Xiao Zhize nodded. He had no idea that Yu Liang was worried he might see the note he had left behind, so he obediently gave up. In just less than half a day, he had already understood his role within this team. All he needed to do was obey.
"However, some unique characters cannot follow such rules." Old Du suddenly interjected, "For example, 'key'; it seems to always need to be made up of 'moon'; extracting the material 'moon' to use appears to be pointless."
Yu Liang lowered his gaze to ponder, a bad thought crossing his mind.
Old Du sounded so sure that he must have tried it. The 'moon' material is mostly associated with physical structures, and the backstory is quite evident.
"The weather is changing." Old Du looked up, his face serious as the previously clear sky suddenly became gloomy. "The weather is changing, we need to get moving. Turtle Island is safer than here."
Yu Liang also felt the oppressive atmosphere in the air, as if something was approaching. He had originally intended to use this travel time to ask Old Du what the mutation in his profession was. But all of a sudden, he lost interest in asking. All he could feel was unease deep within him.
Hurry up and leave this place, hurry up and go to Turtle Island, go to the supposedly safe place Old Du mentioned.
The only thought in his mind right now was to get there.
"Up ahead is Bird Garden, the aviary. Traverse the main street quickly, keep an eye on the path, I will not come looking for you if you get lost." Old Du instructed, walking briskly ahead. "Ignore the parrots and crested mynas when you go through their area. When you pass through the peacock area, do not look towards their tails."
Yu Liang noticed that Old Du had put his hand on the handle of his machete again. He had never been so vigilant before, even when they had passed through the grassland animal area.
Birds...
Could birds be more dangerous than the pythons and lions in the grassland area?
The tense atmosphere also affected him. He couldn't help but put a pawn and a stone in his pocket, constantly rubbing the smooth back of the pawn with his finger — such mechanical behavior could relieve his anxiety.
"Old Du?"
The three were about to enter the aviary when a voice from the side halted them.
Yu Liang turned to look at the person who had spoken. It was a small group of four. They were simply dressed, mostly in sportswear, with everyone carrying a sports backpack and holding a metal rod or another similar weapon.
"Hmm." Old Du merely nodded, his reaction was cold.
The man who led, cocking his head to the side, looked past Old Du and exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't expect to see Old Du leading newcomers here."
"Just racking up some mission rewards." Old Du's responses were simple and succinct, which seemed to be his usual style. His cold replies did not surprise the leading man.
"My name is Wu Yong, how may I address you two?" The man walked up, stopping five steps away from Old Du. He raised his hands to his chest to show he was not a threat.
"Xiao Zhize."
"Yu Liang."
Wu Yong's gaze lingered on both men for but a moment. He couldn't see anything particularly special about them, but knowing they were chosen by Old Du seemed to hint at some hidden ability.
Despite having only interacted with Old Du a handful of times, Wu Yong had already heard about Old Du's solitary and formidable reputation. However, Old Du now had two newcomers by his side which piqued his curiosity.
"Old Du, where are you heading? The Tourist Center?" Wu Yong asked with a smile. "If it's on the way, we can go together."
Old Du's gaze fell on the three people behind Wu Yong. They were two men and a woman, all very alert and capable, clearly having experienced the onslaught of strange phenomena.
"Okay." Old Du agreed.
Yu Liang cast a surprised glance at Old Du. He thought Old Du would refuse. Up to now, Old Du had been acting alone, and presumably, he did not like being in the company of too many people.
He glanced upwards at the sky. Above the Bird Garden, the sky was shrouded with dark clouds. It was as if a thick black quilt was pressing down, making the world appear darker.
Considering Old Du's previous actions, the current state of the sky clearly seemed to signal an ominous sign.
To be honest, Yu Liang, who's well-versed in horror movie tropes, wanted to abandon the others and run. He was nearly certain that something strange would happen next.
However, he was like a monkey that couldn't be alone, and Old Du also made the decision to cross through the Bird Garden. This likely indicated that traversing the park was dangerous, but only within controlled limits.
The primary feature of the Bird Garden was a vast forest, with various bird-watching areas scattered randomly throughout. Shady paths crisscrossed the forest, and interestingly, there was no map of the entire bird garden. For first-time visitors, the birds they could see were quite random. Even experienced visitors could easily get lost in the Bird Garden, after all, the entire park was densely filled with tall, leafy trees that Yu Liang couldn't name. Looking up, there was an overwhelming feeling of being cut off from the rest of the world.
"Caw—Caw—" The hoarse cawing of crows echoed from the dark depths of the forest, accompanied by a dense fog that refused to dissipate.
"Follow me." Old Du furrowed his brows slightly, turning his head to say, "Wu Yong, you bring up the rear."
"Okay." Wu Yong didn't decline. As the second-in-command of this temporarily formed team, it was his duty to protect the group's safety from the back.
Small birds were kept in cages either hanging from the trees or placed by the roadside, serving almost as decorative objects for visitors. Signposts offered brief introductions to each bird species, while the vending machines on the side only sold a single type of red universal bird feed that could be used to feed the animals.
Do all birds eat the same kind of feed?
Although Yu Liang had seen this information in the visitor's advisory, he was still somewhat surprised when he saw it for himself.
Different species of birds have different diets, so it was hard to imagine that they would all eat the same kind of feed. However, this zoo was abnormal to begin with, so it wasn't surprising that the animals weren't normal either.
The seven people hurried along, none of them wanting to linger. The caged birds didn't show much interest in them either. Most of them hung their heads, their eyes blinking rhythmically, lacking any sign of alertness. Only a few glanced up at the group, but they showed no particular reaction.
"Crested myna, a noisy bird, completely black, with a crown of feathers on its forehead. A small bird species that can mimic bird calls and human speech. Its flesh can be used in medicine and has the effects of boosting energy and stopping bleeding."
The signpost reminded the rushing visitors that they had reached the crested myna viewing area.
"Ignore them." Old Du warned them as he looked back, "No matter what they say, don't believe them, don't stop, and don't feed them."
"Did you hear that? What Old Du said is very important." Wu Yong, at the end of the line, repeated to his three team members.
The other two didn't respond, seemingly considering the message self-evident without needing to be repeated. Only the woman affirmed, "Understood," her voice steady.
Yu Liang looked at the woman. Dressed in sportswear with short hair, she radiated a capable aura. She always held a dagger in her hand and kept a distance of about a meter from the others.
Suddenly, a crested myna in the cage said: "Look, a monkey has slipped into the crowd."
"Strange thing." Another crested myna responded, "Hey, monkey brother, how about getting me a pack of feed?"
"…" Yu Liang didn't respond to them, nor did he glance at the two birds.
The crested mynas were communicating in human language, which other people could also hear. If he responded, it would certainly arouse suspicion; if he didn't, others would simply think that the two crested mynas were babbling nonsense.
Besides, he wasn't a monkey, he was just under the influence of a monkey curse.
"Well, he seems not to understand human language." The crested myna sneered, flapped its wings twice, and asked the crested myna next to it, "Do you speak monkey language? Ask him, I'm peckish."
"Chirp chirp?" The other crested myna imitated a monkey's call quite accurately. "Chirp chirp chirp."
"…" Yu Liang glanced at them, feeling helpless.
Even though he didn't want to admit it, he really did understand them.
Damn it.
The crested myna had just repeated its previous words in monkey language, and he could confidently say that none of the others understood what it said.
"Told you, he doesn't understand human language." The first crested myna flapped its wings, seemingly shrugging its shoulders, as if emulating a human.