Chapter 2

Chapter 2: That Thing Is Black and Straight—and Quite a Rarity for Jiujiu His mother, Liu Cuihua, followed the direction of his finger. An open wooden chest sat there. On the old cotton batting at the bottom lay a double-barreled old shotgun. The barrel was a little dusty, but the wooden stock still gleamed with polish. It was the only possession left behind by the original owner’s late father. In the courtyard, Lin Xiulan, Su Hongying, and Li Yuxiang had all craned their necks to look as well. This was quite a rarity for Jiujiu. When you made your living in the mountains, a good gun was as good as hard currency. But what use could a waste of space like Brother Xiangyang have for it, besides trading it for gambling money? Ignoring everyone’s looks, Brother Xiangyang sat down on the threshold, found a scrap of cloth, and poured on a little sewing-machine oil. He took it apart, wiped it down, oiled it, and put it back together. “Click.” He closed the barrels and pushed them into place. His movements were smooth and unhurried. He’d handled plenty of real guns in his previous life. He hadn’t become an advanced member of a shooting club for nothing. As Liu Cuihua watched her son clean the gun with practiced ease, some of the anger left her face, replaced by a rueful smile. “Brother Xiangyang, you haven’t gone into the mountains since your dad died. It’s been ten years, give or take. Can you manage out there with a gun now?” Brother Xiangyang raised the gun and aimed one eye at a crooked tree beyond the courtyard. The corner of his mouth lifted. “How will I know if I don’t try?” ………… Before leaving, he went over to Lin Xiulan and Su Hongying, bent down, and pinched Yaya and Dandan’s cheeks. “Yaya, Dandan, be good and wait for Dad at home. How about I stew some meat for you tonight?” The two little girls jolted in alarm at his sudden gesture. Lin Xiulan and Su Hongying reacted as if facing an enemy, reflexively pulling their daughters behind them. Brother Xiangyang’s hand froze in midair. He gave a helpless, bitter smile. The original owner had done too much damage, wounding these women so deeply. Mending things and winning back their trust wouldn’t happen overnight. He’d have to take it slowly. He withdrew his hand, said nothing more, and strode toward the courtyard gate. He had only just stepped outside when— “Wait.” Li Yuxiang’s voice came from behind him. Brother Xiangyang stopped and looked back. “What is it?” Li Yuxiang bit her lip, hurried over, and pressed a dark object into Brother Xiangyang’s hand. It was still warm. A roasted sweet potato. It was small, and its skin was charred. “Hunters need their strength.” Li Yuxiang turned her face away, refusing to look at him. “It’s the last thing we have to eat at home. Don’t starve to death in the woods and make us go collect your body.” Brother Xiangyang looked down at the sweet potato in his hand, his heart warmed. “Don’t worry.” Looking Li Yuxiang in the eyes, Brother Xiangyang said, “I’ll bring back a wild boar for you tonight.” Li Yuxiang froze. Something about this man’s gaze had changed. Before, it had been cloudy, greedy, and volatile. Now it held an unmistakable sharpness and confidence. ………… Dahe Village lay at the foot of the outlying ranges of the Changbai Mountains. In this era, there had been little development, and the natural vegetation was exceptionally well preserved. The woods teemed with game—and danger. Standing at the entrance to the mountains, Brother Xiangyang looked at the primeval forest before him, its canopy blotting out the sky, and his brow gradually furrowed. The original owner’s memories of the mountains went no further than the age of thirteen. Back then, he and his father had known nothing but running wild all over the hills. Ten years had passed. The terrain and animal trails in the woods had probably changed completely. Though he had been skilled at fighting and shooting in his previous life, in these vast mountains, even the best skills would be useless if he got lost. “Damn, I sure bragged too soon…” He was wondering whether he should find a few people to go with him when— Suddenly… A pale pink energy cloud appeared before Brother Xiangyang’s eyes. It was only about the size of a fist, hovering in midair and giving off a soft glow. Brother Xiangyang thought he was seeing things. He raised a hand and rubbed his eyes, but the cloud was still there. Not only that, it was bobbing rhythmically in place. He reached out to grab