"Let's go take a look." My cousin eventually regained his composure first.

"Y-you, you, you go." My legs were shaking, I couldn't speak properly, and my shotgun had already fallen to the ground.

"Give me the gun." My cousin put down the two dead partridges, picked up the shotgun from the ground, and moved forward cautiously.

Watching my cousin walk farther and farther away, my mood gradually calmed down, but I still didn't have the confidence to follow him forward.

I folded my hands and prayed to the heavens, hoping that I hadn't hit a person.

The sun was setting, and night crept in slowly. The distant lake could only be seen shimmering, and my cousin's figure disappeared into the darkness, becoming completely indiscernible.

Occasionally, there were one or two bird calls of unknown species in the woods, creating a loud noise as the birds rustled through the leaves.

I stood still, bowed my head, and silently recited "Bodhisattva bless me."

Today was a rainy day, and I hadn't expected the sun to come out as evening approached. At this moment, fine raindrops were falling from the sky.

I moved to the side, found a denser tree cover to shelter from the rain, and sat on a haystack, waiting.

It seemed like a long time had passed when my cousin's voice came, "Bro, it's fine. Some unethical person made a scarecrow to pull off a stunt."

I shot my eyes open, leapt up, and grabbed my cousin's hand tightly, "Good thing you're okay, really good."

Then, remembering that this was just my cousin's word, I said, anxiously, "What about the scarecrow, did you bring it over?"

My cousin, seeing my eyes searching all around, helplessly said, "It's so late at night, why would I bring it over, it's bad luck."

After careful consideration, if it really was just a scarecrow, there was no need to bring it over. If it was a real person that I had hit, my cousin wouldn't lie to me about something as serious as that.

But I still found it hard to let go, after all, I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, "Let's go take another look tomorrow."

"What's there to look at? Let me tell you, bro, the closer I got, the more scared I felt, and it wasn't until I got there that I saw it was just a scarecrow, so I kicked that ghost of a scarecrow straight into the lake."

"Kicked it into the lake?" I found it somewhat unbelievable.

My cousin nonchalantly said, "Yeah, it gave me a shock, why keep it."

"It's going to rain tonight, doesn't that mean nothing will be left by tomorrow?" I was a little angry.

"Left what? You don't trust your little brother? Even if it was a real person, it wasn't me who killed him." My cousin retorted.

Hearing my cousin's words, I stood there dumbfounded, unable to speak.

"Let's go, bro." My cousin slung the rifle on his shoulder.

"Y-yeah, let's go back." The rain started to pick up, and upon careful consideration, my cousin really had no reason to lie to me.

As I said this, I started walking forward.

"What about the birds? Bro." We hadn't gone far when my cousin asked.

I turned around, "The birds?"

"The two partridges we shot this afternoon." My cousin said as he turned on the flashlight on his phone and looked around.

"Oh, right, right." I realized and joined in the search.

Luckily, the birds were not far, and my cousin picked them up, "Here they are, let's go."

Watching my cousin walk ahead with the flashlight, he looked like a hunter.

I walked up quickly, grabbed the shotgun, and said, "I'll carry the gun, you lead the way."

He seemed to have thought of something and hesitated, "Little Qiang should've gone home already, right?"

Little Qiang was my neighbor. Actually, three people had come to shoot birds this afternoon, but he had to leave early due to something that came up.

My cousin turned around, "Probably, he left an hour ago, he should be home by now."

I suggested, "Let's give one of the birds to Little Qiang's family when we get back."

My cousin nodded, "We should."