Chapter 63: Totem Pole
Chu Jiu squatted on the ground, looking at the gray fluff in front of him:
“Little guy, I have a name. My name is ‘Chu Jiu’.”
“And—I have a lot of hair. I definitely don’t belong to the hairless!”
The little gray bird tilted its head and looked blankly at Chu Jiu, thinking to itself, isn’t this little bit of hair on their heads practically no hair compared to us Feathered Folk?
It couldn’t help but want to retort.
Then it saw the knight black cat beside it, showing its cold, sharp claws.
The little gray bird immediately suppressed the urge to defend the truth.
It obediently nodded: “Cheep, yes, you are not hairless.”
Chu Jiu nodded with satisfaction: Although this little guy was a bit reckless, he knew how to admit his mistakes and correct them. He was still a very good little bird… bird person.
He rested his chin in his hand and continued, “What do you mean by ‘chasing and killing’? And what do you mean by ‘going to your tribe to get a reward’?”
Mentioning this, the little gray bird flapped its wings and chirped non-stop, explaining.
It turned out that this [Bald Mountain Eagle], before it went bald, had long occupied the border between “Sanctuary Valley” and “Galewind Rock,” occasionally harassing the Feathered Folk who passed by.
To prevent this scourge from harming the bird world any longer, the Feathered Folk issued a bounty: whoever could subdue the mountain eagle would be rewarded!
The little gray bird had set off full of confidence!
But when it was ready to go to the mountain eagle’s habitat, intending to take down the eagle in one fell swoop, it found that the mountain eagle had degenerated into a quail. Not to mention lording over the sky and harassing small birds, this guy couldn’t even fly and could only run around the mountain like a bald chicken.
Relying on its racial talent of “being able to understand bird language,” the little gray bird understood the mountain eagle’s wailing:
A ferocious bipedal creature, surrounded by devils, had defeated the mountain eagle and even forced it to shed its feathers!
In short, this bipedal creature was the most valiant and terrifying being in the Sanctuary Valley and Galewind Rock area!
Hearing this, the little gray bird wanted to meet this “ferocious bipedal creature.”
Thus… came the duel that ended in a second just now.
The bipedal creature had once again proven its strength.
As an appreciation for the bipedal creature’s strength, and as gratitude for defeating the mountain eagle, the bipedal creature should accept this bounty from the Feathered Folk!
“So, please come to our tribe with me immediately to receive the generous reward!” The little gray bird stretched its neck as much as it could, flapping its small wings: “Let’s go, now! Take the feathers dropped by the mountain eagle and come with me!”
Listening to the little gray bird’s seemingly reasonable but actually incoherent and even self-contradictory narration, Chu Jiu fell silent.
After a moment, he sat cross-legged on the ground: “What kind of ‘generous rewards’ are you talking about?”
The little gray bird suddenly stammered.
Its eyeballs rolled left and right, and it continued loudly: “Anything! This is a reward from our royal family!”
Chu Jiu looked at the little gray bird’s face, which almost had “I’m lying” written all over it, and slowly stood up:
“Then let’s go claim the reward in a month.”
“We’re having spring break for a month and won’t be going out.”
The little gray bird became anxious at once, wanting to pounce on Chu Jiu’s leg with a whoosh, but Little Can blocked it, so it could only obediently retreat to the side, flapping its wings vigorously and shouting:
“No, you can’t! The reward has a time limit! If you miss it, it’s over! We have to leave now!”
Chu Jiu shook his head: “No. No going out during spring break. Please leave.”
The little gray bird saw that Chu Jiu’s attitude was firm and he wouldn’t go with it no matter what. It stood there with one wing propped up, its black bean eyes staring blankly at Chu Jiu, and finally blinked and cried out “cheep cheep cheep” loudly:
“Cheep cheep! If I can’t bring back the ‘mountain eagle feathers,’ my mom and dad will punish me by grounding me and won’t let me fly out again! Cheep cheep!”
Chu Jiu looked at the wailing little gray bird and now confirmed: Hmm, this sentence was the truth.
This little bird person had to get the “mountain eagle feathers.” But that mountain eagle had already plucked itself bald, so it had no choice but to find him.
He squatted down again: “Tell me the truth, and I’ll see if I should give you the ‘mountain eagle feathers’.”
Little Can silently walked to the little gray bird’s side, its small paw pinching the little gray bird’s neck covered in fine gray feathers, conveying in body language: Tell the truth. Otherwise… heh.
The little gray bird became completely honest this time.
