Chapter 42 part 2

In fact, judging by the interest Xinghe had shown in meat these past few days, although she hadn’t reached the weaning stage yet, she could clearly reduce her milk intake and eat more meat. If it weren’t for Chuchu, Kang Kang would probably still be able to drink his fill of milk.

But now that Chuchu had set its sights on Miao Miao, it was probably impossible.

Since it wasn’t a very important matter, Kong Bi didn’t pay any more attention and stared intently at the water’s surface.

She had promised to fish for Miao Miao, and it would be too unreasonable if she ended up being a fish-dropper instead.

Of course, perhaps the choice of bait was also an issue. After all, it was bait that had been eliminated by the market. If there really wasn’t any problem with it, it wouldn’t be so unpopular among anglers. For one thing, the earthy smell of earthworms was very unpleasant. Basically, after fishing, your hands would be covered in the smell, and it was the kind of smell that would linger even after washing your hands carefully several times at home.

However, Kong Bi didn’t care about that anymore. Things like being overly concerned with cleanliness diminish after owning pets and become just a simple desire to be clean. After having them for even longer, you become too lazy to even clean off the pet hair that gets on your clothes. Kong Bi hadn’t felt much when she petted Wang Tianba and Huājiāo every day, after all, they wouldn’t stick out their tongues to lick her.

But feline animals like Miao Miao were different. Licking each other was their way of expressing friendliness; they would feel uncomfortable all day if they didn’t lick. Kong Bi had become very zen about this. She also didn’t dare to spray perfume to cover up her scent. Animals with a keen sense of smell really disliked perfume, not to mention she was in contact with cubs every day, she didn’t even dare to put on floral water.

Leaning against Miao Miao, Kong Bi comfortably watched the water’s surface. As a medium-sized tiger, Miao Miao couldn’t be ridden. Female tigers are generally smaller than male tigers, unlike Siberian tigers, which can be over a meter tall just on all fours, and slightly shorter people even have to look up at them. South China tigers, on the other hand, can be looked down upon by any adult.

So, riding a tiger was just wishful thinking. As for Xinghe…

Kong Bi looked at Xinghe, whose size had already grown rapidly despite being newly born, with a subtle gaze. ‘My cub, Mom believes in you!’

Xinghe unconsciously shivered, looking around with confusion. Not finding anything wrong, she immediately buried her head in for more milk. Being extremely competitive, she didn’t plan on losing to a kitten, even if their competition was just about who could eat more.

Kong Bi withdrew her gaze, her eyes suddenly lighting up. This time, she had learned her lesson and didn’t immediately lift the fishing rod. With her strength, even if a large fish was hooked, she could pull it in with one hand. But if she only focused on pulling and didn’t know how to relax the line, if the hooked fish hadn’t taken the bait deeply, it could easily be pulled off.

So, this time Kong Bi skillfully worked to tire out the fish. After a while, she suddenly jerked the rod upwards.

Chuchu’s eyes immediately lit up, and she stood up on her hind legs. This was the main reason she didn’t want to stay away from humans—there were some foods that were difficult for cats to hunt themselves, but humans could!

“Woof meow~!”

Give it to me, give it to me!

Seeing Chu Chu so excited, Xing He also curiously trotted over. The little one was at that age where it was discovering the world, fascinated by anything it hadn’t seen before.  

But instead of handing the food right over, Kong Bi took the fish and tossed it high into the air.  

Feline animals need a lot of exercise. Although they have no worries about food and clothing in the zoo, the limited space restricts their activity. Therefore, better zoos implement enrichment activities, such as tying meat to trees for them to retrieve themselves or stuffing it into things for them to figure out how to get it out. This not only prevents them from getting bored but also gives them a sense of accomplishment from the food they obtain through their own hard work, maintaining a certain level of vitality and preventing them from becoming as lazy and unmotivated as neutered pet cats kept at home.

“Roar!”

