The huge mountains ran for miles and rose up to the sky, surrounded by mist on their hillsides. A beast's roaring echoed occasionally, shaking the great trees.
At the bottom of a cliff, a waterfall fell hundreds of meters into a pool with a thunderous splash.
On the edge of the pool, a gigantic white tiger lay on the ground with two of its front claws snapped. The three big wounds on its waist and abdomen had already stopped bleeding, but the large patches of fur around them were dyed dark red.
Xiao Bai was drinking.
There was a deep gash above his right front leg. It hurt a lot when Xiao Bai moved the wound by stretching his neck.
That black bear was incredibly strong. It was a very hard fight, as the bear had two bronze rings and was guarding a heavenly fruit.
Xiao Bai would have been killed already if he hadn't gotten such rich fighting experience as Jiang Shaoliu's punching bag back in the cave.
After drinking his fill, he leaned his injured body against a big stone and grunted irritably, feeling that this was pointless.
Jiang Shaoliu had told him to find rare fruits.
He working hard but couldn't get it and got wounded.
Xiao Bai closed his eyes drowsily, thinking the feline equivalent of, "Well, my owner will kill you when he gets back, just you wait!"
He'd lost a lot of blood and felt a little weak; he needed a rest.
Boom!
The sound of a very violent crash came from far away, as if something very big hit a very hard wall very fast. Xiao Bai felt the ground shake.
It was in that direction…
Xiao Bai stood up and looked into the distance.
That black bear was there, along with the fruit. Was it fighting another monster now?
He huffed unsympathetically and curled up to lick his wounds.
Once the pain abated somewhat, he would sneak back there and steal away the fruit, whether it was ripe or not.
Xiao Bai carefully ran off in the direction of the sound.
…
A huge black bear lay in a pile of rubble under a broken cliff with a bloody nose and a swollen face, foaming at the mouth. Its skin was faintly bronzed.
Jiang Shaoliu stepped forward with clenched fists and bloodthirsty eyes.
"Tell me where's Xiao Bai?" he stared at it in anger and kicked the bear's abdomen.
The black bear wailed mournfully. It covered its stomach and rolled in the rubble but couldn't get up.
"Did you kill him?" Jiang Shaoliu railed and raised his fist to punch it again.
The black bear was going to break down.
This human came out of nowhere and just started hitting it while it was getting a drink.
What was worse, he was screaming at it, but it couldn't understand him.
The bear moaned. It struggled and stood up staggeringly. You win, you win, just stop!
"Where's Xiao Bai's body? Did you eat him?" Jiang Shaoliu's eyes moistened and he punched the bear in the stomach again.
Xiao Bai had always accompanied him after he left the cave, and he had always treated him as his relative. Xiao Bai had followed him everywhere and never complained, even when he was hungry! Now he died by this bear's hand without even a body left behind while searching for fruit for him.
The black bear shook its head vehemently, covering its stomach and whimpering. Stop it, I can't understand you at all! Just kill me already!
"Where are the bones, then, if you've eaten Xiao Bai?!" Jiang Shaoliu punched again.
Now the bronze color disappeared completely and the bear sat on the ground and wailed miserably, its huge body trembling. What did I do wrong? I just wanted to have a rest and drink some water after fighting with that big tiger, but now this crazy human is trying to kill me for no reason!
The big tiger, the human…
The black bear was inspired suddenly.
Were they from the same group?
Jiang Shaoliu raised his fist and wanted to punch again.
The black bear grunted and jumped up on its hind legs, waving its front paws anxiously.
"You want to tell me now?" Jiang Shaoliu kicked it on the shank. "Take me there!"
The bear staggered and collapsed to the ground in a panic.
It hurt like the bone cracked. How was this human so strong?!
Jiang Shaoliu raised his fist again. Now the bear didn't dare to hesitate and started dragging itself away.
"Hurry up!" Jiang Shaoliu kicked it on its good leg: "Faster, or I will kill you!"
The bear lowered itself, sobbing while walking.
With both hind legs wounded, it couldn't stand up now and had to walk with its front legs while its rear legs dragged behind.
After climbing over a mountain, crossing the foothills and trudging through a thick forest, the bear brought Jiang Shaoliu to a steep cliff face.
It was covered with strong and thick vines brimming with leaves and offshoots, forming a huge green wall.
The bear dragged itself to the front of the wall and raised its front leg to remove one vine, then it turned back to glance at Jiang Shaoliu and went inside with great difficulty.
