Tie Niu immediately fell silent, sniffed, and whispered, "It really is. It was with the wind just now, but now it's sideways. Is there something on the other side of the ridge?"
Du Jianshan didn't answer. He slowly squatted down, wiped his fingers on the snow, and then brought them to his nose to smell: "It's not fresh snow. It's been compacted underneath. The hoofprints are quite large, and the steps are small. It looks like a roe deer, or maybe a muntjac."
"Then what do we do?" Tie Niu's eyes lit up. "Should we chase them?"
"Chase my ass." Du Jianshan rolled his eyes at him. "Do you think this is a market? If the wind changes and we go any further, the smell will all be carried over. Let's go around."
"Go around to Old Wang's place?" Tie Niu asked in a low voice.
"Hmm." Du Jianshan nodded. "If it's a roe deer, it will probably follow the ditch, and the ditch mouth is right where the snare is."
Tie Niu grinned: "That saves us trouble. If Old Wang wins again this time, I'll have to treat him to drinks."
“He can’t drink much,” Du Jianshan said softly. “Last time I gave him half a jin, and he fell asleep after just two sips.”
The two walked one after the other, close to the edge of the woods. Tie Niu's footsteps were a bit too heavy in the snow, and with a crunch, he startled himself.
"Are you greased?" Du Jianshan muttered under his breath, "You walk like a millstone."
"These boots are stiff," Tie Niu complained. "I'll change to felt ones when we get back."
"Go back? Let's get back alive first."
Halfway up the mountain, Du Jianshan suddenly stopped and raised his gun to his chest.
Tie Niu leaned closer: "What's wrong?"
"Listen." Du Jianshan closed his eyes.
The woods were quiet for a while, then suddenly there was a "crack" sound, like a dead branch being broken.
Tie Niu's throat tightened: "On the left."
"Don't rush," Du Jianshan slowly turned to the side, "They're not coming for us."
"What's that?"
"We're in a hurry," Du Jianshan said in a low voice, "We're being chased by something."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a series of rapid flapping sounds came from the woods, and a gray shadow darted out, heading straight for the ditch.
"A roe deer!" Tie Niu almost shouted.
"Shut up!" Du Jianshan grabbed him and said, "Look ahead."
The gray shadow rushed to the mouth of the ditch, suddenly stopped, and the next moment, with a muffled "thud", snowflakes flew everywhere.
Tie Niu's eyes widened: "I won!"
Du Jianshan didn't move: "Don't rush, there's more."
Sure enough, there was another commotion in the woods. A larger shadow swayed, then stopped at the edge, sniffed, and turned to disappear back into the woods.
Tie Niu breathed a sigh of relief: "That almost scared me to death! What was that?"
“A black bear,” Du Jianshan said in a low voice, “not very big, probably only came out of its nest last year.”
Why doesn't it go and steal the deer?
"I can smell the iron." Du Jianshan sneered. "Old Wang's sheath has pine resin and ash mixed in with the steel wire; it has a pungent smell."
The two waited for a while, making sure the woods were quiet, before slowly descending into the ditch.
The roe deer, with a noose around its neck, struggled, leaving a mess on the snow, its eyes wide open.
Tie Niu felt a little sorry for it: "This thing looks rather pitiful."
"Pity?" Du Jianshan squatted down. "When you're hungry in winter, doesn't it pity you?"
Tie Niu fell silent.
After finishing, Tie Niu wiped his sweat and said, "This time, we really owe it to Old Wang."
“Take one of his legs and leave him later,” Du Jianshan said. “That’s the rule.”
“Absolutely.” Tie Niu nodded. “If I don’t, even my dad will scold me.”
The two carried their prey back, as dusk fell and the mountain wind picked up again.
Tie Niu suddenly said, "Brother Jian Shan, do you think we're destined to spend our lives stuck with this mountain?"
Du Jianshan was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "Whether it takes or not, the mountain is here. It won't leave even if you don't come."
Tie Niu chuckled, "That's true."
A long, drawn-out crow call came from the woods ahead.
Du Jianshan looked up at the sky: "It's going to snow, let's hurry."
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