The weak scholar in the end of ancient times

Chapter 13 Too Falcon

In addition to the incense used to ward off evil spirits, Wen Gu asked Taoist Qingyi about the stock quantity of "Buji Pills".

This thing is easy to eat, can satisfy hunger, and is suitable for traveling.

Perhaps to maintain his superior demeanor and see the villagers as a retreat, the Taoist priest also gave the villagers a recipe for a reduced-strength version of the hunger-relief pill. It wasn't as strong, but it could help fight hunger.

As a professional habit, when giving the prescription, the Taoist priest mentioned the "exorcism" property of glutinous rice.

The villagers believe it very much.

The village chief wanted to kowtow and express his gratitude, and he no longer had any complaints in his heart.

So during this period, the village was also doing similar things.

Making it in batches saves firewood and is convenient for storage. It can be eaten directly after it is done. When the time comes, let the villagers exchange it for work points.

After leaving Taoist Qingyi, Wen Gu went to the village chief to exchange some low-end Bujie pills.

We can't rely on Master Qingyi for everything.

The village chief has been very busy recently. He has to distribute supplies in the village, carry out construction, and practice the sacrificial rituals taught by the Taoist priest.

Seeing Wen Gu, the village chief was delighted and said, "I was just about to look for you! Come on, come over and help me look around here, okay?"

The village chief picked up a piece of paper, on which was recorded the steps of the sacrificial ceremony by his grandson Dou Miao, who had dictated them to him.

Wen Gu was also present when the Taoist priest was instructing them.

Wen Gu took the paper and looked at it.

The handwriting is not very neat, but it is barely recognizable.

Dou Miao, standing beside him, hung his head in embarrassment. His handwriting was truly unpresentable in front of Wen Gu, though he had tried very hard to write it in a way that everyone could recognize.

There was no change in Wen Gu's expression, he just looked at what was written above.

The steps for offering sacrifices to the gods are very detailed, and it even explains how to deal with the ashes from burning incense to dispel evil spirits.

The village chief treasures the incense ash very much. It can be smeared on window sills and door thresholds, and sprinkled in the house to ward off evil spirits. Ordinary people cannot get it. Only those who have made great contributions can get it.

Wen Gu did not object to this.

Incense ash itself does have some antiseptic and insect repellent effects.

The village has its own ecology, and in today's world, there is no need for excessive interference.

After reading it, Wen Gu handed the paper back: "It's very detailed, the steps are clearly written, and there are no mistakes."

The village chief was relieved: "That's good, that's good!"

With his worries resolved, the village chief spoke to Wen Gu in a relaxed tone about the current construction progress of the village.

The wood, stones, bricks and tiles that were brought back have been stacked in different places, and construction has already begun in several places.

Everyone in the village builds their own houses. Although they have never used such "high-end" materials, they can still do it if they spend some time to learn it.

As long as the problem is not too technically difficult, the villagers have their own ways to solve it.

Wen Gu had already charted a course for their village to survive in this chaotic world. The rest wasn't a big problem.

I have finished writing the third volume of storybooks I have been reading, and they are all with the village chief.

The village chief planned to wait until everyone was too tired from building the fort and then take it out to boost everyone's morale.

Dou Miao then took out two medicine bags and handed them to Wen Gu. "Merchants from the south often pass through the county. I've heard some methods for preventing and treating waterborne diseases, so I figured out how to make some medicine bags myself. Perhaps they'll be useful to you on your journey."

"Thank you!" Wen Gu accepted it and bowed solemnly.

Alas, bean sprouts are really a young man with great potential, but it's a pity that I can't dig them up. If I have the chance in the future, I will come back and dig them up again.

Dou Miao turned around and went back to the house, and suddenly shivered inexplicably. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was going to get colder, so he needed to put on more clothes.

The fire flows in the seventh month, and the clothes are given in the ninth month.

The temperature is dropping step by step, and the needlework people in the village are busy all day long.

In addition to hiring someone to make clothes, Wen Gu also hired someone to make three large backpacks using sturdy cloth.

If there's no zipper, use buttons. The backpack has compartments and small pockets to store large and small items, making it easier to find them when you need them. You can also clip items to the shoulder straps.

In addition, after cutting the paper, he asked someone to sew a few pocket notebooks that were easy to carry, and added two charcoal pencils he got from the Taoist priest, in case there were some important clues that needed to be recorded along the way.

After taking inventory of supplies, Wen Gu went to the carpenter's house again and asked him to make a kettle.

A kettle made of bamboo is actually a bamboo cup with a lid.

There used to be quite a few bamboo tube kettles in the village, the kind with a snap-on cap to prevent the water inside from splashing out.

The last time Wen Gu came to see the carpenter, he suggested that we try making a joint with spiral patterns.

Unexpectedly, it was completed in just two days.

"It's not difficult."

The carpenter was a quiet man, but he was very friendly to Wen Gu and thanked him for his advice. He hadn't just been making kettles these past two days; he had also tried making other things.

As a thank you, the carpenter did not charge Wen Gu the processing fee, gave Wen Gu a big discount on the custom-made wheelbarrow, and even provided some of the wood himself.

"I will make a wheelbarrow for you in the next two days," said the carpenter.

He is very familiar with this. When the world was not in chaos, people in the village would ask him to do it and push the goods to the town to sell.

