked back after picking the tea leaves, the wolves and dogs were still guarding the carcass of the blind bear.
With just one glance, Lin Dayou understood why Xie Tian had felt like vomiting. Even he felt a chill run down his spine.
However, having experienced wild boar hunts and butchering in the village, his tolerance for such scenes was relatively strong.
“Are you all heading back today?”
The bear’s carcass was too much to finish today, and there would likely still be meat left tomorrow.
The blind bear was enormous, with a lot of meat and a heavy body. It was covered in bite marks from the wolves and dogs, making it impossible to carry back.
Even if they could bring it back, it wouldn’t be edible. The previous prey they had brought back had been bitten in specific areas, and they had simply cut out the parts with teeth marks to feed to the dogs.
But this bear had too many bite marks, and it was the wolves’ prey.
Song Wei and Lin Zhen also had no intention of taking the remaining carcass back.
It had already been torn apart.
However, Song Wei had her eyes on the bear paws.
The bear paws were still intact and untouched.
The bear gallbladder was also a valuable medicinal ingredient.
She went over to check, and the gallbladder was still there.
Perhaps because it didn’t smell very pleasant—bitter—the wolves and dogs had left it alone.
Song Wei used a knife to remove the gallbladder and all four bear paws.
The wolves and dogs watched but didn’t interfere.
When they left, Wolf One and Wolf Two, along with the dogs, escorted them for a distance before turning back. It seemed they planned to stay until they finished eating the next day.
With the wolf pack present, and this being their territory, along with the addition of so many dogs, they weren’t afraid even if another bear showed up.
Song Wei felt reassured and left.
The bear paws were wrapped and placed in the basket, but the gallbladder had to be carried separately.
When they encountered people along the way and were asked about it, they didn’t hide the truth. They simply said they had encountered a blind bear.
“A blind bear?!”
The person who asked was instantly shocked.
“A real blind bear? Are you kidding? If you really ran into a blind bear, how did you all come back safe and sound?”
“Why would we lie?”
Lin Dayou finally had the chance to boast about his experience that day. Of course, he didn’t mention how his legs had gone weak and he had wanted to run. He embellished the story slightly.
“That blind bear was huge! It stood far away, waving at us. At first glance, I thought it was a person! I was thinking, how strange—someone in the deep mountains early in the morning!”
“But there are hunters who go into the mountains, so I thought maybe a hunter had run into trouble and needed help. I was about to go over when Lin Zhen stopped me. What he and Comrade Song said next made me break out in a cold sweat. They realized it was a blind bear!”
Originally, it was just one person asking what Lin Zhen was carrying. But after hearing Lin Dayou’s story, everyone passing by gathered around, gasping in amazement.
Great-aunt smacked her show-off son.
“Let’s go home and eat. Aren’t you hungry?”
Lin Dayou quickly said, “Everyone, wait! I’ll go eat and then come to the village’s jujube tree to continue the story. Everything I said is true. If you don’t believe me, ask Lin Zhen or Comrade Song. Or even Comrade Xie—he went into the forest later. See the blood on him? That’s from treating the injuries of our village dogs and the wolves.”
“Our village dogs were there too? And what’s this about wolves?”
They were too curious, but they couldn’t delay the group’s meal any longer.
So when Lin Dayou and the others returned, the villagers began spreading the news throughout the village: Lin Zhen, Comrade Song, and Lin Dayou had encountered a blind bear in the mountains!
Bear paws were tricky to handle, as they had a strong smell.
Lin Zhen skinned them and used deodorizing ingredients to marinate them. He then hung the basin in the well to keep them fresh for cooking the next day.
After a quick meal, Great-aunt and Lin Zhen processed the tea leaves.
Song Wei took the bear gallbladder to find Old Ji.
At the cowshed, Xie Tian was also there, his eyes shining as he recounted how he had set bones and stitched up wounds for the wolves earlier.
Although he had been terrified at the time, now that he had calmed down, he felt a sense of exhilaration.
Old Ji’s eyes lit up when he saw the bear gallbladder in Song Wei’s hands.
“This is good stuff.”
Bear gallbladders and snake gallbladders were both valuable.
Bear gallbladders were especially rare.
After all, who had the courage to hunt bears?
“None of you were hurt, right?”
Song Wei shook her head: “No, the wolves and dogs took the lead. Lin Zhen and I both had knives.”
Old Ji nodded in relief: “That’s good. I’ll help you process this bear gallbladder. It has many benefits—clearing heat, detoxifying, calming the liver, and improving eyesight. It can be used for eye diseases, convulsions, and sore throats caused by damp heat in the liver meridian. Once processed, you can grind it into powder and mix it with water to drink.”
Song Wei agreed: “Give us half of it. After all, Comrade Xie helped a lot today. The other half can be your payment.”
“This…”
“It’s settled then. If there’s nothing else, Old Ji, I’ll take my leave.”
Without giving Old Ji a chance to refuse, Song Wei left with light steps.
She wanted to go watch the show.
Lin Dayou was quite the storyteller.
Today, the village square under the old jujube tree in Ping’an Village was bustling. Everyone in the village who had free time had come, and even some elderly who could barely walk were carried over by their younger family members.
It was a blind bear! Everyone knew there were blind bears in the deep mountains, but no one had ever encountered one.
The last time they had heard about a blind bear was during the famine. Back then, the village men had ventured into the deep mountains out of desperation, but they had the bad luck of running into a blind bear. In the end, three people died, and five were injured before they managed to escape.
After that incident, everyone avoided mentioning the blind bears in the deep mountains.
Blind bears were not only intelligent but also faster than humans and could climb trees. They seemed to have no weaknesses.
The survivors had only managed to escape because there were so many of them.
No one expected to hear about a blind bear again, and this time, it was good news.
This time, the blind bear had been killed, and Lin Zhen had even brought back the bear’s gallbladder. Someone had seen it with their own eyes!
Song Wei arrived quietly. At this moment, Lin Dayou was standing in the middle of the crowd, talking animatedly.
“You all wouldn’t believe it! When the blind bear realized we weren’t falling for its trick, it charged straight at us. Good heavens, when it stood up, it was almost as tall as our jujube tree! Its body was massive, and when it ran, it was like a small mountain moving. I’m not exaggerating—that blind bear must have weighed at least 1,300 to 1,400 pounds.”
The audience gasped.
“Really that big? You’re not lying, are you, Lin Dayou?”
“I’m not kidding. It was really that big.”
“Then where’s the bear? If it’s dead, why didn’t you bring it back?”
With so much meat, they could have shared a lot.
Lin Dayou glanced at the person who asked: “Why don’t you try carrying it back? That’s the wolves’ prey. There were dozens of wolves. Do you think we dared to take it from them?”
The crowd was full of questions.
“How did wolves get involved?”
Lin Dayou: “Listen carefully, everyone. When the bear charged at us, the dogs from our village didn’t back down. They rushed straight at the bear and started fighting!”
“Bravo!”
The audience erupted in cheers and applause. Truly, these were the dogs that had made it into the newspapers—they weren’t afraid of even a blind bear!
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