1

Chapter 18: A New Encounter

I flopped onto the riverbank like a half-drowned duck and clung to the soil, panting. My feathers were slicked flat and filled with mud, my wings ached, and everything smelled like algae and fish guts. But I was alive.

Man, I sure survived that one.

Part of me felt relieved, like any sane creature would be after evading death, but a different part of me… was kind of bummed out. I wanted to kill them. Not just fight back or defend myself, but kill. Weird instinct. Maybe it was the lingering tension in my muscles, or maybe some primal beast blood was boiling under my skin. But then I was reminded what was my species.

"As if a dodo bird have some hidden power…"

I shook my head.

Wet and dripping, I waddled forward on the dirt, trying to find shelter or something edible. That was when I saw her.

A little girl. Human. She stared at me from a few meters away, barefoot, hair tangled, and clutching a ragged cloth to her chest like it could protect her from the world.

I stared back.

Behind her were huts. Crude, wooden ones, a bit charred and crooked. Smoke still curled faintly from a collapsed rooftop. A village then? Or what was left of one.

"Hello there," I said, before I could stop myself.

Her eyes widened. Too wide. Oh, crap.

Right, talking was a bad idea. I almost forgot! Cultivating beasts weren't exactly beloved by humans, especially not ones who could talk. I was already thinking of how to bolt when the little girl fell to her knees.

She began crying.

"Birb immortal," she sobbed. "Please save my mommy and big sister… they were taken away… bad people came and took them… even auntie… and… and…"

She hiccupped and choked on her words. "The adults… t-they aren't moving anymore…"

I blinked.

What?

I looked again. Now that I was actually paying attention, I noticed the blood smeared across her shoulder. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her little hands trembled like leaves. She wasn't just lost. She was alone.

I turned my gaze toward the village.

Too quiet. No footsteps. No laughter. No crackling firewood or chickens. Just a ruined street and the faint, bitter scent of blood in the air.

I tensed, and not because I was scared.

Normally, I would've preened a bit being called an "immortal." It was a fine title, a well-earned compliment. But this wasn't that kind of praise. This was desperation.

"Calm down," I said softly, walking up to her. "Take a breath. Tell me what happened."

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, sniffling. "They came two nights ago. Men in dark clothes, and one had a sword that glowed red… they shouted at everyone, called them 'traitors'… then they… they started killing… took the women they liked… and burned the rest."

I closed my eyes for a second, trying to digest her words.

Sword that glowed red. Martial cultivator?

"Do you remember what they wore? Any symbols or flags?"

She nodded weakly. "One had a bird on his robe. A red bird… with fire."

I froze.

Firebird emblem. That sounded a lot like something from the Huo Clan. But weren't they supposed to be all dignified and proud? Would they stoop to this?

"Where did they take your family?" I asked.

She pointed toward the forested hills in the east. "That way… I think. Some of the boys tried to chase, but…"

I didn't need her to finish.

My feathers ruffled as I stared in that direction. The right thing to do would be to stay out of human affairs, keep my beak out of trouble, and continue south in search of Master.

But.

That little girl looked at me like I was the last candle in a pitch-black room. And it just so happened… I had an urge to kill something again.

Every beast under the heavens had a special instinct in them. Master used to call it "survival instinct," rooted deep in primal impulse, something older than reason and sharper than steel. He said it could show up as bloodthirst, a sixth sense, or something even stranger depending on the beast. Wolves had their pack tactics, snakes could sense vibrations, and birds of prey saw beyond the visible. It was instinct, yes… but sometimes, it felt more like a whisper from the world itself.

Since I was a dodo bird, I figured I'd fall under the sixth sense category rather than the bloodthirsty one. I mean, let's be honest. Dodo birds didn't exactly scream "murder machines."

I turned to the little girl who now sat in the dirt, clutching herself and sniffling. "Stay here," I told her. "I'll look around."

She nodded, wide-eyed, too tired to question a talking bird.

I waddled forward through the ruined village, weaving through the blood-stained dirt paths and scattered straw roofs. The stench was… heavy. Burnt wood, spilled blood, and something bitter that clung to the air like smoke on feathers.

