Chapter Thirty-Three: Encounter with the Brown Bear

Xiao Ding approached the spot, which was near where he had crushed the gray wolf last time. He bent down, moved aside some stones with his hand, and found a jade pendant about the size of a copper coin nestled in a crevice. Placing it in his palm, Xiao Ding felt a vague sense of familiarity—could it be something he had lost himself?

When he had awoken from unconsciousness last time, for some unknown reason, all his clothes were gone. If this really was his jade pendant, it certainly wouldn’t have remained on him. If it wasn’t his, then perhaps it belonged to the man whose body had been mostly devoured by the wolves. Yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this piece of jade was somehow, in some intangible way, connected to him.

As he pondered, a sudden flurry of hurried footsteps on crushed stone and fallen leaves reached his ears. Xiao Ding looked up toward the sound and saw a gray, innocent-looking puppy dashing toward him.

The little gray “puppy” stopped in front of Xiao Ding, circled him, sniffed, and then nuzzled his pant leg with its head, whimpering softly as if it had found a long-lost relative.

Where did this puppy come from? Xiao Ding was startled. Looking more closely, he was even more astonished—this was no puppy at all, but a little wolf! A gray wolf cub!

Xiao Ding’s thoughts immediately flashed to the two enormous gray wolves he had killed. Examining the cub, he noted its resemblance to those two. Could this be their offspring?

Judging by the cub’s demeanor, it seemed to bear no malice toward him—on the contrary, it appeared rather affectionate.

As Xiao Ding stood there, bewildered, a sudden roar shattered the silence—a brown bear burst out from behind a pile of rocks.

The bear was massive—if it stood upright, it would be about as tall as Xiao Ding, but its frame was far more powerful. Its jaws and claws were still stained with blood, as if it had just feasted on a wild animal.

Xiao Ding jumped in fright. He glanced at the wolf cub and instantly understood—the bear must have been chasing it. What rotten luck!

Barely inside the mountains and already facing such a formidable opponent, and it wasn’t even his fault. Judging by the way the bear fixed its gaze on him, it had already shifted its attention to Xiao Ding. Evidently, in the bear’s eyes, this big man was a much better meal than the little wolf—more meat, too.

There was no time to waste. Xiao Ding quickly tucked the jade pendant into his shirt and grabbed his iron cudgel.

Having selected Xiao Ding as its target, the brown bear let out a low growl and charged at him with astonishing speed—nothing clumsy about it at all. In Xiao Ding’s eyes, it was every bit as fast as the giant wolves he’d faced before. He hastily dodged to the side, avoiding the bear’s direct charge, then swung his iron cudgel with all his strength at the bear’s head.

The bear’s initial lunge missed its mark, leaving it enraged. As it prepared to attack again, Xiao Ding’s cudgel came crashing down. The bear instinctively reared up and blocked with its right forearm. With a thunderous crack, the impact sent numbness shooting up Xiao Ding’s arms—he nearly lost his grip on the cudgel.

He was shocked. Thankfully, he possessed spiritual power within; otherwise, the blow might have split his palms. Yet the bear, having taken the hit, merely shook its arm, seemingly unharmed. Xiao Ding was dismayed—he had used considerable force, but the bear had casually blocked it. With such formidable defenses, a head-on fight would only end badly for him. He might as well make a run for it!

If you can’t win, run—that had always been Xiao Ding’s philosophy. He was no fool to risk his life in a hopeless fight.

Taking advantage of the bear’s brief daze after the blow, Xiao Ding spun around and fled into the forest. The bear gave chase.

The clearing was small, and the forest’s edge was close. Xiao Ding didn’t bother to pick a direction, plunging into the woods as fast as he could. Hearing the bear crashing after him, he glanced back—heavens above! The brute was incredibly fast, nearly upon him, and clearly more familiar with the terrain.

Xiao Ding quickly changed direction. Though the bear’s speed faltered slightly as it turned, it still pursued relentlessly.

He realized escape would not be easy; sooner or later, the bear would catch him. Unfamiliar with the area, if he stumbled upon another wild beast, he’d be even worse off.

How could he shake off the bear?

As he racked his brain, the bear closed in again. Xiao Ding immediately changed direction once more.

Running desperately, he suddenly spotted a tall tree ahead. Without a second thought, he tossed aside the cudgel and scrambled up the trunk. When he had climbed more than thirty feet, he glanced down—and nearly lost his soul from fright.

How could he have forgotten? Bears can climb trees too!

Though the bear appeared somewhat ungainly, its actions betrayed no clumsiness. It was now only about ten feet below Xiao Ding, laboriously hauling its heavy body upward.

With no other option, Xiao Ding climbed higher.

This tree was slightly taller and sturdier than the others in the forest, perhaps fifty or sixty feet in all. Xiao Ding climbed another ten feet or so, reaching the canopy, where the branches became more numerous but the trunk grew ever thinner.

Though not as burly as the bear, Xiao Ding was still a tall and well-built man, weighing over one hundred and eighty pounds. Another three feet or so up, the branches would just about bear his weight; any higher, and they might not support him.

The bear was doggedly persistent, climbing step by step, a bit slower than Xiao Ding but never pausing.

Xiao Ding muttered to himself—was all this really worth it for one blow with the cudgel?

The bear, weighing several hundred pounds, if it climbed to the treetop, might well snap the branches with their combined weight before ever reaching Xiao Ding. If the bear fell, that was one thing; but it might well bring Xiao Ding down with it.

He could not let it climb any higher!

But how to stop it?

Xiao Ding glanced down. The bear was now twenty-odd feet above the ground. At such a height, a fall would leave it crippled, if not dead. But how could he make it fall?

Judging by the bear's steady climb, Xiao Ding knew that if he got too close, it would swipe or bite at him; he might end up wounded without managing to dislodge it.

After a moment's thought, he decisively drew the dagger from his belt and swiftly hacked at a branch near him, one just thicker than his thumb.

In a few strokes, the branch came free. Xiao Ding hooked his legs over a sturdy limb, hung upside down, gripped the trunk with one hand and brandished the branch with the other, thrashing wildly at the bear’s head.

Sure enough, the bear paused, dodging and freeing a paw to swat or bite at the branch.

The branch posed no real threat, but Xiao Ding hoped to use it to drive the bear off.

After a few blows, when Xiao Ding wasn’t paying attention, the bear seized the branch in its jaws, gave a violent twist, and yanked Xiao Ding right off the tree…