Reborn in the 1980s: I made my fortune hunting wild game in Changbai Mountain

When asked by Feng Huanping, Yue Feng grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

"Brother Feng, as my friends know, I've always been quite arrogant when it comes to handling eagles."

Very few eagles can command my respect with their boastful words!

But your eagle is different. No eagle that makes it onto the list is just a sitting duck. The battle just now proved that it's an absolute force to be reckoned with!
Today, my brothers and I have truly had our eyes opened!

Hearing Yue Feng give such high praise, Feng Huanping was also very happy. He wanted to take advantage of the short time to communicate more with Yue Feng, and then asked, "What are the different descriptions of this eagle that you mentioned? What are its characteristics on this list?"

I haven't been learning this stuff from my master for very long, so I haven't accumulated much knowledge about falconry from the older generation.

"Since I've run into you today, I'd like to ask you for some advice! That way, I can brag about it to others!"

After listening, Yue Feng nodded slightly and said generously, "The so-called 'genealogy' of this eagle is a genealogy of famous eagles passed down from our ancestors in the Qing Dynasty."

I have never seen the original document, but I have heard some bits and pieces from my elders and relatives!
There are several types of eagles that are considered suitable for catching wild rabbits and pheasants.

The first type is watery white eyes!

Her eyes were clear and pure, like flowing pearls.

Those who possess this quality are stable in temperament, not prone to rebellion, and can be easily tamed and trained over time, developing a tacit understanding with their master.

The second type is jade claws!

The eagle's claws are smooth and white, with a subtle jade-like texture.

These claws are exceptionally sharp and resistant to wear, easily piercing the fur of their prey. Once gripped firmly, the prey may even be too pained to move.

The third type is Maojiaohai!
Non-eagle birds of prey have short hairs growing from the gaps in the outer tibiae of their claws; this is called "hairy-footed sea".

Eagles of this quality are robust and powerful!

The fourth type, similar to the hairy-footed sea bream, is called the "beef tendon leg." Its tibiae grow in a prismatic shape, with hard bones, thick tendons, and great strength, allowing it to challenge prey of higher levels!
The fifth type onwards involves abnormalities in coat color.

The finest specimen is the White Eagle, a mutant whose feathers are entirely white and whose eyes do not have a reddish tinge.

This item is rare, but it may not be very useful in actual combat; its ornamental value outweighs its practical value.

Beneath the white eagle, there is also the black eagle!
This creature is extremely rare. Books say that black eagles are skilled hunters, and their fierce cries can communicate with ghosts and gods.

Both black and white variant colors are extremely rare and highly sought after.

Further subdivided, they are red, yellow, purple, cyan, and grass white—five colors in total.

These five colors all come from good eagles, each with its own characteristics!

Besides feather color, young eagles of that time also had several other exquisite back feather patterns, such as plain back, sparrow back, and partridge back.

Plain back and sparrow back are both considered excellent qualities!

When Yue Feng talked about these common facts about birds of prey, he seemed to know them like the back of his hand.

Feng Huanping listened intently, uttering every single word.

Even after Yue Feng finished speaking, he was still in a daze.

"and then?"

"That's all!" Yue Feng shrugged, spreading his hands.

"Are there no descriptions of the eagle's tail feathers, wings, skeleton, head, or other parts in ancient texts?" Feng Huanping continued to ask.

There are definitely some theories, and it's not that Yue Feng only knows this much; it's just that so many eyes are watching, and Yue Feng can't possibly recount all the knowledge he has about the characteristics of raptors.

Knowledge is something that only produces good results when it is in the hands of a few.

All the goods in his belly were emptied at once, so there was nothing left to exchange with these young masters.

Making friends in the world of fame and fortune is not as easy as having close friends who know each other's backgrounds and get along well.

There are certain rules about what to say and to what extent to say it. Yue Feng, having lived two lives, understands this principle.

Yue Feng grinned: "Wasn't what you just asked about in the Famous Eagles Register?"

As for other issues, there are many more involved.

Some are even related to each other. If one piece is not good, it can achieve a better effect when combined with another. Appearance should not be judged alone.

It's hard to explain in a short time, but we'll have a chance to talk about it properly another time!

Feng Huanping nodded slightly when he heard Yue Feng say that: "That makes sense. I'll find some time to pay you a visit later when I'm done with this."

"Okay, let's make some tea and chat slowly then!"

……

After a brief exchange, the next match had already begun.

After Feng Huanping finished, only three spots remained.

Li Fulin was the last guest to appear at the event, along with two other hunters.

One is Zhou Hongming, and the other is Wei Runde, who came to join in the fun.

