The Third Part of The Besieged City Chapter 2: Lelê and Bird Son

  The way out is also the way back home.

  Yi Tianxing sat on the hard seat of the train returning to Gaoyang County from the provincial city, leaning his back against the green artificial leather, with his eyes slightly closed. He smelled the sweat odor coming from the carriage and suddenly felt a sense of dizziness, as if he had returned to the train that took him from Gaoyang County to the provincial city several months ago to study. At that time, Yi Tianxing was carefree, just beginning to understand the nature of Buddhism, with his inner fire about to be ignited. On the train, he had even dealt with a few domineering tourists and cooked himself a bowl of instant noodles using the high temperature of his palm.

  Now he has made great progress in his cultivation at the Temple of Return to the Origin, and his True Fire is full. He is even more familiar with all the methods of cultivation, and no longer looks like a novice cultivator. His mind moves freely, and he can play with the True Fire inside him whenever and wherever he wants. However, now he has lost interest in playing with the True Fire.

  This is the result of being tired and fed up.

  He glanced sideways at the crowd in the carriage, sighed softly in his heart, and closed his eyes to pretend to sleep.

  The whole way, he didn't say a word and didn't eat anything. He didn't know how many hours had passed when the train finally stopped with a screeching sound at the dilapidated platform in Gaoyang County Town, and by this time it was already deep into the night.

  Jumping down from the carriage, Yitian Xing took out a bottle of water from his backpack and gulped down a big mouthful. He then gazed up at the moon in the sky and sighed: "Damn it, my hometown is just great! The moon here is much brighter than in the provincial city!" In the 1990s, the county town was not yet heavily polluted, and the night sky indeed looked cleaner than that of the big provincial city. After gazing at the moon, he turned his attention to the cargo platform on the other side, where lights were still burning brightly.

  On one side were the busy coolies, on the other side were the ringing small carts. They were all familiar people and things to him. Before going to the provincial city to study, in order to make up for the tuition fees, he had carried big bags here for many days. It was just unexpected that as soon as he arrived at the provincial city, he inexplicably became a young master of some ancient family. The money earned from setting the record for carrying large bags in the county town was still in his pocket, not a single cent spent.

  Yitian's lips slightly curled up at the corners, then he shouldered his backpack and headed down to the high platform of the county town railway station.

  The county town was not prosperous, and in the dead of night, the lights of thousands of families had long been extinguished, leaving only the cold wind of winter and the sound of rest coming from the six or seven-story buildings on both sides of the street. Yi Tian walked slowly on the empty streets, not hurrying to go home, but instead strolling along. Under the moonlight, he wandered through the alleys, finally returning to that large area of shantytowns by the river. The stone blocks on the street that blocked cars were still there, just as old and worn out as before, even the smell of garbage at the corner seemed unchanged.

  Looking at the familiar street scene, he felt a sudden surge of emotion.

  His small black house was still in the same place, no one came to move it, and the city's demolition pace had not yet stepped into this dirty corner. Yi Tianxing let out a low whoop, kicked open the door with one foot, and very skillfully pulled the lamp cord with his left hand.

  In an instant, the entire small black room was enveloped in a warm orange-yellow light.

  Even if no one has lived here for half a year, the dust all over the house is still so familiar to him. The bed was still padded with dry grass, and Yi Tianxing lay down without thinking, it's really comfortable, more comfortable than the wooden bed in the school dormitory, more comfortable than the Zen room in the Return to Yuan Temple, more comfortable than the big leather chair in Pengfei Industrial and Trade... It's still the most comfortable at home.

  He fell asleep with a sigh, and this was the best sleep he had in half a year.

  The second day, he woke up at dawn, turned off the small yellow light that had been on all night, pushed open the door and went out. He stood in front of the small stone platform with thin fog rising from it, dazed for a while, then began to practice his boxing moves as he did before going to the provincial city those ten or so years ago. After finishing one set of punches, he found a dry towel, snuck over to the neighbor's water tap like a thief, wetted it and wiped his face carelessly, then went back inside and pushed out that old, worn-out bicycle with 28-inch wheels.

  The bike was locked with an iron chain, and Yitian rubbed his head so hard that it almost broke, but he still couldn't think of where the key was. So he grasped the iron chain with both hands, exerted a little force, and pulled the chain into two pieces. He rode the freed bicycle along the riverbank towards Gaoyang County.

