A Good-for-Nothing

236. Chil…Child? (II)

Translator: Dragon Rider

It was only something after two o’clock in the afternoon that Li Zong walked out of the house of the Li family. No sooner had he unlocked his cellphone than a WeChat group chat box popped out. Zhao Fei had set up a temporary group chat which included all members of the three action groups of the SMB headquarters. Li Zong casually tapped the icon to check the previous chats and found that at first they’d been discussing the backgrounds of those who’d signed up for this year’s recruitment examination, but afterward, the discussion had turned into frivolous chats.

【Zu Zhichong – First Group: Alas, this year a lot of applicants are from the Tigers and Dragons Mountain and the Mao Mountain. Lao Zhang, did you disclose something to your master in advance? There are so many of them, and as far as I could tell, they’re all pretty good. Chances are that eventually all those that pass the test will be disciples of the Tigers and Dragons Mountain.】

【Zhang Jingqiu – Second Group: There are a lot of Outer Disciples, too.】

【Zu Zhichong – First Group: Yeah, that makes sense. Lao Zhang, with you being their example, I think all applicants from the Tigers and Dragons Mountain will be charging forward valiantly.】

【Zhang Jingqiu – Second Group: [Bomb] [Bomb] [Smiling Face] You flatter me. Li Zong alone is worth a thousand. I heard that some disciples of the Qingwei Sect entered their names as well. I wonder if any of them would outshine He Zheng who’s the best trainee of this year’s STTP.】

【Tun Shanhai – First Group: [Picking Nose] [Picking Nose] Which retard said that? Should I donate some money to them so they could afford to see a brain surgeon?】

【Lin Di – Second Group: It was Supt. Li who said that.】

【Zhen Ni – First Group: Congratulations.】

【Han Zhuo – First Group: Congratulations.】

【Zu Zhichong – First Group: Chief is the kindest. Chief is the nicest. Chief is the best.】

【Li Zong – First Group: My brain is fine.】

【Zhen Ni – First Group: @Tun Shanhai I’d like to sing You’re Toast to you.】

【Han Zhuo – First Group: @Tun Shanhai I’d like to sing You’re Toast to you.】

【Zu Zhichong – First Group: @Tun Shanhai I’d like to sing You’re Toast to you.】

【Zhao Fei – Acting Vice-Superintendent: @Tun Shanhai I’d like to sing You’re Toast to you.】

【Xiang Hailou – Third Group: Congratulations, Xiao Tun.】

【Tun Shanhai – First Group: … I can explain, Chief.】

【Li Zong – First Group: Stop chatting and get back to work.】

As Li Zong sent that message, the group chat instantly fell silent, and Li Zong successfully earned himself the title “No. One Buzzkill”.

He put his cellphone back into his pocket. Since He Zheng hadn’t called him yet, Li Zong thought that he was still asleep, so he went to a supermarket to buy He Zheng some snacks.

When he caught sight of the scene inside the apartment after opening the door, Li Zong, who’d always been poised and unhurried, actually had an illusion that he was taken aback.

At this moment, He Zheng was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, leaning against the teapoy, teasing something.

Specifically speaking, the sense of power radiating from that creature struck Li Zong as quite familiar.

“He Zheng?” Li Zong’s voice was tinged with uncertainty.

“Eek? Why are you back? Those geriatrics let you knock off early?” Holding a chick in cupped hands, He Zheng twisted his head around to look at Li Zong.

Li Zong shifted his gaze from He Zheng’s face to the chick in his hands. For a long moment he was at a loss for words.

Very happy to see He Zheng, the little gray chick excitedly circled in mid-air, chirping continuously.

Li Zong first corrected He Zheng, “They’re all elders of the SMB. It’s rude to call them geriatrics.”

Then his eyes moved to the creature in He Zheng’s hands again. After quite a while, he asked, “When did it show up?”

“Oh, right. I dreamt about this thing, and it pecked at me in that dream. And then, unexpectedly, when I went to wash my face, this chick turned up. What is this thing? Since when have you kept a chicken? Is this supposed to be a surprise?”

“… Chicken?” Li Zong was almost rendered speechless.

“It’s not a chicken? Then what is it?”

Li Zong looked at He Zheng, the expression in his eyes fairly complicated. The little gray chick was lightly pecking at He Zheng’s fingers with its yellowish beak. Li Zong turned his head aside and said, “If you want to regard it as a chicken, then it is a chicken.”

“Where does it come from?”

“You may take it as… our child.”

“Ah?” He Zheng was thrown into perplexity.

His and Li Zong’s child was a stupid chicken? This was beyond the pale!

Li Zong had also never expected that this kind of thing would happen. The reason why he’d given He Zheng the Phoenix Plume and let him drink dragon blood in those unforeseen circumstances was because he’d wanted to help He Zheng enhance his powers. It’d never crossed his mind… Maybe because of the communication between their vital essence during those intimate moments, part of the Phoenix Plume’s sentience had been substantialized and transformed into a spiritual entity. What He Zheng didn’t know was that this spiritual entity was visible to nobody but him.

However, this might be a good thing. Him having a spiritual entity was like a Yin Yang Master owning a contracted psychic entity. Though this spiritual entity was not big, its combat power wouldn’t be disappointing.

“Um. Give it a name. From now on it’ll be with you all the time.”

“It’ll be with me all the time?” He Zheng really didn’t know what he meant.

Li Zong stroked his head and smiled, “It’s an incarnation of the Phoenix Plume.”

“So this thing is not a chicken?”

“No.” Li Zong gave a mirthless smile, feeling that this guy was probably the only one who would take it for a chicken.

On hearing He Zheng call it a chicken, the fledgling phoenix bristled with rage and pecked at He Zheng’s fingers with all its might. He Zheng was stunned for a few moments and then exclaimed in excitement, “It can understand us!”

“It feels what you feel.”

He Zheng’s eyes roved and then, for some reason, rested on Li Zong. With a wicked smirk, he said, “I’d like to name it… Big Bird. Ha-ha.”

“…” If it pleased you, Li Zong thought embarrassedly.

“Big Bird, this is your name now. Understand?”

Big Bird was unaware of the connotation of this name and only knew that he was no longer nameless, so he meekly rubbed himself against He Zheng’s palm.

Li Zong, who seemed to have limitless tolerance towards He Zheng, didn’t try to dissuade him from naming the spiritual entity born out of the Phoenix Plume’s sentience Big Bird, which was a really vulgar name.

Hundreds of years from this day, when Big Bird had its own Spiritual Consciousness and tangible human form and came to understand the connotations of this name, it had quite mixed feelings.

Of course, it was many, many, many years before that happened.