Chapter 106: Catching Wild Chickens

  Thanks ngstone, 1985yyopjkg and Prince for your support, you three brothers are rascals!

  He walked a little further and Uncle Wu carefully observed the situation on the ground, then suddenly stopped.

  "Alright! Let's catch the wild pheasant right here!" said Fifth Uncle, his tone seemingly very certain that they would definitely catch a mountain chicken here. Chu Jiaqiang and the others knew well about this old man's prowess, able to observe some small signs on the ground and guess what would appear, in the village, hunting was his forte.

  "Grandpa, there are no wild chickens here! Are we going to wait for the chicken to come? Haha!" Ye Xiaoshuang suddenly thought of an idiom "wait by the stump for a rabbit" and said so.

  Miao Huo and others were also somewhat puzzled, not knowing why this old man was so certain. What if they couldn't wait for the wild chicken? In their previous hunting experiences, they would shoot or command the dogs to chase as soon as they saw a wild chicken.

  "Look, the ground was originally covered with a layer of dry pine needles, but here and over there, there are signs of being dug up. In the soft muddy places, you can still see three shallow claw marks." Wu Shu Gong explained with a smile.

  With this explanation, everyone understood. Chickens like to scratch for food, and it's clear that these are the marks of wild chickens scratching for food.

  "Moreover, most animals have the habit of taking the old road. Although it is said that a good horse does not eat the grass it has already passed, but that is after all a rare case. Wild chickens are even more common, they do not like to eat their fill at one time, they prefer to eat less and often, eating a bit here, then going to other places to eat a bit, and while eating, they will return to the original place again." Fifth Uncle continued to enlighten this group of people.

  "These chickens are really stupid!" Ye Xiaoshuang laughed.

  "Otherwise, how can you be called a silly chicken?" Xǔ Hào added.

  In fact, wild chickens have strong adaptability and disease resistance, high temperature tolerance, and cold resistance. However, the crop of wild chickens is relatively small, with a small amount of food intake, they like to eat less frequently, often eating a little and then walking away, circling back to eat again.

  They have poor flying ability and are not good at flying, often unable to take off again after a few landings. However, they are good at running and jumping. Wild chickens are omnivores, like dry and windy environments, are timid and easily frightened, and do not have a fixed place of residence. They are lively in nature, like to walk around, and often look left and right while walking, occasionally jumping. It seems that all animals are afraid of humans, and wild chickens are no exception. They are particularly sensitive to colors, especially when they see people wearing bright colors or hear the calls of enemy birds, they are easily frightened and appear to be flying and jumping wildly.

  The fifth uncle opened his own cloth bag, which contained two things, corn kernels and old tobacco. He scattered the corn kernels in the place where the wild chicken had pecked at food, then hid with everyone in a not-too-distant hiding place.

  "Wait a bit for the wild ducks to come, I'll shout loudly, and you shoot into the air, got it?" Fifth Uncle ordered.

  "I don't get it! Why alert them, can't we just sneak up and attack?" Liu Yang shook his head, the other inexperienced people looked equally perplexed, clearly not understanding the reasoning either.

  "First, when hunting, we must not kill them all, leaving a few for breeding. Second, when pheasants are startled, they will first fly up, and we should shoot into the air, also avoiding shooting our own dogs." Fifth Uncle patiently explained to everyone some things that should be followed in the mountains, it's better for the younger generation to know and learn.

  Others nodded in agreement, and Professor Wen also admired this old man for having such a high level of awareness.

  Everyone calmed down their big dogs and made them quiet. Without keeping the crowd waiting for long, a clucking sound was heard soon. The fifth uncle put up a finger to his mouth, indicating that everyone should not move or make any noise. Wild chickens are actually not stupid, at least they have a strong sense of vigilance.

  Soon, everyone saw a group of wild chickens with very mixed colors, all looking very bright, copper yellow, green white gray, horn color, gray brown, and even gold. Some wore a bright big crown on their heads, while others trailed a long tail feather.

  Wild chickens do not have domesticated chicken's fat, but their plumage is beyond what domesticated chickens can compare to. They see the corn kernels and do not immediately peck at them, instead they vigilantly look around, seeing no movement, quickly peck once, then immediately lift their heads again to check their surroundings. After doing this several times, they finally feel at ease and start to lower their heads to peck at food.

  As they saw the wild chickens about to finish eating the corn kernels they had scattered, Fifth Uncle shouted in a low voice: "Get ready!" Then he suddenly let out a loud cry, and everyone picked up their weapons and shot upwards at the wild chickens.

  A flock of wild chickens suddenly scattered, flying and jumping around. In total, five wild chickens were shot down, each by Miao Huo, Liu Yang, Ye Qijun, and Chu Jiaxiong. Chu Jiaqiang and Wu Shu Gong, Liu Laoshi did not take action.

  Several dogs also rushed out and chased after the pheasants. The first to return were Lao Li's black dog, Hei Gui, and white dog, Bai Gui, each carrying a dead pheasant in their mouths. This was mainly because they were familiar with the mountain terrain and adapted to running around in such places.

  Then there was Miao Huo's lion, which also had a suffocated wild chicken in its mouth. Liu Yang's green wolf and Ye family siblings' white snow also brought one back. But it was clear that they didn't have experience, and hadn't bitten them to death, so when they were placed in front of their masters, the chickens immediately ran away. The black and white ghosts quickly pounced on them and bit through their throats.

  The worst is Wen Qiu's seeking blood, which may not be suitable for running on mountain roads. Wen Qiu was also extremely depressed, he didn't shoot a wild chicken earlier, and now his own dog was left behind by others, making him very embarrassed.

  "Alas! They're flying around, how can I shoot?" Wen Qiu said with some resentment.

  "Chu Jiaxiong's eyes widened: 'If someone is standing still and letting you shoot, do you still need to shoot? I can just go up and catch them directly!'"

  Others burst out laughing, and Wen Qiu also found that her previous words were a bit silly, and she couldn't help but blush. Xue Xue felt its master's unhappiness and became somewhat resentful.

  "Old Master, why don't you shoot?" Ye Xiaoshuang asked Wu Shu Gong.

  "We wouldn't use guns unless absolutely necessary. As for that kid, I reckon he's not even worth it!" Wu Shu Gong said with a dismissive glance at the Chu family.

  "Cough! It's not that I'm disdainful, but with so many people working together, there'll definitely be enough to eat! Later, I'll catch a few more fish and bring them up to roast. Can't have too much monotony, right?" Chu Jiaqiang said.

  "Huh! The little squirrel actually followed us." Ye Xiaoshuang discovered the squirrel on the tree again. Everyone looked up, and indeed, this little guy was quite bold, not only not afraid of people, but also seemed to be provoking them. Chu Jiaxiong saw the squirrel and got annoyed, quickly picked up a piece of mud and threw it over.

  "You've grown up so big, how can you be so petty?" Ye Xiaoshuang said discontentedly.

  "Never mind, let's just ignore it and move on," Chu Jiaqiang said to everyone, lest another Songta Great War break out again.

  But the squirrel behind was not to be underestimated, following closely but not too tightly, and it was unclear what it wanted. Ye Xiaoshuang was overjoyed, if she could bring back such an adorable little squirrel, how many people would envy her?