The owl didn't fly particularly fast, and it never left his sight.
After pursuing it for more than ten minutes, it hovered above a strange plant.
The upper half of this plant looked like a gigantic lychee shell, evenly split into eight segments that unfolded outward.
The edge of each shell grew thin whisker-like filaments, while the inner sacs of the shells looked more like aloe vera.
Every few seconds, those shells would rhythmically contract toward the center and then open again, sometimes with large movements, sometimes smaller.
After each open-and-close, the filaments would exude crystal-clear sap.
Liu Zheng guessed this was probably a method to lure prey.
He could smell an odd scent—neither pleasant nor foul, but strangely familiar.
"Co-coo."
The owl looked at Liu Zheng and made a sound.He wasn't an ornithologist and didn't know exactly what it meant, but it at least didn't sound like a threat.
"Hey, Qin Shi Huang, can you understand what it's saying?"
Liu Zheng asked the Rooster.
They're both birds—language should be mutually intelligible, right?
"It said, 'If you rescue its child, it will let me go.'"
The Rooster truly understood.
"Rescue its child? From this... uh, red lychee thing?"
Liu Zheng tried to use a name that was reasonably close.
"Maybe. Its accent is too heavy; I can only make out parts."
"All right."
He advanced cautiously. The owl flew with the Rooster to a nearby large tree.
Liu Zheng noticed there were many similar plants in the area, spaced fairly far apart.
He walked to a spot about three meters from Red Lychee No. 1; it made no move.
"Hello?"
Liu Zheng tried greeting it.
Since the plane tree had intelligence, perhaps these red lychees did too.
Upon hearing him, Red Lychee No. 1's opening-and-closing motion paused briefly and then resumed its rhythm.
Promising!
Liu Zheng felt a flush of hope and spoke again.
"Did that owl swallow its child? Can you let it out? I can give you extra compensation. How about that fat chicken?"
He pointed at the Rooster.
"Cluck! Hic..."
The Rooster was about to crow but was smacked hard by the owl's wing.
After a long silence, Red Lychee No. 1's opening-and-closing suddenly accelerated, and its filaments trembled rapidly.
"Ugly..."
Red Lychee No. 1 emitted a low voice.
"Ugly what?"
Liu Zheng asked.
"Humans. Ugly. Tell us about beautiful things."
Red Lychee No. 1 said.
"What are beautiful things?"
It didn't answer.
After a short pause, Red Lychee No. 1 spoke again.
"Clouds that cannot see the sun, the sky pressing down its wings, life chasing death."
"That's a pretty poem."
Liu Zheng brightened.
"What is this?"
Red Lychee No. 1 asked.
"This is a poem. We humans call them poems."
"Humans, tell us a poem."
Red Lychee No. 1 immediately demanded.
"Recite a poem..."
Liu Zheng fell into thought.
It wasn't that he couldn't produce one—on the contrary, he'd read too many. From Li Bai to Shakespeare, from Byron to Xu Zhimo (for symmetry's sake), he'd read well over a thousand poems.
His hesitation was which poem would appeal to these plants.
"Clouds that cannot see the sun, the sky pressing down its wings, life chasing death..."
Liu Zheng murmured Red Lychee No. 1's lines and gradually found a direction.
"Night rises from the earth, covering the bright sky."
"After the harvest, the desolate land—night rises from within you."
"......"
"Black rain-like flocks of birds fly from dusk into the night."
"The night has nothing; why does it give me comfort?"
He stopped reciting.
After several seconds of silence, the red lychees rustled.
"Good!"
"Very good!"
"Strange!"
"Boring!"
The red lychees voiced their impressions—some appreciative, some disdainful.
"Human, continue, more."
Red Lychee No. 1 said.
About a third of the red lychees expressed appreciation, which meant his approach was on target.
He steadied himself and found another poem.
"On the plain where gods die, wildflowers bloom in patches."
"The wind out there is farther than the distant."
"......"
"The distance only condenses into a patch of wildflowers in death."
"The bright moon hangs like a mirror; the plain reflects a thousand years."
After tens of seconds of silence, the red lychees thumped wildly.
"Excellent!"
"Magnificent!"
"This is beauty!"
"Plains! Plains!"
Their sacs opened and closed quickly and violently, and their filaments secreted more mucus, making their voices slurred but their joy unmistakable.
"Human, satisfied, request granted."
After a burst of celebration, Red Lychee No. 1 finally calmed.
It opened its sac, and a wet little owl was spat out.
"Coo coo coo!"
The big owl immediately dropped the Rooster, swooped down to snatch the chick, and flew into the depths of the forest.
It moved so fast it was like a gray streak of lightning.
Don't talk about keeping up—Liu Zheng couldn't even see it clearly.
"What did it just say?"
He asked the Rooster that had been tossed aside.
"It told you to wait a bit."
The Rooster preened its feathers as it said.
"Oh."
The owl would certainly go back to settle its young first; that was understandable.
"Here you go."
The Rooster raised its claw to Liu Zheng, revealing a fat, large wriggling worm.
"Uh, I can't eat that. You keep it."
He politely declined.
Liu Zheng felt a strange familiarity with the scene—once, a stray cat he'd taken in had thanked him similarly.
It had caught three mice and neatly placed them by his pillow.
When he woke and stared at the three mouse heads, his heart nearly stopped.
As thanks to the cat, Liu Zheng had withheld its snacks for half a year and downgraded its imported cat food to domestic brands.
"You're too weak. My master eats them whole."
The Rooster looked down on him.
"That fierce?"
Liu Zheng gave a respectful nod.
"That's nothing. Sometimes he even squeezes the worms for juice and drinks it with me."
The Rooster said casually.
"Disgusting!"
"Bastard!"
"Trash!"
Before Liu Zheng could react, the red lychees started spitting insults.
Some even made sounds like train whistles; they sounded quite angry.
"You meat-eating plants calling humans eating worms disgusting is somewhat unnecessary, don't you think?"
Liu Zheng said, speechless.
"Eating worms isn't disgusting."
"Drinking them together is disgusting."
Red Lychee No. 1 said.
"Huh? Then you shouldn't drink from the same groundwater."
Liu Zheng replied.
"Our rootstocks separate;
each individual drinks its own."
Red Lychee No. 1 said.
"Fine, you're impressive—so pure and lofty."
Liu Zheng gave a thumbs-up.
Speaking of which, becoming the Witch's body wasn't entirely without benefits.
At least he could now give the middle finger.
"Continue."
After a moment of silence, Red Lychee No. 1 said.
"Continue what?"
"More disgusting things. We want more, more detailed."
After another pause, Red Lychee No. 1 said.
"Ah? Is that so."
Liu Zheng stroked his chin as if understanding.
"Then let's see how much you can give me."
He showed a lascivious grin.