Chapter 706 - 27: The Tiger’s Power Lies in Human Backing (Part 2)
The hand axe stained with bear blood swung high, a cold gleam flashed in the blurred vision of the fine-toothed giant bear.
Chen Zhou used all his might to bring the axe down at the junction of the giant bear’s skull and vertebrae.
The axe blade cut into the bear’s fur like a hot knife through butter, sinking deeply until it met hard bone, only then slightly slowing, but its momentum wasn’t much reduced, still driving downwards.
With just one swing, the bear’s vertebrae were almost completely severed, the damaged nerve center blocked signals from the brain to the body, turning it into helpless prey on the chopping block.
It wasn’t until this moment that Chen Zhou released the hand axe covered in bear blood and black fur, turning his head coldly to gaze at the approaching female giant hyena.
...
"Chen Zhou..."
Pitted against the fine-toothed giant bear had already taken Paul close to exhaustion, and after taking a hard kick from Chen Zhou, he could barely stagger to his feet, running away from the battle purely out of willpower.
The nighttime prairie was dangerous as it was, and tonight was the gathering of wild beasts; exhausted, Paul dared not run too far.
He needed to see the flickering firelight, that quivering glow offering him a pitiful sense of safety.
Lying back on the slope of the mound, witnessing Chen Zhou dance on the knife’s edge until the bear fell pierced by the spear, Paul’s heart rate finally calmed a little.
Though he could provide no substantial help, on the mound, he could still act as a somewhat useful observer.
Seeing the lone giant hyena approaching with ill intent, Paul gathered some strength from afar and shouted a warning.
Yet after shouting, he wasn’t sure if Chen Zhou heard him, but he just stood there, seemingly in a daze.
"Chen Zhou!"
Paul shouted once more, then forced himself to stand, heading toward the fire.
But he’d only taken a few steps when he saw the giant hyena stop in its tracks.
...
Unlike Paul, it was the female giant hyena that truly felt the pressure from Chen Zhou.
Being locked in Chen Zhou’s gaze made it feel like it was transported back to childhood—
Back then, playing with its companions at the foot of the high mountains near the forest, it was eyed by a muscular cave lion, and had it not been for its mother and other pack members arriving in time, it might have ended up as lion meat.
Since reaching adulthood, it rarely felt this way again; not even angering a mammoth gave rise to the feeling of being helplessly overpowered.
Every nerve in its body seemed to tremble, instincts were madly warning the female giant hyena—
Run!
No matter how rebellious or stubborn it had been, in this moment, it chose to trust its instinct.
Woo~
Leaving behind an unwilling growl, the giant hyena turned around, reluctantly heading back to its pack—
There was still a dozen meters between it and Chen Zhou, and in the animal’s mind, there were no ranged or thrown weapons; it considered itself safe, oblivious to the mocking smile on Chen Zhou’s face.
"Pfft."
The spear, dyed red and soaked with oil, was pulled from the fine-toothed giant bear’s body by Chen Zhou.
Not far away, the wet spear shimmered in the firelight, as if it were burning under the starry sky.
Holding the spear single-handedly, Chen Zhou made a standard javelin throw gesture, and immediately began his run-up.
Leaping like he was on springs for three steps, his large hand let go, and the spear flew out, the bright firelight on the shaft disappearing into the vast night.
...
Trotting along, the female giant hyena had no inkling that danger would descend from the sky.
In but an instant, it was pierced by the spear.
Yet the giant hyena’s body was far from as sturdy and heavy as the fine-toothed giant bear, unable to resist the added force from the run-up that impaled the spear.
After penetrating the female giant hyena, the spearhead sunk deeply into the earth, leaving less than 1m of the shaft exposed, while the hyena remained pinned to the remaining length of the shaft.
The shaft narrowly missed its spine, skewering through its lower half diagonally.
In the pack, the female giant hyena was the largest, and upon being struck, it keenly felt the alien object lodged in its body and the severe pain stemming from its injured organs.
It even had the notion that if it tried hard enough, it could rid itself of the mysterious device and escape captivity.
Amidst the cries of the giant hyena, it called for its pack members to help, while using its front legs to incessantly leap like a donkey kicking, trying desperately to free its body from the back half of the spear shaft.