Because Kong Bi was quite strong, the fish was thrown very high. Miao Miao immediately leaped up, the sharp claws in her broad tiger paws extended. Just as she was about to strike the fish, a black and white figure suddenly flashed past, snatching the fish right out of the air.

Having missed its target, Miao Miao landed on the ground, staring at the large bird that had intercepted her prey. She couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose and let out an extremely powerful tiger roar.

You dare to steal my prey?! Do you have a death wish?!

Xinghe instinctively flattened her ears. This was the first time she had heard her mother roar like this, and her tiger eyes couldn’t help but be filled with deep longing and awe.

Xinghe didn’t have much awe for Miao Miao because she understood that she would eventually be able to defeat her one day. This didn’t mean she had no affection for Miao Miao, just that there was more closeness than respect. This was also why Miao Miao often had to roar at her to come back, and Xinghe repeatedly didn’t change her behavior—because Miao Miao wasn’t authoritative enough in her eyes. She heard her but didn’t intend to comply.

But at this moment, Xinghe’s eyes couldn’t help but light up. The posture Miao Miao displayed was truly captivating. This was the king of beasts!

Miao Miao noticed Xinghe’s admiration for her, and a hint of smugness immediately showed in her eyes. How could she not know Xinghe’s little thoughts? Losing a small fish wasn’t enough to make her furious. Predators surviving in the wild inevitably had to accept the outcome of prey inadvertently escaping their grasp. They wouldn’t be discouraged by this. So, Miao Miao was entirely making the most of the situation. Noticing Xinghe’s gaze at this moment, she happily flicked the tip of her tail, feeling it was worth the performance.

She believed that before Xinghe finished learning her hunting skills, it would definitely be quiet for a good while.

The bird flying in the sky was also startled by Miaomiao’s roar, plummeting straight toward the water. The fish it had been clutching in its beak slipped out unconsciously. By the time it regained its senses and flapped its wings to soar back up, the fish had already plunged into the water and vanished without a trace.  

After taking such a great risk to catch its meal, only to lose it right at its beak, the bird let out a long, mournful cry toward the sky.  

“Oh ho ho ho ho——”

This unique cry immediately stunned Kong Bi. How could she describe it? It was like a rooster with phlegm stuck in its throat trying to crow…

The content of its cries also left Kong Bi speechless. It kept sadly squawking “My fish, my fish.” How did it become its fish? It was clearly the one she had caught!

But the bird didn’t care about that. Its high-pitched, resonant cry immediately attracted the other birds in its flock, and four of them flew over in the blink of an eye.

Facing the somewhat strong sunlight, Kong Bi squinted her eyes to look at them. These birds had crimson red crowns, black feathers on their cheeks, necks, tails, and the middle of their wings, while their bodies were snow-white, their legs were extremely long, and their flight posture was ethereal and elegant.

If green peacocks were graceful and elegant, then these were handsome and otherworldly. This ink-wash color scheme, combined with their slender and graceful figures, always made people feel a sense of ethereal beauty at first glance, like an exquisite landscape painting done by ancient people with ink wash, and then sealed with a vermilion stamp.

Only…

Kong Bi looked utterly stunned.

How could there be red-crowned cranes^[1]The red-crowned crane has been a symbol of immortality for centuries. Although its official binomial name is Grus japonensis,  (Japanese crane, or Manchurian crane). The red-crowned crane  is a … Continue reading here?!

Red-crowned cranes are migratory birds that fly south for the winter in autumn and fly to their breeding grounds in spring. Their breeding grounds in China are in the Northeast, and their wintering grounds are in Piaocheng, Jiangsu Province. However, neither of these locations passes through the city where Kong Bi is currently located. This could only mean that they were coming for her?

But if they were coming for her, why hadn’t they come to find her all this time?

Kong Bi observed the flock. This should be a family group. Red-crowned cranes usually appear in pairs or family units. They practice monogamy and therefore value blood relations. However, there weren’t any particularly large individuals among them, so Kong Bi couldn’t discern who the leader was.

