Chapter 42 part 3

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.  

When two such temperamental birds fight, they won’t stop until blood is drawn. Not wanting them to battle to the death, Kong Bi quickly intervened, grabbing each by the neck with her hands and then unleashing her aura to calm them down.  

An intense demonic energy rippled outward, causing Miaomiao, who had been secretly observing from the sidelines, to shiver instinctively, her ears flattening slightly.  

“Awoo! Awoo!”

Xinghe, however, couldn’t resist running to Kong Bi’s feet.  

This mommy is so strong too!  

Ignoring Xinghe, Kong Bi first scolded Huajiao: “Look at the mess you’ve made! How old are you, still lacking the tolerance to coexist with others?”  

“Friend or foe, you just attack without thinking—who taught you that?”  

“Duo kuo…”  

Huajiao hung her head in dejection.  

“And you! I saved you, and instead of thanking me, you just start a fight?”  

“Ooh ooh!”  

I can’t stand this kind of anger!

The red-crowned crane let out a feeble protest.

Kong Bi let go and gave Huajiao a light smack. “Apologize.”  

“Duo kuo! Duo kuo duo kuo!” Huajiao reluctantly muttered a “sorry,” then immediately protested again with indignation.  

It was the one who flew into my territory without permission first!

“Heh, heh, heh!”

A fat chicken that can’t even fly high has the nerve to say the sky is its territory?!

“My King! Look at it!” Huajiao immediately turned its head to Kong Bi to complain.

Kong Bi: “…………”

“Respected strong one, I had no intention of offending.” Upon realizing that Huajiao was not the one in charge, the red-crowned crane’s demeanor calmed. It lowered its head slightly and bent a knee in deference to Kong Bi. Its voice, mature and melodious, was quite pleasing to a demon’s ears, not like the tongue-clicking crowing of a chicken that humans hear.

Kong Bi nodded slightly. The red-crowned crane was called the immortal crane. In ancient times, it was favored by many cultivators. Many of them became spirits, and many great monsters emerged from the race. Therefore, the inheritance engraved in their blood has not disappeared. In fact, they are very polite monsters.

This monster is already a middle-aged monster. The increase in age makes it more experienced. Although it is also irritable compared to other monsters of the same kind, it also judges the situation and will not easily offend the strong.

Huajiao was not stupid. After all, the other party was meeting the king. If it attacked at this time, it would hit the king’s face. So it simply turned its head away and began preening its slightly ruffled feathers, and secretly paid attention to the other party’s movements.

“What brings you here?” Speaking to a cultured demon didn’t require the same coaxing as with children, especially since the other party was already a middle-aged beauty in terms of age, and might even be a grandmother. So, Kong Bi asked directly.

The red-crowned crane demon replied, “Our clan wishes to join your command, seeking the opportunity for enlightenment.”

In fact, the red-crowned crane demon had already arrived nearby with its clan a long time ago, but it hadn’t shown itself. With their inherited bloodline, their sensitivity to the demon king was the most acute after the green peafowl. However, because it wasn’t clear about Kong Bi’s nature, it hadn’t rushed to appear.

After all, when one has a request, it’s even more important to be mindful of the other party’s disposition.

So these days, it has been observing Kong Bi’s attitude towards other monsters, not only monsters, but also ordinary animals. It was not until today that it was completely relieved, otherwise it would have stopped its granddaughter when she flew out.

The life span of the red-crowned crane is not short. Under normal circumstances, it can live for 20 to 30 years. Some captive or extreme individuals can even live for 50 to 60 years, which is almost the same as the life span of some humans. As a monster with inheritance, the red-crowned crane knows that it can live longer, and it is enough to send its granddaughter away.

But creatures with emotions always find it difficult to face separation, and it doesn’t want to, so when it feels the message conveyed by the blood, it flies over from afar.

