Chapter 63 Totem Pole

Chujiu squatted on the ground, looking at the dusty little ball in front of him.

"Little one, I have a name. My name is 'Chujiu'."

"And—I have plenty of hair! I definitely do not belong among the hairless!"

The little gray bird blankly looked up at Chujiu, thinking to himself: *With just that tiny patch of hair on top of your head, compared to our Feathered Clan, aren't you basically hairless?*

He couldn't help but want to retort.

Then, he saw the knightly black cat beside them flashing its cold, sharp claws right at him.

The little gray bird instantly suppressed the urge to defend the truth.

He obediently nodded. "Chirp, yes, you are not hairless."

Chujiu nodded in satisfaction: *Although the little guy is a bit reckless, he admits his mistakes when pointed out and listens readily. He's still a very well-behaved little bird... little bird-man.*

Resting his chin in his hand, Chujiu asked again, "What did you mean by 'chased and hunted,' and what did you mean by 'going to your tribe to collect a reward'?"

Mentioning this, the little gray bird raised his wings and began to chirp away in endless explanation.

As it turned out, before this [Bald Mountain Eagle] went bald, it had long entrenched itself at the border between the "Shelter Valley" and the "Gale Crag," occasionally harassing passing members of the Feathered Clan.

To prevent this scourge from continuing to plague the avian world, the Feathered Clan issued a bounty: a reward for anyone who could subdue the mountain eagle!

The little gray bird had set off full of confidence!

However, when he prepared himself and headed to the mountain eagle's habitat, intending to take down the eagle in one fell swoop, he discovered that the mountain eagle had already degenerated into a quail. Forget lording it over the skies and harassing little birds, this guy couldn't even fly anymore, and could only scurry around the mountain like a molting chicken.

Chujiu, having watched the little gray bird wail bitterly just moments ago, finally confirmed: *Ah, this sentence is actually the truth.*

The final prompt interface flashed:

He tilted his head and looked at Chujiu. "Chirp, chirp! Since you're a 'brave, furry biped,' you must be able to understand how wonderful my new title is!"

At this moment, the little gray bird added, "My mom and dad said that when I grow up, my singing will be even more beautiful!"

"I can take the 'Mountain Eagle Feather' to your tribe."

He quickly ran beneath the road sign to examine it closely:

Chujiu stood up and smiled. "Alright, now we have a lot of preparation work to do. Time to get to work!"

As a young prince of the Feathered Clan, the little gray bird's full name was "Swift Feather of the Gale." But he had never been satisfied with this designation and had always wanted to change it to a title of his own liking.

"The new title I want has the full name of—"

The little gray bird: "Ah, that's our Feathered Clan's favorite drink! Every time we eat, we must drink the Nectar so that we feel the meal has been delicious enough..."

Chujiu walked over to Kakaba and patted the little capybara's head. "These two baby triceratops aren't afraid of the light or the wind anymore, right?"

"How about it? Doesn't it sound fierce the moment you hear it?!"

With that taken care of, there was no longer any need to worry about matters in the fields and pastures.

Chujiu mounted the flightless dodo bird, and the little gray bird mounted the flightless mountain eagle. The group plunged headfirst into the Forest of Oblivion, heading straight in the direction of the "Gale Crag."

According to the instructions in the *Pioneers' Cabin Repair Guide*, the cabin's defensive facilities were capable of resisting monsters.

Little Canned Goods was simply too amazing! Just scratching at the pillar like that, the deterrence effect was actually better than any other trophy!

However, his parents had always disagreed.

Little Canned Goods's face bore its usual icy expression.

"However, do you have any 'Blessed Nectar'?"

With a few scratching sounds, deep claw marks were left on the pillar.

At least on one point, *Folk Legends* hadn't been wrong: it truly was a very special kind of singing.

Chujiu clutched his faintly aching chest: ......

Chujiu was so excited he kissed the cat head over and over again, kissing Little Canned Goods's cheeks until they grew hot and its tail curled up.

The little gray bird was completely well-behaved now.

The Deterrence Totem Pole.

Little Canned Goods silently walked over to the little gray bird, its small claws pinching the latter's neck covered in fine gray feathers, expressing through body language: *Tell the truth. Otherwise... Hmph.*

The little gray bird stood on a small stool and cleared his throat. "Alright, I shall dedicate a song to the biped and his knights!"

Afterward, however, the little guy secretly made up his mind: *It doesn't matter, I'll think of other ways to coax the baby triceratops to sleep!*

Chujiu: "Then, can they handle long-distance travel?"

However, by the time it reached the *Feathered Clan* chapter, the corresponding records were greatly reduced, only roughly introducing where the Feathered Clan originated, what they ate, and their basic habits.

Little Canned Goods turned its head to look at the little gray bird, its icy gaze fully conveying a single meaning: *What, you've already eaten the bamboo-flower chicken cooked by Chujiu, and you still think it's not beautiful enough?*

After a lengthy negotiation, he and his parents finally reached an agreement:

Listening to the little gray bird's narrative—which seemed reasonable at first glance, but was actually disjointed and even contradictory—Chujiu fell silent.

"Yi-yi-yi, ya-ya-ya, yi-yi-ya-ya..."

Howl-Howl Rabbit and Glug-Glug didn't say anything, but Kakaba looked a bit bewildered.

Wait, fleeing in panic...?

It was just that this piece of wood, along with the characters on it, seemed to have colors that were slightly more vibrant than before, not nearly as dilapidated.

After that, Chujiu had been pondering how to continue expanding the safe zone.