"There's a cave behind it." Jiang Shaoliu frowned.
Did this bear kill Xiao Bai and stash his body away to eat later?
Or it was a bear den with many bears inside waiting to ambush him?
Without hesitation, Jiang Shaoliu removed the vines and marched in.
He had to take revenge for Xiao Bai, no matter how many bears were waiting for him inside!
The cave was more than ten meters high, with a flat, smooth surface devoid of any rubble or stalagmites at all.
The black bear was squatting in the center. In front of it was a tall red plant, its leaves arranged strangely, like a raging fire.
Jiang Shaoliu's eyes shone
This fruit looked much better than then one Liu Guang and Chen Anguo had given him.
The bear looked at Jiang Shaoliu and pointed at the fruit ingratiatingly. Here's the damn fruit, now leave me alone!
Jiang Shaoliu came up and examined the fruit carefully.
It was as big as a baby's fist, translucent and a little pale. It seemed unripe still.
Jiang Shaoliu shook his head and punched fiercely. The black bear flew into the wall. It didn't struggle now and just whimpered on the ground. I've given you the fruit, why are you still hitting me?!
"I want to see Xiao Bai, dead or alive!" Jiang Shaoliu came up and clenched his fist in anger: "Tell me, or I will kill you."
What do you want?! I can't understand you!
There was a soft rustle behind them and some light penetrated into the cave. A big white head peeked in.
"Xiao Bai!" Jiang Shaoliu screamed with joy and rushed to hug the tiger's big head. "I thought you were dead! Where have you been?"
Xiao Bai affectionately rubbed his head on Jiang Shaoliu's chest. The tiger had been suffering a lot without him. He didn't eat any meat and was almost killed by the black bear.
Jiang Shaoliu touched Xiao Bai's head and looked at the bear, which trying desperately looking for a hole to shove itself into.
They were really together! Now both the fruit and its life were done for.
"Xiao Bai, did this bear hurt you?" Jiang Shaoliu turned back and checked Xiao Bai's wounds. He felt extremely guilty.
Xiao Bai had suffered much worse when he was acting as Jiang Shaoliu's punching bag in the cave at Huaguoshan. He would be right as rain in a couple of days.
It was only a flesh wound and would heal soon, but whether it was serious or not, Jiang Shaoliu always held the opinion that he would never let his child be beat up.
Xiao Bai growled and rubbed Jiang Shaoliu's arm, showing that he wanted to tear the bear's head off.
"Well…" Jiang Shaoliu shook his head, "this bear is afraid of death, it was so scared when I hit it."
The bear didn't understand and thought they were going to beat it to death. It just lay on the ground whimpering, closed its eyes, and waited to die.
"Xiao Bai, go and ask it if it'll be your pet. Just kill it if it refuses."
Xiao Bai was a little reluctant, but went ahead and grunted at the bear.
Knowing that it was not going to die, the bear's eyes shone with hope and it nodded furiously.
"Does that mean it agrees?" Jiang Shaoliu stared at it. "You are so spineless. What can you even do for us?"
Xiao Bai translated this to the bear.
The bear fell apart. What can I do if you will beat me to death if I refuse and think I'm just useless if I agree?
"Just forget it. It'll get what's coming when the military takes it." Jiang Shaoliu raised up his smart watch and contacted Chen Anguo.
"What can I do for you, Jiang Shaoliu?" came Lieutenant Chen's voice.
"I've just tamed a monster. It's a black bear, about seven meters tall; very tough."
Xiao Bai growled and the bear looked up with renewed hope.
Chen Anguo felt so surprised: "Really? Where is it now? We'll come back and pick it up; we're not back in the city yet."
"All right." Jiang Shaoliu sent him the coordinates.
After the communication, Jiang Shaoliu touched Xiao Bai's neck: "Xiao Bai, go and escort the bear to Lieutenant Chen and then get back to the city. Try your best to stay on the main roads. I will save half of the fruit for you."
Xiao Bai shook its head reluctantly. It was going to be a difficult task, since he couldn't defeat the bear on his own.
"Don't worry," Jiang Shaoliu chuckled. He walked over to the bear and punched it again. "There, see? It can't hurt you," he said to Xiao Bai.
The bear had fractures all over its body and rolled on the ground pathetically, whimpering and growling.
Xiao Bai walked out of the cave proudly, his head held high and his chest stuck out, the bear pathetically dragging itself after him.