  When he arrived at the entrance of the county middle school, it was still early before lunch break. He waited listlessly, with one foot on the bicycle pedal and the other on the sidewalk, just like how Lelai used to wait for him.

  "Ding ding ding."

  The school bell rang, and the students poured out of the school building in high spirits. Yi Tianxing narrowed his eyes to look for a short-haired girl coming out of the school, but he didn't see the figure he wanted to see. Just as he was distracted, he noticed a girl wearing a pink down jacket riding her bicycle towards the riverbank.

  This girl is not a short hair, a lovely little tail is lightly shaking behind.

  Yitian Xing shouted strangely and recognized that sky blue bicycle with 24 gears. He quickly rode the bicycle to follow up.

  The riverbank in Gaoyang County is still shrouded in the faint sunlight and surrounded by jasmine, and the reunion of young men and women seems not as passionate and romantic as described.

  "How did you run back here?"

  "Didn't I say I'd come back to see you on New Year's Day?"

  "Huh?" Zou Leilei tilted her head adorably, her shiny black eyes stirring up Ye Tianxing's heart: "Thirty-seven days without a letter, two months without a phone call, and then... you suddenly come back?" After saying this, the little girl pushed off on her bicycle and rode forward.

  Yitian Xing hastily followed up and said with a flattering face: "I really miss you, so I came back."

  Have you eaten?

  "Not yet."

  "Go home, ride faster, or mom will put rice in the pot."

  "Ah." Yi Tianxing responded with a crisp tone, his heart genuinely delighted. This might be the most attractive thing about Zou Lele - calm, carefree, and casual. Yi Tianxing understood that when a girl treated you with this attitude, it meant she had already regarded you as one of her closest people.

  "Is your leg better now?"

  "What's your opinion?" Lere rode her bicycle quickly, and replied in a bad tone, with a hint of blame that shook Yitian Xing's heart.

  "Your hair has grown long, it's really beautiful." Yi Tianxing sighed with admiration.

  "It's been half a year since I went to the provincial city, and you're still talking like that without any substance." Lere didn't change her straightforward personality despite being reunited after a long time.

  ……

  ……

  Pushing open the door of Zou Lelie's home, it was inevitable that Yi Tianxing would have to come up with a lot of excuses to deal with the inquiring questions of Zou Dad and Director Huang, who were quite surprised. After finally waiting for the investigation to end, they sat down at the table to prepare for dinner. Yi Tianxing had eaten seafood at the Crystal Palace in the provincial city, had eaten vegetarian dishes at Baotong Temple, had eaten noodles at Guiyuan Temple, and had gnawed on steamed buns at school, but none of these compared to the delicious food he ate at Zou's home.

  Thinking of the four dishes and one soup he had eaten here in the first half of the year, Yitian Xing still felt a lingering aftertaste, this flavor was not ordinary, but a home-cooked taste.

  After dinner, the two kind and lovely elders stopped Yitian Xing from washing dishes to flatter them, and drove the two young men and women into the inner room. Zou Leilei went to the toilet and handed a hot wet towel to Yitian Xing, who took it with a humble and fearful expression, and wiped his face vigorously, mumbling: "Is this yours? It smells so good, just like you."

  "Looking for death!" Zou Leilei took back the towel, looked at the stains on it and smiled bitterly. She turned her head to look at her parents, seemingly not eavesdropping, and chuckled: "Want to smell the scent?"

  Is it easy for Heaven to carry out its will? When one thinks of it in the heart, a natural expression of deep thought appears on the face.

  Zou Lerong snorted: "Dream on."

  Yitian Xing scratched his head with some embarrassment.

  "Say, how did you suddenly come back? Is something wrong?" Lailai sat on a single bed with a floral sheet, quietly looking at Yitian Xing, with a hint of worry flashing in her eyes.

  Yi Tian Xing knew that the girl in front of him cared about himself, and he was moved, but also a little afraid of what he was going to say. He thought for a moment and said: "There is something I want to tell you, but it's not a big deal." He comforted himself in his heart, thinking that he might be an immortal, not a monster, so what's the big deal? But then he thought again, if he was really lucky and was an immortal, this matter would also be insignificant... So he muttered: "But I'm telling you the truth."

  Zou Leran saw his serious expression and burst out laughing.

