Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

Chapter 324 We can't let all our previous efforts go to waste: Roasting a pheasant and lighting

Zhao Pao's face was serious and expressionless, but he was secretly thrilled. Especially since Li Ju'an was famous for killing tigers in the surrounding villages and was the youngest leader of the Dog Gang. Being called "Master" by Little Li Pao made him so happy he could float on air, and he couldn't wait to show off all the knowledge he had accumulated.

Old Chen finally understood and laughed heartily, "Old Zhao, you've really fallen for it. Little Li's words are as sweet as honey; he's got you completely under his thumb."

Zhao Pao blew the work song, and when he took a breath, he could still retort, "What do you know? This is called respecting the elderly and caring for the young. When Little Li Pao becomes successful, he'll still have to come with me to Yingtun and respectfully call me Master."

Li Ju'an laughed and said, "That's right, absolutely."

Zhao Pao asked Li Ju'an where he got the sub-adult goshawk.

Li Ju'an gave a vague answer, only saying it was in the mountains of Yezhugou. Zhao Pao didn't think much of it; eagle nests in the mountains were hidden, but they weren't nonexistent. He praised, "Little Li Pao has sharp eyes; it's not easy to spot a nest so high up. Did Big Tiger smell it?"

Li Ju'an casually agreed twice, thinking to himself, "If the eagle grows up and finds out that this is the offspring of the hunting eagle that you, Zhao, released, you'll probably beat me with a stool."

Zhao Pao's loud shouts echoed in the morning light. After another whole morning of tossing and turning, the eagle was in agony. Its eyelids were so heavy that they seemed to bend the branches, and it was so tired that it almost fell off the rope. Little did it know that even more torment was yet to come.

At this crucial juncture, the falconers' methods have become increasingly ruthless, no longer content with gentle probing. The traditional method in the falcon village is to light a roaring bonfire before the eagle's sharp gaze, using the firelight to test its will. Now, the younger generation of falconers in the village have gone a step further, directly using glaring headlamps.

Eagles have excellent eyesight; their retina has an extraordinary ability to sense light, far exceeding that of humans. Its photoreceptor cells are more than ten times more numerous than those of humans, enabling it to capture more delicate and incredibly clear scenes from the world.

Light is very sensitive to eagles; it is the sharpest weapon for training them. The way of eagle training is actually a contest between the eagle's will and one's own mind, because wild animals have an innate fear of fire.

Zhao Pao said, "If the chanting doesn't stimulate this thing anymore, we'll start a fire instead."

Lin Yuan Lao Chen was shocked when he heard this, and said with wide eyes, "Goodness, you have to torture to tame this hairy thing? That's really cruel."

The eagle was hungry and tired. When it took off its leather eye mask, you could see that the two eagles were so sleepy that they barely opened their eyes. Their eyes, which were barely open, were no longer as arrogant as before.

Zhao Pao started a fire.

The rain stopped, and a bonfire was lit at the entrance of the duty room. The three of them roasted wild game over the fire.

Li Ju'an gutted and plucked the pheasant he had hunted the day before, skewered it through its anus with a wooden stick, poked it out through its neck, and roasted it over the campfire.

Zhao Pao noticed that Li Ju'an still had two pieces of wyvern meat in his hand. He liked the wyvern meat because its feathers were bright and quite beautiful, so he said he would trade it for the rock goat skin he was wearing.

Zhao Pao had a small ibex hide wrapped around his shoulder. It could fetch a good price at the market, but it wasn't as easy to sell as a large ibex hide. Besides, he would get glared at by other hunters out in the market, who would glare at him for breaking the rules and beating a cub that hadn't even grown up yet.

Large ibex hides, once processed, can be bought by merchants and sent to the south to be made into sheepskin coats, fashionable sheepskin trench coats, or sheepskin jackets. Small ibex hides, on the other hand, are not sought after by merchants and are only collected by locals to make jackets for their children.

When Li Ju'an saw that the argali hide was still fresh, and that it had just been skinned and had not yet been made into raw hide, he asked in surprise, "Brother Zhao, you hunt such a small argali sheep?"

