SLLBTT Chapter 62
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
⋇⊶⊰Chapter 62⊱⊷⋇
The red dot on the phone screen remained fixed within the Viscount Bai's manor. It seemed that the lion cat was now staying at the manor, and perhaps the bald vulture could be there too.
"There's no time to waste. Let's go check the situation now," said the Snow Wolf King.
Therefore, the Snow Wolf King and Liu Jiao quickly ran together and, in the blink of an eye, arrived at the viscount's manor.
Following the guidance of the location app, they arrived at the grassy area of the viscount's manor. Liu Jiao, whose eyes remained sharp even in the night, quickly discovered the hidden cat carrier in the grass.
"Is this it?" Liu Jiao pulled out the cat carrier, only to find it empty. "The lion cat is gone?" Liu Jiao was both puzzled and surprised.
"It seems the bald vulture dropped the cat carrier and took away the lion cat."
"Maybe the vulture happened to pass by here and casually dropped the cat carrier? Maybe it just happened to land in viscount's manor?"
"That's unlikely," replied the Snow Wolf King. "As you can see, the viscount's manor has bird guards. It's impossible for a vulture to casually litter here."
Liu Jiao pondered and said, "Are you suggesting... the vulture is also one of viscount's manor's bird guards?"
"I don't know. But we can ask Bai Lingling directly."
The duo headed towards Bai Lingling's sleeping quarter, but halfway there, they intuitively changed direction, strolling down a small path leading to a courtyard with flowing water.
Upon reaching the courtyard's periphery, faint sounds of flowing water, melodious strings, and the chatter of guests enjoying drinks wafted through the air.
Liu Jiao sniffed the air and said, "The creature inside should be a pheasant."
The Snow Wolf King teased, "Is your nose really that sharp?"
Unexpectedly, as they pushed open the door and glimpsed inside, the Snow Wolf King chuckled. "Xiao Jiao, you got it wrong. The guest inside isn't a pheasant. It's a peacock."
Liu Jiao remained skeptical. "Aren't peacocks a type of pheasant?"
The Snow Wolf King, not wanting to argue about this topic, nodded. "You're right."
The attendant in the water courtyard soon noticed the Snow Wolf King and Liu Jiao and questioned, "Who are you? How dare you intrude on Lord Bai's guest banquet?"
Bearing in mind the Snow Wolf King's teaching of "act rather than blabber," Liu Jiao was about to deliver a wallop when the Snow Wolf King intervened, telling the attendant, "We are... friends of Lord Bai."
"Friends?" the attendant frowned. "I've never heard of you."
"We knew Lord Bai during his youthful travels across the seas, a long time ago," the Snow Wolf King explained. "If you doubt it, could you take us to see him?"
The attendant hesitated.
The commotion reached the banquet at the water pavilion, prompting Bai Lingling's voice to cut through the water sounds, "What's going on?"
The attendant led Liu Jiao and the Snow Wolf King to the edge of the water pavilion. "These two claim to be friends of Lord Bai."
Bai Lingling glanced up, caught sight of the Snow Wolf King, and sneered, "Friends?"
The attendant, seeing Bai Lingling's expression, furrowed his brows and scolded, "I could tell from your shifty eyes. There's no way you're friends of Lord Bai!"
"Hold on," Bai Lingling raised a hand, "They do know me."
The attendant's angry demeanor softened, and he put on a smile, "Ah, both Young Masters carry an unmistakable air of grace. It's evident you belong to the noble class."
Bai Lingling added, "Would you like to join the feast as well?"
Liu Jiao patted his stomach and said, "I am a bit hungry."
Bai Lingling then turned to the peacock demon guest and asked, "Master Kongque, what do you think...?"
"Since they are friends of Lord Bai, they are my friends too. Sharing a meal and enjoying the moon together is the best way to go."
Bai Lingling instructed the attendant to set up two sets of cups, plates, and bowls. Two chairs were brought in, and Liu Jiao and the Snow Wolf King took their seats. Liu Jiao looked up at Master Kongque, seeing a male demon draped in colorful silk, adorned with pearls, and shimmering eyes. The natural peacock eye markings, paired with bold black eyeliner, gave him a fashionable look.
Liu Jiao curiously observed Master Kongque.
Master Kongque asked with a smile, "What's the matter? Is there something on my face?"
"There's a lot of makeup," Liu Jiao commented.
Master Kongque choked for a moment before finally saying, "This is... my natural look."
"Natural look?" Liu Jiao was surprised, his tail standing straight up. "Are your eyelids naturally sparkling?"
"I'm a demon! Peacocks are naturally vibrant. Have you seen peacocks in the mountains?"
Liu Jiao wanted to say, "Not only have I seen them, but I've also eaten them."
But then he felt it was too inappropriate.
Liu Jiao stiffly replied, "Um... yes, I've seen them."
"Have you seen a peacock fan its tail feathers?"
Liu Jiao answered with a nod, "Yes, I have."
Master Kongque smiled. "Really? Can you describe the sight of a peacock fanning its tail feathers?"
"Just showing its buttocks," Liu Jiao answered.
"......" Master Kongque choked for a moment but quickly laughed. "Yes, us peacocks, even exposing our buttocks looks exceptionally attractive. No one else can compare!" With that, he proudly waved the peacock feather fan in his hand.
Seeing the fan made of peacock feathers, radiant under the lamplight, Liu Jiao exclaimed, "This fan is so beautiful."
"Indeed, these feathers need to be plucked while alive to have such vibrant colors," Master Kongque boasted, "I had it specially made. Those bought outside don't look as good."
