Chapter 113 (2/2)

”Wild geese are very cautious, and most people are unable to approach them closely. They also spend a lot of time on the water, so if I don't use a bow and arrow, how else am I supposed to catch them? I'm a good archer, so as long as I hit the goose's wings, it won't be able to fly off!” Zhao Han confidently raised his bow and arrow again.

Yu Xiaocao still disagreed with his idea, ”An injured wild goose won't look good either at the banquet! Give me a second to think of an idea!”

Wild geese lived together in a large flock and were very wary, so they were quite hard to catch. Thus, most people used a swan to subst.i.tute for the goose during their wedding rites.

The prefectural magistrate son's fiancee was the youngest daughter of the mayor of the capital. Because her father had an important and high position in the capital, the prefectural magistrate naturally wanted to make sure the wedding rites went off perfectly in order to prevent the in-laws from looking down on them. Thus, even though the date of the wedding was more than half a year away, they had started looking all over the place for some live geese.

However, it was the beginning of spring right now, and most of the migrating geese flocks hadn't flown back north yet. If this bed of reeds didn't have a heavenly terrain, it'd be hard to find some geese feathers, let alone some live geese!

Yu Xiaocao thought deeply for a short period of time and then suddenly clapped her hands together, ”I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it'll work or not!”

”What's your idea? Let me hear about it.” Zhao Han was in the middle of pondering whether he could go into the water and get close to the flock of geese when he absentmindedly replied.

Yu Xiaocao said, ”We can bend my sewing needle into a large fish hook and then place some food that the wild geese like to eat on it. When the goose eats the bait, then we can pull the string and reel the goose on. As long as the fish hook is able to grab onto the goose's neck, it won't be able to run away!”

Zhao Han thought for a bit and then decided there weren't any other options for them, so he might as well give it a try!

Xiaocao heated up her sewing needle until it turned red and used an iron tool to strike it until it formed a hook shape. While she was doing that, Zhao Han was busy catching some fish and shrimp that the geese liked to eat. When he was done, he gave the bait to Xiaocao.

After finis.h.i.+ng her simple fish hook, Yu Xiaocao secretly sprinkled some mystic-stone  water onto the bait and then had Zhao Han fling the hook with bait towards the flock of wild geese.

The bait landed about three to four meters from the edge of the group of geese. The wild goose in charge of keeping watch squawked a few times. The flock immediately scattered in all directions and some of them even flew into the sky.

Zhao Han beat his hand out of a bit of annoyance as he thought they had failed on the first try. Just as he was about to pull the hook in, Xiaocao stopped him, ”Wait a little bit! Catching wild geese is the same as catching fish. There's only one true method, and that's you need to 'wait'! Let's wait and see!!”

When he saw how confident Xiaocao was, Zhao Han tampered down his temper and crouched down into the reed bed. He attentively observed the movements of the geese flock.

When the group of geese that scattered realized that there wasn't any danger, they quickly returned. The bait had a large concentration of spiritual energy, and it quickly attracted the attention of a few of the animals that were closer. A large and powerful male goose fanned its wings as it swiftly came towards the bait. It swooped down its neck and s.n.a.t.c.hed the hook in its beak as it proudly looked back at the rest of its compet.i.tors.

When some of the wild geese saw that the food had already been taken, they decided not to fight for it. Others, on the other hand, were not to be outdone and flung themselves at the winner, stretching out their necks in an attempt to steal the food from the winner's mouth.

The victor nimbly dodged the losers' attacks and swiftly swam away. It gently dropped the hook with the food on it next to its female companion and used its neck to gently rub the female's body. The male goose also didn't forget to look back warningly at the other geese that were coming over.

The female goose showed her grat.i.tude to her mate before she gracefully dipped her head and swallowed the hook that smelled so tantalizing...

”I almost can't bear to catch them!” She had heard that wild geese lived together only in pairs, which was why flocks only had even numbers of geese, and that when one of the partners died, its companion would have a great desire to commit suicide. Seeing the scene in front of her, compa.s.sion rose inside Xiaocao's heart.

Zhao Han also felt touched at the scene and softly said, ”Don't worry, after the banquet, these geese will be let go alive.”

After he finished talking, he silently reeled in the fis.h.i.+ng line. The female goose, who had swallowed the bait, was gradually being pulled over. Her companion also followed behind her and acted like a faithful knight to his princess.

”Let me pull the fis.h.i.+ng line, and you can hold onto the fis.h.i.+ng net I brought along. When the male goose gets closer, use the net to catch him.” Yu Xiaocao explained as she secretly placed another bit of bait that had been doctored with the mystic-stone water in the nearby water around them.

The male goose apparently could sense the spiritual energy that the bait was emitting and swiftly swam closer to them. In a flash, it had entered Zhao Han's hunting radius. With Zhao Han's excellent hunting skills, the male goose naturally would have a hard time escaping. Furthermore, with the female goose also struggling, the two of them were caught like turtles in a jar.

Yu Xiaocao braved the risk of being pecked by the goose and carefully retrieved the fish hook from the female goose's mouth. She was afraid the goose had injured its throat so she stealthily fed it a few mouthfuls of mystic-stone water.

Zhao Han thought the whole situation was very weird. Originally, the female goose had been struggling mightily but when it came into Xiaocao's hands it was more docile than a domesticated duck. It lay motionless in the little girl's hands. As for the male goose in his hands, it was still fighting violently, and his hands had already been pecked furiously by the animal several times. It hurt quite a lot!