Feng Mountain froze on the spot when he heard Jenny shout the three words, "Go to hell!"

That was the phrase he’d taught Tom the other day at the bus camp, when Tom had gotten drunk on medicinal wine and pestered him to teach him a few Chinese phrases.

He had casually taught him one, saying that "Go to hell" was a greeting for friends, even more polite than "hello" or "thank you."

He never expected Jenny to have secretly learned it and put it to practical use on Xiaohua and her two companions.

"Whoa, Jenny doesn’t mean it like that. She’s just saying hello to you, welcoming you."

Xiaohua immediately understood what was going on and flashed a sly grin.

"Brother Feng, you taught her that, didn’t you? I remember Uncle Liu, the guy who sold sesame seed cakes by the old restaurant, used to say that all the time. You’re terrible!"

"I was just teaching someone else, I didn’t think Jenny would pick it up." Feng Mountain shrugged. "The scar on Jenny’s face... her man did that to her when he was drunk. She’s a really good person, so don’t get the wrong idea."

Jenny saw Feng Mountain and the others conversing quietly in Mandarin, not understanding a word. Assuming the guests were afraid of the scar on her face, her expression suddenly dimmed.

She lowered her head slightly, subconsciously touching the scar on her cheek, a wave of indescribable sadness washing over her.

Xiaohua noticed the shift in Jenny’s mood and quickly walked over, smiling as she took Jenny’s arm. "Ms. Zhan, we didn’t mean anything by it. We just think you’re very beautiful."

After she spoke, Xiaohua realized she might as well be talking to a wall; they were on completely different wavelengths. She looked helplessly at Feng Mountain.

Feng Mountain immediately understood, stepping forward with a smile to act as a translator.

He relayed Xiaohua’s words to Jenny. Jenny’s face instantly broke into a brilliant smile. She looked at Xiaohua gratefully and said in her halting Chinese,

"Go to hell."

Xiaohua and the other two burst out laughing and replied in kind, "Go to hell."

’You’re all sick in the head!!’

’Are we having a family reunion here?’

Feng Mountain rolled his eyes. "Let’s go. I’ll show you to your rooms."

The trio’s rooms were on the second floor. Conveniently, there were two spare bedrooms available: one for Xiaohua and Hu Zi, and one for Black Hide by himself.

Outside the room’s floor-to-ceiling windows was a magnificent view of the Snow Mountain River Beach.

The ground of the camp was carpeted in moss, the snow-capped mountains glistened silver in the sun, and the Ice River flowed with a gentle murmur, like a beautiful painting unfurled before them.

Xiaohua instantly fell in love with the room. "Brother Feng, this place is so beautiful!"

Hu Zi also looked around excitedly. "Wow, this view is incredible! Brother Feng, you really know how to pick a spot."

Black Hide didn’t care whether the room was nice or not; he could sleep anywhere. All he could think about were the cool guns Brother Shan had just mentioned.

"Xiaohua, you and Ms. Zhan can take your time looking around. Hu Zi and I are going to Brother Shan’s room to see the guns."

"Go on, go on. What’s so interesting about guns?" Xiaohua said, taking Jenny’s arm and giving her own man, whose eyes were already gleaming, a look of disdain.

"Brother Shan, let’s go!" Hu Zi and Black Hide hurriedly pushed Feng Mountain out of the room.

They arrived at the master bedroom.

"Damn, Brother Feng, your room is even bigger!" Black Hide exclaimed as he walked in, looking at the bedroom that was over 30 square meters—larger than a one-bedroom apartment in Hai City.

But the bedroom was mostly empty, with nothing in it except for a photo of Ms. on a shelf.

"It’s too big, not very comfortable to live in!" Feng Mountain said as he walked to the hidden gun room. He entered the password, and with a CLICK, a door opened in the wall.

"Heh, a secret room too. You’re full of tricks, Brother Feng!" Black Hide said with a suggestive wink and a grin that all men would understand.

SMACK!

Feng Mountain slapped Black Hide upside the head and pushed the door open. "You know too much. You still want to see the guns or not?!"

"Yeah, we do!" Hu Zi and Black Hide quickly squeezed into the gun room.

