Chapter 198 Shard Choice
“These look like eggshell shards.” Ah Sheng carefully examined the shards and said after a moment of thought.
“Eggshell shards?” Zhou Wen carefully inspected the six shards and indeed, they looked like irregular shapes after an eggshell cracked.
Furthermore, the shards all had some curvature, making Zhou Wen even more certain that Ah Sheng was right. These shards were likely the eggshells of the six chicks.
But why are they bringing me their eggshells? Can it be that they want to treat me to eggshells? I can eat bird eggs, but I can’t eat eggshells. Zhou Wen felt depressed. Ignoring the fact that they couldn’t understand him, he coughed lightly and said to them, “Thank you for your kind intentions. I don’t eat eggshells. You should put them away.”
It was unknown if they didn’t understand him or if there were other reasons. The six chicks stood in front of Zhou Wen in a line as they stared at him with widened eyes, as though they hadn’t heard him.
When Zhou Wen saw that they weren’t moving, he knew that he couldn’t continue the standstill. Hence, he picked up an eggshell and said, “I just need one piece. I’ll take it back and slowly eat it.”
Zhou Wen pinched the eggshell and found it smooth and supple. It was warm to the touch and resembled legendary warm jade. If he hadn’t seen these chicks before, no one would have expected it to be an eggshell shard.
As Zhou Wen spoke, he placed the shard in his pocket, hoping that he would be able to bluff his way through.
He never expected things to work out. Upon seeing Zhou Wen grab a shard, the other five chicks ran back with their respective shards in their mouths. Only the chick that Zhou Wen had taken a shard from stood in its original spot as it stared blankly at Zhou Wen.
Zhou Wen finally heaved a sigh of relief. If the chicks were determined to make him eat the eggshell, Zhou Wen would have to make a last stand in battle despite knowing that he was no match for them. He really couldn’t swallow something like that.
I wonder what other tricks these chicks have up their sleeves? Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over the matter, he saw the giant bird perched on a piece of charred wood. It spread its wings and, immediately, a hot wind swept the three of them up like a tornado, throwing them out of the tree hole.
The trio felt as though they were riding on floating clouds, and their vision was filled with distorted golden light. When the terrifying power disappeared, they fell to the ground and realized that there was no parasol tree in front of them. Instead, they were on a mountain path. There were also collision signs along the mountain railings-it was where they had stopped their car earlier.
Li Xuan looked around but did not see any sign of the giant bird. He could not help but exclaim in pleasant surprise, “We have returned to our original spot. Did that giant bird actually released us?”
Zhou Wen was also delighted, but when he suddenly heard a bird’s cry, he couldn’t help but feel his heart turn cold. He imagined that the giant bird was here again, but on careful thought, he felt that something was amiss. The bird’s cry was clearly very tender and lacked a terrifying might. It wasn’t the giant bird’s cry, but more like a chick’s.
Zhou Wen looked down and saw a chick standing by his feet in a daze. It was looking at him with its head cocked.
Why was this chick swept away with us? Zhou Wen was alarmed, but on second thought, he felt that this might not be a mistake made by the giant bird.
Zhou Wen had already found it odd that the six chicks had brought him shards. Back then, he hadn’t thought too much about it, but he had a lot more thoughts once he saw the chick had also been sent away with him.
Don’t tell me I was choosing these chicks back when I took the shard? The chick I chose will leave with me? If that’s the case, what would happen if I had taken all six of them? Zhou Wen reached out to pick up the chick which didn’t resist. It allowed Zhou Wen to hold it in his hand as it cocked its head and stared at Zhou Wen with its round eyes.
“Old Zhou, did the giant bird give this chick to you? That’s not fair. We did the work together, so why is it that only you received a present, while Brother Sheng and I have nothing?” Li Xuan also noticed the crux of the problem.
“I still don’t know if it’s a blessing or a calamity.” Zhou Wen shook his head slightly and shouted towards the mountain range with the chick in hand, “Divine bird, are you letting me take it away?”
After shouting three times without receiving any response, Zhou Wen had no choice but to take the chick along with him.
Without a car, the trio could only walk on foot. Although they could run as fast as cars, a human wasn’t a machine. With limited stamina, they would be drained of their strength if they ran for a long time.
And in the wilderness of the mountainous region, with them near Qin Mountain, they would be in for a bad time if they encountered dimensional creatures while lacking strength.
The trio didn’t dare to run too fast either. They alternated between walking and running
Originally, Ah Sheng had planned on taking them to a dimensional zone near Qin Mountain, but because of a lack of vehicle and no phone signal here, he had no choice but to abandon his previous plans and rush to the next city as quickly as possible.
Ah Sheng told Zhou Wen that if they didn’t arrive at the next city in time, the An family would send a search and rescue team to seek them out. Therefore, they had to come into contact with the An family as soon as possible.
Qin Mountain was just too mysterious. Although they were only close to it and had yet to really enter it, they had already seen many mysterious objects.
That night, Zhou Wen and company heard the sound of immortal music coming from Qin Mountain. It sounded like fairies were playing music and dancing inside.
Although Zhou Wen wished to take a look, he knew that he couldn’t take the risk.
Along the way, he saw many plants that he had never seen before—mushrooms that were taller than buildings, grass that resembled humans. There were all sorts of strange things happening. And this was only the periphery of Qin Mountain.
Although they encountered many strange incidents along the way, nothing serious happened after encountering the giant bird. The three of them finally traversed Qin Mountain and arrived at a small city.
Ah Sheng contacted the An family and gave them a timely update of the situation, stopping the search and rescue team that the An family had already prepared to send.
“Our original plan was to let you first head to a few dimensional zones to train, but it’s too late now. We’ve already chartered a plane, and it will be taking us to the Holy Land in a while,” Ah Sheng said to Zhou Wen and Li Xuan after the call ended.
Zhou Wen and Li Xuan felt that it was better to head directly to the Holy Land, to prevent themselves from encountering further troubles. After realizing the terror of the giant bird, they didn’t dare to casually wander about in the wilderness.
After resting for half a day, an armed helicopter came to pick them up and took them to a large city with an airport. Then, they flew to the Holy City.
As many regions in the sky were enveloped by dimensional zones, planes couldn’t fly randomly. Most of the air routes they had used in the past were no longer usable. Very few regions allowed passage. Now, the airports had been taken over by the League government, and the members of the aircrew were military officers.