Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Zhou Rui had barely stepped into the house when he lifted the curtain and came out a few minutes later.

He was dressed in a clean and neat outfit, with only a rifle slung across his body, a pistol clipped to his shoulder, and a knife tucked into the side of his boot. He didn't carry any extra items.

"Big Yellow, come on, bro, I'll take you to the jungle."

He stood in the courtyard, and the north wind whipped up snowflakes that lashed at his face, the snowflakes swirling and trying to get into his collar.

Big Yellow suddenly sprang up from the base of the wall, its tail wagging so fast it left a blur, and a low, excited whimper rolled down its throat.

The fluffy balls and furry clumps followed closely behind, rubbing their soft bodies against his trouser legs.

Zhou Rui bent down and gently patted each of the fluffy family members: "Watch the house, and wait for me to come back."

Before stepping out of the courtyard gate, he subconsciously glanced at the rooftop.

Unfortunately, it was nighttime, and the light was so dim it was like being soaked in ink.

If it were daytime, taking the gyrfalcon and the white gyrfalcon up for a flight would ensure that no movement several miles away would escape its notice, saving us half the effort today.

The snow fell faster and faster. In just a short while, the road that had just been cleared during the day was covered by a thin layer of fresh snow, and footprints were wiped out in the blink of an eye.

When Zhou Rui arrived at the brigade headquarters, the two teams were already lined up neatly in the yard. Gu Dayong was standing at the front of the team, holding the reins tightly.

Each team had four or five armed militiamen, while the rest without guns were clutching hard wooden sticks that had been polished to a shine.

"There are twenty people in total, divided into two teams of ten people each."

Zhang Aimin stood on the steps and pointed around the crowd with his finger: "Zhou Rui, you take one team into the mountains to find the children, and Gu Dayong takes the other team to chase after the grain. Move both at the same time so as not to waste time."

Unexpectedly, Zhou Rui waved his hand and rejected the arrangement on the spot.

He glanced at the group of several hesitant old militiamen and Chen Ye, the old hunter.

These people are senior and have many ideas. If they disagree or cause trouble along the way, he won't have time to stop and reason with them.

Rather than being constrained by circumstances, it's better to simply push all these people to Gu Dayong's side.

"There's no need to make a big fuss about finding the child. Gu Jiacheng and Liu Qingguo are enough for me," Zhou Rui said calmly, but his reasoning was perfectly sound.

"If they could quietly transport several thousand kilograms of grain from the granary and out of the village without anyone noticing, the other side must have a considerable number of people."

"Uncle Dayong's side has fewer people; if they really run into each other, he might not be able to control the situation."

Zhang Aimin mentally reviewed his words twice and instantly grasped the meaning behind them. He looked up at Zhou Rui and gave him a deep look, then didn't try to persuade him any further.

"Okay, we'll do it your way."

"Except for Gu Jiacheng and Liu Qingguo, everyone else should follow Gu Dayong. We must catch these grain thieves in one fell swoop today."

"yes!"

Twenty voices roared in unison, causing snowflakes to fall from the eaves, instantly boosting the morale of the entire courtyard to its peak.

Gu Dayong led his team away through the snow, while Zhou Rui leaned against the doorframe without moving.

The family that lost the child hasn't sent over the child's usual clothes yet. Without these, Dahuang can't pinpoint the scent at all, and can't just wander aimlessly into the mountains like a headless fly.

Before the clothes even appeared, Liu Jianguo suddenly pushed open the door, rushed in covered in snow, and his face was frighteningly pale.

"Captain! News just came from the threshing ground that another kid from another village who came to watch the movie has gone missing."

Zhou Rui and Zhang Aimin both stood up abruptly at the same time.

Now there's no need to guess anymore; the people crowding around tonight to watch the movie are definitely a bunch of human traffickers.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for children to go missing one after another. Including the two lost in our village, a total of three children have now disappeared without a trace.

The enamel mug in Zhang Aimin's hand clattered onto the table.

As if things weren't going to go wrong, the first two were still missing when another one went missing, and things were getting worse and worse.

"The clothes have been found. The undershirt is from Xiao Shuanzi, the son of Liu Laoshi at the west end of the village, and the arm sleeves are from Zhao Xiaoni, the maid of the widow Zhao. They haven't been washed yet."

