Chapter 2634: Starving to Death

"Great, great, I get to eat a big duck leg!" Xiao Jiu cheered.

Lin Kong’s lips curled up and he couldn’t help laughing: "What’s wrong? You just ate so much beef jerky, you’re still not full?"

Xiao Jiu screeched, "Hey, that’s just a drop in the bucket, how could I be full that easily? Xiao Jiu is a big eater, very hard to raise."

"It’s fine, I’ll raise you from now on!"

"Master is a good Master! Xiao Jiu will follow you from now on."

"Mm!"

As they spoke, Lin Kong had already untied the grass rope on Xiao Jiu’s leg.

The old man and the young man both stared, dumbfounded. This little Birdy’s appetite was way too big—such a tiny body, yet it ate that much beef jerky and still wasn’t full. Was that for real?

The old man took out two more pieces of beef jerky from his bundle and said to Xiao Jiu, "Birdy, this old man will reward you with two more pieces of beef jerky."

The young man wanted to stop him and hurriedly said, "Old Master, we don’t have much dry rations left. We’re in the Deep Mountains and Ancient Forests here, and we still have a long way to go before there’s an inn to stay at."

The old man blew his beard and glared at him: "What are you yammering about? Isn’t it just a bite of meat? At worst I’ll give it my share, I won’t touch yours, is that good enough?"

The young man immediately said in panic, "Old Master, I didn’t mean it like that."

If the Left and Right Protectors found out he was being disrespectful to the Old Master, his head would definitely not stay on his shoulders.

The old man: "Then shut up!"

The young man instantly lowered his head, not daring to make a sound. This time he’d mainly come along to accompany the Old Master to look for the Left and Right Protectors. To put it bluntly, he was just a servant.

Xiao Jiu had just regained his freedom, and hearing there was meat, he couldn’t care less about anything else. He happily flapped his wings, flutter-flutter, flew over, stood in front of the old man, tilted his bird head up, his two little eyes whirling, his voice sharp yet adorably dumb: "Old man, old man, where’s the meat?"

The old man had been all puffed up with anger, but the moment he saw him he broke into a wide grin. He took out two big slices of beef jerky from his bundle and generously handed them to Xiao Jiu: "Eat, eat, the meat may not be much, but it’s enough for you."

Lin Kong’s stomach was growling with hunger as he watched Xiao Jiu eat.

He lowered his head to look at the duck in his arms, still quacking away. He really wished what he was holding was roast duck—one bite and oil would sizzle and gush out.

But fantasies are always fantasies; in reality, he was starving to death, and the duck was still very much alive and well.

Meanwhile Xiao Jiu was eating happily, as if now the whole world had only him left hungry.

"Xiao Jiu, you’re not allowed to just eat other people’s food. Hurry and come with me."

Lin Kong was hungry, greedy, and annoyed. What was this old man playing at? Was he trying to use meat to lure Xiao Jiu away? No way. He’d spent all that effort to catch him. This was a Divine Bird—something you come across by sheer luck, not by searching.

"Jiu jiu jiu, coming, coming!" There was still a big chunk of beef jerky on the ground. Xiao Jiu looked at it reluctantly, then flutter-flutter flew up and followed behind Lin Kong.

The heart Lin Kong had been holding finally relaxed. He thought he’d already tamed this Birdy and made it willingly follow at his side.

Lin Kong was satisfied, but the old man wasn’t. He stepped forward to block Lin Kong and said, "Hey, hey, little brother, what do you mean by that?"

Lin Kong paused, then asked, "Master, do you need something?"

The old man: "This old man just gave a piece of beef jerky for your bird to eat, and you don’t even appreciate it?"

Lin Kong was about to starve to death and wanted to hurry up and kill the duck to fill his belly first. He had no mood to get tangled up with the old man, so he said, "Master, I don’t have time right now. I’ll explain to you later."