My Pet Beast is Super Fearsome

Chapter 41: Chapter 41 White-headed Bulbul

Shao Zifeng packed up his belongings, expressionless, and threw the slip of paper into the trash bin. After a moment’s hesitation, he tossed in a few more wads of paper to cover it up and then walked away.

Confronted with the “No Entry for Unrelated Personnel” sign in the west corridor, Shao Zifeng felt no curiosity—since the west corridor was off-limits, he would take the east instead.

After learning of Luo Feng’s message at the front desk and glancing at Qu Xiaoxiao, who was blushing and didn’t dare to look at him, Shao Zifeng smiled and expressed his thanks.

Once outside the hospital, which seemed quite ordinary on the surface, Shao Zifeng felt somewhat at a loss, unsure where to head next. He had only been out training for a day before returning to Su City. There was no need to go to school for the time being, and there was plenty of food left at home for the white cat and the crawling pets, so they didn’t need his attention much.

He didn’t really have any friends and, after some thought, it seemed the only place he could go was to the platform. Qiuqiu’s condition was still unknown, and although anxious, he was at a complete loss. The Elemental Egg urgently needed a potion to replenish its energy; he had to think of an excuse to get it from Luo Feng without raising suspicion.

No, that’s not all—he could also visit the flowers, birds, and fish market. Although the addon was rudimentary, with high latency and a lack of presence, it was still reliable for identifying pets.

Perhaps he could find something overlooked; even if he couldn’t use it himself, he could still sell it to others through the platform. Even better if it was something he could form a contract with, as without a pet, he couldn’t even do any missions. It would be best to sell any with lesser potential—things were fine now, but later…

Making money was of the utmost urgency. It was tough enough supporting Qiuqiu alone.

Once he settled on his plan, Shao Zifeng hailed a taxi and headed towards Su City’s largest flowers, birds, and fish market.

…

The Chaoyang Flowers, Birds, and Fish Market was located near the eastern district, close to the old district—like the latter, it was a product of the last century. As the old district flourished, the market declined under the impact of the emerging pet stores.

Unlike modern pet stores, which require various procedures and certificates of authenticity, the “Chaoyang Flowers, Birds, and Fish Market” had a very low entry threshold, resulting in the sale of pets of mixed quality. Inflated claims about the pets’ quality were common, and most were intended for ornamental purposes.

The Abnormal Administration Bureau had attempted to regulate the market several times, but there were always ways around their policies. Eventually, as long as nothing too outrageous occurred, the Bureau turned a blind eye and let things be.

Shao Zifeng got out of the taxi at the entrance of the “Chaoyang Flowers, Birds, and Fish Market”. The once-cemented road had deteriorated through years of neglect into a gravel path, missing pieces here and there. Above the gate, a semicircular iron frame had faded into a dark red, with the words “Chaoyang Flowers, Birds, and Fish Market” welded on it, covered in dust.

Walking through the gate, he encountered old-fashioned sunshades, and a mixture of various odors hit him in the face. Shao Zifeng frowned as he continued inward, stepping over wet patches on the ground.

The market was divided into four main areas: the first was for all kinds of plants; the second for birds and poultry; followed by cats, dogs, and a hodgepodge of other pets. A series of evenly spaced stone pedestals lined up, each one a vendor’s booth, displaying pets with dirty, clumped fur that seemed listless.

Shao Zifeng diligently dodged puddles on the ground as he carefully observed each vendor’s booth, looking for any little fellow with decent potential.

“Handsome, come take a look at my treasures. With your looks, I can tell you’re the lucky type—the kind to pull five SSRs in a ten-draw,” a man with a sun-darkened complexion, with folds so deep they could trap mosquitoes, showed off his teeth, stained yellow, as he energetically pushed the few sickly-looking cats he was selling.

Shao Zifeng smiled and shook his head, thinking, “Out of six, two are on the verge of death, three have genetic defects, and one has a one-star potential yet you still call them treasures. Besides, all my luck was drained before that renal-deficiency snake bit me—I’ve got no luck left.”

Ignoring the man’s enthusiastic attempt to retain him, Shao Zifeng continued on his way.

[Name]: Chinese Rural Dog

[Growth Stage]: Juvenile

[Condition]: Dying, Hungry

…

[Potential]: ☆

[Description]: Don’t want to talk…

Shao Zifeng shook his head, looking at the panting puppy crouched in the corner of the cage with a hint of pity, but he didn’t have the intention to buy it. In this place, there were too many such pet beasts; he couldn’t possibly buy every one he came across.

Although he felt a bit of compassion, all he could do was look away after seeing them, not giving them a second glance. Perhaps that way, he might feel a bit better psychologically.

In the noisy flowers, birds, and fish market of Su City, Shao Zifeng wandered around for quite a while before he finally found a decent pet beast. It was a bird-type mutant creature, with some damage to its beak and bloodstains on its feathers. It was missing some feathers on its head, and most of the tail feathers had fallen off, making it look somewhat bald.

It stood on the horizontal bar inside the cage, its eyes filled with a wooden expression, as if it had given up struggling and was just indifferently watching the passersby, without a hint of emotional fluctuation.

[Name]: White-headed Bulbul (bei)

[Growth Stage]: Juvenile

[Condition]: Lightly injured, hungry

[Strength]: First tier @@novelbin@@

[Phylum]: Chordata

[Class]: Aves

[Order]: Passeriformes

[Family]: Pycnonotidae

[Attribute]: Wind

[Potential]: ★☆☆

[Talent]: Wind Feather: In flight, every certain period of time, it gains a layer of Wind Feather effect, increasing its flight speed and wind attribute attack effects.

[Skills]: Wind’s Wings (unable to cast), Eagle Strike (unable to cast), Pecking

[Description]: A White-headed Bulbul with exceptional talent among its kind; it was severely wounded by a natural predator shortly after hatching, causing its mastered skills to be essentially unusable. With recovery from injuries and a little training, it can regain mastery over them.

Looking at the pale blue information on the screen, Shao Zifeng was inwardly pleased. It was a three-star potential White-headed Bulbul, also known as the White-headed Babbler, a common household bird in the Taiwanese region. Although it can also be found inland, because it is a migratory bird, it can’t always be seen year-round.

“Boss, how about the birds here? I’m thinking of buying one to play with, nothing too powerful, I’m afraid of being hurt,” said Shao Zifeng with a smile while looking at the stall owner. The reason why Shao Zifeng said this was that among all the birds at the stall, only the White-headed Bulbul was in the worst condition.

The stall owner, in his forties with an ordinary appearance, wearing an untidy plaid shirt, was only memorable for his droopy upper eyelids and somewhat triangular eyes. He was taken aback by the question and did not know how to respond at first. He had only seen bargain hunters here, but why would someone come forward to buy junk?

But he couldn’t just let the customer wait; he hastily scanned his stall with his triangular eyes, a glint flashed in them, and pointing at the cage of the White-headed Bulbul he said, “Handsome guy, this one here, the reason it looks like this is because it’s too weak, it definitely meets your requirements.”

Shao Zifeng smiled at him, nodding slightly.