Chapter 200: Thus It Covers the Sky

The day after the wedding, the Wei brothers took Da Wang and headed into the southwestern forest to hunt.

It's said the forest here is far richer than the northern border's, so Zhe Tian finally has a place to put its skills to use.

Since arriving in Changzhou, this thing either perches on Da Wang's shoulder or guards Bai Ze, afraid it might disappear again—it's been worrying everyone to death, though no one thinks it's anything special; it's just an eagle, and the southwest has plenty of them.

When they reached the hunting grounds outside the forest, Bai Ze would still lounge around the camp lazily, putting on an aloof, noble air, but Zhe Tian was different.

Da Wang released it in the camp, telling it the forest was dense and abundant, to go catch some big game for lunch~

After a few days of pretending to be tame in the new territory, Zhe Tian suddenly spread its wings and shot up into the sky, kicking up a whirlwind of sand that swept over everyone, then it turned into a black dot and vanished into the horizon.

Everyone busy setting up camp, except for Da Wang and Wei Shen who were present, stared dumbfounded—was that an eagle?

This time everyone could finally tear their gaze away from Bai Ze.

After the wind died and the sand settled, Wei Ke still couldn't believe the flying sand and rocks were caused by just an eagle, 'This… is it a roc?'

Da Wang calmly brushed off the dirt on his clothes, 'It's a cloud‑sweeping eagle—we can roll up clouds, so kicking up some dust is nothing.'

This fellow just got a bit excited, not on purpose; if it deliberately tried to blow people, anyone unprepared could be knocked over in a large swath.

It had already passed its chick stage; they put Zhe Tian back in storage, the note saying it was still a year from adulthood, and all these guys grew faster than Da Wang.

Wei Shen slung his quiver without even looking up; compared to those two, Wei Ke started to think he was overreacting—no, is this normal?

He had seen raptors before, their wings strong enough to snatch lambs on the plains, but Zhe Tian's takeoff posture really didn't feel right.

Before they could set off, there was movement in the sky—Zhe Tian had returned!

Da Wang squinted and looked up: 'What did you catch? It's so long~'

Wei Shen took a look: 'Ahhh, a mountain python!'

He turned and ran toward the outside of the camp, afraid it would smash him.

As he finished speaking, Zhe Tian had already thrown down a mountain python over three meters long and as thick as a person's thigh, then, without pausing, let out a long cry and flew off again.

Wei Ke stepped closer for a careful look: 'It's a mountain python; this species and size can eat people.'

Da Wang, who already disliked hairless creatures, backed away even more upon hearing that, shouting, 'Zhe Tian, come back! What are you doing with that thing?!'

Too bad it was all in vain; his beloved Zhe Tian turned into a tiny black dot and disappeared, still straining hard……

Da Wang saw the brightly patterned giant mountain python still writhing, he shook his shoulders—how disgusting!

Wei Ke chopped off its head with a knife and had the soldiers collect the body.

Da Wang couldn't understand: 'If it can't eat people, what's it good for?'

'Zhe Tian caught it from deep in the dense forest—no one goes there; anyone who does is basically walking to their death. These pythons aren't found on the outskirts; when we ran out of food we combed the outer areas thoroughly and never saw this kind. We haven't heard of any man‑eating incidents in recent years, so don't worry.' In short, it's meat; in this era of food scarcity, such tasty meat simply cannot be thrown away—bringing it back to the camp for an extra meal is perfect.

While they were dealing with the python, Zhe Tian came back; Da Wang raised a hand to shield his eyes and muttered, '…Oh no! What a long tail!'

Wei Shen burst out laughing, 'This efficiency is pretty high—maybe we don't need to go in; we can just wait for it to deliver food.'

Zhe Tian had never seen such a rich forest and big mountains; catching small prey posed no difficulty. Worried Da Wang might go hungry, this time it ignored his jumping about and simply dropped the catch near him before turning and flying off, satisfied.

Da Wang nimbly dodged, repeatedly shouting for Wei Shen to come take it away; he didn't dare look closely, but that slender tail was probably another mountain python.

Wei Shen exclaimed, 'We've struck it rich! This is delicious!'

Upon hearing that, Da Wang thought it wasn't a python, so he turned and ran back: 'Let me have a look! What do you mean, struck it rich?! What is this?!'

Da Wang slammed on the brakes, legs moving swiftly to hide behind Wei Ke—'What ugly thing exists in the world! Another hairless long‑tailed monster, with a huge mouth that could swallow a child whole when opened.'

'I want to go home! Your southwestern forest has no normal game—I'm not hunting anymore!' Fluffy little deer and wild sheep would do, or even a tiger!

Wei Shen was already shouting and running over, while Wei Ke gave Da Wang a quick lesson: 'It's a Zhu Po Long, and it's genuinely delicious. They say behind the tallest mountain in the dense forest there's a vast swamp—Zhe Tian surely caught it there.'

【Note: Zhu Po Long means crocodile.】

Da Wang, devoid of hope, said, 'I want to go home! Your mountains aren't like the northern ones.'

Wei Shen laughed loudly, 'How could they be the same after such a distance? What's the same is that we also have lots of wild pheasants here—just with different markings than yours.'

This time, with the Zhu Po Long, Wei Ke didn't even bother to toss aside the head; he killed it, waited for the blood to drain, then wrapped it up, and Zhe Tian lived up to expectations by delivering a second Zhu Po Long.

Da Wang had lost interest in the lush, moist dense forest teeming with pythons and Zhu Po Longs.

But the Wei brothers wouldn't leave—who, able to pick up meat at the foot of the mountains, would still want to go home?

Wei Ke circled the Zhu Po Long, noticeably thicker than the previous one, and said, 'I've gained a new respect for Zhe Tian—it can haul this heavy Zhu Po Long. Look at those two bites on its back: a live Zhu Po Long, Zhe Tian's claws tear through the hide, grab the bones, and fly back; a live Zhu Po Long would surely writhe in the air, yet I see Zhe Tian barely breaking a sweat… Here comes the third one!'

Da Wang: '…Even the nest?'

The Zhu Po Longs living in the swamp behind the dense forest have suffered today; without natural predators, they've bred into a large population, and Zhe Tian realized it needn't waste effort hunting—it can simply pick one up and bring it back.

The group stopped going out to hunt, instead starting to clear the ground on the spot to raise Zhe Tian.

What good game could there be in the forest they could ride into, after the Southwest army has plowed it over and over?

Zhe Tian buzzed back and forth like a little bee, hauling eight Zhu Po Longs, until it finally grew tired and quit.

Everyone watched as it flew to the small stream beside their camp and dove in, it vigorously rinsed its claws in the water, waiting to wash off the foul bloody smell; then it shook its feathers, spraying droplets everywhere, the crystal‑clear water beads on its smooth plumage rolled down, after which it shot straight up with a long cry, rose to a certain height, then plummeted at top speed toward Da Wang's position.

Da Wang resignedly put on a leather arm guard, raised his arm high, and Zhe Tian happily gave a long cry before landing steadily on his forearm; its huge wings unfolded, completely shading the short‑statured Da Wang. Only then did everyone realize, upon close inspection, how outrageously wide the eagle's wingspan was!

Wei Ke estimated the length—about three meters! Much longer than any golden eagle he'd ever seen!

Apart from those who came from Youzhou, everyone else was dumbstruck, unable to say anything but one word: handsome!

Wei Shen shouted what everyone was thinking: 'I want one!'

Not keeping such a flashy eagle—what's the point of hunting anymore?!

'When hunting, if you have a Zhe Tian set loose as a hunting hawk, what else could you possibly pursue in life?!'