Chapter 71: Perceptive Owl

The two old yaoguai resented by Zhuang Qing were currently in Fu Li’s room discussing the issue of educating the next generation of yao cultivators. The Kunpeng disdained the current yao cultivators for lacking ferocity and for losing the ability to survive in threatening environments. Even the little yao that patrolled the mountains in the past were capable of beating others up till they let loose frenzied howls.

Gong Fu disdained the current yao for not having even the slightest bit of sophistication. In the past, any yao with status carried themselves well, completely unlike the current hunchbacked yao who didn’t seem to ever straighten their necks.

“What sophistication? A yao only needs to be powerful and all else will be okay.”

“Without even the most basic etiquette, what difference is there between a yao and an unintelligent animal?” Gong Fu retorted.

“We only take on human form, it’s not like we’re really human. Is there a need to learn from them in this aspect?” The Kunpeng couldn’t stand the humans’ bookishness, so he responded with impatience upon hearing Gong Fu’s words. “Can’t you think up something else?”

“Who says it’s the yao learning from the humans?” Gong Fu sneered. “When us yao paid careful consideration to etiquette and social hierarchy, the humans were still wearing fur skirts and hunting. You must have turned foolish from seeing too many humans the past few years.”

“Tsk,” The Kunpeng snatched the melon seeds from Gong Fu’s hands. He was too lazy to bicker with him, so he could only relieve his anger by snatching food.

Contrary to expectations, Gong Fu’s anger dissipated after seeing the way he acted. He leaned against the sofa lazily. “But the humans are indeed very clever to have invented so many interesting things.”

“Don’t you pay careful attention to etiquette? What is that posture then?” The Kunpeng retorted sarcastically.

“It’s not like there’s anyone here for me to show my elegance to,” Gong Fu shook his head. “Rules are dead, but people are alive. Rigid creeds should not be maintained.”

“Laozi can’t outtalk you,” The Kunpeng felt that yao cultivators like him weren’t cut out for talking with detestable people like Gong Fu; they would definitely be angered to death if they spoke a bit more.

Seeing that the Kunpeng had really gone speechless from anger, Gong Fu sat upright. “You’re already so old, why is your temper still so bad?”

The Kunpeng turned his head, ignoring him.

“How many of the yao cultivators in the past are still alive today?” Gong Fu sighed. He stood up and walked to the window. “Those still alive are probably dragging out an ignoble existence, not daring to boldly walk out. The management bureau is also quite good; at least there’s a place that can help speak up for yao cultivators. The current younger generation of yao may not compare to us in strength, but aren’t inferior to us at all in terms of wisdom.”

Hearing these words, the Kunpeng also felt a bit sad. The glory and splendor of the yao race in those years had long passed. If they didn’t adopt an open mind, they would no longer be able to live their lives. Back in those years, Oujiang had also been considered a first-rate yao beast who would receive the worship of tens of thousands of yao when he appeared in public. After so many years had gone by, heavenly law no longer tolerated him behaving the same way he had back then.

“What plans do you have for the future?” The Kunpeng sighed. He didn’t want to continue quarreling with Gong Fu anymore.

“I’m preparing to work with little Fu Li,” Gong Fu replied. “I heard from other yao that a career with the management bureau is the most popular in the yao world now.”

“Are you serious?” The Kunpeng thought that something had gone wrong with his ears..

“Of course. How can we just let little Fu Li continue supporting us?” Gong Fu clicked his tongue. “I won’t embarrass that person.”

“Who wants to be supported by him? Any random item I throw out to sell is enough for me to eat decades’ worth of food in the human world,” The Kunpeng shook his head. “Anyway, I won’t embarrass that person.”

“Youk2026;” Gong Fu hesitated. “Really don’t think that there’s something off about Fu Li?”

“No!” The Kunpeng refuted too quickly. Such an attitude conversely aroused suspicion.

Gong Fu narrowed his eyes at him. “If it’s a no, then it’s a no. It’s not like it’s anything major anyway.”

The room sunk into silence.

A moment later, the Kunpeng said dispiritedly, “I really don’t know. I just have a vague feeling that there’s something off about him. I can’t make out anything else.” The fact that he couldn’t identify what was problematic about Fu Li despite his cultivation base meant that he couldn’t afford to provoke the yao behind Fu Li.

“It’s very normal for you not to be able to discern anything. You’re a fiend by nature, so your cultivation path is different from ours,” Gong Fu tapped the couch lightly. “That child seems to have a problem with self-awareness, and a very severe one at that.”

The Kunpeng was about to say something when his tone changed all of a sudden, his voice rising in volume. “I say, that’s enough. There’s only so many melon seeds, you should at least leave the little rabbit some.”

“Wasn’t it you who ate the most?” Gong Fu pushed the melon seed shells in front of him towards the Kunpeng. “Look at your pile of melon seed shells.”

When Zhuang Qing pushed open the door, he was greeted with the sight of these two great yao who had lived more than a hundred years pushing a pile of melon seed shells back and forth. Melon seed shells littered the ground, and the couch and side table in Fu Li’s room were in a hideous mess.

“Seniors.” He knocked on the door and said with a displeased expression, “What are you doing?”

The Kunpeng and Gong Fu released their grip simultaneously. They didn’t speak.

“You’re great yao known even to humans. I presume this junior won’t have to remind you of things like cleanliness, hygiene, and protecting the younger generation,” Zhuang Qing’s gaze landed on the melon seed shells on the ground. “Correct?”

The Kunpeng wanted to say that it was none of Zhuang Qing’s business, but faced with his calm gaze, he didn’t dare to. Thus, he turned towards Gong Fu. The shameless Gong Fu was already silently picking up the melon seed shells from the ground with a lowered head.

