Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Finally, after crossing another ridge, Zhou Rui stopped, slightly sweaty, and slowly scanned the area ahead. The three people behind him were panting heavily, drenched in sweat.

Zhao Changshan stood with one hand on his hip, his back slightly bent, looking at the nonchalant figure in front of him, feeling a little resentful.

That Chen Xueqin is really something. He angered Zhou Rui, and now I'm suffering along with him. And Zhou Rui, all you did was talk back to him a few times, and he deliberately sped up his pace to embarrass us. He's so petty.

Liu Qingguo and Chen Xueqin might have been physically stronger than Zhao Changshan, but their willpower wasn't as strong. At this moment, they felt almost completely weak, as if their lungs were about to burst. Seeing Zhou Rui stop, they plopped down on the ground.

Zhou Rui glanced at the three of them, a slight smile playing on his lips. He took out his water bottle and sipped it slowly.

After resting for a few minutes, Zhao Changshan's heart rate gradually calmed down, and he came to Zhou Rui's side.

"Ruiwa, what's going on?"

"Look over there, that grove of trees. There are many chestnut trees there, and the chestnuts are ripe and have fallen a lot. It's a place that wild boars like to come to. But it's very quiet now, so there probably aren't any wild boars here."

"Does that mean we came away empty-handed?" Zhao Changshan asked, somewhat disappointed.

Zhou Rui had actually sensed the surrounding area within a kilometer radius and had indeed not found any large prey.

"We still need to go down and search to see if there are any clues," Zhou Rui said calmly, seemingly unaffected by the disappointment.

"We can see whether there are wild boars from this mountaintop. Is it really necessary to go down and search? It's unnecessary." Chen Xueqin, who had slumped to the ground and drunk half a pot of water, regained some of his energy, as if he could do it again.

Zhou Rui chuckled, finding the man utterly childish and speaking without thinking; he had no desire to speak to him. However, seeing Zhao Changshan and Liu Qingguo waiting for his reply, he couldn't help but offer an explanation.

"Go check if any wild boars have come here to eat. If they have, there will be traces of them down there. They'll show where they came from and where they went. Let's see if we can follow their trail."

"If there's no trace at all, then let's discuss whether to wait here or go to another place to search."

"It's impossible to travel this far, get here, and then just take a quick look from the hilltop and leave. That's not hunting, that's taking a chance."

Zhou Rui only said a few words and didn't explain in detail. They were just a few tools, not his friends or apprentices, so there was no need to teach them too much.

"Are you done yet? If you are, then we'll go down. The sooner we finish searching the woods, the sooner we can make a decision."

Zhao Changshan and Liu Qingguo had no objections; Zhou Rui, as the leader, had already given an explanation, so they just had to follow it. Chen Xueqin was exhausted and didn't want to leave at all, but his opinion didn't matter; no one listened to him.

Once they reached the bottom, Zhou Rui, based on his previous experience, arranged the four people ten meters apart and led them into the woods together, telling them to shout immediately if they noticed anything unusual.

Zhou Rui didn't tell them what was unusual about it, because the wild boar herd made such a racket that the soil in their path was turned upside down, like a plow. If they were looking for leopards or something similar, Zhou Rui wouldn't separate the people at all, because the tracks would be too few for anyone but a hunter to spot.

Searching in the forest was quite arduous, but fortunately, we soon made a discovery.

"Ruiwa, turn your head. This way, come here quickly!" Liu Qingguo kept shouting.

Hearing the noise, Zhou Rui quickly ran over and saw that under a large chestnut tree, the soil had been turned upside down by wild boars, weeds were scattered everywhere, and some small chestnuts were still lying in the mud. Zhou Rui then checked several other chestnut trees nearby and confirmed that this was the wild boar's feeding ground; only wild boars would waste food like this.

Zhou Rui told Liu Qingguo to stand aside so he could see how many wild boars had stayed there and which way they went afterwards.

A short while later, Zhao Changshan also arrived. He watched as Zhou Rui squatted here and there, muttering something to himself. He only stopped investigating when he saw the two people waiting beside him.

"So, is it a wild boar? How many are there?"

When Zhao Changshan asked the question, Zhou Rui nodded: "They are wild boars, quite a few, probably about ten."

As they were talking, they suddenly realized something was wrong; it seemed like someone was missing. "Where's Chen Xueqin?"

Zhao Changshan and Liu Qingguo were listening intently, and upon hearing that there were about ten wild boars, they finally felt that their hard work had paid off. Then they heard Zhou Rui ask Chen Xueqin. The two exchanged a glance, only then realizing that Chen Xueqin hadn't appeared.

"Chen Xueqin." "Chen Xueqin."

"Chen Xueqin".

They called for several minutes, and both of them were hoarse, but there was still no response.

"Stop shouting. Uncle Changshan, fire a shot. See if there's a response." Zhou Rui refused to shout with them; in this forest, even a little distance away, the sound wouldn't carry.

Without hesitation, Zhao Changshan took the gun off, cocked it, and fired a shot into the sky.

"Bang..." A gunshot rang out, echoing in all directions. Bang... Another shot came three seconds later. About ten minutes later, a rustling sound came from the direction they had come from; something was approaching, the sound of leaves being brushed against each other.

After sensing that there was no danger, Zhou Rui knew that it must be Chen Xueqin.

Chen Xueqin was lazy from the start; he didn't think searching the woods would be very useful. What did that little brat Zhou Rui know? It was all a waste of time. Not long after starting, he simply found a clean spot and lay down. He only woke up when he heard a gunshot, followed by a second one.

"Damn it." Chen Xueqin scrambled to his feet and ran toward the sound of gunfire. He ran through a thicket of bushes and looked up to see three people staring intently at him.

Chen Xueqin's heart skipped a beat. Zhao Changshan handed the gun to Liu Qingguo beside him and rushed over, slapping him repeatedly on the head.

"Where the hell have you been? Huh, where have you been? You begged me yesterday to give you a spot. I vouched for you in front of the whole village, guaranteeing you'd behave, and this is how you repay me?"

The forest was dense and difficult to hide in, so Chen Xueqin could only cover his head and spin around in place.

"You fucking dare to hide? I thought you fell into some pit. I didn't even see a single wild boar hair, and I fired two shots just to find you. You're fucking precious, you got two fucking bullets." Zhao Changshan was so angry that he was talking nonsense, and his profanity was extremely high.

Zhou Rui stood with his arms crossed, watching the whole thing intently, finding the performance quite entertaining. It wasn't until Zhao Changshan slowed down, realizing it was almost over, that he nudged Liu Qingguo with his foot.

Liu Qingguo looked back and saw Zhou Rui gently kicking his shin with the back of his foot. He instantly understood what was happening. He quickly stepped forward and grabbed Zhao Changshan's still waving arm.

"Alright, alright, Captain, he knows he was wrong. Please stop hitting him, it hurts my hand."

Zhao Changshan was inwardly cursing, "You knew my hand hurt and you didn't stop me sooner. I'm exhausted."

"Captain." Chen Xueqin stood in front of Zhao Changshan with a flushed face, head down, not daring to look Zhao Changshan in the eye.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Chen Xueqin couldn't admit that he had fallen asleep while being lazy, so he had to lie and say, "I went astray and didn't see you."

Zhou Rui found it amusing. They had clearly come from the route they had searched, so why were they saying they had gone astray?

After they stopped, Zhou Rui lowered his arms. "Are you done? If you're done, you're leaving."