NOVPUBThe two Diamond Parrots were scared out of their wits by Suming, flapping their wings so vigorously they leaped a good distance into the air, huddling head-to-head as they shook their heads and squawked at Suming incessantly.
"No! No!"
"Yameidie! Yameidie!"
"Just scaring you guys a little."
Suming chuckled, "If you don’t want to be eaten, then go fetch some dry branches and kindling. I need to make a fire."
The two strong and robust parrots quickly dragged plenty of kindling from the woods, piling it up. Suming also cleared a space on the ground, took out a lighter, and ignited the campfire.
As a natural instinct, Huiya had an inherent fear of fire and huddled behind Suming, not daring to get close to the fire.
While gathering wood, the parrots also helped themselves, fetching quite a few pine cones from the forest. Having lived in the zoo for a long time and not fearing fire too much, they stacked the nuts by the campfire. They picked up the pine cones one by one, cracking them in their beaks with force to pick out and eat the pine nuts inside.
Suming set up a field pot over the fire to cook some compressed biscuits and canned meat. Soon, the pot began to boil with a bubbling sound and a fragrant scent wafted out as Suming stirred it with a spoon.
Enticed by the aroma, the young wolf Huiya bravely inched closer to the campfire, pacing back and forth around the pot, its tail wagging excitedly with a look of longing.
"This isn’t for you!" Suming tapped the young wolf’s head gently with the spoon.
Huiya howled in confusion, looking bewildered.
Taking Huiya out was meant to cultivate its wildness in preparation for its eventual release into the wild. If everything continued as it had been in the zoo, with the zookeepers handling everything and Huiya simply stretching out its hand for clothes and opening its mouth for food, how could its wildness be fostered?
Huiya was still too small to hunt for itself, which was hardly realistic, but Suming had plans.
It wasn’t long before a black shadow descended from the sky with a strong gust of wind.
The Haidong Qing that Suming had sent out to hunt had returned. Under its feet, on one side, it held a meter-long snake that appeared to have been killed by the Haidong Qing, limp and motionless with both ends dangling; on the other foot, it clutched a large mountain rat that was still squirming.
The mountain rat, a specialty of the mountainous region, was much larger and far fiercer than the average house mouse. Plump and nearly the size of a small cat, it lived in the mountains, feeding on bamboo shoots and tree roots while drinking spring water, creating a muscular and tasty meat—a fine delicacy of the mountains.
In Yangchuan City, situated near the mountains, mountain rats were sometimes sold in the market—each costing upwards of a hundred yuan.
Without much thought, the Haidong Qing tossed the still-living mountain rat in front of Huiya and then landed on the ground, feet pressing down on the snake. It lowered its head and with a powerful beak, pierced a big hole in the snake’s belly, then started eating heartily.
"This is your food. Take care of it!" Suming said to Huiya, pointing at the corpulent mountain rat.
The mountain rat had been petrified from being captured by the Haidong Qing and then being dropped from midair, landing in a daze. After steadying itself, its beady eyes looked around sneakily to scope out its surroundings.
Huiya approached the mountain rat cautiously, circling around it with curiosity, observing the rat closely.
This was its first encounter with such a ’creature.’ Instinctively, Huiya knew it was a tasty morsel, but up until now, it had only been nursing or occasionally nibbling on meat. No one had ever taught it how to eat a living thing.
Since the Haidong Qing was utterly preoccupied with the snake and paid no attention to the mountain rat, the rat seemingly saw its chance. Its eyes lit up and with a swift dash, it darted away from Huiya.
Huiya only saw a blur before it reflexively swatted with its paw, but it came up empty.
In that instant, the mountain rat had already darted far away, and it seemed it was about to escape.
"Stop! Stop!"
The odd voice rang out, and it was unclear whether it was the sister or the younger Diamond Parrot swooping down from the sky, stepping on the mountain rat’s back. With a body as heavy as a small hill, it was no surprise that the rat was pressed to the ground, its four legs frantically digging at the earth trying to escape, but it could not move at all.
"Can we eat it, can we eat it!"
Parrots generally don’t eat meat, but it seemed that the plump mountain rat had sparked their appetite. Another Diamond Parrot also approached, lowered its head to bite the rat.
"Don’t eat it!" Suming sent a wave of spiritual power over.
Reluctantly, the Diamond Parrot brought the mountain rat back and dropped it in front of Huiya again.
"Rookie! Rookie!"
"Wuss! Wuss!"
The two parrots, having had their prey snatched from their mouths, were quite discontented. Not daring to lash out at Suming, they could only taunt Huiya incessantly from the side.
"Ao... Ao..." Huiya was angry, growling lowly at the Diamond Parrot sisters, and even waving its little paws threateningly.
If it came to fighting, the little wolf was only a tad stronger than a cat at this point, no match for the enormous Diamond Parrots. But the fact that Huiya dared to threaten the Diamond Parrots showed that it still had a wild nature within, it just lacked the skills and that’s why the mountain rat escaped.
The Diamond Parrot sisters were naturally sharp-tongued but not particularly aggressive. Seeing Huiya’s challenge, they flew up to a high branch in the name of safety, and once they were sure they were 100% safe and the little wolf couldn’t threaten them any longer, they sat on the branch and kept cussing out the little wolf.
"Idiot! Big idiot!"
"Dummy! Big dummy!"
In the quiet woods, the noise of these two troublemakers filled the air. Suming couldn’t be bothered to use his spiritual power to stop them, instead, he snapped his fingers at Haidong Qing, who was eating with blood all around its mouth, and said, "Shut them up!"
Haidong Qing, in the midst of eating vigorously, was extremely disgruntled at being interrupted. It lifted its head with a cold demeanor and stared at the parrot sisters on the treetop.
One thing counteracts another; as a bird, Haidong Qing was the ruler of the skies. With a glare from Haidong Qing, the two nagging parrots actually shut their mouths and didn’t dare speak again. They bowed their heads and boredly started preening their feathers.
By the campfire, the little wolf also launched an attack, its body crouched low, growling at the mountain rat, ready to pounce;
The mountain rat, seeing no escape, unleashed its fierce nature in this life-or-death moment, baring its mouth to reveal two huge incisors capable of easily biting through tree roots, and shrieking shrilly at Huiya.
Huiya’s body shot forward, its front paws landing on the mountain rat’s shoulders, and it bit toward the rat’s neck; the plump mountain rat, not much smaller than Huiya, pushed forward powerfully and managed to flip Huiya over. However, its shoulders were also scratched by Huiya’s claws, leaving several bloody marks, causing it to squeal in pain.
Huiya swiftly got up and, without hesitation, grasped the mountain rat’s plump behind with a paw, biting down on its thigh.
Huiya and the mountain rat sparred back and forth.
At first, the mountain rat was able to resist a few times, and even take the upper hand for a short while with its strong body, but after a few rounds, Huiya seemed to find the rhythm of hunting, began to adapt to the life-and-death struggle, and the wildness of the wolf started to show. The mountain rat quickly found itself on the receiving end of blows, accumulating fresh wounds all over its body.
Finally, Huiya found an opportunity and bit through the mountain rat’s neck.