It drooped its head and told the whole story from beginning to end—
The Feathered Folk didn’t have any bounty.
The little gray bird, as the little prince of the Feathered Folk, claimed to be “Swift Feather of the Galewind Rock.” But it had always been dissatisfied with this title and had always wanted to change it to a title it liked.
But its parents had always disagreed.
After long negotiations, it finally reached an agreement with its parents:
In any way, as long as Swift Feather could bring back fifty “mountain eagle feathers” within three months, it could change its title according to its own preferences.
If Swift Feather couldn’t bring back the feathers within three months, then not only would it not get a new title, but it would also be grounded for a whole year and not allowed to leave the Feathered Folk tribe.
After that… was the story of the little gray bird first finding the mountain eagle and then forcing the mountain eagle to lead the way to Chu Jiu.
As for the bounty, the little gray bird explained dejectedly that it had originally thought that if it could defeat Chu Jiu and then get Chu Jiu to give the feathers to it, that would also meet the requirements.
As a result, it couldn’t even touch the tip of Chu Jiu’s wing.
Seeing that the three-month deadline was approaching, it had a flash of inspiration and made up the story of the bounty, hoping to use the reward to trick Chu Jiu into taking the feathers and returning to the tribe with it.
Anyway… its mom and dad had said, “No matter how, just bring back the feathers,” and that would be fine.
The little gray bird said this and then hurriedly added:
“If you come to the tribe with me, I will give you my treasured belongings, as well as the congratulatory gifts after my title change!”
“I’m really not lying about this! Although it’s not a bounty, there will really be very generous rewards!”
After the little gray bird finished speaking, Rawr Rawr Rabbit, Glup-Glup, and Kakaba, who had run over to watch, all frowned their little brows.
Little Can’s face, however, was as cold as ever.
Chu Jiu sighed and said slowly, “This little guy…”
“Since he values his title and reputation so much…”
“Then relying on ‘deception’ to get the title, won’t he feel guilty when others call him that in the future?”
The little gray bird was stunned.
It raised its little wing tips and rubbed its eyes: “I… I haven’t thought about that…”
“I was thinking… if I don’t bring back the feathers, I’ll be grounded…” “The others, I, I haven’t thought about them… wuwu…”
While crying, the little gray bird’s stomach rumbled “guruguru,” echoing its cries.
This scene made Glup-Glup unable to hold back a laugh first, and Rawr Rawr Rabbit and Kakaba also stopped looking stern.
Chu Jiu also softened his voice: “Were you in such a hurry to get here that you didn’t have time to eat?”
“Come inside with me first, I’ll make you some breakfast.”
“We can discuss the ‘mountain eagle feathers’ after you’ve eaten your fill.”
After Chu Jiu finished speaking, he looked at the [Bald Mountain Eagle] huddled to the side, whistled to summon the Bodo, and said, “Bodo, keep an eye on this guy—and also take it to find something to eat.”
*
The little gray bird was really starving.
Don’t look at how small it is; it actually ate a whole roasted bamboo flower chicken in one go and drank a large can of [milk produced by black and white aphids]!
This appetite and speed even surprised Little Can a bit.
And Glup-Glup shook its little tentacles in confusion: “Glup-Glup? He, isn’t he a little bird? So little birds… eat chicken?”
At the other end of the table, Chu Jiu was carefully flipping through ?Folk Tales – The Intelligent Races Living in Monster Regions?, answering while reading:
“Hmm, according to what’s written in the book, the Feathered Folk were actually a kind of ‘bird of prey, usually carnivorous’ before they became an intelligent race.”
“Although they are small, their combat power is comparable to that of mountain eagles.”
“After becoming an intelligent race, their nature is still unrestrained, brave, and combative… hmm, the contrast between their appearance and inner nature is quite large.”
Over here, the little gray bird finished drinking the milk with great gusto, let out a comfortable burp, and patted its belly, saying, “So delicious!”
“By the way, do you have any ‘Blessed Nectar’?”
Chu Jiu asked curiously, “‘Blessed Nectar’? What’s that?”
The little gray bird said, “Ah, that’s our Feathered Folk’s favorite drink! We have to drink nectar every time we eat, otherwise we won’t feel the meal is delicious enough…”
Little Can turned its head to look at the little gray bird, its icy gaze fully expressing one meaning: What? You’ve already eaten the bamboo flower chicken Chu Jiu made, and you still don’t think it’s delicious enough?
The little gray bird was so frightened that it hiccuped again: “Cheep! Cheep cheep! This bamboo flower chicken is so delicious, super delicious, I’ve never eaten such delicious bamboo flower chicken before. Can I have another one?”
