Wang An turned to look at Wang Li, his expression one of sheer astonishment.
If he remembered correctly, this was only the second time Wang Li had fired a gun!
Ignoring Wang Li's question, Wang An stubbornly commanded, "Hit that tree. Right, and from now on, don't close your eyes when you shoot."
Wang An was pointing to another very thin sapling. The reason he had Wang Li aim for it was not only because thin trees were harder to hit, but because it was constantly swaying in the mountain wind.
This level of difficulty was basically the same as shooting a running beast; both were dynamic and followed a loose pattern.
Hearing this, Wang Li raised his gun again. As the gunshot rang out, a single bullet once again snapped the small tree.
This time, Wang An was certain in his heart: his fifth brother, Wang Li, absolutely had a talent for shooting. Because this was only the third shot Wang Li had ever fired in his entire life!
To confirm this, Wang An continued to command, "That one to the east, that one to the southeast, that one to the south, and that one to the west. Four small trees in total. Do you see them?"
Wang An pointed in four different directions to four trees at varying distances. The only commonality was that all four were very thin and swaying.
Without a word, Wang Li brought the gun straight to his face. With a "bang," the tree to the east snapped!
Following the movements Wang An had taught him, he immediately broke the action after firing. His left thumb and index finger quickly flicked out the shell casing, and with a slight twist of the wrist, he extended his middle and ring fingers to slide a fresh cartridge into the open chamber. With a quick flick of his fingers, he closed the action, and his left hand pulled back the firing pin. By this time, the gun was already braced against his shoulder; with a slight shift of his body, the gun fired!
The tree to the southeast snapped!
As Wang Li continued to cycle the action and reload, the remaining two trees also snapped. Only the last tree didn't break completely; it remained attached by a small strip of bark, its entire crown drooping downward!
Throughout the process, the more Wang An watched, the more alarmed and shocked he became!
As Wang Li loaded the final round and stopped aiming, a massive wave of emotion surged within Wang An's heart!
A bold hypothesis suddenly appeared in his mind: *Could Wang Li have been reborn too?*
However, in his previous life, when he was confined to the fence, whether it was his parents or his siblings visiting him for a chat, they had mentioned Wang Li a few times in passing. He had always been an ordinary peasant; aside from farming, he might not have fired a gun once in his entire life.
Wang An looked at Wang Li with suspicion, but no matter how he looked, there was nothing unusual about him. Furthermore, in the time since Wang An had been reborn, he had heard nothing of any special behavior from his fifth brother!
But Wang An's intense scrutiny left Wang Li bewildered. He scratched his head awkwardly and gave Wang An a silly grin.
Wang An turned away and stopped looking at him, falling into deep thought!
Because no matter how he looked at it, Wang Li was still that same Wang Li, without a single shred of difference!
After thinking for a long while, he finally concluded one thing: Wang Li didn't just have a "talent" for shooting!
It should be said that Wang Li was a genius with guns, or rather, a "born marksman"! Only such a description could accurately define the current Wang Li!
Everything Wang Li had just done was something Wang An could also do easily, but one must not forget that in his previous life, Wang An specialized in tinkering with guns! He was a professional!
Yet, even as a professional, whenever Wang An aimed and fired, he still had to close one eye!
And Wang Li? He had just encountered a gun and had just learned how to fire one!
Aside from the words "born marksman," there was simply no way to explain it!
As for the fact that Wang Li fired with both eyes open, Wang An had absolutely no objection to it!
In Wang An's view, as long as the bullet hit the intended target, the method didn't matter!
Even if you shot with your head upside down and both eyes closed, as long as you hit the mark, you were a god-tier legend!
But if you missed, it didn't matter how standard your posture was or how regulated your movements were—it was all garbage!
It was at this moment that Wang An suddenly realized something: Wang Li was not a burden, but an asset—and a formidable one at that!
When Wang An realized this, his mood became clear and refreshed, as all his previous worries and helplessness vanished in an instant.
However, another problem immediately occurred to him: the distribution of the harvest. If their contributions were equal, but he only gave Wang Li a ten percent share, then he, as the elder brother, would be acting poorly and unfairly.
But these were small matters. Whether it was his brother-in-law Mu Xueli or his fifth brother Wang Li, as long as they could work together with one heart and not slack off, no one would be cheated.
Besides, he would discuss this after they had entered the mountains a couple more times; hunting didn't rely on marksmanship alone.
"Let's go. We'll head down the mountain from the east and loop back. If we run into something, we'll take a shot; if not, we go home," Wang An said casually, stopping his idle pondering.
"Mm-hmm, Fourth Brother," Wang Li agreed, and the two began to circle back.
As they walked, Wang An shared various pieces of knowledge about foraging in the mountains. Most of it was a retelling of what Feng Chengmin had told him, but he added his own pondered experiences and summaries. Wang Li listened intently, occasionally asking questions.
They walked along the ridges, as mountain folk knew that the soil on the ridges was harder and the snow thinner. Walking on the ridges was far more convenient and faster than walking through ravines or hollows.
However, while passing a hollow, Wang An spotted a very abrupt set of animal tracks. They looked like the hoofprints of a yellow sheep, but they were much sharper.
Wang An examined them carefully and felt that these prints belonged to a blue sheep. Although blue sheep generally didn't appear near the village, anyone who frequently entered the mountains would see one once or twice a year.
The number of yellow sheep wasn't actually small, but their movements were erratic and they wandered everywhere, so foragers generally couldn't find them.
Locally, blue sheep were also called Green Mountain Sheep. There were more of them than yellow sheep, but they usually stayed in the deep mountains. That said, they could occasionally be seen in ordinary hollows or on rocky mountains!
It was truly rare for one to wander near the village!
Wang An immediately told Wang Li how to distinguish the age of hoofprints when tracking. This was simple knowledge, and Wang Li learned it quickly.
Actually, the moment he saw those prints, Wang An's hunting instinct ignited. He wanted to track them all the way; after all, Wang An had never tasted blue sheep meat before!
As a beginner, Wang Li's desire to bag prey was very strong. After hearing his Fourth Brother's explanation, he was eager to hunt the blue sheep!
But Wang An checked his watch; it was already 3:30, and it would be dark soon. He immediately abandoned the idea of tracking.
He said to Wang Li, "Alright, stop thinking about showing off. It's almost dark; we have to go home now. Come find me early tomorrow, and we'll come back then."
Wang Li looked at the sun, feeling very regretful that he couldn't personally kill some prey today, but he obediently followed Wang An back home.