Chapter 3: Bird Gun

"A game? Is this really a game world?" Meng Yifan was somewhat bewildered. Before he could figure out what was going on, Meng Dayong urged, "Yifan, don't just stand there. Hurry up and grab your weapon; follow your father and let's have a great slaughter."

The five Big Dog Bears that had entered the village this time were not far away. They had all awakened a certain level of intelligence, comparable to a seven or eight-year-old human child. At this moment, the other four Big Dog Bears had already discovered that their companion had been killed by humans, and they came charging over with roars.

Each of these Big Dog Bears that had awakened their intelligence was comparable to a First Grade Lower Stage Martial Artist, and among them was one Big Dog Bear comparable to a First Grade High-Level Martial Artist.

It was even more robust, its four bear legs thicker than pillars. It charged over rapidly, just like a tank crashing through everything; the houses blocking its path were directly knocked down by it.

Meng Dayong had been able to easily finish off one Big Dog Bear by relying on a sneak attack. The Big Dog Bear had also been somewhat careless, never expecting that the villagers of Qinghe Village would actually dare to resist, which was why he could kill it in one blow.

If it were a head-on confrontation, even though Meng Dayong was a First Grade High-Level Martial Artist, it would take a great deal of time to finish off a Big Dog Bear. If he were up against that strongest bear, it was truly hard to say who would finish off whom.

Now that the four Big Dog Bears were charging over aggressively, Meng Dayong also felt it was very tricky.

Meng Dayong threw the weapon from the corner of the wall to his son and said, "Hurry up and load the gunpowder and bullet. I'll block the blind bears in front in a moment; you aim for their eyes and mouths and fire. Aim carefully—the blind bears have thick skin and flesh; hitting them on the body won't be able to kill them at all."

Meng Yifan took the weapon in a daze. After examining it for a moment, he discovered it was a Bird Gun two meters long and weighing eight or nine catties.

This Bird Gun was made entirely of steel, black and shiny, feeling heavy in his hands. At its very rear was a matchlock; to fire it, one had to use an incense stick to light the matchlock before pulling the trigger.

This kind of Bird Gun was similar to the matchlock musket of the Ming and Qing dynasties on Earth. Such a primitive weapon could only be seen in museums on Earth.

Meng Yifan had not expected that he would be able to use such a weapon here. On Earth, he was accustomed to using modern rifles like the AK47 and M16; he had truly never used this kind of primitive Bird Gun.

However, he was a veteran who had been through many battles after all. After fumbling with it briefly, combined with the original owner's memories, he had already skillfully mastered the method of using this Bird Gun.

Meng Dayong had previously served as a soldier in the Divine Machine Battalion. Later, after suffering some injuries on the battlefield, he retired and returned to his hometown to become a hunter. He had once taken his son up the mountain to hunt and taught his son how to use a Bird Gun, but his son could never shoot accurately and seemed to have no talent for marksmanship. Teaching him martial arts also resulted in him being unable to endure the hardship, which made Meng Dayong very disappointed.

Since the path of practicing martial arts was a dead end, for the sake of his son's future, Meng Dayong had the intention of sending Meng Yifan to study. However, to study, one had to prepare the tuition for the teacher. The Meng family was just a family of hunters in the mountains, barely able to make ends meet; how could they have extra money to provide for their son's schooling?

To scrape together the tuition, Meng Dayong prepared to take the risk of going to the back mountain of Jiguan Mountain, where there were the most wild beasts. If he could hunt a blind bear or a tiger, his son's tuition would be covered. But a three-year famine suddenly descended, and a Tiger Demon that knew sorcery came to Jiguan Mountain, so Meng Dayong dared not enter the mountain again.

The three-year famine had destroyed all his plans. In a year of famine, it was good enough to just survive; what was there to talk about regarding studying or practicing martial arts?

Meng Dayong looked at his son with some unease and discovered that Meng Yifan had one knee on the ground, the other leg bent in front, his body maintaining balance, both hands gripping the gun tightly, shoulders relaxed, the Bird Gun resting on the windowsill, his expression focused as he stared at the Big Dog Bears running from afar, his finger on the trigger, ready to pull it at any moment.

