"Young Prince"
Marquis of Pingyang
As Li Qingchen was greeting Sun Xingjian, Pan Wenjun behind Sun Xingjian became anxious: "Oh dear, what time is it? Don't you remember etiquette?"
Sun Xingjian originally wanted to ask Li Qingchen why he was in the hunting grounds, and Li Qingchen also wanted to ask him about his injuries, but after Pan Wenjun's shout, neither of them said another word.
Seeing that the two of them had suddenly fallen silent, Pan Wenjun became even more anxious: "What's the situation now? Should we hurry up and escape?"
"Escape?" Li Qingchen uttered a single word, tinged with contempt. A slight smile played on his lips, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes: "Two pairs of bear paws delivered to your door, don't you want them?"
"Bear, bear paw?" Pan Wenjun was still clutching her chest where she had been injured earlier, unable to understand why Li Qingchen was still in the mood to joke at this moment.
When she was in the north, she saw her father lead a group to hunt bears, but it was a group of more than a dozen skilled fighters who surrounded them, and in the end, two of them were seriously injured, while the others also had minor injuries.
"Just the three of us?"
Li Qingchen's pupils slid slightly backward, glancing sideways at Pan Wenjun, before he corrected her in a deep voice, "I can do it myself."
Pan Wenjun clicked her tongue in disbelief, and Sun Xingjian was also puzzled. Just as the two were stunned, Li Qingchen had already rushed out and headed towards the location of the black bear.
In the thick fog, the black bear was blind, but Li Qingchen was able to pinpoint its exact location with his exceptional hearing. Li Qingchen slashed through the air with his longsword, and with a flash of blood, a bear ear flew out of the fog, landing just a few steps away from Sun Xingjian.
Sun Xingjian stared intently. It wasn't just a simple bear ear; a large chunk of scalp had been torn off, making it a rather gruesome sight. Sun Xingjian felt a strange unease. Although he was facing an animal, he could inexplicably sense Li Qingchen's anger, as if it stemmed from some deep-seated grudge. But the bear hadn't attacked him; where did his anger come from?
The bear was thoroughly enraged by Li Qingchen's sword strike. It roared and howled aimlessly in the thick fog! Although it couldn't pinpoint Li Qingchen's location, it quickly ran to a place where the fog thinned and its vision returned.
As the black bear regained its vision, it also fully exposed its body to Li Qingchen. Li Qingchen took a close look at the bear's rear end, confirming his suspicions.
Yes, his sword strike just now was indeed driven by a bit of anger towards this beast, because it was the very bear that had left the scar on his arm years ago.
He had only been in Shengjing for a few years at that time and was still a teenager. Because other noble young men disliked him, a hostage from Qiaochuan, they deliberately set a trap for him during a hunt, which attracted this black bear.
His skills at that time were incomparable to those of today, and he was completely unable to deal with a bear. He could only try his best to lure the bear away using his lightness skills. In order to lead the bear to the young prince who had set the trap, he did not hesitate to suffer a severe injury that reached the bone.
But he succeeded in the end, and that day became the anniversary of the young prince's death.
The hunting grounds established by His Majesty suffered a tragic incident, resulting in one death and one serious injury. Afterwards, His Majesty offered condolences to both prefectures. The hunting grounds given to Li Qingchen were these very hunting grounds.
The reason Li Qingchen could recognize this black bear today was because, although he was injured back then, he had stabbed the bear in the rump with his sword and cut off its tail. And the bear in front of him indeed had no tail.
Li Qingchen had always known that he was a man who would seek revenge for every wrong done to him, and that even the smallest grudge would be repaid with a great one. He had kept the grudge from his youth silently in his heart, and every year when he came hunting, he hoped to encounter it, but he never did. Unexpectedly, after searching high and low without finding it, it came to him effortlessly.
So how could he possibly escape?
These memories flashed through his mind, but only for a moment. Li Qingchen quickly drew his sword and attacked again. After seeing his movements, the black bear immediately stood up, trying to raise itself as high as possible, ready to accept the challenge from the human.
The bear's stance gave Li Qingchen an opportunity. He originally intended to strike the bear's chest with his sword, but just as the sword was about to reach it, the bear suddenly landed on all fours, causing him to miss. He had no choice but to take out one of its eyes instead.
The roar echoed through the forest. Sun Xingjian, who was not far away, frowned. He had originally intended to go forward to help, but seeing that Li Qingchen's methods clearly indicated that he was not in a hurry to kill the bear, but rather wanted to torture it...
He was already in a very good position, and if I went up to him, it would only disrupt his plans.
Pan Wenjun was also somewhat confused: "What is the young Prince Qiaochuan doing?"
"Bear hunting."
"I know he's hunting a bear, but he seems a bit off. Does the bear have a grudge against him?"
Sun Xingjian couldn't answer either, and after a long while he could only manage to say, "Let him be, let's just wait here."
Before long, Yuan Que and the others arrived, intending to help, but their young master waved them off, signaling them not to interfere. He was going to hunt this bear alone today.
The fight lasted for about an incense stick's time before it finally ended. Li Qingchen returned carrying two pairs of bear paws, walked up to Sun Xingjian and Pan Wenjun, and said calmly, "Let's go back."
Sun Xingjian looked at his face splattered with blood, then at the still-dripping bear paw in his hand, swallowed hard, and nodded heavily.
Pan Wenjun nodded and followed them outside.
Along the way, Sun Xingjian and Pan Wenjun did not speak, but they exchanged glances from time to time, and they understood each other's meaning. It seems that the rumors about the young Prince Qiaochuan were not unfounded.
A young boy led a group through the desert. After being robbed by bandits, he emerged unscathed. However, of the hundreds of people in the group, only he remained.
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