My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 148 That Damn Golden Eagle

That thing was so fast, it was like a sharp arrow.

Even Wu Yang, with his lightning-fast reflexes, could only instinctively shrank his neck before he could see that it was a large bird with a wingspan of over two meters.

Zhou Jingming and Bai Zhishun reacted a little slowly. By the time they realized what was happening and tried to dodge, they had already seen the large bird stretch out its sharp claws and grab at Jin Wang.

Jin Wang was full of energy. As Zhou Jingming and the others walked into the mountains, he jogged ahead and marked the way by urinating everywhere.

This barren place, where little vegetation grows, was originally devoid of life. Who would have thought that such a thing would happen from the sky?

It was startled too.

Even with Jin Wang's quick reflexes, when he sensed a sound coming from above, he could only instinctively bend his hind legs, droop his tail, and turn around to look.

But its attempts to dodge were useless against the large bird. Its lowered rump was still caught by the bird, and dragged down by the bird's high-speed flight. Whether it was in pain or startled, it let out a sharp cry and fell to the ground. The large bird, which refused to let go, was also pulled to the ground and kept flapping its wings.

Just then, Jin Wang twisted his body and opened his mouth to bite back at the big bird.

This time, the big bird couldn't dodge in time. It leaned back and flapped its wings violently to steady itself while also trying to catch Jin Wang's biting mouth. However, it failed to push Jin Wang away and its wing was instead bitten by Jin Wang.

At this moment, the injured Jinwang showed a ferocious and reckless nature, immediately shaking his head violently after being bitten.

The large bird, having failed in its hunt and now facing a life-threatening situation, no longer dared to hold onto Jin Wang's buttocks with its claws.

It immediately released its claws and flapped its wings violently in an attempt to break free. When it found this to be futile, it used its sharp, scimitar-like beak to peck at Jinwang's head.

Similarly, Jin Wang, who refused to let go, was also hit on the head while trying to dodge. Stimulated by the pain, he quickly let go.

This process takes only two or three seconds.

Jin Wang and Da Niao had essentially exchanged blows two or three times, and both had suffered losses.

At that moment, Jinwang jumped to the side and barked wildly at the big bird, while the big bird also jumped to the side, trying to flap its wings and fly away.

Unfortunately, its wings were injured by Jin Wang, so it couldn't fly at all. It could only flap its wings and run to the side with its thick legs, not daring to stop at all.

Just then, Zhou Jingming, who had taken the gun off his shoulder, fired a shot at the large bird. The bird was knocked to the ground, struggled to its feet, and ran a short distance before lying down on its side. It only flapped its wings weakly from time to time. Jin Wang rushed up, grabbed its neck, and swung it around violently several times.

"Holy crap... what is this thing?"

Wu Yang was still a little stunned: "So fierce... I've never seen anything like it!"

Zhou Jingming was somewhat frightened: "That's a golden eagle, the fiercest bird of prey in the mountains."

He ran towards Jinwang, snatched the dead golden eagle from Jinwang's mouth and placed it aside. He also checked Jinwang's injuries and saw that it was bleeding from the places on its rump and head where the golden eagle had scratched and pecked it, but it seemed to be able to move without any problems, so the injuries were not very serious.

Zhou Jingming was somewhat relieved that he had brought the medicine that Peng Yuanchao had bought with him this time. He quickly took out the powder and applied some to Jin Wang's wound to stop the bleeding.

Wu Yang and Bai Zhishun followed.

Wu Yang held up the golden eagle's head and compared it to himself: "It's damn big, it's as tall as my waist."

He would pull open the golden eagle's wings to look at it, then pull on its claws to look at it, and then look at its beak, his eyes full of wonder.

Finally, he grabbed the golden eagle by the neck and slapped it twice on the head: "No matter how powerful you are, you're still just a bird. How dare you try to catch a dog? If it were a small dog, it would be one thing, but this dog weighs over a hundred pounds. You think you can just grab it like that? Well, you're done for now... Are you fucking stupid?"

