Daddy, Hug Me, Hug Me

"That's true. If they really could turn human, that would be something else."

Liu Qi'an had only asked on a whim, and because he trusted Lou Yu, he dismissed the thought he'd just had. He soon put it out of his mind and stopped guessing.

Seeing Liu Qi'an turn his attention back to the movie, Lou Yu quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't know how much longer he could keep Snow Bird's human form a secret, but he didn't want to be the one to reveal it.

Neither sentiment nor reason would allow him to do that.

Dinner that night included both vegetables and meat. Given the season's reduced grain and vegetable harvests, it was already a feast.

"Ugh, I'm stuffed!" Liu Qi'an leaned back in his chair and patted his round belly, looking utterly content.

John wiped his mouth and kicked Liu Qi'an in the shin. "Come on, it's your turn to clean the kitchen and wash the dishes."

Liu Qi'an closed his eyes and held up one finger. "One minute. Let me rest for one more minute."

Chen Lin was indeed a good cook. Even Lou Yu, who usually stopped eating when he was seventy percent full, couldn't resist taking a few extra helpings. Still, he wasn't so stuffed he couldn't get up like Liu Qi'an.

Finishing up, Chen Lin popped the last piece of smoked meat into his mouth and smiled at Lou Yu. "The game Snow Bird gave us tastes even better smoked than the poultry raised at the base. It's just a shame we can't eat it often."

Huo Lan said, "This is my first time eating the meat of a mutated monster."

"We have our captain to thank. Not everyone is lucky enough to have Snow Bird bring them food," John said with a sigh.

Hearing that, Liu Qi'an stopped rubbing his belly and leaned in front of Lou Yu, gazing at him eagerly. "Boss, share your secrets. How do you get Snow Bird to bring you gifts?"

Lou Yu certainly had some experience to share, but he'd have to be a fool to say it out loud.

He couldn't very well tell them he'd earned that honor by doing that sort of thing with Snow Bird.

"Just personal charm, that's all." Lou Yu raised his eyebrows, wearing a smug expression for once.

"Pfft! Boss, you're brushing me off. Even good relationships need work. How could Snow Bird just start treating you well for no reason?"

Lou Yu nodded. "Exactly. That's why I said it takes personal charm. That's the reason."

Liu Qi'an said, "...Boo-hoo, am I really a guy with no personal charm?"

Liu Qi'an wasn't really trying to get to the bottom of it. He was simply too idle and making conversation for the sake of it.

Ever since Snow Bird had brought Lou Yu a piece of game, Huo Lan and the others had understood that Lou Yu must have struck up a friendship with Snow Bird during the day and night he'd spent alone outside.

Otherwise, how could they explain why Snow Bird not only hadn't hurt Lou Yu, but had personally escorted them back to the base and even brought him precious food afterward?

If the reason was simply that Snow Bird was relatively friendly toward humans, then why wasn't he so nice to anyone else? And why hadn't he treated Lou Yu so well when Lou Yu first arrived at Yong'an Base?

After all, when they'd first arrived at Yong'an Base, their team had taken plenty of missions outside to prove their strength and earn a living.

So Liu Qi'an's question was more like a teasing joke.

Everyone understood what he meant, so John chimed in, "I wouldn't say that. You're the tallest and strongest, and whenever we ran into mutated monsters before, you were the one they wanted to eat most. Isn't that a kind of personal charm?"

John had hit a sore spot. Liu Qi'an clutched his chest and wailed, "Who the hell wants that kind of charm?!"

"Hahahaha..." The others laughed at him.

After fooling around, Liu Qi'an went to wash the dishes while the others sat together discussing the latest happenings at the base, big and small. Once their food had settled, John pulled Lou Yu into several sparring matches. Only when they were drenched in sweat did they return to their rooms to wash up and rest.

Before going to sleep, Lou Yu rested his head on the wooden box holding the white feather and whispered, "Good night."

"Good morning!! My children!!!"

Tao Qiu put down his catch, took human form, and shouted as he rushed toward the nest. The way he ran looked just like a monkey roaming free in a tropical rainforest.

Chapter 21: Daddy, Hug Me, Hug Me

The temperature had been too high lately, and there was no air conditioning in the wilderness. Tao Qiu didn't want to go out in the afternoon, so he'd moved his patrol to the morning and hunted enough food for the whole day while he was at it.

And so the early-rising prey got eaten by Tao Qiu.

The three little birds were already awake. Caught up in Tao Qiu's excitement, Second Cub began bouncing around like a little spring-loaded toy.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp!"

—Good morning, Daddy!

Third Cub had only just opened her eyes. Still not fully awake, she got up in a daze.

"Chirp..."

"Good morning..."

Eldest Cub steadied Third Cub when she nearly fell, then wished Tao Qiu good morning too.

"Daddy caught a big rabbit today. The meat is super tender." Tao Qiu first washed the bloodstains off his hands with water from a bamboo tube. Only then did he lie down in the nest, gather the cubs into his arms, and kiss them one by one.

The fluffy little birds were so adorable that breathing in their scent made him feel as though his whole being had been elevated.

