With no other choice, I emerged from the bushes and shielded them from behind.
It was primarily Shangguan Yao.
After all, this woman had performed admirably yesterday.
I glanced at the two of them and said, "Hurry back to the cave and get the guns. I'll hold them off here!"
Pan Lili, seeing the black bear approaching us, seemed to panic. She actually intended to run into the stream!
Damn it.
Pan Lili, that idiotic woman, does she have any common sense!
I grabbed Pan Lili's hand, slapped her, and yelled, "Are you brainless! Do you know if the black bear is useful? Go back with Shangguan Yao!"
The black bear seemed intimidated by my voice and stopped.
Taking advantage of this pause, I pushed Shangguan Yao towards the bushes: "Hurry up and go!"
Shangguan Yao looked back at me with concern, her voice choked with tears, "Lu Ziye, you must survive!"
With that, she stumbled, pulling Pan Lili along, and disappeared from my sight into the bushes.
Seeing them leave, I turned back and stared intently into the black bear's eyes, clenching my alloy knife in my left hand.
Facing such a ferocious animal, exposing your back to it is essentially a death sentence. I had to intimidate it first!
The black bear, seeing me confront it, roared, as if testing whether I posed a threat.
I roared back, not to be outdone, but my heart was pounding. If I went head-to-head with the bear, my chances of winning were less than thirty percent.
I felt my pocket, and the sap of the poison arrowwood I had collected earlier was still there. Perhaps at the most critical moment, this sap would be the key to my counter-kill!
Just then, the black bear, seemingly deeming me no threat, approached me again.
When paths cross, the brave win. I knew that if I hesitated and retreated now, the black bear would surely not spare me. If I advanced to confront it, there was still a sliver of hope.
So, I gritted my teeth and, instead of retreating, advanced towards the black bear.
Beside the stream, man and bear faced each other, neither willing to yield.
The black bear seemed enraged by my actions. It roared and charged at me fiercely, swiping at me with its paw.
Its attack seemed somewhat slow in my eyes. I dodged through the gap with a sidestep and, in return, swung my knife, cutting its left arm and leaving a deep gash.
Injured, the black bear became even more ferocious. Its paws rained down on me like a storm.
I felt like a tiny boat tossed about on a raging sea, in danger of capsizing at any moment!
This wouldn't work. The black bear's hide was thick, and I would lose my fighting ability if I was hit even once. I needed to find an opportunity to plunge the bamboo sliver, coated with the deadly poison, into the black bear.
The situation grew more perilous. Under the bear's onslaught, I could only barely hold on. Several times, I caught the foul stench emanating from its slobbering maw.
Unknowingly, three bloody scratches appeared on my face, the stinging pain stimulating my nerves.
At this moment, I became desperate.
Even if the boss ends up being eaten by you, you beast, I'll still take a few pieces of meat from you before I die!
Just as I was about to reach into my pocket for the bamboo sliver to fight the bear to the death, a sharp crack sounded from the bushes.
Whoosh!
Immediately after, an arrow lodged itself in the black bear's eye, causing it to yelp in pain.
Seizing the opportunity, I lunged forward and plunged the bamboo sliver into the black bear's chest. The bear staggered a few times before crashing to the ground.
Seeing the black bear dead, I exhaled a sigh of relief.
The pain that had been suppressed now surged, and my whole body felt numb.
I collapsed onto the ground.
Only then did I have the chance to look at the person who had helped me.
I turned my head and my eyes lit up!
It was a dashing, short-haired mixed-race woman. Was it her who had shot the black bear with an arrow just now?
The short-haired woman appeared to be in her mid-twenties, wearing a somewhat dirty leather jacket, giving her a travel-worn look.
I squinted at her.
"Who are you?"
The woman nonchalantly swept her hair back and spoke to me in excellent Chinese: "My Chinese name is Qu Xiangyun. We'll talk about other things later. Let's deal with this black bear first, lest it attract other predators."
Saying that, she took out a small knife from her embrace and skillfully plunged it into the black bear's chest.
I grunted in response, stood up, and joined her in dismembering the bear.
But my mind raced with thoughts about the woman's origin.
Just then, Shangguan Yao and Guan Hai'er hurried over. Upon seeing that I was unharmed, Shangguan Yao breathed a sigh of relief and said with great surprise, "Lu Ziye, you're amazing! You actually managed to kill the black bear!"
Seeing Shangguan Yao holding the handgun, I felt a bit relieved. It seemed she had some conscience and didn't just abandon me after running away.
I smiled and took the gun, saying to her, "It's all thanks to the valiant Qu for her timely rescue. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to fight that black bear alone."
Hearing this, Qu Xiangyun greeted the two women indifferently and then resumed dissecting the bear. Guan Hai'er, seeing this, also stepped forward to help.
Seeing Shangguan Yao standing idly, I beckoned to her: "What are you standing there for? Come and help us!"
Shangguan Yao shook her head and stepped back a few paces, looking somewhat frightened.
"I don't want to be involved in such bloody work."
"You've been on this island for days, and you still can't get used to this? You can't let go of your CEO persona. Come and help us with the work!"
I frowned. Shangguan Yao was truly spoiled and accustomed to luxury. It was time to temper her spirit.
Shangguan Yao looked at me with some grievance, but to my surprise, she didn't argue. She reluctantly walked over to the black bear and joined us in cleaning it up.
Just skinning the bear took us half the day.
I was delighted. This black bear meat alone must weigh over a hundred pounds. If we couldn't eat it all, we could dry it for future provisions. We also obtained a complete bear hide.
After we had completely dismembered the black bear, we happily carried our spoils back to the cave.
At the cave entrance, we saw Luo Yaqin leaning against the wall, waiting for us with a look of anxiety. Upon seeing an unfamiliar woman with us, she first froze, then turned to me with concern, "Lu Ziye, are you alright? When I saw Shangguan Yao with the gun earlier, I hurriedly pulled Guan Hai'er and rushed out."
She then gently touched the three scratches on my face with a look of distress.
I feigned nonchalance and said, "We encountered a black bear, but it's now our dinner."
As I spoke, I gestured Qu Xiangyun forward and introduced her to everyone in the cave: "This is Qu Xiangyun, who helped me kill the bear just now."
Pan Lili suddenly stood up from the ground: "You were the person we saw by the stream, weren't you?"
Qu Xiangyun straightened her clothes and said calmly, "You saw me. I had already warned you, but you didn't heed me."
I saw Pan Lili's expression turn agitated, as if she were blaming Qu Xiangyun entirely for the encounter with the black bear and was about to confront her.
I frowned and reprimanded her.
"We'll discuss this after we've dealt with the meat. For now, let's process this."
I directed everyone to spread the meat out on the rocks outside the cave to dry, and we fetched a few buckets of seawater, preparing to air-dry it into jerky.
Once everything was done, we were also hungry.
We boiled some seafood and ate around the campfire.
Halfway through the meal, Guan Hai'er noticed a large logo on the back of Qu Xiangyun's leather jacket and asked curiously, "Sister Xiangyun, the emblem on your jacket looks so familiar?"
Qu Xiangyun put down her food, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I haven't mentioned it until now. My name is Qu Xiangyun, number YKZ0074. I am a member of Group One of the China Emergency Rescue Team. I was dispatched to this sea area to search for survivors of the recent cruise ship disaster."