Lu Qingchen suppressed the urge to kick the ugly bird away. "Where did you get this... auspicious beast?"
Ning Xiang certainly wasn't going to tell Lu Qingchen that the ugly thing had foisted itself on her.
"It's the only one of its kind in heaven and earth. If it weren't a rare and exotic creature, why would your disciple offer it to you, Master?"
But Lu Qingchen had already seen through what Ning Xiang was really saying-
Only something she didn't want would she be willing to give to him, her master.
Lu Qingchen felt deeply put out. As if he wanted it!
"Ning Xiang, you'd better take it back. If it stays in Chengfeng Courtyard, Xingu and Hezhen will be... will bully it."
Xingu and Hezhen were the two immortal cranes Lu Qingchen kept. They looked exactly alike; Ning Xiang had never managed to tell them apart in all these years.
Ning Xiang sounded dubious. "Surely not? This ugly thing is pretty good at fighting." She looked down at the ugly bird. "Weren't you quite the terror at Lingling Cottage? You even tore the roof off my cottage. How come you can't beat other birds just because you've changed locations?"
The ugly bird refused to accept that. It puffed out its chest and cried loudly.
"At last, the truth comes out," Lu Qingchen said coldly.
Ning Xiang humbly admitted her mistake. "Master, I was just worried Chengfeng Courtyard was too quiet. I wanted to add a little amusement to your dull, uneventful days."
Oh, it had been amusing all right!
Lu Qingchen hadn't had a decent moment's rest all night. This ugly bird had fought with the immortal cranes until morning. When he came outside, two stark-naked lumps had shot into his arms before he could even react.
Once he finally made out what they were, Lu Qingchen nearly blacked out-
His two immortal cranes had been plucked almost completely bare. "Almost" because Xingu still had one white feather on its head, while Hezhen had two black feathers left on its backside.
Heaven knew Lu Qingchen had wanted to bundle all three of them up and throw them out right then.
They had utterly disgraced him. Immortal cranes he had raised for thirty years, bullied into this state by such an ugly creature! And above all, they could fly! If they couldn't win, couldn't they fly away?
He would not accept the ugly bird, no matter what!
No, he didn't want Xingu and Hezhen either!
He would dump the whole lot on Ning Xiang!
Ning Xiang gave Lu Qingchen no chance to speak and changed the subject. "Master, Second Senior Brother accidentally hurt himself just now. Your disciple will take her leave and go check on him."
With that, Ning Xiang greased her soles and fled.
Lu Qingchen looked at the ugly bird. The ugly bird looked up at him too, its black-bean eyes blinking as it chirped happily. "Chirp, chirp!"
Between nine and eleven in the morning.
Solitary Light Peak.
Legacy Wind Hall.
Su Lang and Yu Tingchao crossed the threshold together, and the first things they saw were... two pink, bare-bottomed... birds?
Even Su Lang, usually as serene as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze, was badly shaken.
Yu Tingchao burst out laughing. "Where did these two stupid birds come from? Hahahahaha! They look absolutely ridiculous!"
Both birds shuddered.
Xingu covered its face with its equally featherless wings and shot away with a whoosh.
Hezhen flew into a rage, jumped onto Yu Tingchao's head, and pecked at him with its sharp, pointed beak.
When Ning Xiang arrived, she was greeted by the sight of a naked, uninhibited bird chasing Yu Tingchao around and beating him up.
Ning Xiang: "..."
Pfft, hahahaha! Yu Tingchao, are you any good at all? One bird has beaten you into this state!
Furious and frantic, Yu Tingchao cried, "Eldest Senior Brother, hurry up and get this stupid bird off me!"
Before Su Lang could move, Hezhen hopped to the ground, gave two contemptuous cries, then raised its head and walked away with regal dignity... if one ignored its ridiculous appearance.
Yu Tingchao wanted to mock the stupid bird again, but Su Lang shot him a look. He could only rub his nose and swallow his laughter, painful though it was to hold it in.
