Chapter 40
Just as the two thought they were about to have a life-or-death struggle and were preparing for the worst, they suddenly heard the roar of an engine outside the car.
The black sedan behind them actually started moving at that moment!
The trio of robbers were ready to run away the moment the black bear left the car, and the crew-cut man driving the car even quietly climbed back into the driver's seat.
They didn't leave immediately because they were waiting for the right opportunity.
Because the man with the buzz cut had seen documentaries before, he knew that black bears can run very fast, reaching speeds of nearly 60 kilometers per hour, and have strong bursts of speed. Moreover, since it was blocking the car, it could turn around at any moment.
If you don't seize the opportunity, you might not only fail to escape but also end up in the bear's jaws.
We've all just witnessed firsthand how "delicate" cars are. The laminated glass couldn't withstand a few blows, and the sheet metal frame probably couldn't withstand a few crushing blows from a bear.
Not to mention that a person's escape speed is nothing compared to that of a black bear, so everyone initially hid in the car and pretended to be dead.
But now that the black bear was struggling with someone else's car window, the crew-cut man saw an opportunity. He gritted his teeth, started the engine, turned the steering wheel, and stepped on the gas. The engine roared out.
As the vehicle successfully passed the black bear that was caught off guard, the person in the lead breathed a sigh of relief. Remembering the RV owner's kind reminder, he blurted out a shout, revealing that the androgynous "he" was actually a woman.
"We'll distract it, you're on your own—" Before the words were even finished, the car had already sped dozens of meters away.
Feeling provoked, the black bear roared, threw away the privacy curtain in its hand, and turned to chase after the black car.
"Grass (a type of plant)." The third person in the car laughed, then looked back and yelled in alarm, "Drive faster! Drive faster!!"
"You two bastards!" the crew-cut man roared back, his face contorted with anger at his two unreliable companions. He slammed the horn twice, the sound startling the black bear into stopping for half a second. He then took the opportunity to floor the accelerator.
The black bear paused for only a moment before accelerating again, instantly closing the distance to the black car.
At this point, the black car had already passed the initial acceleration stage, and the speedometer readings were changing rapidly: seventy, eighty, one hundred... the speed was getting faster and faster.
The black bear chased the RV for 200 meters in one go, but when it finally realized that the distance had not only not decreased, but had actually increased, it turned around in anger and prepared to go back and take its anger out on the RV.
Unexpectedly, when I was about 100 meters away from the RV, my vision suddenly blurred and I returned to where I was.
Its ferocious expression froze for a moment, then it bared its teeth and charged forward again.
Flashback, bewilderment, defiance, another charge.
Go back again, still confused, still unconvinced, keep pushing forward.
This happened several times, but the prey ahead remained as elusive as a mirage on the horizon.
Finally, the black bear stopped about 100 meters away, pacing anxiously back and forth, but its little brain just couldn't figure out how to get across.
Seeing the provocative metal lump disappear into the distance, and realizing that even the most delicious-smelling food was out of reach, it grew increasingly angry and roared, "Roar—!"
Hearing the shouts of the sisters at the front and the commotion behind them, Wang Le carefully opened the door with his knife raised. Fang Xiaoyu and the eldest princess followed closely behind as they came out of the bathroom.
Seeing the black bear's helpless rage, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, only to realize belatedly that their bodies were still trembling. The eldest princess was even braver, still mimicking the action of pouncing and biting.
Wang Le wiped his sweat, relieved: "If you hadn't reminded them, they might not have been able to escape. Without them drawing the black bear away, we wouldn't have gotten away from danger so easily."
Fang Xiaoyu still remembers the tension, fear, and regret she felt at the time.
The three men were originally ill-intentioned; if the bear hadn't come along, there would have been a fight between them.
But because it was a large black bear, not a wild boar or a lamb, but one of the world's top predators, she instinctively felt compassion for her fellow human beings, making it impossible for her to watch them being torn apart by wild beasts while she took the opportunity to escape.
But this very compassion almost led to his own and his friends' deaths.
Thankfully, everything ended peacefully; otherwise, something terrible might have happened...
She said, still shaken, "I'm glad you don't blame me."
Wang Le was initially worried that she would be soft-hearted, so he planned to use the three of them as bait to drive away, so that even if she looked back on it later, she would only blame herself.
Unexpectedly, Fang Xiaoyu reacted quickly and stopped him immediately.
However, now that I think about it, those three weren't so wicked after all, and everyone was safe and sound. Their last shout further confirmed that Fang Xiaoyu had made the right choice.
So he said, "How could I blame you? I also agreed to wait until the three of them got back in the car before we talked. After they got in the car, I didn't think about driving away immediately. If you're talking about risk and responsibility, I also have some responsibility."
Fang Xiaoyu shook her head.
“Black bears can accelerate quickly. RVs are not like cars; they are heavy and have a high load capacity, making them slow to start. If you miss the opportunity to move forward, you'll be at a disadvantage. If it goes berserk and crashes into you… the force is so great that it could easily overturn the vehicle. We still have so much fuel in the vehicle, which doubles the danger. You were right not to drive behind us.”
