At this moment, Top was holding a piece of jerky, trying to get closer to the harpy eagle, but the harpy eagle was still his natural enemy. Top paced back and forth with the jerky in his hand, looking quite conflicted.

Hearing me call out, Top put down the dried meat he was holding and sat down by the earthen stove.

I tore off half of the waterfowl and gave it to Top. Instead of taking the roasted bird from my hand immediately, Top skillfully used a stick to dig out all the taro that had already been roasted in the fire.

Top pointed to the taro and handed one to me. It seems Top prefers taro.

I took the taro from Top's hand. The taro was still a little hot. I blew on it and peeled off the slightly charred outer skin to reveal the tender, soft, and steaming white flesh inside.

We sat on the ground, eating taro and roasted meat.

The taste of that unidentified waterfowl is similar to that of wild ducks. Wild waterfowl naturally contain a certain amount of fat, and after being simply processed with fine salt and roasted to extract the oil, the waterfowl is chewy, fresh, and fragrant, which has its own unique flavor.

After I had eaten and drunk my fill, I shook the dust off the pigskin mat at the edge of the cliff and laid it back on the spot.

Now that I'm full, I lie on the pigskin mat and sleepiness quickly sets in.

At this moment, Top must have been tired from running around with me all day, because he leaned against the stone wall and fell asleep.

Top was still holding half a taro in its hand, so it seemed it could only continue eating its taro in its dreams.

I closed my eyes, finally able to get a good night's sleep, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

I slept very soundly, and I don't know how long I slept. When I woke up, the sun was already setting in the west.

I measured the distance between the horizon and the sun with my fingers. There are still more than two hours left, just enough time to retrieve the sand beast leg hanging from the tree.

This meat is still fresh, so not only can Top and I make some fresh meat soup today, but more importantly, it's also food I'm preparing for our harpy eagle.

Anyway, I've already rested, so tonight I'll work on wearing this eagle down as soon as possible and subdue this new family member.

Falconry is an ancient art that requires the falconer to have extremely strong perseverance. By engaging in a sleepless, relentless struggle with the falcon, the falcon's overly fierce wildness is worn down.

But before I do this, I have to do something else first.

The meat from the sand monster thighs that we brought back hasn't been processed yet. If we leave it like this, the meat will spoil and smell bad in just a few hours.

Eagles can only eat raw meat, but I have to train the eagle, which means I have to train myself. It's simply impossible to prepare fresh meat right away.

The eagle needs a reward to be successfully tamed, and I have to prepare it in advance. The thigh meat of these sand monsters is quite good, but it can't be smoked, otherwise the eagle won't eat it.

My method is to first cut the meat into pieces, and then slice it into very thin slices with a knife. The wind is very strong on this cliff at night, and it only takes one night to partially dry the moisture in the meat.

Unlike smoked meat, which turns yellow or black, this naturally air-dried meat retains its original bright red color.

When needed, soak the meat in warm water to restore it to its original state.

This process took me more than an hour, and it was completely dark by then. I sat by the fire, while the harpy eagle stood in front of me, its eyes staring straight at me.

I couldn't show weakness either, so I just stared at the harpy eagle. The first half of the night was fine; the harpy eagle seemed quite energetic.

But in the middle of the night, the harpy eagle couldn't control the urge to close its eyes. Of course, I couldn't let it sleep. Its wildness hadn't been eliminated yet, and I couldn't tame it unless I defeated it on a mental level.

I hold a small stick in my hand, and whenever the harpy eagle tries to fall asleep, I poke it awake with the stick.

It hated the feeling when it woke up and would try to peck at the stick in my hand. But I didn't care. I kept poking it to keep it from sleeping until it completely gave in.

Apart from nocturnal birds like owls, most eagles, like humans, need to rest and sleep at night. Prolonged exposure to the elements can leave them physically and mentally exhausted.

This is exactly the state that falconers expect. It is the best time to sign a contract with wild falcons. As long as they can submit, they will give up their pride and accept the food and caresses of the falconers.

They can even rest directly on the falconer's hands, completely erasing their wildness. At this point, if they are given a few more feedings as a reward, they will become dependent on the falconer.

We both made it through the first night, neither of us willing to concede. But the second day was my turn to suffer. I hadn't slept all night, and my eye bags felt really heavy.

My eyelids felt like they were filled with dozens of kilograms of lead, the kind that could be bent even with a steel bar.

But the harpy eagle was different during the day; they seemed to be naturally active during the day. As soon as it got light, its energy recovered considerably, and even its previously listless eyes became more alert.

I felt my head starting to spin, sometimes floating in the air, sometimes swimming in the water. If I hadn't been sitting up the whole time, I probably wouldn't have even known when I fell asleep.

Even so, by nearly noon, my eyelids were drooping constantly. Sleepiness washed over me like a heavy tide, making me want to slide off and lie down on the ground.

Now I finally understand what the hawk handlers meant when they said some hawks could outlast a person. These guys' perseverance is truly unmatched by ordinary animals, and all of this is done while they're starving.

After the eagle is formally trained, even water will be withheld until the eagle is tamed.

I felt that if I continued sitting like this, I would definitely fall asleep. So I mustered my strength and stood up, and started to do some exercises to loosen up my muscles.

During this period, I ate some dried meat and did all the broadcast gymnastics exercises from elementary school to junior high school, junior high school to high school, and high school to university.

I did feel much better after finishing, but that was only a temporary fix. As soon as I stopped, I started feeling sleepy again.

Left with no other choice, I started doing push-ups, sit-ups, and high knees again. After a period of intense exercise, my body ached and I couldn't do any more.

I soon discovered the drawbacks of this short-sighted approach. Although my body did feel much more alert at first due to the intense exercise, I soon realized that this was a case of drinking poison to quench thirst.

However, once the body becomes fatigued, this brief period of clarity not only doesn't last long, but actually intensifies.

If before it was just about filling your eyelids with lead, this time it felt like you were welding your eyelids together with a welding machine.