My 1995 Small Farm.

Tiannan City is located at a high altitude, and the weather quickly cools down after the beginning of the eighth month of the lunar calendar.

In the early autumn breeze, the air is filled with the fragrance of fruit. A lithe yellow-clawed falcon leads a flock of plump gray pigeons as they fly and circle above the orchard.

As soon as the sound of horses' hooves and motorcycle engines came from the dirt road beside the orchard, the eagle let out a joyful cry in the air, leading the flock of pigeons to swoop down towards the young man riding on horseback below.

"Whoa, Baldy, what's this guy doing here again?!"

Chen Ling looked up and was quite surprised.

The lynx honked its horn twice, then looked up and laughed, "So you've been here before and know the way? Didn't they show up the other day?"

"No ah."

Chen Ling withdrew his gaze and muttered, "I wonder where it flew from. I asked Er Tu Zi to help train the homing pigeons before, but judging from this, I don't know if they can be trained successfully. All they do is fly around with the pigeons all day long."

The lynx chuckled: "That's another story. At least you've trained the pigeons' stamina, right?"

"That's true. It's already quite impressive that it can fly this far. It's just that an eagle with a pigeon is an odd combination."

Chen Ling pursed his lips and gradually increased the horse's speed.

The lynx couldn't stand his words. "You should be content. You've trained these wild pigeons you caught to be like this. What more do you want? To turn them into homing pigeons overnight?"

Being carried by an eagle is already quite an achievement.

To breed good homing pigeons, you need to breed and raise several broods.

While racing pigeons involves a lot of gambling, it is one of the most moderate of all gambling competitions.

Greyhound racing is dangerous for the dogs themselves, as running too fast over short distances can easily cause injury or death. Pigeon racing, on the other hand, is rarely dangerous; any danger comes from external sources.

For example, being hunted by eagles, being shot down by humans, or getting thirsty or hungry along the way and being captured.

That's it.

In other words, Lynx understands Chen Ling, or rather, the two are similar in many ways and enjoy raising each other.

If it were Yu Qi'an at this point, he probably would have already told Chen Ling to buy a few homing pigeons and train them.

"We'll talk about the future later. Breeding pigeons takes time and can't be rushed."

"We need to speed things up now, or Er Tuzi and this flock of pigeons won't be able to maneuver properly."

As Chen Ling spoke, he spurred the horse's flanks, and the little blue horse immediately took off galloping.

"Alright, I'd like to see how the pigeons manage to follow along."

With a twist of the throttle, the motorcycle roared off.

His motorcycle is not a mountain bike.

It's much more powerful than a mountain bike. When you let go of the throttle, it can keep up closely with the little blue horse on the narrow road.

A tall, blue horse and a black motorcycle sped along a dirt road in the countryside.

Immediately following, a cheerful cry of a falcon rang out, and a powerful yellow-clawed falcon hovered above Chen Ling's head, flapping its wings and taking flight.

Meanwhile, a flock of pigeons circled around the little blue horse and the motorcycle, flying low in the air.

Chen Ling was used to riding horses, releasing hawks, and releasing pigeons. Although he felt great joy when he was running, he had already gotten used to it.

Lynx, however, had never witnessed such a thing before. He was amazed that the pigeons flying around the motorcycle at such a close distance could maintain such low-altitude flight while the motorcycle was speeding along.

There were two of them on either side of him, as if you could reach out and touch them.

Releasing pigeons is even more fun than walking a dog.

Especially when the motorcycle is going fast and the surrounding scenery is rushing past, he can still see flocks of pigeons chasing after the motorcycle in the two rearview mirrors.

Some pigeons didn't even seem to flap their wings; they looked as if they were gliding alongside a motorcycle.

The fun and exciting scene made the lynx let out an excited howl and twist the throttle again...

As the motorcycle accelerated, the flock of pigeons was pulled away.

But soon they flapped their wings and caught up, the flock of pigeons scattering around the motorcycle, flying back and forth with it, sometimes in front and sometimes behind, chasing each other.

The scene was so captivating that even the well-traveled lynx couldn't resist becoming more and more addicted to it.

After walking along the dirt road, the horse and the motorcycle arrived at a highway outside a county town, where they had even more fun.

This also drew gasps from many passersby, who followed them for a long distance, many wondering what the two young people were doing.

It was carrying a flock of birds or pigeons; I couldn't tell what they were doing.

Everyone stood on tiptoe to look around, and then started discussing amongst themselves.

Although motorcycles are no longer as scarce as they were a couple of years ago, they are still not very common in the small county towns below.

There were even fewer big motorcycles that Lynx rode, and Chen Ling was galloping around beside him. Many people who saw this said that he was a rich kid.

But some people said it didn't look like it, because they clearly saw something flying around their heads and sides, but they couldn't see what it was or guess what the two people did.

