Chapter 10: Be a Foodie, Call Out!

To catch a *Da Qing Yaozi* (large sparrowhawk) so fortuitously, keeping it tethered on a string is certainly safe, but this behavior is like making an eagle dance while in chains.

If one wants to bring out the full potential of a *Da Qing Yaozi* as quickly as possible, the ultimate answer is to remove the tether and let it fly free.

To train an eagle to fly free, the familiarity between the bird and the handler is already basically sufficient; all that is missing is establishing the conditioned reflex known as "calling from a distance" (*jiao yuan*).

What is *jiao yuan*? It is the operation where the eagle is placed in one spot, and the handler, holding meat several dozen meters away, calls the eagle back to their hand through a command or a whistle.

Yue Feng had originally planned to slowly cultivate affinity and familiarity during actual hunting, waiting until the eagle was completely tamed while tethered before considering removing the string for *jiao yuan*.

Now, the training plan had to be moved up.

Having made up his mind, Yue Feng did not let the eagle eat its fill of pigeon meat at once. Instead, he let it eat until it was about thirty percent full before hiding the rest of the pigeon.

At this moment, the *Da Qing Yaozi’s* crop was slightly bulging. Having expended a good deal of energy during several consecutive hunts, it stood firmly on Yue Feng’s hand, twisting its neck to press the food down into its crop.

Yue Feng carried the young eagle for a while to let it settle, then turned and walked in the direction of home.

Today’s field training was over. He would go home, let it rest, and once he got home, he would prepare the food for the eagle. He aimed to finish the "fist-jumping" and "calling from a distance" training within two days.

By the time Yue Feng walked back to the entrance of the village convenience store with the eagle on his arm, he happened to run into a few village women.

"Oh! Little Feng, where did you catch an eagle? It looks like a decent size!" The shopkeeper, Li Yinhua, looked the eagle on Yue Feng’s arm up and down, greeting him with feigned enthusiasm.

Yue Feng pursed his lips slightly and replied, "Auntie Li, Auntie Zhao, Sister Liu, you’re out here hanging out? I picked this up on my land, just raising it for a few days for fun!"

Yue Feng had learned his lesson about the village gossips in his past life; this was no place to linger. After a brief reply, he greased his heels and left.

Once Yue Feng was far away, Li Yinhua, who had been all smiles just a moment ago, curled her lip and muttered, "The Yue family’s second son is a real dimwit. Eagles eat meat, and people can barely get enough meat to eat these days, yet he’s raising an eagle for fun?"

Another woman chimed in, "I heard that a few days ago, Yue Feng went to work at the timber yard and got beaten back. He had a huge bump on his head and was unconscious on the *kang* for several days before he woke up! Could his brain have been damaged? Carrying an eagle and walking dogs—does he think he’s some prince or nobleman?"

...

Facing this gossip behind his back, Yue Feng ignored it entirely. How could these short-sighted women know that he wasn't training the eagle just for fun? He was using this young eagle to accumulate strength and escape the fate of a pathetic life like the one he had in his previous existence!

Carrying the eagle home, Yue Feng lifted his arm and tethered the young bird to the back of a chair. He then went to the outer room with his satchel and handed the two live hazel grouse the eagle had caught to his mother, who was preparing lunch.

"The eagle caught these! Caught three this morning—one pigeon and two hazel grouse. I tore up the pigeon to feed the eagle, but you can clean these two and we’ll stew them with potatoes for lunch! Once the eagle is better trained, I’ll go to the foot of the mountain to catch some hazel grouse!" Yue Feng told his mother about his harvest with great pride.

At first, his family had been neutral toward his eagle-raising—neither encouraging nor opposing it.

But after Yue Feng slowly started showing results, his mother’s reaction clearly showed more approval of her son’s actions.

"Oh, they’re still alive? These two hazel grouse are quite plump!" Mother Meng Yulan said happily, clutching the spoils of Yue Feng’s morning hunt.

"Yeah, I swapped them for the dead pigeon after catching them! Mom, do we have any old socks at home that can’t be worn anymore? Once I catch more, I plan to take them into town to sell!"

"We do. I’ve kept all the socks that wore out over the years and couldn't be mended because I couldn't bear to throw them away! I’ll find them for you in a bit!"

"Sounds good!" Yue Feng replied. He took an empty bowl from the cupboard and headed out of the north room with the remaining pigeon.

Plucking the feathers and cleaning it simply, Yue Feng divided the remaining pigeon meat into seven or eight pieces. He threw away the large flight feathers but kept the soft down.

In the jargon of eagle handlers, this step is called "preparing the food"—processing the feed for the eagle.

If a handler wants to control the eagle's state as much as possible, this step is indispensable. When reducing the eagle's fat, one feeds it "water-food"; when increasing its fat, one feeds it "blood-food." A handler is defined by their ability to manage the food.

Whether it’s a large eagle or a small one, the goal is always to have it "full of fat and with a clear crop."

"Full of fat" means the eagle has abundant physical strength, and "clear crop" means the eagle is spirited and eager to hunt when taken into the field.

Achieving this requires a high level of skill from the handler, as it necessitates subtle adjustments based on performance in the field. Having spent over a decade training eagles in his past life, Yue Feng knew the ins and outs of this perfectly.

To train "calling from a distance," the handler must have food in their hand, preferably "blood-food."

Yue Feng cut the meat from the pigeon’s breast into small cubes, hid two pieces in his palm, and returned to the courtyard with the eagle on his arm.

He placed the eagle on the wooden perch by the south wall and tethered it to ensure no accidents occurred. After making preparations, Yue Feng put on two layers of thickened gloves on his right hand. He then turned his back, extended his right arm, pinched a piece of meat between his thumb and index finger, and stood about half a meter in front of the eagle.

"Hey!!!" Yue Feng let out a low shout, showing the meat in his hand to the young eagle.

This "Hey" was the feeding command to establish the conditioned reflex. At first, the young eagle didn't know what was happening, but after seeing the meat in Yue Feng’s hand, the little guy decisively jumped from the wooden perch onto Yue Feng’s right palm. Its sharp, dagger-like talons stepped onto the meat, and it began to tear and eat.

While the eagle was eating, Yue Feng would shout "Hey! Hey! Hey!" every few seconds, letting the eagle get used to the command.

Once the eagle finished the piece of meat, Yue Feng placed it back on the wooden perch. This time, he increased the distance between himself and the eagle from half a meter to two meters.

Standing firm, another piece of meat appeared in Yue Feng’s hand as if by magic.

"Hey!"

The next second, hearing the call, the young eagle flew to Yue Feng’s right hand without hesitation and buried its head to continue eating.

When the distance was half a meter, it was just "fist-jumping"—jumping from its perch to the handler's fist. This second distance of two meters counted as basic "calling from a distance."

Yue Feng let the young eagle finish the second piece of meat and then repeated the previous steps.

This time, the distance was increased to eight meters. Yue Feng took another piece of meat, hid it in his palm, and continued to call.

The high-intensity lifting, food control, and face-to-face training from the previous few days played a decisive role. Even at a distance of eight meters, the moment the meat was revealed and the command was given, the *Da Qing Yaozi* flew straight toward Yue Feng.