"Why are you still called Widow Zhao? She's remarried. From now on, call her Comrade Zeng Ping."

"What? Little Ni'er is lost?"

Zhang Aimin and Zhou Rui spoke almost at the same time, but their ideas were completely different and they were not on the same wavelength at all.

When Zhou Rui went home to get his dog, the village committee had already told him about the missing child, so Zhou Rui only knew that the doll was missing, but didn't know whose it was.

"Chen Xiaoni from Da Tou's family?" Zhou Rui snatched the sleeve, and the scene of Chen Da Tou's kitchen came to mind.

The timid little girl was squatting in front of the stove adding firewood, and it looked like she was wearing these sleeves.

The newly arrived militiamen were speechless under Zhou Rui's gaze and could only nod nervously.

"Alright, let's go." Zhou Rui strode out, his steps particularly hurried.

Based on his friendship with Chen Datou, he has to find the baby as soon as possible.

"The children from other villages are like little stones from Lijia'ao, Zhou Rui, remember that?"

The shouts came from afar, but Zhou Rui simply raised his hand and shook it to indicate that he had heard them.

Two or three minutes later, Zhou Rui led Gu Jiacheng and Liu Qingguo to the outer edge of the threshing ground. He didn't say a word on the way, and Liu Qingguo didn't dare to make any jokes at this time.

It's not far from where the movie is being shown; there are still many people there, and cheers can be heard from time to time.

This is a desolate field, surrounded by a vast expanse of white snow.

Zhou Rui took out the undershirt and sleeves and placed them in front of Da Huang.

Big Yellow sniffed it closely, its ears perked up, and it let out a low growl.

Although Zhou Rui didn't know what breed of dog Dahuang was, he knew from his previous experience going up the mountain that its sense of smell was no worse than that of a dog that could smell the wind. It was just as good as a dog that could smell the wind.

"Walk."

Without further delay, Zhou Rui, along with Gu Jiacheng and Liu Qingguo, followed Da Huang and plunged into the snowy night.

The snowflakes stung his face as they hit him, but Big Yellow kept running forward, occasionally stopping to look up and sniff at something in the air.

Zhou Rui and the other two followed behind, their shoes crunching on the snow.

At first, you could still see a few adults' big footprints on the road, but after walking less than half a mile, the footprints were almost completely covered by the new snow.

It was only thanks to Big Yellow's nose that it kept clinging to the childlike scent left by the old things that it chased after them towards the edge of the village.

When they reached the narrowest point at the village entrance, Big Yellow suddenly stopped and started circling around.

Suddenly, there were many more footprints here, and the smells were somewhat mixed.

"These footprints are still very clear; my dad just led the village militia over there," Gu Jiacheng whispered to Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui nodded, but instead of responding to Gu Jiacheng's words, he asked a question.

"How big is the bolt in Liu Laoshi's house?"

"A little over five years old."

"Then why would a kidnapper abduct a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl?"

Zhou Rui had been thinking about this question ever since he left the brigade headquarters, which was somewhat illogical.

Because human traffickers only ever kidnap and sell children who don't remember anything, as these children are easier to sell.

If you abduct a 13 or 14-year-old child, not only will the chances of an accident increase on the way, but you will also end up with the child being abandoned because no one will adopt him.

Gu Jiacheng stroked his chin, unable to come up with anything for the time being.

Liu Qingguo suddenly interjected: "Do you think it's because Chen Xiaoni is pretty that she was chosen as a child bride by human traffickers?"

Upon hearing Liu Qingguo's words, Zhou Rui and Gu Jiacheng couldn't help but glare at him.

In the pitch black, with a little girl who hasn't fully grown up yet, who could tell if she's pretty or not?

"I'm right. Look at Liu Gua... Zeng Ping looks like that, her daughter will definitely grow up to be beautiful."

While Liu Qingguo was still muttering, Gu Jiacheng suddenly snapped his fingers: "Ruiwa, I think the kidnapper was caught by Chen Xiaoni when he was trying to abduct the child, so he kidnapped her as well."

Zhou Rui patted Gu Jiacheng on the shoulder, saying that this explanation made sense.

Suddenly, Big Yellow barked, finally finding a useful scent among the complex odors.