Chapter 595 - A Woodpecker and the Great Green Insect (2/2)
‘Crimson mantle, long beak… A woodpecker?’
‘This bird seems to contain overflowing vitality. Hehe, I’m sure it would make a good dish… There’s a recipe in that green book that would be perfect for it—”Baked Bird Wings”.’
Black Cat Tom stared at the crimson-mantled bird with malicious intentions.
The crimson-mantled bird felt a shiver go down its spine and it let its gaze travel down the tree, to which it then saw a tiger eyeing it greedily.
It immediately relaxed; although tigers knew how to climb trees, there was a limit to how high they could go. Besides, it could fly, so there was no need to be afraid of it.
However, it lacked knowledge, since it had no idea that Tom also knew how to fly…
“Brother Tiger, would you happen to know where we are?” The crimson-mantled bird could feel this tiger’s terribleness, so it spoke politely.
“Oh, before you entered this place, nobody bothered to tell you what this place is?” Tom’s eyes glimmered as it spoke. If that were true, the possibility of this bird becoming a meal would be even higher.
“Uh, someone did tell me about it, but I was in a hurry when I entered here so I didn’t pick it up too clearly. I think that person said this place was his personal arcane realm…”
“He’s right.” Upon hearing the bird’s words, Tom’s spirits were immediately dampened. Its tail swung back and forth listlessly and it turned around to leave.
As it expected, this bird was sent into this place by Vigilante A; this meant that it would not be able to eat barbeque bird anymore, what a pity.
The crimson-mantled bird had no idea that it had just escaped a major disaster. It unknowingly flew downwards and started hovering above the black tiger.
“Brother Tiger, would there be anything dangerous in this arcane realm?” inquired the bird attentively.
As a wild bird, it was extremely important for it to find out about the dangers in a new and strange place. This was a survival instinct.
“If there was any place safer on Earth, it would be the place next door,” grumbled Black Cat Tom.
‘My previous loyal servant, Old Man Huang Rui is locked away next door… I wonder if he’s grown moldy, ah, maybe I should look for a chance to visit him?’
‘No, I almost forgot that only ghosts can enter there. I think I should stay away.’
“Oh, if that’s the case, then that brother really meant no harm. It seems that I’ve been wrong about him. I thought he was some powerhouse that wanted to force me into working for him.”
“How could that be? The owner of this realm is an unparalleled hero who is honest, loyal, and intelligent beyond compare… He only thinks about the benefit of all creatures under the sky and he never forces anyone into doing things,” explained Tom immediately.
“Uh, you’re right. When he came looking for me, it was because he wanted to destroy an insect demon that was wreaking havoc upon the humans.” Once the crimson-mantled bird heard Tom’s words, the dissatisfaction it had felt when it was first forced into this place dissipated instantly.
Be it human or demon, if they lacked great wisdom, their impression of one person could be easily influenced by the words of another.
“Oh, are you talking about that Brain-Devouring Parasite? I’ve seen it before too. It moves quite fast, so catching it isn’t easy. It’s small yet someone as strong as my owner couldn’t catch it in time, and it’s dangerous to boot. If you’re able to catch this insect, you’ll definitely enjoy countless glory and splendor in the future,” persuaded Black Cat Tom eagerly.
Once the crimson-mantled bird heard these words, its spirit was immediately lit ablaze. Living as a wild bird meant living uncomfortably, so if it could let itself live a life of glory and splendor in the future, that would be the best thing to have ever happened to it. As for things like achieving positive results in cultivation, it had no need for those concepts as of yet. After all, it had not been able to enjoy the blessings that humans have enjoyed yet.
…
“This black cat seems like it was persuaded by what you said during the Hundred Fish Feast, since it’s saying so many good things about you behind your back. And here I was so worried that forcing that woodpecker into helping us would backfire onto us…” said the System in satisfaction.
“Haha, I highly doubt that. That fellow is not only a leader, it’s also intelligent and sly. I guess it knows that we’re able to monitor everything that goes in the arcane realm, so it’s acting that way on purpose,” said Fang Ning, shaking his head.
“Ugh, why are they all such fakes? Why can’t they be straightforward like the great green insect? It literally sings about wanting to eat the ginseng.”
“I know, which is why the old ginseng isn’t letting its roots grow,” deadpanned Fang Ning.
…
“There’s actually such a daring insect in the world?! It is blatantly planning on consuming the precious king of medicine? I, Little Crimson, also known as the number one insect catcher in the world, will not let that go!”
Just as Fang Ning and the System were chatting away, a dramatic scene unfolded in the arcane realm.
The Crimson-mantled Woodpecker was flying around in the arcane realm to familiarize itself with its new environment when it discovered the great green insect that was digging away at the bottom of the old ginseng…
It was knowledgeable, so it knew that ginsengs would often grow in mountain forests. However, there had been fewer wild ginsengs in recent years, and the ones that did grow did not grow old enough for consumption either.
Having said that, this ginseng that was growing in the herb garden seemed like it had been growing for hundreds of years!
This number was insignificant in myths and legends, but in reality, it was a rare sight!
Be that as it may, there was a fat green insect digging away at its roots…
It was extremely daring behavior, yet none of the servants overlooking the herb garden seemed to care.
Therefore, the bird could not stand this behavior anymore! Acting on its instincts to protect and care for plants—it had decided to get rid of this insect.
It had a hunch that eating this fat green insect would be able to grant it powers beyond compare… This was the most important point.
The crimson-mantled bird swooped downwards and landed below the leaves of the old ginseng. Its feet grasped the ground firmly and it leaned forward to begin to peck away at the great green insect that had half its body buried into the ground.
“Oh, you shouldn’t do that…” Witnessing the situation, Tom immediately called out to stop the bird. However, it was too late.