Although Hǎo Dà had spoken so casually just now, when he really walked into the woods again, with the grass underfoot and the possibility of poisonous snakes at any moment, his heart still sank!
Before, with the youthful, charming, lively, and lovable Sū Mèi adventuring with him, he at least had more fighting spirit! But now, not only did he have to adventure alone, but there was also an inexplicable loneliness!
However, this was his own choice. He would rather face all this alone than have any of the Four Great Beauties face this life-threatening danger with him!
Hǎo Dà didn't think any further. With determined eyes, he used a long wooden stick to beat the grass and walked towards the direction of the stream.
Along the way, he saw another five-colored poisonous snake pass him! He didn't scream in fright like Sū Mèi! Instead, he remained as still as possible, watching the snake. Seeing that it had no intention of attacking him and quickly disappeared after a few slithers, he continued to push forward, clearing the grass.
After about 30 minutes, Hǎo Dà finally reached the stream again, safe and sound. This time, without Sū Mèi's joyous laughter, he focused on setting up the fishing net. While waiting for fish, he filled his small square pot with water.
About an hour later, he had caught five fish of about the same size as before and processed them. Just as he was securing the five fish and was about to return the way he came with the small square pot full of water, a black bear suddenly appeared upstream of the stream! It was slowly walking towards him!
Hǎo Dà's scalp tingled! His first instinct was to bolt into the woods! But firstly, running wildly like that would surely result in a snakebite!
Secondly, if he startled the black bear by running, and it chased him, he would likely not escape! Black bears can run much faster than most humans!
And if he were caught, he didn't know about others, but for him right now, being able to withstand a single swipe from a black bear without dying would be impressive!
Hǎo Dà forced himself not to run immediately. After thinking quickly for a second, he made a decision: to slowly lie on the ground and play dead!
The reason for this decision was that he seemed to have seen an introduction to black bears before, saying that they have poor eyesight and are colloquially known as "black blind men" (hēi xiāzi), so they basically wouldn't notice stationary objects!
Thus, Hǎo Dà decisively and slowly lay on the ground, playing dead.
After a while, the black bear reached the stream, waded through it, and slowly walked over. At this point, it was only about a meter away from Hǎo Dà, who was playing dead on the ground!
Hǎo Dà didn't dare to play dead completely. He lay on the ground with one eye slightly open, looking at the bear's huge leg, thinking that just one of its legs stepping on him would probably cause serious injury!
But he had no choice. He could only try to remain calm and watch the slowly moving black bear leg. The immense tension made cold sweat pour down his body!
Even more frustratingly, the black bear seemed to have noticed him! It walked up to him, sniffed him with its bear nose, left and right. Fortunately, he had placed the fishing net with the five fish under him; otherwise, not only would the fish be gone, but he would also be in trouble!
The black bear sniffed him for about 30 seconds. In those approximately 30 seconds, while desperately playing dead, he felt like more than 30 days had passed! To put it mildly, Einstein's theory of relativity once again proved useful!
After sniffing for about 30 seconds, the black bear finally lost all interest in Hǎo Dà, who was playing dead on the ground. It ambled away and headed downstream along the river.
Hǎo Dà struggled to get up, feeling as if he had been reborn. He didn't dare to linger, quickly gathered his things, and re-entered the woods to return the way he came.
The journey back was smooth. When he finally walked out of the woods and stepped onto the beach, the immense relief Hǎo Dà felt was truly indescribable!
This time, due to the delay caused by the black bear, it took longer than the previous time, over two hours. So, when Hǎo Dà finally appeared at the edge of the woods, Sū Mèi, Chē Yán, Liǔ Yìjiāo, and Qí Yíngyíng, who were at the other end of the beach, waved excitedly at him, warmly welcoming his safe return!
As he strode towards them, Qí Yíngyíng was the first to exclaim, "Damn! Hǎo Dà! Back so late! I thought you were dead! Sū Mèi was crying just now, saying you might have been bitten by a poisonous snake and we should all go look for you! She said if we found you, there might still be hope! If you had come back any later, we would have truly risked our lives to search for you!"
Hǎo Dà heard Qí Yíngyíng and looked at Sū Mèi, noticing her eyes were a bit red. It seemed she had indeed been crying! He couldn't help but feel a little moved!
"Don't worry, your Big Brother Hǎo has a tough life! I won't get into trouble so easily!" he said, gently patting Sū Mèi's soft shoulder to comfort her.
"I'm glad you're okay, Big Brother Hǎo!" Sū Mèi said, showing a very sweet smile upon seeing he was unharmed.
"Did something else happen?" Chē Yán asked, noticing Hǎo Dà's soaked inner clothing.
"Nothing much. I had caught five fish and filled the small square pot with water. When I was preparing to return, a black bear suddenly appeared," Hǎo Dà replied calmly as he put down the fish and other items.
"A black bear?! My god! You killed the black bear?!” Qí Yíngyíng exclaimed!
Sū Mèi, Chē Yán, and Liǔ Yìjiāo also looked at Hǎo Dà with shock!
"How could I possibly kill a black bear! I played dead for a while, and that's how I escaped!" Hǎo Dà said with a smile.
Since the life-threatening moment had passed, he appeared nonchalant, quite posing now!
"Oh! Being able to play dead and avoid a black bear's attack is also very impressive!" Sū Mèi praised, her bright eyes sparkling with little stars.
"When you were lying on the ground playing dead, did the black bear just walk past you without noticing?" Liǔ Yìjiāo asked curiously.
"No, it stopped beside me. Then it sniffed me all over with its bear nose for about 30 seconds before slowly walking away," Hǎo Dà replied.
Liǔ Yìjiāo: …
Sū Mèi: …
Qí Yíngyíng: …
Chē Yán: …
After the Four Great Beauties were shocked for a few seconds, Qí Yíngyíng said, "Hǎo Dà, you're f\*\*king amazing! You survived this! If it were me, I would have been scared to death! As I said, I'll thank you generously when we get back! A million is the least you'll get!"
"Big Brother Hǎo..." Sū Mèi looked at Hǎo Dà with her charming eyes slightly moist.
Chē Yán and Liǔ Yìjiāo also looked at Hǎo Dà with gratitude.
"Alright, it was just like that! I'm fine now, aren't I! We have fish, we have water, let's get dinner ready!" Hǎo Dà said with an intentionally relaxed smile.
"Haha! My stomach's hungry again! Let's get started!" Qí Yíngyíng replied with a laugh.
Influenced by the two, the originally complex emotions of Sū Mèi, Chē Yán, and Liǔ Yìjiāo also relaxed, and the five of them began preparing dinner, chatting and laughing.
"Now we have a whole small square pot of water. Besides grilled fish, how about we make some fish soup too!" Chē Yán suggested with a smile.
"That's a good idea!" Hǎo Dà agreed.
Sū Mèi and the others naturally had no objections.
Thus, the five of them sat around the campfire on the beach. Soon, the aroma of grilled fish, along with the scent of simmering fish soup, filled the air.
Although it was almost five in the afternoon, the sun in the sky was still warm. Hǎo Dà and the Four Great Beauties were preparing dinner, chatting and laughing. At least for this moment, everyone was relatively content. As for what to do after dinner, they would decide after they finished eating!