At first light, a dog sled departed from Baiqiao Village, heading deep into Baitou Mountain.
The white-haired old man in the driver's seat cracked his whip, sending snow showering down from the trees.
Four men sat on the sled. They wore fur hats and were bundled in thick, padded cotton jackets. Weapons—knives, guns, and bows—lay beside them, along with sacks full of food.
These were the men entering the mountains to hunt the bear: Zhou Pao, Zhao Lin, Zhu Dachun, and Liang Song.
"Zhou Pao, the snow hasn't melted yet. What's the rush to head into the mountains?"
Old Zhuang, the driver, asked.
Old Zhuang was a Hunter himself. Now too old for the trade, he'd taken to raising a dozen local dogs. In the winter, he used his sled to ferry people up and down the mountain, earning a bit of extra money.
Zhou Pao had hired him to take them into the mountains to save their strength from the long trek.
"Just killing time. Figured we'd head into the mountains and try our luck," Zhou Pao said casually.
Old Zhuang turned to look back at them. "You're not still thinking about that bear, are you?"
Zhou Pao chuckled. "Not for a long time. Haven't seen that beast in years. It's probably dead of old age by now."
Zhao Lin listened to their idle chatter, his mind flashing back to saying goodbye to his parents that morning.
"Dad, Mom, my brother's case is almost settled. I'll be staying in the city for a couple of days to handle the connections. I won't be back tonight..."
His parents had believed him, urging him to come back soon.
"Don't worry, our whole family will be back together soon!"
Zhao Lin regretted saying it. 'It feels like I was tempting fate,' he thought. 'In the movies, people who say things like that never get a happy ending.'
"This is it. This old man doesn't dare go any further."
After nearly four hours on the trail, Old Zhuang pulled the reins. The dogs collapsed onto the snow, tongues lolling as they panted out great clouds of hot air.
Zhao Lin looked up to see a ridge dozens of meters high looming ahead, its shape reminiscent of a bird preening its feathers.
He had heard of this place. It was called Lao Gualing.
North of Lao Gualing lay the heart of Baitou Mountain—a true wilderness of deep mountains and ancient forests, a place where aberrant beasts roamed free.
Only a handful of the most experienced old Hunters, who over years had discovered a few relatively safe trails, dared to occasionally venture inside to hunt.
"Thanks, Old Zhuang."
Zhao Lin and the others gathered their gear and disembarked. Zhou Pao pulled a small handful of copper coins from his pocket and gave them to Old Zhuang.
Old Zhuang counted the coins, his weathered face crinkling into a smile. "Should I come pick you all up same time tomorrow?"
"That's right. If we're not here, wait an extra day."
Old Zhuang blinked. "Zhou Pao, pardon my asking, but... what if you're still not back after that extra day?"
"Wait two days, tops. If you don't see us by then, don't bother waiting," Zhou Pao said, his tone matter-of-fact.
Wise with age, Old Zhuang guessed their true purpose but said nothing. He simply turned the sled around and disappeared into the vast, snow-covered forest.
"This path was passed down from my grandfather's generation," Zhou Pao said, leading the way. "We won't run into any aberrant beasts. It's relatively safe."
Zhou Pao led the way, with Zhao Lin and the others following. They skirted Lao Gualing and entered a forest of rough-barked birch trees.
Unlike the outer mountains, the snow here was a foot deep. Aside from the tall trees, everything was a vast expanse of white.
Zhao Lin glanced up at the overcast sky. 'No wonder they say it's easy to get lost in these deep forests,' he thought. 'Everything looks the same in every direction. If you weren't familiar with the area, you could get trapped and never find your way out.'
The four men walked on, warily scanning their surroundings for any movement. Aside from the bear, there could be other dangerous beasts here.
Trekking through the deep snow was exhausting. They made their way in fits and starts, finally reaching the foot of a small hill around noon.
"The bear is 'squatting in its sky-den' inside that tree."
Zhou Pao whispered, pointing to a massive, towering tree in the distance.
After the winter snows begin, black bears—fat and strong after a full autumn of feasting—crawl into tree hollows or earthen dens to hibernate.
This is commonly known as "denning up." Hibernating in a tree hollow is called a "sky den," while hibernating in an earthen burrow is called an "earth den."
This bear was an aberrant beast, but its habits were identical to those of an ordinary black bear.
