Chapter 13: The Will of the World

“Bear Er Jiji, stop the sled quickly!” Bear Da’s eyes shifted forward as he shouted anxiously, “Stop the sled, there’s a cliff ahead—it’s dangerous!”

At that moment, Su He, seizing Bear Da’s momentary distraction, suddenly stretched out her hand forward and cast, “Ice Arrow!” The arrow flew ahead, freezing the entire bottom of the sled in ice. Just as Su He breathed a sigh of relief, she was stunned as she looked ahead.

The sled, which had come to a stop, was suddenly slammed forward by Bear Er rushing from behind. Bear Er hastily grabbed Jiji’s tail, but the sled, laden with food supplies, tumbled down the cliff.

Su He and Bear Da rushed over and saw Bear Er and Jiji sitting on the ground.

“Bear Er, Jiji, are you both alright?” Bear Da’s gaze then shifted toward the cliff; his mouth opened, but no words came out.

“Bear Da, what about the winter fruits?” Bouncing Carrot and Mao Mao slid down on a wooden board. Seeing Su He and the others silent, they understood what had happened.

They picked up the fruits that had fallen from the sled.

“My poor pine cones…”

“I only have these few carrots left.”

At that moment, Jiji suddenly stood up and scolded Bear Er, “Bear Er, this is all your fault! Everyone worked so hard to gather the winter fruits, and you ruined it all by yourself. You and Bear Da need to take responsibility for this.”

The other animals said nothing, but their eyes all turned toward Bear Er, their expressions conveying unspoken meaning.

Seeing Jiji so agitated, Su He quickly waved her hand to comfort him, “Alright, Jiji, don’t be so upset. We can definitely think of other ways to get through the winter.”

“Think of other ways? How? Winter fruits are scarce as it is. Finding even this much was already difficult. Su He, you can’t just side with Bear Er on this.”

Bear Da then spoke up, “Alright, everyone. Since this happened because of Bear Er, he and I will take full responsibility. Leave the winter food to us.”

Seeing the situation, Jiji had nothing more to say but shot Bear Er a glare.

Meanwhile, Bald Qiang was woken by a phone ringing. Half-asleep, he answered groggily, “Hello? Who’s this?”

“Hello, is this Mr. Bald Qiang? We are the police.”

Upon hearing it was the police, Bald Qiang’s drowsiness vanished instantly. He feared he had been caught for some traffic violation during the New Year holiday.

His hands trembling, he gripped the phone tightly and asked, “Hello, officer, is there something wrong? I, Bald Qiang, haven’t done anything bad in these years.”

“Haha, don’t be nervous, Mr. Bald Qiang,” the officer quickly explained, “We investigated and found that you used to work for Boss Li. After you resigned, Boss Li still owed you wages.”

“Boss Li has been arrested for purchasing robots and recklessly logging the forest and hunting animals. During the investigation, we found he owed you wages, so we want to resolve this issue as well. After all, it’s hard to make a living these days.”

“We checked Boss Li’s bank accounts. Because of the robot purchase, he’s currently under a loan. But he still owns a car. With his permission, we plan to use this car to compensate you for the unpaid wages.”

“What? That’s fantastic!” Bald Qiang’s joy was instant.

“Thank you so much, officer.”

“No need to thank us. It’s our duty. You can go to the town’s car dealership to pick it up now.”

“Alright!” Hanging up, Bald Qiang danced with excitement and rushed out to ride his bike to town.

At the same time, he noticed Su He returning, looking disappointed. He waved her over, “Su He, come with me to town to pick up the new car. Then we can race through the forest and experience some speed and excitement.”

Su He looked puzzled, “Qiang, where did you get the money for a new car? Did you attract tourists? Even if you did, you wouldn’t have that much money, right?”

“Hey, don’t worry! Boss Li was arrested, and the police found out he owed me wages. They’re going to give me his car as compensation.”

Su He shivered suddenly. “Strange, really strange.”

“Su He, what are you mumbling about?” Bald Qiang asked.

“Oh, nothing. Let’s go,” she said, hopping on the back of his bike.

“Alright, off to pick up the new car!”

On the way, Su He thought carefully, “Why would the police give Bald Qiang Boss Li’s car after Boss Li’s arrest? Why did the sled still fall off the cliff even though I stopped it? Could it be that the world’s will is forcibly steering the original story back on track?”

She shook off the thought. “Forget it. Let’s take it step by step.”

Soon, Bald Qiang and Su He arrived in town.

“Su He, let’s have a bowl of hot soup first before picking up the car. This weather is freezing.”

“Okay, Qiang.”

Inside, as they drank the hot soup, their bodies warmed. Though Su He was no longer afraid of the cold, drinking something warm in winter was still a delight.

Suddenly, a voice rang out.

“See? Old Zhao was right! Whenever the legendary white bear appears, the volcano erupts!” Old Zhao stood on a table, flushed, waving a bottle as he told his story.

“Ugh, here he goes again,” a passerby scoffed.

“Hey, you don’t believe me? When the mountain god is angry, it’s like an earthquake and landslide—no one escapes!”

Bald Qiang interrupted, “Old Zhao, how many years have you been telling this story? We’ve heard it since we were kids. Has anyone ever actually seen it?”

Old Zhao grinned at Bald Qiang. “Hey, isn’t this Qiang? You’re always saying the bears can talk. Has anyone ever seen that?”

Everyone laughed heartily.

“Old Zhao, you—” But then they noticed Old Zhao had fallen asleep. Bald Qiang pinched his nose hard to wake him.

Old Zhao startled awake. “I saw it! I saw lava everywhere! The mountain god is truly angry. This is karma for us recklessly cutting down trees on White Bear Mountain. Anyone would be angry if their forest was destroyed.”

“That’s just too eerie.”

“The legend says when the mountain god erupts, it’s terrifying and fierce—just like me, Old Zhao.”

“Terrifying and fierce, just like you, Old Zhao.”

They all burst into laughter again.

“Stop laughing, stop laughing! The mountain god is listening,” Old Zhao hurriedly warned.

“Old Zhao, you keep talking about the mountain god. Do you have any proof?” a passerby asked skeptically.

“Proof? I have proof.” He pulled out a picture showing a ghostly eclipse.

Seeing the childish doodle, everyone scoffed and walked away to their own business.

(Many readers disliked this part, so I will remove the world’s will element later.)