bookrebus Chapter 362 The Past of the Barley Fields and Eagle Village
Chapter 362 The Past of the Barley Fields and Eagle Village
The argali sheep quickly climbed up the towering Gobi Desert, its speed so fast that Chen Xiangqian could hardly believe it.
He couldn't help but exclaim in genuine admiration, "Even if we used all four legs, we couldn't catch up with that speed!" With that, he hurriedly raised the cannon in his hand, the muzzle closely following the swift figure, his eyes locked on it. However, after a moment, he slowly lowered the barrel, sighing helplessly, "Even this cannon couldn't catch up; it's already long past its firing range."
Li Ju'an gently picked up the scattered shell casings, slung the hunting rifle behind his back with a flourish, and smiled with satisfaction: "Being able to hunt two sheep is already a rare stroke of good luck."
At this moment, two falcons circled low in the sky, their sharp eyes locking onto a young ibex that was still crying out. Suddenly, the falcons swooped down and snatched the ibex with lightning speed, holding it firmly in their talons. Then, they flapped their wings and flew high, bringing it to Li Ju'an.
The ibex still clung to life, struggling desperately in Li Ju'an's grasp, its eyes gleaming with a will to survive, its gaze still dazed, unaware of its surroundings. The hunting dogs caught up and sniffed, but it didn't even flinch.
Li Ju'an tucked the little ibex under its armpit, put a simple collar around its neck with hemp rope, and hung it on the ibex's neck.
The lamb was still quite young, with very little flesh on its body, while the herd of blue sheep moved with remarkable agility through the forests, leaving others far behind. We caught it not for a sumptuous meal, but simply to bring more life to our backyard, so my wife and younger sister, Li Xiao, could keep it as a pet.
Li Ju'an was lucky and caught a female Himalayan ibex. The ibex looked like it had just reached adulthood and wasn't very experienced. It fled in panic when chased by the falcon and had nowhere to put its feet.
Together with Chen Xiangqian, they carefully and gently pulled the female Himalayan ibex down from the jagged, bare rock until it lay quietly in an open space. A bullet pierced its ear precisely, and blood gushed out like a trickle, staining the surrounding dust red.
Grandpa Zhao glanced at the nearby bushes and the bark marked by Li Ju'an, and then noted a more obvious "hunting trip" mark next to them.
For the villagers, this marker represents a fixed hunting area, marking their hunting territory.
Whether it's peeling tree bark or hanging banners, these are all markers used by hunters to determine boundaries. Once they've marked their path, that's their mountain boundary. No villager can enter, nor do they dare.
The women in the barley fields, upon seeing this sign, immediately understood what was going on, but they dared not come in. They knew there would be traps and ambushes inside. Things like the deer pit dug by Li Ju'an, snares and traps scattered throughout the Gobi Desert, and the traps, poles, and ground guns that Uncle Zhao and other hunters had made in the past, as well as the Yama's mortar.
When Zhang's nephew saw the familiar "Hunting Tribe" sign, he shrank back in fright, quickly stood up with the porcelain basin on his head, and stopped playing cards, saying, "I just remembered, my uncle asked me to go out for a bit. He'll be back tomorrow. Li Pao, if you want to see my uncle, go to his office tomorrow. He'll definitely be there in the afternoon."
"okay!"
Li Ju'an responded and then, together with Grandpa Zhao and Chen Xiangqian, dragged the hunted game back to the Zhao family's old stone house.
The villagers in the barley fields kept their distance from the marks of hunting parties, a fear that was equally deeply ingrained in the hearts of the mountain people of the Xing'an Mountains. If they accidentally triggered a hidden ground gun or the infamous Yama's mortar, it would be a life-or-death crisis.
However, these hunting traps are merely cleverly designed for ordinary prey. If the villagers are looking for larger prey, such as bears, snow leopards, or Gobi tigers, these traps are ineffective and fail to restrain their agile bodies. To capture such large predators, real weapons are necessary.
The Zhao family's old house is a stone house, unlike the other adobe houses in the village. It is built with bricks and stones, making it stand out from the other houses in the village. Time has etched mottled marks on its stone walls, but it has also given it a sense of calm and solemnity, quietly guarding the returning hunters and their catch.
This is also a house-building habit that Grandpa Zhao brought from Yingtun. Yingtun is located by the sea, and before the arrival of falconers, the villagers all made a living by fishing. Later, the Zhao family brought their falcons to live there, and they settled in the fishing village, incorporating the fishing habits of the fishermen and bringing falconry techniques to the village.
A daughter of the Zhao family married a local fisherman, and her descendants moved between the two places. From then on, her bloodline flowed back and forth between the fishing village and her homeland like a tide. The children of this family inherited the ancient skills of falconry from the Zhao family and mastered the survival wisdom of fishermen in shoveling and casting nets at sea, as if they were a natural bridge connecting two different ways of life.
Among the younger generation of the Zhao family, someone had a sudden inspiration: to cleverly combine the seemingly unrelated skills of falconry and fishing. They tamed seabirds, turning these fully-feathered creatures into powerful assistants for fishermen on their fishing trips. This amazed the local indigenous fishermen who had made their living from the sea for generations, who cast admiring glances at them. However, the falconers in Eagle Village, on the other hand, seemed rather uninterested in these maritime endeavors.
According to the Zhao family, "Seafood can only fill your stomach, but it won't fill you up. It'll keep you from starving, but it's not oily at all. It's dry and tasteless." In their eyes, although cold seafood salad is refreshing, it lacks the deep expectation that falconers have for food, and ultimately it doesn't suit their taste.
The Zhao family still prefers to butcher their prey, boil the meat, and then fry it in oil. They need to eat a mouthful of oil and a big bite of cornbread to have the energy to go hunting.
Li Ju'an tied the little ibex to the door with a hemp rope and told Da Hu to sit and watch over it.
Two falcons swayed on a thin hemp rope, gently rocking in the breeze. Their sharp eyes, as if drawn by a magnet, were fixed on the innocent little ibex below, their gazes gleaming with barely suppressed excitement and longing. They occasionally let out high-pitched, excited cries, the sounds like sharp arrows piercing the little ibex's fragile nerves, causing it to tremble with fear.
Beside him, a loyal hunting dog vigilantly guarded the helpless little creature. Its presence acted as an invisible barrier, easing Li Ju'an's worries considerably.
Da Hu was a calm and reliable partner. Li Ju'an thought to himself that this precious little ibex must be brought back to Lijiatun intact; he couldn't let the falcon kill it.
The training of falcons emphasizes discipline and restraint. They are taught to accept food only from the hunter, which is crucial to ensuring that the prey returns fresh and alive after each hunt. Falcons must learn restraint and not, at the moment of capture, hastily tear the prey's fur with their sharp beaks to satisfy their own desires and devour it for themselves.
Big Tiger led his pack of dogs, who lined up around the little ibex.
The flower girl was curious and stared at the little ibex, sniffing it intently as if she had never smelled an ibex before in her life.