Reborn in 1985, starting from the mountains of Northwest China

Chapter 45: Bear Spotted?

Lin Xiu still frowned: "It's so late at night..."

"I won't go at night."

Chen Feng interrupted her, "I'll go first thing tomorrow morning, when it's light. I'll just wander around, not going into the deep woods."

Lin Xiu looked at him and remained silent for a while.

She knew Chen Feng's temper.

The old Chen Feng was lazy and irresponsible, never taking anything to heart.

But now, Chen Feng still has the same face, but he has changed.

She's become more opinionated, and also...

It made her increasingly confused.

But she believed him.

"Then come back soon," Lin Xiu said. "Don't worry your parents."

Chen Feng felt a warmth in his heart and held her hand: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Lin Xiu didn't say anything more, she just leaned on his shoulder.

As it got late, Chen Feng and his family stayed at his mother-in-law's house.

The next morning, Lin Xiu was still asleep, while Xiao Shan and Xiao Yue were snuggled together, fast asleep.

Chen Feng quietly put on his clothes, pushed open the door, and went out.

It was terribly cold outside; every breath you exhaled created a cloud of white mist.

A thin layer of snow covered the ground, making a crunching sound when you stepped on it.

The lights were already on in the kitchen, and Lu Dan was cooking.

Chen Feng walked over and peeked into the doorway: "Mom, up so early?"

Lu Dan turned to look at him: "Why are you up too? Go back to sleep, I'll call you when the food is ready."

Chen Feng smiled and said, "Mother, I'm going out for a walk. I'll be back in a bit."

Lu Dan paused for a moment: "Where should we go?"

Chen Feng mumbled, "Just over there at the village entrance, to get some fresh air."

Lu Dan glanced at him, but didn't ask any more questions. She simply said, "Come back for dinner soon."

Chen Feng responded and turned to walk out.

After leaving the courtyard, he walked along the village road towards Wufeng Mountain.

Chen Feng looked around as he walked.

Villagers often go here to chop firewood and hunt rabbits because the road is easy to travel.

Chen Feng chose this location because he wanted to familiarize himself with the situation in the mountains first.

I hadn't gone far when I heard footsteps behind me.

Chen Feng turned around and smiled.

Lin Xi, carrying a basket on his back and a machete in his hand, was strode up to catch up.

"Third Brother?"

Lin Xi walked up to him and looked him up and down: "Mother said you ran out early this morning, so I guessed you were going into the mountains."

Chen Feng scratched his head: "I was just wandering around."

Lin Xi scoffed, "Just wandering around? On the third day of the Lunar New Year, instead of sleeping in, you're just wandering around the edge of the mountains?"

Chen Feng, having been exposed, stopped pretending and chuckled twice.

Lin Xi slung his machete over his shoulder and said, "Let's go. I need to go up the mountain to chop some firewood. Let's go together."

The two walked along the village road toward Wufeng Mountain.

Several lines of footprints, some human, some dog, were left on the snow, stretching crookedly into the mountains.

As Lin Xi walked, she said, "Yesterday you said you wanted to go into the mountains, and I knew you couldn't let things go on your mind. Just like my father back then, you couldn't sleep soundly when you heard the word ginseng."

Chen Feng asked, "Was Father like this back then?"

"Of course."

Lin Xi laughed. "I heard from my mother that after my grandfather and the others dug up that six-leaf tree, my father went to the mountains every spring for several years in a row. After going there so many times and finding nothing, he finally gave up."

Chen Feng nodded without saying anything.

The two reached the foot of the mountain and began to climb up.

Wufeng Mountain is not very high, but it is not easy to climb.

The mountain path was covered in snow, making it difficult to walk without slipping.

Chen Feng followed behind, imitating Lin Xi, and walked on the grassy areas, which was indeed much more stable.

Halfway up the mountain, Lin Xi stopped and pointed to a grove of trees ahead.

"That's where your second brother and I encountered the wild boar."

Chen Feng looked in the direction he pointed. That grove was denser than the others, the trees were thicker, and it was so dark that he couldn't see inside.

"Is that wild boar den still there?"

Lin Xi shook his head: "Who knows? Wild boars roam all over the mountains, they don't stay in one place for long. They might be here today, but tomorrow they could be over there on the other side of the mountain."

As he spoke, he turned to the side and entered a grove of mixed trees.

"You wander around by yourself for a bit, but don't go too far. I'll chop some firewood, and we'll go back together in a bit."

Chen Feng nodded and began to wander slowly through the woods.

His knowledge of ginseng came entirely from the books he had read in his previous life.

The book says that ginseng prefers shade and grows on hillsides with thick humus, often surrounded by oak and linden trees.

He looked around. There were many oak trees in the forest, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves and snow, so he couldn't tell what the soil was like.

As he was looking at it, he suddenly heard Lin Xi call his name.

"Brother-in-law! Come here!"

The voice sounded a bit hurried.

Chen Feng's heart tightened, and he quickly ran in that direction.

Walking through a thicket of bushes, I saw Lin Xi crouching under a large tree, staring at the ground.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Xi raised her head, a strange expression on her face, and pointed to the ground.

"Look what this is?"

Chen Feng went closer and saw several footprints on the snow.

It looks like a wild animal.

It was a size larger than a dog's paw print, deep, and looked heavy.

Chen Feng's heart skipped a beat: "This is...?"

Lin Xi lowered her voice: "Bear."

Chen Feng felt a chill run down his spine.

Lin Xi squatted there, carefully examined the direction of the footprints, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"They went into the mountains, not into the village."

He stood up, brushed the snow off his hands, and looked at Chen Feng.

"Let's go, we can't stay here."

Chen Feng nodded and followed him outside.

After walking a few steps, he looked back at the footprints again.

The footprints were deep, indicating that the bear was quite large.

In the dead of winter, don't bears hibernate?

How did it get out?

He voiced his question, and Lin Xi sighed.

"There are two possibilities. One is that the bear didn't go into its den and wandered around outside all winter. This is the most dangerous; when it's starving, it's capable of anything."

"What about the other one?"

"Another one..."

Lin Xi paused for a moment, then said, "It was quite a surprise; it came out of its nest."

Chen Feng's heart skipped a beat.

Surprising?

In the dead of winter, who could possibly startle a bear?

unless……

He and Lin Xi exchanged a glance, and they both thought of the same person.

That outsider.

Lin Xi's face darkened: "Let's go, hurry back and tell my father."

The two quickened their pace and headed down the mountain.

Just as I stepped out of the mixed woods, I suddenly heard a muffled sound coming from afar.

It sounded like gunshots.

But it doesn't quite look like it.

Lin Xi stopped and listened intently.

What was that sound?

Chen Feng was listening, but the sound only lasted once before falling silent.

The mountains were quiet, with only the whistling sound of the wind blowing through the treetops.

Lin Xi frowned: "Let's go, let's leave it at that."

The two continued walking down.

Chen Feng felt increasingly uneasy.

Lin Xi walked quickly, with Chen Feng close behind. The two of them slid down the snow, one after the other, not caring whether it was slippery or not.

After descending the mountain, Lin Xi didn't stop and headed straight for the village.

Chen Feng followed behind, pondering the muffled thud over and over in his mind.

If it was gunfire, who fired the shot? What was it aimed at?

If it's another sound, what could it be?

The two entered the village and happened to run into Lin Dong carrying buckets of water back from the well.