Jia Hyson was so upset at this new revelation that he no longer had the capacity to think of other things.
A worm? His Da Gong thought he was a worm?
Isn't he the cutest dragon? Didn't he ask to be the cutest?
Where the f*ck is his cuteness?! (ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻
So in shock he immediately stopped self harming and slipped off Da Gong's neck, scuttling backward so the rooster can see all of his indignant adorable glory.
He takes a deep breath and then,
"Kreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!??" He screeches.
Sometimes animals will produce specific sounds for the sole reason of conveying an emotion or an idea. Fear. Discovery. Hunger.
Or, in this case, the sound of being deeply offended to the core.
Unfortunately, only other dragons will instinctively comprehend and decipher the meaning of this sound.
Da Gong stares unblinkingly at his little worm with little comprehension. The worm was using its tiny limbs to hold it's body almost perfectly horizontally parallel to the ground. Only the tail was raised upwards, making his worm look more like a hissing kitten than a worm.
However compared to Xiao Shua, that annoying fat cat, his worm was indeed much better to look at, even when obviously angry.
Xiao Shua: '…' Wow. Suddenly shot out of nowhere. _:(´ཀ`」∠):_
Seeing that his little worm seemed to have no signs of stopping, which is quite impressive given how small his lung capacity must be, Da Gong patiently gave the small thing some time to screech a bit before picking it up with his beak and letting the worm dangle there.
Jia Hyson: '…'
Didn't see that coming ah.
Now that Jia Hyson had stopped, Da Gong carefully placed him back on the ground. "Better now?"
"….I'm not a worm." Jia Hyson finally says, voice soft and sulky. To a human's ears the voice would be soft, a mix of displeased hissing, impatient chirping and the underlying throaty quality that comes from purring. It is a unique yet endearing sound.
To Da Gong, it was the equivalent of a milky child's voice, sweet yet petulantly spoilt. Da Gong liked it a lot and felt that anything his worm said with that voice must be agreed with.
"You're right baby," Da Gong clucks dotingly, lowering his head to rub against the other's, "I was in the wrong, you're not a worm. Forgive?"
"Do you think I would forgive so easily ah?" Jia Hyson sneers, "How long have you thought I was a worm? Do you think I am so weak?"
Da Gong stopped rubbing. Straightening his posture Da Gong stands up and stares calculatingly at his haughty worm with his silver eyes. His worm seemed very upset and didn't look open to explanation. The best thing to do is…
With only some hesitation, Da Gong laid down, then rolled onto his back with his wings splayed out. His legs were bent close to his body but he gave a few tentative kicks as he adjusts his neck so Da Gong could see his little worm. Softly he clucks.
"Forgive?"
Jia Hyson: "..." Turns out he's pretty weak ah.
This isn't fair! Selling meng was too much ah! (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)
Chickens don't actively sell meng so Da Gong, using his higher than average intelligence, decided to mimic the cats and dogs who loved to act cute. Even though he used to disdain such vulgar shameless behaviour, now for his worm Da Gong even wiggled his body and tried to stick his tongue out of his beak.
To other people this may look like a silly humorous sight but to Jia Hyson who has somehow been bewitched by this rooster despite physically and mentally being a different species to him, felt this was adorable beyond words and was instantly moved.
Immediately he runs over and hugs Da Gong with his whole body, "Forgive ah!"
However he was too excited and his claws had subconsciously pierced the bird���s flesh in his excitement.
Da Gong stiffens for a moment before relaxing, giving his worm a considering look. It seems his worm was stronger than he had thought. That was good. At least he didn't have to worry too badly about his baby being bullied by any wandering rooster.
Jia Hyson, after seeing how he had harmed Da Gong quickly panicked and released his hold. An instinctual sound of worry and fear rumbles in his throat as he sees how the bird's feathers were slightly wet with blood.
