Chapter 91: Is This the Chicken You Raised?
Chapter 91: Chapter 91: Is This the Chicken You Raised?
"CLUCK... CLUCK... CLUCK."
Chen Mo sat on the thick white snow, his back leaning against the restless Kang as he combed the Spiritual Bird’s feathers. Truth be told, these fluffy creatures were incredibly warm. As long as he stayed close to them, he couldn’t feel the winter chill at all.
Now, bolstered by the [Sturdy] Talent, the four Spiritual Birds he had raised for two and a half years—Kang included—had grown as tall as a grown man. If he sold them at the Marketplace, they would undoubtedly cause a massive stir. An ordinary mature bird usually sold for ten taels of Spiritual Sand, but for Chen Mo’s batch, people would practically trample each other to buy them even at twenty taels!
As for the twenty he had bought just last year, they had already reached his knees after only a few months of feeding. Their growth rate was already astonishingly fast, yet Kang remained dissatisfied. The giant rooster seemed eager for those hens to start laying eggs for it right this instant!
"CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK!"
Kang, whom he was forcefully holding down, suddenly let out a sharp, alert cry. Chen Mo turned his head. Against the vast expanse of white, a Flying Sword carrying two figures was drawing closer, growing larger and larger.
He frowned, his first instinct to hide Kang and the other three Spiritual Birds. However, in the very next moment, he recognized the approaching visitors.
"Brother... Brother Chen, it’s been a long— Holy crap! What the hell is that?!"
Song Yunxi had tried to greet Chen Mo before even landing, but his words were cut short, completely stunned by the human-sized Spiritual Birds beside his friend. He had even cursed out loud in shock.
"Song Yunxi?" Chen Mo thought, turning around with eyes full of surprise. After more than two years apart, the man seemed to have grown much stronger! "Brother Song? You..."
"Wait!" Song Yunxi leaped down.
Losing his balance on the now unguided Flying Sword, Mei Hua plummeted to the ground. Yet, he didn’t register the pain of the fall at all. His entire focus was locked onto those four gargantuan Spirit Chickens.
What kind of monsters were these? Were they truly Spirit Chickens?
Song Yunxi stepped forward and grabbed Kang by the neck. He lifted the bird up, set it down, turned it this way, and turned it that way. After inspecting it over and over again, he finally confirmed his suspicions: this was indeed a Spirit Chicken!
"This is a chicken?"
"Yes," Chen Mo nodded.
"You’re telling me this is a chicken?" Song Yunxi still refused to believe it.
"CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK!"
The manhandled Kang flapped its wings, struggling to break free and fight back, but it was completely outmatched. Held firmly in Song Yunxi’s grasp, it couldn’t budge an inch!
"What else would it be? A duck?" Chen Mo replied.
"You raised this?"
Chen Mo nodded once more.
Song Yunxi released his grip on Kang’s neck, stepped forward, and patted Chen Mo’s arm. "Good heavens, even the chickens you raise are built entirely differently from others!"
He was thoroughly impressed. No wonder his friend had refused a perfectly good job as a Breeder to continue being a Spirit Plant Cultivator! As it turned out, the man was a master at farming and livestock rearing!
"If you took these to the Marketplace, they’d easily sell for twenty to thirty taels of Spiritual Sand each!" Song Yunxi exclaimed.
"It’s been a long time, Brother Song," Chen Mo said, gracefully changing the subject.
"Here’s the deal. I’ll buy it off you for one Low Grade Spirit Stone!" Song Yunxi stared at Kang with a burning gaze. "Your big brother has a joyous occasion to celebrate today. Let’s use this bird for the banquet. What do you say?"
Highly intelligent, how could Kang not understand those words? The moment Song Yunxi finished speaking, the rooster bolted! It sprinted so fast it left behind a trail of afterimages. But no matter how fast it was, could it outrun Song Yunxi?
"Damn! It’s even a Free-Range Chicken!"
Song Yunxi snatched Kang by the neck once more, instantly immobilizing it. However, he refrained from doing anything too extreme until Chen Mo agreed to the sale.
