After confirming that Yu Ningmeng had calmed down and would not do anything to harm herself, Xia Yu placed the phone back to his ear.
“She’s just an ordinary princess,” Xia Yu replied.
“But she’s still a princess. You’ve grown tired of rich young ladies and started setting your sights on princesses?” Yu Ningmeng didn’t know what to say at the moment and made a playful remark.
Xia Yu remained silent.
“Wait, you said you know the princess’s father, meaning your friend is a king?” Yu Ningmeng noticed another blind spot.
“No,” Xia Yu answered.
“Your denial is more exciting than an affirmation. I need to sort this out carefully,” Yu Ningmeng put down the phone and touched her chin thoughtfully.
Xia Yu had a friend who was the father of a princess, but he wasn’t a king.
Picking up the phone, Yu Ningmeng sighed, “That king seems a bit of a cuckold.”
Xia Yu also realized the problem in his words but was momentarily speechless upon hearing Yu Ningmeng’s interpretation.
He didn’t want to continue this topic, “It’s hard to say whether he is or isn’t a cuckold. Anyway, she’s a genuine princess with no issues in any aspect. Just tell me if you can handle it or not.”
“Royal bloodlines definitely shouldn’t run around recklessly, but 232 District is just a residential area. Wait, let me check.” Having said that, Yu Ningmeng hung up the phone.
Xia Yu put down his phone and tossed it aside. He knew that tonight would mostly yield no conclusion, and he’d have to wait until tomorrow for news.
He wondered whether Zhumei would obediently follow him tomorrow. If necessary, he might have to kidnap her.
Opening the game interface, Xia Yu began thinking about where to go today.
He decided to go to Wen Ziying’s place. He wondered how her new book was selling.
However, he didn’t go immediately because he felt something else would happen tonight.
Playing with his phone while lying on the bed, at 11:30 PM, he heard a soft knock on the door.
Xia Yu ignored it. He knew it must be Zhumei outside.
As for Zhumei’s purpose, it was nothing more than offering herself in exchange for rescuing her younger brother and the others.
Xia Yu had already figured out Zhumei’s intentions when she paraded in front of him in her swimsuit in the afternoon.
Rescuing her younger brother was troublesome but negotiable. However, allowing Zhumei into his room late at night was non-negotiable.
He was an upright person.
Zhumei shared a room with Hu Lianglu. Given Hu Lianglu’s personality, she would definitely keep an eye on Zhumei. If she noticed Zhumei’s prolonged absence…
The door couldn’t be opened.
Lying on the bed, Xia Yu originally thought Zhumei would knock for a while and then sensibly leave. However, he didn’t expect her to decide to open the door herself.
Xia Yu didn’t have the habit of locking the door while sleeping. Upon hearing the door handle being turned, he immediately got up, pushed the handle back, and locked the door.
Hearing the click of the lock, Zhumei outside the door blushed deeply.
Earlier, when knocking received no response, Zhumei could think that Xia Yu was asleep and hadn’t heard. Now that the door was locked, it couldn’t possibly be Xia Yu sleepwalking.
After the embarrassment, Zhumei’s mood turned to disappointment.
She had finally gathered the courage to do something like this, but the other party clearly looked down on her.
After loosening her grip on the doorknob, Zhumei looked toward the staircase.
Since the other party was unwilling to help rescue her brother, should she leave?
There was no moon outside the window. The staircase was pitch black and unsettling, while a soft light shone from the corridor’s other end—the nightlight from Hu Lianglu’s room, gentle and warm.
Zhumei also realized that even if she crossed the staircase to the ground floor, she couldn’t leave. The first-floor door required iris recognition.
Taking a step forward, she returned to Hu Lianglu’s room and quietly got into bed.
The warmth of the quilt quickly lulled her to sleep.
Hu Lianglu, who had been lying with her back to her, turned over, opened her eyes to examine Zhumei for a moment, then closed them again.
It was almost twelve o’clock. If he didn’t use the game opportunity now, it would be wasted. Xia Yu chose Wen Ziying’s slot and clicked to log in.
After a moment of darkness, he found himself in complete darkness again.
Had Wen Ziying gone to bed so early today?
Stretching out his hand, Xia Yu prepared to find the light switch, but what he touched felt very strange.
The texture of the wall was wrong, and the sensation of reaching out was also incorrect.
He hadn’t had time to be surprised when he suddenly felt himself lose balance and tumble downward.
If it were an ordinary bed, falling would immediately hit the ground, just slightly painful. But Xia Yu was now falling for two seconds, still in a state of weightlessness.
Struggling to steady his rolling body, Xia Yu quickly looked around.
He saw stars in the sky. Illuminated by starlight and aided by his night vision skill, he saw his surroundings clearly.
He was falling from a cliff, and in a few seconds, he would plummet into the valley below.
What the hell is going on!
