Chapter 271: The Water-Avoiding Golden-Eyed Beast
In Wang An's view, "strolling hunting" was exactly that—strolling around to hunt. The hardest part was simply finding the prey.
Thus, after the three of them entered the Roe Deer Gully, they began to wander aimlessly.
They encountered many tracks along the way, but unfortunately, the tracks were old; the prey had long since vanished.
An hour later, the three had walked out of the other side of the gully without finding a single thing.
Consequently, they began to circle back. At this point, Wang Li couldn't help but ask
"Fourth Brother, do those strolling hunters really just wander around blindly every day?"
While observing the surroundings, Wang An replied, "If you don't wander like this, what other great method can you think of?"
Wang Li scratched his head. "This is such a waste of time. If they don't run into anything, isn't their whole day just wasted?"
Wang An glanced at Wang Li without speaking, continuing to scan left and right.
Mu Xueli said to Wang Li, "I'm telling you, Fifth, coming up empty is a common occurrence. We're just lucky to have your Fourth Brother leading us. Otherwise, people like us wouldn't catch a thing all winter."
Wang Li nodded. "I guess so. There are so many lifelong hunters, but they don't seem much better than the three of us."
Hearing this, Mu Xueli replied, "You've got that wrong. We've barely started. Take Old Xiao Pao, the one who bought my dog—how many winters has he not bagged twenty or thirty bear galls? And are sable pelts not precious? His family has four or five right now, plus six or seven dried deer penises."
After Mu Xueli finished speaking, not only was Wang Li stunned, but even Wang An's eyes widened.
Seeing their expressions, Mu Xueli thought they didn't believe him and said somewhat anxiously, "It's true! Before the New Year, I went to his house with my father to pay a visit. Old Xiao Pao told me to go to the back room to fetch some liquor, and that's where I saw them."
Wang Li instinctively asked, "Brother Mu, why did you go to his house for a New Year's visit?"
Mu Xueli was stunned by the question. Wang Li's mind took turns too sharply, rendering the pile of excuses Mu Xueli had prepared completely useless!
Just as Mu Xueli was about to answer, Wang An suddenly spoke: "You two, look south. What on earth is that?"
About half a kilometer to their south, there was a massive beast.
The reason it was called a "massive beast" was that, even at such a distance, one could clearly see what it was.
Normally, at a distance of 500 meters, a human is just a tiny dot, and smaller animals cannot be identified at all.
Mu Xueli and Wang Li focused their gaze and cried out almost simultaneously
"Holy crap, a Bándáhàn!"
"Holy crap, a moose!"
The moose, also known as the Bándáhàn, is an exceptionally large species of deer.
Moose are very easy to distinguish. For bucks, the hallmark is the two large, palmated antlers on their heads.
Of course, does have no antlers, but regardless of gender, their shoulder hump is higher than their back, making them look somewhat like a Bactrian camel missing one hump.
The creature has a very unique appearance and high recognizability; basically, anyone who has seen one once will absolutely recognize it the next time.
In the eyes of many, the creature is hideously ugly.
In mythological stories, people call the moose the "Water-Avoiding Golden-Eyed Beast."
In *Journey to the West*, one of the Four Great Classical Novels, the Bull Demon King's mount is this very creature.
Therefore, this animal can swim, and its aquatic skills are formidable.
It is said that they can swim for long periods, possess incredible breath-holding abilities, and can even forage for aquatic plants or algae underwater.
Moose are genuinely huge, typically weighing eight to nine hundred catties, with over a thousand catties being a normal size.
However, precisely because of their massive size, for twenty-four hours a day—aside from brief periods of sleep—they are essentially eating. They eat continuously, without pause, never stopping.
In a single day, they basically do nothing else; they are either searching for food or eating it. No one knows when they ever get full.
Wang An said with a smile, "Our luck is pretty good today to run into such a powerhouse."
"Yeah, taking down a big guy like that would be incredibly satisfying," Mu Xueli said happily.
Wang Li also smiled. "This is the first time I've seen a live moose. We're in luck today, hahaha!"
Wang An laughed. "Let's go. The wind is currently blowing from the front. We'll circle around to the downwind side before firing."
After speaking, Wang An took the lead.
Although the moose was massive, it was very agile and nimble, and when its four long legs leaped, it was exceptionally fast.
Most crucially, this creature walked through deep snow as if it were flat ground.
When running in the snow, its speed was no different from running on a normal road!
Furthermore, as with any deer, its nose and ears were incredibly sharp.
While the moose was large, powerful, and had almost no natural predators in the mountains, it was just like other deer—extremely skittish.
Once startled, it would likewise fling its great hooves and bolt for its life; humans simply could not catch up.
But having finally encountered one, Wang An certainly wouldn't let it get away.
Thus, after reaching the downwind side, the three began to approach the moose cautiously.
They would frequently wait for the wind to gust before moving again.
The wind not only carried away their scent but also masked the slight "crunch-crunch" sound of footsteps on the snow.
Even so, when they closed in to about 200 meters, they dared not go any further.
At this moment, the moose seemed to have become alert.
It stopped eating the tender buds of the shrubs, raised its head to look around, and listened intently to the surrounding sounds.
It was easy to imagine that if they hadn't been downwind, the moose would have bolted long ago.
When the wind gusted again, Wang An whispered quickly, "Aim for the head. I'll count one, two, three, and we all fire at once."
Using his peripheral vision to see that the other two were ready, Wang An began to count: "1, 2, 3—"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a "bang" rang out. The three fired almost simultaneously, so the three shots sounded like one.
After the shot, the great moose collapsed onto the snow without even a struggle.
Seeing this, Wang An and the others rushed toward the animal.
Upon reaching the moose, they found that all three bullets had hit its head.
However, because they had fired from the right rear, the bullets had entered below the antlers and exited through the front.
It had to be said that the moose's skull was genuinely hard, as the exit holes were not very large.
Looking at the dead moose, Wang An suddenly remembered something important and shouted urgently, "Quick, make some bark boxes!"
Having said that, Wang An ran toward the nearest lime tree, with Mu Xueli and Wang Li following close behind.
Three minutes later, three awkward and ugly-looking bark boxes were placed under the moose's neck.
Without needing to be told, Mu Xueli plunged a knife into the moose's throat.
When it comes to bleeding an animal, the sooner, the better.