Chapter 140: Communication Scroll

The pulling force of the small silverfish remained strong in its beak. As a mortal not even at the first rank, this human was actually competing with it for food again and again, which greatly irritated the little black-feathered eagle.

It angrily thought toward the person in its mind, "If you steal my small silverfish again, I'll throw you to a pack of hyenas to be fed to the dogs!"

Just as the communication scroll took effect, Yun Qing heard the little black-feathered eagle threatening to throw her to the dogs. She cast a sidelong glance at Liu Liu, who had somehow followed her here. Why was the phrase "feed to the dogs" so familiar? She was the one feeding the dogs every day.

In Liu Liu's view, the little black-feathered eagle had a fish clamped in its beak, the fish was restrained by spider silk, and the other end of the spider silk was in Yun Qing's hand. The human and the bird were at a stalemate, with Yun Qing wrestling with the eagle for the fish.

The little black-feathered eagle blamed her for snatching its small silverfish, which meant the small silverfish in that lake belonged to it, and her catching one was stealing from it? Or perhaps it had something to do with her wrestling with the fish in its beak using the spider silk wrapped around her hand?

Yun Qing guessed both reasons played a part. To solve the immediate problem and fight for her survival, she ignored the pain of being grabbed and dropped, cupped her fists, and said, "Great eagle, the small silverfish is hooked. We need to remove the fishhook from it."

The little black-feathered eagle was stunned. What a bizarre thing—why could this human communicate with it? Could it be that she was possessed by a black-feathered eagle?

No, at least the seventh rank was required for possession, and when possessing other species, the possessed species also had to be at least fourth rank, otherwise it would not succeed.

Though deeply astonished inside, it showed no sign of it on the surface, and tried to command the person in its mind, "Let go!"

Since Yun Qing was not being hoisted into the air at the moment, untangling the spider silk from her hand was relatively easy.

The little black-feathered eagle had not used its gaze ability on her yet. If she hadn't used the communication scroll, she would have immediately untangled the spider silk and fled into her cave dwelling.

Let go? Just like that?

No way!

If she let go, this big foolish eagle might swallow the fish, hook, and spider silk all at once. Once these things entered its stomach, they might not be corroded by its stomach acid and could very well destroy its internal organs. This big foolish eagle might just stupidity itself to death.

Ordinarily, if the little black-feathered eagle were to die of its own stupidity, it wouldn't be the end of the world. However, she had already used her only communication scroll on this particular eagle; if the eagle died, her communication scroll would have been wasted for nothing.

When she first obtained the communication scroll, she had hoped it was a contract scroll that would grant her a pet. This majestic and powerful eagle would be able to carry her flying through the skies, which she thought sounded quite wonderful.

There was a modern concept known as "taming falcons." Having transmigrated to a cultivation world, she wondered if she could tame an eagle.

Using concise and easy-to-understand language, Yun Qing explained to the little black-feathered eagle the relationship between the fishhook, the fishing line, and the small silverfish. She expressed her willingness to unhook the small silverfish, provided that the eagle spat it out first, and she repeatedly promised that the small silverfish belonged to the little black-feathered eagle and she wouldn't snatch it.

After listening to this human ramble on for a long time, the little black-feathered eagle finally understood her meaning: she wanted to reclaim the fishhook and fishing line, while the small silverfish would be for it to eat.

The little black-feathered eagle nodded its head in agreement. The fishhook and fishing line were of little use to it; they were merely tools for this human to continue catching fish for it, so she could have them back.

Furthermore, she had called it a "great eagle," a title with which it was reluctantly satisfied. After all, it was truly massive, not some pitiful little eagle.

Knowing she was no match for the other party in a single move, Yun Qing bravely walked toward her eagle, secretly hoping to cuddle with her eagle while helping to remove the fishhook.

Watching the stinking human approach, the little black-feathered eagle looked thoroughly disgusted. Removing a fishhook wasn't that difficult anyway.

With a motion of its beak, it used its spiritual sense to make the small silverfish hover in mid-air. What a piece of trash that fishhook was; her spiritual sense couldn't even perceive it.

