Disappointingly, there were no animals worth shooting by the pools.
Well, there was one. As they crept over, a fox heard them first, sprang up from beside the pool, and dashed into the woods nearby. All four had their guns raised, but none fired.
Li Long thought it wasn't worth shooting, while the other three simply hadn't reacted in time.
As they approached the pools, Li Long lined up alongside the three and told them not to swing their guns around, to keep them angled toward the ground, and to make sure nobody was in their field of fire even when preparing to aim and shoot.
All three listened obediently, and they seemed to have received training in this, because they understood as soon as Li Long explained.
But the valley was narrow, and there was water too. With four people spread out, someone inevitably had to get close to the bushes and woods and make some noise.
The fox hadn't been soaking in the hot springs. It had been searching for something nearby and eating, and had fled after hearing them beforehand.
"I... spotted it too late," Yang Chen said, a little embarrassed. "There was too much mist. I couldn't see clearly."
"My glasses fogged up," Xie Ruifeng also offered in his defense. "Besides, I was afraid a burst would blow that fox to pieces."
"You can switch yours to single shots," Qi Jingyue reminded him. "I didn't see it clearly."
"Come on, let's take a closer look." Carrying his gun, Li Long walked over to the pools.
The ground was smeared with blood, with scraps of hide and flesh scattered about. Some red in the water at the pool's edge was slowly washing away too.
"Something was eaten here," Li Long said, pointing at the ground.
"I noticed