"Fine, Li Guolin, trying to challenge me, are you? Just wait and see if I don't make you cry so hard you can't even find a patch of ground to crawl into!"
Seeing Li Yuemin nod in agreement, Li Guolin immediately got busy on the spot.
"Brother Yuemin, I'm a little worried."
Seeing Li Guolin preparing with such fervor, Zhang Chuntao, standing beside Li Yuemin, quietly tugged at the corner of his jacket.
Blinking her large, watery eyes and furrowing her brow slightly, she said, "Brother Yuemin, we grew up together, and I don't remember you ever touching a hunting rifle. Going up the mountain to hunt a bear is extremely dangerous, not a game. Are you sure you can do this?"
"Of course I can, darling. Don't you worry."
Watching Zhang Chuntao's worried expression, Li Yuemin couldn't help finding her utterly adorable. He reached out and pinched her tender little cheek.
Then, unable to help himself, he planted a quick kiss and whispered in her ear: "It seems you still don't quite understand your man. Forget a bear; even if a giant tiger were here, I could drag it back and ride it like a mount. Don't worry, once I go up the mountain and bag that big bear, I'll skin it and make you a fur-lined winter coat!"
"Oh, Brother Yuemin, you're impossible!"
Flustered by the hot breath blowing against her ear, Chuntao gently pushed him away and said shyly, "There are outsiders here, aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
Li Yuemin raised an eyebrow. "I'm kissing my own wife, not stealing someone else's. What's to fear? If they laugh, they're just laughing at my good fortune. Who told them they don't have the blessing of marrying such a pretty and sensible wife!"
"Humph!"
Watching Li Yuemin and Zhang Chuntao being all lovey-dovey and inseparable, Song Mengyao in the crowd was burning with green-eyed jealousy.
She glanced over at Li Guolin, who had a flat, round face and a scrawny build, and felt a growing surge of disgust.
Giving him a sharp pinch, she said with utter disdain, "Humph, Li Guolin, you'd better make sure you can pull this off, or don't embarrass me!"
"Don't worry. What kind of man do you think I am? Can that pretty boy compare to me?"
Hearing Song Mengyao's anxiety, Li Guolin didn't care in the least.
With a cold snort, he took the rifle handed to him by the village chief, looked back at Li Yuemin, and asked, "The targets are all set up now. Which of us goes first?"
"You go first," Li Yuemin said, glancing at him.
"Ha, I knew you didn't have the guts. Just wait to make a fool of yourself!"
Seeing Li Yuemin yield the priority to him, Li Guolin figured this punk must be getting cold feet.
With supreme confidence, he walked up to the target, recalling the airsoft shooting games he used to play. He steadied his mind, focused, and pulled the trigger with a sharp *bang*.
*Bang!*
*Bang! Bang!*
After five shots, Li Guolin finished shooting. When the targets were revealed, a deafening cheer erupted from the crowd.
"Wow, Li Guolin is amazing! He actually hit the ten-ring once! Looks like he wasn't just bragging!"
Having expected Li Guolin to make a complete fool of himself, no one anticipated his performance would stun everyone present.
Seeing her man's marksmanship turn out so well, Song Mengyao's earlier anxiety vanished entirely.
She hurried forward, planted a fierce kiss on Li Guolin's cheek, and then marched over to Zhang Chuntao with the target to show it off. "Well? Look at my man—hitting the ten-ring on the very first try! How can anyone else possibly compare?"
"Hph, five targets and only one hit the ten-ring, what's so great about that? When my man gets up there, every single shot will be a ten-ring!"
After giving Song Mengyao a sharp retort, Zhang Chuntao offered Li Yuemin an encouraging smile.
"Sigh!"
Unlike his daughter Zhang Chuntao's confidence, Zhang Wanshan wore a worried expression.
Seeing Li Yuemin's look of absolute certainty, he couldn't help turning to him and saying, "Son-in-law, I've heard people from the army say that hitting the ten-ring takes incredible marksmanship. You don't have much hunting experience; why don't you just leave the bear hunting to Guolin?"
"Leave it to him? What for? Father-in-law, that's the wrong attitude! How can you admit defeat before the competition even starts? What's so great about the ten-ring? Just watch—your son-in-law will show you what true skill looks like in a moment!"
With that, Li Yuemin walked over to Zhang Tiedan, the militia member holding the targets, and instructed him: "When I shoot, listen for my command and toss all these targets up into the air at once. Understand?"
