Chapter 1

“Brother Xiangyang, I brought the rifle over. The first snow has just passed in the mountains, and the black bears and brown bears are all out feeding to fatten themselves up for winter. They’re especially fierce right now. Why don’t you and Grandpa wait a couple of days before heading into the mountains?” The first snow had just fallen, and an icy mountain wind swept through the village. At the entrance of the courtyard, Yu Fengying hugged a rifle to her chest and hurried into the earthen house, her voice carrying a hint of anxiety. Chen Xiangyang sat up from the heated brick bed. He instinctively stretched out his leg. The movement was smooth and effortless. There wasn't even the slightest trace of the agonizing pain he remembered from his previous life. His gaze fell upon the old calendar hanging beside the door. The red lettering was painfully clear: **October 17, 1983. The twelfth day of the ninth lunar month. Unsuitable for burials, ancestral offerings, moving into a new home, or weddings.** In an instant, countless fragmented and bloody memories flooded his mind. In his previous life, on this very day, he had taken this rifle and persuaded his grandfather to venture into the mountains to hunt a bear. He had wanted to obtain bear bones and the bear's kneecaps to soak in liquor as medicine for his father's old rheumatic leg injury. But they had been ambushed by a brown bear with cubs. In the end, his grandfather was buried in the Southern Ravine, their loyal hunting dog Cangyun died beside him, and Chen Xiangyang was left crippled for life. His entire family was dragged into an abyss of misery. After his grandfather's death, his father, Chen Wenshan, went gray overnight. Worn down by grief and exhaustion, he failed to survive the winter of 1987. His mother, Lin Xiuxiu, became seriously ill from years of overwork and followed his father the following year. And because his crippled leg had made him deeply insecure, he pushed away his childhood sweetheart—the girl who had loved him for years. He picked up the carpentry skills he had once learned from his father and struggled to raise his younger brother and sister alone. He spent the rest of his life guarding their empty old home, carrying a regret that could never be erased. Chen Xiangyang's fingers unconsciously clenched. Cold sweat soaked his entire body, and his chest heaved violently like a broken bellows. It wasn't a nightmare. He had truly been reborn. He had returned to the moment before all those tragedies had happened! Seeing that he remained silent for so long, Yu Fengying's cheeks gradually turned red. She secretly raised her eyes to look at him, only to realize that he wasn't wearing any clothes. She hurriedly covered her eyes and softly scolded him. “Pervert!” Her crisp voice snapped Chen Xiangyang out of his memories. That familiar voice seemed as though it had appeared countless times in his dreams. How many times had he dreamed of hearing her call him “Brother Xiangyang”? Unfortunately, he had been the one to reject her with his own hands. Chen Xiangyang suddenly raised his head. Standing at the doorway was a familiar figure. The young woman was tall and graceful. At around 170 centimeters, she was already considered exceptionally tall for this era. She wore a coarse cotton-padded jacket and homemade cloth trousers, with several patches sewn onto them. Her figure and appearance were every bit as striking as her height. Yu Fengying. A name that perfectly belonged to this era. She was the childhood sweetheart he had pushed away with his own hands in his previous life—the woman he had secretly longed for until the day he died. In his previous life, crippled and consumed by his inferiority complex, he hadn't dared to hold her back. He had ruthlessly severed all ties with her. It had become the greatest regret of his life. But now... It was good. Everything was still in time. Chen Xiangyang quickly put on his clothes and trousers before taking the rifle from her. The moment he felt its familiar weight, a strange sense of nostalgia washed over him. He worked the bolt, raised the rifle, and carefully aimed around the room. The rifle was a Mosin-Nagant, commonly known as a “Shui Lianzhu,” or “Water Beads,” in the region. The name came from the crisp sound of the bolt being pulled back, the shell being ejected, and the rifle firing repeatedly. To the older generation, the sound was like water droplets falling in succession onto a sheet of ice. He still remembered what his grandfather and Old Master Yu had told him when they taught him how to shoot. Shooting was all about developing a feel. Once you had that feeling, the moment you raised the rifle, your aim would naturally follow. And how did you develop that feeling? Feed it bullets. This Mosin-Nagant was Old Master Yu's prized possession. Back in early 1946, Chen Xiangyang's grandfather and Old Master Yu had obtained the rifles from the Russians after a friendly exchange. The two old men each had one, and they had been using them ever since. The fact that Yu Fengying had been willing to bring this rifle to him was enough to prove that he was the grandson-in-law Old Master Yu had already chosen. In his previous life, it had been this very rifle that he carried into the