Reality proved that the ones who could talk were not necessarily demon beasts. It could be a parrot.
"What kind of demon bird is this!"
Lu Yang was furious, a suction force appeared in his palm, and he pulled the parrot over in an instant. The parrot didn't even have a chance to react before it was captured.
The Village Chief could have done the same, but he assumed this was some Qi Refinement or Foundation Establishment Stage demon beast, and didn't dare to do so.
"Demon beast! There's a demon beast!" The parrot was tweeting non-stop.
Tao Yaoye heard the commotion and came over to inspect, her feelings mirroring Lu Yang's.
The completion of the mission was a good thing, and not needing to fight was also a good thing. But the problem was, they had traveled all the way from the Seek Dao Sect and had been flying for three days, just to catch a parrot?
How would they write the mission report without making it sound ridiculous?
The people in Taiping Village were not knowledgeable enough to recognize the deep forest bird species, but Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye knew what it was. It was basic knowledge in the Seek Dao Sect.
"The great Daoist is truly impressive, capturing the demon bird effortlessly!" With the news that the parrot had been caught, the Village Chief and others began to compliment Lu Yang, saying he had deep cultivation.
The couple couldn't help but patiently explain to the villagers that this was a very ordinary bird, just not commonly seen in the northern part of the continent.
"This parrot... or the demon bird as you call it, is best at imitating human speech."
"Imitates human speech, imitates human speech." The parrot kept squawking on the side and Lu Yang held its beak, continuing his explanation to the villagers.
"When it called Zhang Guanjia a monster, it wasn't entirely its own idea. It learned to call 'monster' after listening to Feng the Tailor, it happened to repeat it when it saw Zhang Guanjia."
Zhang Guanjia sighed in relief. The disciple from the Seek Dao Sect indeed cleared his name as soon as he arrived.
"Similarly, when it asked 'Who are you, where is Zhang Guanjia?', it doesn't understand the meaning of this sentence. It just heard it somewhere and repeated it without any significance."
"Damn this damn bird, I'll butcher it." Zhang Guanjia was seething with anger at the parrot.
Lu Yang raised his hand to stop Zhang Guanjia: "This place is half a continent away from the rainforest, this bird definitely didn't fly over here itself, someone brought it."
"Matt, aside from someone who is extremely bored and willing to cross half a continent to bring this parrot which has no other use other than being a novelty, only the Land Money Trade Association would do such a thing."
"Is there a Land Money Trade Association here?"
Village Chief shook his head: "The Association would not set up shop in our small, remote place. But there is one in Quhe County, in the busiest area. It's possible that someone bought the parrot there and accidentally lost it."
The idea of the parrot directly escaping from the Land Money Trade Association was impossible.
Lu Yang asked again: "This bird has been circling around Taiping Village for twenty days, not going anywhere else. Maybe its owner is here, do you have any ideas, Village Chief?"
The Village Chief thought for a while, then said, "Everyone in our village knows about the Demon Bird. If anyone is likely not to know, it would be the Shang family on the east side."
"The Shang family rarely leaves their home and doesn't like to socialize with others. It's said that the head of the Shang family is also a Cultivator. He suffered a setback when he was young and lost a lot of his cultivation level. He has lost his heart for cultivation and has since secluded himself."
"The Shang family is also very wealthy, they are the richest people locally. It wouldn't be surprising if they bought the Demon Bird from the Land Money Trade Association."
"If that's the case, we should go and ask the Shang family."
Taiping Village is not big, three of them, along with the bird, arrived at the Shang family's front door shortly.
Soon after a knock at the door, a man with formal clothing and a van dyke beard opened the door.
"It's the Village Chief, how can I inform the master about your visit? And who are these two?" The bearded man asked.
Lu Yang held the parrot's wing, as if he was holding a chicken to be slaughtered during the New Year visit: "We stumbled upon this parrot when we were passing by. After some inquiries, we thought it might belong to the Shang family, so we came here to ask."
The bearded man looked at Tao Yaoye first and was astonished. He had never seen a woman as beautiful as Tao Yaoye before.
Then, he looked at the green parrot and broke into a happy smile: "I see, thank you both. This must be our Miss's parrot. Ever since the parrot was lost, our Miss has been depressed. It's really troubling for us servants."
"Our Miss will be so happy to hear the parrot is found."
The Village Chief whispered: "He's the housekeeper of the Shang family, Mr. Zhang. He is always the one who opens the door whenever I visit."
Mr. Zhang hurried off to report and quickly received a response.
"The master invites the three of you in."
Passing through the entrance screen, through the front yard, from the second door to the corridor, and finally to the main hall, they met the head of the Shang family.
The owner of the Shang family had a stout body, his face full of gloom keeps people at bay, not willing to have too much conversation. But it was evident that he was quite pleased to see the Village Chief.
"Brother Huang, long time no see."
The Village Chief's surname was Huang.
The two bowed to each other.
The head of the Shang family stared at the parrot for a moment, then nodded: "Hmm, it's correct. This is the bird my daughter bought from the Land Money Trade Association in the county. At the time, I thought this damn bird was not worth much money. The Association was asking an exorbitant price. My daughter wouldn't listen, she insisted on buying it, so I had to oblige her."
"Mr. Zhang, you take these two young heroes to meet Xiao Yuan."
"Yes, sir."
Mr. Zhang gestured for them to follow him and signaled the maid to make tea for the master of the Shang family and Village Chief Huang.
On the way, Tao Yaoye casually asked: "How long has Mr. Zhang been with the Shang family?"
Mr. Zhang respectfully answered: "The master saved me on his way to isolation. Since then, I have been serving by the master's side. It's been twenty years since then. Miss was not born yet at that time."
"So, you and Miss Shang should have a pretty good relationship."
"I won't hide from you, I watched Miss grow up, I have no children of my own, I treat Miss as my own daughter. Miss has been depressed a lot lately, it makes me heartbroken as the housekeeper."
Lu Yang suddenly asked: "Were you there when the parrot was lost?"
Mr. Zhang sighed, there was palpable guilt in his tone: "I was absent-minded and didn't notice when the parrot flew away. If I had paid more attention, Miss wouldn't have been so upset. It was my negligence."
Lu Yang just nodded and didn't say anything else.
Mr. Zhang gently knocked three times and calmly said: "Miss, your lost parrot has been found. Two young heroes traveling around brought it."
A voice inside the room responded: "Let them in."
"Yes."
Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye opened the door. Miss Shang was leaning against the window, quietly reading a book. The evening sunlight shone on her hair, as if time stood still. It was a beautiful moment of serenity.
Many young men in Taiping Village had crushes on Miss Shang.
Lu Yang kindly warned: "Reading in the sunlight is not good for your eyes, especially during the sunset. Go turn on a lamp, it's not like your Dad is short on money."