Chapter 216
Chapter 216
Soon, my mother came out of the kitchen carrying the wrapped sausages and cured pork.
She found it strange to see me holding a big fat white bird and kneading it in my arms.
When my father told her this was the household familiar Immortal Lady Qin had invited for me, she was astonished too and sternly ordered me to stop “abusing” it.
Only then did I reluctantly let go.
Roundy immediately fluttered over to my mother and flew around her.
That delighted her beyond measure!
She kept saying the household familiar liked her…
I thought, “Of course! You’re the only one who could save it.”
A few minutes later,
I set off for Lianghe Town with my book bag on my back and two strings of sausage and two slabs of cured pork in my hands.
One string of sausage and one slab of pork were for Wang Dachun’s family.
My mother had told me to give the other half to Old Cao. In her exact words, we had troubled Brother Cao far too much, and since giving him money would be inappropriate, we should at least send him some food!
That made sense to me, so I brought it along.
Wang Hu was an excellent cook in particular. With delicious handmade country sausage and cured pork, he could surely prepare all kinds of dishes!
I had barely left Wujia Village
when a sleazy, smug voice sounded in my mind.
“You have some nerve, Wu boy! When you saw your big brother just now, you didn’t immediately bow down in worship. You even kneaded your big brother’s handsome body and mussed up my feathers. If your parents hadn’t been there, your big brother would’ve made you howl for mercy in no time.”
Who?!
I started in surprise.
Then I abruptly looked up at Roundy, my household familiar flying overhead.
“Hey! Roundy, you can talk now?”
When we communicated in dreams before, it had only chirped, cooed, and made various other birdcalls. Although I could understand its meaning directly through our mental connection, no distinct human voice had sounded in my mind.
Now, like Bai Su and Huihui, Roundy could communicate through thought and make a specific human voice sound inside my head.
Coo, coo, coo!
The fatty flapped its wings and called out smugly as that sleazy voice continued in my mind.
“That’s right! Your big brother can talk now. Shocked, Wu boy?”
Huh?
I frowned and said in exasperation,
“Big fat bird, I’m obviously the big brother here, all right? Judging by your appearance, you’re clearly a gyrfalcon that hasn’t fully matured. Your voice doesn’t sound very mature either.”
Roundy fluttered down, landed on my shoulder, and cooed.
“What the hell do you know? Your big brother isn’t an ordinary gyrfalcon. I’m the king of all Jade-Talon Gyrfalcons! I am the incarnation of ice and snow, the god of ten thousand eagles, guardian of the Far North. Ow, Wu boy! Why’d you hit me on the head, you bastard…”
The big fat bird glared at me furiously.
I spread my hands.
“That’s what you get for bragging nonstop. The incarnation of ice and snow? God of ten thousand eagles? You’re as fat as a big hen. Even flying looks difficult for you.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is, Wu boy? You don’t respect your big brother at all!”
Roundy planted both wings on its waist, looking deeply displeased.
“Get it straight. I’m the big brother! Be a good fatty and accept your place as my little brother.”
“I’m the big brother!”
“I am!”
“I am the big brother!”
…
And so, Roundy and I spent the entire way arguing over who was the “big brother” and who was the “little brother.”
Naturally, an argument like that could never produce a result.
In the end, we each went by our own reckoning!
We were both the big brother, and the other was always the little brother…
Perhaps because the big fat bird kept me company and traded insults with me, the long mountain road that usually took forever felt easy.
It seemed like no time at all before I emerged from the mountains and reached the pass beside the provincial highway.
As I waited for a bus to Lianghe Town, I warned Roundy,
“Big fat bird, behave yourself once we’re on the bus. There’ll be lots of ordinary people aboard. If you do anything too extraordinary, attracting attention will be bad.”
“Your big brother knows, Wu boy. Stop nagging!”
“What the hell? I only said it once. How is that nagging?”
“Don’t care, don’t care. If your big brother thinks it’s nagging, then it’s nagging. Lolo, coo, coo…”
“Coo my ass!”
I was so angry that I wanted to seize the big fat bird and knead it fiercely in my arms again.
Unfortunately, a long-distance bus was already approaching slowly, so I had to let it go and wave for the bus to stop.
Roundy pretended to be an ordinary large bird. It stood motionless on my shoulder.
Even so, some passengers stared curiously and peppered me with questions…
Several extremely nosy middle-aged women even tried to touch Roundy’s feathers!
Both of us were rendered utterly speechless.
So when the bus reached the station at the end of Lianghe Bridge, I hurriedly jumped off.
I raced toward the main street as if flying.
“Good heavens! Middle-aged human women are terrifying.”
Roundy’s chest heaved, and it still looked shaken.
I chuckled.
“See, damned fat bird? Good thing I warned you to behave before we boarded. If you’d shown any difference from an ordinary bird, they would’ve wanted to play with you in every possible way.”
Roundy took offense.
“What do you mean, Wu boy? Your big brother doesn’t like the sound of ‘play with.'”
I burst out laughing and said I had not expected a wild bird like it to be so cultured.
After fooling around for a while, we were almost at the coffin shop.
At that moment, Roundy exclaimed,
“Wu boy, there’s a powerful aura in that coffin shop. Is there a human with pretty good cultivation inside?”
I knew it must mean Old Cao, so I nodded.
“That’s right! His name is Old Cao, and he’s a good friend of mine. I’ll introduce you when we go in.”
“Fine! Your big brother is so lovable that Old Cao is bound to adore me on sight. Once he’s happy, he’ll definitely go buy fish for me.”
Fish was the big fat bird’s favorite food…
Oh, right!
I suddenly remembered something and asked curiously,
“Big fat bird, since you can sense the auras of different human practitioners and roughly judge their cultivation levels, let me ask you something. About how large is the gap between Old Cao’s cultivation and Master’s?”
This was something I cared deeply about–just how strong was Master?
“Well…”
Roundy seemed to ponder the question seriously.
I waited eagerly, full of anticipation!
Then, to my surprise, the big fat bird’s sleazy voice sounded in my mind: “Call me Big Brother, and I’ll tell you!”
“Damn it! Master said a household familiar and its summoner share an intimate bond and rely on each other. Yet you, big fat bird, are always trying to take advantage of me.”
“Want to know the difference between your master and Old Cao? Call me Big Brother. Be good, little Wu. Call me Big Brother and I’ll tell you.”
I had no other choice.
Reluctantly, I said,
“Big Brother is mighty! Big Brother is amazing! Please answer my question.”
Roundy smugly planted its two short, thick wings on its waist like a person standing with hands on hips.
“Good little Wu! That’s more like it. Fine, I’ll tell you! Actually, your master’s cultivation…”
I pricked up my ears and listened with the utmost care and concentration!