Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

Chapter 98: Neurosis, this is called Eagle Owl
Birds are chirping and mountain streams are gurgling. The three brothers are heading into the mountains again after hunting roe deer last time, and this time their target is farther than last time.

If we go by the actual walking distance, it would be at least twice as far.

It used to only take three or four hours to get there, but now Yu Qiutang has to spend half a day or even a whole day preparing.

As long as we can reach the location where Coriolus versicolor appears at around three or four in the afternoon, the mission will be completed.

Fortunately, Wang Haofeng did not fall too far behind today. After some training, his endurance has improved significantly, and he is no longer a reckless man with only explosive power.

As the three of them walked along the way, they also encountered some wild animals, such as sables, badgers, and even three sika deer, two large and one small.

It was the first time that Wang Haofeng saw a sika deer. He wanted to shoot it and take it back, but was stopped by Yu Qiutang.

Now we have to go up the mountain, how can we move forward with the bloody sika deer? Our purpose this time is to get Coriolus polygoni.

In his previous life, he knew three places where Coriolus polygoni multiflorus appeared. If he could get some this time, one pound would be worth more than two hundred yuan, and three or four pounds would be worth a thousand yuan. How could it be less valuable than a sika deer?

However, when Yu Qiutang saw the sika deer, he had a new idea in his mind. After saving some money from hunting and settling the basic infrastructure at home, he could try to establish a breeding farm. Sika deer are undoubtedly a good breeding species.

"How long will it take?"

The sun was at its zenith. The three of them had just climbed up a nameless small mountain. Standing on a large rock at the top, they looked up and saw endless layers of mountains, one green, one red, like a watercolor painting specially dyed with pigments.

Looking at this beautiful scenery, even Yu Qiutang, who has no romantic sense, found it very beautiful. He couldn't help but think of what was often said on TV: our country has countless magnificent and beautiful mountains and hills.

If you don't go to the mountains, you may not be able to feel the true meaning of this sentence.

Yu Qiutang looked at the time. It was 12:30 noon. He roughly calculated the time in his mind and felt that he could definitely make it in time, so he decided to rest on the rock for half an hour.

Then continue on your journey.

Strictly speaking, picking Coriolus versicolor is both simple and difficult compared to hunting.

This is because, although Coriolus versicolor can be picked all year round, the best Coriolus versicolor generally grows on cliffs in deep mountains, because the wild mulberry trees growing on cliffs in deep mountains can better meet the growth conditions of Coriolus versicolor and are not affected by other animals.

The growing period of Coriolus versicolor is very long. It takes at least four or five years to grow Coriolus versicolor the size of an orange.

It is not easy for ordinary people to pick authentic wild mulberry trees. It requires professional pickers who risk their lives, luck and experience.

Therefore, to find this kind of cliff, you need to be at a higher altitude. The lower slopes are relatively flat and the temperature is not suitable. Even if there are mulberry trees, it is difficult to see Coriolus polyphylla.

The three of them sat down and ate the dry food and dried meat prepared in the morning, and drank some water to replenish their energy.

"Tangtang, tell me more about Coriolus versicolor. Is it really as valuable as you say?"

Wang Haofeng thought about it for a long time and finally asked what he wanted to ask.

Once a question comes to his mind, he will feel uncomfortable if he doesn't ask it, and he will feel relieved only when he finds a way to ask it.

Yu Qiutang told him that a pound of Coriolus polygoni multiflorus could be sold for two to three hundred yuan, which completely overturned his perception.

You have to know that more than a month ago, he worked hard for a long time and only saved up a dozen dollars.

That was a lot of effort.

Who could have imagined that anything in this world could be sold for so much money per pound?

"You said one pound is worth so much, is it more valuable than gold?"

"Haha, you are right about that," Yu Qiutang said with a smile, "Coriolus versicolor, because it is yellow and very precious, is called forest gold by many people."

"So, we are going to look for gold now?"

"you do not say."

"Ah, now that you said that, I suddenly feel more powerful. Why are we taking a break? Let's get up and go. If we leave too late, the sun will set."

Yu Qiujiang couldn't stand his "unpredictable" thoughts and said unhappily, "Just now you were the one who wanted to rest, and now you are the one who complains about resting. How can your relationship not satisfy you?"

"Hehe, Brother Jiang, why are you saying that to me? I just want to find Coriolus versicolor as soon as possible. Isn't that right, Tangtang?"

Yu Qiutang knew his character and was not in a hurry to get up. Instead, he gave him a simple refresher on the basic knowledge of Coriolus versicolor.