Feeling guilty he hesitantly followed his instincts and licked the wounded areas. His snout scrunched up in disgust, no matter how clean Da Gong tries to be it's impossible to be really clean in this era, especially after walking around the dusty streets. It was like sticking one's tongue into someone else's unwashed hair. No matter what it wasn't pleasant in any way.
However animals don't just lick their wounds for fun ah. Saliva has enzymes that not only have some blood clotting properties but lysozyme which helps fight bacterial infections. As a dragon his saliva should be much more impressive.
His claws weren't large but they were sharp and Jia Hyson knew that he had really tore the flesh. Of course it's not just that he was responsible for those injuries, if it was anyone else he might not even give up a sliver of guilt much less wrong himself to help them. It was because he truly liked Da Gong he was willing to endure his disgust to try treat him the best he could.
Still, if Bebe wasn't such a spicy chicken he would have liked another option other than this ah.
Bebe: '...' Sorry we don't sell chicken related magical healing products. (¬_¬) Somehow that never came up in the last R&D meeting.
Or the past billion meetings really.
The pills were mainly created specifically for human consumption. Higher level pills would be for higher level entities such as cultivators, demons, and other mythical beings. Due to popular demand there were dog, cat and even fox friendly varieties at least but for normal, non-magical, non-demonic domestic fowl they really never thought of determining the right prescription for them.
Sure they had healing items and artifacts that can heal anything, including chickens, but those were out of their pay grade right now.
At most they can afford some bandages that will staunch the bleeding and heal the covered wound three times as fast but then they would have to explain where they got such bandages in the first place.
As he began to lap up the blood Jia Hyson felt something was strange.
The blood… wasn't it a little too tasty ah?
'Da Gong has been absorbing almost the same amount of spiritual energy as you,' Bebe explains, sensing it's host's confusion and faint horror, 'While he hasn't absorbed as much, it's enough for him to be considered a very low tiered spiritual beast now. Plus, Da Gong is still a prey animal, it's no wonder host finds him so delicious.'
To be honest, if there was someone who had the balls to kill and cook Da Gong they probably would find that the quality of this rooster's meat would surpass any others, red or white meat. In simpler terms… he's like the matsusaka* beef of chickens.
*I've had the pleasure to have a taste of this before omg it's amazing. It's a level higher than kobe beef. This beef is only made with virgin female cows who are fed beer and given daily massages with shochu. Each cow also get's their own 'care system' in order to avoid stressing them out and ruining the meat. I heard some even hire people just to compliment the cow. The endgame is to produce fatty marbling so soft it melts upon the touch of a human finger.
Swallowing the saliva that had filled his mouth after one taste of that delectably spiritually rich blood Jia Hyson felt the incredible malice of the universe. Not only was he sort of romantically interested in a rooster and had trouble suppressing his violent inclinations toward him, but now Jia Hyson even had the strong desire to eat him.
Jia Hyson: '…I have to say, out of all my relationships, this may be objectively the most messed up.'
After all, he may have done a lot of things with his partners but eating them, or at least wanting to eat them, has certainly never been one of them ah.
"Baby?" Da Gong, who was enjoying the intimate behaviour that comes with trusting another animal to lick his wounds, was puzzled the little worm had stopped so quickly. He had barely had time to register the tiny, warm wet tongue wriggling past his feathers and against his sensitive skin. "Baby, what's wrong?"
Jia Hyson felt a little torn. On one hand, he should help Da Gong with his wounds, but on the other hand, if he helps anymore he may just end up eating him instead. It's already quite hard to keep himself in check, and after his previous state of starvation not too long ago, his self control when it came to food was much weaker as well.
Bebe also felt a bit helpless. After all, this sort of ridiculous situation… it had really never encountered such a thing before. 'What about,' Bebe hesitates for a moment before tentatively offering, 'With host's permission Bebe can administer a small shock to your nerves if you lose control?' This sort of thing was looked down on for systems since it was a very ugly and inhumane function that many rogue systems in the past had used to control their hosts. Nowadays every system has an inbuilt consent program but most systems naturally dislike hurting their hosts in such an unnecessary manner so it's nearly never brought up.
