Chapter 15: A Sparrowhawk Preying on a Pheasant—This Business is Way Out of Bounds!

The steady Great Sparrowhawk maintained a terrifying 100% success rate in its hunts. Every time Yue Feng selected a target and released it, the hawk never failed.

The more it hunted, the stronger the hawk's confidence grew. Just moments ago, when it caught the last small flying dragon bird, it had been released from nearly thirty meters away, yet it still secured the kill in a single round!

Climbing mountains is far more taxing than walking on flat ground. Feeling slightly fatigued, Yue Feng found a patch of grass to sit down and rest for a while. He fed the Great Sparrowhawk a couple of bites of meat and some water. About fifteen minutes later, after crossing a field of scree and traversing a ridge, he arrived at another hilltop.

Yue Feng had already made up his mind. The hawk's condition was essentially at its peak; after wandering the mountains for the day, he wanted to see just how much prey he could catch!

For the next two-plus hours, Yue Feng walked east along the ridge of the second slope, measuring out another hilltop with his strides.

The harvest was excellent: he caught six more flying dragons and two sand-half chickens.

By 11:00 AM, Yue Feng's backpack was already filled with thirteen pieces of prey.

Meanwhile, the falcon in his hand remained high-spirited, showing no signs of fatigue!

Traveling through the mountains is extremely physically demanding. The porridge and steamed buns he had eaten in the morning had been digested hours ago. Feeling hungry and with legs growing weary, Yue Feng found a shady spot to rest. He ate two steamed buns he had brought from home, washing them down with plain water from his military canteen and some pickled strips.

Just as a person needs food and rest, a hawk needs them too. Yue Feng spread his hand to let the hawk perch on his web of fingers, gave it more water and a few bites of meat, and they both took a temporary respite on the mountain.

After about half an hour, the hawk had finished its water and Yue Feng had rested sufficiently. He once again took up the hawk, shouldered his pack, and continued forward!

This trek lasted another two and a half hours.

At the midday mark, both the sand-half chickens and the flying dragon birds tended to hide in the shade of trees or thickets to rest, so Yue Feng's success rate with the hawk dropped significantly. He only caught three flying dragons and two quite plump sand-half chickens.

The prey in his backpack had increased to eighteen. His socks weren't large enough to hold them all, so Yue Feng gritted his teeth and stuffed two sand-half chickens into each sock. Fortunately, the socks were elastic; otherwise, they wouldn't have fit.

Unknowingly, it was already 3:00 PM. It would take at least another forty minutes to walk back to the village from this ridge, so Yue Feng decided to call it a day and head home to rest!

Having made his decision, Yue Feng gave the hawk a bit more water. The half sand-half chicken left over from yesterday had been mostly pecked away by the hawk. Yue Feng wasn't in a hurry to feed it on the mountain and decided to wait until he got home.

With that, Yue Feng carried the hawk and descended along the ridge toward home.

When he was still dozens of meters away from the narrow path leading down the mountain, Yue Feng suddenly spotted a small group of sand-half chickens.

Beside a fallen tree where many secondary branches had sprouted, several sand-half chickens were hunkered down under the branches, taking a dust bath.

Yue Feng was certainly not going to pass up such an opportunity presented right before his eyes. About twenty meters from the tree, he released the hawk.

In the next second, the Great Sparrowhawk flew straight toward the prey.

Just as Yue Feng thought this small encounter was a guaranteed success, there was a sudden, loud flapping sound, like a helicopter taking off.

*Cluck! Cluck-cluck!!*

A male wild chicken, weighing at least three jin, suddenly burst from a nearby thicket and flew straight toward the opposite hollow.

The Great Sparrowhawk was at most three meters away from its original target. After seeing the large wild chicken take flight, it was unclear what the foolish hawk was thinking; it abandoned the easy-to-catch sand-half chicken and banked mid-flight to chase the large rooster.

Seeing this, Yue Feng's heart sank.

*Damn it, a sparrowhawk taking on a wild rooster? This is way out of its league!*

In normal falconry, to reliably catch an adult male wild rooster weighing two or three jin, one would need at least a Goshawk (a male goshawk weighing about 1.2 to 1.5 jin) or a Northern Goshawk (weighing about 2.1 to 2.5 jin).

A large rooster has great stamina; even with a seven-ounce hawk on its back, it could fly several hundred meters without breaking a sweat. If the hawk chased the rooster without conserving energy, catching it might be easy, but subduing it would be extremely difficult.

This Great Sparrowhawk was a bit dim-witted!

Although a large rooster is a bird and falls under the hawk's jurisdiction, the massive difference in weight was undeniable. It would be no easy feat for a seven-ounce bird to take down an adult wild rooster.

He couldn't let a newly trained hawk be ruined like this.

With this thought, Yue Feng abandoned everything else and sprinted toward the direction the hawk had flown.

Fortunately, the Great Sparrowhawk had launched a surprise attack, only flushing the rooster out just as it reached the spot, so the actual pursuit distance wasn't that long.

The male wild chicken had flown less than fifteen meters before the Great Sparrowhawk performed a mid-air flip and snatched it.

It had snatched it, but the size disparity was too extreme. The Great Sparrowhawk couldn't control the rooster at all. The hawk and the chicken tumbled from the air into the grass, engaged in a frantic struggle.

By the time Yue Feng arrived, panting heavily, he was completely stunned by the scene before him.

The Great Sparrowhawk was using a "double-talon head-lock" posture, gripping the rooster's head tightly, putting its entire weight onto the bird's skull. Its wings and tail were fully extended to barely maintain balance.

The large rooster was certainly not going to die quietly; it shook its head and jumped incessantly, attempting to break free.

When Yue Feng was about a meter away, the rooster seemed to pause for half a second out of fright. Seizing this momentary opening, the Great Sparrowhawk lowered its head and pecked directly at the rooster's left eye.

One peck blinded the left eye instantly, and blood flowed on the spot. The rooster's struggling became even more violent!

Yue Feng hurriedly stepped in to control the rooster. After pinning it down, he looked up and down at the Great Sparrowhawk, which was still frantically pecking while standing on the chicken's head!

Hunting large prey can easily injure a hawk. Forget external wounds—even if a single large feather were broken, Yue Feng would feel the heartache for a long time.

This fellow was too fierce! Not only did it use a head-lock to catch an adult wild rooster, but it even knew to look for an opening to peck the eye. Having lived two lifetimes, Yue Feng had practiced falconry for at least a dozen years in his previous life, and he had never heard of anyone owning such a ferocious sparrowhawk!

A single sparrowhawk that could take down a wild rooster—he had found a treasure!

After a quick inspection, the Great Sparrowhawk was intact with no injuries, and only then did Yue Feng slowly relax.

He had already planned to head down the mountain, but catching an extra male wild chicken meant today's hunt was an absolute, perfect success.

Although the male wild chicken was large, its meat was not as delicious as the sand-half chicken or the flying dragon. Since this was the first wild rooster the Great Sparrowhawk had ever caught, Yue Feng didn't intend to use meat to replace it and carry it back alive.

A young hawk that dares to take on big prey is a rare gem that cannot be sought at will. Since the hawk had successfully completed the task, an experienced falconer had to give it a hearty meal to encourage it and boost its confidence.

With that thought, Yue Feng pulled a small hunting knife from his bag and made a direct cut at the rooster's carotid artery.

(End of Chapter)