The two ignored the stares of others. The road was wide, with plenty of farmland on both sides, and they just needed to be careful not to hit anyone.

We traveled along the way, enjoying the journey as we went.

The dogfighting competition that Lynx mentioned was also in the suburbs, at an old livestock market, not far away, at most ten kilometers.

It would take a little over half an hour to get there by motorcycle, and at Chen Ling and his companion's speed, it would be even faster.

As we got closer to the dog fighting ring, we encountered more and more people heading to dog fights on the road.

Some were riding motorcycles, some were riding bicycles, and some were driving cars and small trucks, each carrying a dog in an iron cage.

Some cages even contain more than one dog, all of them large breeds, and each dog has a muzzle to prevent them from fighting each other inside the cage.

These people were in a hurry to get to the dogfighting area.

But when Chen Ling and Lynx, with eagles hovering above their heads and pigeons flying beside them, whizzed past them.

Every single one of them was captivated, without exception.

Drivers couldn't help but crane their necks to look out the window.

There's no way around it, their way of playing is just too unique.

"What's this for? Is it some kind of juggling act?"

"What juggling? That's Zhong Laosan, and the one on horseback is that young man surnamed Chen. I just saw him the other night."

"Oh right, he's the only one riding a horse."

"They're going to watch dogfighting too. Come on, hurry up and catch up with them. Let's see what kind of birds they have with them. They look a lot like pigeons to me."

But can a pigeon really fly like that?

Most people have seen flocks of pigeons flying in the sky, and many have fed pigeons in squares or parks.

It's not like they wouldn't recognize it.

However, if it were Chen Ling and his group playing this game, they wouldn't be able to be sure whether it was a pigeon or not.

I've never seen anyone play like this before.

As they got closer to the dogfighting arena, more and more people came, including many residents from nearby counties and villagers who had come to watch the dogfights and join in the fun. As a result, Chen Ling and his companion gradually slowed down.

After they slowed down, the cars behind them followed.

Many of the people who came to the dogfighting event knew Chen Ling.

Most of them had met on the night they were walking the tiger.

After catching up, they looked with curiosity at the pigeons flying around them and the eagles soaring overhead.

Upon seeing it clearly, their eyes widened immediately, and they exclaimed "Holy crap! Holy crap!" repeatedly, because they finally saw clearly that there were indeed pigeons flying around the two of them, and there were also eagles.

"Goodness, Brother Chen, the way you're doing this has made us lose interest in dog fighting."

"Yes, look, so many people are watching you. You're the center of attention today."

"...Tsk tsk tsk, with your skills, training tigers is one thing, but you can even train pigeons like this, what other abilities do you have that we don't know about?"

Not only were there many dog ​​fighters today, but it also seemed like there was a market day ahead, attracting many people. Chen Ling didn't bother talking to them; he gestured to the group, then whistled, and the flock of pigeons instantly gathered.

The eagles also circled down.

Chen Ling raised his hand to catch it, and Er Tuzi perfectly controlled his strength, landing on his arm. The flock of pigeons landed on the horse's back.

Many people who came to the market saw this scene and thought that in addition to dog fighting, there would also be acrobatics, so they crowded into this old livestock market.

The bustling crowd made it difficult for many people who came to watch dogfights to get in.

I had no choice but to park the car outside and walk inside with the dog.

After they finally squeezed in, they saw Chen Ling already standing with Sun Yanhong, Yu Bangjin, and the others, chatting.

Apart from the little blue horse tied to a tree, the eagles and the flock of pigeons were nowhere to be seen.

As everyone looked around curiously, Lynx pointed to the sky above and saw a falcon leading a flock of pigeons flying away in the blue sky.

Seeing their confusion, the lynx smiled and said, "It's tired from flying and went to find a place to drink water."

Without saying much, he walked straight to Chen Ling and the others.

Yu Bangjin was explaining the situation when he said, "You see, the games inside are still relatively small. It's mostly young people from nearby villages playing around, and they don't bet much money."

Have you seen those bikers with dogs on the street? That's them.

Chen Ling could hear dogs barking all around him, and he knew that the dogs were fighting.

The crowd was so densely packed that it was impossible to see what was happening inside.

Sun Yanhong then explained, "You don't need to watch this now, it's just small-scale fighting. They've brought their local dogs over to fight. When it really starts later, there's a dogfighting arena in the very center, that's the most exciting."

Just like the Colosseum.

In a circular arena, two dogfighters stood on either side of the north and south exits, each leading their dog.

At this point, other dogs were not allowed to approach, and the two competing dogs were allowed to bark at each other for a while.

Once they get really excited, they start blowing whistles, and then they unleash the dogs to start the race.

The two dogs started fighting.

When two dogs meet while being walked on the street, they will bark angrily at each other and show signs of attacking and threatening.

