Chapter 1137

A cypress fell where Li Chang'an had just been, kicking up a spray of snow; flying snow splashed onto several people, and only after a while did it settle.

Hu Xiaotian saw the black bear collapsed like a small hill, walked over and kicked it hard, confirming it was dead, then dragged its left paw to flip it over and pulled his great sword from the bear's chest.

Li Chang'an stumbled over to the Snow Eagle, spread his arms and lifted it, tears in his eyes saying, "Xue'er! Xue'er!" The Snow Eagle, having just been struck by the black bear, was clearly unable to live; its originally bright eyes could not even open now. Li Chang'an gazed at the dying Snow Eagle, overcome with grief: "Xue'er…" The Snow Eagle let out a few mournful cries in his ear, as if uttering final words, and Li Chang'an nodded while shedding tears.

Hu Xiaotian and Zhan Peng exchanged a glance; neither could understand the conversation between that bird and person, nor know how to comfort Li Chang'an.

Li Chang'an felt the Snow Eagle in his arms growing cold, finally accepting reality; he staggered to his feet, drew a dagger from his waist, rushed at the already dead black bear, flung himself onto it, and wildly stabbed the bear's body, his white hair flying, his face deathly pale, looking horrifying—even hunter Zhan Peng couldn't bear to watch. Hu Xiaotian silently lamented, such a fine bear pelt wasted by Li Chang'an.

After venting, Li Chang'an was utterly exhausted, collapsing helplessly into the snow, and said dimly, "Thank you both for saving my life." In fact, Hu Xiaotian had already saved him a second time.

Seeing Li Chang'an regain his composure, Hu Xiaotian approached and said, "Mr. Li, a dead bird cannot be revived; you should mourn and move on." As he spoke, he couldn't help wanting to laugh, yet felt it wasn't the time to laugh—otherwise it would be like rubbing salt in the wound, and Li Chang'an might turn on him.

Li Chang'an remained silent, and Hu Xiaotian added, "Mr. Li, you're injured; why not return to the city with me first to tend to your wounds?"

Li Chang'an said, "I appreciate your kindness, Sir Hu, but I cannot leave just like that." His gaze fell on the Snow Eagle's corpse.

Hu Xiaotian guessed he couldn't bear to leave the Snow Eagle's corpse exposed in the wilderness, nodded and said, "Mr. Li, rest assured—I'll bury it properly for you."

Li Chang'an pressed his lips together; he was usually solitary and disliked accepting favors, but today he had no choice but to accept Hu Xiaotian's kindness.

Hu Xiaotian and Zhan Peng were about to go dig a grave for the Snow Eagle when Li Chang'an said, "Yan Huxiao is hunting me; he'll be here soon." Yan Huxiao, a Beast Tamer of equal renown, is known as the Demon Beast!

Hu Xiaotian and Zhan Peng naturally didn't know of Li Chang'an's personal grudges, nor did they want to invite too much trouble; after all, Beast Tamers cannot be judged by martial skill alone—their greatest strength lies in commanding wild beasts. A skilled Beast Tamer can organize a fearsome army of beasts.

Hu Xiaotian and Zhan Peng worked together, and shortly had the pit dug; they buried the Snow Eagle on the spot, preventing its corpse from being eaten by forest beasts. As for the black bear, it fared worse. Hu Xiaotian cut off its four paws; rather than let them go to waste, he decided to take them back to share a delicacy with his brothers, which also amounted to indirectly helping Li Chang'an avenge the Snow Eagle.

As the three prepared to leave the dense forest, Li Chang'an seemed to notice something and whispered, "Wait!"

Hu Xiaotian listened closely. He seemed to hear a beast's mournful howl, and inwardly thought, "Oh no—could the Demon Beast Yan Huxiao already be here?"

Li Chang'an pointed to the northeast and said, "Let's go check that direction!"

Zhan Peng said, "I'll go alone, my lord; you wait here."

Hu Xiaotian nodded; he still trusted Zhan Peng greatly, and whispered, "You must be careful."

Zhan Peng hurried into the forest and also heard the howl just heard.

Hu Xiaotian and Li Chang'an waited the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, then saw Zhan Peng return, clutching three plump little black balls—actually three little black bears, each about the size of a rabbit, fluffy and chubby, looking endearingly clumsy with small, glistening eyes, gazing pitifully at the three. Hu Xiaotian quickly wrapped up the four bear paws, and guessed that the three little black bears were almost certainly the offspring of the large black bear just killed.

Seeing the three little black bears, Li Chang'an's face filled with killing intent; he drew his dagger, gritted his teeth and said, "I'll avenge Little Snow right now…" Because his affection for the Snow Eagle was too deep, Li Chang'an actually wanted to kill these bear cubs to vent his anger.

Hu Xiaotian quickly grabbed his wrist: "Mr. Li, no, no, these bear cubs are utterly innocent; what their parents did has nothing to do with them, and besides, that big black bear was under the Beast Tamer's control—you must not do this."

