Chapter 440 - 421: Danger, Horse Bear

Yun Chenxi nodded proudly. "That’s my sister. Her aim is better than mine. I didn’t even hit it."

"Good heavens, to think she hunted an antelope with a toy wooden arrow."

They circled the antelope several times. In the end, they confirmed that besides the fatal gash on its neck—obviously made with a dagger after chasing it down—the only other injury was the single arrow wound on its leg.

"How did you do that?"

Yun Jiao said, "I’m just really strong."

"It’s just that this bow is broken now."

The bow had snapped.

"Sisters-in-law, should we head back now, or...?"

"Let’s head back. It’s not easy to travel with all these antelopes."

Aside from the two that Yun Jiao’s group had brought down, the other women had managed to hunt three.

Two of those had been hunted through a coordinated effort.

"Antelopes run too fast. They’re incredibly hard to hit."

Everyone tied the antelope carcasses to their horses’ backs.

As everyone was busy, Yun Jiao’s gaze was fixed on a spot in the distance.

"Jiaojiao, what is it? Have you spotted something else?"

Yun Jiao nodded. "Brother, tell the sisters-in-law to get on their horses, fast. Bears are coming. Two of them."

Two horse bears, having just awoken from hibernation, were starving. They were extremely sensitive to the smell of blood and certainly wouldn’t give up until they caught their prey.

Everyone there—the people, the horses, and the antelopes—would become the horse bears’ prey.

"What?!"

’Bears!’

"Sisters-in-law, get on your horses, quick! There are bears coming!"

Hearing there were bears, the smiles on everyone’s faces from their successful hunt vanished, replaced by frozen expressions. Their eyes filled with shock and fear, and the color drained from their faces.

’Bears. It’s actually bears.’

Even with a hunting rifle, you couldn’t easily kill one unless you hit a vital spot like the head or heart.

"How can there be bears? I didn’t see..."

ROAR!

The roar of a bear echoed, and it wasn’t far away.

The horses grew restless.

Yun Chenxi swiftly lifted Yun Jiao onto his horse. "Let’s go!"

None of them had a gun.

Everyone spurred their horses into a frantic gallop, racing back the way they came.

Soon, the two bears appeared in their line of sight.

And they were heading straight for them.

Whether it was the scent of blood or not, the two bears were exceptionally agitated and excited.

Their hunger didn’t slow them down; instead, they ran faster and faster.

"They’re catching up."

Everyone’s nerves were stretched taut.

Yun Chenxi said, "Jiaojiao, take control of the horse. I’m going to see if I can wound them."

Yun Jiao took the reins.

Yun Chenxi released his grip, twisting his body around with his bow and arrow in hand.

He took aim at one of the horse bears as it drew closer and let his arrow fly.

WHOOSH...

ROAR!

The horse bear actually rose up on its hind legs and swatted the arrow out of the air with a single swipe of its paw.

"Fuck!"

Sister-in-law Li said, "Maybe we should throw the antelopes to them."

Watching the horse bears close in, everyone started to panic.

Yun Jiao said, "Let me do it. Brother, give me the bow."

Yun Jiao shifted her position on the horse, turning to face her brother and snatching the bow from his hands.

This bow was much heavier than her previous one.

The arrowhead was made of steel, too.

’Perfect.’

She began to draw the taut bowstring, worried her arms were too short to pull it back completely.

So, she practically lay back on the horse, using her legs to help brace and pull the bowstring to its absolute limit, aiming in the horse bear’s direction.

Auntie Li and the others were terrified, but they were also stunned speechless by Yun Jiao’s audacious move.

WHOOSH—

This time, the sound of the arrow slicing through the air was even more powerful than the one Yun Chenxi had loosed.

The horse bear hadn’t paid the little arrow much mind, intending to swat it away with its paw just as it had done before.

But as the arrow flew toward it, the bear felt a sudden, inexplicable fear.

Its paw swiped down, but it missed the arrow completely.

It was too fast—so fast it couldn’t possibly hit it.

THWACK...

The horse bear’s momentum carried it forward a few more steps before its massive body suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Everyone whipped their heads around to look.

"It’s dead! One of them is dead!"

Seeing the downed horse bear, everyone was overjoyed.

Yun Chenxi shouted, "Everyone spread out! We’ll surround the other bear and attack it from all sides!"

With one bear dead, the danger was significantly lower. As a group, they just might be able to kill the remaining one.

"Alright, we’ll spread out! Yun Chenxi, you and your sister be careful! That horse bear seems to be targeting you two!"

To be more precise, it was targeting Yun Jiao.

Furious that its companion had been killed, the surviving bear glared at Yun Jiao with pure hatred.

No longer pursued by the bear, the others who had fanned out let go of their reins and began firing arrows at the horse bear.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Their aim wasn’t bad. Yun Chendong, in particular, managed to hit the horse bear in the back, right over its heart.

But because the bear’s hide was too thick and his strength was nothing like Yun Jiao’s heaven-defying power, the horse bear didn’t die.

It was, however, thoroughly enraged.

Ignoring Yun Jiao, it turned and charged after the others.

Yun Jiao said, "Brother, give me an arrow."

Just as before, Yun Jiao nocked an arrow, drew the bow, and took aim at the bear.

Sensing the danger, the horse bear, already bristling with several arrows, turned as if to flee.

But Yun Jiao wasn’t about to give it that chance.

The little girl was a picture of razor-sharp focus.

"Die!"

WHOOSH...

THWACK...

The familiar sound of an arrow piercing flesh rang out.

This time, everyone saw it clearly: the arrow shot straight through the horse bear’s body.

At the same moment, the bow in Yun Jiao’s hands also snapped.

GASP... GASP... GASP...

As the feeling of having survived a disaster washed over them, everyone could hear their own ragged gasps and the frantic pounding of their hearts.

"Is it dead?"

"I think... I think it’s really dead."

Everyone waited cautiously for a long while.

Once they were certain the bear was dead, they finally approached.

Staring at the arrow—which had pierced through the bear’s body, buried itself halfway into the earth, and then snapped—the women felt as if they were in a dream.

"Good heavens, she actually shot clean through the horse bear’s body."

"Even a bullet couldn’t do that."

Even if they had brought guns, a bullet wouldn’t necessarily be able to pierce a horse bear’s body.

And yet, Yun Jiao, a child who looked to be only a few years old, had done it.

"This horse bear was shot through the body, too."

After examining this one, they all ran over to look at the other.

After their initial, disbelieving stupor, they looked at Yun Jiao as if she were some kind of mythical creature.

"How did you do it, Yun Jiao?"

Yun Jiao looked innocent. "I already told you, didn’t I? I’m just really strong."

"But even so, no amount of strength should make it possible to shoot through a bear’s body."

"Is that something ’being strong’ can explain?"

Once the shock of Yun Jiao’s incredible strength wore off, everyone became excited.

After all, horse bear meat was edible.

But Yun Jiao had been the one to kill both horse bears.

"Could we buy some of the bear meat?"

Yun Jiao pointed to the second horse bear they had killed.

"You can have that one. We only need one."

’I’ve heard bear paws are delicious. I wonder if that’s true.’

"No, no, no, that’s far too valuable! We barely helped at all. Besides, if it weren’t for you, we would have been in real danger today."