“I originally hoped that it would lose interest and leave on its own, but now I realize that was too risky and too passive. I underestimated its attachment to the RV. The abundance of food in the RV was also one of the reasons why it was reluctant to leave.”
"Actually, there was a better way at that time, but in the heat of the moment, I lost my mind."
"I can keep my kindness, but the premise is that I can protect myself. I was lucky this time, but I can't guarantee that I can get away with it next time. I will be more cautious when making decisions in the future."
At the same time, she also saw through his initial intention to go drive without saying a word: "Don't always try to take everything on yourself."
Wang Le wanted to scratch his face with his fingers but held back: "Okay."
After reflecting on her actions, Fang Xiaoyu began to inspect the damage inside the car.
The bodywork is fine, but one tire is damaged and needs to be replaced. There's a spare tire on the truck, as well as a jack.
Two of the car windows in the kitchen are broken; we can temporarily cover them with two boards.
A cup broke, but there's a replacement.
The car body is covered in claw marks; it might need a repaint.
...
Overall, the losses were low and acceptable.
As the night drew to a close, and hearing the black bear's occasional roars, the two turned on the car lights and changed the tires overnight. They then found cardboard boxes to block the car windows. By the time they finished, it was not yet 4:30 a.m., and the black bear was still in the same spot.
Fang Xiaoyu suddenly recalled a gossip article she had read before about a lone wolf on the highway that had become fat and lost its wildness after being fed by passing cars, and that it would beg for food from cars. She also remembered a news story about a human and a bear meeting on the highway and getting along peacefully. So she shared her thoughts with Wang Le.
Wang Le was eager to try it: "It's worth a shot."
The two argued over who should go, and decided to play rock-paper-scissors to decide the winner. Fang Xiaoyu was lucky enough to win the opportunity.
She quickly went back to the car and grabbed a jar of maltose, several boxes of dragon beard candy, several bags of cooked sausages, pork jerky, and beef jerky, putting them all into a bag. After Wang Le helped hold the eldest princess to stop it from following, she carried the food towards the black bear.
Overwhelmed by the sensory shock of close encounter with a top predator, she stopped about ten steps away and tossed over a few boxes of dragon beard candy and a few pieces of malt candy.
The black bear was stunned when it was hit in the face, but then it bared its teeth in a show of defiance.
It remembered its lesson and knew that it couldn't cross the boundary, or it would be moved away for no reason, so it was just trying to scare her.
But after realizing she posed no threat, it ignored her and reached for the scattered items on the ground. It picked one up, sniffed it, and deftly pried it open with its paws. It licked the contents and found they were edible, even sweet. It looked at her in disbelief, but seeing that she was just watching quietly, it plopped down and focused on eating.
As it ate, it became happy and growled twice, ignoring the identical packaging around it, and went to look at her hand.
It was clever; it figured out that the food came from that bag.
As Black Bear wished, Fang Xiaoyu took out the remaining items and threw them over one by one.
The black bear raises its paws and opens its mouth to catch the food, and even if one or two pieces accidentally fall on it, it doesn't get angry.
Just as they were happily catching the food, they suddenly realized that no more food was being thrown at them. Looking ahead, they saw that the person who used to feed them had disappeared.
The black bear was stunned for a moment, but looking at the food around it, it didn't take it to heart. Its little brain remembered this amazing experience, and then it happily enjoyed the food on the ground.
Fang Xiaoyu returned with an empty bag.
Seeing that she was safe and sound, Wang Le released the eldest princess, who had been throwing a tantrum because the two of them were causing trouble.
Fang Xiaoyu obediently listened to the "instruction" until Wang Le finished his bath and it was her turn, at which point the eldest princess gently let her go.
Before nightfall, those on duty took their shifts, while others rested.
Unbeknownst to them, the very next day, a car resting by the roadside encountered the black bear.
The startled driver yelled and threw things out of the car: dried mangoes, beef jerky, jam with a loose lid... the heaviest item was a large bottle of juice.
After throwing away the items, they did no harm to the black bear at all; instead, they earned a gaping maw.
Thinking he was going to die here today, the car owner closed his eyes and waited for the painful death to come. Unexpectedly, after waiting for a long time, he heard the sound of the packaging bag being opened, followed by the sound of rustling chewing.
He opened his eyes in disbelief and saw that the black bear was sitting on the ground eating dried mango, taking a bite and then dipping it in jam, ignoring him.
The driver, who had narrowly escaped death, stood there stunned. After regaining his senses, he was too weak to move, but due to the shock, he couldn't help but burp.
Once the hiccups start, it's like they can't stop, one after another, and they're really loud.
The black bear turned its ears back, looked up at him with a puzzled expression, hesitated for a moment, handed him a piece of dried mango back, and then squeezed the remaining packaging bag tightly, as if to say, "That's all, that's all."
The car owner trembled and hesitated for a long time before answering.
The black bear looked at him suspiciously, but seeing that he really didn't intend to take it, it happily took it back, dipped it in some jam, and chewed it with great relish.
The driver managed to escape by abandoning almost all his food. He found a new service area before nearly starving to death, filled his stomach, and then discovered a printed survival manual at the cashier.
He thought for a moment, then wrote down his bizarre experience on the blank page at the back. It was both a sharing and a reminder.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com