Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Gu Dayong's 18-man team was moving nearly a third faster than Zhou Rui's team.

They didn't need to go back to the village to search for spare clothes; they simply pulled out two grain bags right next to the stolen grain from the warehouse.

The bag still retained the distinctive aroma of rice and wheat, just like the stolen batch.

"Damn it, these guys are ruthless. They even prepared horses to pull the carts in advance." Chen Ye held a wooden stick for traveling, brushed aside the surface snow, and spat out a curse after seeing the dense hoof prints underneath.

Gu Dayong nodded calmly, stretching his neck, which had become stiff from being tense for so long: "Without enough livestock to transport the grain, they wouldn't dare to plan such a large-scale grain theft operation."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly curled up the corners of his mouth into a calculating smile.

"But since they made us run around in the snow for most of the night, once we intercept them, all these animals will naturally have to be left behind as compensation."

"That's right!"

"I was supposed to be comfortably watching the new movie in the threshing ground tonight, but I can't come back empty-handed after braving the freezing cold on this mission."

"Absolutely!"

In just a few words, the team members, who were just moments before full of exhaustion and resentment, were instantly invigorated.

A gleam shone in everyone's eyes, as if the cattle and horses involved in the theft were already in the hands of the Jiaolong Gorge Brigade.

"When we're exchanging fire later, make sure you all aim your crosshairs at me." Chen Ye revealed a ruthless smile, his words, spoken by a veteran hunter of decades, carried a strong sense of bloodlust.

"It's okay if someone gets hurt, but if anyone damages the livestock, I won't let them get away with it."

Along the roadside, where the snow was completely covered, several pairs of eyes were fixed on Gu Dayong and his group as they walked away.

There were only five people in the group, and they all pressed their bodies against the snowdrifts, their heads bowed low, not daring to even breathe.

Behind them, in a snow pit, were three children—one adult and two children—tied up. Their mouths were stuffed with rags, their bodies trembling like leaves being blown by the wind, their eyes filled with unyielding fear.

"What if something happens to the master?" The woman's voice trembled, her teeth chattering.

"What's the panic?" The leading man said in a low voice, barely managing to keep his tone steady.

"Auntie, Uncle, should we take another route?" another young voice rang out.

"No need, these people from Jiaolong Gorge are all busy with the grain thieves, they don't care about us at all."

"After they've gone far away, we'll follow them for half a mile, then turn into the ravine at the fork in the road at Wangjiazhuang. No one will be able to catch up with us then."

"Third Brother... how about we start stealing grain from now on?" The younger man next to him rubbed his frozen red hands, his eyes full of greed.

"Look at them, they transport several thousand kilograms in one trip, which is equivalent to what we do in the mountains for more than half a year."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the third brother, who was in charge, slapped him across the face, the crisp sound particularly clear in the snowy night.

"What a load of crap. Do you even have that many livestock? Do you have that many men to keep watch and cover the retreat? Do you even have a way to sell several thousand kilograms of grain? You're a half-baked amateur trying to do big business. You'll die without even knowing how you died."

"Okay, Third Brother... please stop hitting me."

On a secluded path more than ten miles away from Gu Dayong's team, more than ten people with mysterious movements were slowly making their way forward.

Seven sleds pulled by oxen and horses left clear tracks on the snow.

The sleds were not fully loaded with grain, and some people were even lounging lazily on the grain sacks.

"Pah!" A burly man spat out the straw in his mouth, his face full of hostility.

"Brother Hao, where did this bunch of kidnappers come from? They ran into us and ruined our plan that we'd been working on for half a month."

His companion immediately chimed in, "Yeah, Brother Hao, we started planning this as soon as we found out that Jiaolong Gorge was going to show an open-air movie."

They borrowed oxen and horses, and bribed the projectionist to deliberately delay the movie screening, all in an attempt to smuggle more grain while the whole village was gathered in the threshing ground watching the film.

"Who would have thought that the incident of abandoning a child would suddenly appear and lead people directly to the grain depot?"

A short man next to him kept complaining, pointing to the empty space on the sled: "Now we've lost half the grain. Who's going to pay for this loss?"

"Shut up." A clear voice suddenly rang out.

The young man who spoke had a handsome face and a gentle demeanor. He didn't look like a gangster at all, but rather like an educated youth sent to the countryside.

"I also want to take care of those bad guys, but we can't afford to waste that time."

He twirled a frozen, roasted soybean between his fingers, his tone flat: "If we can take away five thousand catties this time, it won't be a loss."

"The plan didn't fall through because we were dishonest; we just had bad luck."

"Have Xiao Liu get the information right away, and make sure it doesn't run into anything else next time."

Jingle Bell……

A series of urgent bicycle bell sounds came from the icy road behind, and a 28-inch bicycle chased after the convoy like a madman.

The vehicle couldn't stop on the ice, and as it approached the second sled at the back of the convoy, it crashed hard onto the snow.

He didn't bother to brush the snow off his body and scrambled forward.

"Brother Hao... people are catching up behind us!"

"Slow down, catch your breath." A water bladder filled with shochu was thrown over.

The visitor unscrewed the cap, and the strong aroma of alcohol instantly dissipated in the cold wind.

"Brother Hao, the militia from Jiaolong Gorge are catching up. There are about twenty of them, half of them are armed, and they're also leading a big dog that's been chasing people."

As soon as he finished speaking, the young man called Brother Hao fell silent.

This was completely outside his plans.

Everything was planned perfectly. By the time the movie ended a few days later and the villagers discovered the granary had been robbed, they would have already driven their sleds to the ends of the earth and disappeared without a trace.

Unexpectedly, a group of human traffickers suddenly appeared, disrupting the entire rhythm and drawing the militia behind them.

If we can't shake off these people, a head-on, life-or-death battle is inevitable.

This is not what he wanted to see.

"Madman, unload all the grain from the first sled and load it onto the other six sleds."

"Then you take the first sled. If someone catches up with you, cut the ropes binding the sled and ride away on horseback."

"Then what are you going to do?" the man called the madman asked worriedly.

Hao Ge flicked the crushed soybean residue onto the snow, his voice perfectly clear: "The remaining six sleds all turn left into the ditch ahead. There's a valley there; we can hide there for a while."

The madman next to him was stunned for a moment: "Brother Hao, that ditch is a dead end. There's no way out once you go in."

"It's a dead end." Hao Ge patted his chest.

"After we go in, we will clean up all the tire tracks and footprints behind us."

"They will follow your horse-drawn sled, and we'll come out after they've overtaken you."

"Just be careful, because bullets don't have eyes."

"Haha... Don't worry, Brother Hao. I've followed you for so many years, when have you ever been afraid of me?"

The man called "madman" was indeed bold; he knew that Brother Hao had ordered him to lure the militiamen alone, but he didn't take it to heart at all.

The group worked quickly, emptying the first horse-drawn sled in no time, which increased their speed considerably and allowed them to quickly distance themselves from the convoy.

The group watched the sled drive away, then turned onto another road at the crossroads, though one of them was still a little worried.

"Brother Hao, what if the militia doesn't fall for it?"