Zhou Jingming, who was listening nearby, found it amusing: "Wu Yang, don't underestimate the golden eagle. Kazakh herders have a tradition of raising golden eagles. In addition to herding, they also raise golden eagles on horseback for hunting."

Domesticated golden eagles are capable of hunting wolves.

"Can hunt wolves... that fierce?" Bai Zhishun thought he had heard a fairy tale.

"If you don't believe me, wait until Batu comes to the summer pasture next year and ask him."

Zhou Jingming walked over to Wu Yang, took the golden eagle from his hand, and weighed it in his hand: "This big guy weighs at least ten pounds... In winter, it becomes very difficult for animals to hunt. Packs of wolves, bears that have not yet entered hibernation, and golden eagles circling in the sky, when they are hungry, will all become a threat to gold prospectors."

Wu Yang was utterly astonished: "You mean, the golden eagle dares to hurt people?"

"Of course I dare not. I have seen gold prospectors get attacked by golden eagles and die from having their arteries pierced."

When starving, anything that moves will become prey. This golden eagle must have been hungry to target Jin Wang.

At that speed, it was impossible to defend against. If it weren't for Jin Wang, we might have been the ones in trouble.

Wu Yang nodded slightly, agreeing with Zhou Jingming's statement.

Given the speed at which the golden eagle swooped down, if it had scratched any part of the body, it would have likely left several bloody holes. If it had scratched the neck, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

He had just seen the golden eagle's claws; their hardness and sharpness, like metal, were terrifying to even think about.

Bai Zhishun was clearly more interested in the golden eagle's meat: "I wonder if golden eagle meat tastes good!"

"I once heard a saying in Northeast China: 'I'd rather eat four ounces of fowl than half a pound of beast.' This golden eagle is so strong, its meat must be of good quality..."

Wu Yang also looked at Zhou Jingming: "Brother Zhou, when you were at the Beidahuang farm, you must have eaten a lot of wild game. Have you tried any?"

Zhou Jingming shook his head: "I've only ever seen them fly by in the sky, never actually eaten them. These things are hard to catch... But we can give it a try. I've been eating naan every day for the past few days, and my mouth is practically tasteless. Let's go a bit further away and find a place to try!"

Upon hearing Zhou Jingming's agreement, Wu Yang and Bai Zhishun were overjoyed. Wu Yang hurriedly declared, "I want those claws, so don't try to take them from me!"

"You have a good eye."

Zhou Jingming said with a smile, "Once that thing is finished, it will be a rare item. If you find someone who likes it, you can sell it for some money."

"I just think it looks impressive and imposing."

Wu Yang's interest was piqued by Zhou Jingming: "This thing can be played with... how do we do it?"

"Take these claws off the joints and let them air dry. Once they're dry, use a knife to remove the skin. Don't clean the joint between the bone and claw too thoroughly, or it will break easily. Let the bone and claw with the bits of flesh continue to air dry. Once they're completely dry, lightly sand them with sandpaper, and then you can start playing with them. They're naturally oily, so you'll need to wear gloves when handling them. It won't be long before the color becomes very beautiful."

Zhou Jingming had seen someone play with it before. It was the claw of an ordinary mountain eagle. After playing with it for more than two years, the bone had turned red like jade, which was very special. He really wanted to buy it at the time, but the other party was reluctant to part with it and said he would pay a high price. So he simply asked for an exorbitant price, and Zhou Jingming had no choice but to give up.

Zhou Jingming was slow to speak about the claws, and since Wu Yang also liked them, he didn't want to compete with him for them.

He thought the golden eagle's head was nice: "Then I want that head!"

The three of them walked for four or five miles through the mountains, turning left and right, before finally stopping.

They found a small gully in the mountains. There was no water in the gully, but it was covered with camel thorns and some small shrubs, where they could find firewood to start a fire.

Zhou Jingming asked Bai Zhishun to gather firewood, while he pulled out his Yingjisha knife and asked Wu Yang to help him skin the animals.