Chu Jiu handed over another chicken and continued to bury himself in his book.
In this ?Folk Tales?’s ?Dwarf Beastman Chapter?, the specialties of the dwarf beastmen, their interactions with humans, and even stories like ?The Adventures of Harun al-Rashid? were recorded.
In short, the description of the dwarf beastmen could be called vivid and detailed.
But when it came to the ?Feathered Folk? chapter, the corresponding records were greatly reduced, only briefly introducing where the Feathered Folk came from, what they ate, and their basic habits.
For example, regarding their dwellings, the book had only one sentence: [They usually reside in cliff areas that are difficult for humans to climb and approach. There, with the Feathered Folk’s unique lightness and agility, they build magnificent dwellings like palaces.]
The section on “interactions with humans” also had only one sentence:
[It is said that the Feathered Folk’s singing is very distinctive. It is said that farmers who can hear the Feathered Folk singing will unexpectedly have good harvests in their fields.]
This sentence didn’t seem to have any internal logic.
“Distinctive singing” and “good harvests” were completely unrelated.
But whether it was the active skill [Fairy Tale Interpretation] taking effect, or just pure intuition, Chu Jiu believed that the Feathered Folk’s singing might really have unexpected great uses.
What could that use be?
Chu Jiu closed the book and asked the little gray bird, “Can you sing?”
The little gray bird put down the big chicken leg: “Of course! We can sing and dance!”
Chu Jiu: “Sing one?”
The little gray bird stood on the small chair and cleared its throat: “Okay, I will dedicate a song to the bipedal creature and its knights!”
The little gray bird took a deep breath, its little chest puffed out again, and once again sang very loudly:
“Eee eee yah yah yah eee eee yah yah…”
…!
This singing!
Chu Jiu was instantly stunned.
Little Can’s fur stood on end in an instant, and it even bared its sharp claws!
Rawr Rawr Rabbit’s ears automatically rolled downwards, isolating all external sounds!
Kakaba jumped towards the cradle, reaching out its front paws to protect the baby triceratops’ ears!
However, Kakaba was still a step too late. The baby triceratops, who had been obediently playing with wooden toys, the usually quiet baby triceratops, as if hearing some demonic sound from hell, burst into loud cries!
Only Glup-Glup remained in place, slowly swaying its tentacles, keeping time with the little gray bird’s voice.
Chu Jiu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and stopped him: “Okay! That’s enough! Don’t sing anymore!”
The little gray bird stopped with lingering interest, looking at everyone expectantly: “How was it? Wasn’t it very nice?”
Chu Jiu clutched his aching chest:
How could he answer without hurting this little gray bird?!
Fortunately, Glup-Glup bravely stood up.
“Glup-Glup!” It used its little tree branch tentacles to make a big heart, which clearly meant “Not bad, nice.”
The little gray bird struck a “bow” pose on the chair, proudly saying, “I knew it was very nice! Everyone praises my beautiful singing!”
Chu Jiu gently supported his forehead.
At least on one point, ?Folk Tales? wasn’t wrong: it was indeed a very distinctive singing voice.
This ear-piercing demonic sound was truly a rare occurrence in the human world.
Could such a song… really “unexpectedly bring good harvests to the fields”? Wouldn’t it make the farmers cover their ears and flee in panic?
Flee in panic…?
What if those fleeing weren’t humans?
A thought suddenly flashed through Chu Jiu’s mind.
At this moment, the little gray bird added, “My mom and dad said that when I grow up, my singing will be even more beautiful!”
Chu Jiu: ……
Well, to verify his thoughts, he still had to go to the Feathered Folk tribe and talk to them face-to-face.
Chu Jiu put away ?Folk Tales? and recalled the materials that could be found in the “Galewind Rock” area, making a decision in his heart.
He said to the little gray bird:
“I can take the ‘mountain eagle feathers’ to your tribe.”
“But you have to tell your parents exactly what happened.”
The little gray bird was stunned for a few seconds, then excitedly flapped its wings and flew up: “Cheep cheep cheep, okay okay okay!”
“I will definitely tell the truth!”
“If I don’t tell the truth, let the knight pluck my feathers!”
Little Can turned its head away in disgust, its face clearly saying: Who would be interested in plucking your feathers? Tch.
The other three spirit beasts naturally heard Chu Jiu’s decision as well.
Rawr Rawr Rabbit and Glup-Glup didn’t say anything, but Kakaba was a bit confused.
