Chapter 27

In fact, the increase in weight did not affect Wang Tianba’s agility. Even though it now weighed twelve pounds, an almost impossible weight for a bird, this weight was still several pounds lighter than that of Huajiao, which was slightly smaller in body length. This is due to the special hollow bones of birds, which prevent them from becoming too heavy.

Therefore, Wang Tianba’s usual hunting methods were no different from those of ordinary owls. However, the situation was different now. With iron nets surrounding the area, no matter how hard the field mice tried to escape, they couldn’t leave this small patch of land. Given this, Wang Tianba naturally didn’t bother to hunt as meticulously as usual. Instead, it simply released its aura to send them scurrying in fear, and then swooped down from a height, catching one with each claw using the downward momentum.

This was equivalent to an adult snatching a lollipop from a child. Even if the child sensed the adult’s intentions, those short legs couldn’t outrun an adult.

Wang Tianba happily piled all the dead field mice together, its eyes narrowing in satisfaction. Since it was always hungry, a heap of food always gave it an indescribable sense of contentment. However, its hunger prevented it from savoring the sight of the mountain of mice before it. It picked up a field mouse, swallowed it whole in a few bites, the scene not appearing bloody at all.

Like snakes, owls like to swallow whole prey when eating, and they don’t bother to tear their prey apart. Their special digestive structure will gather the bones, hair and other residues of the prey into small balls in their stomachs, and then spit them out through their mouths like cats spitting out hair balls.

Wang Tianba eats very quickly, as if it hasn’t eaten for 800 years, causing the voles to die at a speed visible to the naked eye.

This made Li Xiangdong, who was still thinking about how Wang Tianba developed this hunting method, anxious, and he even reached out to grab the voles: “No more eating!”

Based on Li Xiangdong’s estimation of the food intake of a normal owl, Wang Tianba’s eating method is no longer a question of health or not, but a question of whether it will damage the stomach.

There are many cases of animals dying from overeating. Dogs that ate several kilograms of dog food in one go were forced to undergo surgery to remove it. Stray cats ate themselves to the point where they were fat even after they had owners. Although they ate to their heart’s content, there are always a few cases of death from this every year.

“Guuuu!”

Although Li Xiangdong’s behavior was well-intentioned, it was tantamount to snatching food from a tiger’s mouth. Wang Tianba was immediately furious. Originally, for Kong Bi’s sake, she was very unhappy with these approaching hairless birds, but she was too lazy to pay attention. But now he was actually trying to snatch the food Kong Bi gave her. This was simply a provocation!

In nature, snatching food is tantamount to killing one’s parents. Wang Tianba immediately flapped it wings and rushed over. If she couldn’t beat Kong Bi, could she not beat an old hairless bird?

Swish!

Kong Bi quickly grabbed one of Wang Tianba’s feet. The main attack method of an owl is its sharp inward-curved claws. As long as the feet are restricted, there will be no big problem.

But it is obvious that Wang Tianba belongs to that minority group. Even if Kong Bi stops it, she will not give up. Her sharp beak directly pecks at Li Xiangdong. Fortunately, Li Xiangdong finally reacted at this time and hurriedly stepped back.

Wang Tianba kept pecking like a woodpecker. The expanded feathers make it look like a large sea urchin. In its peak rage, even after leaving her attack range, it did not stop attacking Li Xiangdong, pecking at the air wildly in helpless anger.

“Alright, alright,” Kong Bi quickly hugged Wang Tianba, “I’ll give you food, I’ll give you food.”

“Waahhhh—!”

Wang Tianba spread her massive wings over Kong Bi’s shoulders, her head still pointed directly at Li Xiangdong. Even those who didn’t understand bird language could clearly tell she was definitely cursing.

