Night owls lived their whole lives in the dark night, and nature at night had no colorful colors. There were only black and white, and the gray formed by the black and white. As a result, it was unnecessary to have the ability to distinguish colors, and it slowly deteriorated.
"These night owls are really annoying. I've driven them a hundred steps away, but I can still hear their unpleasant screams clearly. Alas!"
Chen Long ordered a group of subordinates to drive away the night owls around the camp, but the night owls didn't run far before they began to scream again. Moreover, although they were a little farther away, the shrill screams didn't weaken much, which was still quite annoying.
Ang Lee was also helpless about this. The shrill screams of the night owls were too penetrating. Even if they were a hundred meters away, they could still hear them clearly.
"If they want to scream, let them scream slowly. Let's just treat it as listening to a song."
Ang Lee said.
Ang Lee, who didn't have a good way, had to comfort himself. The night owls' screams were too unpleasant, and this was an unchangeable fact. Therefore, the best way was to comfort himself. As long as he got used to this kind of screams, he could fall asleep while listening to them.
As for why the night owls' screams were so shrill, it was naturally caused by their special voices. Ang Lee naturally knew more about night owls, which were relatively famous animals.
Night owls were also called owls. Because of their cat-like appearance, people generally called them owls. Of course, this was the name given by later generations. The people of the Tang dynasty preferred to call these animals night owls. Night owls always liked to hide among the leaves and sleep. When night fell, they would go out to look for food. They were experts in catching mice in the forest.
To be fair, night owls were relatively ugly. The feathers around their eyes were radial, and the fine feathers were arranged to form a face plate, which was shaped like a cat's. Most of their feathers were brown, scattered with fine spots, dense and soft, and they flew silently. The female night owls were generally larger than the male. Their heads were large and wide, their beaks were short, and their sides were flat and strong. The tip of their beaks was curved, and there was no wax film at the base of their beaks, which were mostly covered by hard feathers.
Like many carnivores, night owls' eyes were located directly in front of their faces. This allowed them to have excellent depth perception in the process of hunting, especially in dim environments. Interestingly, the big eyes were fixed in the owls' eye sockets and could not be moved at all. Therefore, the owls had to constantly turn their heads. They also had a flexible neck that could turn their faces to the back. Due to the special cervical vertebra structure, the range of movement of the head was very large. The left and right ears were asymmetrical, and the left ear canal was obviously wider than the right. Moreover, the left ear had a developed eardrum, and most of them also had a tuft of ear feathers, which formed an auricle like a human's. Night owls' auditory nerves were very developed, and they could hear very subtle sounds. According to the research of later generations, a night owl weighing less than a kilogram had about 100,000 auditory nerve cells, while a crow weighing more than a kilogram had less than 30,000.
Night owls belonged to a type of mastiff. This type of bird was different in size. The largest was like the condor mastiff, whose body length could reach nearly a meter. The smallest was like the eastern horned mastiff, whose body length was less than the size of a human's palm. It could be understood that they were only as big as a pigeon.
In any case, all mastiffs had wide heads, short and thick mouths, with a hook at the front. Relative to the head, they had huge eyes that were facing forward. This was a characteristic that this type of bird had and was different from other birds. The feathers on the front of the head were arranged into a face plate, and some species had ear-like feathers. The distribution of the eyes, the face plate, and the ear feathers made the head of this order of birds very similar to that of a cat's. Therefore, people called them owls, and because they were all nocturnal, they were simply called night owls.
The ear holes of this type of bird were located on both sides of the head, and the distribution and shape were asymmetrical. This was helpful for them to accurately locate the source of sound in the dark. It was very important for listening to the location.
The pupils of night owls were very large, making it easy for light to enter the eyes. The retina was very rich in rod cells, but it did not contain cone cells. This cone cell was very important. The cone cell would be activated under strong light stimulation. There were three kinds of visual pigments that could distinguish details and colors. The absence of cone cells meant that night owls did not have the ability to distinguish colors. The colorful world had nothing to do with night owls. It was also because of the absence of cone cells that the eyes of night owls were cylindrical instead of spherical. It also had a good sensitivity to low light and was suitable for nocturnal activities.
