Becoming the Cold Little Bird's White Moonlight - Chapter 6

From that day on, the little bird never dared dress improperly in front of me again.

The ridiculous part was that now, whenever he saw me, he clutched his collar tightly shut as if terrified I might do something to him.

Girls, if you know, you know—

More ridiculous still, spring arrived.

My first sign of spring wasn’t a shower of rain, a flower in bloom, or a butterfly…

It was a certain little bird.

One day, Ling Xiao shifted back into bird form.

Then he spent the entire day asleep on a cushioned couch.

Something was wrong.

That particular little bird was extremely pleased with his new human form.

Normally, he paraded that devastating face back and forth in front of me whenever he had nothing better to do. An outrageous peacock.

He certainly never turned into a bird and slept all day.

I supposed it was because spring had come.

Spring fatigue. I understood.

I crept over and sat beside Ling Xiao.

After taking human form, his bird shape had changed considerably as well.

The palm-sized bird had grown into one as large as a peacock.

More wondrous still, his new feathers shimmered in a riot of colors.

They were soft, fluffy, and beautiful.

His tail feathers blazed scarlet like living flames.

At first glance, he even looked sacred and inviolable.

I watched him for a moment. When he didn’t react, I casually stroked him.

Ah…

That touch, at once familiar and strange!

This was the little bird destined to be mine~

It was all Ling Xiao’s fault for refusing to turn into a bird after taking human form. These past few days, I had dreamed about burying my face in his feathers every night.

He still hadn’t woken.

So I reached out furtively again.

Time to pet him!

From crest to tail, I left no feather untouched.

Beneath my hands, every feather on his body trembled lightly, like flowing fireworks.

So beautiful… I couldn’t resist stroking him twice more.

The feathers across his body gradually flushed a brilliant red.

So sophisticated—he could even change color! I petted him with abandon!

Just when I was having the time of my life…

“…” Ling Xiao suddenly let out a muffled groan.

For some reason, the voice-over from a wildlife documentary began playing in my head.

Spring had arrived. All things stirred back to life, and once again it was mating season for the animals.

Um…

Surely not.

Ling Xiao turned and bit me as if venting his rage. Through gritted teeth, he said,

“Woman—take your hand off me.”

I silently withdrew my hand and forced myself to remain calm.

“It’s fine. You’re just in heat.”

“Don’t worry about it. This is an entirely normal physiological reaction.”

“It proves you’ve grown up.”

Ling Xiao glared at me. For once, the bird who always had a retort said nothing and simply flew away.

Stranger still, I could somehow see a blush through that furry face.

…

Now this was getting weird.

Perhaps the first incident had left Ling Xiao traumatized. I hadn’t seen a feather of him in days.

To keep the child from developing some unspeakable problem later in life, I decided to find him and have a proper talk.

But I hadn’t expected a little bird to be so hard to find.

I turned the entire residence upside down. The sky was nearly dark before I finally found him in the garden pond.

The chill of early spring still lingered. The pond was half ice and half water.

Except for his head, Ling Xiao’s whole body was submerged in the icy water.

It was freezing! Did he have a death wish?!

I was furious and frantic.

He didn’t respond when I called several times.

I had no choice but to fish him out myself.

It took every ounce of strength I had to haul him ashore.

By then, the bird was barely breathing.

Strangely, his feathers were scorching hot, and steaming white mist poured from his beak.

“Is the demon race’s mating season really this intense?” I muttered.

The System said, “He isn’t in heat. The villain is awakening his bloodline.”

Then it said, “But why so early? The villain’s phoenix bloodline shouldn’t be awakening yet…”

And then, “How strange. What in the world went wrong?”

The moment it came online, the System began muttering to itself off to one side.

I took off my cloak and wrapped Ling Xiao in it.

What a foolish bird.

He was nothing like the phoenixes of legend.

“…Woman, help me,” the little bird rasped, barely conscious.

“Huh? How?”

“Touch me.”

I didn’t understand why, but I did as he asked.

Sure enough, the little bird improved beneath my touch.

I studied my hand and couldn’t resist asking the System,

“Could I have awakened some kind of bloodline too?”

“In your dreams. That body is purely mortal. What bloodline could you possibly have?”

“Then why does he get better as soon as I touch him?”

“Maybe he’s secretly in love with you. Who knows?”

…

Tongtong was growing less reliable by the day. It could spin nonsense even better than I could.

“If you have nothing useful to say, you can get lost.”

I dismissed it without ceremony.

The System said, “Oh, I remember now. I came to warn you that your character is about to be killed off.”

“Congratulations, Host. You’ll soon be able to leave the mission world.”