Sister Wu looked puzzled. “Why would I take him? I don’t know how to take care of him either.”
“You’re doing a great job raising him already. Just keep him as a pet.” As she spoke, she had already picked up her chopsticks again—the food was almost gone, devoured by those gluttons!
The melancholy feelings of parting vanished instantly. Ye Yang even wanted to shoo them away. “I don’t keep him as a pet. I mean, I don’t keep him at all. His wounds are almost healed, aren’t they? Once he’s better, he should leave.”
Sister Wu pretended not to hear. She showered Little Crow with praise while giving him strict instructions. “Oh my, you’ve raised him so well. Little Crow, you make sure to stick with Little Ye Ye, okay?” She didn’t even look at Little Crow as she said this—her eyes were fixed on the dishes.
…
After the meal was finished, everyone left behind small gifts they had brought and fled in a hurry. Ye Yang even tried to secretly stuff Little Crow into Sister Wu’s hat, but failed.
“Caw-caw—wa caw-caw!”
The little sea hare lay in the bathtub, expressionless, as Little Crow stood up high, cawing mockingly. Even the fresh seawater Xing Tian had brought from the Dreamless Sea couldn’t lift his spirits.
Oh well. Reluctant as he was to admit it, he had been living with Little Crow for so long. If the crow really left, he probably wouldn’t be used to the absence of all that occasional noise.
After so many exhausting days, he should just get some rest.
Thinking this, Ye Yang’s antennae twitched slightly. He shifted back to human form and reached for a steam eye mask beside the bathtub.
It was a gift from Brother Hui, who said humans loved using them. They might not do much for a demon, but they were still very comfortable.
He had just put it on when suddenly—a frantic knocking came at the door, accompanied by Sister Wu’s presence.
“What now?”
He quickly dried himself off, put on some clothes, and opened the door with his hair still dripping wet.
The moment the door opened, Sister Wu said, “Found it downstairs.” Before his eyes could focus, something appeared in his hands… a parrot?
Ye Yang sent Sister Wu a string of question marks. She replied with utter confidence: “I found it downstairs from your place—so who else would I give it to? Besides, you have experience raising birds.”
Ye Yang: “…” What the hell is wrong with this situation?!
·
Two days later, the cult case was completely closed. All the follow-up had been handled properly. The two female victims had their memories erased and returned to their normal lives. There weren’t any high-level missions on the board, and the workload was light.
But a calm workload didn’t mean life was calm.
The main reason was the parrot Ye Yang had found.
To be precise, Sister Wu and the others had found a parrot downstairs from Ye Yang’s apartment building as they were leaving after dinner, and they’d immediately dumped it on Ye Yang.
Ye Yang posted photos in the community group chat and put up posts online asking about it. Several days passed—plenty of onlookers, but no one claimed it.
Ye Yang had no choice but to take over, scrambling to care for it.
One bird, two birds—it didn’t make much difference… He had bird-raising experience after all.
No, Sister Wu had led him astray—he didn’t raise birds!
When Sister Wu first brought the little parrot over, Ye Yang had thought it was some kind of emergency. He rushed to open the door, the commotion was so big that he splashed water out of the bathtub, drenching Little Crow.
Little Crow wasn’t stupid. First Ye Yang tried to give him away, then he splashed him. Did he really find him annoying? Furious, Little Crow flew off from the balcony, missing the arrival of the new parrot entirely.
Later, Ye Yang busied himself trying to find the parrot’s original owner. He discovered that this kind of parrot wasn’t as low-maintenance as Little Crow. He had to research its breed, buy various bird-raising supplies and a cage, and so on. By the time Little Crow cooled down and came home on his own, it was already the next afternoon.
The moment he got home, he sensed an unfamiliar, unpleasant presence.
After circling around the house without finding anything, Little Crow approached the door to Ye Yang’s bedroom.
Ye Yang usually didn’t let Little Crow into the bedroom—mainly because he found him too noisy. But now—there was a brand new birdcage in the bedroom, and an ugly bird inside it!
Little Crow’s world collapsed. He’d been gone just one day, and Ye Yang had already found someone new!
Ye Yang came home from work and heard commotion even before he opened the door. Oh no—had Little Crow and the new parrot started fighting?
He stepped inside and looked around. Relieved—the cage he’d bought was big and sturdy enough. The parrot stood on a little wooden perch in the middle, and Little Crow couldn’t reach him.
Little Crow was probably so enraged that he completely forgot he could pick locks. After all, a birdcage lock was nothing to him.
Even though the parrot wasn’t in real danger, being surrounded by a larger unfamiliar bird that kept shouting at him and trying to attack had frightened him badly. Ye Yang quickly went over, grabbed Little Crow, and carried him out of the bedroom.
“Why are you scaring it? It can’t handle that.”
Little Crow got even angrier, looking like he wanted to peck a hole right through Ye Yang’s hand. After breaking free, he stood there screeching nonstop toward the bedroom. Even if you couldn’t understand exactly what he was saying, you could tell he was cursing up a storm.
Ye Yang listened for a long time before finally understanding Little Crow’s meaning. He found it a bit amusing. “Putting it in the bedroom is only temporary. Everywhere else in the house is your territory, isn’t it? So I had to put it there for now. I didn’t want to either, but I couldn’t put it on the balcony without your agreement—and you hadn’t come home.”
