Chapter 6

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A slap woke the碧火神枭 (Bi Huo Shen Chao, a mythical bird) whose head was buried under its wings. Opening the cage, he grabbed the bird by the neck. But he saw the bird close its eyes, stick out its tongue, and stretch out its legs, pretending to be dead.

Liu Shoucai, gripping the bird’s neck, shook it a few times and said with a grin, "Little White, if you want to become a deity soon, you’d better work hard and not be lazy. Otherwise, I won’t take care of you anymore."

"Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck..." The bird opened its eyes, full of helplessness. It struggled a few times and, with all its might, spoke in a human voice, "Your grandpa, let, go, of, White, Lord, me!"

"Who’s your grandpa?" Liu Shoucai held the bird in front of him, a sinister smile on his face.

In fact, the碧火神枭 in Liu Shoucai’s hands was still a young one, though it could easily be Liu Shoucai’s grandfather in age. However, it hadn’t reached adulthood and couldn’t freely change its form. To transform into a two-meter-tall figure, it needed to either go through life-and-death trials to instantly activate its bloodline and become a spirit beast, or seek external help—essentially finding a ‘father.’ This father had to be powerful, so in the hundreds of years since the碧火神枭 was born, Liu Shoucai was its first ‘father.’

Moreover, although Liu Shoucai seemed to abuse the碧火神枭, he actually cared for it deeply. Though he was meticulous, he wasn’t stingy to the point of being unbearable. His treatment was just right, making the碧火神枭 go from being cautious to being completely loyal. If other practitioners saw someone mistreating a spirit beast, they might have taken action to help.

However, this was a way for the碧火神枭 and Liu Shoucai to build a strong bond, though it was rather... perverted.

"You, you, you!! You’re my grandpa! White Lord is at a disadvantage and will die because of you! Quickly, let go of your cute little claws and release Lord me."

"I don’t have any intention of killing you, so transform! Bite me!" Liu Shoucai threw the碧火神枭 to the ground, watching it cough a few times like a human, its wings bending as if in an animation, standing up with its wings like hands, clenching its fists and giving Liu Shoucai the middle finger, cursing, "Bitch!"

"Stupid bird!" Liu Shoucai, standing tall, put his hands on his hips and retorted.

"Let’s go. After we finish this, we still need to visit those parents. School matters can’t be neglected; the real work is below." Liu Shoucai kicked the碧火神枭’s butt and said.

"Your grandpa! I’m a spirit beast, not a cat or a dog, woof!" The碧火神枭 pouted and scampered ahead.

"Be careful!" Badou, sitting by the well and posting on Weibo, looked at his phone and said. For the unchangeable facts, Badou simply ignored them. Recently, he had become addicted to writing stories and felt he had the potential to become a writer.

The next moment, the man and the bird entered the village.

It was mid-summer, a time when cicadas chirped and birds were quiet, but the man and the bird felt as if they had stepped from heaven into hell.

Cold winds whistled past their ears, the ground was frozen solid, and their feet made a clanging sound. White mist billowed from their mouths and noses, indicating the temperature was well below zero.

"Such a miserable place." The碧火神枭 scratched the ground with its claws, sparks flying.

"Yin and Yang are reversed, the five elements are inverted. This place is not simple." Liu Shoucai exhaled on his hands and looked up. The strange climate made him shiver involuntarily. Indeed, there was no moon or stars in the sky.

"Let’s go, let’s see what’s causing this trouble." Liu Shoucai stepped forward, following the path into the village.

The碧火神枭 caught up and said, "Come, come, come, let White Lord transform first, or we’ll really be boiled and steamed."

"Alright." Liu Shoucai took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and flicked his lighter, but no flame appeared.

Huh?

He tried again, but still no red flame.

"Here, the five elements are inverted, ordinary fire won’t work. Are you an idiot?" The碧火神枭, not transforming, didn’t end with its usual ‘cluck, cluck, cluck,’ but its voice had a hoarse, eunuch-like quality.

