SES Chapter 215 Part 2

She sighed. “Luo Little Knife, am I bad like this? Am I not ambitious enough? Am I too dependent on others? Sigh, I’ll change. But I can’t help it. I still like it.”

She was so earnest, talking to herself, afraid of being disliked, analyzing herself, swearing to change, serious to the point of sincerity.

Luo Ren kept smiling at her, but his eyes felt a little hot.

He thought that the reason was simple: Mu Dai had never lacked people to take care of her materially, but she had always lacked love.

Xiang Silan didn’t love her. Huo Zihong treated her well, but she always knew she was adopted. She was cautious, hiding her thoughts from a young age. Sometimes she acted spoiled toward Plum Blossom Ninth Lady, but the moment her master’s expression changed, she knew she had to kneel, to obey the rules of a disciple.

So even the tiniest bit of love made her happy. She tilted her head to listen, to look. Some people taught girls to be reserved, to treat romance like a battlefield, to play hard to get. She had none of that. She was the kind of girl who would lower her head, rub her hands, blush, shuffle her toes, and awkwardly say, “Ah, why do I like you so much?”

Luo Little Knife, am I bad like this?

What’s bad or not? As long as there’s love, every quirk is honey.

Luo Ren lowered his voice. “Funny thing is, I really like taking care of my girlfriend. So… how about we try dating?”

Mu Dai thought for a moment. “Sounds good to me.”

They looked at each other, both smiling secretly, lips barely holding it in.

Just then, a loud crowing suddenly rang out.

It was familiar…

“Heh… do… lo…”

Time rewinds just a little.

Cao Yanhua and the others were setting up tents. Since they’d agreed not to fight among themselves, their complaints were now unified: the elementary school kids’ goods were of poor quality, Cao Jiefang was useless, the liquor was probably fake, not as strong as expected…

At that moment, Cao Jiefang, who had been sleeping soundly nearby, suddenly moved.

All three of them saw it and stopped what they were doing almost at the same time.

Then, before everyone’s eyes, Cao Jiefang sprang up—not quite a carp leap, but agile and sharp all the same.

Its eyes were bright, tinged with a dangerous hint of red.

Yan Hongsha felt her scalp tingle. She whispered to Wan San, “Why do I feel like this is… kind of creepy?”

Wan San felt it too. He stretched out his arm, pushing Yan Hongsha and Cao Yanhua back. “I’m telling you, Jiefang has a history of violence. There’s an old saying: a drunk doesn’t recognize people. Getting hit means getting hit for nothing. Let’s back up. Back up…”

Before he could finish, Cao Jiefang single-handedly sounded the call to battle.

Like a shell fired without direction, or a powerful rubber ball bouncing wildly, or an angry bird—chirp!—attacking anyone in sight.

Complete chaos broke out. Cao Yanhua tripped over a tent rope while dodging, fell flat on his back, and crushed half a pitched tent. Yan Hongsha rushed to grab Cao Jiefang, missing it again and again. The most panicked was Wan San, waving a groundsheet around like a bullfighter.

Luo Ren, puzzled, pulled Mu Dai over. They’d only taken two steps when a black blur shot toward them like an arrow.

Sensing danger, Luo Ren reacted instantly. He grabbed Mu Dai, rolled to the ground with her, and when he propped himself up and looked, Cao Jiefang had slammed into a tree trunk. Even stranger, it clung to the bark with its claws and viciously pecked the trunk—tap tap tap tap tap.

What did it think it was, a woodpecker?

Luo Ren picked up a stone, considering knocking it down, but worried about hurting it if he used too much force.

In that split second, Cao Jiefang suddenly flew into the underbrush and disappeared.

In the stunned silence, they could still faintly hear its crowing: “Heh… do… lo…”

Turning back, the half-built campsite was a mess. Luo Ren was both amused and exasperated. “Drank too much? This isn’t normal drunkenness. What did you do to Cao Jiefang?”

