The ravine looked quite narrow from outside, but once inside, Li Long found it grew wider the farther he went, and it was fairly flat too. He wondered whether the deceptive entrance had made people heading into the mountains think it was narrow inside, so they had never come in.
There were indeed signs of trampling and grazing in the grass. Farther in, there was a patch of pellet droppings too, though he had no idea whether wild mountain goats or some other animal had left them.
Li Long stepped on them and found they were still quite soft. They had not been there long.
He carried his rifle farther in. With the tall grass and bushes, he could not tell how long the ravine was.
As he continued, he seemed to reach its widest point. The bottom formed a shallow curve, with thirty or forty meters between the slopes rising on either side. There was no stream, making it a decent pasture.
There were no signs of cattle or sheep grazing, nor of anyone cutting hay, so the grass grew tall and untidy, dry stalks mixed with green blades.
Li Long spotted tangled codonopsis growing on the flat ground, but little fritillaria. Perhaps the environment did not suit it, or perhaps people had dug it all up before.
He searched very slowly, afraid of missing anything. But as he continued toward where the ravine narrowed ahead, he still found nothing.
What Li Long did not see was a red deer on the ridge ahead, anxiously looking down toward a spot diagonally in front of him.
Li Long kept walking. He seemed to catch a faint rank smell, accompanied by the scent of blood.
What was going on?
Li Long looked around but could not find the source.
But it