Chapter 13

Although the number of green peafowl is not large, conducting a detailed examination of each one is still very time-consuming. After Kong Bi finished examining the thirteenth green peafowl, Huajiao, who had initially come closer out of curiosity, had already run a considerable distance away, cautiously lingering around. If it weren’t for its sense of responsibility to the group, it probably would have disappeared long ago.

Kong Bi waved at it, : “Huajiao, come here.”

Huajiao hesitated, pacing back and forth. Out of respect and admiration for Kong Bi, it always responded to her call. But this time was different, the head that was usually proudly raised at that time seemed not so straight.

In the depths of Huajiao’s memory, it had seen such scenes before. Every time it was check-up day, the zoo would descend into chaos. Tigers being dragged by their tails, her mothers being pulled by their wings, wild boars being yanked by their tusks…

It was neither elegant nor did it preserve the aura of dominance they worked so hard to maintain.

“Come here, Huajiao.”

At this moment, even Kong Bi’s voice, which had originally fascinated it, became terrifying.

Kong Bi saw that she was not coming, so she had to go over by herself.

When Kong Bi took a step forward, Huajiao took a step back, until she bumped into the fence behind her, and she didn’t dare to really flap her wings and run away.

In fact, after discovering that Huajiao was the leader of the green peacock group, Quan Xiangsong and others tried to get close to Huajiao more than once, but compared with other green peacocks, Huajiao had a worse temper and was more vindictive. Other green peacocks would attack only when they were 0.5 meters away, but Huajiao would chase and beat people as soon as they entered its five-meter range, and could chase people to death. It can be said that she is the tyrant of the zoo.

But Kong Bi was different. The aura emanating from her was the best form of intimidation. In Huajiao’s memory, even the aura her mother released when she was a chick, pulling out her mother’s feathers to put on herself, wasn’t as overwhelming as the pressure from Kong Bi.

So, when it had absolutely no way to retreat, it behaved very obediently.

Monster always respect the strong, especially strong members of their own kind, and their control over other monster of the same species is absolutely crushing.

Kong Bi picked up Huājiāo by its wings and brought it back. She was very skilled at catching chickens. In the past, whenever she wanted to eat chicken, she only had to stand by the coop, and chickens would naturally volunteer to fulfill her wish. This is the meaning of ‘practice makes perfect.’

Huājiāo closed its eyes, already imagining the scene of its dignity being utterly swept away.

Kong Bi lifted its wing and inserted the thermometer.

Huajiao waited for a while, but didn’t feel the touch of a foreign object inserted into her buttocks. She opened her eyes in surprise: “Don’t I have to do that?”

Kong Bi was surprised when she heard this: “You want to measure the rectal temperature?”

For any intelligent creature, it would probably feel uncomfortable with the behavior of measuring the rectal temperature. Considering that Huajiao has become a spirit, Kong Bi naturally chose a more tactful way. After all, there are few feathers in the armpits, and it is not impossible to measure, but the accuracy will be a little worse than measuring the rectal temperature, which is not unusable.

Of course, considering that Huajiao is a demon after all, it may not understand these. If the other party does not mind measuring the rectal temperature, then Kong Bi naturally does not care, after all, measuring the rectal temperature is more accurate.

Huajiao shook it head hurriedly when she heard this. Its followers are still watching around, how embarrassing for the demon!

Kong Bi was not disappointed when she heard this: “Then let’s do this.”

Hua Jiao nodded hurriedly, like a chick pecking at rice, its tense muscles relaxing. It straightened its chest and raised its head again, glaring back at each of the green peacock watching the commotion. The green peacock, one by one, looked away as if nothing had happened, either preening their feathers or searching for food, avoiding its gaze.

As a young demon with relatively weak deterrence, it was very difficult for Huājiāo to prevent its subordinates from rebelling. If they discovered that it received the same treatment as them, a war would be inevitable, unless Huājiāo could prove itself again.

However, this behavior usually only occurs among male peacocks. But due to the structure of this particular group, it naturally ignited the ambition in all the green peacock, both male and female, to challenge it.

And Huājiāo couldn’t do anything to them. After all, the followers hadn’t achieved enlightenment yet, so their lack of intelligence was understandable.

Quan Xiangsong watched this scene with great interest. Observing and studying the secret language of animals was like a cat seeing a mouse or a dog seeing excrement for him—it was difficult to suppress the surge of curiosity in his heart.

Kong Bi didn’t notice this. After handing the thermometer to Quan Xiangsong, she said, “I like to talk to animals by myself. Will Professor Quan find it strange?”

Quan Xiangsong looked at her strangely this time: “Why is it strange?”

Kong Bi blinked, “People often thought I was some kind of animal whisperer or a freak when they saw me talking to them like this.”

Quan Xiangsong nodded in understanding, “I’ve encountered that too. But once you’ve been around animals for a long time, you realize they’re actually very intelligent, and they understand what you’re saying. I once encountered an old wolf in the wild that had a bone stuck in its throat. There was no other way, no anesthetic around, and it was dangerous to delay. So I had to bite the bullet and do it. Not only did it not bite me, but it later brought me a rabbit as a token of gratitude!”

Seeing Kong Bi’s surprised expression, Quan Xiangsong became even more proud. In fact, whenever he met someone who had not heard of this story, he would basically tell it again. After all, some people were repaid by cats and dogs, but who has ever seen a wolf repaying kindness like this?

Although the difference between wolves and dogs isn’t always obvious, it was still a wolf, a wild wolf.

Kong Bi, upon seeing an animal with sentience, couldn’t help but wonder if it had achieved enlightenment. She couldn’t help but ask, “And then what happened?”

Quan Xiangsong smiled, “I don’t know. Given its age, it probably isn’t around anymore.”

Kong Bi asked, “Haven’t you ever thought about going back to Yihua to see it?”

“It’s not good for wild animals to have too much contact with humans,” Quan Xiangsong said casually. “What if they mistake poachers for good people?”

Kong Bi nodded, then couldn’t help but say, “But it was old, so it wouldn’t matter, right?”

“You can’t think that way,” Quan Xiangsong disagreed with this idea. “It grew up in the wild from a young age. Even if I took it away and it had food and shelter, it wouldn’t be able to adapt. Otherwise, being so smart, it would have left with me long ago if it wanted a peaceful retirement. It wouldn’t have chosen to bring a rabbit as a token of gratitude after recovering. Even if its life as a lone wolf in the wild wasn’t so comfortable, that doesn’t mean it wanted to be confined.”

He couldn’t help but mutter, “You didn’t see its eyes. If you had, you definitely wouldn’t have this idea.”

Kong Bi thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, “You’re right.”

Over the years, she had encountered cats who only had fleeting encounters with her, but also those who chose to develop long-term, stable relationships with her. There were even two closely bonded cats who completely broke off their relationship after one was caught cheating with her. So, whether or not to live with humans, aside from some silly cats and those forcibly kidnapped or married, they actually knew better than anyone else.

Freedom and the stability of having every meal guaranteed – not every animal would choose the latter.”