It was because of that deer's braying that almost all the deer stopped licking the salt and began looking around.
Some of the sika deer, out of habit, began to hop and leap, wanting to distance themselves from that particular deer.
However, this hopping proved to be a mistake. Aside from the deer that had already stepped into a foot-trap, several of the leaping deer soon stepped into them as well.
Then, the entire herd became even more chaotic; almost every deer was left at a loss.
The foot-traps set by Wang An and the other three were not fixed to the ground but were mobile. The most bastardly thing about these traps, however, was that they had nails on them.
Once the two "doors" of the trap clamped onto a deer's fetlock, if the deer tried to pull its hoof out, the nails would drive diagonally into the fetlock, sinking deeper and deeper until the short nails were fully embedded in the flesh.
In other words, as long as a hoof stepped into a trap, the trap would stay clamped on and wouldn't come off. The deer could still walk, but doing so became extremely difficult.
As more and more deer ended up wearing these traps, the herd finally realized something was wrong.
To be fair, deer are very intelligent animals. After the initial chaos, the massive buck actually took the lead and began heading back the way they had come.
Clearly, this buck had realized that returning by the original path was the safest option.
Just then, Feng Chengmin suddenly said to Wang An and the other two
"Quick, open fire. Block the path."
In this situation, if they let the deer escape back through the gap, it would be truly bastardly.
Hearing this, Wang An and the other two instinctively pulled their triggers.
Four Type 56 semi-automatics opened fire simultaneously. For a moment, the air was filled with the roar of gunfire, and bullets rained down in front of the great buck. Terrified, the buck immediately turned around and headed in the opposite direction.
The already panicked herd, hearing the gunfire, completely lost it. Whether they had stepped into traps or not, they all followed the great buck away from the sound of the guns, fleeing toward the northeast.
What the deer didn't know was that the northeast direction was where the foot-traps were most densely concentrated.
Consequently, whether they had been trapped before or not, they all fell victim again.
Deer that had previously stepped into one trap now stepped into another one or two, while those that had avoided them before finally stepped into some.
Of course, the great buck was no exception; his right front leg and left hind leg each dragged out a foot-trap from the soil.
There was no helping it; the traps were simply too dense, and each one was camouflaged. It was impossible to avoid them.
It was evident that all the trapped sika deer were violently shaking their legs, trying to fling the traps off their hooves.
Unfortunately, because of the nails, the harder they shook, the deeper the nails sank, until the nails were completely buried in the deer's fetlocks.
To put it bluntly, humans are truly malicious creatures. One wondered who had invented these foot-traps, but Wang An had certainly mastered the knack of using them.
Seeing this scene, Wang An laughed loudly with excitement
"See that? My method is the most effective! I don't believe for a second that these deer can get away, hahahaha!"
Feng Chengmin also said with a smile
"This method is indeed badass. It looks like all forty-odd deer have stepped into traps, hahahaha!"
Hearing this, Mu Xueli said excitedly
"I checked; there are 41 deer in total, including the young ones. One breeding buck, 17 does with fawns, and of the remaining six, three are adolescent bucks and three are does."
After Mu Xueli finished speaking, Feng Chengmin, Wang An, and Wang Li all looked at her with expressions full of surprise.
Mainly because, at a distance of over 300 meters, the sika deer looked about the size of little chicks or ducklings. Mu Xueli's observation was truly meticulous.
It wasn't that Feng Chengmin, Wang An, and Wang Li couldn't tell the difference; it was just that none of them had taken such details seriously.
Noticing their gazes, Mu Xueli asked in surprise
"Why are you all looking at me like that? What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"
Feng Chengmin shook his head and said with a chuckle
"Your eyes are truly sharp, hehehehe..."
Turning around, Feng Chengmin asked Wang Li
"Did you check? How many in total?"
Wang Li replied casually
"I counted 41 as well."
Then, Feng Chengmin looked toward Wang An and asked
"Xiao An, what about you?"
Wang An nodded and said
"Yep, 41. That's what I found too."
The four looked at each other and then burst into laughter.
Clearly, none of them had expected that not a single one of these deer would escape; they had all been locked down by the foot-traps.
After laughing, Wang An looked at the herd stumbling away into the distance and asked Feng Chengmin
"Old Great-Uncle, when do we go after them?"
Feng Chengmin replied with a smile
"We'll head out in a bit. Right now, these deer are still flushed with adrenaline; they don't know what pain is yet. Once that rush wears off, they'll just stand there obediently and stop moving, hehehe..."
Feng Chengmin's logic applied equally to deer and humans.
If applied to humans, it would be called an "adrenaline rush."
To put it simply, when a person is flushed with excitement, they don't feel pain regardless of where they are hit. But once the rush fades, the hit area hurts like hell, leaving the person absolutely furious.
Wang An took out some cigarettes and handed one to each of the other three. After taking a few puffs, Feng Chengmin finally spoke
"Let's go. We'll go down and mount the horses, then follow the trail the deer left."
Once Feng Chengmin finished, the four descended the mountain toward the meadow below.
Wang An looked back one last time at the place where they had stayed for three full days before continuing down.
It had to be said that although it was a mountain peak, sleeping there was truly wonderful—absolutely wonderful.
Reaching the bottom, the four mounted their horses and unhurriedly followed the direction in which the herd had disappeared.
There was no use in rushing; as long as they didn't lose the trail, it was fine.
Because, as Feng Chengmin said, once the sika deer's adrenaline wore off, they wouldn't want to move anymore. Primarily, with nails driven into their fetlocks, it was like having thorns in one's feet—the more they walked, the more it hurt, and the more miserable it became.
Soon, the four caught up with the herd. Upon noticing Wang An and the others, the deer clearly quickened their pace, and their braying rose and fell in succession, showing the herd's panic.
However, as the sika deer moved, the sound of the traps clashing against each other and the *bang-bang* of the traps hitting the deer's legs rang out. It was clear that those legs must be hurting terribly!
*** *Thanks to "Big Account Empire Emperor" for the tip, thank you, thank you!* *Wishing Big Brother daily happiness and joy, and constant peace and smooth sailing!*
(End of Chapter)