Reborn in 1963: I Hunted and Stockpiled Meat During a Famine

"I used too much force just now, and it hurts terribly now. Although it's spring, a large area of ​​snow hasn't melted yet, and it's especially cold at night in the mountains. I'm even wondering if that spot has cracked from the cold!"

The village chief and Liu Dashan exchanged a smile, and then burst into laughter.

Several people were walking and chatting.

Suddenly, Qin Qiming felt a breathing sound approaching beside him. He turned his head and saw Liu Dashan moving quickly toward him.

"I always feel like there's something in the mountains watching me from the shadows. Is it a ghost?" Liu Dashan shrank his neck, feeling as if he were being swallowed up by endless darkness.

"Look at you, so cowardly. Don't wet your pants if you go into the mountains." The village chief looked at Liu Dashan with disdain. "There was no noise at all. You're just scaring yourself. We asked you if you wanted to stay in the village, and you said no problem and insisted on coming. Now look at you like this? You were all bragging, and now you're a coward?"

"I really feel something's off around me, didn't you feel it?" Liu Dashan frowned.

"What do I feel? Don't try to scare me with these ghosts and spirits." The village chief patted his chest. "Even if we really run into something in the mountains, the worst that can happen is a fight. Either it dies, or I die. What's there to be afraid of? We just killed a tiger. Why would you be afraid of ghosts?"

Looking at Liu Dashan, Qin Qiming felt a sudden jolt and asked, "Uncle, what did you just see?"

"I felt something bright flash by, like a ghost, but I don't know if I'm just seeing things." Liu Dashan scratched his head. "There was no movement behind me, so I guess I was just seeing things."

Upon hearing this, Qin Qiming was filled with unease. He didn't say anything, but his vigilance was on high alert.

He didn't think he was seeing things.

Venturing into the woods in the dead of night is a death wish; it's pitch black, you can't see your hand in front of your face, the moon is invisible, and the woods are as dense as a sieve—anything can happen.

Even if you have the best ears and nose, if something is hiding in the middle of the road, waiting to ambush you, you won't be able to avoid it, and then something terrible will definitely happen.

"Everyone, be alert!"

The village chief gripped his gun tightly, his mind focused: "Going into these mountains, you can only avoid those deadly things by sheer instinct. If you really run into them, you won't even have time to laugh! Qiming, you go ahead, I'll bring up the rear."

"Uncle Tian, ​​I'll cover the rear."

"Stop talking nonsense with me, get to the front!"

The village chief didn't give Qin Qiming a chance to refuse, and simply changed course to cover the rear.

Liu Dashan shuddered, and his eyes widened in an instant!

He saw a pair of small, shimmering spheres not far ahead, facing him.

"Oh dear, what's wrong with you now?"

“There, there’s something over there!” Liu Dashan pointed into the distance, where a faint light flickered in the darkness, his voice trembling slightly. “It’s right there.”

The village chief squinted, trying to see further and more clearly in the darkness, afraid of missing anything.

He vaguely sensed something flash by in the darkness, and what Liu Dashan had said seemed to have disappeared into the darkness.

This discovery instantly put him on edge; he was certain that there was some unknown entity around him.

"Qiming, slow down!" the village chief shouted to Qin Qiming, who was walking ahead. "There might be something around, be careful!"

Hearing the village chief's call, Qin Qiming turned back.

"Qiming, you have good eyesight, can you see anything?" The village chief leaned against a tree. "Can you see what's around you?"

Qin Qiming shook his head. "They've vanished without a trace. They probably ran away a long time ago."

"It ran away?" Liu Dashan looked puzzled. "This thing only appears at night, why is it so timid?"

"It might be some deadly thing, maybe just a little creature that comes out to forage at night," Qin Qiming speculated.

"The snow hasn't completely melted yet, and some of the things that hibernated in the mountains have almost finished eating. They're probably too hungry to stand it anymore, so they've started to come out of their burrows to find food."

Listening to Qin Qiming's analysis, the village chief felt a little relieved.

“Some things in the mountains don’t leave their burrows during the day, only coming out at night to forage. We need to keep a close eye on our surroundings; there might be other things there.”

After saying that, he listened to his surroundings again, and after a while, when he was sure there was no movement, he called to Qin Qiming to continue leading the way: "Let's hurry up and rescue people, but be careful on the way and walk slowly." He instructed.

Qin Qiming nodded, and before he had taken a few steps, his hawk-like eyes suddenly caught sight of a figure swaying uncertainly in the darkness.

"What's going on?"

Seeing Qin Qiming suddenly stop, Liu Dashan, who was following behind him, also stopped and asked in confusion.

"There is a situation!"

Qin Qiming handed the flashlight to Liu Dashan, signaling him to follow closely, and then turned a corner.

Perhaps sensing Qin Qiming's approach, the figure swayed more rapidly in the darkness, allowing Qin Qiming to see it clearly.

When Qin Qiming approached and came to the side of a large tree, where the unidentified object was, the swaying figure had vanished without a trace, leaving only a hole about the size of a waist.

"Qiming, what did you see?"

Seeing Qin Qiming stop, the village chief asked, "If there's nothing else, let's get out of here quickly and not waste any more time."

"That thing burrowed in so fast, I didn't even get a good look at what it was."

Qin Qiming squatted down, took the flashlight from Liu Dashan, and checked the entrance to the cave.

The snow at the entrance of the cave has been partially cleared, but the feces and hair are difficult to identify.

This thing really runs very fast!

"Uncle Tian, ​​this cave entrance is different from the Mountain Jump Cave, and it's not very big either. Can you take a look and tell me what this is?"

"Dashan, be aware of your surroundings and stay alert."

The village chief reminded them to go over there at the same time.

Qin Qiming bent down and peered into the depths of the cave. To his surprise, the surface of the soil inside was quite flat, not the kind that was full of pits and bumps. It stretched diagonally downwards, then made a sharp turn, and then he could see nothing at all.

The village chief carefully picked up some soil that had been cleared from the cave entrance, gently rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger, and then brought it close to his nose to sniff it carefully.

"Uncle Tian, ​​can you smell what this is?" Qin Qiming asked curiously.

The village chief looked down into the cave a few more times, then stood up.

"A badger's den, nothing serious. The soil at the entrance looks very fresh; it must have been dug just before the snow fell in the mountains at the beginning of winter. I've never seen anything like it before."

"So what we just encountered was a badger?" Qin Qiming pressed.

"Most likely." The village chief nodded. "These badgers, in warm weather they live on their own, but when it gets cold they gather together."