Chapter 453 (1/2)

Fighting Over Eggs

In the past, only female ducks brooded eggs and this fat male duck would not care if the tribesmen took eggs from their next. When the second generation of ducklings hatched, it wasn’t interested either. While he patrolled the woods, he did not slow down for the ducklings.

But now, the fat duck was brooding eggs?!

Where did these eggs come from?

The ducklings were all grown now, where could the eggs be?

He thought about the egg Bai Guo found, were these laid by the new ducks?

The duck watched Shao Xuan closely, guarding against him. When Shao Xuan took one step forward, it seemed even more anxious, opening its beak to reveal sharp teeth.

Other wild ducks did not have sharp teeth or claws like this duck. Other than its general resemblance to a duck, it still had many peculiar characteristics. Perhaps its previous behaviour was not what the tribe thought they were?

Shao Xuan did not venture further inside. He exited the duck house and talked to the person who cared for the ducks.

“That duck? It’s an odd one. After you left, it brought back a few eggs. Then, more new ducks arrived at the forest opposite the village. After a while, the patrol team discovered they had laid eggs. In the beginning, it was the same as before but one day, when one of the patrol personnel wanted to approach a nest in the bushes, he was attacked by the green duck! If he hadn’t dodged, he would’ve had a hole in his arm!” said the person in charge of the duck pen.

“It deliberately attacked a tribesman?” asked Shao Xuan. If that was the case, then they had to watch the duck closer. It could not be left alone.

“Not really, after the guy left the nest, the duck did not attack again. However, the guy on duty said he hid behind the bushes to watch the duck afterwards. He saw the fat duck grab an egg from the nest and then fly away. After this incident, even when it saw the patrol team approached the nest, it didn’t react.”

“The fat duck is hiding eggs?!” gasped Shao Xuan. Not sure when this duck started hiding them. Perhaps it wasn’t a recent development, perhaps it had been going on for a while, everyone just didn’t notice. But why did it bring the eggs back to the duck house? To brood them?

“It doesn’t just hide eggs, it robs!” The guy explained, “If the mother saw it steal an egg, they’d fight.”

As for who won, it was obvious. The wild ducks were no match for this fat duck.

Such shameless behaviour.

“One of the patrol members saved a mother duck that was almost bitten to death once. That green duck just grabbed an egg and left.”

“Only one?” asked Shao Xuan.

“Yeah, only one.” As if he recalled something, the person said, “That green duck often checks other nests but after visiting once, it would never return to the same nest again. Like… like it’s choosing.”

“Other than these eggs, does it care about anything else?” asked Shao Xuan.

“Sometimes, if it saw other beasts in the forest it would chase them away-- but other than the eggs it chose, the rest was secondary.”

Shao Xuan thought for a moment. “The first time you all saw it take an egg from the nest, when was it?”

“Not long after you left, Elder. The patrol team saw it. Then, we started to see it travel to and fro the forest and duck house, carrying eggs.

Had it hid these eggs since the beginning, only starting to bring them into the duck pen afterwards?

If it had already started to snatch eggs a long time ago, then… “Did any hatch?”

The guy shook his head. “It doesn’t let me get any closer. I’ve been watching it closely but I didn’t see anything hatch. Not even any movement.” He had slipped into the duck house when the duck wasn’t around but did not see anything different.

Since the eggs were laid by different ducks, they varied in colours and patterns. However, within the nest of eggs, there weren’t any significant differences between them.

“I’ve only checked once. On the second day, I was threatened by the duck.” He recalled how the duck looked like it was ready to kill, it left him slightly traumatised.

Worried that Shao Xuan would directly slaughter the duck, the person remembered to put in a few praises for the duck. “Actually, as long as you don’t go in and touch its eggs, the duck has been quite friendly.”

“Mmm. Thank you for your hard work, caring for the ducks,” said Shao Xuan.