Reborn in 1985, starting from the mountains of Northwest China

Seeing their hurried appearance, Lin Dong put down the bucket: "What's wrong?"

Lin Xi caught her breath: "Second Brother, is Father home?"

"I'm here, just finished eating." Lin Dong looked at him, then at Chen Feng. "What happened?"

Lin Xi lowered his voice: "There were bear footprints on the mountain. There was also a sound, I don't know if it was a gunshot."

Lin Dong's expression changed, and he didn't even bother to carry the buckets anymore, following them towards the old house.

The three entered the courtyard, where Lin Qingfeng was squatting under the wall, basking in the sun, holding a pipe handle in his hand, his eyes half-closed, as if he were taking a nap.

Hearing footsteps, he opened his eyes and saw three people coming in together. He frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Xi recounted what had happened on the mountain.

After listening, Lin Qingfeng didn't rush to speak. He tapped his pipe against the sole of his shoe before slowly standing up.

Where are the bear footprints?

"On the mountainside of Wufeng Mountain, beside that mixed forest."

Lin Qingfeng nodded and looked at Chen Feng.

"You saw it with your own eyes?"

Chen Feng nodded: "Dad, I saw it. It's a size bigger than a dog's paw print, and it's deep. It must be a bear."

Lin Qingfeng didn't ask any more questions and took a few steps in the courtyard with his hands behind his back.

Lu Dan poked her head out from the kitchen: "What's wrong? What happened?"

Lin Qingfeng waved his hand: "It's nothing."

Lu Dan didn't believe it, looking at this and that, but didn't ask any more questions, and turned back to continue her work.

Lin Qingfeng walked to the courtyard gate and looked towards Wufeng Mountain.

"Did you hear that sound clearly?"

Lin Xi scratched his head: "It wasn't very clear, just a muffled sound. Like a gun, but not quite."

Lin Dong, standing nearby, asked, "Dad, could it be that outsider?"

Lin Qingfeng was startled.

He didn't answer, but remained silent for a long time.

"It's the dead of winter, and bears wandering around outside is a bad omen. If they startle someone and go berserk, they might come towards the village..."

He didn't continue, but everyone understood.

Lin Dong frowned: "Dad, what do we do?"

Lin Qingfeng thought for a moment and said, "Second brother, go and tell a few of the old hunters in the village so they know what's going on. Third brother, go to the back mountain and see if there are any footprints there."

Lin Xi responded and turned to leave.

Chen Feng stepped forward: "Dad, I'll go too."

Lin Qingfeng glanced at him and nodded: "Go ahead. Don't go any further in, just look around from the edge of the mountain."

The two left the courtyard and walked along the village road toward the back mountain.

The sun had already risen, shining brightly and dazzlingly on the snow.

People started moving around in the village, exchanging New Year's greetings and visiting each other's homes, greeting each other with smiles and clasped hands.

As Lin Xi walked, she whispered, "What do you think that outsider is up to?"

Chen Feng shook his head: "I don't know. But running in the mountains in the dead of winter, he definitely isn't here for fun."

Lin Xi snorted, "If he's really here to find ginseng, that'll be interesting. So many people have wandered this back mountain over the years, and haven't found a single ginseng hair. What makes him, an outsider, think he can?"

Chen Feng did not respond.

He kept thinking about that bear footprint.

If that bear really was frightening.

What happened to the person who startled it?

The two walked to the foot of the back mountain and headed north along the mountainside.

Lin Xi hadn't gone far when she suddenly stopped.

"Look."

Chen Feng looked in the direction he was pointing.

A trail of footprints stretched crookedly into the mountains on the snow.

It wasn't a wild animal, it was a human.

Lin Xi squatted down and looked at it: "Fresh, stepped on this morning."

Chen Feng also squatted down to look. The footprints were deep and somewhat messy, as if someone had walked in a hurry, or perhaps run.

The two exchanged a glance and followed the footprints a few steps forward.

Not far along, a patch of dark red suddenly appeared on the snow.

Chen Feng's heart tightened.

blood.

Lin Xi saw it too, and her expression changed immediately.

The two stopped and looked around.

Besides the footprints, there were other traces on the snow.

Dragging marks, messy footprints, and...

Bear footprints.

Chen Feng's heart started racing.

The pool of blood was right next to the bear's footprints, its red color glaringly obvious.

Lin Xi lowered her voice: "Don't make a sound."

The two held their breath and looked ahead following the bear's footprints.

The footprints went into the bushes beside them, crookedly heading deeper into the woods.

Blood dripped intermittently onto the snow, extending to a place out of sight.

The human footprints disappeared at the pool of blood.

A thought flashed through Chen Feng's mind.

That muffled thud was probably a real gunshot.

The person who fired the shot may not have hit the bear, or rather, the bear was not badly damaged.

Lin Xi tugged at his sleeve and stepped back.

The two slowly retreated a few steps to an open area, and Lin Xi finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Something's happened.

Chen Feng nodded.

Lin Xi looked at him and said, "Brother-in-law, you wait here. I'll go back and call for help."

Chen Feng shook his head: "Third Brother, let's go back together. What if that bear is still nearby..."

Lin Xi thought about it and didn't insist anymore.

The two turned around and walked back, their pace twice as fast as when they came.

As they approached the village entrance, they ran into Lin Dong leading several old men this way.

Lin Qingfeng was also inside, carrying an old hunting rifle.

Upon seeing the two of them, Lin Qingfeng quickly walked over.

"How is it?"

Lin Xi gasped for breath: "At the foot of the back mountain, there's blood. Human footprints and bear footprints are mixed together."

The old men's expressions changed.

Lin Qingfeng said with a stern face, "Let's go take a look."

Chen Feng stepped forward: "Dad, I'll go too."

Lin Qingfeng glanced at him but didn't stop him.

The group headed towards the back of the mountain.

Besides Lin Qingfeng, there were three other old men, all of whom were villagers who had run through the mountains in their younger days, and they were all carrying weapons.

In his hands he held not only a hunting rifle, but also a spear and even a large axe for chopping wood.

Bears are not easy animals to fight. Try to scare them away if possible, especially in winter.

The group walked up to the pool of blood and squatted down to look at it for a long time.

An old man with pockmarked face spoke up: "Human blood. Not much, it's probably an injury, but not fatal."

Another tall, thin man pointed to the bear footprints: "This bear was quite big; it went that way."

Lin Qingfeng looked at the footprints and then at the drag marks.

"Did the person run away, or was he dragged away by the bear?"

The pockmarked old man said, "They ran away. Look at these footprints, they went that way, not in the direction of the bear."

Lin Qingfeng nodded and stood up.

"Follow the footprints."

The group followed the messy set of human footprints.

After walking about a mile, my footprints entered a patch of withered grass and barley.

The tall, thin old man suddenly stopped and pointed ahead.

"Look."

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing.

The withered grass and barley were empty; there was nothing there.

But there were traces on the snow.

A large patch of flattened, withered grass, messy footprints, and...

blood.

Lots of blood.

More than ten times more than what we had just seen, it was splattered everywhere, on the withered grass, the snow, and even on the tree trunks nearby, a shocking black and red mess.