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It nudged Jian Mo with its big head, urging him to play with it.

Jian Mo stroked its fluffy head. To be safe, he stayed diagonally in front of it and didn't get too close.

Wu Jiong soon returned with a rope, followed by a large crowd.

"Jian Mo, we're here!"

"Can we ride the Flying-Winged Beast?"

"Quick, quick, give me the rope. Let me tie a knot."

Without waiting for Jian Mo to answer, everyone rushed forward.

Jian Mo turned and met Wu Jiong's gaze.

Wu Jiong nodded slightly.

While they exchanged looks, everyone had deftly tied the rope into a lasso and slipped it over the Flying-Winged Beast.

The Flying-Winged Beast looked a little uncomfortable and shook its head, trying to dodge, but everyone quickly pinned it down together.

Unable to break free, the Flying-Winged Beast soon gave up struggling. It lay there and let everyone handle it, giving up completely.

Jian Mo stepped back beside Wu Jiong and whispered, "Isn't the lasso a little crude?"

Wu Jiong looked up at it. "It'll do. It's tied securely."

Jian Mo belatedly remembered something. "It's not like the tribe has never had a Flying-Winged Beast before. Do you know how to train one?"

Wu Jiong nodded. "It's not too hard. We just need to get it flying."

Jian Mo said, "What if it acts up in the air? Wouldn't that be dangerous?"

"We can change back into our beast forms and force it down," Wu Jiong replied. "Beastmen are very agile. As long as it doesn't fall to its own death, there's no way it could kill a beastman on its back by throwing him off."

That training method really was simple and rough.

While they were talking, Ban Ming eagerly squeezed his way over. "Chief, Brother Jian Mo, you two keep chatting. Can I try the Flying-Winged Beast?"

Wu Jiong glanced at him and handed him the reins. "Be careful!"

Ban Ming immediately said, "Don't worry. We of the Spirit Cat Clan can jump from thirty or forty meters up and come away without a scratch."

"I know," Wu Jiong said.

Ban Ming adjusted his beast-hide skirt, took the reins, and leaped onto the Flying-Winged Beast's back in a very dashing manner.

He settled himself firmly between its shoulder blades and tugged on the reins, trying to make it take flight.

To his surprise, the Flying-Winged Beast lay where it was, its eyelids drooping, without moving a muscle.

Ban Ming: "???"

Ban Ming jumped off the Flying-Winged Beast, looked it over several times from both sides, and tugged on the reins. "Come on, fly! Isn't your injury healed?"

The Flying-Winged Beast lay there listlessly. "Whimper."

The onlookers spoke up:

"Are its wings still hurting?"

"I've seen other tribes with Flying-Winged Beasts pull on their wings to make them fly. That should be the right way to ride one."

"Maybe this Flying-Winged Beast was on its own and never learned to cooperate with people."

Ban Ming tried for quite a while, but the Flying-Winged Beast still refused to fly.

Ban Ming was so anxious he was nearly sweating. He turned to Jian Mo for confirmation. "Brother Jian Mo, its injury is healed, right?"

Jian Mo nodded from among the crowd. "In theory, it should be mostly healed."

"Then why is it ignoring me?!" Ban Ming asked.

Ban Ming rubbed the Flying-Winged Beast's neck. "Fly already! Animals that are no use to our tribe get killed and eaten!"

The Flying-Winged Beast understood and flinched, but it stayed where it was, lying with its head drawn in and not moving a muscle.

No matter what Ban Ming did, it refused to give him any further response, leaving him at a loss.

The people around them laughed at the sight of Ban Ming sweating all over.

Another beastman stepped forward. "Let me try, then."

Jian Mo recognized him as Ban Ming's father, Di Ya.

Ban Ming pulled the reins again, but the Flying-Winged Beast still refused to move, so he reluctantly jumped down from its back.

Before Di Ya could get on,

the Flying-Winged Beast suddenly turned its head and rubbed its big, fluffy head against Jian Mo. "Chirp, chirp."

Di Ya stopped in his tracks. "Does this fellow recognize people?"

Everyone turned to look at Jian Mo.

Qing Kuo said to Jian Mo, "Is the Flying-Winged Beast asking you to get on?"

Jian Mo wasn't sure. "Me?"

Before he had finished speaking, the Flying-Winged Beast rubbed against Jian Mo again under everyone's gaze. "Chirp."

Di Ya looked at the Flying-Winged Beast, then at Jian Mo, and said with a smile, "Maybe it really has taken a liking to you. Too bad it's too dangerous for you to ride it."

Wu Jiong spoke up from behind them. "I'll get on with him."

Everyone fell silent for a moment, then agreed that would work too.

Jian Mo hesitated, and the Flying-Winged Beast turned its head to look at him expectantly. "Chirp, chirp."

"I'll try," Jian Mo said.

Wu Jiong took hold of the reins and kept the Flying-Winged Beast under control while Jian Mo got on.

When the Flying-Winged Beast saw Jian Mo approach, it flattened itself against the ground and spread its enormous wings, looking like a house.

Jian Mo climbed onto its back a little awkwardly. It remained completely still, showing unusual patience, a stark contrast to how it had behaved with Ban Ming on its back just now.

Watching from the side, Ban Ming could almost have shed a bitter tear for himself.

Jian Mo climbed onto the Flying-Winged Beast's back and settled a little ahead of its shoulder blades, then gently patted its neck to soothe it.

Wu Jiong jumped lightly onto the Flying-Winged Beast and sat down behind Jian Mo, holding the reins in one hand and wrapping the other arm around Jian Mo's waist.

Jian Mo was a size smaller than Wu Jiong. With Wu Jiong's arm around him, his back pressed against Wu Jiong's firm, hot chest, and he was almost tucked into his embrace.

Jian Mo shifted uncomfortably, trying to move away from his breath.

Wu Jiong tightened his arm a little. "Don't move. Be careful, or you'll fall!"

Jian Mo quickly sat upright and gripped the Flying-Winged Beast's fur with both hands. "Okay."

Holding the reins, Wu Jiong said, "You can ask the Flying-Winged Beast to fly now."

Following his instruction, Jian Mo patted the Flying-Winged Beast and called out to it, "Can you fly?"

The Flying-Winged Beast gave a long cry. "Chirp-"