The group returned to the cabin and worked together to prepare dinner.

Some people went to gather firewood, some hunted wild rabbits, and some went to the spring to fetch water.

Li Guoqing chopped the prepared rabbit meat into small pieces and soaked it in the cool spring water. Then he began to prepare seasonings such as Sichuan peppercorns, dried chili peppers, and oil.

Zhou Hongsong cleaned up the rabbit skin and buried the bloody soil in the ground to prevent the smell of blood from attracting large wild animals while everyone was sleeping at night.

Because there weren't enough iron pots, we could only stir-fry the rabbit meat first, then braise it. As for roasting the rabbit, we could only roast it over a fire outside the hut.

"Second brother, use a low flame, turn it frequently, and remember to brush on the oil!"

Li Guoqing scooped out a piece of lard from a small bottle he had brought and handed it to Li Xiangdong, then scooped out another spoonful and put it into the hot iron pot.

"Sizzle—"

Heat oil in a wok, add plenty of Sichuan peppercorns and dried chilies and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the rabbit meat chopped into small pieces and stir-fry!

In no time, a large pot of fragrant, spicy, and numbing stir-fried rabbit meat was ready.

Next up is braised rabbit.

The method is no different from making braised pork or braised fish, so it's something Li Guoqing is very familiar with.

outside.

Li Xiangdong and Scarface made a frame out of some thick, dry branches, then threaded a pine branch through the rabbit's body and placed it over the fire to roast slowly.

Every now and then, use a small brush made of pine needles to brush on the oil and flip it over.

Li Xiangdong said to Scarface with a hint of regret, "Actually, we should have applied some honey. That would have made the skin of the roasted pork more beautiful in color and crispier!"

Scarface looked around, then pointed behind the hut. "That's a linden tree. I'll go see if there's any linden honey!"

If you're lucky, you might even find a large wild beehive in the linden tree.

Li Xiangdong stopped him, "Scarface, it's getting dark. Don't go by yourself. It would be terrible if there was any danger!"

He came to relax, not to kill anyone.

There are bears on the dam, and now the bears, which have just woken up from hibernation, are searching for food everywhere.

Honey is a bear's favorite food!

Scarface said every day, "Okay! Let's grill it like this, it smells really good."

...

Tonight's dinner was especially plentiful: stir-fried rabbit, braised rabbit, whole roasted rabbit, mashed potatoes, flatbread, and vegetable soup.

The men ate heartily, their mouths greasy with oil.

After eating the hearts, livers, spleens, lungs, and kidneys of the three rabbits, Wax Plum and Jasmine shook their heads, wanting to eat the rabbit meat on the table.

Li Xiangdong fed the two dogs a few pieces of braised rabbit meat with bones in it, and only then did Lamei and Moli run to the campfire to rest, satisfied.

After trekking through the snow for two days, everyone slept very soundly, falling asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

Li Xiangdong was awakened by a gentle knock on the door.

To be precise, he was in a state of needing to urinate, and in his half-awake state, he heard something gently knocking on the door.

Almost instantly, Li Xiangdong came to his senses. Goosebumps rose all over his body. My God!

In the dead of night, deep in the mountains, who is knocking on the door?

Are there other people besides the five of them?

Li Xiangdong rubbed his eyes to make sure the other four people were asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed), snoring with varying snoring.

It definitely wasn't one of our own people who went out.

Did we run into something?

However, Chairman Mao stipulated that no beings were allowed to become spirits after the founding of the People's Republic of China!

Li Xiangdong was lost in thought for a moment, but his hands moved quickly; he had already taken his 56.5 in his hand.

He knew he couldn't do it alone, so he quietly nudged Zhou Hongsong, who was beside him, to wake up.

Zhou Hongsong opened his sleepy eyes and was about to ask Li Xiangdong what he was going to do when Li Xiangdong covered his mouth halfway open.

As his brother's handsome face drew closer, Zhou Hongsong's heart suddenly started racing. Well, bro, I'm straight...

"Fifth Brother, listen! There's a knock at the door..."

Li Xiangdong leaned close to Zhou Hongsong's ear and quickly explained the current situation.

"What?"

Zhou Hongsong's mind immediately went to work. He quickly got up, grabbed the hunting rifle hanging on the wall, loaded it with bullets, and cocked it.

The two exchanged a glance and walked very quietly to the door.

Zhou Hongsong stood at the doorway, his index finger poised to hook down at any moment.

Li Xiangdong suddenly opened the door, but Zhou Hongsong was stunned for a moment.

The moon is very big and round tonight, and its soft light, like a light veil, envelops everything on earth.

A very handsome and robust male sika deer with a pair of large antlers on its head was standing in front of the gate.

The rhythmic, clear knocking sound we just heard must have been the sound of the stag gently tapping the wooden door with its antlers.

Although Zhou Hongsong did not fire a shot, he remained on guard.

Seeing that he hadn't fired, Li Xiangdong also looked over.

"Oh--"

He gasped.

Under the moonlight, the stag stands on the white snow, as handsome as a god from heaven.

As Yu Guangzhong once said, "Among the moonlight and the snow, you are the third kind of unparalleled beauty."

This is the only line of poetry Li Xiangdong can use to describe his feelings at this moment.

However, he soon realized the problem.

Right next to the male sika deer, which had retreated more than ten meters, was a fawn that had just had its head shaved that day!

It’s over!

They've come here seeking revenge!

However, isn't it a bit like it's offering itself up to the hunter by leading so many of its people to seek revenge?

The baby sika deer made two "yoyo" sounds, and the male sika deer also made a low call towards Li Xiangdong. Then it slowly began to walk into the depths of the forest.

He took a few steps and then looked back, always in the direction of Li Xiangdong.

Now Li Xiangdong was confused again. Was he trying to lure the enemy in alone and trick him into a trap?

Zhou Hongsong said to Li Xiangdong, "Let's go! Even if there's a black bear waiting for us over there, we'll have to think twice."

So the two followed the stag into the woods.

The stag walked faster and faster, but it would stop and wait for the fawn whenever it was pulled down.

The snow underfoot reflected the moonlight, making the woods brighter than ever before.

Finally, the sika deer stopped in a valley.

It looked up at the round moon in the sky and cried out a few times, then kept banging its antlers against a birch tree next to it.

A short while later, one of the antlers fell off.

It stopped and paused for a moment, then started bumping into the other side of the antlers.

Finally, both antlers fell off.

The sika deer nodded its head to Li Xiangdong, then to the antlers on the ground, before walking to a hollow in the hillside and calling out gracefully a few times.

"What... what is this?"

Although Zhou Hongsong is a skilled hunter, he lacks sufficient experience in this kind of activity.

Li Xiangdong, gun at the ready, ordered, "Go check it out!"

This discovery was quite significant; Li Xiangdong found deer antlers resembling small hills in the valley…