On this day, after a night rain, the sun had not yet peeked out of the clouds.

The clouds are flowing on Shuangshi Mountain, the green lan is fluttering, the wild grass and mountain flowers are still stained with dew, and the air is filled with bursts of moisture.

The two monkeys, Ah Zuo and Ah You, picked some wild fruits in the mountains and took them to the grass hut.

Liang Shirong's master and apprentice are playing with the monkeys.

Liang Er brought some salt oil and came to the grass shed to visit Liang Shirong's master and apprentice.

During the chat, Liang Er said that the family's hunting dog Ah Wang was about to give birth, and he wanted to find some papaya to promote milk for him.

After hearing this, Liang Shirong said: "A few days ago, I saw two wild papaya trees at the mouth of the tiger pit, and the melons and fruits on the trees were almost ripe, so I will take you there." ”

"That's great." Liang Er clapped his hands happily.

Liang Er and Liang Shirong took the two monkeys out of the grass hut and walked towards the tiger pit.

When I came to the mouth of the tiger pit, there were indeed two tall papaya trees on the side of the road, which may have grown up after someone ate ripe papaya and spit out the seeds on the road. The fruit on the tree has turned brown and yellow.

Liang Shirong put the leaves to his mouth, whistled, and raised his hand to point up.

When the two monkeys heard the order, three or two scurried up, and soon picked the papaya from the tree and put it at Liang Shirong's feet.

Suddenly, Liang Er made a discovery and pointed to the ground two feet away from the papaya tree: "Ah, look, there are blood stains here." ”

It had just rained heavily yesterday and there was still mud on the ground. There was a large pool of blood on the messy barren meadow, and some gray-white hair.

Liang Er picked up the bloody hair and recognized: "This is the hair left after the hare was bitten." ”

Liang Shirong bent down and looked down here, took a look there, investigated carefully, and shouted: "Ah, big footprints! ”

Liang Er walked over and saw a deep footprint on the soft and damp soil. As he looked, he asked, "Brother Aaron, are these the footprints of a tiger?" ”

Liang Shirong took a closer look and replied, "You're right, this is a typical big tiger footprint. ”

Although Liang Er had experience in hunting, when he saw Liang Shirong's words, he said, "Ah, it's a big tiger, are you so sure?" ”

Liang Shirong confidently said: "I have been collecting firewood on the Shicun Mountain for many years, and I have seen the footprints of those big tigers look like this. ”

Liang Er asked: "What is the basis for what you say?" ”

Liang Shirong pointed to the footprints and said, "The footprints of other beasts in the mountains are not so big. You see, it is in the shape of a plum blossom, and the fret palm pad at the back and the three plum toe prints on the front are clearly visible. The outermost toe print, with its square border, is faintly recognizable, which is the characteristic indentation of the outer toe print of the big tiger. ”

Liang Er listened to Liang Shirong's words, and after inspecting them, he said, "These footprints are just as you said." Do you estimate how big this tiger will be? ”

Liang Shirong had hit a big tiger with a stone a few months ago to save the sika deer, and was chased by the big tiger, fortunately, he climbed up the steep stone wall in time to avoid a catastrophe, so he had a deep impression of the big tiger, bent down and pointed to the ground and said: "Second brother, you see that these footprints are nearly five inches wide, and the two footprints are three feet away." The footprints are so deep that it can be seen that this is a big tiger weighing nearly a thousand catties."

"Wow, a big tiger weighing nearly a thousand pounds?" Liang Er knew that the big tiger was not something to eat, and recently found that the animals in the mountains were bitten and left more bloodstains, and his face suddenly showed a look of distress, "Now it seems that it is going to kill on a large scale, what should we do?" ”

Liang Shirong hesitated: "This ......"

Liang Er groaned and expressed his worries: "Brother Aaron, you should know that the big tiger in the pit has very thick skin, and if we want to shoot it with a bow and arrow, it will be difficult to kill it with one arrow. If you just shoot it, the enraged tiger will rush at you in a frenzied revenge, how can we deal with it? ”

"It's a difficult problem for you to talk about, but as long as you use your brain, there will always be a way." Liang Shirong held his chin, pondered for a while, and said, "Didn't you specially install animal traps in the mountains?" ”

"Install the trap?" Liang Er's face was still embarrassed, "The big tiger in the tiger pit is very shrewd, it will not be fooled according to your wishes." In the past, I used to pretend many times, but I only caught wild boar, yellow muntjac, sika deer, etc., and I never caught the big tiger. ”

Liang Shirong: "Let's think about it." ”

Liang Er stood and pondered for a while, a little puzzled: "After you saw wild beasts caught in iron clips in the mountains before, you often untied those iron clips for them and released them, saying that you should be merciful and kill as little as possible. But why did you ask me to install the trap today? ”

Liang Shirong has his own proposition in his heart: "We can't do things so absolutely, one time and another." ”

Although Liang Er didn't fully understand Liang Shirong's words, during these days, he got in touch with Liang Shirong, and always felt that he had a good idea and many ways, so he said: "Since it is your idea to install a trap, then follow it/"

"Okay." Liang Shirong reminded Liang Er, "We have to anticipate in advance that once the big tiger is trapped, in order to break free, it will definitely do its best, and you must know that the tiger is infinitely powerful when it wields its might." Therefore, this installation of this trap must be very solid and firm. ”

"You've got a good idea, we should be thoughtful. This time, I will choose the largest and strongest trap to install," Liang Er nodded, he thought for a moment, and asked, "In your opinion, where should the trap be installed?" ”

Liang Shirong said confidently: "There is a way, a snake has a snake road, and a tiger has a tiger track." You are a hunter and should have a lot of experience. Of course, we're going to put it in the path that the tiger has to go through. ”

Liang Er admired it: "It seems that you are more familiar with this aspect than me, then, do it according to your idea." ”

Liang Shirong nodded: "Okay." ”

A few days later, Liang Er took the modified trap and came to the grass hut where Liang Shirong lived in seclusion.

Liang Shirong walked with him to the tiger pit.

Coming to the place where the blood stains were found last time, Liang Shirong stopped, looked carefully, squatted down and compared with his hands for a while, and finally nodded: "Yo, this is a trail that tigers often walk." ”

"Okay, let's set up traps and traps on this path." After Liang Er responded, he took out the trap.

Liang Shirong first used iron branches to lay three deep piles on the ground next to the path, and then installed the trap. Then a thin layer of grass was spread on top of the trap to cover it as a camouflage.

Liang Er obeyed Liang Shirong's instructions and tied a card to a small tree on the side of the road two feet away from the trap, which read: "Trap, danger!" Please refrain from approaching. ”

A few days later, in the evening, the remnant sun was like blood, and the western sky was filled with layers of fiery clouds, and the Shuangshi Mountain was smeared with a layer of golden red.

The weather was very hot, with gusts of mountain wind and rolling heat waves. The birds in the forest are fluttering and noisy.

In Mawang Village, some people chop firewood and some people wash rice.

Today is Liang's 20th and 50th birthday, and Liang Shirong's master and apprentice came to Liang Er's house in Mawangzhai, on the one hand, to congratulate, and on the other hand, to help.

Liang Jianxing was holding an axe in the yard and chopping firewood, tired and sweating profusely.

Liang Yun was holding a big bowl and feeding the hunting dog Ah Wang, who had just given birth to puppies.

Liang Xiaolan was busy in the kitchen inside.

Liang Er, as today's birthday star, sat on the camphor wooden pier holding a long pipe, smoking a cigarette, leisurely swallowing clouds and spitting fog.

Suddenly, there was a faint sound of terrible whistling in the distance.