"We'll continue to patrol the mountains with you these next few days." After the events of the past two days, Captain Xu was still a bit uneasy about Ye Hao and the others patrolling the mountains; the mountains were still not peaceful.
The day's patrol passed without incident. In the afternoon, back at the camp, Captain Xu took out 60 rounds of ammunition from the house and distributed them among the three: "These are bullets rewarded to you from above. Practice your marksmanship more. If you encounter danger in the future, you can be like Ye Hao and not miss every shot. Sun Chaoshu, especially you, your marksmanship is absolutely terrible. Practice well, and be serious when you practice."
"That's great, they actually gave us so many bullets again! I feel like I'm about to become a sharpshooter, Captain Xu. Do you think I could get 20 rounds of bullets every day? I guarantee I'll be hitting the bullseye soon."
"Don't push your luck, these 20 rounds are all thanks to your Brother Hao. If he hadn't eliminated that group of poachers, you wouldn't be asking for bullets; you'd be lucky to get one. Alright, go practice your shooting. If you keep missing the target with every shot, then you won't get to use a gun anymore. Just follow behind us and carry things." Captain Xu said, annoyed, looking at Sun Chaoshu's shameless demeanor.
"Got it, I'll make sure to practice well and strive to hit the bullseye soon."
The three of them went to their usual shooting practice spot.
"Chao Shu, these are for you. I'm not going to practice; shooting this thing is boring. I'm going to go wander around over there." Ye Hao gave all 20 rounds of ammunition Captain Xu had given him to Sun Chaoshu.
He went to the lake to fish for leisure, not even using spring water or bait, just ordinary corn for fishing, purely for recreation. His mind, however, was immersed in the space. Maik & Maile were happily playing in the fruit orchard.
For the past two days, Ye Hao had been feeding them spring water, milk, and fish paste. Maik & Maile had grown very healthy and much larger. They could now climb trees and looked a bit like leopards, unlike when he first found them, when they were like kittens.
These three little fellows, Maik & Maile and Aoxue, might have received special attention from Ye Hao. Ye Hao could sense their thoughts, and they could understand what Ye Hao said. When Maik & Maile first entered the space, they were still hostile towards Ye Hao, but after two days of feeding, they had become very close to him.
Sensing Ye Hao's intention, Maik & Maile jumped down from the tree and looked around, but they didn't see Ye Hao, and immediately started meowing.
Ye Hao was truly melted by this scene. With a thought, Maik & Maile appeared in his arms.
Maik & Maile felt the environment suddenly change and were a bit startled, but upon sniffing Ye Hao's scent and seeing him, they immediately burrowed into his arms like little kittens.
Ye Hao petted one little cutie with each hand. Maik & Maile also loved being petted, making purring sounds, truly like cats.
The opportunity to pet a leopard is not common; even in later generations, only oil princes would raise such creatures.
Just as Ye Hao was happily playing with Maik & Maile, he heard a sound coming from the woods behind him. Without thinking, Ye Hao immediately put Maik & Maile into the space. He picked up the gun next to him and turned around to be on alert.
The sound was getting closer, but because the weeds were too dense, he couldn't see what it was. Ye Hao aimed his gun in the direction of the sound.
Finally, a large head emerged from the grass, and Ye Hao immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
When Aoxue saw Ye Hao, she pounced directly. Seeing this, Ye Hao put his gun into the space and, meeting Aoxue, pressed her body, which was about to pounce on him, to the ground. The man and the wolf wrestled on the ground for a while, then Aoxue bit Ye Hao's pant leg and started walking in the direction she came from.
Ye Hao could feel that Aoxue wanted to take him somewhere, but it was almost time for dinner. If he went with Aoxue now, and then couldn't be found for dinner, Captain Xu would probably go into the mountains to look for him overnight. He decided against it; he would go after dinner.
He told Aoxue that he would go at night and asked her to wait for him by the lake.
After playing for a while longer, Ye Hao put away their homemade fishing rod and carried a fish from the space back to the camp.
