Returning to the small mountain village of '86, intelligence updated daily.

Zhou Shijie was practically ready to grab the gun and take the field himself, his gaze constantly scanning back and forth between Zhou Rui and the herd of water deer.

He dared not speak, for fear of disturbing the prey.

Zhou Rui didn't hesitate. Since they had met again, then this time...

He gestured for the men to crouch down, then handed the gun to Zhou Shiwei. At the same time, the gun was reloaded with four bullets.

Seeing this, Zhou Shiwei did not refuse. He took the hunting rifle and then skillfully fiddled with it for a couple of minutes, his movements very slow.

Although they didn't need to remain completely silent this time, Zhou Shiwei still loaded the gun very quietly, trying his best to cover up any noise, just to be on the safe side.

Zhou Rui didn't want to play the hero anymore. He knew his father was itching to fire a gun; after so many years without doing so, he must have been longing for that feeling.

So this time, he let his father come, just as the other party trusted him, he also had full confidence in his father.

The moment Zhou Shiwei picked up the gun, he seemed to instantly transform into an experienced hunter.

His gaze was piercing, his demeanor suddenly turned icy, and he exuded a subtle intimidating aura that made it difficult for anyone to get close to him.

That's the temperament honed on the battlefield, a unique, ruthless quality belonging to this group of people.

With a click, the bullet was chambered.

The deer herd was about a hundred meters away from the group, and the water deer were clearly less wary than the musk deer.

Zhou Shiwei loaded the gun, raised it, and aimed in one smooth motion, unlike Zhou Rui who was cautious and meticulous. Instead, he aimed for a few seconds before confidently pulling the trigger.

"Bang!"

Another loud bang echoed through the mountains, startling all the birds in the vicinity.

In the distance, the five water deer that had been drinking water suddenly scattered and fled.

However, only four ran away, because one of them was already lying on the stone path beside the stream.

Zhou Shiwei stopped fighting because of a very real problem: even if he killed another one, he couldn't get it back!

The limit for the four of them is to move one deer, and this place is quite a distance from their home.

"Great marksmanship!"

Zhou Shijie cheered.

Zhou Shiwei confidently sheathed his gun, a smile spreading across his face. He had rediscovered a bit of that feeling from back then.

This was also the first time he had fired a shot in many years.

Zhou Rui sighed inwardly, "Old foxes are indeed shrewder." Looking at that smooth and effortless movement, Zhou Rui felt ashamed of his own inferiority.

He's a bit more accurate, but he needs to think things through; he's not as relaxed and effortless as his father.

Zhou Rui couldn't help but praise:

"A true expert's skill is immediately apparent!"

Zhou Ming was even more excited, and he ran over there.

Zhou Shiwei did not stop him, because the other deer had been scared away, and there were no animals around that could threaten Zhou Ming for the time being.

Listening to his younger brother and son's praise, especially after the latter finished speaking, Zhou Shiwei showed no arrogance, but simply waved his hand and said:

"I'm just getting old, I can't compare to you young guys. Boss, don't be modest, the style of your shot just now was much cooler than mine back then."

The three of them didn't sit still either. After the gunshot, they started walking towards the location of the prey's carcass, talking as they went.

As Zhou Shiwei said, the water deer was much smaller than the musk deer and less alert. Basically, anyone with training could hit it with a high-range gun.

After he finished speaking, he had already walked to the water deer's side. Looking at the enormous creature lying on the ground, Zhou Shiwei couldn't help but sigh again:

"This harvest is enough for a family with a secure job to earn more than a year's worth of income without eating or drinking."

At that time, the monthly salary of a town employee with a "secure job" was about 100-120 yuan, while that of a township supply and marketing cooperative employee would be less, about 90-110 yuan.

In fact, Zhou Shiwei said too little, and very little at all.

The true value of a single forest musk deer is far more than 400 or 500; it's possible it could double. Add a sambar deer to that...

Zhou Rui nodded in agreement, but quickly added:

"Not only that, Dad, I feel like this haul might be over 1500 yuan..."

Looking at the large water deer on the ground, Zhou Rui estimated that it weighed about 160 kilograms, or more than 300 jin!

In addition, there's the extremely rare and valuable mountain deer, the forest musk deer.

1500 yuan is not just a thought.

This amount of money is a huge sum! A truly enormous sum!

It's enough for their whole family to do nothing but sit and eat, and live comfortably for a while.

However, this is obviously impossible. The Zhou family are all hardworking people and it is impossible for them to sit around and live off their savings.

After hearing his eldest son's prediction, Zhou Shiwei pondered for a while, then nodded in agreement.

Zhou Shijie, standing to the side, kept swallowing as he looked at the enormous object before him. Hearing the predictions of Zhou Shiwei and his son, he felt his throat go dry.

Zhou Ming squatted down next to the deer carcass, curiously examining it from all angles.

It's around 2 PM now, almost afternoon.

At this moment, Zhou Shiwei stepped forward and gave instructions:

"Second brother, go find some sturdy wood and some branches and leaves."

"Xiaoming, you go with your second uncle. Stay in this area and don't wander off. It's dangerous in the mountains! Keep at least 100 meters away."

"Xiao Rui, come with me to deal with the water deer quickly."

Zhou Shiwei gave his instructions methodically; at this point, they had to race against time.

If everything goes smoothly and is handled as quickly as possible, they can get home before dark.

If something goes wrong along the way, then it's hard to say.

However, Zhou Shiwei's worst-case scenario was that he had to get out of the mountains before dark! That way, he wouldn't get lost in the nearby villages.

After Zhou Shiwei emphasized the need to be quick several times, everyone sprang into action.

Zhou Ming also put away his playful thoughts and followed Zhou Shijie to find wood.

Zhou Rui and his son squatted next to the deer carcass and performed simple treatment.

The same method involves blocking the excretory opening with weeds and then cutting open the blood vessels to let the blood flow out.

The shot hit the deer's neck. Zhou Shiwei had originally aimed for the head, but the deer raised its head to dodge, and the bullet struck the soft neck instead.

But this is good, as it perfectly preserves a complete deer hide.

The two used water jugs to collect deer blood. They brought five water jugs with them this time because they were hesitant to drink the mountain water, fearing that they might get sick as a result.

So, in the end, they collected all the kettles in the house, each with a capacity of one liter, and except for one small one, they brought a total of nearly 5 liters of pure well water.

The smaller one was used to hold the musk deer's blood, so they stopped thinking about it. They poured the remaining water from the jugs into one, and each person drank the rest, thus freeing up three empty jugs.

As for why they went through all this trouble, they didn't want the deer blood to be lost halfway through, as that would be a great waste.

I'd rather go to more trouble to preserve it well.

After collecting three large jugs of deer blood, there was still some left, but it wouldn't fit in all the containers. However, not much of it would be lost, and we could deal with it slowly when we got back.

After placing the deer blood jug, Zhou Rui picked up a sickle and carefully cut off the fresh deer antlers next to the antlers.

Two deer antlers with fine white down and a brownish hue were carefully placed into the basket, which was also lined with some hay.

This thing is very precious, so you can't be too careful.