You are a cat demon

As long as there's no wind or rain, the smell won't dissipate easily. Following the scent of Village Chief Zhang Qingshan and the others, you arrived there in no time.

The closer you get, the stronger the smell becomes, and it seems to be mixed with a trace of demonic energy that is neither strong nor weak. You can't see anyone, but you can already hear several people shouting in panic, as if they have encountered a lot of trouble.

You paused, and several unfortunate scenarios that might have happened to them flashed through your mind, instantly making you lose the courage to move forward.

If a group of people plus a pack of dogs can't solve the problem, wouldn't you be even more useless if you went?

You hesitated, but listening to the shouts of strangers you'd barely met, you tried hard to identify Zhang Qingshan, the village chief, but to no avail. The air was also devoid of the bloody smell that used to excite you but now made you nervous and uneasy.

You couldn't stand it any longer, so you climbed a very tall spruce tree. This way, you had a wide view and could see what was happening over there. Moreover, the canopies of the trees were closely connected, so even if the trouble ended up on your side, you would have a way to escape.

Finally, we saw what was happening down below.

Village Chief Zhang Qingshan and his group formed a fan shape, with barking hunting dogs in front of them. What made them so alert was a bear demon that was nearly three meters tall.

You're even more afraid to go down now.

Even if the bear below is just an ordinary bear, you wouldn't dare to make a move.

The ancients ranked animals by danger as "first pig, second bear, third tiger." In the treacherous jungle, the bear was even more dangerous than the tiger; a single, unexpected swipe of a bear's paw could be fatal. Facing a tiger, also a feline, you might have some courage to fight it off for a while; but if you're facing a bear, unless your legs give way, you should run as fast as you can, as far as you can.

It's no exaggeration. Look at this bear. It can kill you with one slap or sit on you with one stomp. If you don't run away, are you going to be doomed?

Even if you run, you might not be able to outrun them.

Don't let their chubby appearance fool you; bears are surprisingly agile. They're also notoriously ruthless, relentlessly pursuing their prey until it's completely exhausted. Newborn lambs and fawns have met their end in this way. Even more terrifying is their thick hide, over ten centimeters thick, making it incredibly difficult for even tigers to bite through. Furthermore, they love to rub themselves against trees and gravel, coating their bodies in layers of resin and mud, creating an impenetrable armor.

A friendly reminder: playing dead is ineffective against a bear. Not only will it kill your chance of survival, but it will also make it easier for a hungry bear to take a bite.

Ordinary bears are already this difficult to deal with, let alone a bear demon with at least a hundred years of cultivation!

If only Zhang Qingshan's group had a demon hunter! An experienced demon hunter could easily take down ten bear demons, let alone just one. Unfortunately, the reality was that only Zhang Qingshan and a few others had any demon-hunting experience; the rest were just ordinary hunters without any specialized weapons. Even hunting rifles were barely enough to handle ordinary bears—bullets could barely penetrate their rough hides—let alone a bear demon several times stronger than an ordinary bear.

Perhaps the only thing that can hold its own against this bear demon for a while is these dozen or so well-trained and agile hunting dogs, but there is no doubt that if a fight breaks out, the battle will be extremely fierce, and at least half of the hunting dogs will die.

Of course, the hounds wouldn't die in vain; their masters would flee this dangerous place while the bear demons tore at their flesh. Even though for those sacrificed hounds, even if their masters escaped unharmed, and everything after death had nothing to do with them, why go and die? In a way, it was truly unfair.

Unfortunately, this is the fate of dogs.

Not all hunting dogs are so righteous; some are definitely cowardly, like the little hunting dog that Carmen's owner had just bought. At this moment, all the hunting dogs stood in front of their respective owners and barked at the burly bear demon, indicating that they were not to be trifled with. Only this one dog desperately tried to hide behind its owner, seemingly hoping that its usually gentle owner would also protect it at this moment.

Whether he was ashamed that his hunting dog had embarrassed him, or worried that the bear demon would target him first since he was unprotected, the hunter gave a low growl and kicked the little hunting dog a few times in the side and rear, signaling it to show some backbone and stand in front like the other hunting dogs.

Each kick was heavy, each kick seemed to be aimed at killing, not kicking his own dog, but kicking a heinous criminal.

The little beagle whimpered pitifully, refusing to take a single step forward, letting its owner kick and stomp on it.

The hunters present had all raised hunting dogs for many years, and many couldn't bear to see their dogs suffer. But given the current situation, they couldn't care less, and no one tried to dissuade them. After all, weren't they themselves now willing to let their hunting dogs, who had been with them for so many years, die in their place?

Actually, you can't blame the little beagle for being cowardly. It was still young, its life just beginning. Although it had undergone much training like other beagle dogs, this was its first time facing a life-or-death situation, and ultimately, it couldn't be as brave and fearless as its predecessors. Even ants know to cherish life; dogs are far more advanced than ants. Who would willingly throw their life away like that?

If it were you, you wouldn't want to be so foolish as to throw your life away. Look at you now, cowering in a tree like a turtle, you're not much better than others.

From your perspective, you can clearly see the expressions on everyone's faces, and even count the beads of cold sweat on their foreheads. You see Village Chief Zhang Qingshan looking at the big black dog standing at the front line with a worried expression, but whether it's your imagination or not, you can't help but see a confident smile on his lips.

You immediately became extremely alert.

You still remember the amused smile on Zhang Qingshan's face when he tried to trick you with a sour loquat. It was such a painful lesson, and just thinking about it makes your teeth ache.

It seems that Village Chief Zhang Qingshan is plotting something extraordinary again, and you can be 100% sure that this matter will be extremely damaging to the bear demon.

You naturally had no idea what Village Chief Zhang Qingshan was thinking, nor what plan he was plotting, but for some reason, seeing his confident demeanor lessened your worries about the fate of the people and dogs below by half. It was like when you were hungry, the food bowl at home was always full of meat waiting for you to eat, giving you a strange sense of security.

He must have a backup plan.