Survival Instincts

There's a fatal flaw in the "Eagle Catching Chicks" strategy - if the eagle suddenly reverses direction after consistent rightward movement, the chicks' momentum will expose the last in line. Though this childhood game tactic seemed beyond the bear's comprehension to Jack Li.

"Good... keep holding..." Jack Li murmured as the human chain maintained safe distance from their circling predator.

"Your plan might actually work..." Barrett grunted through clenched teeth. "If I don't collapse first."

"Endure six more minutes."

"Easy for you! I haven't eaten in—"

"Incoming!!" Jack Li shouted.

Barrett dropped his stance just as the bear's full-weight charge connected with a deafening CLANG! The impact nearly flipped man and shield alike.

"God damn overgrown rug!" the middle-aged man yelled. "Hold steady up front!"

"You try tanking this shit!" Barrett snapped back, every bone vibrating from the collision.

Frustrated by failed assaults, the bear began retreating.

"Giving up?" Four-Eyes asked.

Jack Li's eyes narrowed. "Worse."

As predicted, the bear backed against the far wall - gathering momentum for a running charge. Jack Li immediately reinforced Barrett's position. "Lao Lü! Take steering duty!"

"What?"

The middle-aged man reluctantly grasped their collars as the bear pawed ground like a bull preparing to charge. Sweat dripped down his face as the predator launched forward.

"NOW!" Jack Li yelled.

Instead of adjusting the shield, Lao Lü suddenly released his grip and fled. The unmanned plate took the full brunt - sending Jack Li and Barrett airborne. They crashed half a meter back, pinned beneath the toppled slab.

Coughing blood, Barrett wheezed: "I'll kill that fat traitor..."

"Self-preservation... natural instinct..." Jack Li quoted hoarsely from Han Dynasty texts even as Four-Eyes rallied others to right the shield.

The bear staggered too, disoriented by its own impact. Four-Eyes attempted replacing Barrett but buckled instantly under the plate's weight. "Can't... hold..."

"Let me..." Barrett dragged himself up, reassuming position just as the bear refocused - now targeting the isolated Lao Lü.

"Save him!" Four-Eyes begged Jack Li.

"Your funeral." Jack Li coldly negotiated: "Both your Daos if I succeed."

After frantic bargaining, Jack Li seized Four-Eyes' sneakers. Remembering bestiary tactics - first rule: never strike a predator's back. He hurled one shoe at the bear's spine.

Startled, the beast whirled as the second shoe smacked its sensitive nose. Enraged, it abandoned Lao Lü to charge the shield - weaker blows now as Jack Li predicted.

Eight diminishing strikes later, the bear finally retreated to feast on the initial victim's corpse. Wet chewing sounds filled the chamber as survivors averted their eyes.

"Thirty seconds..." Jack Li monitored the clock, crimson light reflecting off the bear's muzzle as it slurped entrails. The standoff held until—

*Ding! *

A shrill bell announced game's end. Steel shutters descended between humans and predator, the bloodied arena floor beginning its sanitation cycle.

No cheers emerged - just muted sobs and Barrett's exhausted chuckle: "Mother Hen my arse..."

But just as the group relaxed, the sated bear suddenly roared and charged again with renewed fury. Time was slipping away, and the beast intended to make its final play.

"Incoming!! Brace!!" Jack Li shouted. Barrett dug his heels in, bracing the plate at an angle as the human chain reformed behind them.

The bear reared onto its hind legs, towering over two meters tall. Before anyone could react, it slammed both front paws atop the metal sheet, rancid breath washing over Jack Li as blood-flecked drool sprayed his face.

"Hold!!" Four-Eyes screamed. Barrett's muscles bulged against the impossible weight threatening to crush them. "Fffucking...hell..."

Jack Li threw his weight against the plate, but the bear abruptly yanked the slab backward. Both men collapsed as the shield clattered to the floor, leaving them exposed.

Barrett rolled clear of a swiping paw. "Get up, Liar Boy!!"

Jack Li gasped for breath, ribs screaming with each attempt to rise. The bear abandoned Barrett, sensing easier prey.

"Diu..." Barrett launched a flying knee into the beast's snout. A casual backhand sent him skidding across the floor, clutching cracked ribs.

Four-Eyes turned desperately to Lao Lü. "Your shoes! We need—"

"Let the bear eat them!" Lao Lü hissed. "Twenty seconds left!"

Indeed, the countdown read 0:00:20. Four-Eyes made his choice.

"Over here, you overgrown mutt!!" He stumbled into a desperate sprint. The bear gave chase as Four-Eyes faceplanted repeatedly, his pathetic flight ending in a corner.

"Mom... I'm sorry..." Four-Eyes whimpered as fetid jaws closed on his throat.

"Time's up, damn you!!" Barrett roared.

The exit blast door hissed open. An invisible force ripped the bear backward mid-strike, howling into the abyss.

Silence.

Survivors wept as Four-Eyes crawled from death's edge. Barrett massaged his ribs. "Fucking miracle..."

Jack Li stared at the empty doorway. "Did they make it?"

The answer came in heavy footsteps. A mountain of a man emerged - Liam, torso crisscrossed with claw marks. Behind him walked Candy and Taylor, followed by nine others unscathed.

Liam dropped two bloodied bear forelimbs with a thud. "Tough fuckin' welcome mat you got here, Ox."

The ox-headed arbiter ignored him. "Nineteen Dao each. Collect your winnings."

As Lao Lü began whispering urgently to Liam, Taylor recounted their ordeal: "Liam just... charged it. Lifted the iron plate like a battering ram..."

"Wait." Barrett gaped. "He beat a bear to death with the fucking shield?!"

The survivors from both groups stared at the severed limbs. Liam leaned back, inspecting his wounds. "What's the fuss? Just needed proper motivation."

Four-Eyes approached nervously. "Liam, about Lao Lü—"

"Save it." The giant eyed Jack Li. "Heard you pulled some kindergarten game shit. Cute."

Before tensions escalated, the ox-man boomed: "Proceed to next challenge. Follow."

As the group moved out, Liam casually shouldered past Jack Li. "Eagle and chicks? Weak. Real men go for the throat."

He held up a mangled bear paw, still twitching.

Taylor whispered as they walked: "Liam kept shouting 'Kill the head, the body dies!' He... he jammed the plate's edge into the bear's mouth and just... levered its jaw apart."

Jack Li's mind raced. This changed everything. If brute force could override the game's design...

Ahead, Liam chuckled darkly, testing his grip on the grisly trophy. The ox-man's tail flicked in irritation - perhaps their "fair" game hadn't anticipated such barbaric problem-solving.

Barrett spat blood. "Fuckin' showoff."

But Jack Li watched Liam thoughtfully. In this world of twisted rules, maybe primal violence wasn't weakness... but a different kind of Dao.