Chapter 263
Chapter 263
Wait for the right moment?
Yuan Fei asked curiously,
“How long do we need to wait, Xiao Wu? We only brought enough food for one day and didn’t pack tents or other supplies. We can’t stay here too long.”
I smiled.
“Don’t worry, Uncle Yuan. It won’t be long. Once the moon rises tonight and the moonlight shines down, the time should be about right!”
Yuan Fei nodded.
“Good. I was afraid we might have to wait ten days or half a month. In that case, we’d have no choice but to leave and head back first. With this sort of feng shui formation, it wouldn’t be unusual for its nexus to open only once after a long interval.”
Ni Yang had everyone sit down wherever they pleased to rest. We chatted while waiting for darkness to fall.
Just then…
Screeech!
A shrill, piercing birdcall rang through the sky.
It seemed capable of splitting metal and stone, stabbing painfully into our eardrums.
Then a white shadow plunged from the sky toward the ground like a bolt of lightning.
“What is that?!”
Ni Yang and the burly men in black were badly startled and instantly went on guard.
Ni Yang even thrust a hand into his pocket, presumably preparing to draw some kind of weapon.
I hurriedly shouted,
“Don’t panic, everyone! My household familiar has arrived.”
Whoosh!
That fat wretch Roundy landed on my shoulder, making it dip slightly beneath its weight.
The creature had grown even fatter lately!
Its body was rounder than ever, like a huge, fluffy white ball.
“A streak of white flashes across the sky, and this magnificent bird makes its dazzling entrance! Mortals, have you all been captivated by my dashing, spectacular figure?”
Roundy cooed while transmitting its thoughts. Its voice probably sounded in the minds of everyone present.
The burly men in black shuddered and stared fixedly at Roundy as though they had seen a ghost.
They were professionally trained enforcers. Back when Wang Wenguang was accumulating his original capital, they had probably participated in more gang fights than anyone could count. They had clearly seen blood before…
So although they were frightened, they managed to hold steady.
Otherwise, they would probably have been trembling from head to toe.
I explained further,
“Don’t worry, everyone. This fat, shameless bird is my household familiar. The art of household familiars is an arcane lineage within the esoteric world. A human cultivator forms a contract with a benevolent demon, establishing a master-servant relationship…”
“That’s right! Allow me to introduce my human servant, Wu Zhong.”
Roundy abruptly interrupted me with its usual insolence.
“Screw you! Keep talking nonsense, you stupid bird, and I’ll tear your beak apart.”
I yanked it off my shoulder, cradled it against my chest, and vigorously kneaded its fat belly and round head. It struggled desperately, flapping and squawking in utter chaos.
Ni Yang: “…”
The burly men in black: “…”
The sight clearly left them speechless.
Roundy and I often started fighting halfway through a conversation, so Old Cao, Yuan Fei, Big Bull, and the others were already used to it.
Yuan Fei patted Ni Yang on the shoulder and said with perfect calm,
“Don’t make a fuss. This is how those two normally get along. You’ll get used to it.”
Ni Yang swallowed and said with lingering shock and uncertainty,
“The art of household familiars… the spirit-medium tradition, the household guardian spirit tradition, and the like. I know about similar arcane lineages. They’re most common in the northeast and are extremely powerful. After all, when a human and a demon form a contract, they can field two combatants at any time. It’s just that Young Mr. Wu’s household familiar is rather… unusual.”
“Hahaha!”
Yuan Fei laughed heartily.
“It certainly is unusual, but its cultivation and strength are exceptional too.”
“Indeed!”
Ni Yang nodded.
“I can sense it. It looks plump, harmless, unreliable, and rather shameless, yet it gives off a dangerous feeling that inexplicably makes my heart race. What species is it? A bird serving as a household familiar is already extremely rare, and this particular bird…”
He could not identify it.
Yuan Fei merely smiled without explaining further, then glanced toward me.
I did not bother hiding it and told Ni Yang directly,
“Roundy is a gyrfalcon.”
“What?!”
Ni Yang was left utterly dumbfounded once again.
A gyrfalcon!
He had always thought of gyrfalcons as extraordinarily majestic and ferocious raptors!
Its title as the king of ten thousand eagles was no joke.
An ordinary eagle encountering a gyrfalcon would be intimidated by its very aura.
Ni Yang also knew that the purer a gyrfalcon’s coloring, the fiercer and more powerful it was!
But the gyrfalcon before him… why was it as fat as a hen?
Perhaps sensing Ni Yang’s astonished stare, Roundy whipped its head around and glared at him. It flapped its wings, cooed twice in displeasure, then demanded,
“What are you staring at? Never seen such a handsome household familiar before?”
“Oh, my apologies. That was rude of me. Your Lordship is truly mighty and imposing. Young Mr. Wu, I envy you greatly for being able to form a contract with such a household familiar.”
As Ni Yang spoke, he offered Roundy a cupped-hands salute.
“Not bad. You certainly know how to flatter a bird.”
Pleased by the compliment, Roundy stopped looking for trouble, folded its wings, and settled obediently on my shoulder.
For the rest of the afternoon, we chatted about amusing incidents and rumors from the esoteric world while waiting for night to arrive.
…
Night fell.
My prediction had been correct. The sky was clear tonight.
The moon slowly began climbing into the sky from behind a mountain peak.
Deep in the mountains, the silvery moonlight draped the grass, trees, and forests in a soft veil. Everything before us grew faint and hazy.
The temperature also plummeted. Nights in the mountains during late autumn and early winter were bitterly cold.
Fortunately, we had anticipated the possibility. The burly men in black had brought thick padded coats and now distributed them among the group.
I declined their offer.
Ever since my internal martial arts had reached hidden force, I had largely ceased to fear the cold.
At school, I deliberately wore a down jacket to avoid drawing too much attention. Out here, there was naturally no need to pretend.
I sat cross-legged on a rock and regulated my breathing while wisps of steam slowly rose from my body.
Ni Yang stared in amazement and sighed,
“So this is the wonder of internal martial arts? How enviable…”