The corpses told their own stories.

Most of them had a single stab wound to the chest: quick, clean, and deliberate. Some had more brutal ends. One man's body had been nearly split in half. Another had a broken rake still clutched in his hand and a hole through his stomach. People who had tried to resist. They got it worse.

But one body stood out.

It was slumped behind a collapsed hut, half-covered in ash. The eyes had been gouged out. Deep claw marks raked across the chest, tearing through muscle and cloth alike. Not the work of a blade… this was beast work.

I crept closer.

The corpse wore dark clothes. On the front, half-burned but still visible, was a stitched red bird wreathed in flames. It flapped awkwardly on the torn fabric like it was mocking me.

I frowned.

I stared at the emblem, trying to recall what Master had drilled into me about the Huo Clan. They were the strongest force here. But… their emblem was different. I remembered it clearly and I didn't think I would forget it easily. A sword crossed with the sun, not a flaming bird.

So… these attackers weren't the Huo Clan.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. That was good news. In this region, the Huo Clan had most of the Qi Gathering cultivators. Everyone else? Mostly Body Tempering, and the scattered, poor kind at that. If these guys weren't Huo Clan, then there was a good chance no one among them was actually at the Qi Gathering stage.

Still, the attack had been ruthless.

And yet… if they weren't strong cultivators, why attack a random village?

I shook my head. Ugh. What was I even doing? At this rate, I wouldn't be able to find Master, let alone catch up to him. This whole detour was already throwing my sense of direction out the window.

But when I thought of the girl sitting alone in the dirt, crying with blood on her shoulder… something in me hardened.

I didn't know what kind of help I could offer. I wasn't even sure if I could do anything at all. But I had to try.

When I returned to her, she was still sitting there, hugging her knees. Her eyes were puffy, red, and full of tears that didn't seem to run out.

"What's your name?" I asked.

She sniffled and rubbed her nose. "C-Cao Mei."

"Alright, Cao Mei," I said. "I'm Du."

That name came out naturally. It was the one Master had called me most often now, though I couldn't remember if that was my full name or not. I knew there was another name, something longer and proper, but it just slipped my mind like a fish out of water.

The thought frustrated me, but I set it aside.

Du would do… for now.

I asked Cao Mei if she knew any nearby villages… anywhere safe, really…where I could escort her to. She shook her head, sniffling again.

"I don't know any other villages," she said. "But… I know where my big sister and mommy are."

I stared at her, flabbergasted. Man, she was making this difficult.

"How would you even know that?" I asked, giving her a long stare. "You sure you're not making that up? It's bad to lie, you know."

Cao Mei's face twisted in frustration. She stomped her foot and screamed at me.

"I'm not lying!"

Well, I pissed her off real good. Her cheeks were flushed red, and tears welled up in her eyes again, though this time it was from anger rather than grief.

"My b-big sister was apprenticed to a hunter," she added, voice trembling. "And she taught me how to track! So I wouldn't get lost in the woods!"

She crossed her arms and glared at me like I was the stupid one.

Honestly? I didn't believe her. There was no way a little kid could track someone. Heck, I was a beast and even I didn't know how to track. Sure, I could smell blood and sense danger, but following footprints through broken twigs and disturbed leaves? That was some expert-level nonsense.

Then again… this was a xianxia world. Cultivators riding swords through the sky, turtles bigger than houses giving directions, and birds… like me… talking like sages. Maybe it wasn't that farfetched. If she said her big sister trained her, maybe she did have some skills. It wasn't like I had any better leads. And more importantly, she needed someone to stay with her.

Even if I doubted her tracking, the important thing was simple: protect the girl, stick with her, and eventually find someone who could take her off my hands… or wings, rather.

I sighed and gave her a firm look.

"Alright," I said. "If you think you can track them, then fine. We'll go with your plan."

Her face lit up a little at that.

"But," I added, raising a wing like a strict master, "you have to listen to every word I say. No running off, no dumb risks, and if I tell you to hide, you hide."

