Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

The group didn't have to wait long; about five or six minutes later, they heard the sound of hooves landing in the distance.

However, it wasn't very large, and it felt a bit heavy. Zhou Rui knew that was because the wild boar wasn't walking on the ice in the middle of the stream.

The ice is too slippery; wild boars can't move on it at all. They can only walk on areas with snow.

Zhou Rui slowly stepped forward, keeping a distance of about ten meters from the crowd. If he got too close, the gunshots would startle Xiao Niangao.

Zhou Rui knelt on one knee, holding his gun in a kneeling position, then turned and nodded to Zhou Ping. Zhou Ping understood, pulled Xiao Niangao into his arms, and covered her ears with his hands.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Niangao was unhappy and kept pulling her hands up her head, as having her ears covered was too uncomfortable.

About ten seconds later, the sound grew louder, but the speed didn't seem very fast. Zhou Rui activated his senses, amplifying them to the maximum, and could even hear the wild boar's panting, like a broken drum.

Behind him were his family and several frail girls, so Zhou Rui dared not be careless. He used his sixth sense when necessary and tried to kill them with one shot.

His senses continued to extend, and Zhou Rui discovered four more things not far behind the wild boar. These were all located halfway up the cliff face in the canyon; these must be the people who had fired the shots earlier.

Aiming at the corner of the canyon, the first thing to appear was two thick fangs, then the entire head, and then the body. It turned out to be a giant cannonball, and its entire body was covered in wounds.

Once his senses were focused, the cannonball's movement appeared to Zhou Rui as if it were happening in slow motion. Each frame was crystal clear to him.

Closer, even closer. Zhou Rui's hands were as steady as steel; he wanted to bring the cannonball closer before firing. If it was too far, he'd have to drag it back later, which was too tiring.

A few seconds later, the wild boar suddenly looked up and saw a group of people in front of it, which surprised it.

At the very front was another person, holding a strange object. It was the same thing it had just encountered—the one that could make a loud noise and injure it.

Just then, Zhou Rui pulled the trigger. He saw fear in the cannon's eyes; it seemed the cannon was about to run away.

Bang... The bullet ripped through the brief space, penetrating directly into the cannon's left eye and turning its brain into a complete mess.

The cannonball crashed down with a bang, sliding forward seven or eight meters due to inertia.

"Wow!" "Ugh!" "Second brother is awesome!" "Eeya...￥&￥."

Zhou Rui put away his gun, his back view appearing incredibly tall in everyone's eyes.

Zhou Rui strode forward, and everyone forgot about eating. They followed him and ran towards the cannonball, eager to see with their own eyes the big guy Zhou Rui had shot down.

Zhou Rui watched the figure pass him but did not stop him, because in his perception, the cannon's egg had disappeared, which meant it was completely dead.

"It's too big, so long, so tall." Yang Ping, being foolishly bold, walked directly to the cannonball and gestured to indicate its size.

Yu Sitian looked frightened and waved frantically, "Yang Ping, come back quickly! We don't even know if it's dead or not. Look at its teeth, touching them could be terrible!"

"It's alright, don't be nervous, it's completely dead." Zhou Rui kicked the cannonball hard, dispelling everyone's concerns.

Seeing that everything was alright, He Wei boldly touched the wild boar's tusks. They were huge and thick.

Lin Qiuyue and Yu Sitian were a little apprehensive. They linked arms and moved forward little by little.

The main problem is that the cannonballs look too ugly; even when they're dead, they're still scary.

"Zhou Rui, this wild boar is so big, how heavy is it?" Lin Qiuyue turned her head back, just to avoid looking at it for a second.

"It probably weighs around 700 or 800 jin," Zhou Rui estimated.

Little Rice Cake had no concept of fear. She stretched out her hand in Zhou Ping's arms and leaned forward, wanting to grab something from this unfamiliar thing.

The Ping An brothers were closest, constantly marveling at the slingshot. Boys love this kind of violent behavior; seeing Zhou Rui hunt for the first time didn't shatter their image of the slingshot god.

Just then, a short figure squeezed between Liu Ping'an and Liu Shunli's legs, grabbing the pig's ears and trying to climb up. They were used to riding their big dog, but they'd never ridden such a large wild boar before.

However, a large hand swept through the crowd and lifted her up, thwarting her plans.

"Hehe... Second Brother. I just wanted to see how tall it is." An An stretched out two fingers of each hand and poked them together.

"Do you know how dirty this cannonball is? Look at all that hair, there are lots of little bugs hiding inside, crawling all over you and keeping you up at night."

Zhou Rui wasn't making this up. Even in the dead of winter, with temperatures dropping to minus twenty or thirty degrees Celsius outside, wild boars have thick layers of fat, and there are still quite a few larvae in their subcutaneous tissue.

"Ah, then I won't go up." An'an was afraid that Zhou Rui would blame her, so she went down the slope.

Looking into An'an's restless eyes, Zhou Rui felt a little helpless. This little brat was too mischievous and difficult to manage.

"Brother Rui, shall we drag this cannonball back?" Liu Shunli was eager to try; he had eaten so much earlier and felt like he had endless energy.

"Wait a bit longer. This cannonball is someone else's prey. Let's wait until they arrive."

"What? Didn't you kill this, Zhou Rui? How can you say it was someone else's prey?" He Wei opened her mouth wide in surprise, and Lin Qiuyue and the others showed the same expression.

"Look at the bullet holes on the wild boar, and the gunshots we heard earlier. These all indicate that someone is targeting this 'cannonball'."

The person should be behind, but hasn't caught up yet. According to the rules in the mountains, unless someone else has lost track of them, other hunters are generally not allowed to intervene, to avoid misunderstandings.

"If you hadn't all been there, and if the cannonball hadn't been aimed towards the village, I wouldn't have made a move."

Zhou Rui explained the rules of the mountains to everyone. You can't just attack someone else's prey, lest it cause trouble. People in the mountains all have guns, and they're quick to anger; a disagreement could easily escalate into a fight.

"Oh, how much longer do we have to wait?" Yang Ping had little patience.

"Here it comes."

Zhou Rui kept his senses constantly alert, watching the approaching person. Because he didn't know who it was, he dared not relax.

Everyone turned around and looked into the depths of the canyon.

First, everyone heard the dog barking, and then they saw three hunting dogs. Seeing so many people in front of them, the dogs immediately stopped and barked wildly at them a few times.

"Huh? That's Uncle Dayong's dog." Zhou Rui, with his sharp eyes, quickly recognized the dog.

"Vanguard, come here."

Zhou Rui shouted at the largest dog. That was Gu Dayong's trusted dog, the main force in hunting prey.

Vanguard was taken aback, then barked twice and wagged its tail as it ran towards Zhou Rui, with the other two Quick-Help Dogs following suit.

They and Zhou Rui could be considered comrades-in-arms; they had worked together on the last trip up the mountain to hunt jackals.

The three dogs circled around Zhou Rui, and Zhou Rui greeted each of them and rubbed their heads.

At that moment, a lone figure appeared in the distance, jogging along with heavy breathing.