[Boost Generation Completed]
[Acquired Boosts: Flight Boost LV1, Long-range Vision Boost LV1, Tracking Boost LV1]
Seeing these boosts, which were completely different from Wen Ziying’s, Xia Yu realized he had triggered a bug again. At this moment, he was inside an animal’s body.
If he wasn’t mistaken, it was probably a bird’s body, which explained why his earlier touch felt strange.
The ground was getting closer. He was about to crash onto the rocky surface below, ending the bird’s life. Xia Yu hurriedly spread his wings and barely managed a glide.
He glided for a second before crashing into a tree, his vision blocked by leaves.
He had no choice but to try his best to grip with his claws, hoping to catch a branch to avoid falling through the canopy to the ground.
A second later, his vision suddenly widened, revealing the hard rocky surface below.
At this speed, crashing would leave him lying on the ground for at least ten minutes, possibly with a head injury.
Fortunately, before hitting the ground, he felt his claws grip something solid. He caught a branch.
Stopping his fall, he swung around the branch for a moment due to inertia, successfully avoiding danger.
Not rushing to release his grip, he hung upside down on the branch, first confirming there were no animals or dangers around before performing a backflip to land steadily on the ground.
Thankfully, he had agility. Otherwise, controlling an unfamiliar bird’s body wouldn’t have allowed timely reactions.
Lying on the ground, Bird Yu calmed his racing heart.
If he wasn’t mistaken, he had just been in the bird’s nest. Due to the action of spreading his wings to turn on the light, he had fallen out of the nest. Fortunately, nothing serious happened.
He glanced again at the direction he had fallen from—it was a towering cliff. He wondered what kind of bird this body was, capable of building a nest so high.
After resting a bit, Xia Yu stood up and began thinking about what to do next.
First, he needed to learn to fly, then find a pool of water to see what kind of bird he was.
So the question was, how to learn to fly?
Was it the same as the legend—climb to the edge of the cliff and jump down?
Regardless of whether this method was reliable, climbing up the cliff would take enormous effort, possibly taking until dawn.
Abandoning the idea of climbing the cliff, Xia Yu chose to climb a tree instead. Trees had a certain height, and falling wouldn’t be dangerous, making them perfect for practice.
Thinking this, Xia Yu grabbed the tree trunk with his claws and began climbing.
Fortunately, he had Strength LV3. Otherwise, climbing a tree with claws would be exhausting.
Choosing a thick branch, Xia Yu stood on it, prepared himself, and jumped down.
He glided for two seconds but entered a spin due to his tail not being properly positioned, landing on the ground. Getting up, Xia Yu continued climbing the tree.
Practicing repeatedly like this, Xia Yu lost track of time. When the sun appeared, he could already glide at low altitudes skillfully. By the time the sun fully rose above the horizon, he had gained the Flight LV1 skill.
Estimating that at most an hour remained before his eight-hour game time ended, Bird Yu flew high, searching for a river to see his bird form.
He didn’t find a river but spotted two people on the cliff.
They were two hikers, wearing thick clothes and holding hiking poles, sitting on an open ground eating.
Xia Yu thought for a moment. Finding a river wasn’t difficult, but how effective could a river’s reflective surface be compared to a phone?
Most importantly, with a phone, he could know where he was and quickly send someone to capture this bird and bring it home!
However, as a bird who had received compulsory education, taking someone else’s phone might not be appropriate?
A moment later, under the comfort of “just borrowing it for a moment, stealing a phone isn’t stealing,” he strengthened his resolve.
Adjusting his angle, he dove downward.
The two hikers were eating potato chips, taking turns, completely unaware of Bird Yu in the sky.
Since they hadn’t noticed him, Xia Yu didn’t intend to expose himself. He landed not far behind the two and started walking toward them.
Getting closer, he found that standing up, he was taller than the two seated hikers.
In other words, this bird body he was using was almost a meter tall.
This wasn’t an ordinary bird but an eagle or a hawk.
Now he knew.
Lowering his head, Hawk Yu looked at their thighs. In the pants pocket of the left-side glasses-wearing woman, he spotted the phone.
Extending his claw, he went to grab the phone.
If he were using his hands, Xia Yu could guarantee success. But now he was using claws with only three toes.
The bespectacled woman sensed something attempting to slip into her trouser pocket. She turned her head and locked eyes with Hawk Yu, who was looking down to inspect the progress.
Human and hawk remained silent for a second.
“Aaaaaaah!” The woman with glasses screamed in panic, hiding behind her companion.
Looking at his empty claw, Xia Yu sighed. He had almost succeeded in stealing the phone.
But it was okay; he had a backup plan.
Putting down his claw, Xia Yu looked at the two women.
The woman with glasses was a bit panicked but also curious. She pulled her companion’s clothes, cautiously peeking at Hawk Yu. The other woman, with short hair, was fully alert. She raised her hiking pole, facing Hawk Yu directly.
No wonder they dared to come to the mountains alone; one of them was capable.
Xia Yu didn’t intend to forcefully take it. After confirming the two wouldn’t suddenly run away, he began his performance.