She nodded vigorously, eyes wide and serious.

"Okay! I promise, Mister Du!"

Mister Du… huh. I liked the sound of that.

"Let's get moving then," I muttered, glancing back at the ruined village one last time. "Before I start changing my mind."

We walked… well, she walked, and I waddled… into the woods. Leaves crunched underfoot, and the wind whispered secrets between the branches. I didn't know where this road would take us, but for now, I wasn't alone. And maybe, that wasn't such a bad thing.

Chapter 19: Fending Off the Wolves

We'd made quite a distance already, far enough that the village was a memory dimmed by trees and the crunch of leaves beneath our feet. Night had fallen, quick and quiet, like a hunting owl. The kind of night that draped over your back and whispered that you should rest.

Problem was, I had no idea how to start a fire.

For the past weeks—or was it months?—every time I stopped to rest and night came crawling in, I'd just find a burrow, a hollow tree, or some nook to wedge myself into and hope nothing bigger than me stumbled by. It worked well enough. Being alone meant I could get away with that kind of minimalism.

Now though… I wasn't alone. And I didn't want Cao Mei sleeping cold and hungry beside me.

I really wished I had opposable thumbs.

Thankfully, Cao Mei did. And not only that, she actually knew how to make a fire. It was a bit surreal watching her do it… little fingers working with flint and dry leaves until sparks caught and licked the night with orange tongues. In no time at all, a modest bonfire danced in the small clearing we'd stopped in.

I had managed to catch a few fish earlier, pulled them straight out of a pond we passed through. One flailed in my beak before I threw it onto the ground. Another I tucked under my wing like a prize. Cao Mei cleaned and skewered her share, grilling them with practiced motions. Her sister's training must've covered more than just tracking.

As for me? I ate them raw. For the change of taste, really. Also because they were fresh… could still feel the tingle of life in their bones. I know, it sounds weird, but I'm a bird. We're allowed to be a little weird.

While we sat by the fire, she took a bite out of her fish and looked at me curiously.

"What kind of immortal birb are you?"

It wasn't my imagination… she really couldn't say "bird" right.

I swallowed a chunk of fish, licked my beak clean, and tilted my head. "Dodo," I said proudly.

She blinked at me. "What kind of bird is that? Never heard of it."

I paused. Good question. What kind of bird was I?

"I'm not an immortal bird," I said slowly, rolling the thought around in my head. Then I gave her a little grin and puffed up my chest feathers. "I'm a martial artist bird."

"Pffftt…" Cao Mei snorted.

Her laughter cracked through the forest like the first sunshine after rain. She held her belly, giggling uncontrollably, eyes squeezed shut. It was the first time I'd seen her laugh like that. Without the fear and grime on her face, she actually looked her age… maybe ten, maybe twelve.

For a moment, the tragedy behind us didn't seem to press so hard on her shoulders.

I didn't mind being the reason she laughed. It made this strange little journey feel less like a burden and more like something I was supposed to be doing.

I looked into the flames, watching them dance. So much had changed since I left the Sacred Hill. I never imagined I'd be traveling with a human child through bandit-infested lands. But maybe… maybe this was part of cultivation too. Not the flashy spells or power-ups, but the people you meet, the burdens you carry, and the choices you make.

Maybe Master would've called that "tempering the soul."

Still… next time, I was definitely learning how to make fire. Somehow.

Cao Mei finally stopped laughing, though every now and then she let out a leftover giggle like she couldn't quite bottle it all back in.

"My mom knew a lot about birds," she said between bites, voice quieter now, softer like the forest around us. "Even she wouldn't know what a dodo was."

I scoffed, puffing out my chest a little. "Of course she wouldn't. I might be a rare spiritual beast not seen in a thousand years. A divine relic of a bygone era."

She scrunched her nose, clearly not impressed. "Hmph. That still doesn't mean you're better than me. My mom always called me her little phoenix. That's a divine bird! And prettier than you!"

I choked on a fish scale.

"A phoenix?" I snorted, giving her a sidelong look. "So… a burning chicken?"