"Toss them into the air? What's that supposed to mean?"
Hearing this, Zhang Tiedan froze, utterly baffled by Li Yuemin's intentions.
He thought to himself: *Target shooting is target shooting, what kind of game is this? Once these targets fly up into the sky, even an immortal couldn't hit every single one of them!*
"Don't worry, Zhang Tiedan, I know what I'm doing. Just wait and see."
Seeing Zhang Tiedan's skeptical look, Li Yuemin patted him on the shoulder.
Full of doubt though he was, Zhang Tiedan had no choice but to comply.
Hearing Li Yuemin shout "Start!", Zhang Tiedan hurled all five targets straight up into the air with a brisk motion.
Targets fluttered across the sky. Without a trace of panic, Li Yuemin raised his rifle and fired.
*Bang!*
"He hit it! He hit it!"
*Bang! Bang!*
"He hit another one!"
"He hit them all! Wait, why do all these targets look like ten-rings?!"
Once Li Yuemin finished firing, every villager around them was struck dumb with astonishment.
Even Li Guolin, who had been so proud of his own shooting results just moments before, was left speechless.
He had fired five shots earlier and, through sheer dumb luck, hit a single ten-ring.
How on earth did Li Yuemin manage to hit moving targets in mid-air with such precision? Could it be that he, too, had been reborn like him?
"Brother Yuemin, you're simply amazing! You're my big hero!"
Seeing how incredible Li Yuemin was, Zhang Chuntao threw her arms around his neck in excitement and gave him a hearty kiss.
Then she picked up the targets from the ground, waved them in front of Song Mengyao, and said, "Oh, looks like my man is still the better one after all. He can hit targets even when they fly up into the sky, unlike some people who spent forever and only managed to hit one once, huh!"
"Humph, what's so great about that?!"
Seeing Zhang Chuntao show off, Song Mengyao refused to admit defeat, stubbornly arguing: "My man was just deliberately holding back his skills. Going up the mountain to hunt a bear is so dangerous, he wouldn't want to go anyway. I heard that brute weighs four or five hundred pounds—just wait until Li Yuemin gets eaten by the bear and you're left a young widow!"
*Bang!*
"Holy crap, Li Yuemin, have you lost your damn mind? Why'd you suddenly shoot at me?!"
Before Song Mengyao's words had even faded, a bullet grazed right past Li Guolin's temple.
The sudden gunshot scared Li Guolin so badly his knees buckled, and he dropped straight to his knees with a thud.
The once-haughty Song Mengyao was frightened so pale by the sight that her whole body trembled uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Li Yuemin glared at her viciously, raised his gun, and gestured up and down her body. "Song Mengyao, if you ever dare run your mouth in front of my wife again, I'll make you a widow on the spot!"
"Sob, sob, sob..."
"Li Yuemin, you're going way too far! You—you—"
Watching Song Mengyao crying in fright, Li Guolin felt deeply humiliated and instinctively raised his fists to fight Li Yuemin to the death.
Yet, intimidated by the rifle in Li Yuemin's hands, he only got his fists halfway up before lowering them again.
Just as the two sides reached a stalemate, Village Chief Wanshan seized the opportunity and hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
"Alright, alright! Whichever of you becomes the Mountain Guardian brings honor to the Old Li family. Is it really necessary to make such a fuss over a few words?"
In truth, seeing Song Mengyao—who had cursed his own daughter—get put in her place by his son-in-law brought a wave of secret delight to Zhang Wanshan's heart.
However, to placate the emotions of Li Guolin and his wife, he had no choice but to put on a stern face and scold Li Yuemin a few times: "Son-in-law, you're far too impulsive! Do that again next time, and I certainly won't spare you, hear?"
Seeing that everyone's emotions had settled down, he immediately shifted the topic back to the position of Mountain Guardian.
Solemnly patting Li Yuemin on the shoulder, he instructed earnestly: "Son-in-law, since your marksmanship is this accurate, the position of Mountain Guardian belongs to you. Given the urgency of the situation, I say we head straight into the mountain now. But that bear is no pushover—I hope you go in whole and come back completely unharmed!"
"Don't worry, Father-in-law, I will successfully complete the mission!"
At this point, Li Yuemin paused for a moment before adding: "However, Father-in-law, going up the mountain to hunt a bear is no child's play. I need you to prepare three things for me. If these three things aren't ready, I cannot set off!"