These fighting dogs are inherently aggressive and have bad tempers.

When two dogs meet, they easily get into a fight after their tempers are ignited.

"...During this period, when the dogs bark and confront each other and show their power, it is also the time for these fighting dogs to place bets, which really tests a person's eyesight."

Sun Yanhong added.

In other words, the dogs' behavior is observed by observing their confrontation before they enter the arena.

For example, body shape, teeth, courage, etc.

If a dog cowers at a couple of barks, tucks its tail between its legs, and pees, then nobody will bet on that kind of dog.

"Oh, I see. It's quite formal... Oh, the lynx is here. Come on, let's go take a look around. Anyway, no matter who's playing, it's just dogs fighting. I think their little game is quite interesting."

Chen Ling felt that the way Sun Yanhong described was much more formal than many of those in later generations.

In later generations, because open dog fighting was prohibited, the elites and upper classes mostly engaged in horse racing and sports betting, and dog fighting became a purely folk activity.

Although there are many people, the gameplay is simple and the venue is basic; you can just find an open space in the wild.

Betting is simple and straightforward, much simpler than in this situation.

"Let's go take a look. To be honest, I've hardly ever been to an event like this; I've only heard about it from people."

Lynx rubbed his hands together, and the group started wandering around.

You can see that nowadays, dogfighting is done in groups of three or five.

Most of them are young people from county towns and villages, but of course, there are also some older people.

The dog they brought was ordinary, and they gambled very little.

A dogfight can result in a bet of up to 500 yuan.

More often it's one or two hundred, or three hundred.

However, although the bets are small, there are quite a few participants.

The first thing Chen Ling and his group saw was two middle-aged men fighting with their dogs.

One side is a yellow mongrel, and the other side is a blue dog; both are common dogs in the countryside.

The two sides met face to face, barking and biting at each other, wrestling and rolling on the ground.

Although the fight appeared to be fierce, the injuries inflicted on each other were not serious compared to those of aggressive dogs, and the fight ended quickly.

The blue dog won due to its size advantage.

Some cheered, some were disappointed, and then they started dividing the money.

"This guy, this way of playing is too much... If the police were to intervene, once someone reports it, they would definitely take them all down."

Chen Ling muttered to himself.

But I must say, this thing is actually quite interesting.

Especially in rural areas, the dogs used for dog fighting are usually not aggressive breeds. If one side can't win, it will quickly admit defeat.

The other dog won't chase and bite, nor will it attack deadly.

It's similar to dogs fighting in the village.

Moreover, the dogs they brought were all quite ordinary, making it difficult to judge which one had the advantage based on appearance alone.

Even Chen Ling often misjudges things.

But the more you misjudge, the more addictive it becomes.

Chen Ling felt this deeply, and even he was intrigued by it.

However, after going around in circles, even if he makes a mistake, he is confident that he will not lose, or if he does lose, it will be only a small part.

Otherwise, all those dogs I've raised at home would have been for nothing.

"How about it, Fugui? Want to place a bet for fun?"

Sun Yanhong was very good at reading people's expressions. Knowing that Chen Ling was itching to do something after walking around, she asked with a smile.

Upon hearing her question, Yu Bangjin's eyes immediately lit up as he looked over: "Brother, come to me for betting! I had a six-game winning streak in dog racing and an eight-game winning streak in dog fighting at the beginning of the year. I'll guide you, you're guaranteed to win."

This short, chubby man with a head full of curly hair had refused to work with Chen Ling on the pickled vegetable factory last time, but after seeing Chen Ling making headlines and appearing on CCTV, he regretted it immensely.

Now I'm thinking of getting closer to Chen Ling.

What's the fastest way to build relationships? In his opinion, it's obviously by winning money with your brothers.

"No need, no need. We've never been to this kind of occasion before. Let's have some fun by ourselves first."

Chen Ling smiled. He and Lynx decided to place their own bets first. Since they were already there, a little gambling was harmless fun, and they wanted to try something new.

Upon hearing this, Yu Bangjin was about to offer some advice when he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye and quickly turned his head: "Hey? Someone brought out Tiger Head Yellow, the dog fighting is about to begin."

Although Tiger Head Yellow is a mixed-breed dog, it is a truly fierce dog, the kind that will fight to the death. It won't stop unless its owner tells it to, and if it gets angry, many times even if the owner tells it to stop, it won't work.

Therefore, many fighting dogs prefer to use tiger-head yellow dogs as the lead dog.

This dog is cheap and easy to use, just like the Mongolian horse among horses; it's not expensive these days.

You can bring back a few by making a trip to the mountains near Fenglei Town.

They are nowhere near as good as rare and fierce foreign dogs.

Therefore, releasing the Tiger Head Yellow at the start serves as a probe. (End of Chapter)