Her eyes widened. A second later, her face flushed red, all the way up to the tips of her ears.

"I am not a chicken!" she shouted, glaring at me with the fury of a thousand tiny suns. "I'm a phoenix!"

I gave her a slow, solemn nod. "Right, right. My mistake. Sleep now, little chicken. We've got distance to make tomorrow."

Her jaw dropped. "Y-you…! You're a weird bird! A stupid weird bird!"

That was the best she got? I could've easily crushed her in the comeback game, but… I didn't want to make her cry. Her eyes were already a bit watery from shouting. So I let it go, shrugging my wings like I didn't even hear her.

We sat by the fire a while longer, her finishing up the last of her grilled fish and huffing to herself with occasional glances at me, like she was waiting for an apology that would never come.

Eventually, she lay down by the fire, curled up on a bed of leaves she'd arranged. Despite all her bluster, her breaths grew soft and slow not long after. She was out.

I looked at her for a while, watching the firelight flicker across her face. It was still hard to believe this little brat had survived whatever had happened to her village. Harder still to believe she could track her way through the woods better than I could, even with all my instincts.

She might've been a little chicken… but she was a tough one.

I stayed up, keeping watch. The fire crackled beside me, a steady rhythm against the night's silence. I didn't expect anything would come, but you never know out here. Between the beasts, the bandits, and the restless cultivators… someone always wanted something.

Of course, I didn't stay awake the entire night. I'm not some tireless divine beast or ancient guardian spirit. I'm a dodo bird. I needed sleep too.

But I had a technique. A secret method passed down from my previous life in Earth, to be precise. One honed through brutal nights before deadlines, cursed art projects, and relentless insomnia.

The secret?

Drink a lot of water.

Yes. Hydration. The natural alarm clock.

So that's what I did. When Cao Mei was fast asleep, I waddled in secret toward the nearby pond and drank like a camel before a desert crossing. Then I'd sleep. Maybe an hour or so. And as expected, I'd wake up. Not from danger… no, no… from an overwhelming need to pee. Which meant I had to get up, and once I was up, I drank more. And the cycle continued.

Honestly, I had no idea how I managed to waddle back and forth all night like that. Call it instinct. Or maybe divine genius.

Anyway, it paid off.

Because sometime after my third cycle of drink–sleep–pee–repeat, a scent hit my beak. Not the scent of fish or flowers. The scent of fur and hunger.

Wolves.

I snapped my eyes open and dodged just in time, barely avoiding a lunging set of jaws aimed right at my neck. I flared my wings and leapt, claws carving the air, and brought down my Sky Piercing Talon on the attacker's face. There was a howl of pain, and blood sprayed as I took out one of his eyes.

I turned and screeched in Common thick with dodo accent, "Cao Mei! Wake up! Climb a tree! Now!"

She jolted awake, blinking drowsily for half a second. But to her credit, she didn't argue or cry. She got up and scrambled toward a tree like her life depended on it… which it did. She scrambled up using a low branch and disappeared into the canopy.

Meanwhile, I stood between her and the wolves.

I didn't have the best night vision, but thank heavens for the full moon above. Its silver glow revealed shapes moving through the brush… low, hungry shapes. I counted seven of them. All thin. Ribs visible even through their fur. Desperation gleamed in their eyes.

Desperate predators were the worst kind.

I tried speaking in the ancient, primal tongue of beasts, the one I'd instinctively picked up during my training and something that Master ingrained to me.

"Turn back, brothers of the wild. There's no meat for you here."

No response. Not even a twitch of understanding.

Good. That meant they were just wild beasts, driven by instinct. No spark of wisdom. No need to hesitate. No moral conflict.

That meant I didn't have to run this time.

I slammed my claws into the ground, puffed my chest, and cried out the only battle cry that felt right.

"DAAAAA~! DU!!"

Yes, it sounded weird. But it echoed through the forest, sharp and sudden. And more importantly, it made the wolves hesitate. Probably thought I was insane. I used that split-second hesitation and dashed forward.

