This time, Liu Chang’an was clearly furious, unlike the previous warnings that were all thunder and no rain.

He spat on his whip, gathered his strength, and lashed out at Liu Chun’an’s back. The crisp “crack” exploded at the village entrance, making everyone’s hearts tighten.

Liu Chun’an turned deathly pale from the pain, his forehead covered in cold sweat, yet he bit his lip so hard he refused to make another sound.

“Gamble! You dare gamble again!”

Liu Chang’an’s voice trembled, his eyes blazing with fire.

“Are you satisfied now? Thirty yuan! You lost thirty yuan in a single day!”

He was so angry his face turned green. He raised the whip again, shouting, “Your mother and I worked ourselves to the bone in the fields all year and only saved this much. And you, you gambled it all away in one night. Are you even a human? You don’t deserve to carry the surname Liu!”

Liu Chang’an pointed at Liu Chun’an’s nose, venting all his pent-up anger.

Du Jianguo stood there in shock, tugging on a villager’s arm and whispering, “Brother, what exactly is going on?”

“Oh, you don’t know yet?” The villager lowered his voice, speaking with a tone of watching a show. “Liu Chun’an recently made a huge fool of himself! He was playing cards with Li Ergou and others, not realizing he had been set up. In just a few days, he lost over thirty yuan in total!”

“Li Ergou set the trap?”

Du Jianguo’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly remembered Liu Chun’an mentioning the card game to him a few days ago.

It seemed the young man had ignored his advice and chose to believe Li Ergou’s lies after all.

He couldn’t help but shake his head. He had specifically warned him back then, but Liu Chun’an insisted on going his own way. Falling into this situation was no one’s fault but his own.

“Husband, stop! You’ll really kill the child if you keep hitting him!” Liu Chun’an’s mother, her face streaked with tears, threw herself forward and grabbed tightly onto Liu Chang’an’s pant legs, hugging his legs to stop him.

“Get off me! Today I will whip this good-for-nothing son to death!”

Liu Chang’an was truly red-eyed with rage.

Liu Chun’an had gambled before, but it was always small-scale, and the family could handle it. Now the boy had lost all their year’s savings, completely shattering his father’s heart.

Seeing that she couldn’t reason with her husband, Liu Chun’an’s mother wiped her tears, stumbled over to a nearby tree, and hurriedly untied the ropes binding Liu Chun’an. She whispered urgently, “Son, run! If you don’t run now, you really won’t make it out of today!”

Liu Chun’an didn’t dare delay. The moment he was free, he sprinted toward the outside of the village.

“Do you dare let him go? Liu Chun’an! Get back here!” Liu Chang’an’s face turned red with rage. He pointed at his son’s fleeing back and roared, but his legs were held by his wife, so he couldn’t chase after him.

Although Liu Chun’an was a bit stout, he ran surprisingly fast. Within moments, he disappeared, leaving not even a shadow behind.

Seeing this, the villagers gathered around to comfort Liu Chang’an. “Old Liu, don’t be angry. It’s better that the child ran away than that you actually hurt him.”

“Yes, Chun’an knows he was wrong. We can talk to him properly later.”

After the crowd chattered and persuaded him for over ten minutes, Liu Chang’an’s anger finally subsided. Suddenly, a villager squeezed in with a pale face, his voice trembling with panic.

“Village Head! Bad news! Just now, the direction Chun’an ran was toward Wild Man Gully! Bears have been spotted in that area. Could he have really gone in there?”

Hearing this, Liu Chang’an froze. He shivered all over, and all his previous anger turned into dread.

He suddenly slapped his thigh. “Oh no! Quick! Everyone, follow me to find Chun’an!”

Without thinking of anything else, he sprinted in the direction Liu Chun’an had fled.

In the blink of an eye, the whole group disappeared, following Liu Chang’an.

Du Jianguo remained standing in place, his brow furrowed. “Bears?”

If there were truly bears on the mountain, these unarmed villagers rushing in wouldn’t be saving anyone. They would be presenting themselves as an extra meal for the bears.

After pondering for a moment, Du Jianguo moved, but instead of following the crowd to Wild Man Gully, he circled around to the village head’s house.

Seeing that the courtyard wall wasn’t very high, he simply climbed over, pried open the lock on the main room in a few moves, and walked straight into Liu Chang’an’s bedroom. Finally, he retrieved the precious rifle hidden under the bed.

Going into Wild Man Gully empty-handed?

Du Jianguo did not have the courage to seek death like that.

He gripped the rifle tightly and slowed his steps. If they really encountered a bear, this gun would be the only thing that could save their lives.

With the rifle tucked away, Du Jianguo slowly made his way toward Wild Man Gully.

He knew perfectly well that there were bears in Wild Man Gully. In his past life while hunting, he had encountered them several times.

However, after the Wildlife Protection Law was enacted, black bears became a protected species, and people could no longer hunt them freely as before.

Bears may look clumsy, but they are actually very cunning.

Before the protection law, there were always some who thought they could challenge the bears. Several bold individuals ventured in and were torn to shreds, leaving not even a complete body behind.

Although the villagers started before Du Jianguo, they had no direction. Chattering aimlessly among themselves, they had no idea where to go.

Du Jianguo called his dog, Da Huang, over. This dog belonged to Liu Chun’an originally and was very familiar with his owner’s scent.

He casually picked up an item with Liu Chun’an’s scent and held it under Da Huang’s nose.

Da Huang immediately understood. Wagging its tail, it lowered its head and sniffed carefully at the ground. Soon, it barked twice in a specific direction.

Half an hour later, Du Jianguo saw a chubby figure clinging to a tree from a distance, screaming at the top of his lungs.

“Oh, my dear mother! Save me!”

“Dad! I was wrong! If you come to save me, I won’t run even if you hit me in the future!”

Liu Chun’an was completely terrified. He shrank his body up toward the top of the tree canopy, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

Beneath the tree, a sturdy black bear was clawing at the trunk, panting as it tested its way up. Every move of its clumsy body made the tree shake, and it seemed only moments away from reaching his feet.

“Could it be that I, Liu Chun’an, will die so shamefully in the hands of a bear without even marrying a wife?”

Looking at the dark shadow climbing closer below, Liu Chun’an’s face was filled with despair. All his previous arrogance was gone, and it was clear he had no hope of surviving.

Just as the bear’s claws were about to reach Liu Chun’an’s feet to “start the meal,” a loud “bang” suddenly rang out from a distance, shaking the leaves in the forest and making them rustle down.

A tongue of flame shot from the gun barrel. The bullet pierced through the bear’s fur as easily as cutting tofu, piercing right through its arm.

The bear, stung by pain, suddenly twisted its head and spotted Du Jianguo holding the “truth.”

[Tl: “truth” is a humorous slang term for a gun in China]

It was stunned for a moment, then let out a deafening roar. Turning around, it dashed into the depths of the forest and vanished in an instant.

[Tl: The Wild Man Gully is a name of a place]