LIGHTNOVELSTORY 24. The Village Tyrant
Had Jiang Mo ever been pecked by a goose before? Not in the past, but now she had.
As a modern person inseparable from the internet, even though she had never lived in a rural area or personally experienced the power of a village tyrant, she had seen memes and short videos. Thus, Jiang Mo had a thorough understanding of the combat prowess of geese. Out of curiosity, she had once specifically searched for images online and saw the dense serrated teeth inside a goose’s beak.
That beak was truly unforgettable, sending shivers down one’s spine just by looking at it. So when suddenly faced with such a “formidable enemy,” Jiang Mo’s first reaction after a moment of bewilderment was not to fight back, but to flee…
The little milk tiger, not even as big as the goose, instantly bristled, let out an “Awoo” cry, and then turned tail and ran.
The red-crowned goose was no pushover either, or rather, it was like all geese, full of aggression. It spread its wings, slightly lowered its long neck, and mercilessly pecked at the fleeing little milk tiger.
“Awoo…”
The little white tiger cried out again, this time clearly in pain, as a tuft of fur was plucked from her back by the goose. Moreover, this red-crowned goose didn’t know when to stop. Seeing the little milk tiger flee only made it more excited, stretching and retracting its neck to bite again. Even if it didn’t catch flesh, the sight of tiger fur flying everywhere was enough to make the scene pathetic and pitiful.
The system watching from the side was dumbfounded. This was completely different from what it had predicted—in its system calculations, it should have been goose feathers floating in the air, not tiger fur. Was its host too useless?!
The system didn’t realize its own mistake and was only filled with gravity. However, faced with this chaotic scene of a goose chasing a tiger, it hurriedly flew over and reminded Jiang Mo, “Host, why are you running? Quick, fight back! Its combat power isn’t even a tenth of yours. It’s just slightly better than the Rainbow Chickens from before. You can take care of it with two swipes.”
With her fur being forcibly plucked out, the little milk tiger was in so much pain that tears were about to fall. Hearing this, she didn’t dare believe it: “You’re talking nonsense. How could Rainbow Chickens be as formidable as the village tyrant? Look, my fur is being bitten off!”
What village tyrant?
The system was slightly confused, then quickly began searching its database. The cultivation world didn’t have internet for it to connect to, but when it initially bound with Jiang Mo, the system had briefly stayed in modern society. Even though the time was short, the system had automatically connected to the internet and downloaded quite a few files, which had always been stored in its database. It was only now that it opened them for searching, and a “Fear of being dominated by a goose.jpg” meme was the first thing to appear before its eyes.
It seemed to suddenly understand something. But never mind, crumpling up the meme and tossing it into the recycle bin, the system still righteously said, “Host, stop running. Quick, turn around and finish it off. Wouldn’t braised goose in an iron pot be delicious?”
Jiang Mo’s fleeing steps paused for a moment, then continued running: “Don’t trick me, we don’t have an iron pot.”
Hearing this, the system instinctively looked towards the stove, then realized that the iron pot on this stove had a diameter of over a meter and looked very heavy. Forget about the system with no physical form, even the host’s small frame couldn’t carry it. So it quickly searched the mall again and said, “Don’t worry, host. There are some in the mall. The cheapest iron pot only costs 50 points…”
The price of ten milk candies, truly not expensive at all, but Jiang Mo wasn’t tempted in the least. Because after all her efforts earlier, she hadn’t even earned 50 points yet. How could she possibly use them to buy a pot?
The system quickly realized this too and immediately changed its tune: “Well, roast goose or barbecued goose should be pretty tasty too.”
As these words fell, it wasn’t clear if it was the mention of roast or barbecued goose that moved Jiang Mo, or if the relentlessly pursuing red-crowned goose had finally angered her completely. The little white tiger, while running, suddenly made a sharp turn. The red-crowned goose behind her hadn’t reacted yet when it was swatted on the head by her paw—perhaps she had gotten used to swatting the system, but this swipe was quite forceful, stunning the red-crowned goose on the spot before it became furious.