Each attempt disturbed its organs, bringing more acute pain. Even though the hyena’s perception of pain wasn’t as sharp as that of primates, it was still a terrifying torture.
With each jump, the pain gradually intensified, reaching a level so severe that it began to numb the giant hyena.
The internal organs were increasingly damaged by the friction with the spear shaft, and despite the brain’s protective mechanism dulling the pain, the damage endured was real.
The female giant hyena found herself jumping lower and lower, even her roars grew softer and softer.
She watched in despair as familiar members drifted away one by one, ignoring her pleas for help, including the Hyena Queen, her mother.
The shadow of death had quietly enveloped her.
...
Chen Zhou always disliked things beyond his plans, like this Fine-toothed Giant Bear.
It disrupted his arrangements and brought more trouble, like the giant hyena and other beastly contenders on the prairie eyeing the bear carcass.
He intended to collect rock salt during the chaos, but the bear’s attack nearly injured Paul, broke a spear, and drained much of his energy.
Now, it’s certainly impossible to harvest rock salt; ensuring they won’t be beset by wild beasts tonight would be considered good enough.
...
He helped the slow-moving Paul down from the mound, added some firewood to the campfire, and pulled out the spear embedded in the giant hyena.
Chen Zhou didn’t drag back the hyena’s carcass.
Firstly, the bear’s meat was sufficient for him and Paul to consume.
Secondly, the stench of the bear carcass was too intense, the Fine-toothed Giant Bear was enormous, like a mountain of meat piled on the ground, drawing the gaze of any passing predators, with scavengers possibly fighting to the death over this bear.
To divert the attention of carnivores prowling near the mound tonight, Chen Zhou deemed it necessary to leave the hyena’s body.
The campfire, not far from the bear’s corpse, would deter some ill-intentioned beasts, and those more cautious ones might settle for the hyena, perhaps granting them some peace.
...
He set up a pot, fetched some nearby water to heat over the fire, and looking at the massive bear carcass, Chen Zhou felt a bit regretful—
It’s not that he mourned the fall of such a majestic creature on the prehistoric plains, but he regretted that the bear’s fine hide was riddled with so many holes by him.
What grieved him more was that the shelter was far away, and he and Paul urgently needed salt, leaving them no time to tan the bear’s hide.
The entire bear pelt, if fully removed, could almost cover their wooden and stone hut. In winter, a thick fur like this over the roof or laid on the floor would greatly enhance the house’s insulating properties.
Not being able to tan and take this bearhide away, Chen Zhou felt it was a terrible waste.
"Sigh..."
Sighing deeply, Chen Zhou used the hand axe to chop off the giant bear’s paw—
It is said that the flavor of bear paws differs between the front and back ones, with the back being foul-smelling, and the front more tender and nutritious.
But as for which bear paw, left or right, tastes better, opinions vary.
Some believe that the right claw often stung by bees while foraging for honey becomes more flavorful.
Others argue that during hibernation, the bear licks its left front paw with its tongue, thinning the calluses to the point of bleeding, the saliva moistening the palm, making the flesh extraordinarily tender and thus tastier.
Chen Zhou wasn’t sure if the Fine-toothed Giant Bear sought prehistoric honey or even hibernated or drooled during hibernation, because he had only one option—
the left paw.
The bear’s right paw had already been declawed, no longer a complete paw.
Simply rinsing the chopped bear paw by the river, realizing that the field pot was too small for such a large item, Chen Zhou had to use the axe to "trim" the paw’s contour, even cutting away much of the skin and flesh around the palm, until it could fit into the field pot.
He initially thought of singeing the hair off the paw, but seeing the campfire not very robust, he ultimately chose a method more material-consuming but simpler—
skinning.
Although Chen Zhou’s understanding of outdoor survival and extreme sports had significantly improved in recent years, his knowledge of cooking was still minimal, especially with high-end ingredients like bear paw, he was clueless on preparation, chopping off the paw merely on a whim.
After skinning it, he directly put the bear paw into the field pot, waiting for the blood foam to be boiled out, pouring it off, then covered the pot to pressure-cook it until tender.
Anyway, there were no seasonings; as long as it wasn’t poisonous, flavor could take a back seat.