Chapter 121

Chapter 121: Bear Grandpa

At this moment, everyone outside was also stunned, wide-eyed and dumbfounded. They knew that Gu Ning sometimes passively entered her space, but how did that bear disappear as well?!

Jia Daozhang looked worried: “Could it be… that it followed Gu Ning into her space?”

Watching the giant bear gulping down the special ability water with its mouth wide open, Gu Ning’s heart ached more and more. The longer it drank, the more it seemed like it would never stop!

Gu Ning was furious, remembering that this was her space, her territory, not the outside world.

The giant bear was extremely thirsty. Outside, it could find very few water sources, most of which were polluted and tasted salty and foul. It couldn’t stomach them. But this water was sweet and refreshing, so it started drinking heartily. Just as it was halfway full, the previously calm water surface suddenly surged with a huge wave crashing over its head! Before it could steady itself and figure out what was happening, wave after wave came crashing down! It frantically paddled its limbs in the water, trying to climb ashore. But how could Gu Ning let it get ashore?

She directly manipulated the water flow, forming a massive whirlpool that spun rapidly, pulling the giant bear towards its center!

The bear kept roaring in anger, desperately paddling its thick limbs! Whether it was back in the mountains as a wild black bear or after its mutation, with its size, it had always been a dominant force, never feeling any danger! No matter if it was mutated zombies or high-level special ability users, none could withstand a single swipe of its paw. But now, in the water, it felt an unprecedented sense of danger! No matter how it struggled, it was gradually pulled closer to the whirlpool. It couldn’t hold back any longer and let out a terrified roar towards Gu Ning on the shore! It wasn’t stupid; it immediately realized that the small figure on the shore was behind this. However, Gu Ning expressionlessly pointed her finger, and the whirlpool expanded even more. The bear, still roaring in terror, was pulled into the whirlpool, spinning rapidly as it was dragged down to the depths.

After pulling the bear underwater, the water surface gradually calmed, and the bear’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

After a while, Gu Ning guessed that the bear might have drowned underwater and thought about retrieving its body to extract the crystal core from its brain. She had already tried high-level mutated zombie crystal cores, which couldn’t replenish her special ability. But perhaps the crystal core from such a high-level mutated beast would have miraculous effects?

And its bear paws—if it weren’t for the difficulty of explaining why they were so large, they could fetch a sky-high price in that world. Its fur could be made into blankets or coats for warmth, and its meat could be dried into jerky to last a long time in the apocalypse! Gu Ning made up her mind not to waste any part of the bear, ensuring everything was utilized to the fullest!

Thinking this, Gu Ning waited for two or three minutes, but the bear didn’t resurface. It seemed to be thoroughly dead. Just as she was about to retrieve the bear’s body, a sudden splash of water erupted! The bear, which Gu Ning had presumed drowned, suddenly emerged from the water and lunged onto the shore, splashing water all over Gu Ning.

Gu Ning was drenched from head to toe, her hair dripping wet. She was completely stunned.

The bear lay on the ground for a while, then started vomiting water, which flowed out like a small stream. Now that it was on shore, Gu Ning didn’t dare to act rashly. After vomiting for a while, its swollen belly slowly deflated.

As soon as it opened its eyes, Gu Ning raised her hand. The bear heard the water behind it churning again and widened its eyes in terror, giving Gu Ning a pleading look. It tightly grasped the tall grass on the shore, afraid of being pulled back into the whirlpool. Its eyes, hidden in its black fur, seemed to convey a sense of grievance and begging for mercy.

But Gu Ning’s hand remained still, and the churning water gradually calmed.

The bear looked back, saw the water had calmed, but still cautiously arched its back and moved forward, putting more distance between itself and the water.

Gu Ning, unsure if the bear could understand her, stood five meters away and waved her hand. When the bear looked at her, she sternly threatened, “If you attack me again, I’ll drown you in there!” With a heavy swing of her arm, a nearly ten-meter-high wave surged on the calm water surface! The bear, looking back, was terrified. When it turned to Gu Ning again, its gaze softened. Worried that Gu Ning might not see the plea in its eyes, it even awkwardly stretched its mouth into a “smile” towards her.

Yes, the bear was “smiling” at her. Although the smile was a bit grotesque, it was indeed a smile. Gu Ning now confirmed she wasn’t mistaken. While a giant black bear smiling at her felt incredibly bizarre, the fact that it no longer wanted to eat her gave her some relief.