Stepping inside, they saw the walls were covered with all kinds of long guns and handguns. Both men’s eyes went wide in utter shock.

Hu Zi tiptoed forward and gently touched an AK-47 he recognized, feeling its cold metal.

"Brother Feng, are these guns real?"

"Of course they are. What would be the point of hanging a fake gun up there?" Feng Mountain retorted. He picked up the AK-47, expertly pulled the bolt, checked the chamber for a round, then removed the empty magazine and checked again. After confirming it was clear, he tossed it to Hu Zi.

"Brother Feng, I want... I want this M4. It’s my favorite gun in CS," Black Hide said excitedly, pointing to a modified automatic rifle on the gun rack.

"That’s an AR-15. Let me check it first!" Feng Mountain took down the AR-15, checked the magazine well and chamber in the same manner, then flicked the safety. "Here, take it!"

Cradling the heavy, real guns, Hu Zi and Black Hide giggled like idiots.

’Never thought I’d get to handle real guns on a trip abroad. When I get back, I can show off to those internet cafe aces. So what if you’re good at CS? Have you ever used a real gun?’

"Look at you two fools. Later, I’ll take you out to the Tundra and let you shoot your fill!"

Feng Mountain put his arms around his two buddies’ shoulders and left the gun room.

Back in the living room.

Xiaohua was sitting with Jenny. The two were communicating with hand gestures. It was a bit of a struggle, but they were enjoying themselves.

"Hua’er, quick, take a picture of me!" Hu Zi said smugly, raising the AK-47 and striking a pose like a terrorist from CS.

Xiaohua rolled her eyes at him and went back to her "chat" with Jenny.

"Let’s go outside, I’ll take it for you!" Black Hide said, completely understanding how his buddy felt, because he was just as excited.

The two walked out of the log cabin with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Feng Mountain, feeling a bit uneasy, followed behind them.

They happened to run into Zhang Kai and his group.

The moment he saw the AK-47 and AR-15 in Hu Zi and Black Hide’s hands, the ponytailed Su Ziweng’s eyes lit up. The other two also fixed their gazes on the guns.

Guns!

The three of them had fired guns before, but always under the supervision of a safety officer. Even when hunting, the safety officer was responsible for holding onto the firearms.

They had never experienced anything like this, just holding the guns directly.

"Hey brothers, where are you off to?" Su Ziweng asked, trying to suck up.

"Target practice!" Black Hide said, puffing out his chest for show and proudly lifting his AR-15.

Su Ziweng immediately said ingratiatingly, "My man, count me in."

Uh...

Black Hide looked at Feng Mountain sheepishly. He had only come out to pose for pictures and had just blurted out "target practice" on the spot. What now?

Feng Mountain smiled faintly. His own buddy had spoken up, and it wasn’t like he was short on bullets.

"Nash, go to the gun room and get three more rifles. Bring some ammo, too!"

Besides himself, only Nash knew the password to the gun room in the bedroom.

Feng Mountain trusted Nash completely. Back when they had only met once, Nash had managed to track him to a motel and had even shot someone with an arrow to protect him.

Nash nodded and walked straight into the log cabin.

When he came back out, he had three long guns slung over his shoulder—an AK-47, an HK416, and an M4A1—along with a backpack full of magazines.

’My man, you’re the best!!’

Su Ziweng gave Nash a thumbs-up.

Feng Mountain took the guns and let the three pick for themselves. Once they had chosen, they went straight to the riverbank.

Nash and Yves were in charge of watching Su Ziweng’s group, while Feng Mountain looked after Black Hide and Hu Zi.

Su Ziweng’s group had experience with guns and could speak fluent English, so after a brief chat, they were able to handle the rifles proficiently.

Black Hide and Hu Zi were a bit more trouble, as it was the first time in their lives they had ever held a gun.

They were just like Feng Mountain when he first found the Kar98k—he didn’t even know how to take the safety off to shoot the Thunderbird.

Once they got the hang of it, it was time to start shooting.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

A series of crisp gunshots echoed across the open river beach.