A few days ago, when moving things around town, in addition to two-wheeled wooden carts, several people were also pushing wheelbarrows to transport goods. The wheelbarrows custom-made by Wen Gu had some improvements in some details. The carpenter himself benefited from this, postponing orders from other families in the village to rush to make Wen Gu's first.

Hunter Xiao Liu often comes here to review his past.

His family had already prepared things for his journey, and his father asked him to come here to help.

His father said that in their small team, Wen Gu was the backbone. Although he was just a weak scholar, he was the one who made the decisions.

If I can reach the north safely, I will ask Wen Gu to take care of me.

His father said, "You can think of Wen Gu as your employer. You have to let him know how capable you are and what unique skills you have."

Therefore, little Liu the hunter was very active in showing off his talents in front of Wen Gu.

His archery skills had already been demonstrated, and he was interested in reviewing them.

"I also have a falcon that I've been training for two years. Its name is Ma Tuan'er."

When he was a child, he went to the county town with his father and had fried glutinous rice balls there once, and he still remembers it. Later, when he went to the city to seek work, he only saw them from afar, thinking that he would buy them for himself when he earned the money.

People in the county town eat so well and live so well. They don’t have to work hard on the farm, nor do they have to go into the mountains and risk their lives hunting.

Hunter Xiao Liu has always hoped that one day he could find a job in the county town and live there with his family.

Now, I can only change my dream.

The name "Ma Tuaner" hides his simple and persistent yearning.

However, "Ma Tuaner" has gone out to find food and has not returned yet.

Hunter Xiao Liu looked around and saw a crow perched on a pile of stones and wood not far away. He didn't know if it was resting there or just curiously observing human activities.

There was no one else outdoors nearby. If there was, they would definitely chase the crow away.

Hunter Xiao Liu believes in gods and ghosts, but perhaps because he is more familiar with birds, he is not as sensitive to crows as the villagers.

"There's a crow over there."

Hunter Xiao Liu observed Wen Gu's attitude towards crows. Some literati hate crows.

However, Wen Gu did not show any disgust, but continued Xiao Liu's words: "When I was studying abroad, I heard a little story about crows."

Wen Gu told the story of the crow drinking water.

Hunter Xiao Liu nodded excitedly, "That's right! They can use tools, they're actually very smart! Smarter than many hawks and falcons!"

"When I was little, I didn't understand it and asked my father why he didn't train more birds like this. Later I learned that it was because of taboos."

Review and understand.

"I... heard while traveling for school that long ago, crows held positive symbolic significance. However, later, due to wars and disasters, which resulted in numerous deaths, crows are scavengers, meaning they eat carrion. That's why you often see crows circling in those places. Scholars would use them as metaphors for desolate scenes in their poetry and prose."

In addition to the bleak scene, there are also political metaphors, but I won’t mention that.

Anyway, it’s enough to let Hunter Liu know why everyone is so taboo about it.

When choosing hunting birds, people here mostly choose falcons. In the minds of the rich and the common people, they mostly have positive meanings, representing bravery and also symbolizing the destruction of evil.

"Oh, that's it."

Hunter Liu thought about what Wen Gu had just said and sighed in his heart, no wonder so many scholars go out to study every year, they know so much!

The crow in front seemed to have discovered something, or perhaps it wanted to observe humans up close. It jumped from the pile of rocks to the ground, getting closer to Wen Gu and Hunter Xiao Liu.

This also brought Xiao Liu back to his senses and continued the previous topic.

"Besides the taboo, we don't train crows because they are too smart and don't obey discipline."

Wen Gu nodded: I understand. The higher the IQ, the easier it is to "rebel."

Sometimes being too smart and opinionated is not the right approach. They might even test their owner's boundaries, leaving them uncertain about who is in charge.

Falcons are different and are easier to train as hunting tools.

Seeing that Wen Gu could understand, Hunter Xiao Liu was very happy. He thought that this "boss" was a really nice person. Unlike those masters in the county town, who didn't know anything about birds and still scolded people.

Xiao Liu took the opportunity to recommend his falcon: "Although 'Ma Tuan'er' is not as smart as a crow, he has a good temper and is very obedient. He knows many unique tricks. When he comes back, I'll have him perform for you..."

A figure swooped down from the sky and kicked the crow to the ground with precision and speed.

The crow that was stepped on flapped its wings and screamed.

The falcon rushed down, stepped on the crow with its powerful claws, and plucked the crow's feathers with its beak.

Very fierce.

For a moment, black crow feathers flew everywhere.

Xiao Liu was about to burst open: "No! I didn't ask it to perform this!!!"

After a while, the crow finally flapped its wings and ran away.

Only the falcon with a ferocious look on its face and fluffy crow feathers hanging from its beak was left on the ground.

The beaten crow flew away. Other crows flew around, cawing loudly. It was unclear whether they were gloating and laughing at their companions, or cursing at the humans.

Wen Gu withdrew his gaze from the air and looked at the falcon in front of him again.

It is indeed a bird of prey, so ferocious!
Taoist Qingyi, who was dizzy from refining the elixir and was out for a walk, happened to see the scene just now. He glanced at Wen Gu with a sarcastic look, and seemed to be hinting at something -

Sometimes, no matter how clever you are, force decides everything!
　Note: Peregrine falcons and kestrels are all Class II protected wild animals! Don't break the law!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)