  "Don't laugh. I had a good time in the provincial city, don't worry about me in the county town." Yi Tianxing comforted her, but thought to himself: "Indeed, it was quite good, mother's, only saw a few dead people, saw a few things that would only appear on TV, such as you carrying a pole and I leading a horse."

  "Are you going to say it or not?" Lelai's classmate, who had a rather refreshing and straightforward air about him, was getting a bit annoyed.

  Yitian Xing tried to placate and beg for mercy: "Both parents are at home, it's inconvenient to talk."

  He originally thought that as long as his loved one knew about it, it would be fine, and he didn't dare to scare the two elderly people. Unexpectedly, Zou Lelie heard a different meaning from this sentence, lowered her head, and her eyebrows and eyes involuntarily revealed a hint of shyness, her fingers subconsciously twisting slightly: "Someone with such a thick skin like you would also have something inconvenient?"

  To be honest, in the strange and wonderful life of the provincial capital, Yi Tianxing didn't think much about his American time with Zou Lelie, but every night when it was quiet, this woman's smile would involuntarily appear in his mind, giving him courage and joy to live. That one sentence: "We'll live in a big house in the future" seemed to be echoing in his ears all along.

  At this moment, looking at the little girl's emotional appearance, Yi Tianxing couldn't hold back his emotions, and he secretly turned his head to look at Zou Dad and Director Pang's movements. He hastily rushed forward, lowered his head, and kissed Lele's red face with a "smack".

  The entrance is smooth... um, it seems like coffee.

  Zou Leran couldn't believe that this kid would suddenly launch a surprise attack, and she was both embarrassed and annoyed. However, she didn't dare to shout loudly, so she could only express her murderous intentions with her eyes. Yi Tianxing sat in the chair, savoring the fragrant flavor, and foolishly smiled, naturally not guarding against Leran walking up and using her long-lost ear-pulling technique...

  "Ahh!" A miserable cry, Yi Tianxing's indestructible body's only weakness was again broken by Zou Lelie. He pitifully covered his ears, but in his heart, he deeply missed this feeling, as if a voice rose from the softest part of his heart.

  "It's so good, and it's being pinched by this cute little hand again."

  It was the stout director who broke this warm and ambiguous atmosphere by rushing into the room in a somewhat untimely manner.

  "Lei Lei, don't bully him!"

  Zou Lelai almost rolled her eyes, thinking who this woman was. Yi Tianxing couldn't say anything and could only laugh it off, saying "It's nothing, it's nothing."

  After Director Dai went out, Lele asked with a smile: "When are you coming back?"

  "Last night." Yi Tianxing was somewhat afraid.

  "Oh?" Lailai's big eyes sparkled, "You sleep in that room too?"

  Yes.

  "Can things really only be said at night?"

  Yi Tianxing thought for a moment and said, "Yes, let's talk about it tonight."

  "Alright, wait for me at home tonight." Zou Leran was a bit confused, not knowing what important matter this big boy who had sneaked back from the provincial city wanted to talk to her about. In her confusion, she forgot to continue scolding him for his previous behavior.

  In the afternoon, Yi Tianxing returned to his small black house and originally wanted to learn from the poor people who ate bitter meals decades ago. He then went to the garbage mountain where he used to rely on for a living, but unexpectedly couldn't find the trash-picking tools, including the bamboo stick with a forked end. After some thought, he remembered that he had put them in his pocket and brought them to the provincial city. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. If he had known he would encounter so many strange things in the provincial city, how could he still dare to have the beautiful dream of becoming a great trash king?

  Thinking that Laila would be coming tonight, and thinking that he would have to reveal his unusual physique in front of her, Yi Tianxing was naturally very nervous. He first tidied up the small black house, doing some cleaning work, then went to the edge of the small pond and called out the little Zhuque, admiring it for a long time. Although he still didn't dare confirm whether this little guy could increase his chances of passing in front of Laila, he gritted his teeth and thought: I'll give it a try!

  At one moment he was eager for Zou Lelie to arrive, and at another he feared her arrival. As the night fell, Yi Tianxing went out to buy some snacks on the street, then sat upright with his hands on his knees like a prisoner waiting for trial, waiting for the girl's arrival.

  With a creak, Zou Lelie nervously pushed open the door and took a look inside. Seeing Yi Tianxing sitting on the bed with a valiant expression, she covered her mouth to stifle a laugh and also felt relieved: "I've only been here once before, I almost couldn't find the place."