"Wait! Brother Song!" Anxious, Chen Mo quickly stopped him.
"What’s wrong?"
"Not this one!" Chen Mo shook his head with a wry smile. "I’ve raised it for years, and we’ve grown attached. Kang is quite intelligent. Chatting and joking with it after my daily farming chores helps relieve a lot of my stress. At this point, Kang is practically a good friend of mine."
"A good friend?" Song Yunxi hoisted Kang up and examined it closely. Judging from the way it had tried to escape earlier, it really was quite clever.
"Brother Song, as I just said, it’s been a long time since we last met. How could I let you host the banquet? Pick any of these other three. Today, I’ll use one to throw a welcome feast for you!"
After two years, the man had come all the way to visit him in person. Moreover, Song Yunxi had offered an incredibly generous price for the feast so that Chen Mo wouldn’t suffer a loss. How could Chen Mo be stingy? It was just twenty or thirty taels of Spiritual Sand; he could easily afford it!
Song Yunxi released his grip and looked toward the other three Spirit Chickens in the coop. He chuckled in response, "Then I won’t stand on ceremony! I’ll take my pick!"
"Please, be my guest!"
Right then, Kang dashed into the coop, slammed its claw down on one of the other roosters’ heads, and forcefully pushed it right in front of Song Yunxi.
"CLUCK... CLUCK, CLUCK..."
Song Yunxi didn’t quite understand what was happening.
"It says this chicken doesn’t know how to incubate eggs, so you should just eat him," Chen Mo translated.
"What? All four of these are roosters, aren’t they? Roosters can incubate eggs?"
"CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK!"
Song Yunxi looked back at Chen Mo. "What did it say this time?"
"It says you definitely need to eat him. This bastard sometimes takes a dump next to it while it’s sleeping."
PFFT!
Mei Hua couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore. Song Yunxi was equally amused by Kang’s deadpan expression. It truly was an exceptional chicken! No wonder Chen Mo refused to sell it!
Kang kept its claw firmly planted on the other rooster’s head, repeatedly jabbing its beak toward it in encouragement.
"Alright! We’ll go with this one then!" Song Yunxi declared.
Mei Hua proactively stepped forward. He practically had to wrap his entire body around the massive Spiritual Bird just to hold it in his arms.
"Brother Song, do you want me to butcher it here?" Chen Mo asked.
"No need! Come, follow me to the Fragrance Pavilion. I have some great news to share with my brother today!" Song Yunxi was in an unimaginably good mood. Come to think of it, only a chicken raised by Chen Mo was worthy of celebrating such a joyous occasion!
"Alright! But as I said earlier, I’m throwing this welcome feast for you, so don’t try to fight me for the bill!" Chen Mo was not a stingy man. Having earned quite a few Spirit Stones recently, he could more than afford the occasional trip to the Fragrance Pavilion.
"Just come with me, haha." Song Yunxi’s lips curled up into a faint smirk. "Don’t worry, someone else will be paying the bill!"
Chen Mo didn’t argue. If the man insisted, then so be it.
Song Yunxi flicked his finger, and the Flying Sword hovering in midair expanded even further. The blade, which originally only had enough room for three people, widened significantly. He leaped lightly onto it. Chen Mo followed suit, stepping onto the hilt. Carrying a Spiritual Bird taller than himself, Mei Hua barely managed to find his footing as well.
"Brother Chen, I see you’ve already reached the Qi Refining Fourth Layer?"
"I knew I couldn’t hide it from your eyes!"
"Haha, excellent! This is wonderful news! With double blessings arriving at our door today, we won’t return until we’re thoroughly drunk!"
"Agreed!"
The Flying Sword tore through the sky, heading straight for the Ancient Dust Marketplace. Stepping onto a Flying Sword for the very first time, Chen Mo felt a bit unsteady and had to try his best to maintain his balance.
Seeing this clearly, Song Yunxi spoke up, "Brother Chen! Once you reach the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, I’ll gift you a Flying Sword!"
"I’m going to hold you to that!" Chen Mo joked.
"But of course!"
Facing the strong winds head-on, the two men burst into hearty laughter.