Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Zhu Kaitian: "I reckon those bastards were afraid of Huang Hongbo and his men's gunfire, so they came at a different time. It's impossible to defend against them."

Zhao Lei nodded, understanding the general idea.

Wild animals are very clever. After being disturbed by gunfire a few times, they will adjust their activity time, hiding during the day and hunting people at night.

Relying solely on a hunting team with mediocre marksmanship is certainly not a fundamental solution.

Seeing that Zhao Lei did not refuse, Zhu Kaitian quickly added another sentence.

"Brother Zhao Lei, I'm not asking you to kill all those beasts for me. But since you're in Sanhe Township, you should at least come to my place and see what's going on, and offer some suggestions. I'll still pay you your wages, and all the game you hunt is yours. How does that sound?"

Zhou Defu chimed in, "Comrade Zhao Lei, Old Zhu is really desperate. Go ahead, after all the commotion here tonight, there probably won't be much noise later in the night. You can go check it out, and come back to keep watch tomorrow."

Zhao Lei thought for a moment, then looked back at Qin Dashan and Qin Changlin.

Qin Changlin was the first to speak up: "Lei Zi, we'll all follow your arrangements."

Zhao Lei nodded in agreement: "Okay, Captain Zhu, we'll go check on things over there. But let me make this clear first, we've been fighting until midnight, and everyone's morale has dropped a bit. Whether we can eliminate the threat depends on the situation."

Zhu Kaitian was overjoyed and readily agreed, "No problem! No problem! You can go and take a look first, and we can make our move tomorrow night! Come on, I'll lead the way!"

The five men carried their equipment and followed Zhu Kaitian along the ridge towards Zhu Family Village.

The two villages are adjacent and only a ten-minute walk apart.

The moonlight shone on the country path, casting long shadows of several people.

Before long, the group arrived at the grain drying ground in Zhujia Village.

From a distance, you could see several kerosene lamps still lit.

Zhao Lei and the others walked in and surveyed their surroundings by the moonlight.

There was a lot of unharvested rice piled up in the threshing ground, and a temporary thatched shed had been set up next to it, where several men were squatting and smoking.

Seeing Zhu Kaitian leading a group of people over, the burly man at the head stood up and looked Zhao Lei and his companions up and down.

The man was a big, burly fellow with a square face tanned dark by the sun. His muscles bulged out of his shirt, and he held a double-barreled shotgun in his hand.

Behind him stood five equally robust men, clearly hunters who spent years traversing mountain paths.

Zhao Lei also sized up the other person a few times.

Zhu Kaitian quickly stepped forward and introduced, "Brother Hongbo, this is Comrade Zhao Lei from the Heping Brigade. You were both invited to help eliminate pests, and it's a coincidence that we met tonight. Let's get to know each other."

Huang Hongbo didn't rush to speak, but first scanned Zhao Lei up and down with his eyes.

Seeing that Zhao Lei was only in his early twenties, but tall and big, and although he was holding a gun, he didn't look like an experienced veteran at all.

He then glanced at Qin Dashan and the others behind Zhao Lei.

Apart from Qin Changlin, who looked like an old hunter, and Qin Dashan, who looked rather sturdy, the other two were young men with some childishness on their faces.

Huang Hongbo snorted, his tone indifferent: "Oh, the Peace Brigade? Never heard of it..."

His deputy, Deng Shaohua, chimed in, "Captain Zhu, didn't you say you hired some experts from Zhoujia Village? These few greenhorns? What can they possibly fight?"

Qin Bowen was immediately displeased upon hearing this.

Just as he was about to get angry, Zhao Lei stopped him with a look.

Zhao Lei just smiled faintly, too lazy to even acknowledge the other party.

Zhu Kaitian quickly tried to smooth things over: "Hey, Brother Hongbo, don't underestimate him. Comrade Zhao Lei just arrived in Zhoujia Village tonight, and in less than two hours he's already hunted three wild boars, two wild goats, and five weasels!"

Huang Hongbo's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

The brothers behind him looked at each other, clearly surprised.

But Huang Hongbo quickly composed himself, replacing his expression with a dismissive one, and sneered, "Two hours and they've fought that much? Heh, they were probably just lucky. They just happened to run into those bastards when they came out of their den."

Deng Shaohua also sneered, "That's right. Hunting is three parts skill and seven parts luck. When you're lucky, it's not uncommon to shoot three or five heads with one shot."

Huang Hongbo spat on the ground: "Luck can't be on your side every day. These wild animals are cunning; once they've been scared, they won't easily come down the mountain for three to five days. You've hunted so many tonight, you probably won't even see a trace of them tomorrow or the day after."

Immediately, the provocative meaning in those words became very clear.

Zhao Lei spoke slowly and deliberately: "Brother Huang is right, luck certainly plays a part. But when it comes to hunting, besides luck, you also need marksmanship, accuracy, and teamwork. To say we're just pure luck in one sentence is a bit of an insult..."

Huang Hongbo's face darkened: "What do you mean?"

Zhao Lei shrugged: "It's nothing much. I just felt that since everyone's here to help, let's each rely on our own abilities. You do your thing, I'll do mine, and we'll see who can hit the most and the cleanest."

These words immediately created a subtle atmosphere in the threshing ground.

The brothers behind Huang Hongbo all stood up, staring at Zhao Lei with unfriendly expressions.

Huang Hongbo squinted at Zhao Lei for a while, then suddenly grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Well done, young man, you've got some big talk. Let's have a contest then!"

Deng Shaohua chimed in from the side, "Let's compete! Let's see who can kill the next prey first!"

Zhao Lei didn't mince words: "Alright. From tonight until dawn, whoever kills the next beast that's ruining the crops first wins. The loser, you'd better avoid them from now on."

"Alright! Let's do it this way! I want to see just how good Zhao Lei is at killing the bear." Huang Hongbo slapped his thigh hard.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Lei immediately smiled.

Didn't you just say you didn't know me?

Now you're saying you know each other?

Hard mouth!

the other side.

Zhu Kaitian stood in the middle, wringing his hands anxiously: "Oh dear, gentlemen, we're all here to rid the place of this menace, not to start a fight..."

It seems that neither side is listening to him.

Huang Hongbo simply waved his hand, leading his men back to the thatched hut to pack up their equipment.

It seems they're getting serious.

Not to be outdone, Zhao Lei surveyed the threshing ground and whispered instructions to Qin Dashan and the others.

"Brother Dashan, you guard behind that haystack on the east side; that's where the view is the best..."

"Uncle Changlin, you guard the west side, the one closest to the river. There are many bushes on the riverbank, making it easy for animals to sneak over from there..."

"Bowen, Zongbao, and I will provide support from the middle. We'll be responsible for intercepting and finishing off any commotion we hear..."