Xiao Qing raised his long blade and plunged it into the Golden Winged Bird's heart, putting his whole weight behind the thrust.
The sudden, searing pain jolted the Golden Winged Bird awake. It struggled in agony.
But the hollow in the tree was only so big, and now both Xiao Qing and the Golden Winged Bird were inside. Even if the bird wanted to struggle, there was no room.
Blood soon ran down the blade of the long knife.
Feeling the Golden Winged Bird beneath him struggle less and less, Xiao Qing didn't let his guard down.
He'd killed chickens before and knew that even after a chicken had bled dry, it could still thrash around. Better to be careful, just in case.
Xiao Qing stayed pressed down on the Golden Winged Bird for more than half an hour.
Watching the white Soul Ring hovering over the Golden Winged Bird for so long, Xiao Qing let out a long breath. Now he could finally relax.
Xiao Qing took a packet of powder from his Cloth Bag, one that masked the smell of blood, and scattered it evenly around the hollow.
Once he'd finished, he leaned against the wall of the hollow and fell asleep.
Two days later, below the hollow.
Watching the Soft Bone Charm Rabbit he'd just taken from a trap as it roasted over the fire, Xiao Qing saw oil seep from the meat, drop by drop, onto the red-hot sticks with a sizzling sound.
"Good thing Dad left behind that notebook. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to catch this rabbit. But I'm afraid I won't get another chance to go back and see them."
Thinking of this, Xiao Qing poked at the campfire, his eyes dim with sadness. In this new life, he'd finally found people who treated him well, only for them to leave him one after another, leaving him all alone.
Just as Xiao Qing stared into the campfire, lost in his gloom, the Prism Ball inside him suddenly stirred.
The Prism Ball's movement snapped Xiao Qing out of it. He promptly summoned the Prism Ball and threw it out.
"I almost forgot. I caught a Wind Shadow Wolf, too."
The Wind Shadow Wolf shot out of the Prism Ball and charged over, then sat obediently in front of Xiao Qing, wagging its tail excitedly.
"Hmm? Aren't you a wolf? How'd you turn into a dog?"
Looking at the Wind Shadow Wolf, which resembled the mongrel from his hometown in his previous life, Xiao Qing instinctively rubbed its "doggy head."
"Awooo!"
The Wind Shadow Wolf licked the back of Xiao Qing's hand. It really was just like the mongrel he'd kept back in his hometown in his previous life.
"I should give you a name! I can't keep calling you Wind Shadow Wolf forever."
Xiao Qing fell into thought. The Wind Shadow Wolf lifted its head and watched him curiously. It wanted to know what name Xiao Qing would give it, too.
The surroundings fell quiet for a moment. Then Xiao Qing looked at the lake glittering in the sunlight, and inspiration struck.
"The weather's nice today, and the sun's shining just right. You and I were meant to meet, so I'll call you Xiao Feng!"
Xiao Qing was quite pleased with the name "Xiao Feng." After all, he couldn't think of anything more suitable for the Wind Shadow Wolf.
Might as well keep it simple and name it after its most obvious trait, just like he'd named the puppy back home when he was a kid.
Xiao Feng clearly couldn't tell whether the name was good or bad. It only knew that Xiao Qing was happy with it, so that was what it would be called.
"Awooo!"
Xiao Feng barked happily at Xiao Qing, as if to show how much it liked the name "Xiao Feng."
"Looks like you like the name! The rabbit's ready, too. Here, I'll give you a leg."
Xiao Qing smiled without thinking as he watched Xiao Feng wag its tail at him. He tore off a rabbit leg and tossed it in front of Xiao Feng's paws.
Although the Prism Ball could provide Xiao Feng with energy so it wouldn't feel hungry, Xiao Feng was an animal, and it couldn't shake the habit of eating.
And so the man and dog sat in front of the hollow in the tree, admiring the stunning lake scenery as they leisurely ate rabbit meat.
After satisfying his appetite, Xiao Qing prepared to take Xiao Feng out and test how much experience they could gain from a battle.