Recalling how it had desperately drunk water and chased them outside to eat them, Gu Ning hesitantly asked, “Are you hungry?”

Of course, the bear couldn’t understand. It only saw the small figure’s mouth moving, probably saying something, but what exactly? The bear snorted twice, indicating it didn’t understand.

Realizing this, Gu Ning mimed putting something in her mouth and chewing a few times.

The bear was baffled. Was this small figure asking it to find food for her?!

Meeting Gu Ning’s eager gaze, the bear felt it had understood correctly and then became frustrated! Just because it showed a bit of weakness, this small figure was pushing her luck. Did she really think it was afraid of her?! It wasn’t afraid of her; it was afraid of that massive whirlpool. Once it found a good opportunity, it would gobble her up in one bite… It had been starving for days! Otherwise, it wouldn’t have resorted to eating these strange humans. It preferred small rabbits, mice, occasionally raiding a beehive, or catching fish in the river. Thinking of its past life in the mountains and comparing it to now… Wait, when it was dragged underwater earlier, it seemed to have seen some big, fat fish. The meat must be tender and delicious—

It glanced back at the calm water, then looked at Gu Ning with a questioning gaze, asking if it could go into the water.

Although Gu Ning misunderstood its intention as wanting to catch fish, the underlying motive wasn’t far off, so she nodded and gestured for it to go ahead.

Seeing her approval and having rested enough, the bear slowly stood up, shook the water off its fur—splashing Gu Ning again, perhaps intentionally—and turned towards the water. After a few steps, it looked back at Gu Ning with a doubtful expression. Gu Ning, now somewhat understanding its meaning, quickly raised her hands and took a few steps back, signaling she wouldn’t interfere.

The bear snorted through its nose, then leisurely entered the water. The bear was a good swimmer; catching fish in the mountains was no problem. With the water calm, it quickly dove in, paddling smoothly towards a particularly fat fish in the pond—

In less than ten minutes, the bear climbed out of the water, a fish nearly half a person’s size in its mouth. It shook off the water droplets and walked towards Gu Ning with the fish.

It bit off a large portion, mostly the tail, leaving a huge fish head and a small piece of meat on the ground. It then pushed the remains towards Gu Ning with its paw, indicating it had brought her food. It then started chewing on its half of the fish. Ah~ it had been so long since it had such a fat and fresh fish.

Gu Ning, looking at the half fish on the ground, suddenly realized the bear had brought it for her. She was a bit stunned; she hadn’t expected the bear to be so… considerate?

Little did she know, the bear had misunderstood, and catching the fish wasn’t voluntary. It had only shared half out of necessity.

Touched that the bear still thought of her, Gu Ning wondered how she was supposed to eat the still-twitching half fish. She could only gesture for the bear to go ahead and eat.

The bear, swallowing its half of the fish, blood still on its mouth and meat stuck between its teeth, looked at Gu Ning with suspicion. What? Was half not enough? But her expression didn’t seem to suggest that… Was the fish meant for it?

Hesitantly, the bear approached the remaining half, keeping an eye on Gu Ning. Seeing her make no move, it finally picked up the half fish and ate it.

Only after finishing did it realize it had misunderstood the small figure’s intention. She had wanted it to find food for itself.

Was this a case of hitting first and then offering a treat? Just moments ago, she had nearly drowned it, and now she was trying to win it over?! Hmph! How cunning! This small figure was no good. It had to find a chance to eat her and claim this place as its own!

The bear happily imagined itself returning to its old life in the mountains and, without realizing, fell asleep right there.

Only when the bear started snoring loudly did Gu Ning realize it had fallen asleep?!

What should she do now? Move it out or let it stay in the space?

In the space, she could control it, but outside, it might be a different story. If she let it out, she might not be able to bring it back in. Gu Ning wanted to kill this treasure-filled mutated bear, but its thick hide made her unsure if she could succeed, even with the advantage of the space. If she angered it, things could turn bad.

After much deliberation, Gu Ning reluctantly decided to temporarily give up on killing it for its crystal core.

In the end, this bear and human, one wanting to kill for territory, the other to kill for resources, each with their own ulterior motives but temporarily unable to overcome the other, created a somewhat balanced and stable situation.

Having decided to let the bear stay in the space, Gu Ning saw no need to linger. She figured the people outside must be going crazy after seeing her and the bear disappear simultaneously.

Gu Ning was right.

The people outside were indeed going crazy—frantic with worry.