Wild mulberry trees, Coriolus lindera, grow for many years. As long as no one picks them and the tree is still alive, it will continue to grow.

The growth rate of wild Coriolus igniarius is also very slow.

If nothing unexpected happens and there is no special stimulation, they will grow at most a few tenths of a centimeter of flesh each year.

If it encounters a suitable climate, the meat will grow more. If the climate is not satisfactory, it will only grow very little meat in a year.

Therefore, the growth of wild mulberry trees and Ganoderma lucidum cannot keep up with the speed of harvesting. Basically, once a mountain range is harvested, Ganoderma lucidum will not be produced again for seven or eight years.

"If that's the case, it's not easy to get it, but I think we can definitely get it. All the difficulties are just paper tigers and won't be a problem."

After listening to Yu Qiutang's brief introduction, Wang Haofeng did not show any fear. Instead, he soon became more motivated than before.

Yu Qiutang asked puzzledly: "Then may I ask Mr. Fengzi, what gives you such firm confidence?"

Wang Haofeng laughed and pointed at Yu Qiutang, "You are here, my most respected master. There is nothing in this mountain that you are not familiar with. Is there anything you can't handle?

I won’t say anything else, but I know that in this mountain, as long as I can follow you closely, I won’t be disappointed.”

Yu Qiutang was unable to refute this compliment and could only accept it with a wry smile.

But Wang Haofeng is right about one thing.

If we talk about his familiarity with the dozen or so nearby mountains, there are really few people within a hundred miles who can match him. After all, he walks in the mountains every day, and has been walking for decades.

He didn't visit every nook and cranny of the mountain, but at least he knew some of the famous and special places clearly.

For example, which wild animals in the mountains mainly live in the upper areas, how to take a detour to avoid the gathering places of wild animals, different mountains have their own special creatures, and there are dozens of precious Chinese medicinal materials in the mountains, and where do they grow respectively.

He kept all these in mind.

This is the reason why he has such strong confidence in his rebirth and believes that his life will become more and more prosperous.

It is equivalent to an adventure game. After he finished the game, he has started the second round.

"Okay, we've rested enough, let's continue." Yu Qiutang packed all his things into the bag, stood up and looked at the high peaks in the distance.

Over the next two hours, they climbed another small hill.

The Qinling Mountains are like this. There are very famous high mountains like Taibai Peak, Cuihua Mountain and Zhongnan Mountain, and of course there are also medium-sized mountains like Houtouling, Jimingling and Xiongxiaziling.

However, the vast Qinling Mountains are mostly made up of nameless peaks like the one they just passed. Although they are small, they are connected one by one to form the greatness of the 3,000-mile Qinling Mountains. "Okay, do you see the peak in front? That's the main peak of our Houtouling. The back side we see now is much steeper and difficult to climb. We can only go around to the south to go up."

Yu Qiutang pointed to the distant high peak.

"It looks like there are only a few steps left." Wang Haofeng shielded the sun with his fingers and said confidently.

Yu Qiutang smiled and said, "If you have never seen a mountain, it would not matter if you said such a thing, but you live at the foot of a mountain, don't you know the saying that if you look at the mountain, you will die.

Let me put it this way, the straight-line distance to that place is less than two hundred meters, but the problem is that we don't have a direct route to get there.

Look carefully ahead, doesn't it seem like there's a ribbon going around the mountain like a snake?"

Wang Haofeng nodded, "I know, that's the winding mountain road."

"That's good to know. We just need to follow that mountain path around to the south side of the main peak. According to my estimate, at our previous speed, it will take at least two hours to get there."

"Will it take so long?"

Wang Haofeng was still a little bit unconvinced. He just felt that he was very close, as if he could jump directly over there if he ran and jumped hard.

"Let's go. You'll know if it takes so long after you walk around." Yu Qiujiang gave Yu Qiutang a look, telling him that when dealing with people like those who pay maintenance fees, he should talk as little as possible and just get to work.

Once he suffers a loss himself, he will stop talking nonsense.

Yu Qiutang also smiled.

He didn't find Wang Haofeng annoying. Instead, he thought that having such a personality was quite good. If it were just him and Yu Qiujiang, it would seem a bit dull.

Wang Haofeng can help adjust the atmosphere.

Otherwise, the long mountain road would be quite deserted.

The three of them continued forward.

Wang Haofeng continued to ask some irrelevant questions. Yu Qiutang felt that some of them needed to be answered and he would explain them to him. But for some of them, he simply didn't know how to answer and he was too lazy to pay attention to them.

