Chapter 17: It's So Good to Be Alive

The one behind stumbled and ran on foot, clutching the side of his right leg!

Quickly bringing his gun to his face, he fired a shot at the one riding away. The rider wobbled and tumbled right off the horse!

Because the rider was bouncing up and down on the horse, the shot seemed to hit his left shoulder. Wang An couldn't see very clearly, but it didn't look fatal. Regardless of where he hit, Wang An fired two more "bang-bang" shots at the rider who had just hit the ground. This time, the rider didn't move at all, a hundred meters away!

At that moment, the man clutching his leg and running saw with his own eyes that the rider was finished! He stopped running and sat on the ground, whimpering and moaning; perhaps he realized he couldn't outrun a bullet!

Having finished off the rider, Wang An's anger had mostly dissipated. He walked up to the man whimpering on the ground and shouted loudly

"Didn't you want me to come out? Well, I'm out! What are you going to do about it?"

"Run! Why aren't you running?"

"Weren't you guys planning to clean everything up and set a fire in the middle of the night? Still wanting to try that woman?"

"You knew I had a gun and still followed me? You knew we mountain dwellers are ruthless, yet you still approached!"

"You're only in your twenties, right? Life is good! Why insist on seeking death? Are you an idiot?"

After saying this, before the man could even open his mouth, Wang An fired a shot directly into his head.

He looked back and forth along the road; no one was around for the moment. In truth, hearing such rapid gunfire, anyone who valued their life wouldn't dare approach this way!

Wang An scanned the four corpses. He noticed the first two dead men had ridden two horses, which were standing not far away by the roadside. The latter two horses had been severely spooked and had run off somewhere!

*Sigh! Time to work!* He walked over to the remaining two horses and tied one to a tree by the road.

Then he mounted the other. To be honest, Wang An had only ever ridden mules, and even then, without a saddle. This was his first time riding a horse with a saddle, and he had to admit, it felt quite good!

He rode over to the man who had been fleeing, used the rope hanging from the saddle to tie the man's legs, and dragged him over to the other three. One by one, he dragged them behind the bushes by the roadside!

He couldn't risk someone coming by later; that would be a massive headache!

Then, he carefully cleaned up the bloodstains on the road. Cleaning blood was a hassle; it was everywhere, and some had even seeped into the snow, melting small patches. He covered it with snow and trampled it down; at this temperature, it would freeze solid in a moment!

He led the horses into the woods. Since people are quite heavy, the four of them combined weighed less than 600 jin!

He simply rigged a sled, used the two horses to pull it, and loaded all the corpses onto it. After loading his Type 56 with ammunition, he led the horses into the forest.

In some parts of the forest, the trees were very dense, requiring him to weave and turn constantly, which was quite exhausting!

If he wasn't careful, a corpse would slide off the sled. After a few repetitions, Wang An was so frustrated he stripped the men of their belts!

He then used the belts to tie them to the sled. Fortunately, the men's belts were either hemp rope or cloth strips; otherwise, it would have been impossible!

After walking for about half an hour, he finally found a deep ravine. Looking down from the edge, it was over twenty meters deep, with the sides and bottom covered in one-to-two-meter-long shrubs!

A perfect spot! He repeated his usual routine: emptied their pockets, stripped their clothes, and unfastened their weapons from their waists!

There was a fair amount of money; the four of them together had about four or five hundred yuan, and plenty of coupons—a huge pile! There were also six letters of introduction! He didn't have time to look closely, so he stuffed everything into his own pockets!

The four knives were all custom-made, with deer-hide grips; they were beautiful and very sharp!

There were only two guns, both short guns—two Type 54s! There wasn't much ammunition, only about 30 rounds! These bullets weren't compatible with the Type 56; they were round-headed!

With just this gear, they dared to act like bandits! And they were targeting armed hunters! Wang An truly wondered what these four idiots were thinking! He should have just asked them before killing them!

They were all finished without a single shot being fired! They weren't even as tough as those three sex workers!

He stripped them completely naked and threw them into the ravine, then gathered their clothes, pants, hats, and shoes to burn them all! These four were wearing cotton coats, all covered in blood; they had no resale value!

He dismantled the sled on the spot. The hemp rope wasn't his own either, so he burned that too!

Once the fire was out, he used a knife to scoop up large chunks of snow from under the trees to extinguish the embers. The snow, untouched by footsteps, was quite hard. Once everything was handled, he rode off on the horse!

Of the two horses, one was a mare and the other was an uncastrated stallion! Normally, if a riding or work horse is a male, it must be castrated before use!

He couldn't figure out why they were like this! And these two horses were a problem too! The land hadn't even been distributed to households yet!

In the village, aside from the two hunters, Lu Deshu and Zhang Tiegang, no one kept private horses; there were only a few mules and donkeys!

*Oh well, whatever! I'll let my old man and mom come up with an excuse when I get home! For now, I'll just say they were borrowed!*

Thinking this, Wang An realized that in the few days since his rebirth—it hadn't even been four days—he had already killed seven people!

Although they all deserved to die, why did he keep running into them? It made him feel a bit like a psychopath!

*Sigh! I've killed so many that I don't even feel bad anymore. It shouldn't be like this.*

He had returned to life to create and enjoy a happy life, not to be an executioner!

But this was great! The material conditions for a happy life weren't being created; they were being scavenged from dead men's pockets!

As Wang An rode, he thought about these things while chasing after his wife and mother-in-law!

He had to admit, riding a horse was indeed fast. How wonderful it would be to hunt on horseback!

If he caught prey, he could just load it onto a sled and drive it home! How exhilarating!

Otherwise, every time he dragged prey home, he ended up exhausted like a total bastard!

He told himself the horse was a bargain! No problem there!

Twenty minutes later, he reached Yangshu Village. From a distance, he saw the mother and daughter standing by the horse carriage, which was parked under the famous large poplar tree in the village!

The two of them might not have recognized him at first because Wang An was riding a horse and had unhitched the mule's reins, appearing as if he were about to drive the carriage!

Mu Xueqing had even pulled the unsold "Water Pearl" shotgun out of the sack!

*Damn! This woman is pretty tough! It looks like if it hadn't been Wang An coming, she really would have tried to have a go at it!*

Once they were close enough to see each other clearly, Mu Xueqing stuffed the shotgun back into the sack, acting as if nothing had happened!

*Haha... I've hit the jackpot. This wife is beautiful, has a great figure, and a good personality! Judging by her slightly rough hands, she's not afraid of hard work either! And now I find she even knows how to handle a gun!! Not bad, not bad at all!*

As he reached the carriage, Liu Ruxin was the first to speak: "Son-in-law, have your friends all left?"

"Yeah, they're all gone. They were friends bringing me horses!" Wang An replied calmly.

"Oh, then let's keep going!" Liu Ruxin looked puzzled but didn't ask further.

The three continued on their way, with Liu Ruxin driving the mule cart and Wang An continuing to ride the horse. After passing Yangshu Village, Wang An suddenly felt that continuing like this would be a waste of time!

He called a halt to Liu Ruxin, dismounted, and placed Mu Xueqing's sorted belongings on the horse's back! He put the basket on his own back and held the three dogs in his hands!

He then said to Liu Ruxin and her daughter, "Auntie, Xueqing, I'll ride ahead to deliver this pile of things home first. Then, wait for me by those few linden trees on the west side of our village—the ones with the magpie nests. I'll probably meet you there."

Liu Ruxin agreed, while Mu Xueqing just watched Wang An without saying a word, appearing as if she wanted to ask something!

Wang An gave Mu Xueqing a smile, then rode his horse and led the dogs toward home!