"Xiao Hao, did you hunt all this meat and vegetables yourself this afternoon?"
"Yeah, I went into the mountains this afternoon and hunted them. What's wrong?" Captain Li's sudden question made Ye Hao a bit confused about what he meant.
"Using the crossbow you made in the mountains?"
"Yes."
"Amazing, truly amazing. With a simple crossbow, you hunted so much prey in just one afternoon. You're even better than Li Laogui in our village."
"Who is this Li Laogui?" Before Ye Hao could speak, Sun Chaoshu was the first to ask.
"This Li Laogui is the mountain runner in our village."
"What's a mountain runner?"
"A so-called mountain runner is essentially a guide. However, compared to others, mountain runners are extremely familiar with the terrain of Changbai Mountain. They know exactly where dangers lie and where to find harvests. During the Republic of China era, many people who went into the mountains to gather herbs or mountain goods would hire these mountain runners to lead the way.
Besides their exceptional knowledge of the mountains, they also possess rich wilderness survival skills and impressive hunting techniques. Nowadays, no one hires mountain runners to go into the mountains, so current mountain runners mostly operate alone, becoming professional hunters. Relying on their understanding of the mountains, they usually have very plentiful harvests every time they enter the mountains.
Li Laogui is our village's mountain runner. He has followed his father in mountain running since he was a child, and has been to most parts of the entire Changbai Mountain. Now, it's a collective economy, so half of the harvest he brings out from each trip into the mountains belongs to the collective, and he also distributes some to the villagers, keeping only a small portion for himself.
Alas, Li Laogui is also a pitiful person. His family has been mountain runners since his grandfather's time. They used to earn a lot of money, but then the Japanese came, and all his family's property was plundered. His wife, who had just given birth, was targeted by the Japanese and they wanted to take her away. He resisted fiercely and was hit on the back of the head with a rifle butt, instantly falling unconscious. His wife, unable to bear the humiliation, bit her tongue and committed suicide, and their child was stabbed to death by the Japanese with a bayonet.
When Li Laogui woke up and saw this scene, he was heartbroken and vowed to avenge his wife and child. He first set traps in the mountains to ambush the Japanese, killing many of them. Later, he joined the anti-Japanese forces and began to fight the Japanese with a gun.
However, his luck was too bad. During one battle, he was knocked unconscious by a Japanese shell. When he woke up, he was already in a Japanese prison. After that, he endured inhumane torture, but he said nothing. Finally, the Japanese lost patience and prepared to execute him, but at that time, a water supply unit needed people, so he was sent to the water supply unit.
No one knows what happened to him in there, and when we asked him later, he wouldn't say.
However, in the fourth month after he entered, he was thrown into a mass grave. Everyone thought he was dead, but he wasn't. His body was completely festering, no longer recognizable as human. After lying in the mass grave for a night, he miraculously crawled up and stumbled into the mountains.
He stayed in the mountains for two years like that. When he came out, his voice had become hoarse, and his skin had grown back, but he no longer looked human, like a ghost crawled out of hell.
He was ready to continue fighting the Japanese, but at this time, the Japanese had already surrendered, so he returned to Li Family Village. When he first came back, he startled everyone, and several children had nightmares for a long time. Because of his appearance, he asked everyone to call him Li Laogui.
After returning here, he lived off the prey from the mountains. He was the only one in his family. Because his appearance was truly terrifying, he rarely interacted with the villagers. Most of his time was spent dealing with wild animals in the mountains."
Captain Li's words made everyone's expressions very grim, especially Sun Chaoshu, Zuo Lei, and Tang Zilan. Their parents had all come from the battlefield and knew the experiences of that time. Ye Hao knew even more about that evil water supply unit.
Sun Chaoshu's fingers cracked as he clenched his fists, and everyone else's eyes were red.
"Captain Li, can we go see him?" Zuo Lei asked.
"That's probably not possible today. He went into the mountains. When he comes out, I'll go ask him for you."
The meal ended in this oppressive atmosphere.
Everyone also learned that there was such a respectable person in the village. Although he looked like a demon, his heart was full of hatred for evil.
They would visit him if they had the chance in the future.
After tidying up the dishes, Sun Chaoshu asked Ye Hao, "Brother Hao, are we going up the mountain today or tomorrow? I want to practice in the mountains so I can get a gun sooner."
"Let's go up tomorrow. It's too late today, and going up the mountain is too dangerous."
"Alright, then we'll go up first thing tomorrow morning. We'll just explore around the camp for now."
…
"Brother Hao, once we put down our bedding, we'll go explore the vicinity."
Early this morning, Sun Chaoshu had already called for them to go up the mountain. The three of them carried their bedding and walked up the mountain. Upon arriving at the mountain camp, Captain Xu and the others had already left to patrol the mountain.
"Brother Hao, give me the crossbow. I'm going to hunt squirrels. A while ago, I saw a pine forest nearby with many squirrels. Watch me have an overflowing harvest today."
"Haha, with you like this, it'd be good if you even caught one, let alone an overflowing harvest. I think you woke up too early and aren't fully awake yet."
"Just watch me, Brother Hao."
"Bingsheng, you go with Chao Shu. I'll explore nearby."
"Brother Hao, aren't you coming with us? Then you won't see my moment of showing off my power."
"Go on, I'll just see how much you can harvest today."
Watching the two walk away, Ye Hao headed south. He hadn't been to the south side yet.
Not long after walking, he heard a rustling in the bushes. Ye Hao, holding a knife, vigilantly looked towards the rustling bushes.
Suddenly, a large creature leaped out from the bushes, pouncing straight at Ye Hao. Just as Ye Hao was about to raise his knife to stab, he realized it was actually Ao Xue.
Ye Hao put his knife back into his space and directly caught Ao Xue as she pounced. Ao Xue nuzzled affectionately against Ye Hao, rubbing and cuddling all over him.
"Ao Xue, where have you been these past few days? How did you know I was here? Is it fun outside? Did you encounter any dangers?" Ye Hao hugged Ao Xue and ruffled her fur, asking as he did so.
Unfortunately, Ao Xue couldn't speak, so asking her was like playing a lute to a cow.
Ye Hao played with Ao Xue for a while, then prepared to put her into his space, but Ao Xue looked at Ye Hao pitifully, not wanting to enter the space.
Ye Hao didn't want Ao Xue to lose her wildness, so he gave up the idea of putting her into his space. He instructed her that she could only appear when he was alone, not to appear in the sight of others, not to run too far, and to stay nearby. Ao Xue became a little impatient with all the instructions and nudged Ye Hao with her head, indicating for him to stop talking.
"You little one, you must remember what I said." After speaking, Ye Hao took out a basin of space spring water from his space for Ao Xue to drink.
Upon seeing that it was space spring water, Ao Xue gulped down the entire basin of water.
"Go play." Ye Hao patted Ao Xue's wolf head and said.
Ao Xue affectionately rubbed against Ye Hao and then headed in the direction she came from.