Scarface gave a hurried call, his hunting rifle already loaded and in his hand.

Wax Plum and Jasmine were resting on the ground, wagging their tails, but as soon as they saw their prey passing by, they immediately stood up.

First, they shook their little heads alertly to determine the direction their prey was running. Then, they arched their bodies, pushed off with all four hooves, and like two black arrows, they galloped towards the dense forest to the east.

"Chase!"

The five men picked up their guns and quickly followed Jasmine and Wax Plum.

After running for about ten minutes, I could hear the fierce barking of hunting dogs in the distance.

"Woof woof woof—"

"Woof woof woof woof—"

The sounds were urgent, indicating that the prey had been surrounded.

Sure enough, when Li Xiangdong and the others arrived at the location, they found that Lamei and Moli were surrounding a small sika deer, one in front and one behind.

The deer has a yellowish-brown body with white spots, long limbs, and a well-proportioned and elegant figure.

It has a pair of big, bright eyes, as clear as a mountain spring, and two fluffy antlers on its head, forked in two directions.

It seemed to know it was being watched, its limbs thrashing about, its big eyes filled with panic as it frantically searched for a way to escape.

Scarface twitched his nose excitedly, "Brothers, we've got it! It's a fawn, and there are definitely other deer around here!"

As he spoke, he prepared to fire.

For some reason, when Li Xiangdong met Xiao Lu's big eyes, his heart softened. He quickly stopped Scarface, "Don't shoot!"

"What's wrong?"

Zhou Hongsong was very puzzled by Li Xiangdong's behavior.

"Um, it's so cute, I almost don't have the heart to kill it."

Everyone was both amused and exasperated. Scarface said anxiously, "Xiangdong, these fresh deer antlers with their thorns still on top can fetch a lot of money! Besides, these are second-grade deer antlers, the most tender ones, so they can sell for a high price!"

Li Xiangdong's heart skipped a beat; he really needed a pair of deer antlers. "Scarface, if we capture the little sika deer alive and then cut off its antlers, will it still survive?"

"Uh, yes."

Scarface had never considered this issue. He usually killed his prey as soon as he saw it, and then it was easy to skin and eat the meat.

However, since the biggest sponsor has said so, he has no choice but to comply.

The group quickly discussed their plan. Scarface, He Chaochao, Li Xiangdong, and Li Guoqing each took charge of one side, leading their hunting dogs to continuously close in and tighten the encirclement.

As the crowd drew ever closer, the fawn seemed to sense the approaching danger. Its cries grew even more mournful, and it attempted to break through from what appeared to be the weakest side—the west side, which was under Li Guoqing's command.

As the saying goes, even a rabbit will bite when cornered, and a deer will jump even higher when pushed to the limit.

With a burst of strength, the fawn leaped through the gap beside Li Guoqing. Just as it was about to gain its freedom after passing Li Guoqing and Scarface, a noose suddenly fell from the sky!

After Zhou Hongsong lassoed the little sika deer's neck, he quickly tightened the rope in his hand.

"Yo yo oh—yo yo oh—"

Seeing the fawn struggling despite being restrained, Zhou Hongsong first took out a knife from his bag and quickly cut off a pair of antlers.

"Pfft—"

Blood flowed from the broken antler, and the baby sika deer convulsed in pain.

At this stage, the antler contains abundant blood vessels and nerves, and the deer will feel great pain when the antler is cut.

Li Xiangdong had been waiting nearby with a bag in hand. As soon as the deer antler was removed, he immediately took out a handful of wood ash from the bag and sprinkled it on the wound of the deer antler.

Wood ash is the ash from firewood and withered grass used for cooking at home; it can be used for disinfection and sterilization.

After sprinkling the wood ash, Li Xiangdong sprinkled another layer of the pain-relieving powder that Doctor Gu had specially prepared for him.

Only when the baby sika deer's convulsions were no longer too severe did Zhou Hongsong loosen his grip on the rope.

The fawn slowly stood up, then shook its head, which suddenly felt lighter, and wobbled out of the noose.

It let out a few more mournful cries before slowly walking into the woods.

Li Xiangdong examined the pair of two-bar deer antlers in his hand closely. They were pinkish in color and covered with fine downy hairs. If you looked closely, you could even see blood vessels.

After putting the deer antlers into their backpacks, the group hurried back to where they had planned to stay.

The most disappointed were Wax Plum and Jasmine. The two dogs thought they could have a good meal after catching their prey, but their owner just gave it a haircut and let it go!

Li Xiangdong watched with amusement as the two dogs walked back with their tails drooping. Once they were back at their lodgings, he took out two pieces of dried meat from his backpack and fed them.

The dog was finally happy to get some meat and started running and playing in the nearby snow again.

Several people sat on the soft pine needles, took out steamed buns and dried meat from their bags, and slowly began to eat.

Eating cold, hard steamed buns with meat in this chilly weather is really hard to swallow and makes my stomach feel uncomfortable.

Zhou Hongsong took out a green military water bottle from his bag, opened the lid and took a sip, then handed it to Li Xiangdong, saying, "Have a sip of Erguotou to warm your insides!"

Li Xiangdong took the bottle and downed it in one gulp. The liquor went down his throat; it was spicy, stimulating, and powerful!

As the drink slid down my esophagus into my stomach, it suddenly felt even spicier.

After a short while, my limbs and bones warmed up.

Scarface, He Chaochao, and Li Guoqing each took a sip of baijiu. When the kettle was returned to Zhou Hongsong's hand, he shook it and found that only half of it remained.

After finishing their meal and resting for a while, the group got up and searched the vicinity for traces of the sika deer.

But after wandering around for a long time, they didn't see a single deer hair, nor could they find any deer footprints on the snow.

Scarface sighed in disappointment, "What bad luck today, I only got a pair of deer antlers cut off!"

He was a little afraid to look at Li Xiangdong, feeling both sorry for him and afraid that he would go back on his promise today.

Li Xiangdong immediately saw through his intentions.

"Scarface, don't we have deer antlers? That's good enough!"

We have to get back to the cabin in the woods tonight; if we sleep outside in this weather, one or two of us could freeze to death!

So, the group walked back with heavy, cold legs.

On the way back, they had some success; they killed three gray wild rabbits. Except for one that was rather thin, the other two were quite plump.

Li Guoqing happily arranged for the wild rabbit's fate, "I brought dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns. Tonight, I'll make a dry-fried rabbit, roast a rabbit, and then make a braised rabbit!"

These words made everyone's mouths water.

Zhou Hongsong tied the wild rabbit with a rope and hung it on his hunting rifle. He urged, "Let's go! I didn't feel this hungry before, but Guoqing's words have made my mouth water!"