Chapter 30: Touching Feathers
It was impossible for Su Muluo to ignore Long Ling, so he turned his head away, refusing to acknowledge him.
Long Ling looked at Su Muluo’s attractive profile and thought to himself, his phoenix was both cute and shy. He wondered when he would be able to touch its feathers.
However, before that, he needed to think about how to build his own network. It was better not to tell the phoenix until his influence and connections were truly established. This way, it would be a pleasant surprise for the phoenix.
Half an hour later, Qiansui and the black cat returned to the café and brought Su Muluo some good news: “We found the person.”
—The young man they were looking for was in an alley in the old town.
This area was a filthy and impoverished part of the city, far from the young man’s home. Su Muluo and Long Ling navigated the narrow, winding alley and finally reached the end, where there was a secluded corner.
The young man was curled up in the deep corner, hugging his head and trembling. As soon as Su Muluo approached, the young man cried out, “Don’t come closer!”
He hid his hands in his sleeves, looking panicked. When he saw Su Muluo, he was stunned and said, “Boss? What are you doing here?!”
Su Muluo replied, “I came to find you.”
A faint demonic aura pervaded the air, emanating from the young man. Su Muluo’s previous guess was confirmed—this person was indeed a half-demon, and specifically a bird demon.
“Come to find me?” the young man muttered, “Why would you come to find me… How did you even find me?”
Before he could finish, a look of pain crossed his face, and he hugged his arms tightly.
“Leave quickly! I can’t control my power anymore!!”
Su Muluo responded by knocking the young man out.
The young man collapsed to the ground, revealing his hands covered in small feathers.
Long Ling asked, “Where does the phoenix want to take him?”
“First, let’s take him to the Bureau of Extraordinary Beings,” Su Muluo said, “After all, he is a half-demon and might be someone the bird clan is searching for.”
Long Ling fell silent, clearly displeased.
Su Muluo looked at him and said with a smile, “Or we could take him back with us?”
“Forget it,” Long Ling said with a click of his tongue, “The Bureau of Extraordinary Beings it is.”
Reluctantly, Long Ling transformed back into a small black dragon and crawled into Su Muluo’s pocket.
However, a moment later, it popped its head out of the pocket and let out a yelp.
The phoenix doesn’t allow anyone to touch him!
“Alright, alright, I understand.”
Su Muluo laughed, patted its head, and sent a message to Liu He.
Soon, several members of the Bureau of Extraordinary Beings arrived quickly. They first respectfully greeted Su Muluo with “Mr. Su” and then carried the unconscious young man away to the bureau.
At the Bureau of Extraordinary Beings, two employees were conducting a demon power test on the young man. Liu He stood nearby and said, “No wonder we received a report about unusual demon energy in Lin City recently. It turns out a half-demon has awakened—thank you so much, Mr. Su.”
“It was just a small effort,” Su Muluo said, “Did you find out his identity?”
Liu He nodded and said, “His ID name is Lin Chengcheng. He has no parents, and his house is rented. According to his landlord, he has only been in Lin City for a year and a half. He usually just does odd jobs at convenience stores and rarely interacts with others—there’s no more information for now.”
Su Muluo remained silent. Although the young man’s rented place wasn’t large, the location and environment were decent. He had also ordered special coffee several times before. If he was really just doing odd jobs, he probably wouldn’t have such a comfortable living situation.
This meant the young man was hiding other secrets and was not as simple as he seemed.
Liu He observed Su Muluo’s expression and asked, “Is this your friend?”
“Not exactly,” Su Muluo replied, “But he could be the illegitimate child the bird clan is looking for.”
Liu He was surprised, glanced at the unconscious young man, and stroked her chin, “Indeed… He is a half-demon with a demon power of just over twenty years and has bird clan blood… I should contact the bird clan people immediately.”
She quickly made a phone call, and soon after, the young man on the bed opened his eyes—
And found himself surrounded by people.
The young man was immediately shocked and nearly jumped out of bed, exclaiming, “Who are you?!”
The next second, he realized he wasn’t at home but in a completely unfamiliar place, and he panicked, “Where am I?!”
“You’re awake. You’re at the Bureau of Extraordinary Beings,” Liu He said kindly, “The procedure was successful. You are now a half-demon.”
The young man: “……”
He had a look of disbelief, glancing around. Seeing Su Muluo not far away, he finally spotted a familiar face among the strangers and exclaimed with joy, “Boss! You’re here too!!”
