Chapter 64: The Pure White Roe Deer

When I heard Old Chen's final words, for a fraction of a second, I thought I had misheard him.

So, I asked again: "Old Chen... What did you just say? All the animals in the Kunlun Mountains are... are joining forces? Are you drunk?"

At that moment, I looked at the wine flask in Old Chen's hand.

However, in response to my skepticism, Old Chen let out a cold laugh.

He picked up the flask and took another large gulp from it: "Drunk? I... I am more sober right now than at any other time!"

Under Qi Lin's gaze and mine, Old Chen let out a drunken hiccup. Then, looking out at the pitch-black environment beyond the window, he muttered with a drunken, hazy look: "Tibetan antelopes, wild yaks, snow leopards, golden eagles, lizards, plateau frogs... They... they have all... joined forces!"

Seeing this, Qi Lin and I exchanged glances.

I was somewhat bewildered: Was Old Chen actually drunk, or was he just talking nonsense?

Ten seconds later, Old Chen mumbled: "Animals are becoming more and more like humans!"

After saying this, his entire body slumped directly onto the floor, panting heavily as he drifted into a deep sleep.

......

Inside the log cabin, Qi Lin and I stared at each other in speechless silence. Finally, she broke the silence: "Give... give me a cigarette."

I pulled a cigarette from nearby, tossed it to her, and then lit one for myself...

Throughout the entire room, aside from Old Chen's snoring, the only sounds were the heavy breathing of the two of us smoking.

Qi Lin was the first to question me: "Do you... believe what Old Chen just said?"

I shook my head, yet nodded immediately afterward.

Qi Lin furrowed her brow: "So, do you believe it or not?"

After pondering for a moment, with the cigarette clamped between my lips, I shook my head: "I don't know either! However, as for the stories Old Chen used to tell me, I tend to give them six parts of belief out of ten, and three parts of skepticism."

"So, you actually believe that nonsense about animals... joining forces?" Qi Lin asked, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"Yes! I believe it." Looking at Old Chen's drunken state, I nodded heavily.

"As expected... as expected... They always say you hunters who spend your whole lives deep in the remote mountains are crazy and monstrous. Looking at it now, that's indeed the case! There's something wrong with all your brains."

Qi Lin was probably thoroughly frightened by Old Chen and me. She swallowed hard, lay straight down on the bed, wrapped herself tightly in a fur pelt, and began to tremble involuntarily.

I didn't speak. Lying on the bed, I stared at the ceiling and began to ponder what Old Chen had just said.

Animals... joined together.

I don't know how much time passed, but amidst the foul odor lingering in the room, I drifted off into a hazy sleep.

I had a dream. In the dream, mountains and plains were filled with animals gathered together, acting just like humans...

And I was like a voyeur, hiding beneath the branches and leaves of a giant tree, watching them like a peeping tom.

Suddenly.

One of the animals in the crowd began to bark frantically in my direction, and then...

I saw all the animals turn their heads to look at my direction.

Their gazes were filled with endless ferocity, as if they wanted to tear me completely to pieces.

A sudden shudder ran through my body.

And then I jerked my eyes open...

......

Seeing me suddenly bolt upright, Old Chen and Qi Lin, who were standing near the cabin entrance, paused their movements.

Both of them must have been dressing or grabbing their hunting rifles; seeing me sit up abruptly, they stared at me in a daze.

I wiped the cold sweat from my cheeks, swallowed hard, and spoke first: "Old Chen, you two... are you getting ready to go out?"

"Yeah! Had a nightmare?" Old Chen asked, narrowing his eyes as he slung his hunting rifle over his shoulder.

I nodded: "Are you going out hunting? Can I come with you?"

"Sure! Get your clothes on quickly!" Old Chen said calmly.

I hurriedly bounced off the bed, put on the clothes Old Chen had previously made for me, stepped into leather boots, strapped a hunting rifle and a bow across my back, and took several arrows. The automatic pistol was also tucked securely into my waistband.

Pushing open the door, all three of us pulled our dog-skin caps down tightly over our heads, and then shut the cabin door securely.

It was still snowing outside; it had been coming down for nearly two days and two nights without stopping. Fortunately, the northern wind that had been blowing constantly had finally died down, allowing us to properly take in the pristine white landscape of the Greater Khingan Mountains.

Of course, to me, such a sudden cessation of the northern wind was also equivalent to the prelude of a tempest... merely a pause before an even more violent white-out blizzard.

The three of us stepped deeply and shallowingly into the snow, walking through the snowy forest.

It has to be said.

Catching game on a snowy day is still relatively easy.

Within a dozen minutes or so, we had caught at least three or four hares and pheasants in the woods. Not long after we continued walking, I spotted a pure white roe deer on a river beach not far ahead...

I quickly squatted down and whispered to Old Chen, who was just behind me to the right: "Old Chen, look, there's a roe deer ahead..."

Upon hearing this, Old Chen and Qi Lin reacted, quickly squatting down to look in the direction I was pointing.

"That really is a pure white roe deer!" Old Chen said in surprise.

I smiled and said to Old Chen, "Watch me!"

Then I unslapped a bow from my back, nocked an arrow, pulled the string taut, and aimed steadily at the pure white roe deer...

Right at that moment, however, Old Chen placed a hand over mine, frowned, and said, "Sanqi! Wait a second, something's wrong with this roe deer!"

This startled me so much that the bow almost slipped from my grasp.

Suppressing my frustration, I muttered somewhat speechlessly: "What is it, Old Chen? What's wrong with it? Even if something is off, let me shoot it first!"

Qi Lin also whispered: "Exactly! Let's bag it first."

Yet Old Chen stubbornly shook his head at me: "No, Sanqi, this roe deer is not right! Sanqi, let me ask you, what color is an ordinary roe deer?"

I thought for a moment, wiped the melting snow from my face, and replied, "Normally, a roe deer's coat is reddish-ocher or yellowish-brown in summer, but Old Chen, in winter, their fur really does turn white!"

Old Chen kept his gaze fixed firmly on the pure white roe deer and shook his head: "No, Sanqi! Roe deer do turn white in winter, but it's a grayish-white mixed with brownish tones. How could it possibly be pure white? This roe deer is wrong; we can't shoot it!"

"But..." I was just about to speak.

Suddenly, from the woods right opposite us, a tiger's roar erupted fiercely...

We instantly looked over and saw a brightly colored Amur tiger burst rapidly out of the forest, its entire body trembling as it ran.

The pure white roe deer tried to flee, but after running only a few steps, it was fiercely pounced upon and knocked to the ground by the magnificent striped beast, which clamped its jaws around its neck.

Fresh blood spurted out, staining the pure white fur and the snow red...