The tense night passed, and the members of the tribe began to busily work before dawn had even broken.
They braided tools and packed their belongings, continuing their migration.
The Horse-Faced Bear trailed behind, following them closely.
Soon, the hunters caught new prey.
A 1.5-meter-long silly roe deer and a 60-centimeter-long wild rabbit.
As soon as the prey was caught, Si He led some people over. She arranged for them to skin the silly roe deer quickly and set up a pot to cook it.
Smelling the scent of blood, the Horse-Faced Bear quickly caught up.
A 60-centimeter-long wild rabbit was tossed right in front of it.
Its movements visibly stiffened, and it slowly raised its massive head, staring at the hunters in front of it as if questioning its very existence as a bear.
The wild rabbit before it wasn't even enough to stick between its teeth.
The hunters were clearly scared out of their wits, holding their spears with trembling hands as they watched it, their bodies backing away bit by bit.
It stepped forward toward the spears, eventually spotting the silly roe deer already cooking in the pot, as well as the shredded hide and a pile of entrails discarded on the ground.
Judging by the small amount of entrails, the prey was clearly not that large, but it was still much bigger than the wild rabbit.
The tribe members gathered around, holding their spears and watching it nervously.
Looking at their posture and then at the silly roe deer already in the pot, the Horse-Faced Bear turned and walked away indifferently.
It walked over to the wild rabbit and began to eat unhurriedly.
Seeing this, the hunters let out a sigh of relief.
Soon, two men ran over and threw the silly roe deer hide and its entrails in front of the Horse-Faced Bear.
The Horse-Faced Bear paused for a moment before continuing to eat in a leisurely manner.
The two who had delivered the entrails and the silly roe deer hide sighed with relief. Along with the other hunters, who had clearly relaxed quite a bit, they departed.
The Horse-Faced Bear ate quietly, not even raising its head to look at them.
Watching this scene from the hillside, Si He's gaze was calm.
The tribe members finally managed to eat a hearty meal.
This time, Si Cang and his group also joined in to eat the meat.
Everyone did their best to eat and drink their fill, with no intention of saving any for later; they cleaned out everything edible and sucked the bones completely dry of marrow.
The tribe began their migration once more.
They crossed two hills and arrived at a cleared forest patch. There, they began setting up camp and busy themselves with preparations.
Night fell.
The area around the camp was brightly lit with torches.
The Horse-Faced Bear emerged from the darkness and walked slowly toward the camp.
Its crimson tongue licked across its white, razor-sharp fangs, and its dark brown eyes flickered with indifference.
It walked toward the camp step by step.
Today's prey had been too small, leaving it highly unsatisfied.
As the distance closed, its footsteps grew lighter.
Its paws stepped over piles of dry leaves as it stared at the camp.
The camp was still brightly lit with torches, but it felt that something was amiss.
Was it perhaps a bit too quiet?
It leaned in closer to peer. Two hunters were patrolling in front of the camp, holding spears.
It relaxed slightly; it had thought these humans had run away. It was fine as long as they hadn't fled.
Lowering its body, it prepared to circle around to the flank.
Swoosh!
The pile of dry leaves in front of it suddenly erupted into the air, causing its body to shudder in shock.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
At that exact moment, the successive sounds of dry leaves erupting echoed all around.
Startled, the Horse-Faced Bear looked around with shock and suspicion.
One after another, tribe members covered in black mud and dry leaves leaped out from the piles. The torches in their hands suddenly flared to life, and they let out strange, wild cries of "Wu-wa-wa!"
The erratic and rapid "Wu-wa-wa" cries blended together, which, combined with the bright torches and flickering human silhouettes, caused the Horse-Faced Bear's muscles to tense up. It kept turning its head in all directions, letting out warning roars.
The actions of these tribe members spoke the language of the hunt. Suddenly ambushed, the Horse-Faced Bear panicked instinctively.
Torches were thrown at its feet and behind it, immediately igniting into a raging fire.
It quickly dodged the flames, roaring at the tribe members in a mixture of shock and anger. It bared its sharp teeth and twisted its face in a savage expression, trying to frighten them away.
But the torches did not stop coming.
The fire spread rapidly, burning through a large swath of thick thatch and dry branches, suddenly surging up into a tall wall of fire.
Almost at the exact same moment, spears came flying out from behind the wall of fire with immense force, actually piercing through the Horse-Faced Bear's thick hide.
The Horse-Faced Bear let out a pained roar, quickly searching for a path of escape amidst the soaring wall of fire and the constantly flying spears.
It then discovered that the path directly ahead, leading to the camp, was free of fire.
The two men who had been patrolling the camp earlier were now running toward it in a hurry, holding spears and carrying torches.
The instant they saw its gaze sweep over them, they shuddered violently with fear.
Even so, they gritted their teeth and threw the torches in their hands.
The torches traced beautiful arcs in the air and landed in the pile of dry grass before the Horse-Faced Bear, looking as if they were about to ignite a blazing fire.
The Horse-Faced Bear swiped its claw, slapping away the dry grass and fallen leaves in front of it, and chased straight after the two men with an angry roar.
Seeing this, the two men fled for their lives.
The Horse-Faced Bear's massive body covered several meters with a single stride. Catching up in just a few steps, it raised its forebody and swung its thick, powerful paw downward with brutal force.
Whoosh!
A whistling sound of breaking air resounded!
From the Horse-Faced Bear's left, a massive, heavy swinging log came flying toward it.
The timing was impeccable, striking it heavily right in the face. The incredibly powerful blow distorted its features and left it completely disoriented.
It let out a pained cry. Before its body could even regain its footing on the ground, another equally massive solid log swung heavily from the right, slamming directly into the junction of its face and neck.
This blow caused it to shriek in sheer agony.
Before its shriek was even halfway finished, a massive rope noose was thrown down from on high, landing perfectly around its thick, round neck.
“Quick! It's secured!”
Si Cang's loud shout echoed from the high tree branches.
Beside a nearby cliff, two men quickly pried at a massive boulder upon hearing the shout.
The boulder rumbled as it rolled over the gravel supporting it and the slightly raised edge of the high cliff, plummeting down the precipice and dragging the thick rope tied to it along.
Beside the two men, with a sharp snap, the slack rope instantly tightened and pulled taut.
Not far away, just as the Horse-Faced Bear hit the ground, the noose suddenly tightened, instantly constricting its neck and hoisting it right off the ground.
Its massive body was forced upright, exposing its relatively soft underbelly.
At this very moment, Yan Shou, who had long been lying in ambush in front of the Horse-Faced Bear, immediately sprang up. Harnessing the explosive power of his spinal dragon, he threw the spear in his hand with all his might.
Swoosh!
The spear flew like lightning, stabbing squarely into the Horse-Faced Bear's belly, with nearly half of the shaft sinking in.
Compared to the spears they had previously thrown at its flanks and rump that had barely broken through its defense, this spear was clearly buried deep within its flesh.
“Throw!”
He barked.
The tribe's hunters gathered around one after another, hurling the spears in their hands.
However, their strength was far inferior; the spears barely sank in by nearly three fen.
Some only sank in two fen.
And this was only because their strength had not yet completely degenerated.
If it had been the ordinary members of the tribe, they would have been absolutely unable to break its defense.
Rate on N.U.