Although the monsters that have been enlightened into spirits have average potential and wisdom, as long as the demon king is willing, the enlightenment can be directed towards the direction of increasing life span, instead of focusing on strength, which is enough to turn a short-lived species into an immortal species.

It really hopes that its partner and children will still be with it many years later.

Upon hearing this, Kong Bi suddenly understood. Demons with inherited power usually don’t have strong desires for external things, since most of them can rely on their elders. The only thing that can usually make them give up their freedom is matters of the heart.

She pondered for a moment before saying, “You should know the rules, right?”

The red-crowned crane let out a resonant cry, signaling its willingness to undergo the tests.  

Generally speaking, a demon king was never short of followers, so they couldn’t just accept anyone. Tests were customary, those who didn’t set such tests would only raise suspicions among discerning demons, making them seem unreliable. And given the tension between the crane and Huajiao, the peacock would never accept the newcomer without seeing some form of earnest commitment.  

This was different from Wang Tianba. In Huajiao’s eyes, that clueless creature—who couldn’t even speak proper peacock language. If the Great King didn’t take care of it, it probably wouldn’t survive, so taking it in was fine. But the red-crowned crane was different. In ancient times, green peacock and red-crowned cranes had quite a few conflicts.

After all, as birds that could both sing and dance beautifully with melodious voices and elegant appearances, it was impossible for them not to secretly compete with each other.

Seeing that the red-crowned crane didn’t object, Kong Bi calmly said, “Alright, I’ll notify you when it’s time for the job interview.”

“Oh oh?”

The red-crowned crane demon couldn’t help but look bewildered at this unfamiliar term. However, the names for tests varied in different eras, so it didn’t mind. It let out a cry towards its circling clan, and upon hearing this, they immediately flew towards the red-crowned crane demon.

This family group consisted of five members: the red-crowned crane demon and its husband, its son and daughter-in-law, and their daughter.

Red-crowned cranes are not a particularly fertile species. They usually lay only one to four eggs at a time, and even fewer successfully hatch. After finding a mate, they typically leave the flock to live and fly together as a pair, though some who are attached to their families will not leave even after finding a partner.

They don’t have a strong sense of hierarchy within their group, but the red-crowned crane demon’s presence naturally made them support it as their leader, and they usually listened to it in everything.

Therefore, upon hearing the red-crowned crane demon’s call, even though the person beside it made them feel fear and reverence, they landed without hesitation.

Their flying posture was very graceful, but their landing posture was truly unbearable to watch. The red-crowned crane demon’s husband ran several steps forward after landing before steadying himself. He nonchalantly turned his head to tidy his back feathers and then stood beside his wife.

Its son and daughter-in-law landed directly in the water, looking a bit disheveled, but thankfully they landed safely.

Only their daughter did a face-plant upon landing. The red-crowned crane demon calmly walked over, and seeing that she stood up normally, it immediately left without a care.

Kong Bi couldn’t help but cover her face.

The red-crowned crane is a well-known “dumb beauty” among birds. Their flying ability is superb, but their landing technique is terrible. Face-plants are common, and every year there are individuals who fracture bones due to improper landings. This is different from Lord Shen’s situation, where he couldn’t control his face-plants because his tail feathers were too heavy. They are genuinely clumsy, and this still happens even though they fly every day.

Therefore, people familiar with red-crowned cranes usually describe them as both fierce and stupid. They repeatedly suffer losses due to this one issue throughout their lives and never learn from their mistakes.

Of course, if they flew every day, their landing skills would indeed become more proficient. However, they go through molting twice a year, and each time they lose their ability to fly. This creates a problem: every time their feathers grow back and they start flying again, their landing technique becomes rusty again, and face-plants and similar situations start to occur frequently.

It is precisely because this situation is so common that even when it happened in front of a demon it didn’t get along with, the red-crowned crane demon didn’t react much and didn’t feel ashamed at all, completely in a state of giving up.

Whatever. You might dodge it this time, but never the next. So be it!