"Eh!" Meng Dayong was stunned for a moment. The shooting posture Meng Yifan was displaying now was very professional, even more standard than Meng Dayong's own. It felt similar to the posture of the Ten-Man Commander in the Divine Machine Battalion when he was a soldier. What surprised him even more was that Meng Yifan's eyes at this moment were like those of an eagle, emitting a sharp light.

"Strange!" Meng Dayong could not figure it out. Meng Yifan's previous shooting posture had been loose and sloppy; how had it suddenly become so standard now?

Meng Dayong had no time to think about these things. The four Big Dog Bears had already charged to the doorway of the house. The dilapidated thatched cottage could not withstand the impact of the four Big Dog Bears at all. For the sake of his son behind him, Meng Dayong gripped his Mountain Opening Blade tightly with both hands, let out a roar, and charged out.

"Boom!" Before Meng Dayong could engage in close-quarters combat with the Big Dog Bear, he heard a loud bang. A Lead Bullet accurately drilled into the right eye of the leading Big Dog Bear, blowing its head to pieces. The Big Dog Bear before them twitched a few times and then fell down unwillingly.

"Well shot!" Meng Dayong was overjoyed. He had not expected that Meng Yifan's marksmanship would become so precise. Relying on the Bird Gun, he had finished off a Big Dog Bear that had awakened its intelligence with a single shot. This was truly great.

"Ding! Team hunt of one First Grade Lower Tier Wild Beast successful, gained 20 Experience Value." The crisp female voice sounded in Meng Yifan's mind again. He could not spare the time to check it, instead quickly replacing the gunpowder and bullet.

While Meng Yifan was replacing the ammunition, the other three Big Dog Bears also charged over. Meng Dayong fought to the death to block the three Big Dog Bears. One against three, especially with one Big Dog Bear being particularly strong, Meng Dayong was struggling to hold them off. Before long, he was swiped by a Big Dog Bear and vomited blood, but in order to buy time for Meng Yifan, Meng Dayong gritted his teeth and persisted, not retreating a single step.

"What kind of piece-of-trash gun is this? Changing a bullet is too troublesome." Meng Yifan cursed in frustration. The Bird Gun in his hands was muzzle-loaded; he first had to pour the gunpowder into the barrel, then use the Ramrod to pack the gunpowder, then load the lead bullet, pack the lead bullet, open the flash pan, add priming powder, and close the flash pan. This entire process took at least a minute.

During this time, Meng Dayong was swiped by a Big Dog Bear's claw again, but he dodged in time. The bear's claw only left three bloody marks on his back, looking mangled, but it was only a superficial wound and did not affect his ability to continue fighting.

Meng Yifan finished replacing the ammunition and wanted to shoot the strongest Big Dog Bear, but that guy was standing directly opposite Meng Dayong. Meng Yifan did not have a suitable shooting angle, so he had to aim at another Big Dog Bear, calculated the lead, and then decisively pulled the trigger.

In his past life, Meng Yifan was a one-in-a-million sharpshooter. Now, even using a very primitive Bird Gun, he could still achieve a hundred hits out of a hundred shots at close range.

"Bang!" A Lead Bullet once again accurately struck the left eye of a Big Dog Bear, easily finishing off a Big Dog Bear comparable to a human First Grade Lower Stage Martial Artist.

"Yifan, well done!" Meng Dayong was pleasantly surprised. The first shot might have been a blind cat hitting a dead mouse, but the second shot was still so accurate; this could no longer be called luck. The marksmanship Meng Yifan was displaying now, if he were in the Divine Machine Battalion, would at least be enough to be a Ten-Man Commander.

"Ding! Team hunt of one First Grade Lower Tier Wild Beast successful, gained 20 Experience Value." That crisp female voice sounded again. Meng Yifan could not spare the time to check it, instead starting to load the ammunition again.

"If I had an AK47 in hand, I could have mowed these bears down in a few seconds." Meng Yifan felt some regret; this kind of primitive Bird Gun was truly too cumbersome to use.

No wonder in the history of Earth, the Ming army equipped with firearms could not defeat the Jurchens who rode horses and shot arrows.