Chapter 517 - 258: "Cute Bird"! Slingshot Precision—Aim and Hit! [Double - !]
And Li Younan couldn’t use a bow and arrow to blatantly shoot at mice. Later, he came across a video of a guy playing with a slingshot on Bilibili. The guy’s slingshot skills were jaw-dropping, almost hitting the bull’s-eye every time, no matter where he aimed.
Li Younan found it interesting, so he bought one for himself. Initially, he just wanted to try it out and practice since he already had archery skills. Maybe he could pick it up quickly, but once he started practicing—it was unbelievable. When he raised his hand to shoot, he could send the steel ball right to the spot he was looking at, just by instinct.
In terms of accuracy, it was not inferior to that guy in the video. Moreover, there were edits in the video, but Li Younan could actually achieve the terrifying precision of hitting whatever he looked at!
This discovery made Li Younan extremely excited.
He hadn’t acquired any slingshot skills; evidently, this slingshot ability was attached to his archery skills.
Thinking about it, it seems reasonable that playing with a slingshot and archery have something in common in a certain sense.
It’s crucial to note that a slingshot is much more convenient to carry than a bow and arrows, and the steel balls required are cheaper and easier to carry than arrows. In a pinch, even picking stones off the ground works too.
So on this trip, Li Younan carried a professional, powerful slingshot and a whole bag of hundreds of steel balls.
This kind of slingshot has an effective range of over 150 meters. Paired with 12mm diameter steel balls, it can easily pierce through iron plates, break branches, and if it hits an animal’s vital points, it can easily cause fractures and internal injuries, possessing a level of lethality comparable to a weapon.
In a way, it’s comparable to a handgun!
And the snake from this morning was taken down by Li Younan with a single shot from this slingshot.
While finding food for the owl, Li Younan didn’t bring it along, but left it in the tent at the camp.
During the day, owls have poor vision and can even be bullied by sparrows but they are very vengeful animals. As long as you don’t kill it during the day, it will take revenge at night.
But likewise, owls are animals that remember kindness. Once they see you as a kindred spirit, they become very gentle and adorable.
There’s a story abroad about a person who saved an eagle owl, raised it for two months, and set it free. So the eagle owl started a four-year journey of repaying the favor.
Almost every day, the couple would receive mice and snakes caught by the owl...
If the man appeared indifferent to the catch, the owl would even thoughtfully feed it directly to his mouth...
Liu Li followed Li Younan but didn’t venture far from the camp, just searching along the forest edge.
Originally, Li Younan didn’t plan to bring Liu Li along, since hunting scenes can be somewhat gory. But Liu Li insisted on coming, so Li Youran didn’t stop him.
With his strong animal tracking skills, Li Younan quickly spotted the signs of a squirrel.
Squirrels move extremely fast, darting away in a flash, making it hard for the eye to follow.
Liu Li only felt something dart past, and the next moment, there was a slight rustling in the grass.
Looking at Li Younan, he was still holding his slingshot firing stance.
Liu Li asked dumbfounded, "Did you hit it?"
Li Younan nodded, "Let’s go over and take a look."
As they walked to the grass, parting the dry leaves and branches, there was indeed a squirrel with its head shattered, brain matter spilled out, and its body still twitching.
Seeing this, Liu Li’s face turned a bit pale.
Li Younan laughed heartily, "I told you not to come along... You’re a newbie but love to play."
Quickly, he wrapped the squirrel’s body in a garbage bag he carried and packed it up.
Liu Li’s face looked a little better then.
But in fact, if there were other options, Li Younan didn’t want to hunt squirrels.
Though eagle-owls are the nemesis of rodents, they particularly don’t like eating squirrels.
It’s not that squirrels are unpalatable but because squirrels will gladly, without any reluctance, give up their nests for eagle-owls to live in.
In a way, squirrels are the landlords of the eagle-owls.
Since eagle-owls are creatures that repay kindness and bear grudges, they seldom attack squirrels.
But with no better choice now, he had to take the squirrel back.
In the evening, perhaps due to the gory scene of hunting the squirrel with the slingshot, Liu Li even lost his appetite, especially compared to Liuli, who didn’t feel like eating at all.
The owl, however, devoured it with relish. It probably hadn’t received a favor from a squirrel yet, so it ate without guilt.
It was obvious that this little creature hadn’t feasted like this in a long time.
After eating fresh rodent meat, it stayed quietly in the cage.
As night fell, it became more active, letting out several "hoo hoo" calls.
Liu Li looked at the owl, "Li Younan, why don’t we give it a name?"
Li Younan paused.
Actually, he was reluctant to name it, because naming it would genuinely create an emotional bond with the creature, making future separation more sorrowful.
But seeing Liu Li’s expectant expression, Li Younan nodded, "You name it."
"I name it? Let me think... Alright, it looks round, let’s call it Tuantuan."
Li Younan shrugged, "Whatever."
Liu Li squatted in front of the owl, seriously saying, "Tuantuan, you’ll be Tuantuan from now on, alright?"
The owl cocked its head, closed one eye, opened the other, and made two "hoo hoo" sounds.
The call of the eagle owl is deep, resonant, and penetrating.
Hearing this, Li Younan chuckled, "Though it probably doesn’t understand you, it likely doesn’t bear much hostility towards us. If it was stressed or warning us, it would be cawing or hissing."
The next day was the real departure day to reach the glacier.
Li Younan and Liu Li packed up and were ready to set out.
Suddenly, Liu Li gently nudged Li Younan, "Huh, Li Younan, is that a person over there?"
Li Younan looked up, and sure enough, there was someone slowly walking down from the glacier’s direction.
Hmm?