The red-crowned crane demon was so calm that Huajiao was not interested in laughing at them. After all, there were idiots like Lord Shen in her tribe, and they were all the same.

Thinking this way, Huajiao and the red-crowned crane demon actually felt a bit of mutual sympathy. Taking care of such an idiot, it must be very embarrassing at times, right?

Seeing that the matter was resolved, Kong Bi picked up her fishing rod again to fish. Miao Miao stood beside Kong Bi, cautiously observing these unfamiliar beings.

Huajiao carried a very obvious aura of Kong Bi, which made Miao Miao understand that they were not outsiders. However, she still cautiously held her cub, not letting Xinghe get too close to them.

“Awoo! Awoo!”

Xinghe immediately cried out in dissatisfaction. She still wanted to go over and have Kong Bi teach her the move from just now!

Miao Miao ignored her protests and directly held her tightly in her paw, refusing to let her go out no matter what.

Huajiao’s attention was immediately diverted to them.

After discovering that Miaomiao was a tigress with cubs, Miaomiao’s hostility was not so strong. Green peacocks are not like their close relatives, blue peacocks, which can lay 30 to 40 eggs a year, and the probability of successful hatching is as high as 80%.

It has always been difficult for them to give birth. A nest of more than 20 green peacock eggs can only successfully hatch two or three at most, and they may not grow up safely. It is precisely because of this situation that Huajiao is more tolerant and forbearing towards pregnant creatures with cubs, especially when the other party does not look like it can give birth to many cubs, and there is more sympathy.

Huajiao has not given birth yet. The number of the tribe it once led in the Shiwan Mountains has increased by only a dozen over the years, which is pitifully small. As a monster, it knows very well that it may not be able to have a cub even if it works hard for a lifetime, so the breath exuded by Xinghe makes it more envious.

It’s actually a monster cub!

You know, it has changed its partner every five years on average for so many years. Until now, let alone monster cubs, it has not even successfully bred an ordinary cub.

Noticing Huajiao’s gaze, Miao Miao couldn’t help but pull Xinghe even closer into its embrace, becoming more nervous.

“Awoo! Awoo!”

Mom! I can’t breathe!

Huajiao restrained itself and looked away, very understanding of Miao Miao’s nervousness. If she had a cub, she would definitely protect it like her own eyes.

“Goo-ooh?!” Seeing the peaceful atmosphere around them, Wang Tianba finally flew over. After all, disobeying Kong Bi’s orders still made it feel a bit guilty. It wasn’t as bold as Huajiao. It looked at Huajiao strangely. Just a moment ago, the way it looked at that big cat was as if it couldn’t wait to get rid of it. How could it suddenly be so calm now?

Could it be acting?

Wang Tianba knew very well how insidious Huajiao could be. It had grasped this point much earlier than the red-crowned crane demon. 

Thinking of this, Wang Tianba couldn’t help but stay away from Huajiao and sneaked closer to Kongbi.

“Guwu~!”

Director, what are you doing?

Wang Tianba was still very curious about Kong Bi’s behavior, but she was not very interested in Miaomiao and her cub. It was not like she had never seen large cats before, so there was nothing strange about them. Anyway, their hunting ranges did not overlap.

As for offspring, although the Spot-Bellied Eagle-Owl also belonged to the type with few offspring, Wang Tianba was still young. It didn’t have much feeling towards such creatures yet. Becoming stronger was its primary pursuit.

It looked at the red-crowned crane demon with regret. It seemed quite powerful, and it really wanted to fight it!

Unfortunately, it had already submitted to the boss, so it couldn’t do that. Otherwise, could it deliberately stage an accident next time to find an excuse to fight?

Kong Bi had no idea what the well-behaved Wang Tianba, who was standing obediently beside her and seemed very worry-free, was plotting. She completely didn’t expect that the Wang Tianba she trusted so much wasn’t an honest bird either.