Zhao Pao was already wary of being talked about like this by fellow hunters. After Li Ju'an said it, Old Chen also turned to look at him. Zhao Pao's face was a little embarrassed. He said, "This golden eagle has only been tamed for less than half a year. When we release it, it runs away and disappears. How can we possibly care whether the eagle catches big or small sheep? We're lucky if we can catch any sheep at all."

The local Xinganling region is characterized by mountains, valleys, and grasslands, making it a rare habitat for argali sheep, which mostly inhabit the Gobi Desert. Li Ju'an guessed that this unfortunate herd of argali sheep must have wandered into an artificial salt field and licked the salt along with roe deer, deer, and elk, which is how they were discovered by the hunting eagle.

The little ibex was slow, so the falcon swooped down, struck it with deadly accuracy, caught it, and handed it to the falconer, proudly awaiting its reward.

Li Ju'an gazed at the majestic golden eagle, feeling a deep sense of envy. Hunters rarely caught the argali sheep of the Gobi Desert, not because they didn't want to, but simply because they couldn't find them.

The Gobi Desert is not only sparsely populated, but its terrain is also extremely dangerous. Hunting dogs would find it difficult to descend after jumping up, as it's almost like a bottomless abyss. Only the hooves and leg structure of the Himalayan blue sheep are suitable for climbing the Gobi. The Gobi is so steep and slippery that even the best hunters wearing cleats would need to use climbing ropes before daring to go up.

"Brother Zhao, if that's the case, then I won't hold back."

Li Ju'an was happy to exchange the grouse meat for the small rock sheep skin.

That's how hunters in the mountains are; what you have, I may not have, so we exchange what we need. The hunters in Eagle Village know how to train eagles, but they're not skilled at processing raw or tanned hides, and their marksmanship isn't as accurate as that of the hunters who carry guns.

There's a saying among hunters: those who fly eagles look down on those who carry guns, and those who carry guns look down on those who set traps. Every profession has its own hierarchy of contempt, but Li Ju'an is unusual in that he applies all three of them.

The fire blazed brightly. Flames leaped upwards, tongues of fire licking the pheasant meat, which sizzled and dripped oil. A rich, meaty aroma wafted through the air. Li Ju'an carried honey in his cloth bag; this jar of honey was extracted from their own small bee farm. Lin Mei had thoughtfully packed it for him before he set off, so he could have something sweet to eat and regain his strength in case of emergency in the wild.

There is salt in the duty room.

Li Ju'an rubbed the pheasant with honey water, sprinkled it with a pinch of salt, and then roasted it over a fire. The aroma of the roasted pheasant wafted up, making one's mouth water.

Li Ju'an laughed and said, "There's no need to scare these eagles with fire; they're awake enough already."

The two eagles caught the scent of pheasant wafting into their nostrils, and they were so excited and hungry that they stamped their talons on the spot, unable to resist the urge to flap their wings. But their wings were bound, so they could only maintain their balance.

My stomach is rumbling with hunger; it's a primal urge.

Li Ju'an, Zhao Pao, and Lao Chen tore open a piece of roasted pheasant meat and shared it with roasted cornbread and roasted corn. The crispy exterior and tender interior, along with the pheasant's juicy meat, enveloped their tongues, making it so delicious that they wanted to swallow their tongues.

"Mmm, it smells so good! This is the perfect flavor."

At first, the eagle was so hungry it stomped its feet, but later it got too sleepy and the smell of roasted meat couldn't help it stay awake.

The two eagles slowly lowered their heads again, wanting only to sleep.

That won't do. Training a hawk requires enduring the heat; you can't let it fall into a deep sleep. Otherwise, all your efforts will be wasted, and the stimulation will have to be intensified.

Zhao Pao felt sorry for the golden eagle because it was afraid of fire, so he locked it on a rope inside the house and came out, saying, "Alright, take off the blindfolds from these two things."

The leather blindfolds were removed, and the firelight stung the eyes of the two eagles. Combined with the raptor cries of the golden eagle inside the house and the calls of their own kind, the eagles were too frightened to sleep.