Third Cub

Biodata

Power Progression

Third Cub is identified as a high-level mutated monster, but no change in her rank is documented. Her development centers on flight, transformation, and combat training 112.

Appearance

Third Cub’s coloring combines her family’s white and black plumage, while her purple eyes distinguish her from Tao Qiu and her siblings 18 32.

• Bird form: Almost entirely snow-white, with a small black patch at the tip of her tail 18.
• Eyes: Crystal-like purple, compared to gemstones 32 193.
• Hatchling build: A size smaller than her siblings had been at hatching 18.
• Human form: A white-haired young child; her first transformation leaves her with an extra pair of white wings 104 189.
• Later health: Becomes sturdy and well nourished, a marked contrast to her frail beginnings 198.

Personality

Third Cub is sensitive, thoughtful, and deeply attached to Tao Qiu. As a hatchling, she interprets the family’s extra care as something she must repay. Her attempt to become healthy faster by overeating comes from wanting to spare her father the pain of giving her his blood, not simply from greed. Tao Qiu teaches her that returning love should not turn that love into a burden 19 20.

She is quieter and more bashful than Second Cub, but neither passive nor lacking in courage. During training, she checks her landing points carefully and chooses precise moments to counterattack. When frightened by a possible intruder, she still spreads her wings over her sleeping siblings 21 24 29 34.

Her loyalty can make her sharp with anyone who treats Tao Qiu badly. She initially sympathizes with Little Snake’s poor health, then loses that sympathy when the snake is rude to him. Nevertheless, she competes fairly and sincerely acknowledges that Little Snake might beat her after fully recovering 53 55.

Third Cub also values cleanliness and honesty. Black Rabbit’s filthy fur overwhelms her so badly that she needs three baths to feel clean again. Later, she insists that she can give Lou Yu directions only along roads she actually remembers—although she is capable of deliberate misdirection when protecting the family’s disguise 110 191 206 208.

Abilities & Skills

Transformation

Third Cub inherits Tao Qiu’s ability to take human form and learns voluntary switching unusually quickly 99 104.

• Changes between bird and human forms from her first lesson 104.
• Can manifest wings and fly while human; at the time of the crop-thief incident, neither sibling can do this 122.
• Her initial transformation causes severe pain and unconsciousness, followed by a day of sleep. She reports no discomfort after waking 104.

Flight and Perception

Flight develops through physical maturation and sustained practice rather than becoming reliable immediately 65.

• Performs repeated aerial dives and close-range attacks with her beak and claws 110.
• Detects Tao Qiu’s approach before her siblings do during an early training session 29.
• Later notices Black Rabbit’s deliberately released aura shortly after Tao Qiu senses it 110.
• Has finite stamina: prolonged attacks on Black Rabbit leave her exhausted and unable to maintain flight properly 110.

Combat and Hunting

Third Cub combines natural snow-bird hunting instincts with tactics taught by Tao Qiu and practiced against Black Rabbit 24 116.

• Counterattacks: Watches for openings and lands painful pecks even during childhood games 24.
• Teamwork: Takes turns commanding with her siblings; the other two follow the designated leader’s orders immediately 116.
• Improvised weapons: Uses stones, branches, mud, water, and sand to obstruct opponents or create openings 116.
• Aerial support: Splashes chili water into thieves’ eyes before her siblings attack, then uses stones against escaping opponents 122 123.
• Hunting experience: Participates in the siblings’ first boar kill and later helps hunt mutated bucks under Eldest Cub’s leadership 117 204.
• Restraint: Avoids Black Rabbit’s vulnerable eyes and nose even while pecking and scratching his face 110.

Memory and Social Awareness

Third Cub notices emotional cues and remembers people and places well 94 191 206.

• Recognizes Tao Qiu’s happiness whenever he talks about Lou Yu before he openly admits his feelings 94 105.
• Remembers routes through Yong’an Base and offers to direct Lou Yu home 191.
• Recognizes restaurant workers during a later meeting, but pretends to need a reminder to avoid revealing how capable she is 206.
• Helps conceal the cubs’ unusual strength by telling a human child that she and Eldest Cub are “very weak” 208.

Background / History

Hatching and Recovery

Third Cub hatches in dangerously poor condition. Tao Qiu feeds her healing blood before meat, cuts her portions especially small, and keeps her nest within easy sight. Eldest Cub and Second Cub help keep her warm and wait for her to finish eating before asking for their own food 17 18.