Southern Ravine Forest, ultimately leading to the destruction of his family. Whenever he lay awake at night, he would repeatedly replay everything that had happened after entering the mountains that year in his mind, searching for the best possible solution. In this life, he would use this same rifle to hunt that brown bear! Chen Xiangyang stared intensely at the young woman before him and spoke in an unusually solemn tone. “Feng'er, once Grandpa and I return from the mountains, I'll go to your house and ask for your hand in marriage.” The moment she heard those words, Yu Fengying froze. Her pretty face instantly turned bright red. She hurriedly lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes. Her fingers unconsciously rubbed the corner of her clothes over and over again. After a long moment, she finally squeezed out a soft response. “Mm... Brother Xiangyang, please be extremely careful in the mountains. I'll wait for you to come back safely and marry me.” After saying that, she secretly glanced at him. The corners of her lips couldn't stop curling upward. Then she turned around and ran away. “I think this marriage will work. Once you two are back from the mountains, we'll find a matchmaker and arrange the engagement.” A hearty, powerful laugh came from the outer room. Grandpa and his mother, Lin Xiuxiu, walked in carrying two large aluminum basins. Chen De'an was a veteran of the Anti-Japanese United Army. His face was rugged, his features sharply defined, and his eyes carried a fierce, intimidating edge. The two of them quickly set up the table and arranged the food. Once the three of them sat down, his mother spoke with some concern. “Dad, Xiangyang, the first snow has just passed. The wild animals will all be coming out of the forest to forage and fatten themselves up for winter. Why don't you wait a few days before going into the mountains?” Chen De'an picked up a cornmeal flatbread and took a bite, swallowing nearly a third of it in one go before answering somewhat indistinctly. “We can wait, but your husband can't. Wenshan's old leg injury becomes swollen and painfully sore whenever the weather turns cold. He can't sleep at night because of it.” “Bear bones and bear kneecaps are particularly effective for treating rheumatism and old injuries in crippled legs. Besides, this is the best time of year to hunt bears. If we miss this window, we'll have to wait until the snow is falling heavily and search for their winter dens. It'll be much harder then.” “Don't worry. These old bones of mine are still strong enough, and Xiangyang has been learning from me for more than a year. The two of us will take two rifles into the mountains. Nothing can go wrong.” After hearing this, Lin Xiuxiu wanted to say something but stopped herself. She looked at the stubborn grandfather and grandson and could only sigh. Of course she worried about her husband. They had shared the same bed for so many years. How could she not know how badly Wenshan's leg hurt every year around this time? Night after night, he couldn't sleep because of the pain. Watching him suffer broke her heart, but she couldn't let it show. For the sake of her husband's injured leg, this trip into the mountains was unavoidable. The grandfather and grandson had to go. And they had to hunt that bear. After breakfast, Chen Xiangyang glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. It was just after six. This was the perfect time to enter the mountains. Chen Xiangyang pulled on his **wula shoes**, traditional leather shoes stuffed with wula grass for warmth. He wrapped his legs with puttees, put on a canvas vest, and slipped on his sheepskin mittens. He tucked a hunting knife into his belt, slung the rifle and a woven basket over his back, and walked out of the old house. The moment he stepped outside, Cangyun sprang out from beside the woodpile. The hunting dog gently placed its front paws against his trouser leg. Chen Xiangyang reached down and patted it reassuringly. Cangyun immediately dropped back onto all four paws and began circling around him, its large tail wagging so fast that it blurred. Cangyun was a fully grown Oroqen hunting dog. It had a long muzzle, pointed ears, and an overall appearance resembling a leaner version of a gray wolf. It stood about sixty-five centimeters at the shoulder and weighed roughly thirty-five kilograms. Even among the lead dogs of the ordinary Oroqen hunting dogs, it was considered a large one. Unlike the large mountain dogs bred for carrying heavy loads and guarding the mountains—the big, clumsy dogs commonly seen in the region—Cangyun was smaller in build but had an exceptionally strong bite and an outstanding hunting instinct. Its value was practically immeasurable. And only someone like Grandpa Chen De'an, a veteran of the Anti-Japanese United Army with connections that ran incredibly deep, could have obtained such a dog. Three years earlier, people from the Oroqen community living deep in the mountains had taken the initiative to give Cangyun to him. “Cangyun, quiet.” Chen Xiangyang gave a soft command. Cangyun immediately sat down and became silent. He fastened its leash, then joined up with his grandfather. One old man, one young man, and one hunting dog walked out of the courtyard together.