Listening to their blatant exchanges, Kong Bi couldn’t help but wonder if she should call them down. Red-crowned cranes have a bad temper and are much more powerful than the geese at the entrance of the village, but they are also fierce and clumsy. Kong Bi wasn’t afraid of them attacking her, but she was worried that if they were impolite, Miao Miao might just give them a big slap…

Both red-crowned cranes and South China tigers are Class I protected animals in China. If they fought, even Class II protected animals wouldn’t dare to intervene. In terms of fighting power, red-crowned cranes are basically free food in front of tigers.

Although birds aren’t really a staple in a tiger’s diet, they don’t particularly like hunting flying creatures because the success rate of hunting flying animals is often much lower than that of land-based animals, birds of prey and beasts of prey in the forest often have a tacit understanding of non-interference and don’t have any deep-seated grudges. However, for feline creatures, things that fly in the sky always hold a strange attraction.

Before Kong Bi could send Miaomiao away and let them come over, Huajiao suddenly flew over from a distance.

“Du-kuo—”  

“Oh—”  

Immediately, one of the red-crowned cranes took flight, circling gracefully with Huajiao. Their slender necks and nearly two-meter-wide wings made their movements look exceptionally elegant. But then, in the blink of an eye, as their necks drew close—  

Wham!

Huajiao’s neck suddenly snapped forward like a swinging hammer, smashing straight into the crane’s head. Caught off guard, the crane was left dazed, plummeting straight down.  

“This is my turf! You ugly bird, ever heard of rules?!”  

Hah—ptui!

Startled, Kong Bi rushed over to catch the falling crane.

When the red-crowned crane flew out of the flock earlier, it was already over land, not the water. If it had fallen and hit the ground at this point, it would have been injured even if it was fine before.

Moreover, being struck like that by Huājiāo, wouldn’t it get a concussion?

Kong Bi leaped up and caught the red-crowned crane in her arms. Generally speaking, birds don’t understand each other’s languages. However, both red-crowned cranes and green peacocks were ‘nobles’ in ancient times. Huājiāo, as a non-wild spirit, actually knew a few common ‘foreign languages’. Although its opening words sounded no different from usual, it was a language that the red-crowned crane could understand, which is why the leader of the cranes had flown out.

But it never expected Huajiao to be so dishonorable. What should have been a normal diplomatic encounter turned into an outright ambush.  

“Oh-oh!”  

Seeing their leader in such a state, the red-crowned crane flock couldn’t stay calm any longer. Ignoring their surroundings, they flapped over in a panic.  

“Oh-oh!”  

The dazed crane quickly called out to stop them, its vermilion crown visibly flaring wider in agitation.

The vermilion on their heads was like a mood mirror—its size wasn’t fixed. When they were tense or upset, it would expand, and when they calmed down, it would shrink back to normal.  

The crane looked up at Kong Bi, then flapped its wings and hopped down. Still a bit dizzy, it nearly stumbled but quickly fluttered to regain balance. Then it turned to glare at Huajiao, eyes blazing with fury.  

“Heh-heh-heh?!”  

“Du-kuo!”  

With wings spread wide, the crane charged straight at Huajiao.  

You dare ambush me, your grandaunt? I’ll beat you till your head bleeds!

Hah? Invading my turf and you’ve got the nerve to act tough?!

The two demons hurled vicious insults at each other, skipping the usual pre-fight posturing entirely. Huajiao spread its wings and launched straight into a flurry of kicks, while the red-crowned crane retaliated with sharp pecks of its beak.  

Though the crane’s long legs were strong, as a wading bird, its primary weapon was its beak—and it had the height advantage.  

Green peacocks also had long legs and necks, but as the saying goes, ‘a crane stands out among chickens’, highlighting the stark difference in their statures. A red-crowned crane typically stood between 1.6 to 1.78 meters tall when grounded, while the green peacock barely reached past Kong Bi’s waist. The height gap was undeniable.