My Pet Beast is Super Awesome - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Blackwater Fowl Eggs?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As Shao Zifeng walked into Qifeng Village alone, a piece of green came into view. 20 years after humans had left, nature had taken its course to reclaim the place, wanting to wipe off any signs of man-made marks. Green vines and weed had covered the entire village. Grass growing through the gaps in the flagstones made his steps almost silent.
He padded in the quiet village with the duffle bag on his back, very mindful of his surroundings all the time just in case some unknown mutant creatures lunged out to attack. The place was so quiet that Shao Zifeng could hear his own heartbeat.
Chirp!
A sound stunned Shao Zifeng, who yanked out a kitchen knife with the flip of a hand, cautiously staring at the spot in the bush from where the sound came, quietly swallowing in his throat.
After getting stationary for a moment and the expected attack did not materialize, Shao Zifeng gradually let down his guard. He did not feel any unpleasant emotion, just a little nervous and curious.
As he tried to take a step, it alarmed the thing observing Shao Zifeng in the dark. There was some movement in the bush before three mice—one big, two small—lunged out.
Chirp! Chirp!
The big mouse was keeping the two small ones behind it as it nervously stared at Shao Zifeng and made a sound to warn him. The two small mice poked out their heads to check out Shao Zifeng curiously, raising their noses to sniffle the foreign scent in the air with their whiskers constantly flicking. All babies looked cute, no matter what creatures they were.
A few blue dots appeared into view, and as usual, the latency was high as the light blue virtual display popped up.
Name: Mouse
Growth: Adult/juvenile
Condition: healthy, extremely hungry, nervous
Strength: First Order/none
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Attribute: None
Potential: ★/☆
Talent: None
Skills: gnawing, stealing
Description: the most populous and common mutant creature in the world. This weak creature steals the leftovers of humans or beasts for survival.
The three mice’s attributes were not so different, a common template, but it was his first time seeing the condition of extreme hunger.
Shao Zifeng thought for a moment, then took out a small chunk of bread from his duffle bag, squatted down, and placed the bread in front of them as he smiled. He tried to tell them through his emotion that he was not hostile. After that, he retreated slowly.
The mama mouse sniffed at the bread. Seeing Shao Zifeng disappearing around the corner, a fleeting sense of gratitude flashed in its eyes. Due to the two little mice, they all had gone without food for a long time. The three mice dragged the bead and looked back in the direction where Shao Zifeng had gone before they disappeared into the bush.
…
Leaving the three mice alone, Shao Zifeng took a different route to continue his village exploration. He used his plug-in to look for something valuable. But he had searched the entire village and still found nothing.
The way the story goes doesn’t seem right. Anyone with a plug-in would have had an exploration full of encounters, at least some precious herbs guarded by magical beasts or something. Yet that doesn’t seem to happen to me.
Shao Zifeng was imagining things as he explored the last area of the village. He was still disappointed at last. Coming out of the village, he looked at the Wutong Hill in front of him. No matter how he looked at it, the hill was just a mound, a few dozen meters high at the most.
Due to the lack of human activity here, the entire Wutong Hill was covered in pine trees, full of vitality.
There was a path covered by weed behind the village. By the looks of it, the villagers must have used this path to access the hill at the back. Shao Zifeng looked up into the afternoon sun and gritted his teeth as he decided to enter Wutong Hill with the kitchen knife in his hand.
Ballie was not by his side, but during the crucial moment, a fire flashed in Shao Zifeng’s eyes as the kitchen knife was glowing red in his hand.
He clenched the wooden hilt when plumes of smoke rose from it.
What the hell? Not now. Shao Zifeng quickly dismissed the fire element, and the wooden hilt had cracked and been scorched.
…
As he ventured deeper into the hill, pine trees had replaced shrubs. The shade in the forest had dispelled the heat of the afternoon. The occasional singing of the birds from the far distance was making his surroundings sound quieter.
Shao Zifeng laboriously cleared away the branches that blocked his way. Each time he did that, there would be a shower of wood char powder from the wooden hilt, which became smaller and smaller over time.
He had no word for it as he realized he was not good at acting cool.
The last time he did that, it was he talking to the phone by saying something like, “Hi.”
He dug at himself to calm his nervousness as he trudged forward in the forest. When he was hungry, he would stop and find an open ground to get a quick bite, after which he would not feel so edgy anymore.
Sucheng City had lived up to its reputation as a place with poor natural resources. Shao Zifeng had scouted in the forest for the entire day, yet he found not a single mutant creature. Except for the three mice, he saw a few birds, which had flown away before he could check their information.
As the sun was setting, the forest became even darker. If he could not find shelter before it became completely dark, he would have a hard time surviving through the night. He was getting anxious, but there was nothing he could do about it.
You could not expect a home person to know the skills of surviving in the wild. But in the other space and time, he did watch Bear Grylls and Ed Stafford’s shows and felt that he could do just the same thing. But in reality, small dog, tall weeds.
It was getting darker now, and Shao Zifeng could not help but look even more anxious.
Just then, he heard something.
There was the sound of flowing water in the dark forest. Shao Zifeng was instantly excited. He quickly moved toward the water sound. There was a legend he had heard before that nearby the Qifeng Temple was a stream. If he could find the stream and followed it, he would probably find the Qifeng Temple.
Strictly speaking, getting close to a water source in the wild was a dangerous thing to do. You wouldn’t know what animals were drinking there. More so, the danger level of the mutant creatures in this space and time was increasing.
Not that he had any other choices. Without a shelter, the forest was even more dangerous at night. Many carnivores hunted at night and would be less likely to look for water sources. If he were to stay on the spot, the likelihood of getting attacked was high. So no matter how he looked at it, heading for the stream was a better option.
As he got closer to the sound of flowing water, he drew aside a shrub and a crystal-clear stream came into view. The stream was not very wide. There were reeds on both sides of the water, the current of which was slow. The loudest source of water came from the small waterfall at the lower section of the terrain.
He crossed the shrub and was ready to follow the stream, walk upstream to look for the Qifeng Temple. While walking past a bush of reeds, two black birds flew out from it and landed on the water, chirping nervously as they looked at him.
Blue dots popped up in front of his eyes.
Name: Blackwater Fowl
Growth: Adult
Condition: Healthy, nervous
Strength: 1st order
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Attribute: Aqua
Potential: ★☆
Talents: Water splashing: it could quickly rejuvenate in water.
Skills: Tackle, Water Shield
Description: It looks like a hen with a mild temperament, not aggressive
It surprised Shao Zifeng to see some rare mutant creatures. These two-star creatures should be worth some money. He got two steps closer, trying to observe from a close distance.
Chirp! Chirp!
The two blackwater fowls, seeing Shao Zifeng coming toward them, freaked out instantly and cried aloud, flapping their wings frantically to feign an attack yet too scared to get close.
The behavior of the blackwater fowls puzzled him. by right, he was still a distance from them. The birds did not have to get so worked up. Something must be amongst the reeds.
With that thought in mind, Shao Zifeng instinctively looked over. Sure enough, he saw through the reeds and spotted a few eggs in a nest.