Chapter 32: Escaping the Bear's Jaws

This man-headed bear did not look very large, but even a small louse is meat, let alone a bear. Besides, no one knew if its mother was nearby.

Moreover, if a man-headed bear dared to linger here, it meant this was their territory. Zhang Tiejun’s current situation looked fraught with danger, and in reality, it was not safe at all.

Staying still is better than moving. Zhang Tiejun’s only advantage right now was that the man-headed bear had not discovered him, so he took this opportunity to observe carefully.

It had to be said that this man-headed bear cub was not small at all; it appeared to be over a human’s height, and even just crouching there, it looked like a small hill.

“Miss Sakurai, it seems your Mr. Kawakawa is in a bad spot.” Zhang Tiejun’s heart sank when he saw a pool of blood not far away.

Fortunately, the cub had not noticed him. Having eaten its fill, it was still feeling playful. With its mouth covered in blood, it paused for a moment before wandering off toward the north side of the mountain.

Zhang Tiejun held his breath and stepped cautiously along the forest path, fearing he might attract unnecessary trouble. Finally, he reached the spot where the bear had been standing and discovered something.

“Ugh…”

Zhang Tiejun frowned. It was a man who had already breathed his last; he must have been brought back by the man-headed bear. Just like in nature documentaries where a mother animal brings back live prey for its young to sharpen their teeth on, this man had unfortunately become a “toy” for the cub.

According to Sakurai Ming’s description, Kawakawa had white hair, but this man had black hair. He had been bitten severely, his clothes torn to shreds, and large, gaping bloody gashes were visible. Zhang Tiejun was stunned; the man must have suffered immensely, his body covered in deep and shallow claw marks. Like the other corpses found earlier, his internal organs had been hollowed out, leaving only a shell of skin.

“It seems the man-headed bear here has quite a refined palate.”

However, for Zhang Tiejun, this was also good news. Since the bear brought people back, it meant it wouldn’t finish them off immediately, which implied that Kawakawa might still be alive.

“Wuwu!”

As Zhang Tiejun approached a cave, he heard a sound of wailing. The pitch varied, clearly carrying a Kansai Osaka accent.

He had finally found him!

This good news acted like an adrenaline shot. Zhang Tiejun hid in the snow like a ghost. When he circled around to the source of the sound, he finally saw the situation clearly.

The white-haired Kawakawa was covered in wounds and his face was smeared with mud. His once-decent suit was now in tatters. It was clear that Kawakawa had fallen into a coma due to the severity of his injuries. The reason he was still making noise was that another man-headed bear cub was licking his wounds. The bear’s tongue, rough as sandpaper and covered in barbs, scraped away a layer of skin and flesh with every lick.

“There isn’t much time.”

Zhang Tiejun grew anxious. It would be dark in an hour at most. He was already physically compromised, and if he had to drag a heavily injured, middle-aged man along, his chances of getting back alive were slim. The practical problem was that while this cub was not as sturdy as the first one, if he fired his gun, would it attract unwanted attention?

To shoot or not to shoot—that was the question.

In the few minutes of Zhang Tiejun’s hesitation, Kawakawa’s cries grew weaker. The cub, its playfulness fading, suddenly opened its blood-stained maw, aiming straight for Kawakawa’s throat.

Kawakawa felt his heart turn to ash. He never expected that after surviving a lifetime of storms, he would capsize in this small ditch.

“Boom.”

A thunderous gunshot echoed, and the dust settled. Kawakawa looked weakly toward the source of the flash as Zhang Tiejun nimbly retracted his gun. Indeed, Zhang Tiejun had slightly modified his old flintlock hunting rifle, increasing the gunpowder concentration and the size of the lead pellets. The shot had shattered the cub’s skull, achieving a clean kill.

“Good man, thank you for the rescue...” Kawakawa thanked him weakly. “I am Ichiro Kawakawa...”

“Enough, enough, save the chatter. This is no place to linger. Let’s go, or we won’t be able to leave later.” Zhang Tiejun draped Kawakawa’s arm over his own neck. “I’m a friend of Sakurai Ming. She sent me to save you.”

“The young mistress? You know our young mistress?” Kawakawa asked, ignoring his pain. “How is she?”

“That’s a long story. When we reach a safe place, you can have her tell you herself. Don’t distract me; I need to conserve my strength. If it weren’t for your young mistress, I wouldn’t have provoked these monsters.” Zhang Tiejun focused his energy.

Man-headed bears are creatures of legend in the Changbai Mountains, and their fur should theoretically be extremely valuable. Unfortunately, Zhang Tiejun had no time, energy, or stamina to process it now. Bears have an exceptionally keen sense of smell, capable of detecting scents from kilometers away, let alone the stench of gunpowder and fresh blood.

“Th-thank you,” Kawakawa said, obediently falling silent.

As Zhang Tiejun had anticipated, when they were about ten miles away from the cave, a wail resembling the cry of a human infant reached them.

“It’s that monster,” Kawakawa warned. The monster he referred to was the man-headed bear.

“Don’t talk so much. Can you walk on your own? We have at least twenty more miles of mountain road to cover,” Zhang Tiejun asked.

Kawakawa nodded. “I can’t run, but I think I have the strength to walk.”

“Then move fast. I can’t guarantee I’ll stay to fight if that bear catches up.”

Kawakawa nodded quickly and followed Zhang Tiejun, scurrying along the path they had already marked. Many of his wounds had scabbed over, but the pain was excruciating.

The two kicked up snow as they ran. Despite the freezing cold, Kawakawa felt a sweet, itching sensation in his throat. After running five or six miles, he was panting heavily, yet he looked at Zhang Tiejun and saw that he was completely unaffected.

Kawakawa felt uneasy; he clearly sensed that this young man was no ordinary person.

Zhang Tiejun did not take the short path but led Kawakawa onto a longer, main road. Man-headed bears were skilled at ambushes and rarely attacked head-on; the scent of humans on the main road would serve as a warning to the beast.

Zhang Tiejun ran while observing the surroundings. Caution was his secret, his talisman for survival in the Changbai Mountains. No one could imagine what crazy actions a man-headed bear that had lost its young might take.