  Yi Tian Xing smiled and said, "Let's eat first, I'll tell you something after we finish eating." He tried his best to downplay the matter, then noticed a bag in Zou Le Le's hand.

  "What is it?" He was somewhat curious.

  Zou Lelai walked forward, pushed him open with a heroic air, took out the things in the bag, and spread them on the bed. Only then did Yi Tianhang see clearly that it was a pale blue quilt. The original tattered sheet of Yi Tianhang had long been torn in half to write a slogan for cutting off Saner's leg, which was hung on the big tree outside the Seagull Store.

  "Are you really going to bring a bed here?" Yi Tianxing scratched the back of his head.

  Zou Leran smiled and glanced at him, "You promised to come back and see me on New Year's Day, and you really came back. I promised to buy you a new quilt at the time, of course, you have to sit on it."

  Yi Tian Xing felt a warmth in his heart, thinking that having a woman care for him was one of the happiest and most blissful things in life. His eyes were about to get wet, but he quickly put on a playful smile and said: "Let's eat first, then we can lie down together on this new bedding."

  Zou Lelie rarely didn't scold him, instead she said softly: "Why bother putting on this clown expression all the time." Yi Tianxing was silent for a moment, then replied gently: "You still understand me best, you also know that us big brothers will always be embarrassed."

  Under the dim yet warm orange-yellow lamp light, this young couple began their attack on the food on the table.

  Lailai handed a paper towel to Yitianxing to wipe his mouth, then looked at him quietly: "Speak, what's the matter."

  Yi Tian Xing looked into her eyes and found that Ning He's gaze only held trust, which made him feel a little inexplicably panicked, and he fell silent. After a while, he raised his head and said with some effort: "Do you still remember what I told you by the river one day?"

  Zou Leran also seemed to feel that the atmosphere was a bit strange, and forced a smile: "I'm not your monster genius, of course my memory isn't as good as yours."

  "At that time I asked you what if I were a monster?"

  Zou Leran smiled, revealing her white teeth, and sweetly said: "You were originally a monster genius anyway."

  The little girl's answer was the same as when she was by the river, even her expression was the same. Yi Tianxing also smiled silently just like before, but when he turned his head, he couldn't see the river water sparkling under the sunset on the side of the road, only seeing the yellow lamp light in his small black house quietly blinking like a monster's eyes.

  "I am a monster." Yi Tianxing summoned the courage he had when saving Xiao Zhuque from playing with blocks in the Temple of Return to the Origin, and the determination he had when rushing to Wudang with Qin Zhi'er, as well as a hint of the "bird-forced-to-fly" spirit... He said these seven words in a voice as small as a mosquito's hum.

  The small dark room fell into silence.

  Yi Tianxing was a bit afraid, lowering his head and not daring to speak. After a while, he raised his head and found that Zou Leilei was looking at him with an expression of extreme pain, her eyes welling up with tears.

  "He panicked for a moment: "Lily, don't cry, good girl, don't cry." Panicked, he could only awkwardly walk up and try to hug this lovely girl in his arms."

  Unexpectedly, he was slapped in the face with a crisp crackling sound.

  Withdraw your palm, a hint of melancholy flashed in Lelai's eyes, and after a while, she whispered: "Speak."

  Yitian covered his left cheek, thinking to himself that he had already said so, what else was there to say? His voice trembling, he repeated again: "I'm really a monster."

  "Do you think this excuse is convincing?" Lere's eyes were filled with a deep resentment that could knock down the invincible Yitian Xing, "Hu Yun said in his letter that you're often absent from school in the provincial city, and he and He Wei couldn't find you even when they looked for you. If you've met some girl there, just tell me straight out. Am I, Zou Lere, someone you can easily get rid of? You really underestimate me!"

  Yi Tian Xing's eyes widened in shock, he had not expected this girl to have such thoughts. His mind was filled with all sorts of ideas, wanting to beat Hu Yun for being too talkative, wanting to kneel down and cry about the unique thinking mode of women, but then he remembered Qin Zi Er's beautiful face and felt a pang of guilt in his heart. He quickly shook his head, shaking off these messy thoughts, and smiled wryly: "What are you getting at?"

