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

Chapter 354 Snow Leopard Hunts Himalayan Sheep

Before the mother eagle could fly back, Grandpa Zhao quickly took out the two fledglings, whose feathers had not yet fully grown, and stuffed them into his pocket.

He carefully tucked them into his clothes and took them back to his warm home.

The eaglets were unharmed, but their growth was as rapid and astonishing, like bamboo shoots in spring. Their appetites were astonishing, and they were extremely picky, only eating certain types of meat. To satisfy the two little ones' appetites, he had to go into the mountains to find food, catching frogs in the grass and mice under the eaves to feed the eaglets.

As the eaglet's feathers grew fuller and it grew faster, the frogs and mice were no longer enough for it to eat.

Back then, Grandpa Zhao was so busy every day, running around trying to find food for them.

In his search for more food sources, he went to the neighboring village to find water. He found a pond and led a group of children to enclose half of it. They borrowed a large basin from the neighbor's aunt and scooped out water to catch fish to feed the eaglet.

Later he discovered that the two eagles he was raising could not fly.

With a heart full of hope, he leisurely trained and tame hawks in the village. However, no matter how carefully he cared for them, the hawks, though extremely docile, seemed to have lost their ambition to soar through the sky. They only knew how to follow him step by step, like a domesticated chicken trotting along with his pace, which was quite comical.

Listening to this, Li Ju'an finally couldn't help but burst into laughter, his laughter tinged with mockery: "Haha, you've been training them since they were fledglings!"

Grandpa Zhao was also reminded of his past anecdotes by this topic, and he couldn't stop laughing, revealing his yellow teeth: "That's right! Back then, I was young and impetuous, and it was my first time trying to train an eagle. I didn't know all the tricks of the trade."

After hearing this, Chen Xiangqian was still somewhat unwilling and asked, "What happened next? Are those two eagles still around?" His words were full of curiosity and inquiry about that past event.

Grandpa Zhao said, "They can't even fly, how could they? They would have been stewed and made soup long ago, how could they have been kept until now?"

Chen Xiangqian still didn't believe it after hearing this, and said, "Then let's not catch the young eagles, but catch these sub-adult eagles like Li Pao."

He was eager to try, but he refused to believe it and insisted on going down to the bottom of the cliff to climb up and try to raid the eagle's nest.

Li Ju'an was at a loss; this was the division commander's son. If the division commander's son acted recklessly, and he followed suit, he could be beaten to death by Division Commander Chen. But if he tried to stop him, Chen Xiangqian wouldn't listen to him anyway.

He could only take his hunting dogs with him, and two magnificent falcons perched on his shoulders. He followed closely behind Chen Xiangqian and ran to the foot of the high cliff in the Gobi Desert, pondering how to climb up.

Grandpa Zhao leisurely lit his pipe, took a deep drag, and amidst the swirling smoke, slowly said, "There is indeed a path over there that you can walk on, but it gets difficult to go any further up."

Suddenly, a swift figure in white and yellow leaped out from between the cliff rocks, seemingly flying through the air, its speed astonishing.

The situation changed in an instant. Big Tiger took a deep breath, his nostrils flared, and his eyes were fixed on the high rock wall, but he had not yet been able to react.

Seeing this, a pack of hunting dogs, not wanting to be outdone, began barking in unison, their barks rising and falling as they tried to leap up the rock face. But the slippery, steep cliff was no place for hunting dogs to climb.

The girl Hua followed Li Ju'an to climb the cliff face just to catch a glimpse of the eagle's nest. Now, she was extremely excited. As soon as she saw the white and yellow shadow, she took three steps at a time and ran up the cliff path that people were walking on.

The hunting dogs didn't follow; only the girl jumped up.

Before Li Ju'an could even call the hunting dogs down, the flower girl was already face to face with the white and yellow shadow at close range.

It is a snow leopard hunting a blue sheep.

The argali sheep hid on the back slope of the cliff, remaining silent. The structure of their feet and hooves allows them to traverse even the most challenging cliff faces with ease, moving swiftly and quickly to the top of the slope.

The snow leopard crouched low, its yellow and white body dotted with black spots, perfectly concealing itself in the Gobi Desert.

As if sensing the lurking danger in the air, the sheep, seemingly drawn by an invisible force, formed an orderly line, one after another, slowly and resolutely sweeping across the dense undergrowth where the snow leopard was hiding from left to right. The scene resembled a meticulously planned search by the argali sheep, their target the concealed overlord of the snow-capped mountains.

Several bold blue sheep strolled lightly to the edge of the bushes, leisurely nibbling on the tender leaves, neither in a hurry to venture deeper nor showing the slightest sign of panic. This was simply because they had not yet noticed the snow leopard lurking not far away.

The snow leopard was silently hiding in the shadows, its sharp eyes fixed on the flock of sheep, its gaze filled with the focused concentration of a hunter.

Time seemed to stretch out at this moment, each second feeling as heavy as lead.

If a hunter were to observe the snow leopard and the argali sheep's standoff for such a long time, the hunter would suspect that the snow leopard had already left.

The herd of blue sheep waited in an unusual formation, their rumps facing the bushes. Hidden within those bushes were snow leopards.

Suddenly, the snow leopard began its hunt. As if receiving an unseen command, the herd of ibex abruptly turned, their hooves flying, unleashing a frenzied sprint. At the same time, a streak of white and yellow lightning tore through the air—the snow leopard had leaped up with lightning speed, a powerful male ibex firmly in its jaws.

The snow leopard's sharp teeth were deeply embedded in the argali's throat, and blood gushed out like a fountain. They soared through the air, their intertwined figures separating due to gravity, and both plummeted down the steep slope below. During their fall, the snow leopard and the argali were briefly separated, but miraculously, they crashed together onto the Gobi Desert.

On a huge, bare rock that rises abruptly, a snow leopard and a blue sheep are still rolling and fighting. That is also the observation point that the mixed-breed wolfhound, Flower Girl, has climbed up with difficulty and quietly arrived at.

The snow leopard grabbed the ibex with its forepaws and, with a powerful bite, tore through the ibex's throat, causing blood to gush out and slide down the ibex's horns.

This majestic male ibex was severely injured, but it was still struggling fiercely.

Flower Girl, a mixed-breed wolfhound, had never witnessed such a rapid-fire hunting scene before, with the snow leopard slamming its prey right in front of it. Flower Girl stared in disbelief, and after recovering, it barked fiercely at the snow leopard, as if vying for its prey.

Li Ju'an, standing at the foot of the Gobi Desert, set up his Mosin-Nagant rifle and aimed at the snow leopard, exclaiming, "What a handsome leopard!"

This was the first time he had ever witnessed a snow leopard hunting; no wonder the locals called it a "spotted dog." The snow leopard was beautiful, brave, and domineering; it leaped down from the cliff and managed to bite a male ibex in the middle of the leap.

These predators are agile and nimble, making them even harder to hunt than the mountain dogs.

Li Ju'an aimed at the snow leopard, while the hunting dog, Flower Girl, stood by, poised to pounce.

The hunting dog blocked the view of the gun barrel, and Li Ju'an cursed under his breath, then whistled to call the dog back.

"Depend on!"

Chen Xiangqian was extremely excited. He only regretted not having a high-accuracy gun in his hand, otherwise he would definitely have been able to shoot Hua Gouzi's dog to pieces.

"My goodness, this leopard is so handsome! I've never seen such a handsome leopard before."