Chapter 268
Chapter 268
The Phoenix-Mimic Bird was more important, so Ji Yan’an and the others followed Jiang Yunsui back.
The egg was placed in a nest arranged inside a basket. The nest was lined with the Phoenix-Mimic Bird feathers that had originally surrounded the egg. Fiery red streaked with gold, they were extraordinarily beautiful and radiated a gentle warmth.
The egg rested in the center while a circle of people watched the bird inside with eager eyes, waiting for it to hatch.
“Come on! Push harder!”
The onlookers were even more impatient than the Phoenix-Mimic Bird. They clenched their fists and strained every feature on their faces as if they, rather than the chick, were trying to break free of a shell.
But after pecking for a while, the Phoenix-Mimic Bird apparently grew tired and fell quiet.
Nanshu looked anxious. “Why did it stop? Could something be wrong? Little Ancestor, hurry and take a look.”
Uncle Li was worried too.
Ji Yan’an appeared far calmer, though anxiety stirred in his heart as well.
If he had the chance to live, he naturally did not want to die.
He wanted to avenge his family with his own hands.
Jiang Yunsui placed her hand on the egg and sensed the life inside.
“It fell asleep.”
“Don’t worry,” Fat Chef said. “Things inside eggs are always like this when they hatch. It takes a lot of effort to peck through the shell, so it’s probably tired. It’ll continue once it’s rested. I’ve watched chickens and ducks hatch, and they do the same thing.”
No one knew how long the Phoenix-Mimic Bird would need to rest, but it was clearly exhausted.
Fortunately, this happened to be Jiang Yunsui’s area of expertise. She pressed her little hand against the shell and slowly channeled Imperial Flowing Essence into the egg.
She could distinctly sense a burst of delight from the tiny life inside.
By evening, the Phoenix-Mimic Bird went back to work.
It rested when tired and resumed pecking once it recovered.
The entire night passed this way. By morning, people were slumped at odd angles in their chairs or sprawled across the table. One person propped up his chin while his head slowly bobbed.
Not one of them had slept properly. They had spent the whole night watching the Phoenix-Mimic Bird hatch!
Jiang Yunsui slept with her head tipped back in Ji Si’s arms.
Ji Si and the other hidden guards were still holding up well. After all, they sometimes went two or three days without sleep.
Crack…
At last, the upper portion of the shell popped free. A naked little chick, its sparse, wet feathers plastered to its body, tumbled out of the larger half of the shell.
“Aah!” Ji Lu screamed.
The earth-shattering yell startled awake everyone who had been sleeping in all manner of positions.
Ji Yan’an had been supporting his chin. His head dropped, and his face slammed into the table.
“Hiss…”
Everyone else stared around in a daze.
Ji Lu froze. Oh no. The Young Master had smashed his face!
Ji Yan’an lifted his head without expression. The impact had at least made him the first to wake fully.
“Aah!”
Nanshu took one look at Ji Yan’an and shouted.
“Young Master! Young Master, your nose is bleeding!”
“Quick, quick! Doctor Shen, check on the Young Master!”
Shen Qingzhu wanted to laugh but managed to hold it in.
Ji Yan’an simply looked too miserable and disheveled at that moment.
“He’s fine.”
After Shen Qingzhu stopped Ji Yan’an’s nosebleed, everyone finally turned toward the nest. The Phoenix-Mimic Bird was struggling to rise, swaying crookedly on its unsteady legs.
Uncle Li began crying again. “It hatched! It finally hatched! Wonderful! Hahaha…”
The others were beaming too.
Shen Qingzhu stepped forward to examine the chick. It was fully developed, merely weak from having been trapped inside the egg for so long. With careful nursing, it would certainly survive.
Besides, they still had their greatest trump card: Jiang Yunsui.
If she could revive an egg on the verge of death, she could surely keep the newly hatched Phoenix-Mimic Bird alive.
The highly trusted Jiang Yunsui only now opened her eyes blearily. Still cradled in Ji Si’s arms, she stared blankly for a long while as if her soul had wandered elsewhere. She looked more than a little silly.
“Little Ancestor, come back to us. Look at the Phoenix-Mimic Bird.”
“Hahaha…”
The first thing Jiang Yunsui did upon regaining her senses was look at Ji Yan’an and burst into loud laughter.
“Ji Yan’an, who hit you?”
Ji Yan’an’s face darkened.
Everyone else fell silent.
That little girl truly had nerves of steel.
Only after noticing Ji Yan’an’s expression did Jiang Yunsui belatedly cover her mouth.
Oops. Could she claim her brain had not fully awakened yet?
But it really was so funny.
Ji Yan’an drew a deep breath. “Look at the Phoenix-Mimic Bird first.”
Jiang Yunsui obediently murmured an acknowledgment.
“Oh! It finally came out.”
She looked at the chick. Its eyes were still closed, its beak gaped open, and its wobbly body seemed to be searching for something.
“What does it eat?”
She offered a finger, and the chick immediately latched onto it with its beak.
Everyone turned to Shen Qingzhu.
They truly had no idea what a Phoenix-Mimic Bird ate.
Shen Qingzhu stroked his chin. “Its favorite food is the Moonlight Flower, but those only appear at night when the moon is out. Its ordinary diet is probably similar to that of other birds.”
“Why don’t we try raising it the same way we raised Milk Tea as a chick?”
That was their only option.
They caught several kinds of insects, but the Phoenix-Mimic Bird was picky-extremely picky.
They brought it insect after insect and even minced some meat into paste, but the creature refused to eat any of it!
At last, Qianqian and Houhou returned with two plump white grubs. They looked positively packed with nourishment.
Once the grubs were cut into small pieces, the Phoenix-Mimic Bird finally ate.
“Where did these come from?”
Everyone sighed in relief when they saw the chick eating at last.
Jiang Yunsui looked at Qianqian and Houhou.
The two roosters could communicate simple ideas to her.
“From my courtyard, inside the trunks of the Peach Trees,” Jiang Yunsui relayed.
“They’re longhorn beetle larvae, and they’ve grown quite fat,” Shen Qingzhu teased.
Of course they had. For the sake of the fruits in her courtyard, Jiang Yunsui cultivated there every couple of days, drawing in Moonlight Essence and the Power of the Stars.
The plants flourished, but they also became especially attractive to insects.
Even with the insect repellent Shen Qingzhu had given her, pests appeared the instant its effectiveness began to wane.
After Qianqian and Houhou returned, she had essentially stopped using repellent altogether.
The many insects that emerged in the courtyard every day were enough to fill both roosters’ bellies and keep their feathers sleek and glossy.
The insects there also grew larger and plumper than those elsewhere.
These two longhorn beetle larvae were no exception.
The Phoenix-Mimic Bird filled its belly with only those two and now slept peacefully in its nest.
“The little thing is so picky. It seems we’ll have to raise some insects.”
“Let’s keep bees,” Ji Yan’an said. “Milk Tea loved bee larvae when it was small. They should be similar to longhorn beetle larvae.”
“Jiang Yunsui has plenty of roses in her courtyard, and the other flowers are blooming well too. Plant some more, and find a few sweet osmanthus trees.”
With Jiang Yunsui there, the flowers in that courtyard bloomed with exceptional beauty, remained in flower for a long time, and attracted many wild bees.
Jiang Yunsui naturally had no objections. If they kept bees, she would get honey too.
“Okay, okay! When are we going to catch the bees?”