Chapter 130 The Eagle in the Tomb Field

When we arrived at Chen Pao’s house, it was just a little past seven and the sun was rising. The weather was good today, with little wind, just the dry and cold feeling after the temperature dropped in the northeast.

Yue Feng jumped off the bicycle and parked it in front of the Chen family’s door.

“Uncle Chen, are you home?”

“I’m here, I’m here. The door is not closed. Just come in!”

When Yue Feng pushed the door open and entered the yard, he saw Chen Pao fully armed with a sheepskin coat, a fox fur hat, and leggings, dressed as if he was ready to go up the mountain at any time.

“Uncle, where are you planning to go? Up the mountain? And you’re wearing leg wraps!” Yue Feng asked casually, a little puzzled.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m used to getting up early in the morning. I can’t stay in the house, so I cleaned up and took a walk in the yard!”

Chen Pao answered calmly, and then his eyes were fixed on the slow peach-pointed eagle held on Yue Feng’s right arm.

Hearing this, Yue Feng’s heart was shocked for no reason.

Chen Pao has been a hunter all his life. He took his dog away himself, and his son would not let him go up the mountain. This has become a habit for the old man and he can’t change it, so he has to stroll around the yard.

Yue Feng said in a low voice: “I am late! I should have come here yesterday. Zhao Yuanjie from the village went up the mountain to kill Bingtuozi and was kicked by a bear, so he brought people up the mountain!

Look at this big eagle. It became a hawk the day before yesterday by the Muling River at the entrance of the village. Let’s go out and release the eagle to catch rabbits today!”

“Is this the big eagle I’m training?” Chen Pao walked up to it and looked it up and down. The more he looked at it, the more he liked it.

“Well, this eagle was caught by chance. You will know it when you see the rabbit in the field later!”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get going. By the way, have you had breakfast? I almost forgot about it.”

“I’ve eaten. Our falconry team always gathers at my house for lunch before going out in the morning. I ate with them!”

“Let’s go then! Do you need to bring anything extra when we go out to fly the eagle?”

“I’ve brought food for the eagles. You just need to prepare a calf plug! Oh, and bring a bag for the rabbits!”

“Okay, I’ll go get ready. Please go inside and wait for a while!”

“okay!”

In less than a few minutes, Uncle Chen had completed all the preparations, and he and Yue Feng left the house carrying their hunting bags.

“Is there any good place to release hawks around our Fang’an village? One with lots of rabbits. It’s best if the terrain is not too complicated, such as a small vegetable garden, or the half-ripe ridges near the road after the autumn harvest!” Yue Feng asked.

Chen Pao has been a hunter all his life. He knows everything about the three-acre land in front of his home and all the hills within a radius of dozens of kilometers.

After a brief thought, Chen Pao said, “Let’s go to the cemetery in the north of the village! There are wastelands and cemeteries over there, and people who set traps don’t want to go there because the traps are too thick!”

Hearing the word “cemetery”, Yue Feng instantly recalled the memory of releasing hawks here in his previous life with a large eagle with a heart-shaped tail. Could it be that today this slow-moving eagle with a heart-shaped tail would recreate the famous scene in his memory of the prisoner smashing stakes and catching rabbits in circles?
“No one is in charge of the cemetery, right? I don’t have any taboos about graves, but I’m afraid you villagers will find fault with me!”

“We are the only family with a big surname in Fang’an Village, and more than two-thirds of the cemeteries there belong to our Chen family. If we go to fly hawks, who dares to find fault? As long as we don’t jump around on the tops of the graves, no one will care!” Chen Pao said confidently.

“Okay, let’s go!”

Along the way, Yue Feng and Chen Pao chatted as they left the village. Chen Pao was very interested in the eagle and asked all kinds of questions about it almost the entire time. Yue Feng was not shy and told Chen Pao all the details of the later feeding and precautions.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, the two of them left the village and came to the cemetery in the north of the village.

The cemetery at this time was not as big as Yue Feng remembered. Apart from the graves where people were buried, most of it was a wasteland.

The ground was covered with wormwood and weeds, and the place was a bit noisy, but apart from a few pine and cypress trees scattered around the graves, there were almost no tall plants to provide shelter.

“Is this place okay? Pay a little attention. There might be a jumping cat in the pile of wormwood beside the path!” Chen Pao said very knowledgeably.

“Okay, it’s a good place! There are a lot of footprints in the snow. It’s such a good place, why doesn’t anyone come to set up traps?”

“Some people came here to place condoms before, but it seemed that their eyes were dirty at night (they saw something unclean), so fewer people came later!
Let’s not worry about that!

