Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Zhou Rui stood still and didn't move forward. He leaned close to Gu Dayong's ear and asked in a low voice.

"Uncle, what exactly did you tell them about me? How could Master Guai let a greenhorn like me attend your high-level meeting?"

He simply did not believe that Gu Dayong could persuade an old hunter like Guai Ziye and a group of militia captains with just a few words, and then let a young upstart like him participate in major decisions.

"I didn't say anything, just told them you were lucky."

Gu Dayong paused mid-sentence, as if pondering how to phrase his words more smoothly, before adding, "It's the kind of good that's exceptionally good."

Zhou Rui paused for two seconds before suddenly realizing that if a young kid had exceptional marksmanship and a meticulous mind, these old hunters would definitely nitpick and find fault with him.

But you say this kid has a tough life and strange luck, and most people who run around in the mountains believe in that.

"Hehe, young man, come and sit down. I heard from Shaofeng that you are his junior brother?" Gu Yunqian smiled as he held up a cup of tea.

"Young man, don't stand there, come and sit down." Gu Yunqian held up an enamel mug, the steam from the hot tea blurring the smile on his face. "I heard from Shaofeng that you're his junior brother?"

Zhou Rui instantly understood; it turned out that Uncle Gu had also given him a push from behind.

He was a little dumbfounded. He clearly wanted to stay in the back and keep quiet, but everyone kept pulling him to the front of the stage.

Okay, it won't hurt to take a look.

He took two steps forward and approached the table, where he immediately noticed three conspicuous circles drawn with a red pencil on the topographic map.

"This ravine in the northwest is densely wooded and overgrown with grass; it's easy to get lost once you go in." Gu Dayong moved closer to him, his calloused fingertips brushing against the paper.

"To the north are vast meadows where pheasants and rabbits roam freely, so wolves have no trouble finding food. To the east is a red pine forest with tall trees and thick grass; hundreds of wolves could hide there and no one could find them."

Zhou Rui nodded silently. These veteran hunters had long since figured out the usual wolf dens by following the terrain, food sources, and the habits of wolves.

But he didn't respond directly, not because he didn't believe in these old experiences, but because the wolf king last night was no ordinary wolf at all.

Ordinary wolves don't know how to use assassins to lure tiger cubs into the farm, nor do they know how to use a tiger's knife to fight a human to the death.

His fingertip suddenly landed on a blank space on the map, unmarked. The paper was hand-drawn stroke by stroke by the educated youth who had been sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution, and the edges were worn and frayed. "What is this piece of land?"

"That place..." Wang Houtian's brows furrowed instantly, and his face darkened: "It's a swamp."

"Swamp?" The old man's act of puffing on his pipe suddenly stopped; he didn't react immediately.

"In our mountain dialect, it's called Tatoudianzi." Wang Houtian took out a cigarette, lit it, and the embers flickered in the dim light.

"When we first arrived at the farm, we saw that the land was flat and tidy and was near water, so we were determined to transform it into irrigated fields."

"They dug a hole, transported mud to fill it in, and no matter how much they filled it in, the more people sank in. Two educated youths even got trapped inside."

"If the people next to us hadn't pulled us out quickly, both of our lives would have been lost inside. Since then, no one has dared to set foot in that area again."

He clenched his fists as he said this.

These men, who always shouted about fighting against heaven and earth, stumbled in a muddy place, and their resentment hasn't dissipated to this day.

"Zhou Rui, do you mean the Wolf King is hiding here with his pack?" Gu Yunqian drew a circle on the map with his finger, which just covered the swamp.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" The old man with the rickety pipe slammed it against the edge of the table, and ashes fell down in a flurry.

"An adult wolf weighs at least seventy or eighty pounds. If it steps into the Tatoudian dike, it will sink so deep that even its head cannot be sticking out."

"An ordinary wolf king would definitely lead his pack to hide in those three places you mentioned." Zhou Rui straightened up, his fingertips retracting from the edge of the swamp.

"But this wolf king is different; it's more cunning than any wolf we've encountered in previous years. Smart people think differently from ordinary people, and this cunning wolf naturally won't play by the rules."

He didn't offer a bunch of grand theories or evidence; he simply laid out his idea on the table. Whether or not it was adopted was not his concern.

The office fell silent instantly. The smoke from the dry tobacco mingled with the steam from the hot tea. Everyone stared at the blank swamp on the map, and no one spoke first.

"Alright, Zhou Rui, go back and get some sleep before it gets completely light."

Gu Dayong suddenly spoke, his tone leaving no room for negotiation: "We'll send someone to call you first thing tomorrow morning."

He made it perfectly clear that we'll definitely need him again tomorrow to find the wolf.

As Zhou Rui stepped out of the office, the spot on the sole of his foot where the thorns had been removed still throbbed faintly, but he didn't slow down at all.

The large light bulb in the courtyard was still blindingly bright, and hundreds of educated youth were still chatting around the tiger carcass.

Gu Shaofeng was standing next to the tiger's corpse, talking animatedly about tonight's gunfight, when he saw Zhou Rui come out and waved to him from afar.

Zhou Rui waved his hand, not venturing into the crowd.

His mind was now filled with the unmarked swamp on the map and the wolf king that could kill with the help of a tiger; he had no interest in going over there to steal the credit for killing the tiger.

Not long after Zhou Rui lay down on the straw in the warehouse, Gu Jiacheng returned and shoved a roasted potato into his hand.

"My dad and the others argued in the house for about ten minutes. Half of them said I was talking nonsense, that the wolf king couldn't possibly be hiding in the swamp."

"The other half said you're right, an ordinary wolf wouldn't do something like luring a mother tiger by carrying away a tiger cub."

Zhou Rui took a bite of the hot potato, and the fragrant heat slid down his throat, instantly suppressing most of the chill of the late night.

He knew this would happen. These old hunters and militia captains had upheld their experience for half their lives; how could they be so easily overturned by a single sentence from him?

"How did you finally decide after all that arguing?"

"In the end, the kidnapper made the decision." Gu Jiacheng moved closer to him, his voice extremely low.

"Tomorrow at dawn, we'll split into two teams."

A team led by Uncle Guai went to search the Northwest Gully and the Red Pine Forest, making a big show of it so that the wolf pack's sentry wolves would see them.

Another team, consisting of my dad, you, me, and Gu Shaofeng, went around to the edge of Tatou Dianzi to sneak past and scout the way.

Zhou Rui raised an eyebrow, surprised that the seemingly stubborn man had compromised to some extent.

On the surface, they followed the experience of most people, but secretly they still kept a backup plan, entrusting the most dangerous task of scouting the way to the four of them.

"Isn't he afraid the four of us will get stuck in the swamp?"

"The kidnapper said you're incredibly lucky; you always manage to escape danger when you're on the mountain, and you can even climb out of the mud."

Gu Jiacheng laughed as he spoke: "So, when my dad told them you were lucky, now all the old hunters on the farm believe it, thinking you're someone even the mountain gods wouldn't dare to take in."

Zhou Rui couldn't help but laugh. So Gu Dayong's comment about being particularly lucky had ultimately pushed him onto the most dangerous path.

The two of them lay on the straw and finished eating the hot potatoes. The sky in the east was already faintly turning light.

Suddenly, a series of urgent whistles sounded in the distance, signaling the change of shifts at the sentry post in the latter half of the night.

Listening to these sounds, Zhou Rui slowly closed his eyes, as if nothing had affected him.