Chapter 17: Hunting Bears

  "Oh, I think I've heard of it. I thought you were making a bow, Master! But this is really amazing, the power seems like the bow is enraged!" Yu Lin scratched his head and said with a silly expression.

  Yang Zilu shook his head and said, "No way, first of all, the string is a problem, Wangan also needs to be calibrated, only thirty steps, I shot at the target heart, but actually shot to the outermost edge, almost off-target. And this range, at least forty steps away have this power can!"

  He secretly thought to himself: This range is still not good, the hit rate is a bit off! Anyway, it's just shooting at mountain goats and deer, those big targets! Besides, they're just grass-eaters, getting close to shoot isn't a problem!

  But Yu Ling didn't dare to say this out loud. In this era, there was already a saying that "one day as a teacher is a lifetime as a father." When apprentices were still required to pay their masters, the masters treated their apprentices like slaves. With just one word from the master, an apprentice could be kicked out of the master's door, and the tuition fees paid beforehand would not be refunded even by a single cent. Therefore, Yu Ling didn't dare to say this out loud, in case Yang Zilu got angry, he would be in trouble.

  After a month of renovation, Yang Zilu finally solved the problem of the crossbow's trigger mechanism and made a ratchet similar to a bicycle pedal, which could slowly pull up the bowstring. Although it took about eleven or twelve times to run out of strength, it was already much stronger than before when it was completely manual. To strengthen the crossbow arm, Yang Zilu borrowed the characteristics of iron-bow and spent money on bear gallbladder to get some ancient super-strong adhesive - fish glue. He pasted bamboo strips inside the crossbow arm to increase its strength.

  The crossbow made can shoot through a two-inch-thick earth wall at forty-two steps away, with an effective range of about sixty steps, slightly exceeding Yang Zilu's expectations. The Wishing Mountain also underwent several improvements by Yang Zilu, guaranteeing no misses within twenty steps, and at thirty or forty steps, it would not miss as badly as before.

  In this month, Yang Zilu sold the bear skin as food, after all, he still had to take care of the wild black bear and little fox. The Zheng family couldn't possibly provide Yang Zilu with free food either. And on the day before Yang Zilu finished making the crossbow, the little fox's foot injury had healed, and the black bear could also move around, the two thanked Yang Zilu and then returned to their tribe. After all, they had been away for a month, and their families and friends would be worried about them.

  As he walked away, Xiao Huo made a surprising move, swiftly kissing Yang Zilu on the lips and handing him a red cord with wolf teeth pendant that had been around his own neck. The pendant was clearly taken from Xiao Huo's body, a personal item that still held his scent and warmth.

  However, by the time Yang Zilu reacted, the little fox had already walked far away. For this reason, Zheng Dan was furious for some unknown reason, and Yang Zilu suffered as a result. At dinner that night, he was constantly mocked by Zheng Dan, and when taking a bath, his clothes were even stolen. But after finally finding someone to borrow a set of clothes from, he returned to discover his own clothes covered in countless footprints on his bed. Upon closer inspection of the size of the footprints, the identity of the prankster was almost revealed.

  Yang Zilu was quite helpless about this, and with his emotions almost completely blank, he had no idea where this disaster came from. Moreover, he still lived in Zheng Dan's house, so he could only suffer in silence, with a bitter taste that only he knew.

  However, with only half a month left until the autumn harvest, Yang Zilu didn't have time to think about Zheng Dan's reasons for anger. After making the crossbow, Yang Zilu followed Yu Lin's lead and entered the mountains.

  …………

  "Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo!" Looking at the giant bear hiding in the tree hole, Yu Ling's heart was filled with tension. Looking at Yang Zilu, he anxiously whispered: "Master, I think we should forget it, this guy is not easy to mess with!"

  "I'm not easy to mess with!" Yang Zilu smiled confidently, having prepared for three days to deal with this guy. As long as he killed him, the tax would be settled, and there was no way he could give up. Besides, even if you removed the bones from this bear, it still had over 200 kilograms of meat, which at a price of 10 cents per kilogram, would be worth 2,000 yuan. Especially the bear paws, which were extremely valuable, selling for as much as 30 cents per kilogram. The fur was also not cheap, and initially in Zhuji City, Zheng Datian had helped Yang Zilu sell it for a price of 120 yuan.

  If it weren't for Yang Zilu's love of meat and the injuries of Hei Xiong and Xiao Hu, they wouldn't need to buy supplements. And if they didn't have to purchase small parts to repair their crossbow, Yang Zilu wouldn't have spent all 120 taels in just one month. Especially now that Yang Zilu's future happiness depends on him.

  "Alright, you go and get the mechanism ready, don't let it fail at the critical moment!" Yang Zilu instructed, by now he was somewhat used to having someone like a disciple under him.

  Yu Ling was already used to the strange words that occasionally popped out of Yang Zilu's mouth, although he didn't know what "dropping the chain" meant, but he still guessed the meaning. No need to say more, climb down the tree and go prepare.

  After a while, Yu Ling made a gesture to Yang Zilu under the tree, which was also taught by Professor Yang.

  Yang Zilu gave a thumbs-up to Yu Leng, took aim at the dog bear's eyes, and pulled the trigger. "Twang!" The bowstring sounded.

  "Ow!" The dog bear let out a painful howl, and an arrow was stuck in its face. The face is the softest and most sensitive part of any animal's body. The dog bear couldn't avoid it, and the arrow on its face was even more painful than ten arrows on its body.

  Yang Zilu couldn't help but feel a little sorry, forty-five steps were indeed a bit far, but this time's missed target was not bad either, at least the shot hit the face and didn't hit the bear's arm.

  The bear dog sprinted out of the tree hole at incredible speed, and as it ran, the ground trembled slightly under its paws, a spectacle that sent shivers down one's spine.

  Yang Zilu calmly and fearlessly hung the crossbow on a branch, propped himself against the trunk of the tree, stepped on a branch and stood up, shouting at the bear: "Hey! Big dumb bear, I'm over here!"

  "Roooaaaar!" The dog bear man stood up, letting out a hate-filled roar at Yang Zilu in the distance. Immediately after, he dropped down and started moving his four limbs quickly, like a tank rushing straight towards Yang Zilu. Along the way, smaller trees were directly knocked over by the vengeful dog bear, as if it was an unstoppable beast bulldozer. Soon, he arrived at the foot of the big tree where Yang Zilu was.

  Yang Zilu was also slightly startled, but fortunately he had been prepared. As the bear climbed the tree and approached him, Yang Zilu remained calm and smiled as he pulled out a cloth strip from his waist. With a regretful tone, he taunted: "What a pity, big silly bear, I'm leaving!"

  The bear didn't care at all, and now he was within arm's reach of the branch where Yang Zilu was. A gleam of excitement and ferocity appeared in his eyes.