The next day, the fourth day of the lunar month.

Early in the morning, just as dawn was breaking, I got up more than an hour earlier than the alarm clock.

I didn't have time to put on my clothes properly. I threw on my clothes and hurried out.

In contrast to the location of the shooting last night, I hurried to the lake where it happened.

It rained all night last night, and the lake level was slightly higher than usual. The water was glistening and it seemed endless.

The soil by the lake was muddy, and the grass was tangled.

I walked around nearly half of the lake several times, but didn't find any traces.

It's no wonder, even if there were any traces, they would have already been washed away. Even a straw man floating on the lake wouldn't have known where it ended up.

Tired from walking, I found a rock to sit on, and surveyed the area. The lake extended as far as the eye could see, and the forest seemed endless too.

My heart was completely lost.

...

Walking on my way back home in a daze, the people I glimpsed out of the corner of my eye all seemed like scarecrows.

"Bro, where have you been?" My cousin's voice sounded, and before I knew it, I had reached the door.

"Nothing, just out for a morning run." I instinctively replied.

"Didn't hear that you had a habit of morning runs when you came back." My cousin laughed.

Before I could answer, my cousin said, "Never mind that. Look at the birds I caught yesterday."

As he said this, he held up a quail that had been plucked and cleaned. The bullet wound was still obvious in its chest, this was what I shot last night.

"We can eat it at home, why did you bring it here?"

"Didn't we agree to go back today when we talked about it last night, this one's for you." My expression was complicated as I spoke, and I looked at my smiling cousin, pulling him into the courtyard and placing two chairs under the locust tree.

"Sit."

"Let me put the bird down first." My cousin tried to get up.

I held him down and made him sit on the chair. "We'll talk about the bird later. Tell me, did you shoot someone last night?"

My cousin's smile faded, and he said seriously, "I swear, I absolutely did not."

I was slightly relieved. "Good, as long as you didn't."

Pausing, I added, "The matter is already in the past."

My cousin's smile returned. "It's in the past, don't mention it again. By the way, let's go bird hunting this afternoon. With this weather, it might rain heavily in the evening. One bird won't be enough to feed us."

I said seriously, "No more hunting. We were lucky this time, but luck won't always be on our side."

"Yesterday was just a joke, who knew your marksmanship would suddenly be so good. The two birds yesterday were both shot by me."

"There will be no talk of using guns in the future, if you want to shoot, use a slingshot."

"You can't hunt with a slingshot."

"If you can't then don't shoot at all."

Seeing me insist, my cousin no longer spoke about bird hunting. "Then lend me the gun to play with, I won't shoot birds, just some fruit."

"Can we eat the fruit?"

"To practice marksmanship."

"If you want to borrow the gun, fine, it's buried in the soil, dig it out yourself." I pointed to the ground in front of me.

"Then forget it if you don’t want to lend it." My cousin rolled his eyes and said quietly.

"Get out, don't borrow it." I impatiently got up and pushed my cousin out of the courtyard.

"Xiao Qiang left today, right?" I suddenly remembered.

"He left, I passed by their house and the door was locked, the whole family had left."

"Once they've left, they've left."

"Bro, this, bird, it's for you." I took the bird that my cousin handed to me and waved, urging him out of the courtyard.