Before heading into the mountains, Zhao Lin had crammed as much hunting knowledge as he could, all of it told to him by Zhou Pao and the others.
Zhao Lin stared intently and saw an oval-shaped opening among the branches of the massive tree, a dozen-odd meters above the ground.
"Follow me."
Zhou Pao whispered, leading the men into a "snow pit."
A snow pit was just a cave dug into the snow.
Zhou Pao had dug it months ago to make observing the bear easier.
The entrance to the pit was tiny, but inside it opened into a space more than two meters long and wide. The floor was covered with dry grass and roe deer pelts, just big enough for the four of them to squeeze into.
Zhao Lin noticed a small idol embedded in the snow wall. "What god is that?" he asked.
"The Mountain God. He protects us Hunters," Zhou Pao mumbled, taking a bite from a large, flat bread he'd been keeping warm inside his coat.
Zhao Lin glanced at the idol again. 'You'd better be the real deal,' he thought, 'or else...'
Perhaps it was the tension, but none of the four men spoke, eating their food in silence.
After eating and resting for a while, they each took a bedsheet-sized white cloth from their packs and draped it over themselves, covering their bodies from head to toe.
Before storming the den, they had to confirm the bear was actually inside. Otherwise, they'd risk wasting all their effort on an empty hole, and the joke would be on them.
One by one, the four men crawled out of the snow pit. They slowly approached the giant tree, dropping to the ground about a hundred meters away and advancing in a low crawl.
"Damn it, there are tracks on the ground!"
Zhou Pao gestured for the others to halt, then wrote a line in the snow with his finger.
The bear's hearing was too sensitive; speaking might startle it awake. This was the only way they could communicate.
Zhao Lin raised his head slightly. Ahead, the snow was littered with chaotic, Bear's Paw-shaped tracks. They were about two handspans long and one handspan wide, and they led right up to the base of the giant tree.
The tracks pointed in every direction, making it impossible to tell whether the bear was coming or going.
Looking up the trunk of the massive tree, he could see numerous claw marks. Judging by the state of the damaged bark, several of them were fresh.
Zhao Lin also wrote in the snow: 'Fresh claw marks on the tree. Could it have finished hibernating?'
Zhu Dachun shook his head and wrote: 'No. Not time yet.'
He wasn't very literate; he managed just a few characters, substituting two that he didn't know with circles.
Liang Song added his own message: 'A bear gets restless after being cooped up so long. It'll come out for a bit, then go right back to its den.'
Zhao Lin frowned. 'So is it home now or not?' he wondered.
'It's one thing if it's in there. But if it's not, and we go to check... what if we run into it on its way back?'
Zhou Pao gave a soft "shhh" to get their attention, then wrote in the snow: 'A bear is never out of its den for more than half a day. We'll wait here. We'll know soon enough if it's home!'
Zhao Lin and the others agreed it was a good plan, and they settled down to wait quietly in the snow.
The mountain wind began to rise, and drifting snow slowly covered their bodies until they blended seamlessly with the environment.
An hour passed. Then another. The sky gradually began to darken...
Just as Zhao Lin was thinking the bear must be sound asleep in its tree hollow, he heard heavy footsteps from behind them, followed by the CRUNCH of compressed snow.
'It's here!'
Zhao Lin's heart leaped into his throat. Judging from the sound of the steps, it was the bear.
The steps were uneven, one heavy and one light, accompanied by a dragging sound—the bear had a badly injured leg.
The footsteps drew closer. Zhao Lin held his breath, catching a glimpse of Zhou Pao and the other two out of the corner of his eye. Like him, they were as motionless as statues.
THUMP.
A huge, furry foot appeared in Zhao Lin's line of sight, followed by a pair of massive legs, a body as broad and thick as a door, and shoulders as wide as a mountain...
The bear was over three meters tall, a few heads taller than even a polar bear—the largest ursine species from his previous life—standing on its hind legs.
Its fur was a glossy, jet-black, with each strand looking as tough as iron wire.
Zhao Lin had imagined the bear as just an oversized black bear, but seeing it in person was a completely different experience. The sheer oppressive presence it radiated was suffocating.
The bear hobbled to the base of the giant tree and stared blankly for a moment. Then, it used all four limbs to climb the trunk, squeezing itself somewhat clumsily into the hollow.
A short while later, a snore like rolling thunder echoed from within the tree hollow.