Chapter 5: Disaster

  From a distance, I saw that Wu Qiang's thatched cottage was surrounded by a large crowd of people, old and young. They were all from the Wu family village, each with a look of grief and indignation on their faces, constantly wiping away tears.

  Wu Jie was a big shot in Wu's village, and as soon as he arrived, these people gave way to him one after another. Wu Jie entered the innermost part without any obstruction, and at a glance, his intestines churned and he almost vomited.

  It was originally a stretcher made of several old mountain vines and branches, with a person on it, a bloody and blurred person. Both arms were almost separated from the shoulders, connected only by a little skin. The right leg was gone, no one knew where it was.

  This is simply a cruel dismemberment, making people vomit.

  "Hurry up and take the children away, don't let them see." Wu Ji suddenly thought of something and shouted loudly.

  "Oh! Brother Wu said it right! Quickly take the little ones away!" Wu Qing couldn't stop wiping away tears, suddenly came to her senses and greatly acknowledged Wu Jie's words.

  The adults hurriedly dragged and carried the children away, with some even covering their eyes. However, the children were very curious and struggled constantly, but unfortunately they couldn't win against the adults and could only leave reluctantly.

  Wu Jiqiang suppressed the urge to vomit and took a closer look, only to find that there were claw marks on the corpse's shoulders and teeth prints on its right leg. Could it be that this person was bitten to death by a bear?

  "Ji'er, I suppose you've already figured it out, Wu Qiang was bitten to death by the bear. Alas!" Wu Qing let out a long sigh, and then fell silent, continuously wiping away tears.

  "Wu Qiang?" Wu Ji was shocked, if not for Wu Qing's words, he really wouldn't have recognized him. It wasn't that Wu Ji's eyesight was bad, but because the corpse had been mutilated beyond recognition, with a face that was completely disfigured, making it impossible to identify.

  Yesterday, the young man who carried himself back home was lively and talkative, which suited Wu Jie's taste very well. Wu Jie had a particularly good impression of Wu Qiang. Who would have thought that today, he would be bitten to death by Xiong Huohuo.

  Wu Ji's mouth was open for a long time, but he didn't make a sound. He was extremely unwilling to believe it, yet he had no choice but to do so.

  "Third Uncle, what's going on?" Wu Jie asked.

  "Alas!" Wu Qing sighed before speaking, briefly recounting what had happened.

  They set out early in the morning to hunt bears, and everyone was delighted, thinking they could catch a bear. This bear is all treasure, bear meat can be eaten, it's a great tonic. They had studied the footprints beforehand and knew that this was a giant bear, so the bear skin and bear gall would definitely sell for a good price, which would be equivalent to several years of farming.

  Although they made all the preparations, they still didn't expect that this bear was too big, bigger than what they had imagined, and not much smaller than a large yak, at least 400-500 kilograms.

  This bear was not only very large, but also very cunning, and it actually circled around them. At first, Wu Qing and the others were gathered together, looking out for each other, but after a few rounds, they became scattered. Wu Qiang was alone on one side when this bear suddenly pounced over and bit him to death.

  Wu Qing and the others heard the shouting, rushed over, but it was too late. Things had reached this point, no longer in the mood to hunt bears, they could only pull some mountain vines, cut some branches, make a simple stretcher, and carry Wu Qiang's body back.

  "Waaah!"

  A thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, threw herself on Wu Qiang's body and cried extremely sorrowfully. She was Wu Qiang's younger sister, Wu Xiaoniangzi, with fair skin and a pretty face, one of the rare beauties in Wujiacun village.

  Wu Qiang's father died early, and his mother remarried, leaving behind two siblings who relied on each other for survival. Now that Wu Qiang is dead, Wu Xiaonv lost her reliance and cried until she almost fainted.

  "Ji'er, what do you think we should do? Third Uncle is at a loss and has no plan." Wu Qing was at a loss and had to ask Wu Ji for advice.

  "Third Uncle, where is the bear's den?" Wu Jie didn't answer immediately, but instead asked back.

  "Is that a bear's den? It's not far from here, if we don't get rid of this bear, it will definitely harm the village. This bear is too big and too cunning, how can we get rid of it?" Wu Qing's face was full of worry.

  Wu Ji was worried about this, if the bear's den is too close to the village, it will eventually come to harm people and livestock. Wu Ji asked a few more questions about bears, basically understood, but there was no way to hunt them.

