Li Long jolted at the sound. He immediately dismounted, led Number 76 aside, tied the reins to a tree, then took down his Type 56 Semi-Automatic Rifle and crept deeper into the valley, bent low.
Before he reached the pool, Li Long saw an antlered male roe deer kicking at the water, then lowering its head to search for something and eating whatever it found.
Then the roe deer turned its head and spotted Li Long.
As it froze for a moment, Li Long raised his rifle. But just as he tried to aim, the roe deer turned and ran. He only managed one shot, and saw blood spray from its shoulder-very high up, almost a complete miss. The bullet had probably only passed through some flesh, leaving a light wound.
The roe deer screamed and sped toward the woods beside it. Li Long charged after it.
At that moment, Number 76 had completely slipped his mind. Catching this roe deer was what mattered most!
The roe deer did not run deep into the woods. It bounded uphill along the mountainside, perhaps worried that the dense trees would slow it down. It was not moving very fast. Every time it exerted itself, blood spurted from its shoulder wound and its movements slowed. That was why Li Long dared pursue it-if it had been uninjured, he would have turned around and given up immediately. He could never have caught it.
But whenever he closed the distance and stopped to raise his rifle, the roe deer darted into the trees. Clearly, it was a clever fellow!
With one fleeing and the other pursuing, Li Long soon chased it to the end of the valley. There lay the remains of an extinct volcano, a jumble of rocks without a single blade of grass.