C4 Grilled Bear Claw

I was really done in by that old man. There was nothing else I could do...

Lin Yu swiftly grabbed the half-burned stick from the fire and dashed to the side, striking the Cragbear and taunting it. "If you want to eat, come eat me. Come on... Come on..."

The Cragbear, struck by the stick, glared at the defiant young man with even more ferocity. It let out a roar and pursued Lin Yu.

As the Cragbear bore down on him, Lin Yu spun around and fled deeper into the woods.

"I hope I can draw the bear far enough away so the old man can get to safety, and maybe I can survive by using the trees as cover," Lin Yu thought as he ran.

The plan was sound, but execution proved difficult. The forest was dense, but the autumn had stripped many trees of their leaves, offering little cover. Lin Yu struggled to stay hidden, constantly changing direction to use his smaller size and the trees to buy time.

The Cragbear, now beside itself with rage, was closing in on its target. Yet, every time it was about to snatch him, Lin Yu would dart away, leaving the bear impatient and furious.

"Oh—owwww!"

Just as Lin Yu squeezed into a particularly thick cluster of trees, a roar and the sound of snapping branches came from behind him. The trees shattered, and Lin Yu was sent sprawling to the ground.

Ignoring everything else, Lin Yu tried to rise but stumbled and collapsed, a stabbing pain shooting through his leg.

Turning to look, he saw a ghastly wound on his right calf, the bone visible.

"It looks like this is as far as I go. I never thought after all this time I'd end up as food..." Lin Yu, who had faced death before, was not afraid. He sighed, a sense of resignation in his voice.

"You kid, you've got guts, running around like that..." As Lin Yu braced for the end, a familiar voice reached his ears.

He spun around to see the old man standing behind him and, with a surge of urgency, exclaimed, "You crazy old man, what's wrong with you? Run already!"

Listening to the young man's voice, the elder didn't show any signs of irritation. Instead, he burst into laughter and said, "Why run? I'm famished and was just worrying about finding something to eat..."

The Cragbear eyed the elder who had seemingly materialized from nowhere. Standing there, hands clasped behind his back, chuckling heartily, he completely disregarded the bear's presence. Enraged, the Cragbear let out a thunderous roar and charged at the elder, lifting its hefty paw to strike down upon the elder's head.

As the bear's paw descended with formidable force, Lin Yu thought he could hear the whooshing of the wind.

"Ah!"

In the blink of an eye, accompanied by Lin Yu's cry of surprise, the elder nonchalantly raised his left hand and effortlessly caught the bear's paw.

"Damn it, what are you yelling about? You nearly gave me a heart attack," the elder scolded, still holding the bear's paw, as he turned to Lin Yu.

"This paw isn't half bad. Roasted with some seasoning, it's quite the delicacy. It's been ages since I've had roasted bear paw," the elder mused, examining the paw from all angles.

Lin Yu, raised in the forest, had encountered bears before, but never one of this size. Even smaller ones possessed a strength no ordinary person could match. He had never witnessed someone casually handle a live bear's claw, turning it this way and that, all the while contemplating how to cook it. He stood there, dumbfounded.

The Cragbear was just as taken aback. Usually, a swipe of its paw would reduce any creature to pulp and splinter trees, but here it was, its paw caught and being inspected as if it were a curiosity...

"Oh—owww!"

The Cragbear struggled fiercely to withdraw its paw, but it might as well have been set in stone, immovable. In desperation, it raised its other paw and took a mighty swipe at the elder.

"Thud!"

Following the resounding impact, the elder kicked the bear, sending its massive frame tumbling backward, crashing through several large trees before coming to a halt, motionless.

The shock was overwhelming. For a moment, Lin Yu's mind went blank, his heartbeat thundering in his ears.

"Hiss—" The sharp pain in his leg snapped Lin Yu out of his stupor. He watched as the elder sprinkled some white powder on the injury, then made a series of intricate hand gestures before pressing his palm against the wound. Instantly, a sphere of green light enveloped the injury, soothing the pain.

The pain began as a sharp sting, like needles piercing the skin, and quickly escalated to a sensation of countless ants crawling over the wound. The numbness and itchiness were almost too much to bear. Lin Yu clenched his fingers into the earth, silently enduring the agony.

"Fortunately, the bones and tendons are unharmed. A bit of Qi and blood replenishment, along with some rest, and you'll be as good as new. I have to say, for someone so young, you have quite the resilience," the elder remarked as he retracted his hand.

With the elder's palm removed, the green light that had bathed the wound vanished. His face, previously sallow from malnutrition, now turned deathly pale. Despite the dry, cold autumn air, his brow was dotted with fine beads of sweat.

"Ah, it seems I must go the extra mile and treat you to my roasted bear paw. Never thought I'd be fussing over a youngster at my age," the elder sighed, gazing at the ashen-faced, listless boy.

...

"Here, try my roasted bear paw. The Cragbear's vitality is concentrated in its paws. Combined with my culinary skills, you'll feel a surge of strength after eating it," the elder offered, presenting a perfectly cooked bear paw.

The young man was momentarily at a loss for words, staring at the bear paw that was nearly as large as his torso, yet he couldn't help but feel deeply impressed.

Just an hour earlier, Lin Yu had watched the elder approach a motionless black bear on the ground. With ease, he grabbed a paw and dragged the beast closer. Then, with a swift kick, he sent a fallen tree soaring into the air, and with a few swift motions of his hands, the tree was reduced to several chunks. His hands, previously producing a green light, now flashed red, and the wood ignited into the fire that was now crackling before them.

"That... seems a bit too large for me. I can't possibly eat all of that, and honestly, I don't think I can even lift it," Lin Yu admitted with a sense of defeat.

The elder chuckled at the young man's predicament and placed the bear paw on the ground. "Then eat it from the ground. It's best enjoyed whole," he advised, before picking up another paw and taking a hearty bite from it held aloft.

"Mmm, this is truly delicious," the elder remarked with appreciation as he ate.

Lin Yu watched the old man's voracious eating with a mix of awe and alarm. Taking a bite of the large bear paw, despite it being perfectly roasted, was an overwhelming experience that left him feeling uneasy.

A brisk wind whipped up, carrying the aroma of the perfectly cooked bear paw, which was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The Cragbear paw was enormous, and Lin Yu quickly found himself unable to eat another bite.

In stark contrast, the old man had devoured nearly the entire paw, leaving only a single finger. With a few more bites, he finished it off. Noticing Lin Yu's reluctance to continue, he took the leftover paw, roasted it a bit more, and after tossing it aside, he uttered a single word in disdain, "Waste," before resuming his hearty meal.

Feeling reinvigorated after the meal, Lin Yu's body warmed up, and his injured leg seemed to regain some strength. He glanced around and his gaze fell upon the motionless black bear that had lost its paws, prompting a deep sense of melancholy.