After learning that Tao Qiu’s cultivated fruit promotes health, she begins eating far more than her body can tolerate. Her resulting lethargy and vomiting lead to another dose of his blood. She eventually explains that she wanted to recover quickly so he would never need to hurt himself for her again, prompting a family conversation about accepting care without guilt 19 20.

Naming and Growing Confidence

Tao Qiu names her Tao Yuan with two meanings in mind: “yuan” refers to a kind of bird associated with raptors, expressing his wish that she become strong, while the name also sounds like tangyuan. Her white body and black tail resemble a sesame-filled tangyuan 25.

Her differences sometimes worry her. Seeing her purple eyes reflected in the pond briefly makes her feel unlike the rest of the family, but Second Cub’s affectionate praise reassures her. Later, when both siblings become human before her, she worries that she will remain the only little bird and be unable to help Tao Qiu. She brings that fear to him and is comforted by his explanation that caring for them one at a time helps him too 32 103.

Transformation and Black Rabbit

Third Cub’s first human transformation is much more distressing than her siblings’ transitions. She suffers intense pain, convulses, and becomes unresponsive before changing into a winged human child. Tao Qiu cannot get his healing blood into her closed beak and is deeply shaken by his helplessness, though she recovers without lingering discomfort 104.

When Black Rabbit offers childcare in exchange for crops, Third Cub helps Tao Qiu try to drive him away. His smell turns the confrontation into genuine distress, but his apology, carefully preserved white flowers, and persistent goodwill gradually change her opinion. She brings him food, listens to stories about Tao Qiu’s childhood, and approves him as a caregiver. Their relationship becomes openly affectionate 110 111 112 114.

Accepting Lou Yu

Third Cub and her siblings discover a photograph of Tao Qiu kissing Lou Yu and privately conclude that Lou Yu is their other father. They initially pretend not to know. Later, hoping to prevent Tao Qiu from finding another partner and having more children, they deliberately stage a conversation about their resemblance to Lou Yu as a way of acknowledging him 134 162.

She subsequently addresses him as “Daddy Lou Yu” and enjoys his care, including being carried through the base and having her hair styled into a princess hairstyle 170 178 191.

Life at Yong’an Base and Abduction

At Yong’an Base, Third Cub helps maintain the family’s human cover. She attributes their unusual appearance to a foreign grandmother, studies the fabricated family history, and downplays her abilities around ordinary humans. She later begins school alongside her siblings while Lou Yu guards the campus 189 193 206 208 227.

Third Cub is subsequently taken by a mutant monster. While her condition remains unknown, Tao Qiu and Lou Yu try to draw the creature out. After a week of unsuccessful attempts, Tao Qiu decides to go out alone to give it an opportunity to approach 239.

Equipment / Items

• Amethyst bracelet — Chosen because its sparkling purple color resembles her eyes; Tao Qiu initially fits it around her head as an ornament 94.
• Wooden sword — One of the cubs’ toy weapons; she and Second Cub enjoy imitating sword-wielding television heroes 143.
• Bamboo tube of chili water — Used to spray crop thieves from above during the defense of the berry patch 122.

Relationships

• Tao Qiu — Father and primary caregiver. She longs to resemble him, help him, and protect him from pain; his reassurance helps her overcome guilt about her frailty 20 103 112.
• Lou Yu — Father, eventually acknowledged alongside Tao Qiu. She trusts him, accepts his affection, and eagerly shares her accomplishments with him 162 170 191.
• Eldest Cub — Older brother, protector, and hunting teammate. He helps care for her from hatching and understands her fear that looking different might cost her their father’s love 18 32 204.
• Second Cub — Older sister and close companion. Her spontaneous praise resolves Third Cub’s insecurity about her coloring; Third Cub later comforts her after her human transformation 32 102.
• Black Rabbit — Initially an unwanted visitor, later an accepted caregiver and sparring partner. Their reconciliation develops through apologies, food, conversation, and mutual affection 110 111 112 114 116.
• Little Snake — Rival with a similarly frail start in life. Third Cub narrowly wins their race, encourages her afterward, and agrees to a rematch 53 55.
• Lou Quan — Uncle through Lou Yu. She accepts his tea and a single hug, but firmly warns him that “snatching” children would make him a bad person whom she would hit 193 198.

Notable Quotes

“I won't go with anyone else. I'll always be Dad's little bird.” 94

“You're just stubborn, but you're not bad.”
— To Black Rabbit 112

“But I can't make things up about the ones I don't know. I'm an honest child. I can't lie.”
— Offering to give Lou Yu directions 191