Chapter 21

Seeing that Kong Bi had taken the owl away instead of choosing them, the two tree sparrows couldn’t help but feel jealous. ‘Just because it’s bigger than us? It looks clumsy and foolish, how could it compare to us?’

Thinking this, the two tree sparrows couldn’t resist landing on the ground and approaching the owl. It wasn’t until they saw the owl suddenly twist its head around that they flapped their wings in fright and took off again. They circled behind Kong Bi for a while, unwilling to give up, before finally flying away.

The owl’s ability to turn its head 270 degrees was a natural counter to the tree sparrows, who liked to attack from behind. Since they couldn’t find a good opportunity, they had to abandon their original mischievous plans. They returned to the owl’s home, which had become a ruin, and chattered with their companions.

Kong Bi didn’t notice the tree sparrow’s bad intentions. After all, there were birds everywhere in the forest, and it was normal to fly around. The owl followed her step by step and easily kept up with her pace.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

“Goo hoo!”

The language of birds is quite different from that of humans, but the owl could still understand Kong Bi’s meaning and quickly responded. If translated into human-understandable language, it would roughly mean “the overlord of the sky” or “the king of the sky.”

It’s clear at a glance that the owl chose this name for itself. After all, ordinary animals don’t have the concept of naming their offspring, they usually rely on scent and other means to distinguish their young. This kind of name clearly shows that the owl, after gaining the ability to think, set this as its own goal.

It was a bit difficult for Kong Bi to translate bird language, so she immediately shortened the name and decided on the spot, “Then I’ll call you Wang Tianba from now on.”

“Goo hoo?”

Having never been in human society, Tianba didn’t understand what the name represented. After all, living alone, it had never been called by any name. Seeing that Kong Bi didn’t seem to have any intention of speaking further, it simply memorized the two strange characters, dug its sharp claws into the dirt, and lifted its legs to follow Kong Bi.

Tianba, who rarely walked on the ground, moved like a cat or dog wearing socks, as if it had forgotten how to use its legs.

Kong Bi didn’t care whether it had difficulty following. After all, they had fought yesterday, and she didn’t want to carry it today.

…

When Quan Xiangsong went to look for the green peacocks early in the morning, he discovered that Kong Bi was missing. Because he had been woken up at night and his elderly sleep quality wasn’t good, leading to fatigue, Quan Xiangsong often found it difficult to get up early if he slept a little late the previous night, and today was no exception.

So, when he found that the green peacocks’ food bowls were empty and Kong Bi was nowhere to be found in the cafeteria, Quan Xiangsong knew she had probably gone out.

Although he found it a bit strange, Quan Xiangsong didn’t think too much about it. He simply took the small cart to load food and feed the peacocks, planning to observe them more carefully than usual while waiting for Kong Bi’s return. Given yesterday’s attack, the green peacocks might have lost their appetite, especially the injured one. It would be terrible if they refused to eat.

Quan Xiangsong pushed the cart towards the peacock garden. The road in the zoo was not particularly flat, so even with a cart, it took a lot of effort to pull food. Quan Xiangsong couldn’t help but stop to rest halfway.

“Old Quan!”

Quan Xiangsong subconsciously turned his head and saw Kong Bi walking towards him from a distance, waving at him. He subconsciously waved back, then belatedly widened his eyes.

What the heck was that big lump next to her?!

He couldn’t help but push up his glasses. It was an owl that was almost as tall as Kong Bi’s thigh, with a round head and a round face. Its walking posture was somewhat comical, trailing behind Kong Bi, with a pair of wings slightly spread. Coupled with its face that looked like a burly man, it looked somewhat arrogant as it walked, like a big brother wearing a gold chain and a floral shirt before the crackdown on organized crime, running rampant in the streets.

Large birds, due to their infrequent ground walking, often appear somewhat comical and amusing in their gait, which is completely different from the feeling given by cute and petite birds when they land. Quan Xiangsong had naturally seen quite a few, but this was the first time he had seen one walking so arrogantly. Moreover, he was also surprised why this owl, without any restraints, would follow Kong Bi so closely, and why its build was so… sturdy.

Well, in fact, Quan Xiangsong was more inclined to call it fat. Most birds are very light, and it’s just their fluffy feathers that make them look rounded visually. However, this one couldn’t simply be described as fluffy. Even though its feathers weren’t puffed up, its face looked like a neutered orange cat that could eat three big bowls a day. It was a whole size bigger than a normal owl, and the entire thing looked like a smooth-edged square.

Was it because its wings were slightly open?

Quan Xiangsong took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on, trying to prove that he was dazzled. After this action, Kong Bi had already approached, which made him sure that he was not dazzled, but that this owl was indeed overweight and fat.

Is it sick?

“Old Quan,” Kong Bi explained, seeing Quan Xiangsong’s gaze on Wang Tianba, “When I got up this morning, I saw a large bird flying into the woods. It looked like the big peacock, so I chased after it. But I didn’t see the green peacock, only it.”

Quan Xiangsong said upon hearing this, “Maybe it ran away when it heard the noise.”

Kong Bi nodded in agreement, then continued to make up a story without blinking, “I originally wanted to ask you to take a look at it, but I was afraid the big peacock would kill it after I left. I didn’t expect it to be so intelligent and just follow me directly.”

Quan Xiangsong frowned and looked down at the owl. Wang Tianba also looked up at him without any fear, its big eyes blinking, occasionally moving its head to pinpoint his location. It neither disguised itself as a tree stump nor spread its wings to intimidate, as if it were used to seeing people.

He couldn’t help but mutter, “Could it be artificially raised?”

Kong Bi: “Huh?”

“Look at its size. How could such a size be grown in the wild? It’s like a pig. And it’s not afraid of people,” Quan Xiangsong said, feeling more and more convinced. “It must have been that the person who raised it wasn’t careful and let it fly out. It probably came out to hunt the green peacocks last night because it was too hungry. Wild owls wouldn’t be so foolish as to hunt such large animals outside of the breeding season.”

As everyone knows, owls eat mice, and it’s not unusual for them to take down four or five in one night.

Of course, large owls have a wide diet and don’t just eat mice. But no matter how wide their diet is, they usually don’t hunt prey that is too much larger than themselves. Generally, only during the breeding season, to show their bravery to females, do they hunt prey they wouldn’t normally catch, to show off their muscles and let the females know they are strong and more courageous than other males.

Kong Bi blinked: “What you said makes sense. But anyone who raised it wouldn’t be foolish enough to call the police. There’s no use in us thinking about it. Professor, can you tell what kind of owl it is? A mutated eagle-owl?”

With Kong Bi’s limited knowledge of owls, she could only think of the eagle-owl for a large owl with these ear tufts. As for the different feather color… isn’t the most significant difference between variants and their species just the change in fur color?

Upon hearing this, Quan Xiangsong carefully examined the owl. After a while, he suddenly realized.

“I know!”