However, upon seeing Su Muluo, Lin Chengcheng’s memories came rushing back all at once. His expression changed abruptly as he immediately looked at his hands.
At that moment, his demonic power had stabilized, and there were no more feathers on the back of his hands. He let out a sigh of relief and muttered, “It really was a dream. I should just go back to sleep; everything will be fine when I wake up.”
He then pulled the covers back over himself and lay down again.
The people by the bedside were silent for a few seconds. Liu He reached out and nudged the young man.
Lin Chengcheng poked his head out from under the covers, looking extremely terrified.
“This isn’t a dream. You’re Lin Chengcheng, a half-demon. Your demonic power awakened earlier, which is why you had those unusual symptoms,” Liu He said. “You’re currently at the Bureau of Extraordinary Beings, an organization that handles demon affairs. All demons coming to human cities must register here. You must have heard of us before.”
“What name??” Lin Chengcheng asked, “What Bureau of Extraordinary Beings? I’ve never heard of it!”
He looked genuinely surprised. Liu He was about to respond when a dark voice interrupted from the side, “Miss Liu, that’s enough for now.”
It was Mu Ge, who had come with several members of the bird clan after receiving Liu He’s message.
“The young master has just awakened. We will explain everything to him later. For now, let him rest,” Mu Ge said, then turned to Lin Chengcheng, “Young master, the bird clan has been waiting for you for many years. Please come back with us.”
Lin Chengcheng was confused and tried to refuse, but meeting Mu Ge’s gaze, his mind went blank, and his thoughts seemed to be drained away.
“… Well, alright,” he said dully, “But I have a cat I need to pick up…”
Mu Ge replied, “Don’t worry about that. We will handle everything for you.”
He then turned to Liu He and said, “Thank you to the Bureau of Extraordinary Beings. The bird clan will remember your kindness and will prepare a generous gift in return.”
Liu He said, “To be honest, your young master wasn’t found by the Bureau of Extraordinary Beings but by Mr. Su. If you want to thank someone, it should be him.”
Mu Ge paused for a moment, glanced at Su Muluo, and said, “Thank you. I apologize for my previous rudeness. It seems you are not the one who killed my master after all.”
Su Muluo responded calmly, “So, are you leaving now, or will you stay here to continue investigating your master’s death?”
Mu Ge replied, “That’s a matter for the bird clan.”
He signaled his two subordinates to help Lin Chengcheng up and then left.
After the bird clan members departed, Su Muluo also left the Bureau of Extraordinary Beings. The small black dragon lay in his palm, raising its little head and asking, “Aw?”
The phoenix hadn’t asked about the relic.
“From Lin Chengcheng’s reaction, he probably doesn’t know much himself,” Su Muluo said. “And it’s not the right time to ask… We’ll meet again soon enough.”
He had left a mark on Lin Chengcheng, so he would be able to sense if something happened to him immediately. Judging by his intuition, the mark would likely come into play in a few days.
The small black dragon tilted its head and rested its chin on Su Muluo’s fingertip, lazily rubbing against it.
It was already evening, and there wasn’t enough time to cook. Su Muluo pinched the little dragon’s soft horn and asked, “Do you want to eat out?”
The small black dragon happily let out a “woof,” transforming into a human and wrapping his arms around Su Muluo’s waist.
Su Muluo tapped his hand and said, “No hugging in public.”
This dragon always liked to hug him suddenly, but thankfully, he reacted quickly and used illusions each time—otherwise, passersby would have been startled.
Long Ling’s mouth curved into a smile as he released his embrace and instead held Su Muluo’s fingers in his hand.
The two walked slowly along the street and soon passed by a Sichuan restaurant.
The restaurant had a pleasant environment, good business, and an enticing aroma of food. Su Muluo decided this was the place.
When ordering, Long Ling asked, “Does the phoenix want any drinks?”
Su Muluo leaned over to look at the menu. Although he had been to hotpot restaurants before, this was his first time at this kind of place. After some thought, he decided to try something different.
“I’ll have a beer,” he said.
Long Ling paused slightly while holding the menu and said, “How about juice instead? I remember the phoenix… hasn’t had beer before, right?”
Su Muluo replied, “No, I want beer.”
He was very insistent and repeated his choice. Long Ling had no choice but to order a can of beer for him.
After a while, several dishes were served—spicy, aromatic, and brightly colored. Su Muluo picked up his chopsticks and took a bite, his eyes lighting up, “Delicious.”