No one answered. Unwilling to give up, Cao Yanhua stared at the spot on the tree trunk that Cao Jiefang had pecked. Knowing it was impossible, he still made a last-ditch suggestion. “Brother Luo… should we try scanning that tree with the bounty hunter? Maybe the Phoenix Luan Buckle grew inside it…”

Before Luo Ren could respond, his expression suddenly changed.

In the night air, there was a subtle shift—noise waves, sharp cackling sounds, rushing toward them fast.

Luo Ren grabbed the infrared goggles, swiftly climbed the nearest tree, and looked in that direction. His face changed dramatically as he shouted, “Get into the tents, now! Cao Jiefang startled a flock of pheasants!”

A flock of pheasants? Was that really that scary? It sounded more like a wolf pack charging in.

But if Luo Ren said so, it wasn’t an empty warning.

There were two tents at camp—one half-collapsed, the other not yet set up. Wan San and the others dove into the half-collapsed one. Cao Yanhua was last, his butt still sticking out when he already heard the thunderous flapping of wings approaching.

Mu Dai was extremely panicked. She’d just found the aluminum support poles when the first pheasant flew right over her head, its claws brushing her hair. Luckily, it didn’t grab her scalp.

Her whole body went numb as she heard Luo Ren shout, “Over here!”

Without thinking, she lunged toward him. Luo Ren flung open the larger tent canvas and wrapped them both inside, stepping on the edges and sternly ordering, “Crouch down.”

Mu Dai obeyed, crouching and looking up. Luo Ren stood holding the tent open, biting a support pole with his teeth. Some pheasants slammed into his back; others began pecking through the canvas. He quickly assembled the support into a cross shape, crouched down, and formed a crude shelter. Holding it steady, he motioned to Mu Dai. “Get under me.”

The man’s body, once braced, was solid and broad, and the cross frame made it even sturdier. Mu Dai hid beneath him, curling up as small as possible, and asked, “Is there anything I can do?”

She helped hold two of the support poles while Luo Ren freed a hand to pin the canvas edges with his boots. Pheasants pecked at his combat boots—tap tap tap—but the boots were thick and tough. It felt like scratching through shoes.

Outside, there was clanging and chaos. The hanging lantern swayed wildly, its light casting dense, overlapping shadows on the tent roof. Wings stretched enormously in the light, crowing filled the air, shaking eardrums.

Still, despite the shaking, the small improvised shelter remained temporarily safe.

Mu Dai looked up at Luo Ren. “Are wild mountain chickens really that scary?”

He thought for a moment. “Not really. Not as scary as hornets.”

He was probably thinking of the Four Fortresses incident, when Mu Dai had hidden underwater.

“Do mountain chickens attack people that easily?”

“They were probably startled by Cao Jiefang,” Luo Ren listened carefully to the outside. “If it’s breeding season, they get aggressive protecting their chicks and will attack people. And breeding flocks usually center around a dominant male. They don’t allow other males in—it easily triggers fights.”

He added, “Don’t underestimate them. They’re fast. When they go all out, they can reach over 80 kilometers per hour. That’s highway speed. Getting hit by one hurts. If they peck you a couple times on top of that… so it’s better to avoid them for now.”

One or two might not be a big deal, but a whole flock…

Poor Cao Jiefang. Hopefully, it wouldn’t get wiped out by the native wild pheasants of Fengzi Ridge.

After a long while, the noise outside seemed to fade. Mu Dai cautiously called out, “Cao Fatty? Hongsha? Wan San?”

No answer.

They exchanged looks. Luo Ren pursed his lips and lifted a corner of the tent. A pheasant still guarding outside tried to dig its way in. Luo Ren reacted fast, kicking it away, then whipping the canvas around in a few sharp motions, clearing the area while pulling Mu Dai up.

Three or four pheasants remained, but they scattered in all directions—not a threat.

Mu Dai, still catching her breath, looked around—and froze.

“Where… where are Cao Fatty and the others?”

That’s right. The other tent was gone.