The AR-15 had very little recoil. After a few shots, Hu Zi quickly adapted, independently aiming at a rock on the other side of the Ice River as an imaginary enemy and pulling the trigger.

Black Hide, on the other hand, had more trouble. The AK-47 he’d ended up with had a lot of recoil.

The first time he fired, the kick made his arm go numb and the muzzle jumped wildly. He almost lost his grip on the gun.

"Brother Feng, how come this is so different from CS? In CS, I can empty a whole clip in one go," Black Hide said, rubbing his numb shoulder.

"Nonsense. How can a game be the same as a real gun? You have to control the recoil," Feng Mountain shot him a glare and snatched the AK-47 from his hands.

’The muzzle jumped way up when he just fired. Good thing I was there to push it down. I can’t let Black Hide use this AK-47 anymore. If his hand slips, he could end up mowing down everyone on the riverbank.’ Feng Mountain then turned his head to the side.

"He Jia, swap guns with him! Black Hide can’t handle the AK-47!"

"Sure. This M4A1 is a little boring anyway," He Jia grinned. He readied his M4A1 for the swap—holding it upright with the muzzle pointing to the sky, trigger and magazine facing inward, gripping the body with one hand in a standard, safe handoff procedure.

Feng Mountain handed over the AK-47 in the same safe manner, took the M4A1, and passed it to Black Hide.

"You use this one. The recoil is weaker!"

"Alrighty!"

Black Hide wasn’t picky. As long as he got to shoot, any gun was fine.

By the time they had used up all the bullets in the backpack, the setting sun was appearing over the peak of the snow mountain.

The group, who hadn’t had their fill yet, reluctantly returned the guns to Nash and Yves.

"Brother Feng, when are we going hunting?" Su Ziweng asked.

"Maybe tomorrow. I’ll take you out to get used to the environment first, then we’ll decide how long we’ll stay outdoors," Feng Mountain said after a moment’s thought, laying out the hunting plan. He suddenly looked around and realized Zhang Kai wasn’t there.

"Where’s Brother Kai?"

"Brother Kai is getting old. He needs to catch up on his jet lag!" Su Ziweng chuckled. Beside him, the middle-aged Feng Yang shook his head and laughed.

"Khilla, the food is ready. Jenny is calling you all back to eat," Maria said, having found them by the river.

"Let’s go. We’ll get Brother Kai. This is a welcome dinner for you all."

Feng Mountain called for everyone to return to the log cabin.

The long dining table was now laden with a sumptuous feast.

Pan-fried French cod, smoked whitefish, roasted moose, stewed bear meat, pan-seared reindeer loin, reindeer and potato stew, and dried musk ox jerky.

After being prepared by Jenny, a two-star Michelin chef, every dish was a masterpiece of color, aroma, and flavor.

Xiaohua, Hu Zi, and Black Hide stared at the lavish spread, their eyes wide.

"Everyone, please, sit anywhere. The Crown Territory is a bit desolate, so we don’t have much to offer. It’s all just some game we hunted ourselves. It’s a humble meal, so make do." Feng Mountain’s humble-bragging earned him a round of eye-rolls.

’This is "making do?"’

’Besides the two fish dishes, any of the other plates would land you in jail for years back in China.’

’The stewed bear meat alone would get you up to five years.’

The groggy Zhang Kai saw the feast on the table and was instantly wide awake. He quickly pulled out his phone.

"Don’t eat yet! Wait for me to take pictures. I’ll use them for promotion when I get back!"

He then proceeded to snap photos of every dish, CLICK CLICK CLICK, from all angles. Only after Feng Mountain urged him to stop did Zhang Kai put his phone away, completely satisfied.

"Brother, a spread like this back in China... no one would dare eat it for less than five figures."

"What five figures, never mind that! Everyone, sit!" Feng Mountain feigned annoyance, pulling Zhang Kai into a seat. At the same time, he turned his head to Nash. "Go get the medicinal wine I’ve been brewing."

’He’s daring to drink that stuff again?’

Erica immediately recoiled. The agony of that one night was beyond description.

Yves, David, and the others subconsciously covered their glasses.

This left Su Ziweng and his friends completely bewildered. It was just alcohol. What was there to be afraid of?

...