  "If there were firearms, all I need is a lathe to make guns and I can get rid of the bear. But where are the tools now? There's only gunpowder." Wu Ji was very regretful, if there was a lathe, with his knowledge of weapons, he could completely manufacture rifles. If there really were rifles, no matter how big the bear is, it would be just a dish. The problem is that even with all the knowledge of weapons, Wu Ji had nothing to work with.

  "Third Uncle, we have two things to do at present." Wu Jie began to take charge: "One is to handle the aftermath for Wu Qiang."

  "Hmm! This matter must be done. What's the second thing?" Wu Qing asked.

  "The second thing is to report to Guishen County and ask the county magistrate to send someone to hunt bears." Wu Jie continued to come up with ideas.

  At that time, there were many beasts, tigers, leopards, and bears, which would occasionally enter the village, biting people and livestock. If the hunters could not cope, they could report to the government and ask for help. Generally speaking, when such a situation occurred, the government would send someone to hunt the bear. This matter was reported to Guishen County, and the county magistrate would certainly dispatch troops to come.

  "It's settled then! Wu Qing was very much in favor of this plan: "Magistrate Zheng is a good official who thinks of the people, if we report it to him, he will definitely send soldiers over. Jiji, you take charge here, I'll bring a few men and go into the city, and we'll be back by evening."

  Wu Qiang's funeral needs to be handled, and the safety of humans and animals in Wujiacun is also important. It's best to split up and take action separately. Wu Qing is the head of Wujiacun, his words carry weight, he immediately assigns three young men to rush to Guixian County.

  "Actually, to hunt bears doesn't necessarily require firearms, explosives can also be used. However, this method of explosion is the most troublesome." Wu Jie sent off Wu Qing and the others, and couldn't help but turn his thoughts back to bear hunting again.

  Making a bomb is not difficult, with gunpowder, making an earth bomb is no problem, the difficulty lies in how to blow up the bear. The bear is alive and will move around, even using modern hand grenades can't kill the bear, unless you find a clever way to detonate it. Modern remote-controlled explosion technology is good, but this is simply beyond reach, not even a lathe, let alone remote-controlled explosion technology.

  Wu Ji was a big shot, and no one dared to disobey his words. Everything had to be done according to his instructions. Under Wu Ji's command, the aftermath of Wu Qiang's death proceeded in an orderly manner.

  After this incident, Yang Xiuxiu did not go back to work either, but returned to help Zhang Luo.

  When it was almost dark, Wu Qing and his men returned, accompanied by twenty Song soldiers, led by a general named Luo Yuansheng.

  Shi Jiang, equivalent to the current class monitor, manages ten people, so it is called Shi Jiang.

  "This County Magistrate of Zheng is quite efficient, I went to report today and he sent someone over today." Wu Ji couldn't help but praise the efficiency of this County Magistrate of Zheng.

  Bows and arrows, maces, long spears, armor, helmets with brims. These were the equipment of the Song army. Wu Ji looked at these equipment, somewhat surprised, the quality was not good, and the sizes were uneven.

  The equipment of the army should be standardized, that is, standardized, with little difference in size. However, the guns of the Song Army were both long and short, with a very obvious gap.

  What surprised Wu Ji even more was that among the twenty people, there were five archers, five gunmen and ten knife-wielding men. Their equipment was very uniform: the archers had only bows and arrows, the gunmen had only guns, and the knife-wielding men had only machetes.

  On the battlefield, the situation changes rapidly. If the enemy rushes forward and you have a sword, you can still fight back when bows and arrows are useless. Archers only have bows and arrows as equipment; isn't that asking for death?

  Gunmen and knife-wielding men, if they had bows and arrows, could have shot a few arrows at the enemy before they closed in, increasing their chances of killing them. They didn't have any bows or arrows besides their knives and guns, wasting an opportunity.

  "Are you Wu Xiaoniang? Your brother was bitten to death by a bear, don't be sad, I'll avenge you." Luo Yuan's eyes gleamed with an evil light as he kept sizing up Wu Xiaoniang from head to toe, walking closer and closer until he was right next to her.

  "Do you have chicken and wine? Bring them out, let us eat and drink. We'll be full and drunk, then we'll have the strength to hunt bears." A soldier started looting, with a very arrogant attitude.

  "Are there any pretty girls? We'll pay, just for fun!" Another soldier made a dirty remark, his eyes constantly scanning the women of Wu's village.

  The young lady of the Song Dynasty was a prostitute, and he was asking if she had done any flesh trade.

  This is an insult! A huge insult!

  The people of Wu's village are all honest and simple farmers, how could they do such a thing? These words enraged the people of Wu's village, the men clenched their fists, their veins bulging with anger, while the women hid behind their husbands' backs, afraid of being discovered by these soldiers.