Chapter 22

“That’s a Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl!^[1]The spot-bellied eagle-owl (Ketupa nipalensis), also known as the forest eagle-owl is a large bird of prey with a formidable appearance. It is a forest-inhabiting species found in the Indian … Continue reading” Quan Xiangsong said with absolute certainty.

Kong Bi looked bewildered. “A Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl?”

“That’s right, look at its abdomen,” Quan Xiangsong said, pointing to the heart-shaped pattern on its belly. The snow-white feathers were dotted with small hearts, which looked quite mismatched with its large, Zhang Fei-like face.

“Among the Strigidae family, only the Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl has such markings. Also, look at its eyes. An eagle-owl’s eyes don’t look like that. So, I deduce that this must be a Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl!”

Although he said “deduce,” Quan Xiangsong’s tone was already very firm.

Kong Bi looked at Wang Tianba’s eyes after hearing this. The iris of an owl has three colors: orange, black and yellow. The color of their irises represents the period of their daily activity. Owls with orange eyes will be active at dusk and at night, owls with black eyes are the purest night owls and will only be active at night; and owls with yellow eyes can be active in both black and white, regardless of day or night. The more famous eagle owl has standard golden eyes, while Wang Tianba’s eyes are obviously black, or dark brown.

This subtle change in iris color not only symbolizes that Wang Tianba has habits that are significantly different from hee peers, but also symbolizes her evolution. After all, one more hunting time means that the chance of starvation is smaller, and the chance of survival will naturally increase.

In addition, the difference in eye color may also mean that Wang Tianba can see colors. You know, owls are color blind among birds, unlike other birds that can distinguish colors, and Wang Tianba might not be colorblind anymore, but rather… color-deficient?

Quan Xiangsong looked at Wang Tianba, a strange glint in his eyes: “Because the Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl is nocturnal, I reckon there are probably fewer than a hundred people in our country who have had the good fortune to see one. And this one is so large, it must be a female, right? But even for a female, being this big is a bit alarming. Although the data we can collect is limited due to their habits, we do have some size data. They’re usually only sixty or seventy centimeters at most, but this one is nearly a meter, isn’t it?”

“What could have caused this?”

“The soil? The food? Or is there some mysterious substance hidden in the air of Peacock Mountain?”

The more Quan Xiangsong spoke, the more excited he became, looking like he couldn’t wait to immediately tranquilize Wang Tianba, draw blood, and run tests. Sensing his keen perception, Wang Tianba couldn’t help but tightly fold her wings, and the puffed-up feathers hugged her body, instantly turning her into a plump wooden stump.

When owls are frightened, they will freeze, camouflaging themselves as a stump. Their dull gray-brown feathers make them look very similar to the trees in the forest, so much so that they are hard to spot if you don’t look carefully. Kong Bi didn’t expect Wang Tianba, who dared to fight creatures twice her size, to be scared by Quan Xiangsong. She quickly cleared her throat, interrupting the researcher whose urge to study was clearly getting out of hand:

“Old Quan, let’s check his body first.”

“Oh right, right, right,” Quan Xiangsong calmed down. “She followed you all the way back? Did she break a wing? Doesn’t look like it.”

As he spoke, he walked towards Wang Tianba.

“Goo hoo!”

Wang Tianba immediately flapped it wings, looking fierce and refusing to let Quan Xiangsong approach. She turned her head and rubbed against Kong Bi’s legs, her dense, soft wings clinging to her legs and refusing to let go. 

Quan Xiangsong was taken aback. In his understanding, since Wang Tianba was so affectionate, it must have been raised by humans. Therefore, human-shaped creatures shouldn’t trigger any alarm in its world. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have walked over so casually. He didn’t expect it to be so resistant.

This made him feel a bit depressed. Could the person who raised it have been a woman? Should he try again with a wig?

Kong Bi also scratched her head, reaching out to pick it up: “I’ve got it under control, Professor, please come take a look.”

“Goo hoo?!–“

“Goo hoo goo hoo!”

Wang Tianba immediately let out a heart-wrenching cry, sounding like a slaughtered pig. Quan Xiangsong was startled: “Put it down quickly, that’s a raptor!”

He really didn’t expect Kong Bi to be so reckless. Although owls with their big eyes might seem harmless, especially compared to fierce beasts like tigers and bears, no matter how harmless they look, a raptor is a raptor. To just grab it without any protective measures, she clearly hasn’t been taught a lesson!

“It’s fine,” Kong Bi said, patting Wang Tianba. “She’s very well-behaved. Look, she’s not moving now, is she?”

“Goo hoo…”

Wang Tianba closed her eyes and didn’t move.

Quan Xiangsong: “…Fainted?”

He suddenly started to doubt his life, wondering if Kong Bi had used too much force, or if Wang Tianba was already seriously injured. He looked at the motionless Wang Tianba with some trepidation, afraid it might have just died.

“Take her to the medical room first.” In the end, Quan Xiangsong could only say this.

As he spoke, he was about to take Wang Tianba from Kong Bi’s hands. Kong Bi glanced at Quan Xiangsong’s elderly figure and hesitated, “Or should I still do it?”

“It’s just an owl, I’m not so old that I can’t even hold an owl,” Quan Xiangsong said, displeased.

Kong Bi thought about it and felt it made sense. Bird weights are generally the lightest among animals. Although Wang Tianba looked a bit overweight, it shouldn’t be too heavy, after all, it’s a flying bird.

Quan Xiangsong happily reached out, but suddenly his expression changed. He hefted Wang Tianba, astonished, “This… this must be over ten pounds, right? How is that possible?”

Even the largest eagle-owls and fishing owls only weigh seven or eight pounds. To achieve flight, birds have almost all their evolutionary adaptations geared towards flying. But Wang Tianba’s weight was truly solid, comparable to a neutered male cat whose size had rapidly ballooned.

Kong Bi speculated, “Maybe it’s because it hasn’t been controlling its diet and has been eating too much?”

Having inherited memories, Kong Bi clearly understands the various abnormalities that ordinary demons experience during breakthroughs. Without inheritance, they can only rely on instinct to soothe the restlessness emanating from deep within. Cultivation is difficult, and demons without inheritance find it hard to understand the cause of that restlessness. Eating vigorously when hungry is a survival instinct. In Kong Bi’s inherited memories, there are even cases of them eating themselves to death by bursting their stomachs. Compared to that, Wang Tianba merely becoming a fat bird already demonstrates its remarkable self-control.

Quan Xiangsong worriedly said, “Doesn’t that mean it has high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar?”

For any creature, obesity can easily lead to various diseases, not to mention that the bodies of birds cannot support too much weight. It puts too much strain on their bones. Therefore, as soon as they entered the room, Quan Xiangsong immediately placed Wang Tianba on the weighing scale.

6.4 kilograms!

In Quan Xiangsong’s eyes, this was already a weight that couldn’t survive for long without losing weight. You have to know that a Eurasian eagle-owl with a body length of 70 centimeters would not weigh more than 4 kilograms at most!