Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 911 - 911 0551 Spirit Crow_2

Chapter 911: Chapter 0551 Spirit Crow_2 Chapter 911: Chapter 0551 Spirit Crow_2 Qi Tian lifted his rice bowl, just about to eat, when suddenly a streak of Dark Light shot toward him, aiming straight for the spirit beast meat in his hands. Qi Tian had not anticipated an ambush, but years of experience granted him swift reflexes; before the Dark Light could snatch away his spirit beast meat, he shifted the bowl in his hand, effortlessly dodging the attack.

The Dark Light failed to grab Qi Tian’s spirit beast meat, but it was not discouraged. After nimbly turning in the air, it dove towards the bowl belonging to Xiang Bo who was sitting not far away. Xiang Bo’s reaction was not as quick as Qi Tian’s, and the largest, fattest piece of meat was snatched right out of his bowl.

Only then did Xiang Bo realize what happened, and he burst out in anger. He threw his rice bowl onto the ground and shouted furiously, “Zhang Ting, is it you? If so, show yourself! If you’re a man, stop hiding.”

“Hehe.” A laugh like the tinkling of silver bells rang out, and moments later, a woman riding a jujube-red horse appeared. She reined in her horse, and immediately a streak of Dark Light flew to her shoulder. Only then could people see what the Dark Light was—it was unmistakably a black crow now, clutching a steaming hot piece of meat in its beak, looking quite complacent.

“Zhang Ting, I knew it was you,” Xiang Bo said, frustrated and exasperated. “Can’t you stop skulking about like this? When you do something, can’t you be more straightforward?”

Zhang Ting replied, “No, I can’t. I’ve told you before, I’m a woman, why should I act all high and mighty?”

Xiang Bo was lost for words. He couldn’t even remember how many times he’d failed to learn his lesson on this matter. He said, “Fine, let’s not talk about this. I want to ask you, what are you following me around for this time? I still have to go to the Imperial College for further studies and don’t have time to entertain you.”

Zhang Ting laughed, “What a coincidence, I’m also headed to the Imperial College for further studies. From now on, we will be classmates. Little junior brother, your senior sister greets you respectfully.”

Xiang Bo felt a wave of exasperation. If he had to choose the person he least wanted to encounter in the entire Imperial Family Secret Territory, it would undoubtedly be Zhang Ting. Like him, she was the child of a City Lord, and the straight-line distance between their two cities was less than five hundred miles. Both City Lords had entertained the idea of an arranged marriage, and so, on a particular day, they summoned their children to meet, to see if they could develop any feelings for one another.

However, back then, Zhang Ting had just acquired a spirit crow, and she took it everywhere she went. For some unknown reason, the spirit crow simply did not get along with Xiang Bo. When the bird’s mistress and Xiang Bo were attempting to court, the spirit crow caused Xiang Bo to make quite a fool of himself. With his dignity shattered, the City Lords’ hopes for a union through marriage evaporated. Afterward, Xiang Bo and Zhang Ting met a few more times, but it was always the same: Xiang Bo would invariably end up embarrassed, while Zhang Ting, unaffected and prevailing, never once suffered a setback, which only compounded Xiang Bo’s sense of indignation.

Zhang Ting dismounted and walked straight to the pot where food was being cooked. With a flick of her hand, a set of bowl and chopsticks appeared, and she said, “Being early doesn’t compare to coming at the right time. I haven’t finished eating either, so I’ll reluctantly make do with a meal here.”

Xiang Bo had the urge to stop her, but the sight of the steady spirit crow perched on Zhang Ting’s shoulder sent shivers down his spine. He couldn’t understand why Zhang Ting’s pet was a crow, a symbol of ill omen. Why would a girl choose such a creature as a pet over any other?

Zhang Ting helped herself to a bowl of meat and started gobbling it down. This spirit beast meat was no ordinary flesh, rich in Spirit Qi; regular consumption was beneficial to the eater.

Watching Zhang Ting devour the meat, Xiang Bo felt pained. Such spirit beast meat was not cheap, and he had only used this precious ingredient to demonstrate impartiality while traveling. Now Zhang Ting was eating it without any restraint. Didn’t her conscience hurt at all?