Because the cylindrical eyeball was supported by a hard sclera ring, the eyes could not be turned in different directions. To look in different directions, the entire head had to be turned. Therefore, night owls had flexible neck bones that could be turned 270 degrees. In addition, there were three eyelids in the eyes. The upper eyelid would be lowered when blinking, the lower eyelid would be covered when sleeping, and the middle eyelid was a linear structure that would move up and down the eye surface to clean the eye surface. Unlike other birds, their eyes were facing forward, and their visual areas overlapped, so they could distinguish distances.
In order to make it easier to hunt and kill prey, night owls had strong legs and sharp claws that were curved inwards. Night owls' relatives, eagle owls, had feathers all over their feet, which made them look extremely tough. The toes of birds in this order were all swivel toes, which meant that the fourth toe could swivel back and forth. In addition, night owls' feathers were soft and light. The color of their feathers was a dark brownish-grey. The soft feathers had the effect of silencing sound, allowing them to fly quickly and quietly. Coupled with the dark color of their feathers, they were very suitable for night activities. It was very effective to ambush their favorite prey.
Night owls followed a monogamous system. They were usually in pairs. The breeding time was from March to June every year. Because night owls did not build their own nests, they liked to rob other people's nests. Rock caves, tree holes, and underground holes could all be used as nests. They were not picky and had a strong ability to use them.
Generally, night owls could lay several eggs in a nest. It took a month for the eggs to hatch. The female bird was responsible for hatching and then raising the eggs together. Because the laying of eggs was intermittent, when hatching, not all night owls came out of their shells at the same time. Instead, there was a sequence. Therefore, a nest of night owls would have a big difference in size. Don't feel strange when you meet them.
In fact, many birds had such characteristics. When Li An was young, there were often blue bird eggs in the holly tree at home. The hatching time of these blue bird eggs was very different, and the growth speed of the young birds was also very different. Sometimes, the biggest bird could already fly, while the smallest chick had just hatched. From this, it could be seen that the difference was huge.
The difference was huge. The lifespan of night owls was only about ten years, which was far worse than the lifespan of human beings. In addition, night owls were also medicinal herbs that could treat many diseases, such as asthma, eye diseases, dizziness, epilepsy, scrofula, malaria, choking, and other diseases. It was also a good medicinal herb for treating headaches. It also had the effect of calming shock and detoxifying. Because since ancient times, the number of night owls was not particularly large, and it was a kind of ominous bird that many people did not want to touch. Therefore, the price of this medicine had never been low.
Since ancient times, people had always misunderstood night owls and thought that night owls were ominous birds. In addition to the sound of night owls being very unpleasant, there was also a very realistic reason. That was, there were often cases where the old people in the family died after the night owls visited. This situation was real, and it often happened. Therefore, it was reasonable for the people not to be superstitious, and it was reasonable to think that night owls were the birds of mourning. Many old people with poor psychological quality would think that they were about to die after hearing the sound of night owls, but in the end, they scared themselves to death.
Because the ancients could not explain the night owls entering someone's house, and then the death of the old people in the house, so naturally, they became superstitious. According to the scientific explanation of later generations, the reason why this happened was that night owls had a very sensitive sense of smell. They could smell the special smell emitted from the body of a terminally ill person, and because of excitement, they would make a different sound than usual, which sounded a bit like laughter. Therefore, there was a saying that night owls were not afraid of night owls, but night owls' laughter. As long as one heard night owls' laughter, it meant that someone was about to die, because this phenomenon was very common. It could be imagined that those who were in poor health and old people would be very worried and scared when they heard the owl's laughter. They would definitely shudder.
"Assistant Minister Li knows a lot. It turns out that there are so many stories about night owls!"
Chen Long sighed.