it. Instead, the cloud hopped a long step forward, like a little deer. Brother Xiangyang was thoroughly intrigued. “Is this little thing trying to lead me somewhere? That can’t be scientific!” Ha! Scientific!? If I believed in science, I wouldn’t have been reborn! As the saying went, when a man dies, his dick points toward the sky; if he doesn’t die, he’ll live forever! Brother Xiangyang had become a successful entrepreneur in his previous life by being bold and careful, and daring to think and act! “Come on! Let’s see what this little thing is up to!” As he followed it, he saw the little thing stop in front of a thicket. “Huh? Stopped moving?” Zhang Xiangyang cautiously parted the waist-high mugwort in front of him, and a powerful, rank animal stench rushed over him. “Holy shit! A wild boar!” Zhang Xiangyang grinned. Sure enough, Heaven hadn’t treated him badly! Not only had he been reborn, he’d even been given such an incredible cheat ability. “Does this mean I’ll be able to get game every time I come into the mountains from now on…?” Zhang Xiangyang kept quiet and slowly lay down on the ground, setting up his gun. The beast was enormous—he estimated it weighed just under three hundred pounds. At that moment, it was grunting as it rooted through the fallen leaves, greedily chewing acorns. Wild boars had thick hides. A shot from an ordinary homemade muzzleloader would barely break the skin. To kill one with a single shot, he’d have to hit a vulnerable spot. His old smoothbore gun wasn’t very accurate and had a heavy recoil. Its effective range was barely more than thirty meters at best. But with the pink cloud leading him, he was now less than ten meters from the boar. Perfect. Years of shooting had trained Zhang Xiangyang’s body to react on instinct. He held his breath and pressed the stock tightly into his shoulder. His sight moved up along the boar’s neck, finally settling half an inch behind its ear. That was where the skull joined the spine, a place dense with nerves. “Click.” The mechanical sound of him taking up the trigger slack rang out sharply in the silent woods. The wild boar, which had been rooting around with its head down, suddenly froze. It jerked its massive head up. Its two bead-sized eyes fixed on Zhang Xiangyang, crouched halfway down in the thicket ten meters away. A human! In this primeval forest, a wild boar on its own carried an ingrained hatred and wariness of humans. Almost the instant their eyes met, the nearly three-hundred-pound adult male boar went berserk. “Raaah!” With a bloodcurdling roar, it charged at Zhang Xiangyang like a runaway armored truck! Five meters! Three meters! Too fast! The boar’s enormous black shadow had completely engulfed him. At such close range, with such a terrifying charge, there was no way the original owner’s body—long since worn down—could dodge it. Even Zhang Xiangyang at the peak of his strength in his previous life would never have evaded that lethal attack. “I’m done for!” In the face of the raging beast, Zhang Xiangyang was sure to die! At that very moment— Vmmm— The pink energy cloud that had vanished reappeared without warning. It flashed in midair, instantly turning into a red crosshair that locked onto the boar’s left eye. “A weak-point indicator?” Before the thought had even fully formed in Zhang Xiangyang’s mind, his body reacted. “Bang!” The old shotgun’s recoil knocked Zhang Xiangyang onto his back. A spray of iron pellets hit the boar’s left eye with pinpoint accuracy. The boar didn’t even have time to cry out. Carried by its momentum, its massive body slid right over Zhang Xiangyang’s head. Crash— It slammed heavily into the ground, scattering dead leaves everywhere. “Holy shit. Without this cheat ability, I’d have been dead just now.” Zhang Xiangyang got to his feet and looked at the boar behind him, nodding with satisfaction. “Not bad. If I sell all this meat, won’t our family be living high on the hog this month?” But then another practical problem presented itself. He was deep in the mountains, and he had no superhuman strength. How was he supposed to get this nearly three-hundred-pound pig back? “I need to find someone to help!” Zhang Xiangyang took out a blade of foxtail grass, put it between his teeth, and thought. He’d become a pariah in the village. Who would be willing to help him? Suddenly, the image of a scruffy-haired man with a foolish grin came to mind. Zhang Xiangyang slapped his thigh. “Oh, right! How could I forget him!”