I reloaded the arrow as I ran. On the ground, I could at least chase after them, but going into the air was going to be a bit more troublesome.
I took out my crossbow and aimed it at the slowly rising harpy eagle, but I dared not shoot. Top was still below its claws. If I missed the harpy eagle but hit Top instead, I would regret it too late.
"Hold!"
Frustrated, I spat and slung my crossbow over my shoulder, chasing after the harpy eagle that had already taken to the sky.
Top's importance to me is self-evident. It's not just my companion; I've long considered Top as family, someone I'd share life and death with.
I will absolutely not allow my family to be taken away so easily!
Fortunately, Top was greedy and filled his basket to the brim. The basket was full of taro with a very high water content, probably weighing about ten pounds more.
The harpy eagle wasn't much bigger than Top, and it was struggling to fly with Top and a basket of local specialties on its back. It would drop down a short distance every time it flew.
This is an opportunity, and I dare not stop. I absolutely cannot let that harpy eagle rest now. If it doesn't rest, this high-intensity flight will eventually exhaust its strength, forcing it to land somewhere.
I chased after it on the ground, panting, shouting as I went to frighten the harpy eagle into not daring to land easily.
High in the sky, Top was also anxiously squeaking and squeaking, its limbs kicking and twisting restlessly. This made the already heavily burdened harpy eagle feel extremely uncomfortable, as if it had eaten shit.
It can't fly very fast; even a human could catch up to its speed.
It wanted to get rid of the weight and escape, but its claws got stuck on it and it couldn't get them out. This was probably the most bizarre monkey the harpy eagle had ever encountered.
Just as I expected, Top struggled and was tormented by the weight.
The unfortunate harpy eagle's wings were burning with pain, and it had reached its physical limit. It had to make an emergency landing.
I saw the harpy eagle fly towards a tall tree, and a million grass mud horses galloped through my mind.
No, are all the things here so cunning?
I didn't dare linger and ran towards the big tree. As I passed a vine about the thickness of a thumb, I casually cut it in half and tied it into a tight knot.
Then he cut down a shrub by the roadside and cut out two thicker wooden sticks, placing one on each side of the vines that had been made into a rope loop.
As I ran, I twisted the two sticks in opposite directions, causing the vines in the middle to twist into a braided shape.
This treatment not only makes the vines rougher and increases friction, but also makes the fibers in the vines softer and more tightly bound together.
Arriving under the big tree, I wrapped the twisted vine in my hand around the tree, gripped a stick firmly in one hand, and hugged the trunk tightly.
Then, just like walking on flat ground, they used their feet to push off the tree and climb upwards. The vines in their hands also coordinated with their steps, rhythmically sending them up section by section to secure them to the top of the trunk.
This method is extremely demanding on a person's arm and leg strength, but the situation is urgent now, and this is the fastest way to climb this big tree. I had no choice but to grit my teeth and persevere.
Fortunately, my nearly six months of training in the wilderness wasn't for nothing. Although climbing these big trees was still strenuous, it wasn't so strenuous that I couldn't move forward.
At that moment, I could hear the sharp cry of the harpy eagle coming from the branches above my head. Top was clinging tightly to a branch and refused to let go.
They remained perched on the branches for a while, unwilling to come down; the harpy eagles were probably too exhausted from flapping their wings.
It simply stopped flapping its wings, drooped its wings, and stood on Top's basket, panting heavily as it rested.
Top saw me climbing the tree and, as if seeing a savior, squeaked in my direction.
"You stupid monkey!"
I couldn't help but curse inwardly. Wasn't this barking at me just trying to attract the harpy eagle's attention? If it flew away again, I'd be running myself ragged.
All I could do was mouth the shushing gesture to Top. Since I was up in the tree, I couldn't use my hands to make the standard shushing gesture, so Top didn't understand my usual shushing gesture for a moment.
Perhaps Top noticed that I was pouting and wanted me to bark loudly so I could pinpoint its location, so Top barked even louder in my direction.
While shouting, it didn't forget to hug the tree trunk and shake it vigorously to make its figure more visible in my field of vision.
At this moment, I was completely dumbfounded. What the hell is this? It's all backwards!
At that moment, I had no choice but to speed up the climb. Once I reached the main trunk of this kind of big tree, I could use my hands and feet to quickly climb to Top's location at the branch points.
However, Top's call was too obvious, and the harpy eagle's eyesight was among the best of all birds of prey.
Like all birds of prey, the harpy eagle's eyes have a special light-gathering structure, which allows them to spot prey no bigger than an egg within a range of one or two kilometers at high altitudes.
I'm obviously dozens of times larger than an egg, and I'm only a dozen meters away. For it to not see me, it would have to gouge its eyes out first.
Actually, it doesn't matter whether Top calls or not; this harpy eagle had already spotted me when I climbed the tree.
However, due to Top's size being comparable to that of the harpy eagle, and Top's tight grip on the branch, the already exhausted harpy eagle tried to escape but had no strength to pull away Top's limbs that were tightly holding onto the tree trunk.
So it's not that it doesn't want to run, it's that it wants to run but can't.
Its situation was somewhat awkward. It had always been the one to control its prey, but today it was trapped in a tree by one of its prey.
If this gets back, his raptor will be slapped in the face.
I had already climbed up the trunk of the tree. Top and the harpy eagle were at the top of a branch to my left, probably less than five or six meters away.
Seeing that I was approaching the branches, the harpy eagle, which hadn't rested for long, flapped its wings again, trying to take off.
But while the harpy eagle rested, Top also lay down on the tree to rest.
At this moment, Top seemed to be welded firmly to the tree, and no matter how much the harpy eagle flapped its wings, it refused to let go of its limbs that were tightly hugging the tree trunk.
I got even closer; I estimated that I was less than three meters away from the harpy eagle.
The harpy eagle raised the feathers on its head to make itself appear more intimidating, and kept emitting low, threatening cries.
But its constant struggle and attempts to pull its claws out revealed its current cowardice.
Now that its claws are bound, only its beak can still harm me. However, if I carefully avoid the beak and grab it from behind its neck, its last remaining beak will be useless.
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