This hypocritical auspicious beast only knew how to pretend to be a good person!

“Many thanks for your understanding,” Zhuang Qing closed the door. He walked to the staircase where Fu Li was standing. “Let’s go.”

“Where?” Fu Li stuck his head out and glanced towards his room door. “What did you talk to Gong Fu about?”

“Nothing much, I was just telling him about the philosophy of life,” Zhuang Qing had a serene expression on his face. “I’ll take you out for a meal.”

“Where?”

Zhuang Qing calculated the time they had. “It’s fine to just have a casual meal since it isn’t a special day.”

“Then let’s just go to Restaurant Night Owl,” Fu Li said. “It’s economical, delicious, and you like to eat his food.”

“Who told you I like to eat at that place?” Zhuang Qing shot back.

“Do I need to be told?” Fu Li said. “It’s obvious just from looking at you.”

Zhuang Qing stared blankly for a moment, responding softly soon after, “You’re thinking too much.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Restaurant Night Owl opened for business in the evening. But when they arrived at the restaurant, Fu Li discovered that there was something off about the restaurant owner’s expression. Only when he saw them did he force out a smile.

“Boss, what happened?” Fu Li wiped the table and stools with a face towel before pointing at a stool for Zhuang Qing to sit down. He continued asking the boss questions. “We can help if you ran into some trouble.”

“It’s nothing major,” The restaurant owner had cleaned the meal-preparation counter very well. Everyone could get a clear view of him cooking through a glass door that was neither old nor new. “I have an old customer who eats here practically every day since I opened the restaurant. He suddenly stopped coming the past two days, so I’m worried that he had an accident.”

Somebody who could eat at this place on a daily basis definitely wasn’t any ordinary diner. Fu Li glanced at Zhuang Qing and shoved the menu into his hands. “Can you tell us who this diner is? This friend of mine has a wide network of connections and might be able to help you find him.”

Zhuang Qing, the person with a wide network of connections: …

Overjoyed at the turn of events, the restaurant owner hurriedly informed them of the diner’s appearance and distinctive features, even remembering which part of the head the diner’s birthmark was on.

“Is he talking about that owl?” Fu Li transmitted his voice to Zhuang Qing.

Zhuang Qing nodded.

Fu Li’s brows creased. Owls were national endangered animals, and this one was a yao who could even take on human form. By right, the owl shouldn’t have run into any great danger. But why did the owl vanish for several days all of a sudden? Given the owl’s habits, it wasn’t likely that he decided to stop coming to the restaurant.

“It’s fine even if he can’t be found,” The restaurant owner placed a huge plate of yellow croaker on the table. “He might have had a change in taste and went to another restaurant to eat. That’s also possible.”

He would rather the other party have a change in taste than to have encountered danger.

The mala soup on this day wasn’t very nice because the restaurant owner only added one type of seasoning. However, Fu Li didn’t say anything. Even Zhuang Qing also silently finished his meal without saying anything else.

They finished their meal and were walking to the entrance when Fu Li saw a middle-aged man limping slightly on his left leg walking over. It was already dark and the backlight prevented him from seeing the man’s face clearly. Only after he got close to them did Fu Li realize that he was the owl who had vanished for a few days.

“You’re here, what do you want to eat today?” When the restaurant owner saw that the owl had come, his smile brightened. He didn’t ask where the owl had been for the past few days, nor did the middle-aged man offer an explanation.

The two of them were the most familiar of strangers. One cooked every day, and the other ate his cooking every day, yet they didn’t even have a way of contacting each other.

After finishing his meal, the middle-aged man said while footing the bill, “I suffered a small injury to my leg recently, so it’s a bit difficult for me to come out.”

“Make sure to rest, it’ll be very bad if you can’t use your leg,” The restaurant owner held a lunchbox out to the middle-aged man. “Drink this, remember to bring the lunchbox back to me after you’re done.”

“Thank you,” The middle-aged man accepted the lunchbox and felt his pockets. “How much?”

“You’re already an old customer, take it as my treat,” The restaurant owner smiled.

The middle-aged man rifled through his pockets for a very long time. In the end, he still accepted the restaurant owner’s kind intentions. He walked out of the tiny restaurant, lunchbox in hand. The streetlights greatly elongated his shadow.

When he reached the corner, he came to a halt and turned towards an alleyway. “The two of you have waited a very long time for me. Come out.”

Zhuang Qing and Fu Li walked out of the alley.

“What brings you two?” The middle-aged man clutched the lunchbox in his hands tightly, an extremely guarded expression on his face. The fact that he couldn’t even recognize Zhuang Qing indicated that he was an unremarkable little yao in the yao world whose cultivation base wasn’t all that great.

“This one in the news, is it you?” Fu Li held up a local newspaper dated two days ago, his expression cryptic.

This piece of news stated that a farmer had heard the dog in the house barking after midnight. Thinking that a thief had snuck into the house, the farmer got up and discovered that the dog had bitten an owl, who had a strip of dried fish in its mouth. The owl seemed to have been discovered by the dog while it was stealing food.

Fortunately, this farmer uncle was very knowledgeable and knew that he was an endangered animal. Not only did he not blame the owl for stealing his things, he even bandaged the owl’s wound and fed it two strips of dried fish.

“I wasn’t really intending to steal, just… just…” The middle-aged man felt a bit guilty. “My chief labor contractor ran off with my money and I really had no money on me.”

“Don’t owls catch mice, frogs, snacks, and whatnot?” Fu Li asked. “Why steal someone else’s dried fish?”

“Mice aren’t hygienic, there’s too much bacteria and parasites on them. Frogs are beneficial to the environment, and we need to protect the environment as well as animals, so eating them isn’t the best idea.”

Oh, he was quite perceptive.