Even though Bebe felt it was a viable solution, it can't help but feel uncomfortable to even suggest it.
Jia Hyson also was naturally hesitant. After all, who would feel happy granting permission to allow someone free reign to administer shock treatments to them? However he trusted Bebe to not abuse this power and agreed after some thought.
Comforted, that he no longer posed a danger to Da Gong, he began to lap up the bleeding. Even though the feathers ruined the whole thing somewhat, Jia Hyson still found himself immersed in the delicious taste of blood. His body was still quite small so even though the wounds weren't big it was enough to swallow a few mouthfuls.
It was really too good, Jia Hyson hadn't felt so sated for a long time. Tang Muxin's cooking was good but maybe because this was still the beginning of the story, her 'halo' was not fully matured and so her food did not have a large amount of spiritual energy compared to the syringes of pure energy he had previous consumed. Not to mention Ye Cheng wouldn't be able to afford meat everyday so a lot of the food consisted of rice and vegetables.
Da Gong's blood was not only fairly concentrated in spiritual energy but had a rich meaty taste that satisfied both the bloodlust and the predator in Jia Hyson.
Da Gong who was on the receiving end of such an intense and passionate licking lowered his head embarrassedly and 'tch'-ed.
He felt very shy. Even though they were unconscious there was still humans around! This was in public! And it was still in the middle of the day!
However.. he didn't hate having such a shameless worm. (,,ಠ⊝ಠ,,) ♡
As a pseudo-low grade spiritual beast Da Gong's wounds of course would heal much faster than a normal bird's. Not to mention he was already abnormally strong and resilient before, so it only took less than half an hour before there were signs of healing already showing. Jia Hyson was a bit surprised and a little bit disappointed. He took one last lick before reluctantly pulling away.
Da Gong was also unhappy. He didn't notice anything strange since he had always been a bit of a fast healer. If anything he silently lamented his greatness. If he wasn't born with such an amazing physique for a rooster then wouldn't his worm still be flirting with him? Such a shame ah.
Now that the 'lovey dovey' atmosphere had cleared away, the two animals focused on the humans present.
"These guys seem useful, Boss Gong I want to bring them to Ye Cheng and Tang Muxin." Jia Hyson decides. His intuition as an author told him these guys will make the story quite interesting. At best they'll be important supporting male leads, at worst at least they'll have some foreshadowing to what's to come.
"Tch, fine." Da Gong was no longer guzzling vinegar after his worm had so blatantly showered him with affection in front of those two men so he felt these humans were no longer so disgusting to look at and agreed. He even felt a little sympathy for these humans.
These two humans look like adult males and yet in the middle of the day they were sitting in a dirty alley alone, injured and possibly inebriated. Da Gong had seen a few male animals like this. Because they were too unappealing they were isolated from the flock and had to sit by the side and do their best to amuse themselves. These were the males who will never be able to find their little worm.
Da Gong clucked and shook his head pityingly. How pathetic.
The two beaten single dogs, General and Eighth Prince: '…' Seriously, can these guys just leave?
"How do you want to handle this?" Da Gong gives both men a once over. No matter how tyrannical he was, a rooster couldn't carry a grown man. Even though he felt he had gotten even stronger these past few days it was still impossible to even think of. After some thought he suggests, "Why don't I call one of my lackeys to help us? There's always some nearby ah."
When Da Gong said lackeys he was referring to all the animals in the village. It would be much simpler to get one of the horses or goats to help out in this sort of situation.
Jia Hyson shook his head, "No need," He says confidently, "I got this."
Da Gong: '…'
It's cute when his worm is so overconfident.
However Jia Hyson was actually quite serious.
The skill he gained in the second world [Psychic Terror] was currently at level four. Jia Hyson had met the conditions for the previous levels when he was playing with the lives of his victims using this skill in the second world. He hadn't had a need nor an excuse to use it in the third world but in this world where he plays a mythical creature he can freely use it.