The little birds also loved and relied on Daddy's scent. They rubbed themselves against him like crazy, unwilling to stop even when their feathers were all ruffled.

It was a mutual rush of affection between an old father and his little birds.

After resting for a while, Tao Qiu got up to butcher the catch. He used his claws, beak, and flying feather blades together. Though he couldn't match a master butcher's precision, he at least separated all the different parts.

All four birds ate their fill at breakfast. Tao Qiu lay in the grass nest with the three little birds sprawled on his slightly rounded belly, all of them lounging with their mouths slightly open, looking full and content.

The cave was halfway up a low mountain, with a thick enough layer of earth and stone overhead to block the sun. It had a ventilation opening to let the heat out, and a cool breeze blew through now and then. It was simply the perfect place to escape the heat.

Tao Qiu folded his hands behind his head and took a short nap while his food digested.

The three little birds had gotten up later than Tao Qiu and weren't sleepy yet. Seeing that Daddy had fallen asleep, they didn't make a sound to disturb him and obediently lay there pretending to sleep.

Tao Qiu woke an hour later. With his energy restored, his eyes darted restlessly around. When he saw the rabbit meat on the stone slab, an idea popped into his head.

"Babies, let's play a game!"

Once Tao Qiu was awake, the three cubs stopped being quiet too. Seeing the excited look in his old father's eyes, Eldest Cub had a feeling things were about to get lively.

Eldest Cub said, "Chirp, chirp?"

—What game?

"Eagle catches... no, no, it should be big bird catches prey!" Tao Qiu changed the game's name to suit what he was now, then explained the rules to the children.

They had nothing else to do anyway, so he might as well teach the chicks some hunting concepts and techniques first, laying the groundwork for future lessons.

To help the children get familiar with the game, Tao Qiu played the "eagle" in the first round. He deliberately made his bird form only a couple of sizes bigger than the children.

Tao Qiu had originally planned to let the children take turns being the "mother hen" in order of age, but Second Cub was so eager to go first that she insisted on it. Eldest Cub and Third Cub had no objections, so Tao Qiu agreed.

Once the children were in position, Tao Qiu spread his wings and put on a fierce expression.

"Mwahahaha! My little darlings! I'm going to catch you and take you home to eat you!!!"

After delivering his threat, Tao Qiu was just about to fly up and swoop at them when Second Cub, the "mother hen," suddenly abandoned her "chicks" and came running toward him on her short little legs.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp!"

—Daddy, hug me, hug me!

"Huh?" Tao Qiu looked at Second Cub, who had flung herself into his arms, and asked in confusion, "Second Treasure, what are you doing over here? You're supposed to protect Eldest Treasure and Third Treasure over there."

Second Cub tilted her head up, her little beadlike eyes shining. "Chirp, chirp! Chirp, chirp, chirp!"

—Daddy said it! You're going to carry me home!

Tao Qiu froze for a moment, then thought back over what he'd just said and done. When he realized what had happened, he couldn't help laughing.

Whenever he wanted to hug the little birds, he would deliberately spread his arms or wings in an exaggerated way. Once they'd gotten used to it, they knew what he wanted to do as soon as they saw the movement.

And although he'd been making a threat just now, he'd mentioned going home at the end. Young children whose language skills weren't fully developed tended to remember what was familiar to them or the last few words of a sentence.

On top of that, the children still couldn't properly distinguish between games and everyday life. All those factors together had led Second Cub to misunderstand.

But it was a beautiful misunderstanding too.

Seeing the trust and joy in his daughter's eyes, Tao Qiu felt as though his heart had been filled with honey, sweet and happy. He wanted nothing more than to pick Second Cub up and spin her around a few times to let out his excitement.

But to keep Second Cub from continuing to misunderstand, Tao Qiu restrained himself from doing something that might encourage her. He took her back to Eldest Cub and Third Cub and once again explained what a game was, as well as the roles and responsibilities each of them had in it.

"...Now, Eldest Treasure and Third Treasure will pretend to be prey and hide behind Second Treasure. Second Treasure has to protect the two of them and stop me, the big bird, from catching them. Do you understand?"

The three little birds nodded in unison. "Chirp, chirp!"

—We understand!

"Good! Let's start the game over! Here I come to catch you!"

Tao Qiu quickly took flight. Using the same tactics he normally used when hunting, he kept flashing his claws and flapping his wings to frighten and distract the "mother hen," Second Cub. She gradually found herself unable to keep up and lost her footing, leaving Eldest Cub and Third Cub exposed behind her.

The point of the game wasn't to win, but to train the children. So even though the little birds quickly fell apart, Tao Qiu didn't catch them right away. Instead, he used the process to show them every aspect of his hunting skills.

Although Tao Qiu held back enough not to actually hurt the children, he still unleashed some of the imposing presence of a wasteland overlord. It was completely different from the gentle and kind manner he usually showed the little birds.

The little birds also got more and more into the game. Their playfulness gave way to instinctive fear as they shrieked, dodged, and fought back everywhere. Even though they couldn't fly yet, they flapped their wings and bounced with all their might, and their sharp beaks actually pecked Tao Qiu several times.