Chapter 88

Chapter 89: Qian Qi and the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle’s Script

By threatening with the two eggs she had left, Qian Qi forced the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle to stay by her side. She found tough Magiplant vines and twisted them into a thick rope, looped one end around the eagle’s neck, and tied the other around her own waist.

She slung her small backpack to the front, patted the eagle’s head, and signaled it to take off. The Fire Qilin Mother Eagle did not like the rope and flapped on the ground for a while, but when Qian Qi raised her palm and smacked at the eggs as a warning, it unwillingly carried her into the sky.

“Fly left,” Qian Qi said as she patted the left side of the eagle’s head, trying to train it to turn in flight when commanded. But how could a wild Magibeast understand human words? The Fire Qilin Mother Eagle flew straight like a blockhead toward the east, the direction where its two hidden eggs were.

[Oh my dear Qian Qi,] System started to hum again, [would you like to…]

Qian Qi waved it away and said, “Quit singing.”

She actually was pretty good at Beast Taming. In her past life, the two “fierce beasts” that guarded the orphanage were trained by her. When she rode those two mean dogs on patrol, if she pointed east, they never ran west. As for how she trained them…

Qian Qi opened her backpack and took out a big slab of fatty meat wrapped in plastic. She had cut it from the Thunder Lion boss. It kept well and smelled amazing when grilled, so she had saved a piece. Now it was perfect for training the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle.

She smeared Magic Honey on the fat, crawled a bit farther up toward the eagle’s neck, gripped its feathers to steady herself, and held the fat to the eagle’s left.

The sweet honey scent and the bloody smell of the meat hooked the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle at once. It had just laid eggs and had been hungry for a long time, so it was weak and needed nutrition. Normally, it would have to eat two of its own eggs to barely handle the enemies lurking around it. But enemies don’t give you time to recover. Without Qian Qi, the eagle and all five eggs would have become the Blackwind Leopard’s meal.

Even now it had only drunk one egg’s liquid, so it was still hungry and weak. To it, Thunder Lion fat was pure energy. The eagle instantly turned its head and flew left.

Seeing that turn, Qian Qi nodded, pleased. She patted the right side of the eagle’s head and moved the fat to the right. The Fire Qilin Mother Eagle immediately swung right. Qian Qi crawled forward, lay on its head, tapped its forehead, and dangled the fat directly in front. The eagle flew toward the meat at once. Its reactions were so quick it was almost better than a dog.

“Haha,” Qian Qi said with a smug wiggle of her nose, “no wonder it’s me.”

[ … ] System, who had wanted Qian Qi to spend 2 million on Eagle Taming Compendium, went speechless. [How can anyone tame a beast like this? You’re making my Eagle Taming Compendium look dumb.]

Riding the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle, Qian Qi patrolled above the Black Forest and finally found the hiding Thunder Lion after half a day. She whistled like a rogue and said, “Hawkie, charge. Beat it and we get a feast.”

The Thunder Lion on the ground was sharp. Sensing danger above, it looked up, saw Qian Qi, and ran. But this time Qian Qi had the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle, and they quickly caught up.

“Down,” Qian Qi said as she hurled the slab of fat toward the Thunder Lion’s path. The Fire Qilin Mother Eagle dove for the meat at once.

As the eagle dropped to a certain height, Qian Qi leapt, landed squarely on the Thunder Lion’s back, raised her apple sized fist, and smashed down. The middle head’s brains splattered. The other two heads roared and thrashed to shake her off, but with four stacked Strength Buffs, Qian Qi wasn’t going anywhere. She clenched with her left hand and drove two quick punches. Both remaining heads burst.

“So satisfying,” she said. Now Qian Qi no longer needed fancy Magiplants. With raw Strength alone, she could finish a Thunder Lion in an instant.

[Congratulations on clearing this Dungeon. Strength Attribute Bonus gained. Your current Strength level is D rank. You need to clear this Dungeon 32 more times to reach peak D rank,] System Panel announced.

Qian Qi picked the horn from the Thunder Lion’s head and tossed it into her backpack. Seeing the words on the System Panel, she lowered her head and fell silent. A moment later, her shoulders shook, her lips quivered, and a creepy laugh leaked from her throat: “kekeke.”

“Sure enough,” Qian Qi shouted as she threw both hands to the sky, eyes shining with the pride and swagger of a final boss, “owning a Dungeon all by myself is amazing.”

The next second, System bonked her on the head.

“Ow, why did you hit me?” Qian Qi asked, holding the back of her head, aggrieved.

[Nothing,] System said. [I suddenly remembered that little stone you used to worship.]

Qian Qi’s face fell. “Don’t bring that up. I don’t know which jerk smashed my little stone into powder. If I ever find out, I’ll put leopard print big underpants on them.”

System went silent. Then it slowly faded away.

Qian Qi hummed under her breath, tore open the Thunder Lion’s belly, and waved at the stunned Fire Qilin Mother Eagle: “Didn’t eat enough, right? Come eat.”

The Fire Qilin Mother Eagle stared at her. It hadn’t expected this creature to kill the strongest Magibeast here in one strike. So when she beat it earlier, she had held back? It cautiously looked at Qian Qi. Sensing no malice from her, it edged to the torn belly and began to feast.

“You see how good I am to you,” Qian Qi said as she stroked the eagle’s neck and coaxed it, “I happen to need a flying pet. How about you take the initiative and form a Beast Contract with me?”

“The Magibeasts here are mean. They’ll only bully you. I’m different. I’m the only one who truly treats you well,” she whispered. “If you contract with me, I’ll keep killing Thunder Lions for you to eat.”

The Fire Qilin Mother Eagle lowered its head and kept eating, ignoring her words.

“Fine, forget it,” Qian Qi muttered, pride stung. “I only want a Magibeast that can talk and keep its word as a Contract Beast anyway.”

[Talking, huh…] System Panel popped up to remind her: [Only A rank Magibeasts can speak human words. With your D rank, broken Psychic Power, can you even contract an A rank?]

Qian Qi’s ears perked up: “Beast Contracting is connected to Psychic Power?”

System froze, then went invisible and logged off.

“Woohoo, free knowledge,” Qian Qi said, rubbing her hands excitedly. She climbed onto the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle’s back and gave a command: “Let’s go. Other Magibeasts will be drawn here by the scent. I don’t want to waste a Defense Fruit.”

Sensing nearby Magibeasts too, the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle flapped hard, ripped off a chunk of fat, and carried Qian Qi into the sky.

“Since the boss is down, let’s leave the Dungeon and stock up,” Qian Qi said as she patted the right side of its head.

This time the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle understood and turned right to fly.