"Not bad, I’m an idiot, and you’re a fool. Why didn’t you mention this earlier?" Liu Shoucai’s face turned red, feeling embarrassed, and then he became angry, grabbing the碧火神枭 and holding it in front of him, saying with a cold laugh, "Come, come, come, lead the way. You can’t die anyway, so a beating won’t hurt you."

"I’m a bit nervous, Xiao Liu, why don’t you go in front?" The碧火神枭 shrank its neck and moved behind Liu Shoucai, looking quite timid.

"You’re afraid of a beating!" Liu Shoucai sneered, but he didn’t mistreat the spirit beast.

"..." The碧火神枭 rolled its eyes, pretending not to hear Liu Shoucai’s nagging.

Sigh, I’ve accepted my fate... it’s not the first time!

"I bet if we come here in winter, it will be spring with cicadas and birds singing. Believe it or not?" Liu Shoucai threw the碧火神枭 down, watching it scurry behind him.

"Boring..." The碧火神枭 shrank its neck and followed Liu Shoucai, looking around cautiously.

Although the man and the bird were joking with each other, they both felt uneasy. The village was too strange.

"Little White, do you smell anything?" Liu Shoucai, finding nothing, pinned his hopes on the碧火神枭.

"Nothing, it’s too quiet. White Lord’s beautiful legs and waist are gone, this is so unscientific!" The碧火神枭 wiggled its butt and neck.

"Unscientific my ass! You’re not a product of science. Think of a solution, or we might both end up here today." Liu Shoucai said through gritted teeth.

"Be careful!" The碧火神枭, about to retort, suddenly shouted, then spread its wings and flew away.

Liu Shoucai’s reaction was quick. The moment the碧火神枭 shouted, he heard a whistling sound, the kind produced under great pressure.

It’s a heavy object being thrown! As this thought crossed his mind, the碧火神枭’s voice rang out. Liu Shoucai instinctively dove in the direction of the white bird.

Whistling...

Boom!

The whistling was deafening, but as Liu Shoucai hit the ground, he felt the earth tremble, a heavy object landing where he had been.

"Mother of God!" The碧火神枭 flapped its wings, shrinking its neck and shouting.

Liu Shoucai, on all fours, looked back and shouted, "Mother of God, what a huge millstone!"

A massive millstone, about two meters in diameter, had landed where Liu Shoucai had been, its weight causing it to sink more than half a meter into the frozen ground.

This ground is as hard as ice! Did it fall from hundreds of meters up? Liu Shoucai instinctively looked up.

"Don’t look, there’s a力尸 (Li Shi, a powerful zombie) here! White Lord can smell the stench of the corpse on the millstone!" The碧火神枭’s feathers stood on end, its eyes glowing green.

Liu Shoucai scrambled to his feet and shouted, "I know, no human could throw something this big!"

Looking around, he saw no sign of where the object had come from, making him furious. "Little White, if you don’t transform, you’re dead! If I get boiled, you’ll be plucked and made into soup!"

"Out! Out! Out!" Suddenly, a strong sense of resentment surged from the millstone, forming a wave of mental impact that hit Liu Shoucai’s head.

"Out? I’ll go in and see what treasures are here!" Liu Shoucai’s stubbornness flared up. He had never been so embarrassed. Entering the village without seeing a single ghost, he was almost crushed by a millstone, and now he was being threatened by a ‘ghost.’

Can Master Liu take this?

Rolling up his sleeves, Liu Shoucai shouted at the碧火神枭, "What are you waiting for? Don’t you see they want our lives? Do you really want to be plucked and made into soup?"

【力尸 (Li Shi)】: As the name suggests, a corpse with immense strength, the strongest can move mountains and rivers, with boundless power. One of the eighty-four types of zombies. The conditions for its formation are not as strict as for other zombies, but the burial conditions require that the person be male and never married, maintaining their virginity. If they die unjustly and are buried in a heavy soil area, they can become a力尸 in thirty years.

Bloodthirsty, violent, and immensely strong.

Due to the short formation time, they lack intelligence, with red eyes and non-venomous fangs.