My beak glowed faintly with golden light as I unleashed my Earth Breaking Spade on the closest wolf. The blow connected with its skull.

Crack.

Its head exploded like an overripe watermelon.

The other wolves growled, circling.

I growled back, flaring my wings. "Come then! You think a starving mutt scares me?! I've fought monkeys who throw rocks!"

Now, six left.

One of them was half-blind, thanks to my earlier strike. The others weren't pleased. They growled low, lips curled back, teeth bared like tiny swords.

I didn't wait.

I ran after the blind one. Master once said beasts respond to displays of dominance and violence. Not that wolves were dumb, but if I could scare them, maybe I wouldn't have to fight them all at once. Break their rhythm. Shake their confidence.

My qi was roiling, though. I could feel it stir uncomfortably in my dantian, swirling like a murky whirlpool. I couldn't channel it smoothly. I had no idea if it was because I was tired, scared, or just low on reserves. But it meant one thing… I couldn't spam my techniques.

They weren't infinite-use skills. More like those cooldown abilities in video games. And my cooldown timer was ticking too slowly.

Still, I had enough juice for one more move.

I closed in on the blind side, careful not to run in a straight line. The wolf turned its head in the wrong direction. I was already mid-jump, qi flooding my talons.

"Sky Piercing Talon!"

Yep, I am shouting the name of my move… Why? Because it adds to my confidence.

My claws weren't exactly razor-sharp, more like curved shovels… but with qi reinforcement, they felt like steel clubs. I came down hard on the back of the wolf's neck. I felt bone give way beneath me.

Crack.

It let out a sharp yelp, twisted in agony, then stumbled, legs twitching. It tried to rise, to snap its fangs at me, but its spine was broken. Its back legs wouldn't respond. It collapsed face-first into the dirt, jerking a few more times, then finally lay still.

Two down.

Five more to go.

The remaining pack didn't retreat. If anything, they seemed angrier. Three of them began to spread out in a triangle, surrounding me slowly. The other two darted through the underbrush toward the trees, circling wide like they were trying to flank me.

"Smart mutts," I muttered, backing up just enough to keep them all in sight.

I risked a glance at the tree where Cao Mei had climbed. I couldn't see her clearly, but I could hear her soft breathing above. She was silent, thank goodness, but I couldn't protect her and fight five wolves at once.

This was bad.

Really bad.

My muscles ached. My qi was sluggish. And I was wet, tired, and hungry. Honestly, I wanted to just collapse and roll over.

But that wasn't an option.

"Alright," I growled, scraping my beak along the ground. "Let's see if I can take another one of you with me before I die horribly."

I stomped once.

A wolf lunged.

Chapter 20: The Birb & the Girl

I didn't die.

That was the first thought that came to me as I stood there, chest heaving, feathers matted with blood and dirt, surrounded by the corpses of wolves.

Since I left the Sacred Hill, I'd been in more life-and-death situations than I cared to count. But every time, I ran. I dodged. I tricked. I survived… not by strength, but by prudence. Caution. Cowardice, maybe.

But this time? I fought.

I chose to stay and face death instead of turning tail and jumping into a river.

And somehow… I won.

The wolves lay around me, still and silent in the cold moonlight. Their blood seeped into the earth. My heart still pounded in my chest, not from fear anymore… but from something else. Something darker.

Bloodlust.

I had pecked them. A lot. I didn't have sharp claws or fangs like other beasts, so I had to rely on what I did have. My beak was blunt, thick, like a warhammer. I smashed one's leg first… heard the satisfying crunch of bone… then when it fell, I rammed my beak into its eye. The force was enough to pierce through the soft socket and into the brain.

Another one, I staggered with a burst of speed and landed a perfect Earth Breaking Spade, splitting its skull wide open. It twitched once. Then stopped.

The third, I finished with a Sky Piercing Talon after climbing a tree in a burst of desperation and leaping down like a predator from above. My blunt claws crushed its spine.

When they realized what was happening, the last two wolves hesitated. They circled. Growled. But when their injured packmates didn't rise, they turned tail and fled into the woods.