Many animals have a habit of guarding their food. Trying to take their food while they are eating is a major taboo. Even though Li Xiangdong hadn’t thought that much about it earlier, he now realized it. However, he still couldn’t help but frown and say, “It really can’t eat anymore. An adult eagle owl only eats three or four mice a day. It has already eaten five or six, and you fed it just a few hours ago. If it keeps eating, this forest eagle owl will be stuffed to death!”

Judging from normal experience, Li Xiangdong’s words made sense. Wang Tianba didn’t understand what he was saying, but from his tone, it was clear that he had no intention of returning its food.

“Goo uh! Goo goo goo~ Goo goo goo goo goo uh~”

A long string of trilling calls rang out. If it had occurred in a forest at night, it wouldn’t have been strange to mistake it for the shrill laughter of a female ghost. Kong Bi could tell that Wang Tianba, speaking at an extremely rapid pace, was cursing and saying she wanted to fight Li Xiangdong to the death.

In Wang Tianba’s eyes, the other person was clearly one of Kong Bi’s subordinates. However, even among subordinates, there are ranks. It’s not strange for a superior to take food from a subordinate, but Wang Tianba didn’t acknowledge Li Xiangdong’s status. If he wanted to take its food, he should fight it first and win!

Kong Bi looked troubled and forcibly turned Wang Tianba’s head back, causing Wang Tianba to let out a mournful cry.

“Professor Li, let’s feed it for now. It’s clearly desperate from hunger. It probably hasn’t eaten enough in the past few days since it ran away from home. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have risked hunting Huajiao. Once it realizes there’s plenty of food here, it shouldn’t eat like this anymore.”

genuinely afraid that indulging Wang Tianba would lead to it being stuffed to death. Many animals cannot distinguish between being hungry and full. Not to mention animals, even people who are extremely hungry often overeat and stuff themselves to death. However, many animals are also very ‘sensitive’ and can easily die from emotional distress.

Whether to take away the food and risk Wang Tianba dying from anger, or return the food and risk Wang Tianba dying from being overfed, neither seemed like a good option.

Fortunately, this situation didn’t occur. After Wang Tianba jumped out of Kong Bi’s arms, it immediately carried the field mouse far away from Li Xiangdong before starting to eat.

After it finished eating, it made a little trimming and immediately flapped its wings to drive Li Xiangdong away, until the other party ran away and then returned to the shallow pit it dug.

Obviously, Li Xiangdong probably can’t get close to it from now on.

Kong Bi was also helpless. If ordinary people saw Wang Tianba eating like this, they would probably just think that it ate a lot, no wonder it grew so fat. But in the eyes of people with professional knowledge, it eating method is really a bit scary, so it is not strange to want to stop it, so it is inevitable that the two sides disagree.

After two feedings, Wang Tianba obviously had enough food, so she didn’t beg for food from Kong Bi anymore. Seeing this, Kong Bi also chose to leave.

But before leaving, Kong Bi couldn’t resist sticking her hand into Wang Tianba’s feathers for a quick thrill.

“Goo uh?”

Watching Kong Bi walk away after enjoying the feel of it feathers, Wang Tianba looked completely bewildered.

Just like how cat fur can be hard or soft, bird feathers also have different textures. Peacocks evenly coat their feathers with oil, making them smooth and insulating. Owls, on the other hand, don’t have this habit. Their feathers are specially designed for silent flight. Just looking at how puffy they appear usually is enough to tell how soft the downy feathers inside are. Needless to say, they feel amazing to the touch.

Most importantly, after touching the green peacocks, Kong Bi usually has to help them re-apply oil to their feathers, just like how cats need to groom themselves after being petted against the grain. If it weren’t Kong Bi touching them, they would have started attacking long ago. Owls, however, don’t have this problem. Although they cherish their feathers, they’re not as meticulous about cleaning them as green peacocks are, so Kong Bi’s actions don’t cause them much trouble.

Most importantly, the feel of owl feathers is superior to that of green peacocks.

As everyone knows, a plump body feels more satisfying to pet than a normal one, and long fur feels better than short fur.