For example, Wang Haofeng actually asked a meaningless question like who is stronger if a lion and a tiger fight. Yu Qiutang told him that lions and tigers are in different ecosystems and will basically never meet.

If we meet, it can only be in the zoo.

So it is difficult to compare which one is more ferocious.

But if we really have to compare, if they are of the same size, theoretically the tiger will have a slight advantage.

Wang Haofeng listened with great interest, but then he asked again, since tigers are stronger than lions, what about tigers and elephants...

Yu Qiutang was too lazy to pay attention to him.

I really want to tell my childhood friend, "Brother, please at least ask some second grade questions," but then I think about it, my brother never went to school, so I can't blame him.

Yu Qiujiang saw his helpless look and showed a rare playful sarcasm in his eyes. His meaning was very clear: I told you not to pay attention to him, but you insisted on paying attention, and now you are trapped.

And so it went on for more than an hour with all the noise and quarreling.

There was another large protruding rock in front of him. Wang Haofeng ran a few steps quickly, jumped and stood on the rock. Just as he was about to look into the distance, an animal suddenly rushed out from the gap between the sycamore trees next to him.

The object came very fast. After it came out, he saw a stone in front of him. It was too late to dodge, so he was about to jump over the stone.

"Be careful!!"

Wang Haofeng only heard the sound of leaves behind him being bounced by the rapid running. Just as he turned around, he saw a gray or brown shadow rushing towards him. He was about to kick it subconsciously, but the next moment he heard Yu Qiutang shouting in alarm.

He subconsciously stood up straight, holding the axe in his hand.

This is the danger of the mountains and forests.

Human intelligence seems to be better than that of all other animals, but human reaction speed is very slow. Any animal pulled out from the forest will react faster than humans.

Just as Wang Haofeng subconsciously took the axe in his hand, he saw a silver-gray shadow suddenly fall from the sky, pressing the small animal that was about to jump over the stone directly onto the rock with its sharp claws.

It did not stop. The next moment, it flapped its wings with a wingspan of at least two meters, grabbed the animal and flew away, ignoring Wang Haofeng, a living person.

Soon, it was flying high in the sky.

Wang Haofeng was left confused. He didn't even see clearly what the previous animal was, let alone recognize who the big bird behind it was.

This is too sharp.

It completely refreshed his worldview.

"Are you okay?" Yu Qiutang and Yu Qiujiang then ran to the stone and looked at Wang Haofeng who had a dazed look on his face.

“I’m fine,” Wang Haofeng looked up at the flying figure that was gradually disappearing in the sky, and said in a stammering voice, “What the hell are these things?!”

Yu Qiutang also followed his gaze to the sky and said with a wry smile, "The one that came out in front was a stone marten. As for the bird that caught it, it was a rare creature called an eagle owl."

"Eagle...eagle owl?"

"Correct."

"What is that? Why haven't I heard of it?" Wang Haofeng said as he looked at Yu Qiujiang. Yu Qiujiang also had a confused look on his face and shook his head in confusion.

"Let's keep going. I'll tell you as we go. We're almost there anyway."

"it is good."

Wang Haofeng jumped down from the stone and looked at Yu Qiutang eagerly, turning himself into a young disciple eager to learn.

"The eagle owl is actually a kind of owl. In other words, it is one of the largest owls in the world. Even if you put all the owls in the world together to compare their sizes, the eagle owl will be in the top three..."

"That's not right, Tangtang," Wang Haofeng thought of a question, "Don't owls always come out at night? If this eagle owl is an owl, why did it come out to catch things when the sun was so high?"

"So this is a special kind of owl. The eagle owl is not only active at night, but also hunts during the day. Have you seen its wings? The wings can be up to two meters wide, but the wingspan of a golden eagle is longer.

The one we encountered should be an adult eagle owl, weighing at least 15 pounds. The stone marten it caught must have weighed at least 20 pounds. There was no room for resistance in front of it."

"I never thought there was such a fierce owl. It really opened my eyes. No wonder you told me to be careful. If I wasn't paying attention just now, would it have hit me?"

Yu Qiutang smiled, "It's hard to say. The living space of eagle owls and humans does not overlap, so it's hard to judge. But if you encounter this top bird of prey in the mountains, you should be careful."

As he spoke, he recalled something from the past and added, "The eagle owl is a very vengeful bird. If you offend it, it will do everything it can to get revenge. I don't know how it deals with humans, but if another bird offends it, it will destroy the person and their nest, killing the entire family."

(End of this chapter)