bookrebus Chapter 401 Air-to-Ground Eagle Hunting
Chapter 401 Air-to-Ground Eagle Hunting
Zhao Pao tried for a long time. He set traps at the entrances of various earth sheep burrows and even summoned falcons to swoop and circle in the air, but the earth sheep still wouldn't come out.
They tried everything – clamps, flooding, smoking – but nothing worked. Zhao Pao was so frustrated he was jumping up and down. The falconers simply brought over a small stool, borrowed one from the villagers, and together they stood guard in the cave, enduring the smoke and choking.
Sister-in-law Qian had already set up the stove and was preparing to cook over a wood fire. Wearing an apron, she leaned against the door of the earthen stove, watching the hunters still working in the fields, and thoughtfully called her youngest son to bring water to the hunters.
As Zhao Pao drank the water brought to him by the villagers, he felt even more guilty. He suddenly stood up and shouted, "Why don't we call Sun Quande over? This dragging on isn't going to work."
Chen Xiangqian said, "Zhao Pao, didn't you hear what the villagers are saying? Sun Pao has been invited to the ranch."
"What? The ranch hired that bastard Sun Quande to hunt rats?"
"Yes, Sun Pao has already gone."
The ranch also suffered from a landslide infestation. Recently, all the hunters in the Xing'an Mountains, including Pao Tou, had been purged. Sun Quande took the initiative to approach the ranch and was hired to catch the landslide sheep. Upon hearing this, Zhao Pao's enthusiasm was ignited. He shouted like a little wild bull, "Quickly, turn up the firepower! I really don't believe we can't smoke the landslide sheep out. If we are outdone by Sun Quande, it will be difficult for us to get jobs in the future."
He said he was saying it to the falconers, but Song Desheng and Lu Jinyang didn't feel good about it either.
The person in charge of this job at the forest farm was Li Ju'an. If the rat-catching team failed, it would be Li Ju'an's reputation that would suffer. Although "Little Li the Rat" was a new name, everyone knew that Li Ju'an was young, but his reputation was well-known. The other units were already hesitant, as the young leader's experience might not be as seasoned as that of the veteran leader.
Hunting in the mountains is all about experience and expertise. Veteran hunters have a much richer understanding of the terrain and its intricacies than their younger counterparts.
Lu Jinyang said, "If Sun Pao can beat us, but we can't, how will we face anyone in the future?"
Song Desheng disagreed, saying, "So what if Sun Pao fires a lot? We can just hire Sun Weimin and the others to do the work. We'll pay them, and the work will still be counted as ours. The forest farm is all about efficiency, so this way we'll have a proper account."
When the Lu brothers heard this, they both shouted in unison, "No way!"
Song Desheng was startled: "Why is it not working? What's the rush? Do your two families have such a deep grudge?"
Lu Zhiqiang and Lu Jinyang turned their heads away and ignored him, making him even more resentful, as if he had been humiliated.
Lu Zhiqiang muttered to himself, "What a joke! Asking me to bow down and beg that bastard Sun Weimin to help me hunt sheep is worse than taking my life. I have no words, but you can take my life!"
Li Ju'an came out carrying a cage.
Li Ju'an glanced at the field and told Zhao Pao, "Uncle Zhao, put out the cigarette, there's no need."
He tore apart the branches used for smoking, placed them on the ground, and stomped on them with the sole of his shoe to crush the ash. The three falconers were puzzled and shouted, "What's going on? Zhao Pao, tell us, this young man is really something."
Li Ju'an, now the leader, spoke quite bluntly, asking, "Three brothers, are you sure your eagle won't scratch our skin?"
"That is required."
"Of course."
"This is our livelihood, of course we have to capture it alive."
"Alright then." Li Ju'an untied the rope and told Chen Xiangqian to open the urea bag. "Bring one end in and the other end out. If there's no time to fill it with alcohol, tie it up tightly, just don't damage the leather."
"Okay." Although Chen Xiangqian didn't understand, he still did as Song Desheng said.
Li Ju'an called the Lu brothers over, opened all the urea bags, prepared the ropes, and even opened all the cages that the villagers no longer used. None of them knew what Li Ju'an was planning to do.
Suddenly, Li Ju'an opened the cage containing the sable and placed it into the sheep burrow that hadn't been smoked out.
Startled, the sable darted into the sheep's burrow, its small body moving with incredible speed.
The sable's diet consists mainly of rodents and birds. Young ground sheep are a favorite prey of the sable. Field mice, squirrels, grouse, and pheasants are also among its food sources. The sable has short, strong limbs but a slender body. With its sharp claws and agile movements, it can quickly dart through rodent burrows. Its hind limbs are slightly longer than its forelimbs, and both limbs have five toes and pads, making it even more agile than ground sheep.
Compared to rats, ground sheep are plump and have lived underground for a long time. Their eyes are basically closed, and they can't see. Their degenerated vision makes them unaware of what is happening, and they can only smell the strong and domineering scent of predators.
Villagers can only catch ground bream by chance; if they happen to find one rooting in the soil, they can quickly dig with a shovel and catch it in no time. But sables don't need to go through all that trouble to catch ground bream.
A nimble wild sable, exuding the aura of a predator, darted left and right through the earth sheep cave.
Before long, prominent arched marks appeared on the ground.
The villagers' eyes widened with excitement, and they shouted, "They're out! They're out!"
"So many sheep! There must be seven or eight places like this!"
"Oh my god, there are sheep everywhere on this ground, it gives me goosebumps."
"My hair stood on end! There are so many! I saw nine! Quick, get the shovel! Shovel them down!"
The village's headman, Wang, was so excited his eyes practically popped out. He'd had enough of this for the past few months, just waiting to see the goats rooting in the soil every day, then shoveling the dirt to dig up the goats, but he was never that lucky.
As a result, he got so confused that he didn't catch a single one and ended up feeling quite choked by the fumes.
Lu Zhiqiang and the others also became agitated. They hadn't made any progress all day, but suddenly nine ground sheep were rooting out of their burrows at the same time. Who could contain their excitement? No one could help but be thrilled.
Li Ju'an stopped them and shouted, "Don't move!"
Neither the villagers nor the hunters could understand it.
Zhao Pao suddenly realized, slapped his thigh, and exclaimed, "Young man, you're quick-witted! You're so clever!"
Li Ju'an frequently whistled to the falcons, and Zhao Pao, in turn, led the falconers to whistle and command the falcons to take flight.
Six falcons circled excitedly in the air, then swooped down quickly. At the hunter's whistle, the falcons instinctively became excited, their blood boiling and their heads surging. They stared intently at the mounds of earth rising desperately on the ground and then sounded the charge.
The golden eagle perched on Li Ju'an's right arm couldn't resist any longer. It excitedly spread its wings slightly, its eagle eyes like torches, staring intently at the mound of earth that the sheep had dug up.
Li Ju'an unchained the thin iron chain from his right shoulder. This was the perfect opportunity to watch the golden eagle work and also a good time to train it to keep its prey alive. He whistled and shouted, "Go!"
As the ground sheep emerged from the earth, seven majestic falcons in the sky simultaneously swooped down fiercely towards the ground. Their powerful speed tore through the wind, and they emitted high-pitched, piercing cries like lightning.
The air-to-ground falconry begins!