Zhang Yuanmin hadn’t taken more than a few steps before Zhao Jun pulled him back. Zhang Yuanmin yelled the whole ti, "Brother, don’t stop ! Don’t stop !"
"Alright, Brother Zhang, just calm down." Zhao Jun pulled him over to the fire and called to Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, shave so at off that Black Bear’s leg."
Li Baoyu grunted in agreent, then took out his Invasion Blade. He sliced into the inner part of the Black Bear’s hind thigh, carving off one strip of at after another.
"What, are we stopping for a al?" Zhang Yuanmin asked, watching as Zhao Jun took out his aluminum lunch box.
"Yeah. You already have a fire going, so it saves us the trouble of starting one." Zhao Jun opened the container, setting aside the smaller box of sauce inside. He took just the lid over to Li Baoyu and arranged the strips of bear at on it one by one.
Roasting buns and bear at, the three n gathered around the fire and ate their fill.
After they finished eating, they gathered up everything Li Dachen and Li Erchen had dropped: their axes, Invasion Blades, and even a dog-skin hat. Then, they tied a rope around the bear’s legs and prepared to drag it down the mountain and head for ho.
In truth, returning the way they ca would have been shorter, but Zhang Yuanmin insisted on heading in the direction the Li Brothers had fled.
This would add an extra mile or two to their journey back to Yong’an Village. Zhao Jun was against it, but he couldn’t do anything about Li Baoyu, who kept egging them on.
"Are you an idiot?" Zhao Jun moved closer to Li Baoyu and kicked him in the shin.
"Brother, what’d you kick for?" Li Baoyu muttered under his breath.
Zhao Jun jabbed a finger into his ribs and glanced back at Zhang Yuanmin, who was now wildly swinging an axe through the air. He turned back to Li Baoyu. "He’ll actually fucking do it."
"Huh?" Li Baoyu was shocked. When he looked forward again, Zhang Yuanmin happened to turn around and shout at them, "Stop chatting! Let’s go!"
"Brother, what should we do?" Li Baoyu began to panic, afraid Zhang Yuanmin would actually kill those two with his axe.
"What else can we do?" Zhao Jun said irritably. "We’ll have to try and hold him back later."
"Brothers, let’s go!" Zhang Yuanmin urged them from ahead.
Helpless, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu could only join forces with Zhang Yuanmin and drag the Black Bear forward.
About a mile ahead of them, under a large Da Hong pine, Li Dachen had just finished bandaging Li Erchen’s wounds.
You had to hand it to him, Li Erchen was lucky to be alive. He’d bled a lot, but aside from the bear bite on his shoulder, the rest were just superficial wounds.
First, Li Dachen unwrapped his own leg bindings and used them to bandage Li Erchen’s head.
The Black Bear had clawed the back of Li Erchen’s head, leaving three bloody gashes, but it hadn’t been a solid hit.
Li Dachen used the leg bindings to wrap his head until he looked more or less like a mummy, with only his two eyes showing.
Then, he unwrapped Li Erchen’s own leg bindings, had him take off his cotton-padded jacket, and wrapped the claw marks the Black Bear had left on his back.
Finally, he bandaged Li Erchen’s shoulder. Although this was the most serious injury, it was bleeding the least.
The mont he tried to lift his arm, Li Erchen howled in pain.
By the ti all the bandaging was done, Li Erchen was nearly frozen stiff. He sat shivering by the fire Li Dachen had started, trying to get warm.
"B-Brother," Li Erchen’s teeth were chattering from the cold, but he still asked, "Zhang Yuanmin... he’ll be okay, right?"
"He’ll be fine," Li Dachen said. "I heard a gunshot just now. Soone must have saved him."
Li Erchen thought for a mont, then asked, "But what if the Black Bear killed him first?"
"Well..." Li Dachen faltered at that. The three of them had gone up the mountain to hunt the bear together. Two of them ca back, leaving Zhang Yuanmin alone on the mountain. It would be a miracle if Zhang Yuanmin’s family let them off the hook.
Just then, Li Erchen cried out. He felt an unbearable, throbbing pain in his shoulder.
"Let’s go. I’ll take you back first and we’ll find Doctor Han to take a look at you." Li Dachen stood up to help Li Erchen.
As Li Dachen helped him up, Li Erchen asked, "Brother, are you sure we don’t need to go back and check?"
A bitter expression crossed Li Dachen’s face. "Li Er, I’ll be honest with you. The thought of going back to that Black Bear’s Den... I’m just too scared."
" too," Li Erchen admitted. "Just hearing a Black Bear roar makes my scalp tingle."
The two brothers headed for ho, but with his injuries, Li Erchen couldn’t walk fast, constantly starting and stopping.
As for Zhao Jun and the others, even though they were dragging a black bear that weighed over two hundred pounds, pulling it across the snow was surprisingly easy. Sharing the burden, the three of them didn’t feel tired at all.
As they walked, Zhang Yuanmin suddenly stopped. Li Baoyu, who was next to him, turned his head and saw Zhang Yuanmin craning his neck to look ahead.
Just then, Zhao Jun also noticed sothing was up and asked Zhang Yuanmin, "Brother Zhang, what are you looking at?"
Zhang Yuanmin pointed ahead and asked, "Is that them?"
"Huh?" Li Baoyu looked ahead. He was much taller than Zhang Yuanmin.
As the saying goes: The taller you are, the farther you see.
Li Baoyu spotted Li Dachen and Li Erchen imdiately, but he didn’t know if he should say anything.
But before Li Baoyu could speak, Zhang Yuanmin turned, grabbed the Large Axe tied to the bear, and furiously charged after Li Dachen and Li Erchen.
"Brother, shouldn’t we stop him?" Seeing that soone was about to get killed, Li Baoyu hastily asked Zhao Jun beside him.
Zhao Jun grabbed Li Baoyu. "Brother, be careful. Don’t let him hit you with that axe."
Even though Li Dachen and Li Erchen had acted dishonorably, they couldn’t just watch Zhang Yuanmin hack them to death on the mountain. Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu dropped the rope and both gave chase.
Just then, as Li Dachen and Li Erchen were walking, they suddenly heard cursing from behind. They turned and saw it was Zhang Yuanmin. Li Erchen was just about to ask with concern how he was when he heard Li Dachen shout, "Li Er! Run!"
Li Erchen suddenly saw the Large Axe in Zhang Yuanmin’s hand. He was clearly coming for the two of them. Panicked, Li Erchen turned and ran.
Zhang Yuanmin had short legs and baggy pants, so he ran with an awkward shuffle. Normally, he couldn’t outrun anyone.
But today, with his multiple injuries, Li Erchen couldn’t run fast at all.
"Motherfucker! I’ll fucking kill you!" Zhang Yuanmin caught up to Li Erchen and swung the axe!
From the side, Li Dachen rushed over and shoulder-checked Zhang Yuanmin away. "Brother Zhang, what are you doing?"
"What am I doing? I’ll fucking kill YOU!" Zhang Yuanmin didn’t care who it was; he had no intention of letting either brother go. Since Li Dachen had stepped forward, he swung the axe straight at him.
In a normal brawl, Li Dachen could take care of Zhang Yuanmin with a couple of punches. But now Zhang Yuanmin was swinging a Large Axe, and the unard Li Dachen had nothing to defend himself with. He could only turn and run.
Zhang Yuanmin chased Li Dachen for over a hundred ters, but saw that Li Dachen was too fast and he couldn’t keep up. Frustrated and furious, Zhang Yuanmin suddenly rembered the injured Li Erchen. ’I’ll kill your brother first,’ he thought, ’then I’ll co back for you!’
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