  Lailai was usually cheerful and lovely, but at this moment, thinking of Yitian Xing's infidelity and using such a ridiculous excuse to insult her own intelligence, she felt both angry and hurt, with tears streaming down her face.

  "I swear it's true, if I have any other thoughts, may I be impotent for the rest of my life!" This oath is quite venomous indeed.

  Zou Leran was amused by this rogue's words and suddenly became puzzled with a tear-stained face: "Then what do you want to say?" Suddenly, as if waking up: "You said...you are a monster?"

  "Yes." Yi Tianxing was also resigned after being disturbed like this.

  Zou Leran laughed and said: "What are you talking nonsense about?"

  Yitian Xing replied very seriously, "It's not nonsense, it's true." After finishing speaking, he picked up a kitchen knife from beside him and with a loud cry from Lelai, he forcefully chopped his own left arm!

  A dull thud, unlike the sound of metal hitting stone, nor did it have a flesh-penetrating tone.

  Yitian Xing's arm was still intact, only the sleeve had been cut out with a large gash.

  Zou Leran looked at his arm, then at his face, and again at his arm. His mouth was wide open as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn't say anything.

  Yitian Xing waited quietly, he was confident because the woman this monster liked had nerves that were even more resilient than the monster's in some ways.

  Lailai didn't disappoint by fainting, but her face was a bit pale. She said softly, "Is that so?"

  "Not just that." Yi Tian Xing said lightly, but in his heart, he felt a little pain for the lovely girl in front of him, who would have to witness many abnormal performances tonight.

  "Do you still remember how I reacted that other time when you told me you were a monster?" Zou Leran wiped away the tears on her face with her sleeve, her tone stubborn.

  "Of course I remember." Yi Tianxing lowered his head.

  Zou Ler's response at the time made him feel very good, very natural, and in line with Yi Tianxing's imagination of his ideal partner. The girl said seriously with her big, shiny black eyes: "Then you turn into a monster first and let me see, I can decide what to do next. If you can become more handsome than you are now, that would be a good thing..."

  "I only just realized why you kept asking me those strange questions back then." Lelai smiled at him, but her legs at the corner of the bed were trembling slightly. "Since I've already answered you, I'll have the courage to take a look and see if you can become more handsome or not."

  Yitian sighed, and before he could say anything, he heard the maid speak in a sobbing tone: "I still don't dare to look, when it's time for me to see, you call me." After finishing speaking, she lay on the bed, covering her head with the quilt, her whole body trembling.

  She was afraid of this, but she still didn't run away.

  This fact moved Yi Tian Xing to be deeply and sincerely touched, so much that he was willing to devote his whole life to it.

  After a long time.

  Lailai, who had been hiding under the quilt pretending to be an ostrich, finally turned her head back with a trembling body, and then saw that there was a red thing on the ground of the small black house. She subconsciously wanted to scream, but with great willpower, she commanded her hands to cover her mouth tightly.

  The little black house was as silent as death, and the dim yellow light no longer exuded warmth.

  Zou Leran stared fixedly at the red flames in front of her, her large eyes filled with fear, yet stubbornly refusing to close. After a very long time, as if after an entire century, the girl's eyes finally blinked, and a teardrop fell from her eye socket, flowing down her clean cheek in a curved line.

  "Although... but... still very cute..."

  "Although the voice was trembling, he could still speak. Yi Tianxing, who was standing in the corner, felt a little relieved, thinking that Little Red Bird had performed well today, and when she first met Lele's mother, she was quite gentle. With his heart at ease, he didn't notice that Zou Lele's eyes were slightly distracted."

  Zou Lelie looked at the red bird in front of her, her lips trembling slightly, and suddenly she burst into tears, wailing loudly. This cry was even more mournful than Meng Jiangnu's, a sorrow so profound it seemed to turn everything before her eyes into a desolate landscape, as bleak and forlorn as those depicted by the brush of E Yan.

  "How...how can you be a bird..."

  The strong girl, at this time, finally couldn't withstand the impact of tonight. Lailai's eyes rolled back and forth twice, her body fell backwards, and she fainted.

  ……

  ……

  Left standing in a corner, awkward and unseen, Yi Tianxing was dumbfounded.

  "Wake up, wake up."

  Zou Leran woke up and saw Yi Tianxing's face, which was ordinary and unremarkable, familiar in daily life, but somewhat frightening today. She subconsciously hid towards the corner of the wall, then opened her mouth and started crying again.

