Chapter 219
Chapter 219
“I’m warning you, Wu boy. Hit your big brother on the head again, and this won’t be over!”
Roundy covered its head with a wing and glared at me.
Bai Su’s gentle voice sounded in my mind.
“This must be the Jade-Talon Gyrfalcon you often mention, Young Mr. Wu–Mr. Hai Baiyuan, correct? Now that I’ve met Mr. Hai Baiyuan in person, I can see what an imposing bearing the bird has. As expected of the king of ten thousand eagles.”
What?
Holding Huihui, I stared in confusion.
Roundy was as round and fat as a big hen, and she called that an “imposing bearing”?
Then I remembered how Yao Nan had praised it as adorable and beautiful…
I had only one thing to say: women could lie without even blinking!
As for the stupid bird Roundy, Bai Su’s praise delighted it beyond measure.
“Ahem. You must be Miss Bai, yes? My name contains the character Bai as well, which shows that we share a deep affinity. From now on, you may call me Brother Roundy.”
I was about to slap the opportunistic fellow a few more times, but Bai Su smiled and nodded.
That left me unable to say anything.
I had no important reason to visit Bai Su and Huihui that night. Roundy simply happened to have followed me to Lianghe Town, so I had brought it over to say hello and get acquainted.
One could never have too many friends!
We sat in the cave and began chatting.
Bai Su mentioned something. She said that on the night of the flood-dragon ascension at Longduo Mountain not long ago, she had actually sensed a faint surge of demonic energy near Fallen Flood Dragon Slope.
It had been extremely weak and well concealed, yet it gave her intense heart palpitations!
She had not slept well all night.
Therefore, Bai Su thought that since a python demon at Longduo Mountain really had succeeded in flood-dragon ascension, perhaps it was not strange that a python flood dragon had also existed at Fallen Flood Dragon Slope several centuries ago during the Ming dynasty.
Her words surprised me, and I nodded.
“I asked Master about flood-dragon ascension afterward. She said legendary great demons of that power generally share some mysterious form of perception and connection.”
“Even their remains or lingering auras can respond to one another. Following that logic, the old legends of Lianghe Town say that after the python demon at Fallen Flood Dragon Slope failed its flood-dragon ascension, the imperial court sent men to take away its remains. But some trace of its aura may still remain somewhere in these hills…”
Bai Su said she thought so too.
Its remains were gone, and several centuries had passed, yet it could still resonate with the python flood dragon at Longduo Mountain. Though the reaction had been extremely faint, it showed that whatever remained was probably no ordinary thing!
Whether it was lingering demonic energy from the python demon or some part of its body, it would be extremely precious to demons such as Bai Su and Huihui.
So they had spent this entire period searching all around Fallen Flood Dragon Slope.
Unfortunately, they had found nothing so far…
I comforted her.
“There’s no need to rush, Miss Bai. You and Huihui live here at Fallen Flood Dragon Slope, so you can take your time searching. Whenever I have spare time, I’ll come help you look.”
After chatting with Bai Su and Huihui in the cave for a while, I checked the digital watch on my wrist. It was already eleven at night, so it was time to return.
I said goodbye and brought Roundy back to the coffin shop.
The fellow still remembered Old Cao’s promise to compensate it with a fish. The moment we arrived, it clamored for a late-night meal and demanded that its fish be served at once…
Fortunately, Old Cao had “kept his promise” and bought a fresh fish at the market earlier. It was waiting in the water vat in the backyard. Otherwise, who knew what kind of fuss the damned fat bird would have made?
Wang Hu went to the kitchen and prepared fish with pickled mustard greens for it.
I was stunned!
“Roundy, you big fat bird, you ate hot pot only a few hours ago. How can you still eat? Is that fat belly a bottomless pit?”
Old Cao sat nearby smoking his pipe and said with a beaming smile,
“The art of household familiars is truly wondrous. When I traveled far and wide in my youth, I met a man from the Northeast who practiced it. His household familiar was a hedgehog, and it was extremely powerful.”
“The household familiar art is somewhat like the lifebound gu of gu practitioners from the Miao borderlands. Both parties can share each other’s power. Compared with the bond of a gu practitioner, however, the household familiar contract places fewer restrictions on both sides.”
“But household familiar arts can ordinarily establish a contract between a person and a demon only with the five kinds of animals known as fox, weasel, hedgehog, snake, and rat. Yet you, Xiao Wu, formed a contract with a gyrfalcon, and the most precious and powerful Jade Talon at that. This is an enormous blessing. It doesn’t matter how much it eats.”
Of course I understood Old Cao’s reasoning.
In my heart, I actually regarded the stupid bird Roundy as family.
We had simply grown accustomed to bickering and quarreling whenever we spoke…
Roundy could even chatter while eating its fish with pickled mustard greens.
“See that? Look, Wu boy! Old Cao has the right attitude! Treat me better from now on, and don’t stint on my meals.”
“Just eat your fish!”
I still could not resist snapping back at the fatty.
Early the next morning,
I left for school.
The damned fat bird Roundy insisted on coming along to play at school.
It even threatened to sever our friendship if I refused!
The fellow pestered me until I had no choice but to agree to bring it.
But first, I had to lay down three rules…