In an instant, the back kitchen of the Hall of Inquiry completely devolved into a battlefield…
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Jiang Mo did end up eating braised goose in an iron pot after all. For this, she gave up on the seemingly more delicious Rainbow Chickens and, completely lacking in dignity, ran across half the mountain with a black pot on her head. She even tried to hitch a ride on a celestial crane midway but was refused.
In the heavy black iron pot, fragrant broth bubbled with a “glug glug” sound. The goose, gutted and plucked, lay obediently inside, its white body gradually taking on a soy sauce color as the aroma in the air grew increasingly rich. Apart from the goose being cooked whole, everything was perfectly satisfactory—who would have thought that among the files hastily downloaded by the system, there would even be recipes!
The little white tiger lay nearby, her head resting on her crossed front paws, the dancing firelight reflected in her golden eyes.
The system was much busier than her, as it was responsible for braising this entire pot of goose. It lit the fire, added the seasonings, and put on the lid. The host just had to wait to eat.
This series of actions consumed quite a bit of the system’s energy, but it didn’t dare complain a word—looking at the red-crowned goose in the pot, it was clear that the host had abandoned the Rainbow Chickens not because braised goose was more delicious, but because she held a grudge. Killing it wasn’t enough; it had to be eaten to complete the revenge. The system now feared that the host might remember the cage incident.
Because of this guilty conscience, the system had been very obedient during this time, doing whatever it was told without a single unnecessary word. But it was precisely this obedience that made Jiang Mo suspicious: “System, what guilty thing have you done? Why are you so quiet?”
The system’s non-existent heart immediately skipped a beat, and it hurriedly changed the subject: “I’m fine. By the way, the goose seems to be about done.”
As soon as it spoke, before Jiang Mo could say anything more, it lifted the pot lid. The already enticing aroma in the air instantly became even more intense. Especially for a tiger like Jiang Mo who had only been drinking milk, this meat fragrance was even more tempting. Her mouth salivated uncontrollably, and her tiger eyes were firmly fixed on the goose in the iron pot, no longer remembering the previous topic.
“Can we eat now?” The little white tiger stood up and began circling the iron pot. If it weren’t for the fire still burning under the iron pot and the steaming contents that looked very hot, she would have pounced on it right away.
Seeing that the topic had been successfully changed, the system truly breathed a sigh of relief. It quickly extinguished the fire and said, “Wait a bit longer. We can eat when it cools down a bit.”
Hearing this, Jiang Mo could only wait, her eager expression looking almost pitiful.
The system, already feeling guilty, couldn’t resist upon seeing this and said to Jiang Mo, “Little one, don’t be like that. I’ll make it for you again next time.”
Jiang Mo gave it a fleeting glance, her gaze seemingly carrying some deeper meaning. But before the system could comprehend it, thanks to the strong wind in the mountains, the goose in the pot quickly cooled down.
Once it was edible, the little white tiger couldn’t be bothered with the system anymore. She pounced on the red-crowned goose in the pot and began feasting heartily.
Even after eating and drinking her fill and setting off on the return journey, Jiang Mo didn’t pursue the question of how the red-crowned goose had escaped its cage. She once again hitched a ride on a celestial crane, and midway, she casually opened her character panel and took a look:
[Host: Jiang Mo
Race: White Tiger
Class: Divine Beast
Level: 18
Combat Power: 655,415
Experience: 75,702/655,360
Points: 54
Potential: ∞
Skills: Bloodline Inheritance (Not Activated)]
The gains from this trip could only be described as average. Her combat power had increased a tiny bit, and her experience points had also grown slightly. As for points, she had gained 54, which wasn’t much but wasn’t little either. At least these points were equivalent to five days of her base pay and enough to buy 10 milk candies.
She thought about buying another milk candy to give to Senior Sister when she got back. The way her eyes lit up was so beautiful…
Thinking this way, Jiang Mo actually felt a sense of satisfaction, temporarily forgetting her bedraggled state. However, she didn’t expect that as soon as she arrived and dismounted from the celestial crane, she would see the crane suddenly fly away as if escaping. Then, as she turned around, she saw Yun Qingyu in her cyan robes standing not far away, watching her.