Spreading his wings, kicking his claws, moving his neck, preening his feathers—in short, showing a harmless demeanor.
The short-haired woman remained alert, while the glasses-wearing woman gradually relaxed. Her curiosity slowly overpowered her panic.
“This eagle doesn’t bite, right?” she said to her companion.
“Eagles are carnivores; of course, they bite. Besides, this isn’t an eagle, it’s a hawk!” The short-haired woman took the hiking pole from the glasses-wearing woman, holding it with both hands and watching Hawk Yu.
“You’re right. Eagles bite, but it’s a hawk!” The glasses-wearing woman showed delight.
“…” The short-haired woman had no words and could only look at her companion with the eyes of seeing an idiot.
“I’ll go take a look.” The glasses-wearing woman walked toward Hawk Yu.
“Wait!” The short-haired woman tried to stop her companion, fearing sudden movements might provoke an attack from Hawk Yu, but failed.
Approaching Hawk Yu, the glasses-wearing woman rummaged through her backpack on the ground and took out a sausage, offering it to Hawk Yu’s beak.
Looking at the unpeeled sausage, Xia Yu suspected the woman in front of him was an idiot.
“Oh, need to peel it.” The glasses-wearing woman realized, peeled the sausage, and placed it in front of Xia Yu’s beak again.
Xia Yu ate it.
Seeing the successful feeding, not only the glasses-wearing woman but also the short-haired woman relaxed.
Humans always have a psychological notion that “if you eat my food, you’re mine.” The glasses-wearing woman had already treated Hawk Yu as a stray cat on the roadside.
After feeding the sausage, she took out bread for Xia Yu.
Xia Yu slowly ate, halfway through, he saw the glasses-wearing woman reach into her pants pocket. This was exactly as he had planned.
When encountering a bird of prey, the first reaction of ancient people was to run immediately, while modern people’s first reaction, besides running, was to take a photo.
He had acted so harmless to make her take out her phone and then snatch it.
As the glasses-wearing woman lowered her head to press the phone, Xia Yu raised his claw, aiming straight for the phone.
“Careful!”
Just before he was about to succeed, the short-haired woman pulled the glasses-wearing woman, and the two rolled onto the ground. The glasses-wearing woman’s phone was pressed under their bodies.
The plan failed. Xia Yu was frustrated. He flew above the two, intending to push them aside to get the phone, but noticed a part of a phone sticking out from the short-haired woman’s shirt pocket.
Lowering his head, he picked up the phone with his beak and quickly fled.
“Ahhhh!” The glasses-wearing woman’s scream followed him. He thought he had accidentally injured someone, but looking back, both were fine, so he flew back down without further concern.
“Ahhhh!” The glasses-wearing woman continued screaming.
“Stop screaming; it flew away!” The short-haired woman said.
Opening her eyes and seeing Hawk Yu had indeed flown away, the glasses-wearing woman cried and threw herself into her companion’s arms: “Are you okay? I’ll call 120 immediately!”
Earlier, she had been holding the phone, adjusting the camera, when she saw the hawk’s claw rushing toward her face. Fortunately, her companion had pulled her, avoiding the attack. But before she could react, the hawk had pounced on her companion, lowering its head to peck at her chest.
Not daring to watch, she closed her eyes and screamed.
“I’m fine.” The short-haired woman touched her body; even her clothes weren’t torn.
“But just now, I saw the hawk pecking at you,” the glasses-wearing woman, looking at her unharmed companion, was astonished.
After checking again, the short-haired woman said with a complex expression, “It took my phone.”
“What?” The glasses-wearing woman was stunned.
The previous scene flashed in her mind. With hesitation, she said, “At first, the hawk was trying to get into my pants pocket where I had the phone. Later, it seemed like it wasn’t trying to scratch my face but to grab the phone in my hand…”
The two looked at each other, their faces full of disbelief.
This hawk came for the phone?
Before the two could figure it out, they saw the hawk flying back.
The two looked at the hawk as if facing a great enemy, but the hawk showed no intention to approach. From a distance, it dropped two things and left.
After a minute of caution and confirming no danger, the two approached the spot and saw the phone and a dead rabbit.
First picking up the phone, the short-haired woman looked at the rabbit with confusion: “Is this the payment for the phone?”
“Sniff sniff, such a polite hawk, but I didn’t take a photo,” the glasses-wearing woman clung to her companion, feeling wronged.
“I think there might be something here,” the short-haired woman opened her phone and found it was on the camera interface.
She opened the photo album and found several photos of the hawk.
“The hawk stole the phone to take selfies?” Their worldviews were shaken.
Naturally, Xia Yu wasn’t so bored as to take selfies. He had just taken a few photos because he felt the two women would like them.
He felt relieved that the short-haired woman’s phone didn’t have a screen lock; otherwise, even if he had taken it, it would have been useless.
At this moment, he not only knew his appearance but also his location.
Standing in the nest he had fallen from earlier, Xia Yu pondered how to retrieve this hawk body.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage