Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"Uncle Wang, I fired the shot."

Zhou Rui loaded bullets into the magazine, not forgetting to look up and shout back.

"Ruiwa, you're back?"

Wang Shouye was still very happy to see Zhou Rui. At this moment, Huaban emerged from behind Wang Shouye and Xie Zhijie and rushed towards Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui clicked the magazine shut, then put one arm around the spotted dog's neck and scratched it incessantly. The spotted dog wagged its tail excitedly.

"Brother Zhou, has the matter outside been resolved?"

Xie Zhijie asked a question, somewhat incredulous that Gu Dayong and Zhou Rui had resolved the problem and returned in just one day and one night.

"It's resolved. We've captured two people and they're tied up at the camp."

Zhou Rui nodded, showing no discomfort at Xie Zhijie's question.

Wang Shouye had no doubts about Zhou Rui's return; since Zhou Rui was already there, the problem was naturally solved.

"Ruiwa, why did you shoot?"

"Something's not right about this road; there might be big trouble ahead."

Xie Zhijie crouched down to take a look, then turned around and asked, "Is something wrong? Luo Hao and Xiao Long are heading this way."

"Intuition," Zhou Rui replied vaguely, unable to articulate his opinion.

"Intuition? You rely on intuition to hunt and find people?" Xie Zhijie's face darkened, feeling that this young man was somewhat ignorant.

Everyone else looked at Zhou Rui and felt that the reason was somewhat far-fetched. Only Gu Jiacheng had blind confidence in Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui probably felt that this excuse was indeed somewhat untenable, so he had to add a sentence.

"I fired nine shots, and you all arrived, yet Luo Hao and Wang Xiaolong didn't make a sound. Doesn't that prove something?"

Everyone then realized something was wrong. Logically speaking, Wang Xiaolong and Luo Hao should have been closer, but now that Wang Shouye and Xie Zhijie had arrived, Wang Xiaolong and Luo Hao were still nowhere to be seen.

"Let's go, it seems we've really run into trouble."

Wang Shouye didn't say anything more, but instead held the gun in his hand with a solemn expression.

Unlike Xie Zhijie, he was not suspicious and trusted Zhou Rui's judgment. He made a decision quickly.

Gu Jiacheng and Zhou Rui quickly followed, and Hu Dongmu, despite carrying a homemade musket, followed without hesitation.

"Second Uncle?" Xie Yongjiang looked up at Xie Zhijie.

"Come on, keep up."

Xie Zhijie took off his hunting rifle. After all, the two who didn't show up were his apprentices. It would be a lie to say he wasn't worried at all.

After walking for only a few minutes, Spotted Man stood at the entrance of the valley, lowered his body, and barked wildly at the front, refusing to go forward.

It is a humble incense burner, and it is the lead dog personally trained by Wang Shouye, which is incomparable to other ordinary hunting dogs.

Everyone came to the back of the flower-spotted area and looked at the uneven, open space.

There was wind in the valley, but no sound; the silence was terrifying.

"What's here? There's nothing here!"

Xie Yongjiang stood on the far right and asked in a low voice. Then everyone turned their heads to the left and looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"W-what's wrong?"

Xie Yongjiang looked at everyone's eyes, especially his second uncle Xie Zhijie, whose eyes looked like he wanted to devour him. He felt that the Xie family had produced such an idiot.

"Didn't you see the obvious bloodstains there?"

Hu Dongmu looked disgusted, thinking that this person had bad eyesight; there were several pools of red blood on the snow, which were particularly glaring in the sunlight.

Xie Zhijie felt heavy-hearted. Although he didn't go forward to check the details, the fresh blood, the absence of his apprentice and dog, all indicated that the final outcome wouldn't be good.

"What should we do?"

Gu Jiacheng broke the silence, but the person he asked was Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui didn't answer, but looked at Wang Shouye and Xie Zhijie. There were two veteran gunners here; it wasn't his place to make the decision.

"No matter what they are, I'm going to kill them," Xie Zhijie said fiercely, his tone filled with barely suppressed hatred.

Wang Shouye remained calm, after all, that wasn't his apprentice, and he could still analyze the situation rationally.

"Ruiwa, you're skilled and a good shot. Find a high vantage point and come back to support us."

Zhou Rui nodded, glanced at him briefly, and then prepared to leave.

"Did you bring enough bullets?"

Wang Shouye pressed for an answer.

Zhou Rui patted the bag on his back: "Don't worry, Uncle Wang, it's enough."

Zhou Rui had at least a hundred bullets in his bag, plus four extra magazines.

The two extra bullets came from Gu Dayong, enough for him to fire fifty bullets in a row without stopping.

"And what about us?"

After Zhou Rui left, Xie Zhijie asked a question.

"Go there." Wang Shouye pointed to a small mound that wasn't much higher than the ground, not far from the pools of blood.

"Although there is no cover behind us, there is a gentle slope. No matter what kind of wild beast it is, it will at least slow down when it gets there."

"However, we might be the bait."

"Alright. As long as we can kill them." Xie Zhijie didn't hesitate this time. He thought his apprentice had been killed and just wanted to vent his anger.

In the ice cave about ten meters underground, everyone quieted down, even Luo Hao, who had just been beating Wang Xiaolong, stopped.

It wasn't that they didn't want to fight anymore, but after hearing Lü Zhijun and the others say that there was no food, they needed to conserve their energy.

"This, this has meat, isn't it? It can last for many days."

Wang Xiaolong pointed at the jackal that had been crushed to death and muttered under his breath. However, he didn't dare say this to Luo Hao, as he had subconsciously offended Luo Hao terribly just now.

"Huff..."

"Oh~~"

Lu Zhijun and Qin Rui covered their mouths and gagged. Only He Wu was slightly better, but he also turned his head away with a look of disgust.

"Don't even mention it. We've been eating whatever we can to survive these past few days. It's fishy and smelly, hard to swallow. We eat and vomit, then eat again, just to hold on for a few more days."

"So, you're the one we vomited on."

He Wu pointed to a corner, and through the faint light reflected from the entrance, he saw a puddle of something he couldn't tell what it was.

"Ugh... Wu Zi, please stop talking, or we'll both throw up again."

Lu Zhijun quickly pushed He Wu, and Qin Rui covered her mouth and nodded repeatedly.

"Really? Jackal meat isn't as tasty as roe deer meat, but it's still edible after being roasted."

"Are you fucking stupid? Look here, where's the firewood? There was a little bit that fell down, but we burned it all on the first day."

He Wu really looked down on these two; he felt their brains were like mush.

At that moment, Luo Hao, who was checking the ice track they had slid down, suddenly picked up a few bullets.

The bullets landed on the snow and were knocked off by a jackal along with the compressed biscuit.

"What are you doing with these bullets? There aren't any wolves here for you to shoot. Stop pretending."

He Wu's words became increasingly venomous, making him sound exactly like a mean-spirited woman.

"I have three bullets left, which means I have three chances. I hope my master and the others can hear my gunshot."

Luo Hao was too exhausted to argue any further; it was better to save his energy for someone to come and rescue him.

However, he couldn't wait to load a bullet first, aim at the spot where he was sliding down, and fired a shot that blasted a crater in the ice path.