What am I responsible for? Shouldn’t we drive the sticks and tread the ground? Before, I saw people outside releasing hawks, they all held a stick in their hands and hit the hawks as they walked!”

Yue Feng nodded: “Yes! If there are more people, the efficiency will be higher.

Let’s go with just the two of us, and let’s go with the less people. I’m used to finding a landmark first, and then walking around the area to find a suitable place for rabbits to hide!”

“I understand this. You just stand there like an eagle, and watch me!”

Chen Pao was indeed an old hunter. He understood what Yue Feng meant after just a few words. He picked up a branch from the roadside and rushed towards the pile of wormwood in the corner of the field.

Didn’t we mention the rhyme for finding rabbits before? The old man also knows this rule.

In less than five minutes, Yue Feng, following Chen Pao’s side, blasted a rabbit out from under a pile of wormwood.

“Cat!” Yue Feng called out and immediately let go of the big eagle in his hand.

The murderous slow-flew eagle, after discovering the rabbit’s trail, swiftly kicked Yue Feng’s arm and quickly chased after it, flapping its wings.

The objective terrain conditions in Chengying’s previous habitat were much worse than they are now. Even the rabbits that were blasted out couldn’t escape, let alone now.

The rabbit was seen chasing the eagle at a high altitude close to the tops of the tall grass on the ground. Feeling the pressure from the air, the rabbit turned back and forth twice in a row but failed to shake off the eagle. The rabbit was chased to the point of having no more tricks and dived into the weeds.

The plants of the pampas grass are relatively dense, but it has no thorns and is not as strong as the thorn grass. It is just an annual dead grass.

The slow-moving peach-tip aircraft suddenly rose up and flew directly into the air three meters high. Then its 12 tail feathers stretched out into the shape of a fan and adjusted its flying posture in the air. After turning around, it fell straight down like a brick.

There was a muffled sound of “puff”, and the next second the rabbit’s scream like a baby’s cry was heard.

“Hey, got it!! Let’s move over slowly so as not to scare the eagle!!” Yue Feng said with a grin.

“Can an eagle catch a rabbit like this? I’ve seen people from outside use a large eagle to catch a rabbit before, but it wasn’t this way?” After seeing the actual combat performance of the slow peach-point aircraft just now, Chen Pao felt like he had opened the door to a new world.

Putting aside other things, just watching the process is so exciting!

“Hehe, eagles are divided into different strains just like dogs. Dog strains are artificially differentiated based on functional needs, while eagle strains are based on their place of origin!
Eagles bred in different regions may have different hunting habits!

As the old saying goes, nine out of ten eagles fly into the sky. Just now, when the eagle was working, it suddenly rose up to a high altitude, which is called “fanshao” in the jargon. Then it swooped down directly from behind, which is called “damaging the pile”.

These prey-catching techniques are all honed by the eagle in actual combat in the wild! This eagle is in my hands so far, and this is the second rabbit it has caught!”

“Wow, I’ve learned a lot today! This eagle is not a bad guy!” Chen Pao was very excited.

“This is not over yet. Let’s go and see how the eagle subdues the rabbit. You will probably be even more surprised when you see it!” Yue Feng said with a smile. Without any explanation, he walked straight towards the rabbit.

When Chen Pao, who was following Yue Feng, saw the big eagle using one claw to grab the rabbit’s crotch and the other to clamp its mouth, and using both flags to subdue the rabbit, he was even more shocked.

“Fuck! This big eagle can also capture things? It has just pinned the rabbit down and made it unable to move!!!”

Yue Feng: “Hehe! Yes! This eagle catches the rabbit, each has its own tricks!

The red ironback in my house, when it first recognized a rabbit, only knew to grab the rabbit’s butt and waist!

After suffering several losses, I gradually realized the importance of attacking the upper three routes. Now the eagle is released smoothly, and when it catches a rabbit, it is like a double-clawed tiger holding its head!
This slow-moving eagle is different. It must have caught many rabbits in the wild. The first rabbit it caught as an adult eagle was in this shape!

This rabbit weighs more than three pounds, and the eagle won’t be hurt. Let’s not rush to help. Watch how the eagle eats the rabbit meat!”

After Yue Feng greeted them, the two of them did not rush to subdue the rabbit, but just observed quietly from the side.

After subduing the rabbit with the Eagle Grappling Technique and Eagle Claw Technique, the man maintained this posture and repeatedly lowered his head to pull the hair near the rabbit’s neck. After a while, the rabbit’s neck was pulled bald, revealing the fine hair and light-colored leather underneath.

