Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Zhou Rui and his two companions walked at the very back. Logically, it should have been an easy walk, since the path ahead had been cleared by others and the snow wasn't that deep.

But they weren't going very fast; Da Huang would stop at each fork in the road to smell the animals.

After stopping several times, Zhou Rui finally realized something was wrong; it seemed that the human traffickers and grain thieves were using the same route.

Gu Jiacheng also noticed something was wrong: "Ruiwa, could these human traffickers be in cahoots with the grain thieves?"

"If that's the case, should the three of us hurry up and catch up with my dad and the others?"

Zhou Rui looked at the sled tracks on the ground with a headache; such deep tracks clearly belonged to the group that stole the grain.

But the route that Big Yellow led never changed. Was it really the same group of people?

"No. Maintain the current speed. Our mission is to rescue the child safely." Zhou Rui quickly made up his mind.

In his heart, the child's life was more important than food.

If the grain is lost, the villagers can at most endure two years of hardship together. But if a child is lost, it basically ruins a family's happiness for a lifetime.

After walking for about ten minutes, Da Huang made a new discovery and started barking wildly at a row of footprints by the roadside.

Zhou Rui and the other two arrived at the edge of the big yellow dog and saw a clear trail of footprints coming from the woods several hundred meters away.

"Five footprints, a small sled. The sled tracks aren't deep, so it seems to be the person we're looking for," Gu Jiacheng said to Zhou Rui after looking him over.

"Then let's hurry and chase them into the woods," Liu Qingguo said, and started to head into the woods.

"What's the rush?" Zhou Rui grabbed Liu Qingguo. "Didn't you see the footprints are reversed? The person came out of the forest."

"So that's how it is..." Gu Jiacheng pondered, looking at Zhou Rui.

"Yes. The villagers were chasing them closely, so these human traffickers hid in the woods and only came out after everyone had left." Zhou Rui nodded, indicating that Gu Jiacheng's guess was correct.

"So now we're like the sparrow behind the house?" Liu Qingguo was so excited that he forgot his lines.

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind." Gu Jiacheng raised an eyebrow and gave Liu Qingguo a smug look.

"Dahuang, lead the way. Jiacheng, Qingguo, let's walk faster. It's too cold at night, I'm afraid the kids won't be able to handle it."

As soon as Zhou Rui finished speaking, Da Huang darted out, much faster than before.

Zhou Rui and the other two quickly started jogging and followed at a steady pace.

It was terrifyingly dark, and the snowflakes were falling heavier and heavier. Gu Dayong and his group chased after it for two whole hours, but Xiu Tianfeng held onto the rope and refused to go any further.

Woof, woof, woof, the sniffing wind barked wildly, trying to turn back, refusing to go forward even an inch.

"What happened?"

"Why isn't Old Gu leaving?"

"It's not that Gu Dayong doesn't want to leave, it's that Gouzi doesn't want to leave."

"Could we have lost them?"

The village militia and able-bodied men all started talking about it; their morale, which had been high just now, was being depleted very quickly in the freezing cold of the middle of the night.

"Dad, what's going on?" Chen Feiyue looked ahead, then turned back. It was the same in front and behind, pitch black and without a single ray of light.

Chen Ye didn't say anything, but moved closer to Gu Dayong.

The militia captain and deputy captain are both in the village, and Gu Dayong and Chen Ye basically call the shots in this team.

"What happened?"

Gu Dayong took out a flashlight from his pocket, turned it on, and carefully examined the ground.

"Something's not right, we might have been tricked."

Chen Ye narrowed his eyes: "There are fewer hoof prints, and the sled tracks are much shallower."

"We... fell into a trap?" Chen Ye turned to look at Gu Dayong, a look of horror on his face.

"Shedding its skin like a cicada!" Gu Dayong blurted out.

These words were told to him by his comrade-in-arms, the student officer, from the battlefield years ago.

"Go, turn around quickly. There's an empty truck ahead; all the grain was taken away on the side road."

Before Gu Dayong could even land after turning around, the team was already in an uproar.

"An empty car? So we've been chasing an empty shell for two hours?"

"Those several thousand kilograms of grain have all been taken away. How are the villagers supposed to survive the winter?"

"Shut up!" Gu Dayong shouted, slashing his flashlight hard across the snow.

"Do you think arguing will bring the grain back? Everyone, grab your gear and follow the wind back."

"Remember to tread lightly, so the other party doesn't hear the noise and run away."

Sniffing the wind, its nose pressed against the snow, its tail taut like a straight stick, it turned around and its steps became even faster than before.

Chen Ye walked beside Gu Dayong, his brows furrowed so deeply they could crush snowflakes: "These people are too accurate. They deliberately left deep ruts to lead us down a dead end, then turned around and transported the staple food away through a side road."

"I just realized that they left an empty sled at the fork in the road and deliberately drove it far away. When we chased after it, this side was completely empty."

"It's not that they were accurate in their calculations, it's that someone delivered a message to them," Gu Dayong said in a very low voice.

"They left scouts behind, and changed their route only when they saw us catching up."

"To hell with them, these petty thieves are supposed to be educated people, they're using the military tactics they use on us."

Chen Ye, his face grim, couldn't help but spit on the snow.

On the other side, five people were pulling a small sled up a gentle slope, panting heavily.

Some people complained and stopped to rest for a while, but were scolded by the leader.

The two children on the sled had already fainted, and Chen Xiaoni was so cold that she kept shrinking inside.

The three of them were covered with something that looked like a burlap sack, but it was of no use at all, as the biting cold wind kept seeping into it.

What was more despairing than the cold wind was that the sled was going further and further away, making Chen Xiaoni's heart sink into an abyss.

Although my old home wasn't great, at least I had my mother and brother with me.

Last month, her mother took her to a new house, which is much smaller than the old one.

But the food is much better than before, and I'm wearing a newly made padded jacket, like the one I'm wearing now.

And that day, the fried pork cracklings in my mouth, and the milk candy that Zhou Rui's brother gave me, the taste lingered on my tongue.

With a thud, the sled suddenly stopped, and the people pulling it all fell to the ground.

Chen Xiaoni pricked up her ears, wanting to hear what had happened.

"Three by three, these militiamen, what, what's wrong with them coming back?" One of them was chattering and could barely speak.

"Don't make a fuss, let's take a look first. If it doesn't work, we can hide in the woods." The third brother, who was leading the way, spoke in a relatively calm voice. After all, the beam of flashlight that was heading back was still at least a mile away from them.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The five people's breathing grew heavier and heavier, and even the howling north wind couldn't drown it out.

Just as the five were filled with trepidation and Chen Xiaoni felt a glimmer of hope, a dog barking suddenly came from behind, carried by the sound of the wind.