Realizing Ning Xiang was behind him, he hurriedly... conjured a jade mask and put it on.
Ning Xiang and Su Lang both looked perplexed.
"Don't tell me that bird pecked your face to pieces?"
"Not so. Didn't you say the day before yesterday, Senior Sister, that if I couldn't solve that Eight-Whatever Demon-Whatever, I wasn't to show my face before you?"
Su Lang: "..." What on earth was this jumbled nonsense supposed to mean?
True Lord Qingchen was giving a lecture. Besides his three True Disciples, quite a few disciples from outside Solitary Light Peak had come, filling the classroom with a sea of heads.
Ning Xiang clicked her tongue.
Lu Iceberg is pretty popular. I honestly don't know what these people see in him. Cold as ice, foul-tempered, utterly clueless about romance-he's like a rock.
Grumbling inwardly, Ning Xiang found a spot near the corner and prepared to sit down.
But Lu Qingchen deigned to speak. "Ning Xiang, sit beside your eldest senior brother."
Ning Xiang: "..."
She was just about to point out that there had to be a seat available first. Aside from Lu Qingchen, Su Lang was also extremely popular, and several beautiful female cultivators were currently vying for the "status" of being his deskmate.
Then Ning Xiang saw those female cultivators, who had been at drawn swords a moment earlier, instantly extinguish their hostility and obediently clear a seat.
"Senior Sister Ning, please sit," said an apple-cheeked female cultivator, her face wreathed in smiles even as she involuntarily backed away several steps.
Well, Ning Xiang had two powerhouse parents and three powerhouse older brothers. She had always walked wherever she pleased in the Profound Heaven Sect, and no one dared get on her bad side.
Once she sat down on Su Lang's right, the seats around them promptly emptied.
The classroom was quiet for only a moment before it grew lively again.
All because-
"Wow, look! What an ugly bird! That is a bird, right? It doesn't look like a bird, but other than a bird, it probably couldn't be anything else, could it?"
A boy's shrill, grating voice rang out.
Ning Xiang jumped.
She looked toward the voice and recognized him: Pin Jiji, her father's third disciple, who could also be counted as her senior brother.
He truly lived up to the name his parents had given him. He was mouths from head to toe, chattering incessantly every single day.
The entire classroom erupted.
"Who let such an ugly creature in here? It's burning my eyes!"
"Boohoo, why do I feel like this ugly thing has defiled the scenery of Solitary Light Peak?"
"Quick, get it out of here! I feel like I'll stop breathing if I look at it one more time!"
"..."
Everyone talked over one another.
Even Su Lang couldn't bear to look directly at it.
Ning Xiang cleared her throat and said in complete seriousness, "Perhaps, my fellow senior and junior brothers and sisters, have you considered the possibility that it might be my master's beloved pet?"
The classroom fell deathly silent.
"Chirp, chirp!!!" The beloved pet itself nodded excitedly, flapping its wings and longing to soar high into the air to announce its noble status to everyone. Naturally, it couldn't fly. Its feet had barely left the ground before it fell heavily with a thud.
Lu Qingchen fell silent.
He slapped a talisman onto the ugly bird, and it vanished before everyone's eyes.
Everyone was still reeling from the shock. Only Pin Jiji grinned foolishly and said, "What a lucky ugly bird."
Yu Tingchao chimed in, "I wonder if it has a name?"
Giving it a name would make Lu Qingchen the ugly bird's true owner. But Lu Qingchen had no intention of keeping it, so he refused to answer that question.
Ning Xiang propped her chin on her hand, already coming up with several names for Lu Qingchen.
Since it's so ugly, how about Lu Ugly? Or since Master is Lu Iceberg, it could be Lu Ice Cube? Surely he can't name it along the same lines as those two featherless immortal cranes?
"Xiangxiang. Its name is Xiangxiang."
So said Lu Qingchen.
Before you continue