Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

The two worked until three hours before dawn. The main reason was that the last clover plant was unexpected; it was larger than the previous two, with exceptionally long roots. After digging it out, a one-meter square pit appeared where the clover had previously stood.

"It's so big, it must be a hundred years old." Gu Shaofeng held the ginseng root, which was about the size of a wild egg and had long, thick tendrils.

"You know how to tell a kid's age?" Zhou Rui asked, somewhat surprised. Was Gu Shaofeng really that knowledgeable?

"I don't understand." Gu Shaofeng's simple and straightforward words almost choked Zhou Rui.

"You don't understand, yet you're spouting nonsense?"

"Didn't the old folks in the village say that the older the ginseng, the more it looks like a human? Look at this, doesn't it look like a head? Doesn't this look like a hand? Doesn't this look like a leg?"

Zhou Rui followed Gu Shaofeng's random pointing for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out, so he left on his own.

"Hey, junior brother, where are you going?"

"Go find some fresh moss to wrap the clubs." Zhou Rui waved as he walked away with his back to Gu Shaofeng.

After about ten minutes, Zhou Rui and his companion carefully wrapped the club with moss, then peeled off some bark to seal it, and carefully secured it with rope.

"Phew... finally done, I'm exhausted." Gu Shaofeng wiped his forehead with his sleeve. Despite the cold weather, the two of them were covered in sweat.

"Stop talking, get some sleep before dawn, we'll be busy during the day," Zhou Rui said as he put the bag of clubs into his backpack.

Looking at the handful of ginseng seeds remaining in his hand, Zhou Rui's mind flashed back to the cultivation of forest ginseng in his future life. Could it be planted now? Zhou Rui didn't get an answer, but he still silently put the packet of ginseng seeds away.

After finishing their work, the two didn't bother to clean themselves up. They returned to the shelter, lay down, and fell asleep immediately, hugging the dog beside them. The warmth from the dog's body soon made them both start snoring.

The next morning, the two woke up to the sound of their dog barking.

Zhou Rui squinted at the blinding light outside. He glanced at his watch; it was almost eight o'clock, and the sun was high in the sky.

Zhou Rui rubbed his face vigorously with both hands to wake himself up. It seemed he was too tired last night and overslept.

Taking advantage of the fact that the two of them stopped dawdling, they went outside to tidy themselves up, and then threw the dry rations directly into the fire. The open flames had already gone out, with only some charcoal still gleaming red under the ash.

Since both humans and dogs eat the same food, and the dry food was a bit hard, we had to give them more water to help them swallow it.

"Let's go, let's walk faster in the morning. If we haven't found it by noon, we'll just go down the mountain." Gu Shaofeng was very enthusiastic this time and took the initiative to speed up.

"Okay." Zhou Rui nodded, mainly because he was also a bit tired. He had been the main force in digging the pestle last night, and the repeated use of his senses had taken a toll on his mental energy.

Today, Zhou Rui led the way again, taking Gu Shaofeng directly to the place where he sensed the deer herd had last disappeared yesterday.

Half an hour later, Zhou Rui squatted on the ground, looking at the traces from yesterday afternoon. The soil here was a bit soft, and the footprints were much clearer than in other places.

"Junior brother, look at these footprints. There are probably about ten, no more than fifteen, sika deer in this herd."

Zhou Rui nodded; his conclusion was not much different from Gu Shaofeng's.

"Let's go, I think we should be able to catch up with them by noon. But hopefully they won't go too far, so we'll be closer to the valley where we hid our bicycles the day before yesterday."

"It's fine if it's a bit far. We can just go down the mountain from the front and pick up the bicycle in a couple of days."

After walking for more than an hour, the dog that was running ahead suddenly barked twice to one side, and Gu Shaofeng took a few steps forward.

"Junior brother, there seem to be wild boar tracks here."

Zhou Rui walked over and took a look. "Let's go, ignore him, we're in a hurry."

Gu Shaofeng glanced around again before turning back. The wild boar was heading in a different direction than them. The herd of deer was almost catching up; there was no need to create unnecessary trouble.

Around noon, Zhou Rui's senses reacted again. Whew... he finally caught up. Just then, a white object drifted down from the sky. Zhou Rui reached out to catch it, and it transformed into a small flower in his palm.

Zhou Rui looked up, and the first snow since his rebirth had finally fallen.

"Junior brother, it's snowing. What should we do?"

Gu Shaofeng frowned, feeling a little worried. He wondered how heavy the snow would be and if they might get trapped in the mountains.

Zhou Rui chuckled: "It's alright, we'll catch up soon. Keep an eye on Da Mao and the others, don't let them bark, or they'll all run away in fright."

"Really? Then we'd better hurry, or they'll escape." Gu Shaofeng's eyes lit up, and his tired body instantly perked up.

The snow fell heavier and heavier, and soon Zhou Rui's head and shoulders were covered with a thick layer of snow. Zhou Rui crouched down and gently pressed the snow down on Gu Shaofeng behind him with his hand.

Gu Shaofeng knew from Zhou Rui's gesture that they had caught up with the deer herd. So he bent down as well, even standing on tiptoe. Then he gently pressed down on Da Mao's head, silencing the muffled growl.

Zhou Rui lay down and quietly observed what was ahead, while Gu Shaofeng crawled over to Zhou Rui's side.

"Is everything here?"

"Hmm, it's hiding in the grass to avoid the wind."

There were about a dozen sika deer huddled together, hiding motionless in a sunken grassy hollow.

"It seems this snow forced these sika deer to stop here. How do we fight them?" Gu Shaofeng asked in a low voice.

Zhou Rui had already surveyed the surrounding area. It was flat and unobstructed, but conversely, it offered no other advantages. Now, at such close range, they might not even have a chance to leave and rearrange their firing positions.

"There's no other way but to fight them directly, and kill as many as we can."

"Then let's not talk about it, let's shoot." Gu Shaofeng didn't waste any words, took the Type 56 and was about to aim.

"Wait a minute." Zhou Rui turned over, his back to the loess soil and his face to the sky. He opened the bottle, took a sip, and handed it to Gu Shaofeng.

"Warm yourself up, put your hands in your pockets." He said, putting his hands inside his clothes. "Don't let stiff fingers affect your shooting accuracy."

"Hehe...you're so smart." Gu Shaofeng took it and took a big gulp.

Within minutes, he gradually warmed up. Zhou Rui flexed his ten fingers in his arms, finding them remarkably agile.

Zhou Rui turned to Gu Shaofeng: "Are you ready?"

Gu Shaofeng nodded.

The two men simultaneously set up their guns, and Zhou Rui even took out an extra magazine and placed it beside him. Whether or not they would actually use it, it was always good to be prepared.

"Fire!" Bang, bang. Two gunshots rang out almost simultaneously.

Bang, bang, Kara.

Gunfire continued, and in less than twenty seconds, all the bullets had been fired. Zhou Rui didn't touch his second magazine, because it was no longer needed; the deer had all run away.

"Senior brother, you need to practice your marksmanship more."

Watching Zhou Rui change his magazine, Gu Shaofeng scratched the back of his head somewhat embarrassedly. A total of eight deer remained; Zhou Rui's shots were flawless, killing one deer with five bullets each. Gu Shaofeng, on the other hand, only managed to kill three deer with ten bullets.