Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

A moment later, Zhou Rui turned around abruptly, and three dark figures suddenly darted out of the bushes behind him.

Their sharp fangs gleamed with a cold light; they were three lone wolves, their eyes bloodshot with hunger, who had silently circled around behind them at some unknown time.

Zhang Shitou instantly picked up the five or six halves and stood side by side with Zhou Rui, the two of them about half a meter apart.

"These three wolves must be lone wolves that came from out of town. We haven't heard anyone in the village mention any wolf packs nearby recently. Let's wipe them out."

Zhou Rui wasn't nervous at all about the three wolves; he had encountered far more wolf packs than just three.

However, when he activated his senses just now, he discovered something else nearby. He didn't know if it was an accomplice of the three wolves or a hidden predator.

"Be careful, there's something about twenty meters to the east, about the size of a wolf. I don't know what it is."

"Junior brother, shall we finish this quickly?"

As they were talking, the three wolves seemed to be unable to restrain themselves any longer. They bared their teeth, took half a step forward, dug several deep furrows in the mud with their claws, and let out a low growl from their throats.

Just then, Zhou Rui suddenly changed the direction of his gun and fired a shot into the woods beside him.

The loud noise sent the birds in the forest into flight, and the three wolves abruptly stopped in their tracks.

"Watch out, the things in the woods are very fast, I missed."

Zhou Rui didn't even need to look; he already knew the bullet missed when he fired because the actual trajectory was very different. This was the drawback of not having had time to adjust the firearm.

Before the smoke had cleared, a loud bark suddenly rang out from the woods to the east, and a yellow figure darted out from behind a tree like an arrow, heading straight for the hindquarters of the strongest alpha wolf.

Before the beast could even dodge, its hind leg was bitten hard, causing it to writhe wildly in the mud, its stench and mud splattering everywhere.

Zhou Rui was stunned for a moment, not understanding what was going on, how could a wolf not cooperate and instead attack its companion?

The remaining two lone wolves were also stunned by this sudden turn of events. After a half-second of hesitation, their eyes turned red, and they pounced from the left and right sides, trying to tear the suddenly appearing yellow figure to shreds.

"Junior brother, don't shoot the yellow one, that's a hunting dog." As Zhang Shitou spoke, Wu Liuban rang out.

The wolf on the left had just taken off when a bullet precisely blew off half of its skull, sending it crashing heavily into the pile of decaying leaves without even uttering a sound.

Taking advantage of the moment the gun went off, the wolf on the right had already rushed up to the hunting dog, its sharp teeth biting straight at its throat.

Zhou Rui didn't dare pull the trigger of his double-barreled shotgun. The wolf and the dog were too close together, and if the bullet missed by even half a point, it would graze the dog.

He slinged the gun behind his back, grabbed Zhang Shitou's sharpened woodcutter's knife from his waistband, and used a quick step to flank the wolf from the side and behind, slashing the wolf's nape with the blade.

Warm blood splattered on his sleeve, and the wolf didn't even have time to struggle before collapsing limply to the ground.

The alpha wolf, dragging its broken leg, tried to flee deeper into the dense forest. The hunting dog caught up and pounced, pinning it to the muddy ground. Its sharp teeth locked tightly around its throat, and within half a minute, it was motionless.

In just a few dozen seconds, the three lone wolves that had been charging around were all lying flat on their backs.

With two crisp clicks, the two men simultaneously engaged the safety on their shotguns. Zhou Rui and Zhang Shitou stood motionless, even their breathing becoming slightly lighter.

The yellow dog hadn't left at all; it was still tearing at the wolf it had just knocked down, letting out low growls of possessiveness. Its eyes were glued to the two of them, its fur standing on end, looking like a wild animal ready to pounce at any moment.

"Third senior brother, this yellow dog doesn't look like a domesticated dog at all; it's so wild it's practically a spirit."

Zhou Rui lowered his voice and moved closer to Zhang Shitou. As soon as he finished speaking, the hunting dog, which had been staring at the dead wolf on the ground, suddenly turned its head.

His amber eyes were fixed on his face, and a very soft warning came from his throat, but he didn't show any ferocity.

Zhang Shitou nodded first, then slowly shook his head, pointing with his fingertip to the old callus on the dog's neck caused by the collar.

"No, this is definitely an old hunting dog trained by the hunter himself. As soon as you fired the first shot, it didn't hesitate for even half a second, and it rushed out of the woods and pounced on the alpha wolf's hind legs."

"The gunfire is its ingrained battle cry; wild dogs don't understand that, they'd be scared away by the gunfire long ago."

"Look at its tactics just now. It ignored the two weak wolves next to it and only went after the strongest alpha wolf. This is a wolf-hunting skill taught by an old hunter."

"Take down the fiercest one first, and the rest of the wolves will immediately lose their composure. Wild dogs will never learn this technique in their entire lives."

Zhou Rui stared at the worn, shiny old collar mark on the dog's body and couldn't help but nod; this detail was indeed impossible to fake.

But when he glanced at its thin, clearly defined ribs, he frowned: "But look at its messy fur, so thin it's practically skin and bones, it doesn't even have a collar. I'd believe it if you told me it was a stray dog."

"You're only half right." Zhang Shitou reached out, and the hunting dog actually moved forward a little, but then retreated halfway.

"This dog either lost its owner or was cruelly abandoned, and has been wandering alone in these deep mountains for who knows how long."

"Don't let its current thinness fool you; if it really went all out and fought those three wolves to the death, the one lying on the ground in the end would definitely be the wolf."

"Having lived in the forest for so long, my wild instincts have long since returned. I'm at least ten times fiercer than a hunting dog kept at home and fed."

"Can you take it home?" Zhou Rui's eyes lit up instantly.

Zhang Shitou's four hunting dogs had all been murdered. Now that he has met such a good dog that can fight a lone wolf, his safety will increase several times over when he goes deep into the mountains in the future.

His mind was entirely focused on his third senior brother; he had no intention of taking the dog for himself.

He possesses a sixth sense far exceeding that of ordinary people, making him more adept at tracking prey and predicting danger than hunting dogs, so there's no need for him to do anything extra.

Zhang Shitou glanced at the treetops swept by the mountain wind, and after a moment slowly shook his head: "My master told me years ago that dogs that have lived in the wild for a long time are too difficult to bring home."

Zhang Shitou looked at the big yellow dog: "This dog is already wild beyond measure, why would it want to be restrained by a collar?"

"If it's a lost animal whose owner is gone, it might be possible to coax it back. But if it's kicked out by its owner, it will never trust humans again in its life."

Zhou Rui pursed his lips, feeling it was really troublesome: "Forget it then, let's quickly deal with the other two wolves and go chase the wild goats."

"What, are these two wolves not enough? You want to go chase wild goats too?"

"The old man who placed the order with me is a picky eater; I'm afraid he won't recognize this wolf meat," Zhou Rui shrugged.