It looked at Chu Jiu, then at the baby triceratops in the cradle, and finally the expression on its face became very firm, even secretly clenching its paws, clearly encouraging itself.
Chu Jiu knew what Kakaba was thinking:
Ever since the little squirrels brought the baby triceratops over, even after they collected milk and prepared the cradle and bedding, the two babies still insisted on hearing him hum songs to them before they would fall asleep at night.
If they didn’t hear Chu Jiu’s voice, they would cry all night long, seemingly without getting tired.
Kakaba must be worried: Chu Jiu was going out, so who would sing lullabies to the baby triceratops in the future?
But then, the little capybara secretly made up its mind: It’s okay, I’ll think of other ways to coax the baby triceratops to sleep!
Chu Jiu walked up to Kakaba and stroked the little capybara’s head: “These two baby triceratops, they’re not afraid of light or wind now, right?”
Kakaba nodded vigorously: “Dang dang dang! Although they are small now, they are actually giant beasts!”
Chu Jiu: “Then, can they travel long distances?”
Kakaba nodded vigorously again: “Dang dang dang! As long as they have a small cradle, they are just like being in an egg, they can go as far as they want!”
Chu Jiu: “In that case, Kakaba, are you willing to go out with us? To Galewind Rock together?”
Kakaba’s little paws covered its face: “Dang dang dang?! Me? Can I go too?”
Chu Jiu was very certain: “Yes, let’s go together.”
He stroked Kakaba’s little head again: “You must be worried about the baby triceratops and also don’t want to delay my trip, right? In that case, let’s travel together.”
Saying this, he looked at Rawr Rawr Rabbit and Glup-Glup, who were listening with wide eyes and had stopped moving:
“Rawr Rawr Rabbit, you’ll worry that no one will push the cradle for the baby triceratops; Glup-Glup, you’ll worry that no one will play ‘lift’ with them.”
“This time, why don’t we all go out together?”
Rawr Rawr Rabbit immediately hopped up and down: “Roar roar roar, yay, we’re going on a trip again, roar roar roar!”
Glup-Glup nodded repeatedly: “Glup-Glup, okay, okay, Glup-Glup can be with its partners too.”
Chu Jiu stood up and smiled: “Okay, now we have a lot of preparations to make, let’s get to work!”
In the next two days, Glup-Glup performed maintenance on all the facilities; Rawr Rawr Rabbit cleared the fields and woodlands, entering the fallow period early; and Kakaba insulated the beehives and prepared enough sugar water for the bees to overwinter.
The remaining [Black and White Aphid Ranch] and [Chicken Coop] were a bit special. Chu Jiu discussed it with the three little squirrels and asked them to come over every day to add pasture, feed wheat, and change fresh water for the nightmare creatures.
In this way, there was no need to worry about the affairs of the fields and ranches anymore.
But Chu Jiu himself had one more crucial preparation to make—the defensive line for the “Pioneer Hut area.”
According to the instructions in the ?Pioneer Hut Renovation Guide?, the hut’s defensive facilities could withstand monsters.
Previously, Chu Jiu had expanded the defensive area from a radius of twenty meters to a radius of thirty meters by building a “fence.”
In the last monster riot, this thirty-meter absolute safety zone played an exceptionally important role.
After that, Chu Jiu had been pondering how to continue expanding the safe area.
After his Pioneer level reached 10, a facility that suited his wishes finally appeared in the ?Guide?:
Deterrent Totem Pole.
[Deterrent Totem Pole: A pillar carved from wood or stone, used to showcase the Host’s past achievements.
The presentation can be pictures, text, or simply and crudely hanging the heads of enemies on it.
The more brilliant the past achievements showcased by the Host, the better the deterrent effect, and the larger the range that can effectively resist monster invasion.
So, don’t hesitate, come and happily decorate the totem pole.]
Chu Jiu dug up a [Black Iron Tree as Hard as Iron], used [Flowers That Can Be Used as Dye] to paint the tree trunk in colorful and extraordinarily bright colors, and then inserted this pillar outside the fence.
[Deterrent Totem Pole has taken effect.] [Source of Deterrence: Bright and colorful colors. In nature, overly bright colors usually indicate “poisonous.”] [Deterrent Range: 0.1 meters]
Chu Jiu naturally didn’t expect this little bit of color to have any effect.
He took out [Slime Adhesive] and successively pasted [Wild Boar Bristles], [Hard Exoskeleton of Centipedes], [Sharp Mandibles]… all the way to [Bone Plates of Armored Fish] and [Soft Feathers of Mountain Eagles].