After plucking out all the rabbit’s fur, the eagle became less polite and with one bite it made a bloody gash in the rabbit’s neck. The eagle then started to eat the rabbit’s flesh and blood.

Speaking of which, the hunting process of eagles is quite bloody. They are not like falcons, which basically bite or kick their prey to death before starting to eat.

As for birds of prey like the Accipitridae, most of them start eating while their prey is still alive, and eat them raw along with its blood and meat.

“Look, once the eagle is full, the rabbit will be almost dead! But we still have to release the eagle, we can’t let it eat its fill now!

Now let me tell you how to change the food and take the prey out of the eagle’s claws!”

Yue Feng rolled up his sleeves to cover the eagle’s claws, and then took out a roll of eagle food that he had prepared in advance. The big eagle couldn’t see what was underneath, so it loosened its claws immediately.

Yue Feng quietly grasped the rabbit, twisted it and took off its hips, then secretly stuffed it into the shoulder bag he was carrying.

“Eagles eat red meat and excrete white feces. They are very realistic. Once they are full, they will stop working immediately. So when releasing eagles, you must not let them be full!

Eagle Master, Eagle Master, what he is trying to catch is this bite of food!
As long as you prepare the food for the eagle every day and raise the eagle’s frame in the morning and evening, you can always keep it in hunting condition!”

“What’s that black thing wrapped in your meat roll?”

Chen Pao observed it carefully and pointed at the hair in the meat roll and asked.

“Bird feathers, there are sand chickens, flying dragons, and other birds! These bird feathers are collected consciously on a daily basis. I wet them with water and roll them in meat to make the eagle shaft. This is called a feather shaft!
You can think of the hair shaft as something used to clean the eagle’s stomach and intestines. It eats the hair and will spit out the indigestible contents early the next morning!

With each swallowing and spitting, the dirt in the stomach will be swept out, and the eagle will be healthier.

However, not all hair can be used as hair shafts. It is best to use only the fluff. After scalding it with boiling water, dry it and preserve it. When cooking, roll it in the meat and feed it to the eagle.

Don’t use feathers like big feathers or flight feathers. The reason is simple: those feathers are relatively hard and if you are unlucky, they may hurt the eagle!”

“I need to prepare some of this stuff later, I don’t have it at home!”

Chen Pao was like a primary school student, listening to Yue Feng’s explanation of the knowledge of the eagle’s lower axis with a very serious expression.

“Haha, don’t be nervous. I brought you a lot this time. It’s enough for you to use for a while! In fact, if you don’t have feathers, you can use rabbit hair. Just pick the fluff under the hard hair, scald it with boiling water, dry it and store it. It’s the same processing method!”

While speaking, Yue Feng plucked a small handful of fur from under the rabbit’s belly, blew it with his mouth, and the fur flew far away, soon dispersing into the distance and disappearing.

“This is easy. I’ll remember it! Should we let the eagle rest for a while, or continue to release it now?”

“It takes a lot of energy for an eagle to catch rabbits, so you can’t release them right away after finishing the job. The correct way is to put some meat on the eagle’s back. If it’s hot, give it some water to let it relax for a while!

When will the eagle rest?

It is actually very simple. You see, the eagle’s feathers are still tightly bound together, right? Hold it in your hand for a short while, no more than ten minutes. When the eagle’s feathers loosen up, it’s time for it to rest!

The hawk is for you now. If there are any rabbits that come out from below, you will be responsible for releasing the hawk!”

While speaking, Yue Feng took off the cage sleeves on his arms and handed both the eagle and the cage sleeves to Chen Pao.

The first time Chen Pao personally mounted the eagle, he was like a man holding a baby for the first time. His hands and feet instantly became stiff. It felt like there was a landmine stuck in his armpits and he dared not move.

“This eagle is already familiar with the flying position. It is not afraid of people and has adapted to the bumps of normal walking, so you don’t have to be so nervous! Just hold on tightly to the two openings in your hands!”

Yue Feng simply adjusted Chen Pao’s eagle-holding posture to a more comfortable one, and then brushed the eagle’s sword tail.

“What’s the bell on the eagle’s tail for? There’s a board underneath it!”

Chen Pao’s attention was also drawn to the eagle’s tail, and he felt a little curious when he heard the clear sound of the copper bell.

“The bell on the eagle’s tail is called an eagle bell. It is used to prevent the eagle from getting lost when working in the fields! In some noisy places, the eagle chases the rabbit and flies far away. People can’t catch up for a while, and this is when the bell comes into play.

When the eagle lowers its head to eat, the bell will vibrate and make a sound, which can be heard from a long distance, making it easier to find your eagle.

(End of this chapter)