"boom!"
A burst of flames erupted, and rubble flew everywhere.
When the smoke cleared, the mother bear was lying motionless on the ground, half of her body charred black.
Tie Niu got up from a short distance away, his face covered in mud, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.
"It's done!" he laughed and waved. "Brother Du, it's done!"
Du Jianshan let out a long breath and slumped to the ground.
The mountain wind whistled by, dispersing the smoke of battle and carrying away the fear.
"Let's go, skin them first, and get down the mountain before dawn." Du Jianshan stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and said, "These two bears together can be traded for three cows."
Tie Niu grinned: "Then I need to get married!"
"Ha, it's easy to get a wife, but hard to keep her alive," Du Jianshan said with a laugh.
The sky in the distance is gradually turning white. The birds in the mountains and forests have begun to sing again.
As the two descended the mountain, the eastern sky was just beginning to lighten. Mist drifted around their feet, making the mountain path slippery. When they reached the halfway point, Tie Niu suddenly stopped.
"Brother Du... listen."
In the sound of the wind, there seemed to be faint footsteps coming from behind.
Du Jianshan turned around.
The woods were deserted.
He frowned, took a few steps, and then stopped. The sound also stopped.
Something is following us.
Tie Niu was so scared he almost jumped out of his skin: "No way!"
"Shut up!"
Du Jianshan suddenly turned around and raised his gun.
"who?"
silence.
A sparrow fluttered up from a branch, startling Tie Niu so much that he almost knelt down.
"It's a bird...it's a bird!"
Du Jianshan did not put down his musket, but continued to stare at the shadowy trees.
After a long pause, he said in a low voice, "It's not a bird."
Just as Tie Niu opened his mouth to ask a question, a sharp "snap" came from beneath their feet.
That's the sound of bones breaking!
The two looked down at the same time and saw that the pool of blood at their feet had somehow regained a faint green glow, as if illuminated by moonlight.
"Hurry up!" Du Jianshan suddenly pulled Tie Niu and turned to run away.
The mountain road wound its way through as they ran frantically. Iron Ox, panting heavily, glanced back and suddenly saw a pair of green eyes in the mist! Exactly the same as the beast's from the night before.
He was so shocked he could barely speak: "Brother Du! It's still alive!"
Du Jianshan didn't answer, but just growled, "Don't turn around!"
The two ran all the way to the foot of the mountain, and the fog behind them slowly dissipated only when the first ray of sunlight shone into the forest.
They collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
"Brother Du, what exactly is that thing?" Tie Niu's voice trembled.
Du Jianshan remained silent for a long time before saying, "The mountain shouldn't be destroyed. Even if people want to hunt, they must respect the mountain. Last night's explosion... may have startled the mountain's spirit."
Tie Niu stared blankly, his mouth agape.
Du Jianshan looked up at the mountain peak, where the clouds and mist were churning into a huge vortex.
He muttered, "Something's probably going to happen in this area."
That evening, the villagers saw Du Jianshan return with Tie Niu, covered in blood and ash. Old hunter Wang Da Niang rushed to greet him: "Jianshan, what happened? Did you catch anything good?"
Du Jianshan looked at him strangely and shook his head: "He hit it, but he shouldn't have."
"What do you mean?"
He didn't answer, but just gazed towards the mountain. At that moment, everyone saw a pair of faint, eerie green lights emanating from the forest at the mountaintop.
As the wind rose, the hunting dogs barked softly in unison, as if sensing something.
Du Jianshan said in a low voice, "Don't mention the matter of starting the fire again."
"Why?" Tie Niu asked instinctively.
Du Jianshan turned around, his eyes filled with deep apprehension: "Because that's not a beast, it's a 'thing' guarding the mountain."
He gazed into the depths of the forest, his voice so low it was almost inaudible:
"We've messed with the big boss in the mountains."
After that night, the villagers all said:
There were no more traces of beasts in the mountains, except at midnight, when green lights moved through the forest, like eyes or fire.
Du Jianshan would sit silently in front of the fire pit, with a charred piece of animal bone beside him.
Someone asked him, "Did you really hit it that day?"
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