Decaying Dirge

Where there was a male, there was bound to be a female!

Zhang Ping gazed at the Mourning Crone Bird, lost in thought.

He remembered that most birds fed their young. If a female Mourning Crone Bird had taken the Survivors to its real nest to feed its chicks, could they still be alive?

"Cuiyi, Lord Zhang Ping! Big One says the Mourning Crone Bird is Cuiyi!"

Many of the snakes Zhao Yanhu controlled had dropped dead at the Mourning Crone Bird's scream, but Giant Serpent A-Da had survived with only minor mental damage.

As soon as Zhao Yanhu learned from Big One that the Mourning Crone Bird was called Cuiyi, he rushed over to Zhang Ping and told him.

Other animals naturally had different names for species than humans did. The Heavenly Foxes, for instance, had never acknowledged that they were foxes. They considered themselves Moonfolk.

To snakes, Mourning Crone Birds weren't called Mourning Crone Birds. They were called "Cuiyi."

"The Mourning Crone Bird is Cuiyi!"

Zhang Ping's narrowed eyes flew wide open as realization struck.

He immediately used the Nether Mist to slice through the bird's outer skin. Just as the pain was about to wake it, he sent the mist straight through the center of its brow.

The Mourning Crone Bird's body was strangely built. Its outer layer resembled human skin, but it could fold inward, revealing feathers on the other side.

The feathers were a beautiful red, but this bird's were short—nowhere near as long as the feather he had found earlier.

As Zhang Ping studied the bird's corpse, his suspicion grew clearer.

"What is it, Zhang Ping?" Liu Sishan asked, seeing him turn the corpse over and search it.

Zhang Ping rolled the bird onto its back and plucked a tiny feather. "Its feathers don't