Xiang Bo’s eyes flickered as he sent a telepathic message to Qi Tian and the others, “Who among you can embarrass Zhang Ting or help me deal with that spirit crow on her shoulder? There will be a handsome reward.”

After receiving the message, Qi Tian, Gao Jinmei, and Xia Xiaoming showed no reaction. Zhang Ting’s cultivation level was slightly stronger than Xiang Bo’s, but even so, it wasn’t impressive enough to concern them. If Qi Tian and company were to take action, it would truly be a case of them bullying.

However, Qi Tian’s lack of action didn’t mean others weren’t tempted by Xiang Bo’s reward. Promptly, a guest official tried to take advantage of the spirit crow by scattering some Spiritual Grain on the ground, hoping to lure the bird over. But he quickly discovered his method was ineffective. The spirit crow, full of intelligence and wisdom, cocked its head and watched the guest official spread the grain without flying toward it.

Not willing to miss out on the substantial reward, the guest official spread even more Spiritual Grain, including some of fairly high quality—gritting his teeth as he did so—but the result remained unchanged. The spirit crow stayed unmoving on Zhang Ting’s shoulder.

Zhang Ting turned around, looked at the unsuccessful guest official, and said with a smile, “I’m so sorry you wasted so much Spiritual Grain. I forgot to tell you, my spirit crow doesn’t eat Spiritual Grain. It only eats meat, and it has to be high-grade Spirit Beast meat. Like the kind of Spirit Beast meat we have today, around ten or so pounds might be enough to tempt it. If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to give it a try.”

Xiang Bo jumped up in anger and said furiously, “Zhang Ting, can’t you speak less of such nonsense? If I remember correctly, you employed this very tactic last time to swindle over a hundred pounds of Spirit Beast meat from me. You’re a City Lord’s daughter, do you really need to stoop to such low methods to obtain Spirit Beast meat? Don’t you find such behavior shameful?”

Zhang Ting, unmasked by Xiang Bo, replied coolly and calmly, “Xiang Bo, don’t put it that way. Last time you failed to lure the spirit crow with over a hundred pounds of Spirit Beast meat, which simply proves your lack of cleverness. If someone smarter had tried, maybe they wouldn’t even need that much, perhaps just three to five pounds could have done the trick. I’m earnestly telling the truth, if anyone here doesn’t believe me, feel free to try.”

No one made a move. The guest officials were wary of Zhang Ting’s status as the daughter of a City Lord, not someone they, as rootless Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators, could afford to provoke. As for Qi Tian and his group, they simply felt it wasn’t worth the effort.

The guest official who had just attempted to entice the spirit crow with Spiritual Grain thought his actions would be discreet enough not to catch Zhang Ting’s attention but, now that she had spoken out, he didn’t dare to proceed.

Zhang Ting had hoped to entice Xiang Bo and the others to offer up some more Spirit Beast meat. Though she was the daughter of a City Lord and shouldn’t lack for such things, she had left in such a hurry this time that she forgot to bring provisions for her spirit crow. And despite the crow’s small size, it ate a lot – consuming three to five pounds or even more of Spirit Beast meat in a single meal was nothing unusual, and Zhang Ting was almost at the point where she couldn’t afford to feed it.

Seeing that Xiang Bo and the others weren’t taking the bait, Zhang Ting knew she couldn’t rush things and said, “Xiang Bo, aren’t you also heading to the Imperial College in Eastern Capital City? As it happens, I’m going there as well. Let’s join forces and travel to the Eastern Capital City together, shall we?”

Xiang Bo glanced at Zhang Ting and said, “Joining forces is fine, but there’s one condition, you’ll take care of your own food and accommodation along the way. I won’t be responsible for your sustenance, especially not for your spirit crow. You’ll need to figure that out yourself.”

“Stingy,” Zhang Ting mumbled discontentedly. She grumbled just loud enough for others to hear, hoping to provoke Xiang Bo. After all, Xiang Bo had brought so many guards and guest officials with him, and he might change his mind about providing them with food rather than lose face in front of his subordinates if he got angry enough.