Unfortunately it does take quite a bit of energy to exert so he hadn't dared to use it till now. Revitalized with spiritual energy and with his new activated skills that will assure his health and vitality, he no longer feels so stingy about using his old special skills.
Plus, after that insult, he really wanted to show off to his family's rooster.
Little worm! Ah, ah, no matter what he was still so angry! His sister's a little worm! His whole family are little worms! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
Even though the name was enough to snap Jia Hyson out of his previously problematic thoughts, how could he be happy? If he was human he could show how big his worm really is!
Bebe: '....One, ew, Da Gong is still a rooster and that's sexual harassment. And two, you're slightly above average, what on earth is host boasting about?'
Jia Hyson: '....' That first point is fair but the second point is literally below the belt. 'So hurtful, don't you know my pride and joy has given so much to society? How can you say it's only slightly above average?'
Bebe: 'Hehe.' Whatever you say, slag man.
"Watch this ah," Jia Hyson chirps, faking casualness. Using [Psychic Terror] he focuses on the general who was unconsciously sitting with his back against the wall. With the skill at level four he should be able to lift human beings with only some strain. However he forgot he was rusty after not practicing and still in the body of a baby, meaning that it would be impossible for him to utilize this skill well on the first try.
So what happened wasn't the awe inspiring, heaven defying show he wanted to give. To be honest the effect wasn't underwhelming per say, it's just a bit-
Under the power, General Duan Mengyao's head was slowly lifted up, and then... almost violently shoved to the side. The side of his face eating shit on the dirty alley floor.
Bebe: '....'
Jia Hyson: '...'
Unconscious General: '.......'
If that guy turns out to be the male lead he's probably got an even worse halo than Zheng Jinhai ah.
No. Even if Zheng Jinhai got battered to the point his skull became an eggshell, it was undeniable that at the very least he always looked handsome and never ugly. At the very least his face has never face-planted on the ground in such an unsightly manner.
Bebe: 'Bebe has recorded this and will now insert the caption: When your host is such a dumbass.'
Jia Hyson: 'Does the general represents the system's reaction to the host or the host being so much of an idiot he can't even sit properly?'
Bebe: 'Does it matter?'
Jia Hyson: 'Haha no, it's not my face on that gif after all.'
Bebe: 'Haha so true.'
The unconscious general: '....' Even unconscious he can feel great malice from the universe.
The unconscious eighth prince: '......' I am just a humble dying prince, please don't look this way ah.
Da Gong clucked disdainfully, "This human really must be a drunkard. Look, can even slam his face onto the floor like that. Tch, he must be completely out cold. Tch, tch, let's just go baby." His previous pity and goodwill was gone. This human was too ugly, he's afraid his human may get affected by the stupidity.
However, Jia Hyson was unwilling to give up looking cool. He had enough energy to spare for a few more tires. Da Gong was convinced the previous action was due to drunkenness, at the very least he has to prove that it was due to his own abilities! Just some floating of the arm or something....
"Wait, let me just," Jia Hyson squinted his eyes, concentrating on the general's arm closest to himself. Slowly and unsteadily he managed to lift it up while the man was still slumped over with his face in the dirt, a clearly unnatural position. He made it wobble and wave a few times before giving Da Gong a triumphant look, "See? Look! I'm doing that!"
Because he looked away for praise, the limb fell down and the other side of the general's face that wasn't in the dirt received an awful backslap from his own hand.
The unconscious general: '...…' Seriously, did I kill your whole family ah? What grudge do you have against me?
The unconscious eighth prince: '...…' Thank f*ck it's not me ah.
"Did you see? Aren't I great?" Jia Hyson continues to pester, his tiny limbs lightly hitting Da Gong's body coquettishly with bright eyes.
Da Gong who could only see a drunkard trying and failing to blindly pull himself up, could only chokingly cluck, ".....Wao so amazing, my baby is the best."