One of the remaining two people was chosen to go on stage, and coincidentally, it was Wei Runde who was chosen.

Wei Runde was a mature man in his mid-thirties, over 1.8 meters tall, with a robust physique, a square face, a protruding mouth, and sharp eyes.

This is Wei Runde's only son. His father holds an important position in the Economic Commission. Wei Runde rarely participates in such occasions, but since Ye Jianjun asked him to, he could only come and show his support.

He wasn't an expert in this field to begin with, and he only borrowed the falcon from a friend after receiving the news, so you can imagine how he performed after taking the field.

A two-and-a-half-pound, yellow-brown hawk, once it came into the air, meticulously searched, drove, and released the hawk.

After a flurry of activity, three rabbits were caught, and the eagle, exhausted, began to pant heavily. Wei Runde then took the opportunity to end the competition early.

After Wei Runde left the field, Zhou Hongming eagerly rode his eagle to the designated entry position and waited patiently.

Seeing the performance of the previous competitor, Wei Runde, Zhou Hongming became even more confident in his Froghead Ironback Red Eagle.

Now, apart from Li Fulin, who is the final contestant, he is the only remaining hunter in the competition. He is exempt from the draw and only needs to restore the details of the field to their original state before he can draw a rabbit and then participate in the competition.

To be honest, it's hard to say whether Zhou Hongming's luck was good or bad today.

He was lucky to be drawn last, giving him ample time to observe his opponents and gather intelligence, giving him a natural advantage.

He said he was unlucky, as the proportion of young rabbits remaining in the cages that hadn't been pulled out had decreased significantly.

Looking around the first few cages, there were at least seven or eight old rabbits weighing around five pounds each.

"Young Master Zhou, you're lucky to be the last one to perform!" Ye Jianjun joked with a smile from the side.

Zhou Hongming glanced down at the remaining rabbits in the cage, scratched his head in frustration, and said, "Brother Jianjun, these remaining rabbits all seem a bit too big to me!"

Ye Jianjun explained, "There are big and small ones. More young rabbits were drawn in the earlier draws, so it seems like there are more big rabbits left!"

"Brother Feng's first rabbit was an old one; you could have seen it if you were there! It's all about luck; it's not like the staff rigged it behind the scenes!"

"Alright, alright, it doesn't matter which one we draw, we'll take whichever one we get! Besides our organizing committee's falcon and dog, there are three spots to advance in the first round, right?" Zhou Hongming asked.

Ye Jianjun glanced down at the score sheet in his hand: "That's right! Looking at the scores now, Brother Feng is first, Li Wenhu is second, and if you can catch four rabbits, you can get third place and advance to the second round!"

"Alright! Even if it's Old Rabbit, I'm not afraid! Come on, let's start drawing, the sooner we finish, the sooner it's over! So many people are waiting!"

Zhou Hongming was very confident in his eagle, and with a wave of his hand, he began the draw.

The young man who was doing the work checked the remaining slips of paper in front of everyone, put them all into the lottery box, stirred them vigorously, and then handed them to Zhou Hongming.

Zhou Hongming didn't care about anything else, reached out and grabbed five playing cards.

6号、12号、15号、36号、42号！
The staff picked out the rabbits one by one according to their numbers. When Zhou Hongming saw the rabbits being picked up, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

The luck was really bad; out of five rabbits, only two were young rabbits weighing a little over three to four pounds.

The other three are all three or even four-year-olds, significantly larger than their predecessors.

"Take it easy, time isn't too tight. If Ying isn't feeling well, you can rest for a bit!" Ye Jianjun kindly reminded him.

"I'm not afraid of three old rabbits! Now, watch me!"

Zhou Hongming braced himself, turned his back on the eagle, and waited for the staff to set up the trigger mechanism for the rabbit in the wheat field in front of him.

Five minutes later, the staff had set up all the equipment, and Ye Jianjun blew a whistle to signal the start of the entrance!
With an eagle perched on his right arm and a stick in his left, Zhou Hongming swaggered into the winter wheat field and headed towards the nearest trigger point.

I stepped on it, but the mechanism didn't activate. It was an empty mechanism; there were no rabbits inside.

Zhou Hongming was determined to make a perfect appearance, but the mechanism was empty. He was about to let go of the two hawks he was holding, but the prey did not come out. It felt like he had punched a cotton ball.

He took a deep breath to calm himself and strode forward.

He pressed the second mechanism again with the stick.

With a whooshing sound, the mechanism was triggered, and a large, robust old rabbit immediately sprang out of the cage about ten meters away.

"Kitty!"

