章 23: Strange Stories
編集者: Atlas Studios
With Wang Ping feeding it filling meals every day, Bai Yu quickly grew in size.
Three months after it had broken out of its shell, it weighed eight kilograms and its wingspan was almost five feet long.
However, it was still unable to fly on its own at that point. All it could do was slowly slide down from the high ground, and it could not fly far.
But after some training from Wang Ping, it could already make some simple movements according to Wang Ping's hand gestures.
Such as sprinting in a certain direction, and sitting down to rest.
After almost a month of studying, Wang Ping had basically figured out the principles and tricks in the fishermen's method of training the seabirds. The only thing left was to wait for Bai Yu to grow even more, so as to train it with more complicated commands according to its growth progress.
By this time, he was more or less prepared to leave.
However, just as Wang Ping was about to leave and return to the White Gull Mountains, a fisherman who had taught him the art of bird training suddenly arrived at his temporary wooden house, uninvited.
"What's wrong, Brother Jiang? Do you need my help?"
Sensing the commotion outside the wooden house, Wang Ping pushed open the wooden door and saw the middle-aged man outside, who stood rooted with a hesitant expression. A strange light flashed in his eyes, Wang Ping could not help but take the initiative to ask for the purpose of his visit.
Hearing him taking the initiative to ask, the middle-aged man's expression instantly relaxed. Then, he hurriedly said, "Yesterday, someone from the village went out to sea and encountered something abnormal. Two people even died. I don't know if I should tell Brother Wang about this."
Something strange happened out at the sea?
Wang Ping's heart skipped a beat as he looked at the middle-aged man. He immediately understood the man's intentions.
Generally speaking, the strange things that fishermen encountered in the sea were most likely related to demon beasts.
Now that this middle-aged man had come to talk to him about this matter, it was likely that he wanted to ask him to resolve this matter. After all, his identity as a cultivator was practically a semi-open secret around the town.
This piqued Wang Ping's interest, and he immediately smiled at the middle-aged man. "Oh, Brother Jiang, can you tell me what strange things are going on? I am indeed quite interested in these unusual stories of the sea."
When the middle-aged man heard this, he didn't bother beating around the bush and began to explain the details of this strange matter right away.
"Brother Wang, I'll let you know that the fishermen of Blackbird Village usually go out to sea together to catch fish. They usually don't go too far and only fish around a few deserted islands about 20 plus miles away."
"Yesterday, five fishing boats from the village went out to sea to catch fish. When they passed by one of the deserted islands, they found a bay that was actually filled with dense white fog in broad daylight."
"The fishermen of Black Bird Village often went up to that island to rest and catch some sea turtles and crabs, and they had never seen that fog in broad daylight. As a result, the two younger ones were curious and drove the ship toward it despite the others' dissuasion. In the end, not long after they entered, they let out a scream, and then there was no more sound. Only the broken deck was brought out by the waves."
A deserted island that had never been covered in fog before now had its bay filled with thick fog during the day. This was indeed strange.
After Wang Ping heard the middle-aged man's explanation, he more or less concluded that the demon beasts were the ones causing trouble.
He knew that there were several kinds of demon beasts that possessed innate spells to create fog. Usually, where the demon beasts lived, the fog would not disperse all year round. They also used this to hide their tracks and hunt.
However, as for what kind of demon beast was living on the desolate island, it would probably require someone to do an on-the-spot observation in order to deduce the answer.
His eyes flashed as he suddenly looked at the middle-aged man and asked, "May I ask, what is the relationship between Black Bird Village and Brother Jiang?"
"This, this…"
Facing Wang Ping's pressurizing gaze, the middle-aged man lowered his head, and his expression became unnatural. After stammering for a long while, he spoke in an almost inaudible voice. "I actually came from Black Bird Village, but later on, I moved to town. The young man who got into trouble is actually my nephew!"
Fortunately, Wang Ping was a cultivator; his hearing and eyesight were far superior to that of mortals, so he could hear everything clearly.
He mentally shook his head, speechless at the man's cowardly way of doing things.
However, Wang Ping wouldn't argue with a mortal. After thinking it through, he looked at the middle-aged man with a serious expression and said, "Alright, I understand what Brother Jiang is trying to say. Coincidentally, I am also intrigued by this matter. If Brother Jiang is willing, you can take me to that deserted island to take a look."
However, when the middle-aged man heard this, he said with a troubled expression. "I-I don't need to go. If Brother Wang wants to go, my cousin will be more than happy to bring Brother Wang there. He is more familiar with that route than me!"
The middle-aged man's voice grew louder and more fluent as he spoke.
Wang Ping was somewhat amused by his words.
Judging from the middle-aged man's countenance, he reckoned that the other party definitely did not come here to see him willingly. He was probably forced here by someone else.
Even so, Wang Ping didn't bicker with him due to this. Just like when he couldn't stand the attitude those people from Golden Shell Village had toward Lin Xiao'e, he still didn't regret saving them, and he never wanted to punish them either.
At the end of the day, as a cultivator, he was already in a different world from these ordinary mortals. There was really no need for him to be angry at them.
Hence, he quickly waved his hand and said, "Alright then. Brother Jiang, you can go back first. I'll look for you in an hour."
"Thank you, Brother Wang. I'll head back first."
The middle-aged man finally felt at ease after receiving an affirmative answer. He immediately clasped his hands and thanked Wang Ping happily before hurrying home to report the good news.
Seeing this, Wang Ping couldn't help but shake his head. He then turned around and headed inside his house to tidy up.
He had decided to take a look at this matter. But of course, it was not entirely to repay the middle-aged man for teaching him the art of bird taming.
Wang Ping was well aware of his own abilities. If he wanted to repay the favor, he could have given the middle-aged man a large amount of money. There was no need for him to act like a hero.
Hence, the real reason why he decided to go to the scene to take a look was according to what he knew, demon beasts that would create fog were usually not very strong.
Another thing was that this kind of demon beast would not easily migrate to other places.
If this type of abnormal behavior appeared, it would either be because there was something beneficial to their growth in the place they migrated to, or that their original habitat was destroyed and they had to migrate to find another place to live.
In any case, since such a thing happened on a deserted island not far from Golden Pearl Island, and Wang Ping felt that he had obtained many treasures from the "Black Shark Drifter," he could take a risk and go over to take a look. Perhaps, he could obtain some unexpected gains.
-- 贈り物
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