I didn't chase them.

I wanted to. Oh, I wanted to.

There was something inside me… a heat and hunger… that screamed at me to keep going. To finish what I started. To hunt. To kill!

But I clenched my beak shut and dug my feet into the blood-soaked soil. I forced myself to breathe. To be still.

"I'm not a monster," I whispered to myself.

I looked up at the tree.

"Cao Mei," I called. "You okay up there?"

There was a long silence.

Then a small voice echoed back, "A-are the bad dogs gone?"

I grunted, trying to sound confident and cool despite the bruises. "Yes, the bad dogs are gone."

A pause. Then she said, "You sounded scary down there…"

"Good. That's the idea." I fluffed my wings and tried to shake off the blood and adrenaline.

She climbed down slowly, eyes wide, scanning the carnage.

I didn't know what to say. What could I say? I just murdered half a pack of wolves. She was a child. Should I apologize? Ugh… What am I thinking? Those were wolves! No need to apologize! It was for survival!

But Cao Mei surprised me.

She didn't scream. She didn't cry.

She just stood beside me and whispered, "Thank you, Big Brother Du."

I blinked. "Big Brother?"

She nodded solemnly, clutching her tiny arms around herself. "You protected me. That makes you Big Brother now."

I sighed, then gently nudged her with my wing. "Fine. You did good, listening to me."

She cracked a faint smile. "You sure are a weird birb."

Fair.

I stared up at the moon above us. Its silver glow washed over the trees, the blood, and our exhausted bodies.

"Let's leave," I said, shaking the last bit of blood off my feathers. "We might attract other beasts."

Cao Mei didn't argue. Not this time. She glanced once more at the carcasses, her face pale and drawn, then silently followed me. I led the way out of the clearing, into the denser trees beyond. The moon still hung high, but its descent had begun. The stars dimmed slowly above us as we trekked through the darkness, the scent of pine and soil thick in the air.

Neither of us spoke. The silence wasn't awkward, just… exhausted. My muscles ached, my internal energy was all over the place, and my beak still had a bit of gore clinging to it. I didn't feel victorious. I just felt tired.

A few miles later, the sky lightened. Dawn filtered through the canopy in pale streaks. Birds… not talking ones like me, mind you… chirped in the distance. A breeze rustled the leaves.

I turned to Cao Mei and asked, "Tired yet? Want to rest?"

She shook her head stubbornly. "We should continue."

Strong words for someone barely four feet tall.

That's when I noticed it… her lips. Cracked. Dry.

"You're thirsty," I said, stopping.

She looked away. Didn't answer.

"You should've drank from that last pond," I began, already preparing my 'you have to take care of yourself' lecture. "If you're going to survive out here, then…"

I paused mid-sentence.

There was no use blaming her. No water now meant no use lecturing her.

"We need to find a village," I said instead.

At that, Cao Mei frowned deeply and snapped, "No! You'll just leave me behind!"

I blinked. "What?"

She looked like she was trying not to cry. "You're going to drop me off and disappear!"

I sighed and sat down on a mossy rock, motioning for her to sit too. "Cao Mei, listen. I'm not leaving you behind because I don't care. I'm trying to make sure you survive."

She didn't sit. Just crossed her arms and glared.

I continued calmly, "We need to find a village to get water. Maybe food. Supplies. You can't keep eating burnt fish and hoping it's enough."

"I'm fine," she mumbled.

"You're not," I said bluntly. "I can go a few days without food. I can survive on fallen fruits… even the half-rotten ones. I can circulate qi and keep myself going."

She blinked. "Qi?"

"Don't worry about it," I said with a little wave of my wing. "The point is… I'm different. You're human. You need clean water, warm food, and someone to care for you. I can't give you all of that, but a village might."

She still didn't say anything. Her brows remained furrowed.

I looked up at the sky, then back at her.

"I'm also looking for someone," I admitted. "My Master. He's been gone for a couple of years now, and I don't know where to start."

Finally, she sat down across from me.

"Your master?" she asked.