"Plucked... while alive?" Liu Jiao's expression changed drastically. "Isn't that very cruel?"
Master Kongque shook his head and chuckled. "Not at all. Just plucking a few tail feathers. I offered to pay for them, and the clan lined up at my door, one by one, showing off their colors. They even stood in a queue, lifting their tails to the sky. It was quite a sight."
"......" Liu Jiao felt his eyes widen, realizing he had entered a whole new world.
Master Kongque scrutinized the Snow Wolf King and Liu Jiao, then asked, "Where do you come from? Are you ordinary commoners?"
The Snow Wolf King replied, "Yes, just regular folks. Lord Bai graciously accepted us as friends."
Master Kongque chuckled. "If Lord Bai is willing to be friends with you, you must have something extraordinary about you."
Evaluating Liu Jiao's tail, Master Kongque nodded approvingly. "The fur color on this brother is splendid. Do you sell your tail feathers?"
"?" Liu Jiao was extremely surprised. "Why does it have to be tail feathers?"
"I'm thinking of your well-being," Master Kongque answered. "If you pluck feathers from other places, it might not look good. The tail area is less noticeable."
Continuing, Master Kongque inquired, "Sell or not? Name your price. I have money."
Liu Jiao shook his head. "Not for sale."
"Really not selling? Eighty thousand. Sell or not?" With a laugh, he picked up his wine glass. Liu Jiao exclaimed in surprise, "Have you had too much to drink? Eighty thousand for a tail feather?"
"Money is just a number to me."
Amazed, Liu Jiao glanced at the table with a few dishes arranged in a cruciform shape and two bottles of wine. "Master Kongque, only three dishes, and you're already like this?"
Bai Lingling cut in, "Master Kongque is indeed wealthy. Whatever amount he mentions is no drunken talk."
The Snow Wolf King asked, "I wonder about the origin of Master Kongque. How did he amass such wealth?"
Master Kongque explained, "Well, I am the president of the Southern Kingdom's Cultural Exchange Association. My family has a scholarly heritage, with three generations achieving top scores in imperial exams. I am also a graduate of the Southern Kingdom's top university."
Liu Jiao exclaimed in surprise, "So, you were also a top scorer?"
"I... I was exempted," Master Kongque replied, "I donated a building to the top university."
The Snow Wolf King, pondering something, mentioned, "I heard that the Poisonous Me Company is a subsidiary of the Southern Kingdom's Cultural Exchange Association in the Northern Kingdom?"
"You could say that," Master Kongque acknowledged, "though I don't manage it much."
The Snow Wolf King continued, "It's quite a coincidence. My wife and I recently joined that company and ran into a bit of trouble... We planned to seek advice from Lord Bai tonight, wondering if there's a way to traverse realms."
"Oh, you've come at an opportune time then. Seeking Lord Bai for this matter is more useful than seeking me," Master Kongque said proudly, fanning himself. "So, which department are you from? What trouble have you encountered?"
The Snow Wolf King explained, "We're from the Film and Television Department, accompanying a ragdoll actor. We're tasked with ensuring his safety. However, we got sidetracked when we came here to chat with Lord Bai. When we returned, we found him missing!"
"The ragdoll actor is missing?!" Bai Lingling exclaimed in utter surprise. "What happened?!"
Master Kongque chuckled at the words and said, "This matter is easy. It's just a small actor, right? I'll talk to Big Orange about it later."
"Thank you, Master Kongque."
"By the way, I can see you both are talented individuals," Master Kongque said, "It's a waste to be mere attendants for an actor. I'll have Big Orange arrange a better job for you."
Liu Jiao and the Snow Wolf King expressed their gratitude, "Thank you, Master Kongque."
After chatting for a while, Master Kongque had a few more drinks, feeling a bit dizzy, and went back to sleep. Bai Lingling then had everyone tidy up the banquet. He walked back to the sleeping quarter with Liu Jiao and the Snow Wolf King. Once there, Bai Lingling asked again, "The ragdoll actor is missing? Is what you said true?"
The Snow Wolf King nodded. "Yes, a vulture snatched him from right under our noses. We followed them and found they came towards your manor. Do you have vulture guards in your mansion?"
"No," Bai Lingling replied.
Liu Jiao asked, "With so many of your bird guards, how can you be sure? Maybe there really is one, and you just forgot?"
"Impossible. How a vulture looks, I would know. My manor doesn't allow ugly things," Bai Lingling said. "Besides, in the recruitment notice for our manor, it explicitly states: 'Those with ugly appearances need not apply.'"
Saying that, Bai Lingling even brought out the manor's recruitment template, where one line read, "Those with an unattractive appearance need not apply."
"Isn't writing recruitment information like this against the rules?" Liu Jiao took on the appearance of a law-abiding citizen. "Isn't this open discrimination?"
Bai Lingling said, "Yes. So, for a while, we changed it to 'requires good health, good appearance, and excellent temperament.' However, some people suspected I was recruiting pros*itutes. After thinking about it, I decided discrimination is better than recruiting pros*itutes."
The Snow Wolf King, however, asked, "Could the vulture be working for Master Kongque?"
"He knows my preferences, and he wouldn't bring something ugly," Bai Lingling replied. "Besides, he also despises ugly things."
The Snow Wolf King pondered and said, "That's strange..."
Bai Lingling, frustrated, exclaimed, "What's wrong with you two? Two formidable creatures, and you can't even watch over a ragdoll!"
"No, it's not like that," Liu Jiao shook his head, "It's not."
Bai Lingling sneered, "How is it not? Bai Xiaoxiao just said it himself!"
Liu Jiao clarified, "No, what I mean is... that in't a ragdoll at all."
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