With each added material, Chu Jiu could see that the deterrent range of the totem pole expanded a little.
When Chu Jiu glued the [Soft Feathers of Mountain Eagles] to the top of the totem pole, the deterrent range of the totem pole reached 80 meters.
Hmm, now the overall defense range of the Pioneer Hut area was a full 110 meters, several times larger than before.
But Chu Jiu was still slightly unwilling:
If it could be expanded a bit more, it would connect with the edge of Bean Village.
If the two sides could be connected, firstly, in case of another monster riot, it would be equivalent to an extra line of defense around Bean Village, without worrying about monsters bypassing the Pioneer Hut and heading straight for Bean Village; secondly, even if the villagers of Bean Village accidentally ran out of the road sign’s range, they would no longer encounter monster attacks.
Unfortunately, it was just a little bit short…
Chu Jiu scratched his head and tried adding some more scorpion stingers and beast horns and other trophies, but the deterrent range never increased again.
He patted the hard pillar and sighed.
At this moment, a small, furry head rubbed against his face: “Meow?”—”Why are you sighing?”
Chu Jiu stretched his arms and briefly explained to Little Can.
After speaking, he patted Little Can’s head:
“Actually, it’s okay. This is already much better than the beginning.”
“And now Bean Village also has patrols, so it’s unlikely that anyone else will sneak in.”
Little Can licked its paw, looked up at the pillar, and silently leaped into the air—
With a few “scratch” sounds, several deep claw marks were left on the pillar.
“Ding,” a notification popped up from the totem pole:
[Deterrent Range has been expanded!]
[Increased Source of Deterrence: Claw marks of unknown origin, enough to make the vast majority of monsters retreat in fear.]
[Deterrent Range: …Calculating]
Finally, the notification interface flashed:
[Deterrent Range: The deterrent range of the totem pole has overlapped with the original deterrent range of Bean Village.]
[Congratulations, Host, for achieving the hidden condition “Impregnable Fortress”!]
[Regional Development Level has increased to 19%!]
Wow! It really connected!
Little Can is amazing! Just scratching the pillar like that, the deterrent effect is actually better than all the other trophies!
Chu Jiu was so excited that he kissed the cat’s head several times, making Little Can’s cheeks flush and its tail curl up.
Chu Jiu held Little Can securely, subconsciously glancing in the direction of the road sign:
Hmm? Why does it feel like the road sign is flashing?
He quickly ran to the bottom of the road sign and carefully examined it:
Hmm… he must have seen it wrong just now, there was no flashing.
It was just that the wood and the words on it seemed to be a little more vibrant in color, not as old and worn as before.
*
After tidying up the farm and ranch and erecting the totem pole, Chu Jiu prepared to set off.
This was Chu Jiu’s first time traveling with so many little ones in tow.
Fortunately, the little ones weren’t too big, and the side pockets of the backpack were numerous enough to fit them all. Adding a small, custom-made cradle for the baby triceratops on the outside of the backpack, the family of seven was ready.
As for food and clothing, the backpack had infinite space, so there was no need to worry about that.
Chu Jiu rode the flightless dodo, and the little gray bird rode the flightless mountain eagle. The group plunged into the Forgotten Forest, heading straight for the direction of “Galewind Rock.”
The little gray bird was obviously in a very good mood, chirping non-stop on the mountain eagle’s head, constantly muttering, “I can get my new title.”
Chu Jiu couldn’t help but be curious at this moment: “What kind of title do you want?”
To be honest, the title “Swift Feather of the Galewind Rock” didn’t sound bad.
What kind of grand title did the little gray bird want so much that it would bet with its parents, resolve to challenge the mountain eagle alone, and even run to the distant human residential area to duel a bipedal creature?
Asked about this, the little gray bird immediately became even more energetic.
It tilted its head to look at Chu Jiu: “Cheep cheep, since you are a ‘brave, hairy bipedal creature,’ you must be able to understand how wonderful my new title will be!”
“The title I want is this—”
“‘Mighty and Powerful Raptor, Handsome and Chic Swift Feather!'”
“How is it? Doesn’t it sound very powerful?!”
Chu Jiu: ……
Uh, suddenly he understood the little gray bird’s parents a bit.
In Chu Jiu’s backpack, Rawr Rawr Rabbit and Kakaba whispered to each other:
“Roar roar roar, what a terrifying name…”
“Dang dang dang, if my name was that… I’d probably be so sad I’d want to cry…”