Fortunately, it wasn't blind—on the contrary, its eyesight was exceptionally good, and it could see clearly even under the dim moonlight. Wielding its spiritual sense, it pulled the fishhook and effortlessly detached it from the small silverfish, tossing it right at Yun Qing's feet.

Looking at the fishhook thrown at her feet, Yun Qing realized she had underestimated her opponent. The little black-feathered eagle was not as foolish as she had imagined, and even without her reminder, it wouldn't have swallowed the fishhook.

Still, the smarter it was, the more she liked it.

Once the fishhook was removed, the little black-feathered eagle opened its beak, and the small silverfish suspended in the air flew straight into its mouth.

-20;
Combat Experience +60;

Since the small silverfish had been floating in the air, the system displayed damage numbers. Yun Qing knew this was caused by the injury the fishhook had inflicted upon the small silverfish.

It swallowed it in one gulp with a look of utter satisfaction, "Mmm! That's the exact taste!"

Obtained: Low-grade Spirit Stone * 1;

Even though the small silverfish had gone into the little black-feathered eagle's stomach, the miraculous Liu Liu still managed to pick up the dropped loot.

Invincible Liu Liu! The higher her level grew, the more Yun Qing felt that raising Liu Liu brought far more benefits than drawbacks. Liu Liu only consumed a bit of meat, and the items she picked up kept getting better and better as the level of the monsters Yun Qing fought increased.

Yun Qing had only ever heard of the term "taming falcons" without knowing the specific methods. As for "taming eagles," she had coined the term herself based on "taming falcons," and knew the methods even less.

She only knew that if she wanted her pet to treat her well, she naturally had to treat it well.

Although the text above the little black-feathered eagle's head was still yellow, it hadn't killed her immediately, and communication was now possible, which meant there was still a chance for things to improve between them.

Having just heard the little black-feathered eagle sigh about how delicious the small silverfish was, Yun Qing played to its preferences and said, "If the great eagle likes eating small silverfish, I will catch more for you."

The little black-feathered eagle now thought this human was truly clever and sensible, volunteering to work for it without even needing to be ordered.

It pointed one wing toward Sunshine Pool and said, "There are small silverfish inside. Catch some up for me so I can eat my fill."

Yun Qing looked at the eagle, which was about her size, and thought of those palm-sized small silverfish. This creature was not cheap to feed—just how many would it need to eat to be full!

Just as Yun Qing was about to negotiate terms, she felt the negative status of the "gaze" fall upon her once again.

This creature seemed to have a rather volatile temper. Since it was their first meeting, she couldn't rule out the possibility that it might actually throw her to the dogs, so Yun Qing said, "Alright! I'll go fish."

Wanting the little black-feathered eagle to be her pet was merely a way to find amusement in her bitter circumstances. In reality, she had been captured by a bird to serve as a captive cook. If it wasn't satisfied, her life would be in danger at any moment.

Yun Qing muttered inwardly to herself, "What's the big deal about being a cook? I was a cook for a caravan for nearly a month. Back then, I didn't just feed one beast, I fed over a dozen beasts and about thirty people. Now I only have to feed one feather-covered beast, what's so hard about that?"

Resigning herself to her fate as a cook, Yun Qing walked over to the edge of the water pool. At this hour, dawn had not yet broken, so the specific conditions within the pool were invisible; she could only hear the splashing of water and the dense spiritual energy radiating everywhere.

Yun Qing condensed her spiritual sense into a single point and probed toward the water pool. Hindered by the resistance of the pool water, her spiritual sense couldn't even reach a depth of five meters.

Not being able to probe all the way to the bottom with her spiritual sense was within her expectations. However, she couldn't see any text through her spiritual sense either, so she had no idea whether there were any small silverfish inside.

Since her very own eagle wanted to eat fish, she had no choice but to catch them. Yun Qing plucked a blade of grass and infused it with as much internal energy as she could manage.

During her last fishing attempt, because she hadn't prepared bait, butchered a fish, or dissected a fish, she still had a significant amount of internal energy left over.

Her right hand had been injured and bound by the spider silk, making it unsuitable for wrapping silk again. Yun Qing put a glove on her left hand and switched to wrapping the spider silk with her left hand instead.