Du Jianshan immediately squatted down, signaling Xiao Weizi to lie down.

Through the mist, a golden-spotted leopard could be seen slowly emerging from about ten feet ahead, its steps light and its muscles taut. Its tail swayed gently, and its expression was alert.

"Good heavens," Xiao Weizi swallowed hard, "this leopard is bigger than a bear."

Du Jianshan lowered his voice: "Don't move. It hasn't seen us; it's still patrolling the mountain."

The leopard stopped, sniffed the air a few times, and suddenly its eyes narrowed—it was looking right in their direction.

"Oh no, it smelled it!" Xiao Weizi's voice was almost a whisper.

Du Jianshan remained motionless and said softly, "Don't panic. A leopard's eyes aren't as sharp as its nose. It's testing the waters."

Before the words were even finished, the leopard suddenly let out a low growl, its body tensed, and it leaped up into the tree branch. Its figure flashed among the branches and leaves and disappeared!

Xiao Weizi's eyes widened: "It climbed a tree! Bro, it...it's gone!"

Du Jianshan said in a deep voice, "They've taken a liking to us."

"What? It wants to ambush me?"

"Leopards prefer to hunt from high places. It's probably hiding in that birch tree to your right."

Xiao Wei was so frightened he trembled: "Then...what should we do?"

"You have to lead it down to the ground."

"ah?!"

"Stop talking nonsense, grab a piece of dry firewood and wave it around in the grass over there. Don't stray too far from me."

Xiao Weizi looked distressed, but dared not disobey. He picked up a dry branch, took a few steps toward the grass on his right, and waved it with trembling hands.

"Hey—hey—" he called out twice, praying silently in his heart: God help me, please don't actually come down.

Suddenly—the shadow of the tree flickered!

A golden shadow swooped down from above, accompanied by a whistling sound as it cut through the air!

"Brother—!" Xiao Weizi screamed in terror.

"Get down!" Du Jianshan shouted angrily.

He had already aimed at the branch and pulled the trigger—

"Bang!"

Gunshots echoed through the forest, and as the smoke cleared, the leopard roared and tumbled to the ground.

But it was only startled, not hit by a bullet. In the blink of an eye, it flipped over and leaped up, charging straight at Du Jianshan!

Du Jianshan reacted extremely quickly, rolling over and using the butt of his rifle to block. With a "crack," the leopard's claws left a deep gash. The force almost knocked his arm off his body.

Seeing this, Xiao Weizi suddenly rushed from the side and back, stabbing the leopard in the ribs with his fork!

"Ah—!" the leopard howled in agony, lashing out with its claws and snapping the fork in two. Little Wei was thrown out, fork and all.

Taking advantage of the moment, Du Jianshan slashed open the leopard's belly with a single stroke, causing blood to gush out and filling the air with a stench.

The leopard roared and pounced a few times, but finally exhausted, it collapsed to the ground.

Xiao Weizi clutched his arm, panting heavily: "Damn it, this beast is even more vicious than a wild boar."

Du Jianshan sat on the ground, his breathing steady: "Leopards are clever, tigers are fierce. To have encountered both, one can be considered to have seen the world."

He wiped the blood from his face and looked at the fallen leopard. Its fur shimmered in the sunlight, its texture breathtakingly beautiful.

Xiao Wei couldn't help but mutter, "This leather... it must be worth a lot of money, right?"

Du Jianshan smiled faintly: "A leopard skin is not the same as a tiger skin. Even if you take it out, you have to keep your head down. Mountains have spirits, and things have owners. You must be respectful and not greedy."

"Yes, yes." Xiao Wei scratched his head, thinking to himself that his brother Du was really a strange person. He could exchange half a village's worth of food for the hunting he hunted in a year, but he didn't even keep a single piece of fur.

Du Jianshan stood up, carefully peeled off the leopard skin, and covered the bloodstains with grass. He then piled up a small mound of earth on the ground and said softly, "Among the beasts of the mountains, hunters are compassionate. If it is in heaven, it shouldn't blame us for being ruthless."

Seeing him like this, Xiao Wei felt a sense of respect for him.

“Brother,” he hesitated for a moment, “why are you always so particular? We are mountain hunters, we will starve to death if we don’t hunt them.”

Du Jianshan smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "Hunting is for survival, not for killing. If you don't have respect in your heart, you'll have to pay the price for this mountain sooner or later."