He tracked it for nearly another ten minutes.
The sun had reached its zenith, but only a few mottled spots of sunlight made it through the dense conifer forest to the snow, offering no warmth at all.
Su Wei had used up a great deal of energy. Tiny beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, and the white vapor of his breath grew thicker.
He stopped for a drink of water, took out a piece of beef jerky, and tore off half to toss to Cotton Candy. He quickly chewed the rest to replenish his strength.
But whenever he thought of his 160,000-dollar debt, Su Wei couldn't give up.
Nor could he afford to give up.
This was one of the few chances he had.
After resting for less than five minutes, he got up again.
This time, he noticed that the deer's tracks were deeper and more irregular.
The marks its hooves dragged through the snow were growing longer, and the distance between the two sets of tracks was growing shorter.
It was nearing its limit.
Su Wei's spirits lifted, and he quickened his pace.
They crossed a gentle, rock-strewn slope, and the trees ahead suddenly grew sparse.
The mountain wind blew straight at them, cutting into his face like a knife.
Cotton Candy suddenly stopped.
Cotton Candy's body was half-crouched, white fur bristling slightly, blue eyes fixed on a hollow a hundred meters ahead.
Su Wei stopped at once and followed Cotton Candy's gaze.
It was a hollow sheltered from the wind by several large rocks and a thicket of shrubs.
A grayish-brown figure was huddled beneath a snow-covered black rock.
It was the black-tailed deer.
It lay in the snow, its belly and hind legs stained dark brown with blood.
Its chest heaved violently, and each breath sent out a great cloud of white vapor. It looked to be in pain.
It seemed to notice Su Wei and struggled to raise its head.
Its beautiful eyes had lost their luster, leaving only weariness and sorrow.
It looked at Su Wei and did not run again.
It had no strength left.
Even if Su Wei hadn't come, it could only have waited there for death.
Su Wei slowly took the Browning rifle from his chest, opened the bolt, and checked the chamber.
His movements were slow and steady.
This time, he felt neither nervous nor excited. His heart was calm.
This was no longer a hunt.
This was an ending.
To bring it to an end.
Chapter 19: The law of the jungle: Completing the first kill and opening a new chapter in hunting
He walked up to the black-tailed deer and leaned the rifle against a nearby rock.
The hollow was quiet, broken only by the deer's heavy, painful breathing.
It was still alive, but its life was slipping away.
Without hesitation, Su Wei drew the sharp hunting knife from the sheath at his side.
He crouched down and pressed one hand against the deer's neck, feeling the faint tremors of the muscles beneath its hide.
He aimed the tip of the knife at the black-tailed deer's heart and drove it in with a clean, decisive thrust.
Pfft.
He clearly felt the blade sink into flesh, though it made almost no sound.
The black-tailed deer's body stiffened sharply, then went completely limp.
The light in its eyes went out completely.
Su Wei pulled out the hunting knife, wiped the blood from it on the deer's hide, and returned it to its sheath.
Throughout the entire process, there was not a single wasted motion.
Precise and efficient.
This was the greatest respect he could show at the end of the black-tailed deer's life.
At the very instant its life ended, an icy mechanical voice rang out in his mind.
[Ding!] [Host has completed his first independent kill. Hunting activity recorded.] [Hunting Module officially activated!]
A brand-new panel with a rugged industrial style unfolded before Su Wei's eyes.
[Hunting Module LV1 (0/100)] [Active effect: Tracking Assistance. When activated, it highlights traces of a specific target within three meters, including footprints, hair, and bloodstains. Only one quarry can be tracked at a time; traces of others will not be displayed.] [Passive effect: Ballistic Trajectory. When firing, automatically displays the bullet's trajectory within 80 meters. (Note: This effect is only an aid and cannot replace the host's own shooting skills.)]
It worked!
The Hunting Module really is different. It has two such powerful effects at level one!
Tracking Assistance and Ballistic Trajectory!
Both effects are extremely powerful!
Tracking Assistance could help him find traces of prey in dense forests with complicated terrain.
As for Ballistic Trajectory, that went without saying.
If he had obtained it earlier, he presumably wouldn't have made the huge mistake of hitting the black-tailed deer in the hind leg.
Su Wei clenched his fist and forced himself to calm down.
With this module, he finally had the means to establish himself in these mountains, where danger lurked on all sides!
He opened his eyes, and his gaze returned to the black-tailed deer in the snow.
This adult doe was fairly large, weighing at least 150 pounds by his estimate.
After removing the organs, hide, and bones, it would yield at least sixty or seventy pounds of pure meat.
In Kodiak Town, venison of decent quality could sell for more than fifteen dollars a pound.
The meat alone would bring in over a thousand dollars.
On top of that, an intact deer hide could sell for at least a few hundred dollars.
The main issue was that he had forgotten the ammunition he used was a bit too large in caliber.
That had left a relatively large hole.
Even if he later skinned it intact, it would still be worth less than a perfect deer hide.
Besides, black-tailed deer were one of the most commonly marketed deer species in North America.
Their hides weren't as valuable as one might imagine.
The venison, on the other hand, was a different story.
Not counting the devil's claw he had dug up earlier, this deer alone was worth close to a little over a thousand dollars.
He was another step closer to paying off his enormous debt!
He glanced at the sky. The sun had already begun to sink in the west, and he had to hurry.
The smell of blood would travel far through these snowy mountains, drawing every ravenous predator to it, including apex predators like brown bears.
There was no way he could drag a whole deer weighing over a hundred jin back to camp by himself.
The only option was to process it on the spot and carry it away in batches.
He placed the Browning rifle within easy reach, then drew his hunting knife again.
The slaughterhouse deep in the mountains was open for business.
The knowledge that belonged to the body's original owner surged into Su Wei's mind like instinct, and his hands had already begun to move.
Bleeding.
This step was best carried out within five minutes of the kill.
He dragged the deer into position on the hollow's gentle slope, placing its head lower than its body.
With the sharp tip of the knife, he carefully made a small incision just behind the end of the deer's breastbone.