“Don’t be careless,” Du Jianshan suddenly whispered. “This forest is at the foot of an old mountain, and there are quite a few fox dens.”
"Foxes?" Wang Tieniu became alert. "Really?"
“I saw one here last year, gray-furred and quite fat.” Du Jianshan lowered his voice. “If you really catch one, its pelt can fetch a lot of money in town. But foxes are very cunning and not easy to catch.”
Li San'er leaned closer: "How about we stay put for now? We can set up a few traps here and come back to collect them tomorrow?"
Du Jianshan shook his head: "The timing is wrong. The traps are set at night. If you set them during the day, birds will step into them in no time, which would be a waste. Today we'll rely on our eyesight and strength."
"There's movement ahead!" Wang Tieniu suddenly exclaimed, pointing ahead.
Just a few dozen steps away, a red shadow flashed past through the gap in the woods at an extremely fast speed.
"Fox!" Li San'er whispered.
Without saying a word, Du Jianshan shrugged, rested the butt of his rifle on his shoulder, half-kneeled, pointed the muzzle, and another burst of fire erupted!
But this time, there was only a muffled "snap" sound, followed by a buzzing vibration in my ears.
"Missed it!" Wang Tieniu shouted.
“It hid.” Du Jianshan said calmly, putting down his gun. “The fox isn’t that stupid; it was just peeking out to test the waters.”
Li San'er frowned: "And now?"
"Stay still," Du Jianshan said in a low voice. "It's watching us from behind the grass over there. If we move another step, it'll have to burrow into its hole."
"Should I go around it?" Wang Tieniu asked through gritted teeth in a low voice.
"As long as you don't step on the branches, it'll be fine." Du Jianshan nodded. "Wait, don't rush, I'll attract its attention."
He drew the short knife from his waist and gently scraped the ground, slowly moving forward as he did so.
Wang Tieniu carefully circled around to the other end of the patch of grass. Sunlight fell on his face, which was already covered in sweat.
"Almost there, just one more foot," Du Jianshan whispered. "It's behind that fallen log!"
"I see the tail!" Wang Tieniu lowered his voice and rushed forward.
With a "whoosh!" sound, the grass swayed and Wang Tieniu lunged forward, grabbing the red figure tightly with both hands. Instantly, with a "rip," his sleeve was torn open.
"Damn it!" He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, and refused to let go. "Gotcha!"
Du Jianshan strode forward and struck the fox on the back of the head with the hilt of his knife, and the fox immediately stopped moving.
Li San'er, panting, leaned closer and exclaimed, "This...this really is Big Red Hair! It's so fat!"
Du Jianshan nodded, glanced at Wang Tieniu's arm, and said, "It's a pretty bad cut. I'll put some medicine on it for you when we get back to the village."
"It's alright." Wang Tieniu grinned. "I got my money's worth from this fox!"
"Today's trip has been a mixed bag." Du Jianshan wrapped the fox pelt in burlap. "Let's go back to the woods at the mountain pass and see if there are any pheasants. Let's wrap this up quickly, it's almost sunset."
"Okay, I'll do as you say."
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