Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"How do we search, separately?"

After the discussion, Gu Dayong looked at Wang Shouye.

"Let's split into two teams, that'll give us a better chance. I'll take Ruiwa and Huaban, and Brother Hu will go with you. You didn't bring Gouzi, but he knows the terrain well and can be of some help."

"Okay, but it'll be hard to keep in touch afterwards. The valley is so winding that gunshots won't travel very far."

"There's nothing we can do, just try our best. We found them, then three shots rang out. We need to regroup. Single shot, two shots in between."

After a brief explanation, everyone went their separate ways.

Half a day later, Zhou Rui and Wang Shouye stood beside a large tree on a hillside, where there were some traces of its presence.

"How is it? Are you sure they were here?" Wang Shouye asked Zhou Rui, who was squatting on the ground.

This place was discovered by the spotted creature. When it arrived here, the spotted creature barked at the spot.

"Master, take a look." Zhou Rui searched for a while and then brought over a wad of cotton.

"This coat was torn and the cotton is leaking out. It looks like someone rested here."

Faced with limited clues, Wang Shouye could only guess, and he didn't even know if it was the person they were looking for.

"Go that way, you can't go up this way." Wang Shouye pointed northeast, to a winding path leading downhill.

Huaban seemed to understand Wang Shouye's words and darted out before Zhou Rui. Zhou Rui followed closely behind, while Wang Shouye, being older, slowly trailed behind.

More and more clues are emerging ahead: there are trampled marks in the snow and withered branches broken at shoulder height. Everything indicates that someone has passed through here.

"Uncle Wang!" Zhou Rui suddenly turned around and shouted.

"What's wrong?" Wang Shouye strode forward.

Zhou Rui waited quietly; the path on the hillside was narrow and slippery with snow, making it difficult to walk quickly. Only when Wang Shouye approached did Zhou Rui point downwards.

"Look here, someone has fallen."

This is a steep slope, with clear traces of snow accumulation, as if a heavy object had rolled down from it.

Wang Shouye looked down and said, "He must have accidentally stepped into a hole. When he rolled down, he was trying to grab onto something, and he even broke off a tree branch."

Wang Shouye pointed to a piece of wood in the air, which had broken off unintentionally.

He continued, "There were two people, a man and a woman. The man fell down, and the woman went down from the other side to look for him."

Zhou Rui followed Wang Shouye's gaze and looked ahead, where there was a clear trail of footprints.

Because the path down was difficult, he hesitated for a long time before taking each step, which left relatively deep marks. Moreover, judging from the footprints, the leather boots on his feet were obviously much smaller.

"Hoo..." Zhou Rui exhaled a breath of white air.

There's finally some news, but I don't know if it's good or bad.

"Let's go down; any news is better than none."

The downhill path was difficult to traverse, especially with Zhou Rui and his companion carrying heavy supplies. Given a choice, Wang Shouye would naturally prefer a safer route, but they needed to save time.

Wang Shouye released the rope in his hand; Zhou Rui had pulled it down from above.

"Ruiwa, I've reached the bottom. Come down by yourself, and be careful."

Wang Shouye's voice was so loud that it made the snowflakes fall from the trees.

After a short while, Zhou Rui didn't come down. A large bag, a mottled pattern, and a rifle were hanging from the rope. Wang Shouye untied the bag and the gun from the rope, and then the entire rope slid down.

By the time Wang Shouye had re-tied the rope, Zhou Rui had landed safely beside him.

Wang Shouye hung the rope on the side of his backpack: "Ruiwa, not bad."

Wang Shouye had witnessed Zhou Rui's entire descent. As he climbed down, Zhou Rui was like a monkey in the mountains, nimble and agile, landing with perfect accuracy.

"That's because I climbed trees a lot when I was a kid, so my skills naturally developed."

"Alright, alright, that's enough. This way."

Wang Shouye led the way forward, and Hua Ban quickly ran ahead, followed closely by Zhou Rui.

"Uncle Wang."

"It shouldn't be far off."

Why do you say that?

"Look here, there are drag marks. The person who fell probably broke their leg, and the other person was struggling to drag them forward, looking for a safe campsite."

Zhou Rui squatted down and touched the snow marks left by human friction.

"That man is too weak; he has to stop and rest every now and then. Uncle Wang, they can't go much further."

Zhou Rui stood up, activated his senses, and found that there was still no one within 500 meters.

Next, the two quickened their pace. The road was relatively flat, with only occasional rocks blocking their path. They could clearly see traces of a human body rolling.

Thankfully, at least the person who fell was still conscious.

Woof woof... The spotted dog kept barking wildly at a big tree.

"Alright, Spotted, stop." Zhou Rui strode over.

Zhou Rui looked up and saw that the tree was huge; even five or six people holding hands couldn't wrap their arms around it.

Zhou Rui took two steps to the side and saw a large hole in the middle of the tree trunk, with traces of a few dead branches covering the entrance.

"Uncle Wang, we've found them. They're right here."

Zhou Rui turned around and shouted, moving aside the dead branches that were blocking the view.

Wang Shouye quickly went to help. Despite the commotion outside, there was not a sound from inside the tree hollow.

Wang Shouye's heart jumped. If the person was found, what would happen... Wang Shouye dared not think further.

Zhou Rui wasn't worried; he already knew through his senses that the person inside was still alive. If they were dead, he wouldn't be able to sense them at all.

A painful groan suddenly came from inside the tree hollow, and Zhou Rui and his companion quickly sped up their work.

After clearing away the obstructions outside the cave, Zhou Rui turned on his flashlight and shone it inside. The cave was not large, only two or three meters square, and he could see a girl sitting with her hair disheveled, her face obscured.

Another young man lay on the ground, his face pale and bloodless. There was blood on his head and abrasions on his cheeks.

That groan just now came from the man's mouth.

The opening wasn't large, and Zhou Rui carefully squeezed inside, his long robe trailing on the ground, staining it black.

There was a pile of ashes on the ground; the dead wood had burned to ashes and was no longer warm. Beside it, there were some tree bark and grass roots that were hard to identify, which the two people, starving, had apparently tried to gnaw on.

Wang Shouye followed him in. The cave was so small that it was difficult to even turn around.

"How is it?"

Zhou Rui reached out and checked: "They're all alive, but things don't look good."

"The man had injuries to his head and legs. The woman had no obvious injuries, but she had a high fever."

At this moment, the man struggled to open his eyelids and looked at the blurry figure in front of him.

"Help, help me!"

"Don't worry, we're here, you're saved."

Upon hearing Zhou Rui's deep and powerful voice, the man immediately calmed down.

"Come on, tell us who you are?"

"My name is Lü Zhixue, and this is Wu Jiajia."

Lü Zhixue quickly regained consciousness. He was only injured and hungry; thankfully, he didn't have a fever.

"Ruiwa, go start a fire. It's too cold here; they won't be able to stand it if this continues."

Wang Shouye breathed a sigh of relief; he had finally achieved something.