  This girl is really lovely, when she says she won't cry, she doesn't cry. When she says she will cry... then it's very hard to stop.

  "Wrong, wrong." Yi Tianxing hastily explained the situation like a big tongue. Zou Lelie was shocked and confused, but looking at Yi Tianxing in front of her bed and then at the big red fat bird under the bed with an innocent expression, she slowly regained her composure. After a while, she calmed down and asked in a trembling voice: "You're not a bird?"

  "Damn it!" Yi Tianxing was so angry that he wanted to pull his own hair out, but unfortunately, this hair was even more stubborn than the iron lotus in the Temple of Return. Although it hadn't grown longer for many years, pulling it out was still an impossible task.

  In the next hour, Yitian finally managed to tell his life story and experiences in the provincial city clearly. However, after finishing the story, Zou Leran still only stared with her big sparkling eyes, repeatedly asking: "You really aren't a bird?"

  Yi Tian Xing didn't know if his beloved girl could accept his unusual physical condition and other aspects. He just looked at Zou Leilei sitting stupidly on the corner of the bed with a dazed expression.

  "Now you know everything." He said with a bitter smile.

  Zou Leran looked at him with a strange gaze, seemingly still unable to accept these bizarre stories: "It's really hard to believe."

  Yi Tian Xing let out a sigh, and the Fire Elemental Wheel in his body slightly rotated. Flames burst forth from his palm.

  Under the flickering light, Zou Ler's beautiful face revealed a few unbelievable expressions.

  After another extremely long and awkward silence, Zou Leran tentatively tried to restore the usual atmosphere of conversation between the two.

  "Is this the Vermilion Bird's son you were talking about? I just mistook it for you?" She looked at the little red fat bird walking aimlessly on the ground.

  "Yes." Yi Tianxing habitually smiled wryly and said, "I guarantee to you, I won't transform into some kind of freakish creature again."

  "It's really quite cute." The girl's innate love for small animals finally temporarily overcame her inexplicable fear.

  Little Zhu Que had been listening to his useless old dad muttering in his ear since the day he was born, saying that there was a Lelai Mama in the county town. At this moment, looking at the bed, he knew that this was Lelai Mama, and it seemed that she was more important to his old dad than himself. Thinking of his own miserable appearance when scolded by his old dad, he decided to find a powerful backer, so he swayed and walked to the front of the bed with a silly expression.

  Zou Leran was first startled by its proximity, but then couldn't help but laugh at the amusing sight of the red fat bird waddling along with its little butt shaking back and forth.

  Little Zhuque saw that Rourou's mom seemed to enjoy watching him shake his butt, so he jumped under the bed and started dancing Brazilian samba, twisting his chubby butt into a twisted bun. Rourou covered her mouth and giggled, while Yitianxing watched from the side and finally let out a sigh of relief, giving himself a big credit for this bird son.

  "Can I hold it?" Zou Leran's emotions had calmed down a bit, but she still didn't dare look at Yi Tianxing, yet seemed not to be too afraid of the red bird.

  "Of course. You're its Lele mother." Yi Tianxing was overjoyed.

  "What nonsense are you talking about? I don't want to be a mother so soon." One sentence was spoken in jest, one sentence was spoken in annoyance, and the relationship between the two, which had previously been pulled apart by an awkward silence, seemed to have drawn slightly closer again.

  Little Zhuque was influenced by Yitian's behavior, although it was the first time he saw "the legendary Lele Mama" today, but he had already mastered the old man's trick of flattering beautiful women. When he saw Lele Mama wanting to hug him, his bright red wings flapped and he flew into Lele's arms.

  "It's really sinking." Zou Leran gradually stopped being afraid and hugged the big red bird tightly.

  Little Zhu Que has been flying back and forth to Wudang Mountain every day, playing and losing weight. She can't bear to hear words like "heavy", "fat" and "stupid". When she heard Ruirui's mother say such things for the first time, she poked her little head into Ruirui's chest, rubbing and nuzzling against her soft breasts.

  Zou Lerong scratched an itch and burst out laughing, gently combing the soft feathers of the little Zhuque bird with her fingers.

  Yi Tianxing's face turned iron-green as he thought to himself: "I haven't even gotten there yet, and this kid has already beaten me to it. What a miscalculation!"