Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

The destination was quite far, dozens of miles up the mountain from the town. This gave Lu Cheng confidence, as he believed no one else could find this place.

As dusk approached in the afternoon, Lu Cheng led Wang Shouye and his group to a secluded valley. The path leading into the valley was extremely narrow, and they had to pass through a cave several hundred meters long; it would be impossible for an ordinary person to find it.

The temperature in the valley was quite high. A pool of water was in the middle of the valley, with a misty fog above it, and the surface of the water was not frozen.

"I'll stay here tonight, and I can even take a bath." Lu Cheng took off the blanket from his back and the canvas backpack slung across his shoulder, which was covered in patches.

"Hot springs? I didn't expect you could find such a wonderful place." Wang Shouye looked around the entire valley and praised it sincerely.

"Hehe, luck. Once I was being chased by a giant cannonball, and when I was running away I rolled down somewhere ahead and found this place."

"Hey, why didn't you unload your luggage? You're just going to sleep next to this puddle tonight."

As Lu Cheng spoke, he noticed that Wang Shouye's apprentices were searching everywhere, and none of them had put down their luggage or set up camp.

Surprisingly, none of Zhou Rui and the others took any action after hearing this; they were still observing the valley's environment. Having come out with Wang Shouye so many times, they had long since developed the habit of prioritizing their master's orders.

"We can't camp here, let's go back to the cave. We can just cook a meal and take a bath here." Wang Shouye made his decision after observing for a while.

"Why? It's so warm by the hot spring, and the grass is soft. The cave is uneven, and the rocks are rough."

Lu Cheng was somewhat puzzled. Because of the hot springs, the valley, except for the areas far from the water, was covered with lush wild grass, just like in summer.

"Although this place is remote, animals still come here, so it's not very safe." Wang Shouye held up a dark brown sphere in his hand, which looked like some kind of animal droppings.

Then he waved his hand in the mist: "Besides, it's very humid. Aren't you afraid of getting arthritis from sleeping by the hot spring?"

Lu Cheng suddenly realized why others hadn't chosen this place; there was a reason. This was the downside of not having a master to guide you—you don't understand many things, and you don't even know how you died until something bad happened.

However, Wang Shouye also remarked that it was a miracle that this clueless young man had been working as a patrolman for several years without any incidents; he seemed to be a man with great fortune.

"Lu Cheng, you know this place well. Take Shaofeng and Shitou to gather firewood. Gather as much as possible. Besides using it for cooking, we also need to smoke out the cave. I think it's very hot inside; there might be some snakes, insects, or rodents there."

Lu Cheng didn't object. He figured he could learn something by following legitimate hunters, which was how he'd been doing it for years. However, such opportunities were rare. Other hunters would just lead the way and wouldn't teach him anything.

"Ruiwa, Zhenzi, you two go out and see if you can hunt anything. We brought some dry rations, but it's good to use as little as possible."

"Master, I want to go with Junior Brother. How about I switch with Hei Zi?" Gu Shaofeng said with a grin, his face full of flattery.

"I won't change it. And if you call me Blackie again, I'm not done with you." Wang Zhen glared angrily at Gu Shaofeng.

"Alright, that's the arrangement. You're too impulsive; I'm afraid you'll interfere with Ruiwa's hunting."

Wang Shouye waved his hand impatiently. Dealing with someone as shameless as Gu Shaofeng was a headache. If it weren't for the fact that he was relatively filial, he would have expelled him from the sect long ago.

Zhou Rui was lucky and had a good shot; most of the time he could bring back carnivorous prey. Wang Zhen was familiar with the habits of various animals, knowing which animals would build nests where and where they would forage. The two of them working together were the most profitable.

"Understood, Master. We're off then." Wang Zhen ignored Gu Shaofeng and pulled Zhou Rui away on his own, without even taking the hunting dogs.

Of all the people who came, only he and Zhou Rui didn't have hunting dogs. Even the patrolman Lu Cheng brought a dog, but it was unclear how well it was trained.

He had just seen clearly that Wang Shouye was holding a rabbit dropping, so regardless of whether he could catch anything else, he would definitely have meat for dinner.

Zhou Rui took off his gloves. The temperature in the valley was high, so it was fine to leave his hands exposed to the air. The main problem was that the gloves were too thick, which would affect the accuracy of the slingshot.

Yes, Zhou Rui had already spotted the rabbit. He had already activated his senses and scanned the area when Wang Shouye discovered the droppings in the grass.

After walking for a few hundred meters, we realized we were quite a distance from the hot springs. Although the snow wasn't very thick, the lush grasslands were gone, replaced by withered vegetation and a few scattered buds.

Whoosh. A mud pellet flew out, and a gray hare fell flat on its face.

"Junior brother, you have sharp eyes. I hadn't even seen the rabbit clearly before you hit it."

Wang Zhen was somewhat disheartened. He was still investigating the rabbit's trails when Zhou Rui had already caught one. He felt like he was just a useless bum, doing absolutely nothing.

In this respect, Wang Zhen is not as good as Gu Shaofeng. Gu Shaofeng is incredibly thick-skinned; if he has powerful backers to rely on, he will never lift a finger to win.

"I have sharp ears. I heard that rabbit touch that branch," Zhou Rui said, running over and returning with the rabbit by its ears.

If I had known, I would have brought my senior brother's Gale and Moon Chaser along, so they could have helped me bring back my prey.

Before long, Zhou Rui and Wang Zhen had caught several wild rabbits. During this time, Zhou Rui held back a bit, having Wang Zhen point out the rabbits' hiding place before making his move, as he didn't want to appear too extraordinary in front of others.

"Third Senior Brother, look what that is?" Zhou Rui gently tugged at Wang Zhen's clothes, not with his finger, but by turning his head and gesturing with his eyes.

It was a small animal, about 40 or 50 centimeters tall and no more than 70 centimeters long. It had a small head, big eyes, and long, erect ears. It looked a bit like a deer and a bit like a donkey. This was the first time Zhou Rui had ever seen one.

Wang Zhen squinted and silently observed. It was a bit dark and the distance was quite far. Wang Zhen stared at it for more than a minute.

"Is it a mountain donkey, and a male?"

What is a mountain donkey?

"It's camphor tree, the kind you can make sachets from," Wang Zhen explained to Zhou Rui as best he could.

"Musk? The kind sold by the gram?"

Zhou Rui learned that in later generations, besides its use in traditional Chinese medicine, it could also be used to make perfume, and its price was even higher than gold. Although he didn't know its current value, it certainly wouldn't be cheap, and he couldn't let this opportunity pass him by.

Zhou Rui put away his slingshot and took down his rifle, moving slowly and deliberately. This camphor tree was quite alert, unlike a roe deer which was rather foolish; it was best not to disturb it.

Bang. The camphor tree head was small, but its entire head was blown open.

The two walked over, and Wang Zhen skillfully cut off a palm-sized lump from under his abdomen. Then he knocked out the two fangs of the camphor tree and threw them aside.

"It's so big, how many grams does it weigh? And, Second Brother, why did you knock out the mountain donkey's teeth?"