[Legend has it that the singing of the Feathered Clan is extremely distinctive. It is said that farmers who are fortunate enough to hear the Feathered Clan burst into song will find their fields unexpectedly blessed with a bountiful harvest.]

This was Chujiu's first time setting out on a journey while "dragging his family along" with so many little ones simultaneously.

If they didn't hear Chujiu's voice, they would howl throughout the night without stopping, seemingly entirely devoid of fatigue.

Chujiu scratched his head and tried adding a few more trophies like stinger-spurs and beast horns, but the deterrence range no longer increased.

Mhm... I must have seen wrongly just now, there was no flash of light.

Chujiu handed over another chicken and buried his head back in his book.

Chujiu looked at the little gray bird, who practically had "I am lying" written all over his little bird face, and slowly stood up.

"The matter of the 'Mountain Eagle Feather' can be discussed after you've eaten your fill."

Chujiu put away *Folk Legends*, recalled the materials that could be farmed in the "Gale Crag" region, and made up his mind.

Right after his Pioneer level rose to level 10, a facility that met his desires finally appeared in the *Guide*:

Fortunately, the little ones were all quite small, and the side pockets of the backpack were numerous enough to hold them all. Adding a specially-made mini cradle for the baby triceratops on the outside of the backpack, the family of seven was completely accounted for.

Howl-Howl Rabbit's ears automatically rolled downward, blocking out all outside noise!

"After becoming a sapient race, their nature remains unrestrained, bold, and pugnacious... Well, the contrast between their appearance and their inner self is quite stark, indeed."

It glanced at Chujiu, then looked at the baby triceratops in the cradle, and finally, the expression on its face turned very resolute. It even secretly clenched its claws, clearly psyching itself up.

Therefore, do not hesitate; come right ahead and happily decorate the totem pole.]

After a moment, he sat cross-legged on the ground. "What kind of things are these 'generous rewards' you speak of?"

"Distinctive singing" and "obtaining a bountiful harvest" were two completely unrelated matters.

Wow! It really connected!

"Chirp, chirp! If I can't bring back the 'Mountain Eagle Feather,' Mom and Dad are going to ground me and not allow me to fly out anymore! Chirp, chirp!"

He squatted back down. "Tell me the truth, and I'll consider whether or not to give you the 'Mountain Eagle Feather'."

"However, you must tell your parents word for word what actually happened."

"Well, according to what the book says, before the Feathered Clan became a sapient race, they were actually a kind of 'bird of prey,' primarily carnivorous in their daily diet."

Chujiu asked in surprise, "'Blessed Nectar'? What is that?"

As it cried, the little gray bird's belly let out a "gurgle," echoing and harmonizing with its wails.

The other three spiritual beasts naturally heard Chujiu's decision as well.

"We will take a spring break this month and won't go out."

Chujiu: "Since that's the case, Kakaba, would you like to come with us? To go together to the Gale Crag?"

Over here, the little gray bird finished drinking his milk with grand magnanimity, let out a comfortable burp, rubbed his belly, and said, "So delicious!"

Chujiu was instantly dumbfounded.

The more glorious the host's past battle achievements, the better the deterrence effect, and the wider the effective range for resisting monster invasions.

Kakaba nodded vigorously once more. "Ta-da! As long as there's the little cradle, they'll be just like they were inside their eggs. We can travel as far as we want!"

He raised the tip of a small wing to rub his eyes. "I—I haven't thought about it..."

He stroked Kakaba's small head again. "You must be both worried about the baby triceratops and reluctant to delay my trip, right? Since that's the case, let's just travel together."

Chujiu couldn't help his curiosity at this point: "What kind of new title do you actually want?"

Seeing that the three-month deadline was approaching, a clever idea had struck him in his desperation, and he had fabricated this bounty story, hoping to trick Chujiu into taking the feather and returning to the tribe with him using the reward as bait.

"And now Bean Village has patrols too, so it's unlikely anyone else can sneak in."

Chujiu held Little Canned Goods securely in his arms and subconsciously glanced in the direction of the road sign:

The remaining [Black and White Aphid Pasture] and [Chicken Coop] were somewhat special. Chujiu had discussed it with the three little squirrels, having them come over daily to add forage, feed wheat, and change the clean water for the monsters.

Speaking of this, he looked over at Howl-Howl Rabbit, who was listening with wide eyes, and Glug-Glug, who had stopped moving:

Glug-Glug nodded continuously. "Glug-glug, goo—good, then Glug-Glug can be together with the companions too."

"Although they are small in size, their combat power rivals that of a mountain eagle."

During the last monster riot, this thirty-meter zone of absolute safety had played an exceptionally crucial role.

"Then let's go collect the reward after a month."

"I really didn't lie to you about this! Although it's not a bounty, there really will be very generous rewards!"

This little bird-man simply *had* to get his hands on a "Mountain Eagle Feather." But that mountain eagle had already been plucked bald by Chujiu himself, which was why he had no choice but to seek him out.

Could such singing really "cause fields to unexpectedly yield a bountiful harvest"? Wouldn't it instead make farmers cover their ears and flee in panic?

Ah, the overall defense range of the Pioneer Cabin area was now a full 110 meters, several times larger than before.

Beside him, Little Canned Goods turned its head away in disgust, its entire face spelling out: *Who has the time to pluck your feathers? Tsk.*

Chujiu knew what Kakaba was thinking:

"‘The Raptor of Mighty Strength, the Dashing and Suave Swift Feather!‘"

Well, to verify his hypothesis, he still had to go to the Feathered Clan's tribe and talk to them face-to-face.