This skill of deflecting blame onto someone else was clearly learned from Sister Wu. It might not work on others, but it was enough to fool Little Crow.
Little Crow felt much better after hearing that, but that didn’t mean he was willing to have some random bird suddenly living in his home.
Ye Yang quickly explained the parrot’s background. “Sister Wu left it here with me. Sister Wu is your ancestor, so you should at least give her some face, right?”
Little Crow hesitated, his small head twisting back and forth, still looking reluctant. Ye Yang continued, “Besides, I’m only keeping it temporarily. Once I find its owner or someone who wants to adopt it, I’ll send it away.”
Even though he kept saying he wasn’t keeping any pets, Ye Yang and Little Crow were family. Getting a pet would definitely require the consent of all family members.
Finally, Ye Yang added, “Oh, look at it—its feathers are all messy. It’s not as pretty as you. Its original owner didn’t want it anymore—isn’t that pitiful? You’re so capable, Little Crow. Why not help out someone weaker?”
Only then did Little Crow fly to the bedroom door and take a closer look at the parrot. It was a budgerigar—the most common type of pet parrot. The little budgie’s feathers were a messy mix of green, blue, and yellow, and its overall appearance wasn’t good. It didn’t look like it was worth much, and the luster of its feathers was somewhat dull.
Hmph, definitely ugly. No comparison to himself at all!
Little Crow’s anger completely dissipated. He hopped onto the dining table, walked over to Ye Yang’s hand, and rubbed against it with a hint of clinginess.
Ye Yang breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He’d managed to smooth things over.
But then he started worrying again. After looking up information, he realized budgies weren’t that easy to care for. He’d already bought a bunch of supplies over the past two days, but budgies were social animals. Keeping just one could easily lead to problems. He could only post as much as possible, hoping to find someone willing to adopt it.
He’d given up on finding the original owner. Ye Yang had taken the parrot to an exotic pet hospital. The little bird was sick, and treatment would cost several thousand—probably why the original owner abandoned it.
Ye Yang didn’t get it treated there. Ignoring the vet’s disdainful look, he took the little parrot back home. He could fix it with a bit of spiritual energy—why waste the money? The cost of treatment would be better spent on his rent.
Soon the little parrot recovered and became lively. Every morning, Ye Yang was woken up by its singing.
Yes, singing. The original owner had taught it a short tune—only a few seconds long—and the little parrot repeated that same snippet every single day.
Once Little Crow confirmed that the new parrot posed no threat to his status, he acted very generously and graciously gave up half of the balcony. Ye Yang gradually gained experience and no longer fumbled around.
At this rate, it wouldn’t have been a problem to keep the parrot forever. But soon, something happened.
Ye Yang got a fever.
Xing Tian was the first to notice.
They were sparring in the training room—Ye Yang, Xing Tian, Chi Lian, and Brother Hui. During a break, Xing Tian suddenly asked, “Are you feeling unwell?”
Ye Yang wiped off his sweat and shook his head. He just felt unusually hot today, breaking into a sweat with even the slightest movement. There seemed to be a stifling heat inside him that couldn’t escape, but aside from that, nothing else felt wrong.
Hearing this, Xing Tian went and got a thermometer.
“Beep—38.6°C.”
Xing Tian frowned. “I knew I wasn’t imagining it. You have a fever.”
“A fever?” That was a new concept for Ye Yang.
Demons weren’t supposed to get sick. Over the next few days, Ye Yang measured his temperature repeatedly. It stayed between 38.4 and 38.7.
His body temperature was just a bit high—nothing else. Ye Yang, carefree as always, didn’t take it seriously at all. Instead, he felt like his blood and energy had been surging lately, giving him a kind of drive.
Then something happened.
On the second day of his fever, the little parrot suddenly hopped in front of Ye Yang, carrying a green feather in its beak.
“Is that for me?” Ye Yang smiled and reached out a finger to stroke the little parrot’s head. The parrot didn’t pull away—instead, it rubbed against him. Not only that, but it started hopping and bouncing side to side.
Ye Yang watched for a moment, unsure. Is it… dancing?
Just as he was about to take the feather, an uninvited guest shot out from the side. Little Crow pecked Ye Yang’s hand hard. Not only did he shatter the warm atmosphere, but he also stopped Ye Yang’s movement.
The peck wasn’t light. On anyone else, it probably would’ve left a hole.
Ye Yang was startled. “What’s wrong with you now?”
He instinctively reached for the feather again, but Little Crow blocked his hand at every turn, pausing occasionally to chase the little parrot away.
The little parrot was terrified of him. After hesitating for a moment, it flew off with the feather in its beak.
Ye Yang: “…So you don’t want me to take it. Fine.” Couldn’t we just talk it out? Why so aggressive? The peck didn’t really hurt him, but it still stung!
Ye Yang didn’t think much of it. But over the next few days, the little parrot wouldn’t give up. Every chance it got, it tried to stuff feathers into Ye Yang’s hand. It even placed several feathers on Ye Yang’s bed. Its behavior grew stranger and stranger.
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