"Brother Hao, Brother Hao, you don't know, I was possessed by the God of Guns today! I hit 10 out of 20 shots, which is half of your skill level! I think I'll be hitting the bullseye in a few more days of practice." Sun Chaoshu, seeing Ye Hao return, bragged to him about his day's achievements. He was so excited, truly like a child who would never grow up.
"Amazing, amazing, keep up the good work." Ye Hao didn't know how to respond to this live wire and replied perfunctorily.
Ye Hao placed the fish in the small pond in the courtyard.
After dinner and a short rest, everyone returned to their rooms to sleep. Seeing that Sun Chaoshu and Lu Bingsheng were already fast asleep, Ye Hao quietly put on his clothes and left the wooden house.
He listened intently to the next room; everyone was sound asleep. With daily patrols, they basically fell asleep as soon as they touched the bed and rarely got up at night, which made Ye Hao's actions easier.
Leaving the small courtyard, Ye Hao ran directly towards Banshan Lake.
Arriving at the lakeside, he saw two eerie green eyes looking at him. Fortunately, thanks to the transformation by the spring water, Ye Hao could see objects clearly at night with a little moonlight. The owner of these eyes was Aoxue, who was waiting there.
Aoxue, seeing Ye Hao arrive, went up and rubbed affectionately against him.
"Alright, Aoxue, you lead the way to that place you found."
The man and the wolf thus ran wildly through the mountain forest. It was a good thing Ye Hao had excellent physical fitness, otherwise he really couldn't have kept up with Aoxue's pace. Although Aoxue wasn't running at full speed, her physical fitness was there; even a light jog was not something an ordinary person could keep up with.
They kept running deeper into the mountains, only stopping two hours later. Aoxue arrived at the base of a slope and darted into the adjacent bushes. Behind the bushes was a cave. Ye Hao knew this must be their destination, so he wasn't in a hurry. He wanted to see what good thing Aoxue was talking about.
Aoxue hadn't been in for long when a sharp "click-clack~" sound came from inside.
Then, five or six weasels were seen running out of the cave behind the bushes. Ye Hao ignored these weasels and kept his eyes fixed on the cave entrance.
After a short wait, Aoxue emerged, carrying a black object in her mouth, and placed it at Ye Hao's feet. Ye Hao picked up the object from the ground, wiped off the dust, and immediately saw what it was.
Ye Hao was more than familiar with this thing; indeed, it was the San-Ba Da Gai (Type 38 Rifle) he carried every day.
Where did a San-Ba Da Gai (Type 38 Rifle) come from in this place?
"Aoxue, are there more of these things inside?" Ye Hao asked Aoxue.
"Aowu~"
Ye Hao understood Aoxue's meaning: there were many of these things inside.
Ye Hao was a bit excited now; he had discovered a Japanese military arsenal.
Aoxue gestured for Ye Hao to follow her, to go inside together.
Ye Hao followed Aoxue's steps and crawled into the cave. He could see that the cave was not large; it was probably dug by some animal with its claws.
Thinking of the weasels that had just run out, this should be a weasel's burrow, and inside should be a weasel's nest.
That's not right; a weasel shouldn't be able to dig such a large hole, one that Aoxue could fit into.
Could it be that Aoxue widened the weasel's burrow? Otherwise, how could it be just the right size for Aoxue to enter?
He hadn't crawled far when he reached an open space ahead.
There was no light inside. Ye Hao took out the flashlight he bought at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative in the capital from his space. He turned on the flashlight, and what met his eyes was a pile of wooden boxes.
Ye Hao approached the nearest wooden box and saw the characters for "Type 38 Infantry Rifle, Ten Units."
Even if Ye Hao was an idiot, he would know this was a Japanese weapon box. The Japanese had always used Chinese characters, only gradually changing some character forms in modern times, but it wasn't that easy to create characters. Even in later generations, the Japanese still used many Chinese characters. It was like the Koreans, who claimed to abolish Chinese characters, but their ID cards still had to have Chinese characters, otherwise no one would know who they were.