Lacking tools to boil water and scald the hair, and disliking the mess of burning the hair directly with fire, they could only choose the simplest method: skinning.

After struggling for more than half an hour, we finally managed to skin the golden eagle meat. We fed the intestines and some scraps to Jinwang, and then we made some incisions in the remaining meat, picked out the lead bullets embedded in it, and put it on the glowing charcoal that had been burning for more than half an hour to roast it.

They roasted the meat for another half hour until it was fully cooked. The three of them tore off a piece each and hurriedly stuffed it into their mouths, their brows quickly furrowing.

"There's a fishy smell..."

"It's too bland, and the grilled meat is quite dry."

"I was busy cleaning the cave this time, I never thought I'd find meat... No, next time I come out, I must bring salt, chili, and cumin with me. With these things, the golden eagle meat will be very fragrant!"

"You must bring it next time!"

The three were very dissatisfied with the taste of the golden eagle meat, but since they hadn't smelled any meat for several days, they ate as much as they could. The rest they fed to the dog.

They each drank some water that had been heated in their kettles by the fire, ate some naan, and rested enough. Zhou Jingming got up again, determined the direction, and headed towards another fork in the ditch he remembered.

Upon reaching the gully, before even seeing the mine shaft, Zhou Jingming heard muffled explosions coming from the valley, clearly indicating that there were already people in the gully.

But now, there's no time to go to other gullies to clean the cave, and we can't always avoid people in the gullies, otherwise what's the point?

Zhou Jingming thought for a moment, then took out the gold he had taken out a few days ago from the cave and put it in an oil paper bag. He looked around and buried it under a rock by the river.

The gold hasn't been divided yet, and Wu Yang and Bai Zhishun both have a share. Burying it in front of them isn't a problem.

The main reason is that it's inconvenient to carry these things around, and if something happens while cleaning the cave, they won't all end up as someone else's.

There were only three of them. Compared to those who had more people and weapons, they were still too weak and outnumbered.

Zhou Jingming couldn't guarantee that he could handle any unexpected situation.

Carrying too much gold is itself a source of trouble.

If the amount of gold obtained is small, even if the situation turns against you, once the gold has been sent out, the matter will likely be resolved, and your personal safety will be much better.

If someone intercepts six or seven pounds of gold, given its large weight and high value, the other party might worry about holding a grudge or the news leaking out, and thus choose to kill them to silence them.

Of course, they came for the gold, and handing over the gold was a last resort, a choice made only to save their lives.

Keeping the green hills, you don’t have to worry about having no firewood.

Right now, the most important thing to do is to find a mine before dark, prepare some firewood, and then we can spend the night safely.

After instructing Wu Yang and Bai Zhishun to remember the location of the hidden gold, Zhou Jingming led the way and continued upstream along the riverbank.

After walking for about half an hour, the three saw two people squatting and smoking at the entrance of a cave on the left hillside. One of them was the sinister-looking man who had come with Gao Jianjun to beat the dog.

Noticing the three people appearing in the valley, the two men stood up warily and watched from a distance.

"Ignore it, let's keep going upstream!"

Zhou Jingming lowered his voice and said something to Bai Zhishun, who was looking around, before continuing to walk upstream.

After walking about two miles upstream, Zhou Jingming saw a mine shaft on the slope: "Let's go up and see if people can live in this mine shaft."

The three of them climbed to the mine entrance together, shining flashlights inside. They saw that it was a full-span mine, which must have been recently blasted down, as the traces were very fresh, and they could still faintly smell gunpowder.

Fortunately, there was still a section of about three or four meters at the entrance of the cave that hadn't collapsed. Zhou Jingming went in to take a look and saw that the cave walls were quite sturdy. He immediately put down his luggage and said, "It's getting late. Let's just spend the night here."

Wu Yang and Bai Zhishun went outside to gather firewood, while Zhou Jingming took the opportunity to examine the collapsed soil and rocks with a flashlight. However, after looking around, he couldn't even find any associated minerals of the gold vein, so he had to give up.

(End of this chapter)