Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

A simple sled is easy to make, but this moose is quite large, so Zhou Rui cut down a thicker tree to make it more sturdy and prevent it from breaking under the weight.

"It's done. Junior brother, shall we carry it up?" Zhang Shitou clapped his hands.

"No need, Third Senior Brother, watch me."

Zhou Rui took out a rope, tied it to the moose's two hind legs, then put the other end on the mule, and then put the sled on top of the moose.

"Third senior brother, urge the mule forward, but slowly."

Zhang Shitou held the reins and gently pulled the mule forward. The mule snorted and slowly moved forward.

Moose are quite heavy, but they are still much easier to pull across the snow. The mule only needs to exert a little effort, and the moose smoothly slides onto the sled.

"Junior brother, you really have a way."

Next, all you have to do is re-tie the rope that was used to tether the moose to the sled.

"Hehe... It's nothing, I just wanted to be lazy."

Zhou Rui actually quite enjoyed chatting with Zhang Shitou. It wasn't a lot of talking, but he could still respond, which was very comfortable.

Unlike Gu Shaofeng, who never stops talking all day long and is a chatterbox.

"Let's go, catch up with them." Zhou Rui drove the sled and chatted with Zhang Shitou as they slowly made their way forward.

After walking for more than two hours, the two finally caught up with the main group. However, they didn't catch up; Wang Shouye and the others had already set up camp, and the framework of the snow hut had been erected.

"Master, how is it going? Will we be able to catch up with the deer herd tomorrow?" Zhang Shitou asked as he walked to the fire, unloading the weights from the mule.

"It's going to be tough. We've chased them for over ten miles and haven't seen them slow down at all. The stride their hooves take each step is still so wide. If they keep running at this speed for a few hours, I don't know how far they'll get ahead of us."

Wang Shouye shook his head, quite frustrated. He had finally managed to get behind the deer herd, but unexpectedly, a tiger scared him away. What a stroke of bad luck!

It's said that cigarettes can relieve a man's worries, so Zhou Rui took out a cigarette and lit it for Wang Shouye.

"Uncle Wang, we had enough meat last time, so we don't need to rush. If all else fails, we can dig up a few more badger burrows on our way down the mountain and get a few hundred more pounds of meat."

Wang Shouye took a deep breath: "I understand everything you're saying. I've been living in the mountains for almost twenty years, and anything can happen in the mountains."

"Watching my prey, weighing several thousand pounds, fly away right before my eyes made me unhappy."

"It wasn't a complete loss," Zhou Rui said, pointing to the spotted and big-haired hunting dogs.

"These dogs were startled by the tiger's roar, but now that they've recovered, they won't be so afraid next time they encounter it. They might even surround the tiger at a moment's notice."

Wang Shouye nodded: "What you said is not wrong. Although wild beasts in the mountains have a natural advantage over hunting dogs, everything can be overcome through training."

"Even a wolf pack can take down a tiger because of their numbers, and so can hunting dogs."

Seeing that Wang Shouye no longer cared about what happened during the day, Zhou Rui quickly changed the subject.

"Uncle, I'll have a couple of drinks with you tonight. Tell me more about what's happening in the mountains. I still lack experience."

"I haven't asked you yet, what happened to you last night? Why did you suddenly say you weren't going to drink anymore?" Wang Shouye only remembered the strange thing about last night when he heard Zhou Rui mention the word "alcohol".

"I didn't drink it because there were two strangers at the campsite yesterday. They seemed okay, but something felt off, so I didn't drink it."

"I even nagged my third senior brother behind his back, telling him to drink less and be careful tonight, which made him listless all day."

Zhou Rui took the opportunity to explain, so that everyone wouldn't think Zhang Shitou was lying.

"I wasn't careful enough. I should have kept one or two clear-headed people on the side."

"But Stone, I didn't see you drink less last night?" Wang Shouye turned to look at Zhang Stone. He knew Zhang Stone's alcohol tolerance; yesterday's amount wouldn't have kept him sober.

"At dinner, I was eating meat with a sip of wine, and when I covered my mouth with meat, I spat the wine on the ground."

Zhang Shitou honestly confessed that he had nothing to hide from his master. He even felt somewhat apologetic for deceiving him last night.

Unexpectedly, Wang Shouye not only didn't care, but was also quite pleased.

"Okay, Stone, your brain has finally opened up, and you can come up with ideas on your own. Your brain is a good thing; you need to use it often, or it will rust."

Wang Shouye had always thought that Zhang Shitou was not very smart and that he needed to be taught many times before he could learn. If it weren't for his third apprentice's resilience and ability to endure hardship, he would have given up on teaching him long ago.

"Hehe..." Zhang Shitou didn't know what to say, he just chuckled twice in a simple and honest way.

Everyone had a great time that night. Although they couldn't drink to their heart's content, each person still finished half a jin (250ml) of liquor.

With no outsiders around tonight, Zhou Rui and Zhang Shitou finally felt relieved and went back to the snow house to rest early.

The unexpected encounter with the tiger during the day did not bother them at all; the day's exhaustion quickly put them to sleep.

In the middle of the night, a strong wind suddenly rose outside, followed by a heavy snowfall that extinguished even the last spark in the fire outside.

dong dong dong...

Why does it feel like the ground is shaking? Zhou Rui opened his eyes and realized it wasn't his imagination. By the light of the fire inside the house, Zhou Rui could see that the roof of the snow house was swaying slightly.

Awooo... Awooo... Wolf howls rang out one after another.

This reminded Zhou Rui of the first time he encountered a pack of wolves in the back mountains of Jiaolong Gorge, where the wolf king was directing the pack to hunt.

"Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, wake up!" Zhou Rui grabbed their arms and shook them repeatedly.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"There's a pack of wolves, and it looks like they're chasing something big towards us. The ground is shaking."

Zhou Rui hurriedly told the two what he knew.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhen quickly placed his palm flat on the ground and carefully felt the sensation.

"Hey, it really is! The ground is shaking so much, it's quite funny. Do you think the deer herd from during the day were driven back by the wolves?"

Wang Zhen laughed unconsciously. After all, he felt no danger in the snow hut and even had time to joke.

Zhou Rui was taken aback upon hearing this, then suddenly activated his senses to investigate. Sure enough, both the wolf pack and their prey had indeed come from the direction they were tracking the deer herd.

"Third senior brother, you're right."

"Uh..." Wang Zhen's smile froze instantly. "You mean I guessed right?"

"What should we do then? Otherwise, we should go out and fight, whether it's moose or a pack of wolves, we should take them all down."

Gu Shaofeng is nothing but reckless; he's the kind of guy who thinks he can conquer the world with a gun in hand.

"Are you crazy? Look outside, it's snowing, there's no moon in the sky, not a ray of light, how are you going to fight?" Zhou Rui pointed at the ventilation hole in the roof and angrily confronted Gu Shaofeng.

"Ruiwa, Shaofeng, Zhenzi, whatever you do, don't go out. Just stay inside. If you really want to see, just poke a few holes in the wall."