Zhou Hongming roared and thrust his arm upwards.

The toad-headed, iron-backed, red eagle in his hand immediately used its grip on its owner's arm to chase after its target.

To be fair, this iron-backed red eagle is also quite fast.

If it weren't for the dazzling performance of Feng Huanping's Great Blue Eagle, this Ironback Red's speed would definitely have caught the attention of the spectators.

The subspecies of Ironback Red determines their strong physique and tough bones; in just a few breaths, the eagle caught up to the top of the old rabbit's head.

These young eagles back then spared no effort in their work; once they aimed at their target, they would extend their talons and pounce.

Old Rabbit sensed the threat behind him, pulled the drawer to a sudden stop, and then turned around in a whirlwind, instead of running away, he fled towards Zhou Hongming's location.

Seeing this, Zhou Hongming was slightly taken aback. He switched the stick he was using to drive the cane to his right hand and stood still.

The game of eagle catching rabbit is a game in which humans and falcons cooperate to hunt, but it doesn't matter whether the eagle or the human catches the rabbit!
If the eagle chases the rabbit over and the person kills the rabbit with a stick, they still get a point, and it doesn't violate the rules.

The toad-headed, iron-backed red eagle, whose first attack was dodged by the old rabbit, suddenly pulled up to adjust its direction, and then desperately flapped its wings to chase after it again.

Without comparison, there is no harm. Just this one turn shows the difference between Ironback Red and Great Blue Eagle.

The eagle wasted at least two extra seconds of pursuit time.

As the rabbit drew closer, Zhou Hongming raised the wooden stick in his hand, ready to wait for it to come to him.

When the rabbit was less than three meters away from the person, it circled around the perimeter again.

The falcon followed behind, and just as it was about to reach its master, it saw Zhou Hongming clearly and its pursuit speed subconsciously slowed down by half a beat.

"Yo hoo!"

Seeing that the stick couldn't reach the rabbit, Zhou Hongming spread his arms and made strange noises to drive it away, creating an opportunity for his eagle.

Then look at the old rabbit. After circling halfway, it darted off towards the wheat field on the west side, using that time to widen the distance to 15 meters.

The Ironback Red Eagle turned around again and gave chase once more.

The next few rounds turned into a live performance of the rabbit toying with the falcon.

Change direction, stop suddenly, turn, and use obstacles to evade attacks.

This old rabbit clearly knows the tricks of the eagle better than once, and is extremely familiar with the eagle's usual methods of doing things.

This was only the first prey, and before they knew it, half a minute of the chase had passed.

"Hey, Xiaofeng, look, will this eagle catch the first rabbit? This rabbit is too cunning!" Jinlong asked with a slightly teasing laugh.

Yue Feng knew that he and Zhou Hongming had a bad relationship.

Now, seeing the other party's attempt to show off thwarted, I feel a bit of undisguised schadenfreude.

Yue Feng nodded: "This Ironback Red is full of energy. There's not much useful terrain or conditions to rely on in this wheat field, so the rabbit doesn't have much of a chance of escaping!"

"Didn't you notice? It's only circled twice, and the rabbit's speed has already slowed down a bit?"

Jinlong nodded: "The speed is indeed a little slow. How much longer do you think it will take?"

"It won't be long before the eagle catches the rabbit once its speed drops below the critical threshold!"

This iron-backed red eagle probably hasn't caught many rabbits; it's straightforward and lacks practical experience in close combat!
I reckon that once it falls into their hands, it'll mostly be used for cheap, opportunistic battles!

Yue Feng's judgment was accurate.

This Ironback Redfish has caught at least several dozen fish since it went into the net, but it has always gone to breeding grounds with good resources.

Zhou Hongming is a playful guy. In order to release eagles, he even drove hundreds of miles to places with abundant resources.

They've achieved some results, and the eagle's stamina is good, but they lack experience against seasoned eagles.

A dozen seconds later, the old rabbit led the big eagle around again.

This time, the Ironback Red Eagle seized an opportunity. It suddenly flapped its wings and accelerated, reaching out its claws close to the top of the wheat seedlings, and launched another attack on the old rabbit.

This time, the rabbit reacted a beat too slow, and the eagle grabbed its rear end.

Before it could get a firm grip, the rabbit leaped into the air and broke free from the eagle's talons.

Rabbit fur flew everywhere in an instant.

As soon as the rabbit landed, the eagle also folded its wings and landed. The eagle took a big step on the ground with its legs to gain momentum and chased after the rabbit like a free-range chicken.

Now the rabbit had nowhere to hide; the eagle's talons gripped the old rabbit's waist precisely. (End of Chapter)