Li Chang'an also knew Hu Xiaotian made sense, and lowered his head glumly.

Hu Xiaotian gave Zhan Peng a look, intending to signal him to release the three cubs, but Zhan Peng said, "My lord, releasing them now would be no different from killing them; the cubs are simply too small, having lost their family's protection, they would have only death awaiting them in these mountains."

Li Chang'an also calmed completely, and said softly, "Quite right—leaving them here is also a death sentence; if we want them to live, we should first take them away to raise, then release them back to the mountains when they're grown."

Before setting out, after thinking it over, Hu Xiaotian still threw the four bear paws back beside the bear's corpse—not because he's some animal-protection zealot, but because his conscience suddenly struck him: if he ate those paws, how could he face those three adorable cubs later? Although he has in fact become the cubs' mother-killer, the cubs don't know that; still, it's better to rack up some merit—one cannot slaughter their mother and then feast on her paws, what a sin!

Hu Xiaotian's hunting trip ended empty-handed, though not without gain—he had saved a life and incidentally brought back three cubs. As for raising animals, his group had no experience; if any, it would only be the Tang siblings, who formerly raised horses, but raising horses and bears are worlds apart. Upon hearing they were to raise bears, Tang Qingxuan immediately declined the arduous task; although the three cubs are adorable, that's precisely why they shouldn't be mistreated in her care.

Xiong Tianba, hearing Hu Xiaotian had brought three fellow bears, showed keen interest, volunteered to adopt them; he himself is a bear cub, and they are also bear cubs—if successful, the four cubs could make a mahjong table. Hu Xiaotian, while also looking forward to such a scene, knew bear cubs make terrible foster fathers, and promptly refused him.

After consideration, Li Chang'an remained the most suitable caretaker, and these three cubs could only thrive under his care.

After two days of rest, Li Chang'an's body had clearly improved, his emotions mostly settled. Hearing Hu Xiaotian's intention, he sighed and thought perhaps this was heaven's will: the heavens took his Snow Eagle, yet sent him three cubs, to teach him to repay hatred with virtue.

Li Chang'an said, "Sir Hu, rest assured—I understand your meaning and will certainly treat these three cubs kindly, helping to raise them to adulthood."

Hu Xiaotian asked, "Mr. Li, how are your wounds?"

Li Chang'an replied, "Not bad; thanks to Sir Hu's rescue, otherwise I might have ended up buried in the bear's belly this time."

Hu Xiaotian puzzled, "Mr. Li, why are you being hunted?"

Li Chang'an pondered a moment then said, "This matter involves unavoidable difficulties on my part."

Since he was unwilling to reveal the true reason, Hu Xiaotian naturally didn't press further, smiling, "Mr. Li, just focus on recuperating in Dongliang Jun; safety here should be assured."

Li Chang'an shook his head, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Sir Hu; after these two days of rest I've largely recovered, and I intend to leave tomorrow."

Hu Xiaotian exclaimed, "That soon?"

Li Chang'an said, "To be frank, I'm being pursued by the Heavenly Mechanism Bureau; the Demon Beast Yan Huxiao's beast-controlling skill is not inferior to mine—I specialize in commanding birds, while he excels at controlling land beasts. The black bear that attacked me the day before yesterday was probably under his control."

Hu Xiaotian said, "If that's the case, Mr. Li needn't flee; the Heavenly Mechanism Bureau and I have no dealings, and they wouldn't dare easily come onto my turf to seize people." He remained quite confident about this.

Li Chang'an smiled, "I appreciate your goodwill, Sir Hu, but I still have unfinished business and must hurry to the northern desert frontier." That frontier lies north of Da Yong.

Hu Xiaotian's earnest effort to retain Li Chang'an also served a purpose: Li Chang'an's beast-taming art impressed him greatly, and if he could secure this man's aid, they could indeed form a beast army that would strike terror into enemies. In an age generally lacking aerial forces, if they could establish an airborne unit, they would surely hold the upper hand against foes. Hu Xiaotian still recalls when escorting Princess Anping across the river, it was aerial birds using stones to sink the ships.

Hu Xiaotian said, "Mr. Li, with your wounds unhealed, how could you travel far? Besides, those three cubs couldn't possibly follow you that distance."

Li Chang'an replied, "Walking should pose no problem; as for the three cubs, I said I would help raise them to adulthood, and I will certainly do so—I'll later write up a rearing method and give it to you, Sir Hu."

Hu Xiaotian, hearing this, couldn't help feeling greatly disappointed—this wasn't what he had wanted.

Li Chang'an said, "Sir Hu, you've saved me twice in a row; I will keep it in my heart forever, but I possess nothing of value and don't know how to repay you."

In the early morning I'll post another update; I earnestly ask for your monthly tickets—the double period still has three days left, so please cast your votes for Zhangyu! (To be continued...)