Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

With four dogs, they hadn't caught a single rabbit, not even a rabbit. Of course, Zhou Rui's senses detected some prey, but the prey wasn't large, and the location was off their route, so Zhou Rui didn't bother hunting it.

Gu Shaofeng was panting heavily behind him.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling weak after lying at home for two months? Is it because your wife is pushing you too hard?"

Seeing Zhou Rui's mocking gaze, Gu Shaofeng became furious: "Junior brother, don't talk nonsense! I'm fine. I'm just not used to being still for so long."

"Alright, alright, you haven't exercised in a long time. If we catch a sika deer, would you like to drink some fresh deer heart blood first?" Zhou Rui's deep voice was full of seductive charm.

Gu Shaofeng rubbed the stubble on his chin: "It's not that it's impossible, otherwise it would be a waste to throw it away."

Then he saw the way Zhou Rui was looking at him. Gu Shaofeng was thick-skinned and hardly changed; he had just been caught off guard by Zhou Rui.

"Isn't that right? Our leaders have taught us that waste is shameful."

Seeing Gu Shaofeng spouting nonsense with such a straight face, Zhou Rui was speechless.

"Let's go, walk a little further, and find a place to camp in half an hour."

"Sigh... okay."

Gu Shaofeng weakly propped himself up, while the dogs, however energetic, kept running back and forth around his feet.

After walking a few more miles, just as Gu Shaofeng was about to say he couldn't go on, Zhou Rui finally stopped.

"This is fine. I think this place is spacious and sheltered from the wind; it's a good spot."

Gu Shaofeng looked around; Zhou Rui's choice of location was indeed excellent. The surrounding trees were sparse, the view was open, and there was still some sunlight.

"Alright, let's rest for a bit first, then set up the shelter right away, or the sun will be setting soon."

It's cold now, unlike summer. Without a shelter to block the wind, you'll freeze to death at night.

"You can build it yourself. I just noticed there are a lot of greyhounds around here. I'll go get some and roast them for dinner. I don't want to eat dry rations."

"Um... okay." Gu Shaofeng thought Zhou Rui was trying to shirk his responsibilities and didn't want to build a shelter. But Zhou Rui's reasoning was valid, so there was nothing he could do.

With Master absent, Zhou Rui is headstrong and won't listen to him. Does he have no authority as the senior brother? Next time, I'll bring the second and third brothers along and let the junior brother see the authority of the senior brother.

"Take Mao Mao and the others with you; they can help out if anything happens."

"I'll take Gale and Moon Chaser; they're fast runners. Big Hair and Iron Head will stay with you at the camp; they can look after each other if anything happens."

Zhou Rui dared not take all the dogs away. Although he had already scanned them with his senses and found no danger, the previous unexpected incidents still left Zhou Rui with lingering fears.

Although a perception range of 1,200 meters is far, it's only a matter of a minute or two for a beast running at high speed.

"Swift Wind, Chasing Moon, let's go." Zhou Rui put down his backpack, took only his Mauser rifle and slingshot, and left.

Shooting squirrels only requires a slingshot; shooting them with a gun will damage the leather. I only carry a 98K for safety.

Watching Gale and Moon Chaser follow Zhou Rui, Da Mao and Tie Tou were extremely envious. There was nothing they could do; they were untrained dogs and couldn't match the speed of Gale and Moon Chaser from the Fast Gang.

Once inside the woods, Zhou Rui unleashed his slingshot with incredible speed, as there were an incredible number of squirrels. Perhaps due to the abundance of food, the squirrel density was much higher than in other areas.

Whoosh...thud, the greyhound fell from the tree, its little legs still twitching. Just as the gust of wind swept past one greyhound, another fell down.

So, ever since Zhou Rui fired the first mud pellet, his slingshot never stopped firing, with a pellet being fired almost every few steps.

Have you ever seen rain, hail, or even greyhounds falling from the sky? Gale and Moon Chaser have seen it. Following Zhou Rui is great—you can travel everywhere—but it's also tiring.

The master's junior apprentice is treating them like silly dogs on a walk.

After hitting about forty dogs, Zhou Rui finally stopped. If he hadn't stopped, the two dogs would have been so tired that their tongues were practically sticking out of their mouths.

Putting all the squirrels together is great; they weigh over 20 pounds in total. After skinning them, it'll be enough to feed two people and four dogs until they're stuffed.

Zhou Rui found a rope, hoisted all the squirrels up, and was about to carry them away when he suddenly slapped his forehead and thought, "We've already killed the greyhound, so we can't waste the remaining winter food." He wondered if this sensory ability would be useful for the squirrels' food reserves.

Zhou Rui activated his sixth sense and could vaguely sense some things, though much weaker than his senses of animals and medicinal herbs.

Following his senses, Zhou Rui dug several holes under the tree and, as expected, unearthed a large quantity of nuts. With winter approaching, it was the time for squirrels to store up food, and the holes were almost completely full.

As for the holes in the tree, Zhou Rui didn't bother to dig them out; they were too high, and climbing them would be too strenuous.

Finding the nuts, and having nothing else to put them in, Zhou Rui simply took off his military overcoat and wrapped them up. Since his rebirth, Zhou Rui's health had improved significantly, and he had never been sick.

Even injuries heal quickly. Now, the temperature has dropped below zero, but Zhou Rui didn't feel particularly cold even after taking off his coat.

After Zhou Rui returned to the camp with his spoils, Gu Shaofeng had already lit a campfire and was setting up traps around the area, a necessary skill for Wang Shouye's apprentices.

"Wow, you've killed so many greyhounds." Gu Shaofeng clicked his tongue in amazement as he looked at the string of greyhounds hanging on Zhou Rui's body.

"What's wrapped inside that coat? And why did you take your coat off?"

"Nuts. Greyhound's food stash." Upon arriving at the camp, Zhou Rui quickly emptied the nuts from his coat into his bag, then put the coat back on, not wanting Gu Shaofeng to think his body was special.

"How many did you catch? Roasted or stewed?"

"I didn't count, but there were over forty. Let's just grill them, it's easier. You can help peel them too, it'll be faster that way."

"So many? The leather is already quite good; wouldn't it be worth another two hundred or so yuan?"

"I'm not selling them. I'm using them to make a padded jacket for my little rice cake." Since solving his food and drink problems, Zhou Rui has been reluctant to sell many of his things.

"That's so extravagant, you could make two of those."

Zhou Rui rolled his eyes. Someone who can spend over a hundred yuan on a hobby has the nerve to call others extravagant.

"My little rice cake also has a god-sister, so one for each of them is just right."

Darkness fell quickly, and soon it was impossible to see anything more than ten meters away. Zhou Rui and Gu Shaofeng sat side by side in front of the fire roasting squirrels. Da Mao and the others had already eaten their fill and were resting with their eyes closed, only their ears standing up high.

"Master said you got a big job at the forest farm. In a while, the five of us, master and disciples, will go hunting in the mountains together?"

"Hmm. It's a big job, one or two people can't handle it, that's why Master notified everyone."

"That's great! We haven't hunted together in ages. It'll be perfect for us to have some fun together!"

"Play? I don't think you'll have time to play. The task is quite demanding; I reckon it'll leave you so exhausted you can barely stand up straight."

"Tired? I'm not afraid of being tired as long as I can make money. Let me tell you, people in the village used to call me 'Workaholic'..."