But also very spicy!
Long Ling opened the can of beer, pouring the golden liquid into a glass. Su Muluo eagerly took a sip.
Long Ling asked, “So? Is it good?”
Su Muluo was silent for a few seconds before taking another sip.
“…It tastes quite strange,” he said, “but it doesn’t seem too hard to drink.”
He then set the beer aside and turned to drink the soup instead.
By the end of the meal, he had only consumed a small portion of the beer. After leaving the restaurant, Su Muluo rubbed his eyes and said, “I feel a bit sleepy.”
Long Ling laughed and said, “I’ll carry you back like a phoenix.”
Su Muluo replied, “I don’t want you to carry me.”
But right after saying that, he opened his arms to Long Ling.
Long Ling: “?”
This action was unexpected. He looked at his phoenix for a second and then picked him up.
Su Muluo buried his face in Long Ling’s shoulder and gently nuzzled.
Long Ling: “…”
The phoenix was light and soft, and holding him was effortless. But as he looked at the obedient phoenix in his arms… he felt a bit stunned.
What’s happening?
“Why aren’t we leaving yet?” Su Muluo’s soft face was pressed against Long Ling’s shoulder, his voice lazy as if he were whining, “I want to go back to sleep.”
Long Ling: “…”
So cute!
I want to pinch him!
But pinching him isn’t possible since they’re still on the street. So Long Ling carried his phoenix back to the rental apartment, gently placed him on the sofa, and then squatted down to observe him.
His complexion and expression were normal… he didn’t seem uncomfortable?
Could he be drunk?
Long Ling remembered that Su Muluo hadn’t finished the rest of the beer and thought it unlikely—his phoenix had only had a few sips, so how could he be drunk?
While Long Ling was pondering, Su Muluo seemed a bit unhappy and said, “I don’t want to be here; I want to go to the room.”
Then he opened his arms again towards Long Ling.
Although the living room was only a few steps from the bedroom, he was unwilling to walk there himself and insisted that Long Ling carry him. Long Ling felt his heart melting and chuckled as he picked up his phoenix, saying, “Alright, let’s go to the room.”
But once they were back in the room, there was another problem.
How to change into pajamas?
Long Ling looked at the pajamas on the bed and then at the phoenix clinging to him. He asked, “Does the phoenix want to change into pajamas by himself?”
Su Muluo snuggled lazily in Long Ling’s arms, unwilling to move, “No, I don’t want to change… I want to sleep.”
Long Ling responded, “Oh, then the phoenix can sleep here. I’ll go sleep on the sofa.”
Su Muluo: “?”
He immediately lifted his head and stared at Long Ling.
Long Ling looked innocent and said, “The phoenix said so. If you don’t want me to sleep in the room, I can only sleep on the sofa.”
Su Muluo grabbed the edge of his shirt and said, “You’re not allowed to leave.”
“No way, the phoenix told me to leave a few days ago,” Long Ling said. “If the phoenix wakes up tomorrow and finds me in the bed, he might still hit me.”
Su Muluo: “I won’t hit you. You’re not allowed to leave.”
Long Ling said, “But the phoenix will still hit me. Last time, the phoenix said he’d turn me into a twisted doughnut.”
Su Muluo: “…”
Su Muluo buried his face in Long Ling’s shoulder and muttered, “That was just to trick you.”
Long Ling gently stroked his soft hair and, with a hint of laughter, said, “But I was tricked and scared. How will the phoenix make it up to me?”
At this point, his confusion grew even more. His phoenix had only had a few sips of beer… Could it really be because of those few sips that he was drunk?
Long Ling looked at Su Muluo, who also looked back at him. After a few seconds, Su Muluo tilted his head.
A pure white bird with a beautiful sheen landed on Long Ling’s palm, “cheeped,” and spread its soft wings.
Here, feel my feathers.
Long Ling: “…”
T/N: Hello hello! There is plenty more where that came from, so stay tuned! And stay healthy! Straighten your posture, so some stretches and drink some water before continuing hehe~
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Also, check out the other series we have on HoH!
If you like cats, check out Revenge of the Garfield
If you like dragons, check out I’m Pregnant with the Hope of the Entire Planet and The Dragon and the ‘Princess’
How about some mystery or showbiz? Check out Morbid Addiction & Perfection
What about the perfect, most non-toxic male lead ever? Laws of Love
How about MC nursing ML back to health? Forced into the Deep
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