"Xiao Feng, you're only twenty-three years old, so we can't beat most of the Soul Beasts around here. Try to find a weak one, like a Soft Bone Charm Rabbit."
"That way, even if we can't beat it, we can still run. Got it?"
Perhaps because of the Prism Ball, Xiao Feng, a Wind Shadow Wolf, could now understand most of what Xiao Qing said.
That was as long as Xiao Qing didn't use chengyu, those linguistic compression files. To Xiao Feng, an illiterate Soul Beast, chengyu were like, "You know me, but I don't know you."
In turn, Xiao Qing could understand most of what Xiao Feng meant when it howled.
"Awooo!"
When it learned it could go hunting again, Xiao Feng barked at Xiao Qing in affirmation.
"Good. Then you go on ahead, Xiao Feng. Find a suitable opponent for our first match!"
Xiao Qing patted Xiao Feng's head and urged it into the forest.
At Xiao Qing's command, Xiao Feng immediately darted into the forest. It sniffed around, picked a direction, turned back to bark at Xiao Qing, then ran off.
Xiao Feng moved so fast that before Xiao Qing could react, it had disappeared from sight.
Unsure who Xiao Feng was targeting, Xiao Qing stayed where he was, not daring to leave rashly.
Over the past few days, Xiao Qing had learned firsthand just how terrifying it was to get lost in the Star Dou Forest.
But less than a minute later, a streak of light suddenly shot out of the forest and came hurtling toward Xiao Qing.
Already on high alert, Xiao Qing tried to dodge as soon as he saw it. But the streak seemed to have locked onto him; wherever he went, it followed.
Just as the streak was about to hit Xiao Qing, the Prism Ball suddenly appeared in his hand.
Looking at the Prism Ball in his hand, Xiao Qing didn't have time to think. He hurled it straight at the streak of light.
The moment the Prism Ball touched the streak, it sucked it inside.
Then a message came from the Prism Ball as it returned to Xiao Qing's hand. Only then did he learn that Xiao Feng couldn't stray too far from him.
Just now, Xiao Feng had gone more than a thousand meters away. As a Soul Beast Xiao Qing had tamed, it had immediately been forcibly recalled into the Prism Ball.
Of course, the distance between Xiao Qing and Xiao Feng wasn't fixed.
As Xiao Qing's mental strength grew, Xiao Feng would be able to roam farther. The same would hold true for any Soul Beasts Xiao Qing tamed later.
After that, Xiao Feng didn't charge ahead as recklessly as before.
Instead, it obediently walked in front of Xiao Qing and led him to the target it had found earlier.
After walking through the forest for quite some time, Xiao Qing finally followed Xiao Feng to the prey they'd come to hunt.
At that moment, Xiao Qing crouched behind the bushes on the downwind side, imitating Xiao Feng as he watched the hole in the ground in silence.
Xiao Qing had often gone hunting alone after his parents died, so he could tell at a glance that this was a Lightning Rabbit's burrow.
Lightning Rabbits were incredibly fast. When Xiao Qing hunted them, he usually set a trap along one of their regular paths.
Once a Lightning Rabbit came out of its burrow, Xiao Qing would make some noise to try to scare it. When startled, a Lightning Rabbit would run in a straight line.
After a few tries, he'd learn its habits and scare it into running toward the trap, earning himself a pot of delicious rabbit meat.
After who knew how long, Xiao Qing's legs had gone numb. He'd already plopped down on the ground, bored out of his mind as he kept watch with Xiao Feng.
He hadn't expected this Lightning Rabbit to stay in its burrow for so long. It made Xiao Qing wonder whether it was even home.
Just as Xiao Qing's attention began to wander, a pair of rabbit ears covered in pale yellow fur poked out of the silent burrow.
In an instant, Xiao Qing sat up, staring at the pair of ears with excitement.
The Lightning Rabbit inside the burrow turned its ears, listening cautiously for any movement nearby.
As experienced as ever, Xiao Feng sat motionless in the same spot as before, as if it were asleep.
Before you continue