"Yeah," I nodded. "An old squirrel cultivator named Song Shu. He took me in, taught me martial arts. Then one day, poof… gone. He was going to a friend who sent a distress call to him, and then he didn't return."

She lowered her head. "That's kinda like my mom…"

I stayed quiet for a moment.

"I need help to find him," I added after a while. "And since I can't talk to people without freaking them out…" I flapped my wings for emphasis, "…I need someone who can."

"You mean… me?"

"Yup," I said. "You're a convenient speaker. You speak human. You don't freak out when I talk. You are the only one I can trust with this, don't you think?"

She stared at me for a while, then sniffed and wiped her face with the sleeve of her dirt-stained dress.

"Okay," she said softly. "But you're not allowed to leave me."

"I won't," I said with a small smile. "We'll stick together for now. But first, let's find some water before you actually shrivel up like a raisin."

She gave me a half-hearted glare. "You're mean, Big Brother Du."

"Mean but right."

We set off again, following the beaten path through the woods. The sun had properly risen now, filtering through the trees and casting golden flecks over the dirt road.

Cao Mei took the lead, surprisingly confident for a kid her age. "If we follow this path," she said, "it should lead us to a village. That's what mommy said. Paths always lead to people."

Sounded reasonable. Even I knew enough to understand that logic. Where there's a worn trail, there's likely to be someone at the end of it… or something.

As we walked, I decided it was the right time to give her the talk. Not about birds and bees, obviously. About birds and danger.

"Cao Mei," I said, keeping my tone serious, "you can't let anyone know I can talk."

She turned to me, blinking. "Huh? Why?"

I flapped my wings to emphasize the point. "Because if humans find out I can talk, or worse, that I know martial arts, they'll think I'm a demonic beast. And trust me, that's not a good thing."

She tilted her head. "Demonic beast? But aren't you an Immortal birb?"

There it was again. "Bird," I corrected. "And no. I've said it before, I'm not an immortal bird."

She grinned, mischief twinkling in her eyes. "So just a weird talking bird?"

I sighed. "Exactly."

She thought about it for a second, then said, "Why don't you just transform into a human and awe them with your presence?"

"I wish I could, kid," I said, giving her a flat look. "You think if I could become a handsome immortal sword cultivator, I'd be waddling around in feathers?"

She giggled.

I sighed again, because really, what else could I do? This whole world was insane, but the insanity was growing on me. Eventually, we reached a river: wide, clear, and gently flowing. I recognized it immediately.

"This is the same river," I said aloud. "The one I jumped into days ago."

"Really?" Cao Mei asked.

I nodded and walked to the edge. The water looked clean enough. I dipped my beak and drank, the coolness refreshing after hours of walking. Then, with a little hop, I splashed into the shallows and began to clean myself, fluffing and shaking my feathers.

Cao Mei, meanwhile, took things a step further. She didn't even hesitate… just stripped off her clothes, waded into the river, and dipped her whole body under.

"Hey!" I called out. "Be careful! Rivers can suddenly dip in some spots!"

She popped her head out. "I'm fine!"

She grinned and began drinking the water directly.

The doting, responsible part of me… the part that once lived on Earth… wanted to stop her. I wanted to say, 'Boil the water first. What about parasites? Amoebas? Giardia?!'

But we didn't exactly have the luxury of kettles or firewood right now. I stayed quiet and just watched over her like a nervous father hen.

Or maybe like a father.

That thought hit me harder than I expected.

If I had never died, never reincarnated into this strange xianxia world… I probably would've found a wife by now. Maybe even had a daughter her age. Maybe I'd be the one scolding her for swimming too long, or not eating her vegetables.

A long sigh escaped me as I shook the water off and stepped back onto the riverbank.

After a few more minutes, she returned too, soaked but smiling, wrapping her clothes back on as if nothing had happened.

"Ready to keep going?" I asked.

She nodded cheerfully.

And just like that, we were back on the path. Two strange companions on a road that, hopefully, led to somewhere that wouldn't try to kill us.

Hopefully.