Ang Lee told Chen Long part of what he knew about night owls, which greatly benefited Chen Long. There were many things that he still did not know. If Ang Lee had not told him, he would not have known these things.
The night owls' cries were always there, but the trees in the sinkhole were very dense. It was not realistic to chase all the night owls away. Competing with them too much would make him feel powerless, and it would not have a good effect.
Since the night owl's cries were unavoidable, he had to adjust his heart. The night owl's cries were mournful and unpleasant to hear, so he had to imagine the mournful cries as beautiful music. How pleasant it would be to sleep while listening to beautiful music! Could such a good effect be achieved through imagination? Anyway, Ang Lee felt that it could be done.
Because the road down the sinkhole was too difficult, there were not many tents, only five. Ang Lee enjoyed a small tent alone, three for his guards, and only one for his clansmen. Although the number of tents was not enough, not everyone went into the tents to rest. Many people were left behind to be on guard to prevent sudden appearance of wild beasts and various dangers.
The bedding and blankets were certainly prepared, but there was only one bed, which was prepared for Ang Lee alone. No one else had this treatment. They could only make do with lying on the ground with branches and blankets and rest for the night. After all, it was too difficult to make a bed. If they made a few more, they would be exhausted to death. The young and strong soldiers did not care about this and just made do with it for the night.
The small bed prepared for Ang Lee was also a single bed. The width was only 50% more than the width of Ang Lee's body. It could barely turn over. There were quilts and blankets on it. Because the bottom was completely flat, it was quite comfortable to sleep on it.
The tent was military. It was a kind of linoleum with a good thickness. The rainproof performance was very good, and it was not afraid of being scratched by thorns. The degree of firmness was guaranteed. For ventilation, in addition to the small door, the tent had a translucent window. The top was also ventilated and slightly translucent, but it would never leak. There was no need to worry about this.
Ang Lee was lying on the small bed. He could only see the faint light outside. It was impossible for him to see the moon. Even if the translucent window was lifted, he still could not see the moon outside. After all, the trees at the bottom of the sinkhole were too dense. The tent was built under a tree, and the moon had long been blocked.
In the distance, the cries of night owls rose and fell, and the howls of wolves even further away never stopped. As for the cries of insects, there were even more of them. All these chaotic sounds intertwined together, creating a natural atmosphere that the wild should have. For Li An, this feeling was quite good. He didn't feel scared at all.
Listening to the sounds of nature, Ang Lee quickly fell asleep. There were many guards standing guard outside, so Ang Lee did not have anything to worry about. He could sleep peacefully.
Early in the morning of the next day, before dawn, twenty soldiers of the Dragon Martial Army had already set up an ambush in the sinkhole. They were ready to kill the deer that came to drink water.
These fellows were really lucky. By the time Ang Lee woke up, the soldiers had already successfully killed two adult deer. This made Ang Lee very happy. Now, there would be venison for breakfast.
"Assistant Minister Li, two adult deer were killed early in the morning. They are now in the pot."
Chen Long said.
Ang Lee had already seen that because they had just been put in the pot, the cold water in the pot had not yet boiled. Therefore, the venison was still raw and did not have any fragrance.
"Good, soldiers, well done. Put in this official's secret spices. Also, don't leave the Angel Grass at the side. Use it all!"
Ang Lee said.
When cooking the meat last night, the Angel Grass had been used up. The Angel Grass that appeared next to Ang Lee at this moment was collected by the soldiers early in the morning. A few soldiers had injured their legs while collecting the Angel Grass on the cliff. However, because they were wearing armor, the injuries were very light and would heal in a few days.
Chen Long naturally carried out Ang Lee's request strictly. Although the soldiers under his command had suffered a lot while collecting the Angel Grass, there was still a lot of it in the sinkhole. Cooking the meat in the pot was not a big deal. They could continue to collect in the afternoon. In addition, after adding the Angel Grass, the meat would be filled with a unique medicinal fragrance. This taste was very wonderful. The soldiers were happy to enjoy this unique taste and naturally would not refuse.
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