Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

With a whoosh, a large hole appeared in a flat patch of snow, and a person stood up, but only their shoulders and above were visible.

"Old Qin, what are you doing? It's so cold, are you trying to freeze me to death?"

A strange accent rang out.

"The snowstorm has stopped, we should leave. Otherwise, we'll either freeze and starve to death in this place or be captured by the Chinese soldiers and taken back. Which do you choose?"

Old Qin works in the farm kitchen. He used to be chubby, but after two weeks on the run, he has become somewhat thin.

Especially these past two days, food has been scarce, and I can only eat half a pancake each time. My face has become so thin and deformed, but my eyes still look unusually shrewd.

A mixed-race face then appeared: "Old Qin is right. The enemies behind us are no ordinary people; they were specifically chosen to target people like us. We must not be careless."

"Alright, alright, I give up. But let's find something to eat first, otherwise we'll starve to death before the Chinese find us."

Ten miles away, a loud shout rang out in the valley.

"gather."

In less than ten seconds, a row of soldiers stood neatly in front of Squad Leader Li, with Section Chief Lin standing next to him.

"Soldiers, skip the morning exercises. The enemy is ahead of us, so we need to speed up our march and try to catch up with them as soon as possible. Do you have confidence?"

"Yes!" A unified roar rang out, shaking the snow off the mountain.

"Alright, pack your things quickly. We won't cook anymore; we'll have breakfast on the march."

"Yes."

The morning training was very brief, ending in just a few words. A group of young soldiers quickly and methodically packed and checked their equipment.

The snow was quite deep this time, which greatly affected the speed of Zhou Rui and his team.

Although there were large mules leading the way, sometimes manpower was still needed. After walking for most of the day, they had only covered about ten miles, and they had taken a very roundabout route.

"Huff, huff. Master, why do we have to climb such a long slope? I'm exhausted."

Gu Shaofeng, like an old ox, tirelessly pulled the rope and walked at the very front.

The white breath he exhaled condensed into frost in several places as soon as he left his mouth, and the stubble around his mouth, the light veil covering his face, and the hair peeking out from under the brim of his hat were all covered with frost and snow.

"Huff, huff... Enough already, if you have the energy to talk, you should use it more. It's like everyone gets tired of talking."

Wang Zhen followed closely behind Gu Shaofeng, followed by Wang Shouye, Zhang Shitou, and Zhou Rui in that line. Almost everyone's face looked similar to Gu Shaofeng's, except that Zhou Rui didn't have a beard.

"Ha. The snow is too deep this time. The trucks won't be able to drive on the roads until it freezes for a few days. This time we have to find a way to haul it back to the forest farm ourselves. This route is the shortest one I chose."

Wang Shouye was exhausted, but he still answered Gu Shaofeng's question.

It wasn't that he had to answer, but rather that in this snow-covered landscape where the sky stretched to the horizon, time seemed to stand still, leaving only endless desolation and silence.

People feel particularly depressed in this environment, as if there are no other living beings besides them. Their conversations break the silence, reminding them that they are still alive.

"Master, will we be able to get out of these mountains today?"

Zhou Rui wasn't particularly interested in the endless snowscape; all he wanted was to get home as quickly as possible. He was worried about his family, having spent too much time in the mountains.

"We can't get out today. We'll camp after we cross this mountain. We'll set off early tomorrow morning and should be able to reach Xiangyang Forest Farm before dark."

Wang Shouye had already calculated the time, based on the current speed and the assumption that no unexpected events would occur.

"Phew... We've finally reached the top of the mountain. Shall we take a break?" Gu Shaofeng was exhausted and felt like he was about to collapse.

As soon as he loosened the rope, the other four men immediately felt the increased pressure on their hands and stopped as well.

"You brat, you didn't even say anything before letting go, you almost strained my back."

When Wang Shouye saw Gu Shaofeng lying in the snow ahead, he wasn't angry. Instead, he smiled and scolded him like an elder.

After all, in order to punish Gu Shaofeng for his recklessness, Wang Shouye had put him at the very front, a position that required the most effort.

We all had a few drinks together to warm ourselves up. The drinks were all taken out of our pockets; if they had been in our bags, they would have frozen solid long ago.

"Master, are there a few pheasants over there?" Zhang Shitou looked down the hillside.

Zhou Rui looked in the direction of the sound but didn't see anything; he and Zhang Shitou were not facing the same slope.

Zhou Rui didn't get up, but instead activated his sixth sense, only to find it empty within its range. It seemed that the sixth sense was useless against dead beings.

Looking at the clusters of bright red eyes on the slope, Wang Shouye nodded and said, "That's right, they must be a flock of pheasants that came out to forage at night, got caught in a blizzard, couldn't get back to their nests, and froze to death."

"Hey, I'll go get them. We'll make soup with them tonight." Gu Shaofeng recovered his energy quickly and was no longer the half-dead man he had been at the beginning.

"Okay, then go ahead and meet us there in a bit. We'll camp there tonight," Wang Shouye said, pointing to the side in front of Zhou Rui.

Gu Shaofeng moved quickly, sitting on the slope and sliding down, covering several hundred meters in no time.

He pulled the pheasant upside down, like a radish, from a cluster of bright tail feathers. It turned out that the pheasant had tried to bury its head in the snow to escape the wind and snow, but it had still frozen to death.

As Gu Shaofeng pulled at the rocks, he waved towards the mountain, indicating his catch to Zhou Rui and the others. Among them were a few grayish-brown female pheasants.

Because the color was rather dark and the distance was quite far, Zhang Shitou hadn't noticed it earlier.

"A good harvest. Let's go and get some rest as soon as possible." Wang Shouye stood up with a smile.

"Master, shall we release all the mules and dogs and let the sleds slide down?" Zhou Rui suggested, looking at the dogs still lying on the snow and the seven or eight-mile-long hillside below.

Looking at Zhou Rui's youthful face, Wang Shouye wondered if Zhou Rui was suddenly feeling childlike and wanted to go skiing. However, he couldn't help but sigh, realizing that Zhou Rui's usual composure had made him overlook the fact that Zhou Rui was still quite young.

Wang Shouye smiled slightly: "Ruiwa, you need to think this through. This sled goes down very fast. I estimate it will fall apart when it gets to the bottom of this mountain."

And it's also possible that it will collapse halfway down and get stuck on the hillside.

Zhou Rui tilted his head, his eyes darting around: "Three sleds, my second senior brother, my third senior brother, and I will each ride one, and we'll control the balance and direction of the sleds from behind."

"As for crashing down the mountain, so be it. Sliding down like this will save us a lot of time. We can use that extra time to build a few more sleds, and it won't be as tiring."

Zhou Rui dared not let Wang Shouye ride the sled. At that speed, it was bound to overturn, and he didn't want the middle-aged Wang Shouye to lose face.