It was better to give his little worm some face and keep him happy ah.
"Mn," Jia Hyson's little chest fills with pride, eyes shining brightly. It made Da Gong's heart flutter.
Though he didn't really believe his little worm, when he's that cute how could he be wrong? And if he is wrong then Da Gong will make it right!
"Why don't you try on the other human?" Da Gong dotingly suggests, "That one is a bit smaller, you won't have to strain yourself as much baby."
The unconscious eighth prince: '...…....' QAQ
…
In the end they, as in Jia Hyson, finally gave up on moving the bodies. Instead Da Gong suggested Jia Hyson wait there while he goes to bring Ye Cheng and the homewrecker to do the dirty work. It'll bring less attention than getting animals to carry them anyway.
While he was reluctant to leave his worm with these unconscious possibly drunk humans, Da Gong had turned the little abacus in his head and decided it was the best option. If his worm left he may get bullied by passing humans and animals, but if they left together the humans might do something to the drunkards and his worm would be unhappy. Da Gong leaving was the quickest and most efficient way.
Of course the true best course of action would be to leave these ugly humans to die in the alleyway. The more Jia Hyson had played- *ahem* done his best to move the men, the more humiliating their situation became and the more Da Gong's impression of them fell. Now the rooster really didn't want those men near his humans. Even the home wrecker.
These men were too embarrassing, he was very reluctant to take them under his wing and tell others that they were a part of his humans.
At least his worm seems to like them ah.
Da Gong was like a bloodhound and quickly found Ye Cheng and Tang Muxin. At this point they were practically carrying all sorts of hidden treasures despite it only been a few hours since they had separated with their animal friends.
"Oh hey buddy, where's Xiao Bang?" Ye Cheng immediately crouched down to stroke Da Gong's head.
Tang Muxin: '…' I wonder when I should bring up that his name now is Jin Bao?
Her mouth twitches. She had almost forgot Ye Cheng still referred to the little dragon with such a tacky name. Unfortunately this topic of telling someone they've been saying the wrong name all this time was a bit awkward, not to mention in this case, a bit hard to explain.
Da Gong, unaware of Tang Muxin's thoughts just clucks impatiently. He bites the hem of Ye Cheng's robe and tugs twice before leaving, indicating they follow.
Ye Cheng, used to this behaviour merely shrugs and gestures Tang Muxin to follow as well. Tang Muxin nods, silently swallowing down her praise. She was very impressed by Da Gong's intellect but she felt that if she voiced it the rooster may disdain her for stating something so obvious.
…She was already too used to those looks these past few days ah.
When they arrived, Jia Hyson was sitting on top of the eighth prince's buttocks which was raised up to the sky.
The poor prince, after being manipulated by Jia Hyson's [Psychic Terror] was now in a very embarrassing position of being on his knees and having his face completely eating shit on the floor in a ＿ﾉ乙(､ﾝ､)＿ pose.
Of course, the general wasn't much better off either. He was stuck in a sloppy ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ pose that looked especially vulgar in his ripped, dirty clothes and unkempt hair and beard.
Ye Cheng and Tang Muxin: '….'
The now conscious General and Eighth Prince: '...….'
Yes. a few seconds before Ye Cheng and Tang Muxin arrived the two men finally woke up after being physically manipulated to such an extent. However they truly wished they hadn't after realising their positions.
Da Gong, who no longer viewed these men as 'men' didn't feel any jealousy that his little worm was on top of another man and even joined the fun by flapping his wings and sitting on the eighth prince's legs. Facing his human he clucks and uses his wing to hit the eighth prince's thighs to indicate imperiously that he wanted to bring these men back with them. His aura and attitude was like a CEO at a jewellery store, telling the clerks that he'll buy the whole store out for his baby.
Store clerks Ye Cheng and Tang Muxin: '….'
Luxury products General and Eighth Prince: '...….'
It could be said, this may be the general and eighth prince's darkest history.