Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

To increase accuracy, Zhang Shitou used a prone position and aimed at the roe deer's torso.

Bang, bang.

To prevent his prey from escaping, Zhang Shitou fired two shots. The first shot hit the roe deer's shoulder blade, causing it to go limp. The second shot grazed its back and missed.

Led by a spotted dog, a pack of dogs rushed out at the sound of gunfire. The roe deer was still alive, struggling to stand up.

Zhang Shitou got up from the snow: "Master, I..."

"Not bad. Practice more in the future, don't be afraid of wasting bullets. Marksmanship is something you develop through practice."

Zhang Shitou felt the strength of the hand on his shoulder and was very happy, chuckling to himself.

Soon, the dogs returned, and of course, the roe deer was also brought back, adding several dozen kilograms of weight to the sled.

In the afternoon, Zhou Rui and his group searched for two more storage facilities, but both were empty. One of the underground storage facilities even had frost on the entrance, but inside, only traces remained; it was completely empty.

"Master, did Black Bear run away?"

Gu Shaofeng shone his flashlight, bending over to illuminate the cave. It was a hole dug from the base of a dead tree, still filled with the smoke from the recent explosion at Erjiaotiao.

"Hmm. There's frost on the cave entrance, and there are hunchback marks inside, but no footprints outside. It seems this bear abandoned the cave and ran away, and it's been running for quite a while, going from a hunchbacked creature to a walking one."

The term "hunchback" refers to a bear that does not hibernate and roams in the wild. It is thin and has a sunken back, resembling a hunchback.

"Uncle Wang, why is this bear running out instead of hibernating?" Zhou Rui was puzzled. Wouldn't it be better for the bear to sleep in its warm den? They made a wasted trip.

"There are two possibilities. One is that the bear didn't have enough food before hibernation, and its fat reserves were insufficient, so it woke up hungry after hibernation. The other is that it was woken up by other predators, and it was in danger if it didn't run away, so it had no choice but to flee."

"If the black bear is this powerful, how can any wild beast possibly cause it trouble?"

"Of course there are. Mountain tigers, starving wolves, and their own kind roaming outside are all threats."

"Master, shall we camp here tonight?" Zhang Shitou walked over.

Wang Shouye observed the area and concluded that it was a good spot, as black bears typically hibernate in sheltered locations, so there was no need to find another place.

"Alright, let's camp here, but we need to take good precautions. Although it's highly unlikely that Black Bear will come back after escaping, what if he does?"

Wang Shouye then turned to Wang Zhen and instructed him, "Zhenzi, set up another circle of traps around the perimeter. This place isn't suitable for building a snow hut; we'll have to make do tonight."

It was already late, and Zhou Rui and his group didn't have time to find a campsite, so they had to make do and sleep in the wild.

The next morning, Zhou Rui and his team set off before dawn. According to Wang Shouye's plan, they needed to visit several locations that day, so they had to allow enough time.

"Uncle Wang, do you think that's a bear farm?"

At midday, as everyone was walking along a mountain ridge, Zhou Rui pointed to a valley below and asked a question.

The valley was quite far from the ridge, about four or five hundred meters away, so everyone couldn't see it clearly. They could only see a fallen, century-old tree lying at the bottom of the valley.

In fact, Zhou Rui had already scanned the tree when he discovered it, and there was indeed a black bear inside.

Wang Shouye lifted the veil from his face to get a clearer view. This fallen tree hadn't existed here two years ago, so it wasn't in Wang Shouye's notebook of Xiong Cang's records.

Wang Shouye looked at the faintly visible hole in the tree: "Hey, that's quite possible. Ruiwa, you have sharp eyes; you spotted it from this far away. Shitou, stay here and watch the mule. The rest of you, come down with me and take a look."

The slope wasn't steep, and the group descended quickly.

Zhang Shitou, feeling a bit bored leading the mule, found a place to sit down and looked longingly down below.

Boom, boom, bang.

Everything ended quickly, and Wang Shouye found another bear gallbladder in his backpack. The four men and eleven dogs quickly dragged the remaining meat up and then headed towards their destination.

It was a little after 3 p.m., and the sun was almost setting.

"Master, aren't we going to rest yet? It's getting dark soon, and we might not even have time to build the snow hut later."

Gu Shaofeng looked at the mountains in the northwest where only half the sun remained and asked. He had been very tired from sleeping outdoors last night, and wanted to sleep in a house tonight.

"It's just ahead. Tonight we won't stay in the snow hut, we'll stay in the cave." Wang Shouye was also very tired, after all, he was old and his physical strength couldn't compare with those of the young and strong men.

"Let me tell you, this cave is actually an underground storage room. It's quite large and has many twists and turns. All of us, dogs, and mules can live inside."

"Really? What if there are bears living in there?" Gu Shaofeng was exhausted after a long day and asked a silly question.

"Hehe... what else can we do but kill the sparrow and take over the cuckoo's nest? Have you learned that idiom?" Wang Zhen finally seized another opportunity to mock Gu Shaofeng.

"That's like a cuckoo taking over someone else's nest," Zhang Shitou chimed in, silencing Wang Zhen completely.

"Pfft..." Zhou Rui laughed so hard he couldn't close his mouth.

This was a terrain entirely composed of rocks. Zhou Rui and his companions each found a spot and set up their guns. The muzzles were aimed at a crevice in the rocks, which was a little over two meters high and less than one meter wide.

If you were even slightly off-center, you wouldn't be able to see the cave entrance at all. Zhou Rui activated his senses and discovered that there were two bears inside, one large and one small. It seemed that the rare situation Uncle Wang had described had occurred.

"Uncle Wang, the frost at the cave entrance is so thick, could there be two black bears inside?" Zhou Rui couldn't directly state what he sensed, so he could only offer subtle hints.

Wang Shouye stared intently for a moment and saw that the frost at the cave entrance was indeed much thicker.

"That's quite possible. Maybe it's two black bears, or maybe it's a particularly large bear," Wang Shouye said, offering his assessment.

"Everyone, stay alert and be prepared. Don't panic if two black bears appear. Shi Tou, call Cang. Shao Feng and Zhen Zi, take on the first one. Rui Wa and I will be prepared for the second black bear to appear."

Zhang Shitou nodded, took the firecracker from Gu Shaofeng, and walked steadily forward. Because the cave entrance extended diagonally into the mountain, Zhang Shitou had to walk very close, otherwise he wouldn't be able to throw it in at all.

Zhang Shitou threw the lit firecracker into the firework and ran away quickly. He dared not stay near the foot of the mountain. Otherwise, the snow on the mountainside might collapse and bury him.

Zhang Shitou ran for more than ten meters before stopping. He then took the gun off his shoulder, found a rock, and hid behind it. He waited for almost a minute, but there was still no movement.

"This is... not lit?" Gu Shaofeng turned to look at Zhang Shitou, a big question mark on his face.

"I lit it. I saw the fuse spark before I threw it in," Zhang Shitou said with certainty.

"That might be a dud, I'll go light another one." Gu Shaofeng took another firecracker out of his bag and went out.

He always believed that he was the real master of firecrackers.

"Boom... Boom..." Gu Shaofeng had only taken three steps when the firecrackers inside the cave exploded.