As the little fire sparrow focused intently on digging the soil, the child in the dirt pit suddenly stirred.
Rustle—
Rustle—
Number One propped himself up, pulling his head out of the dirt pit.
The light before his eyes was bright and dazzling, and the leaves swayed gently.
He heard the sound of soil scattering.
Just as he turned over, a handful of dirt was flung onto his face.
Number One looked around, his gaze falling on the creature beside him, its back turned to him, with a human body and bird wings.
The fanning of its fiery red wings sent more and more dirt flying over.
He quickly jumped out of the dirt pit and looked around.
It was quiet all around, and besides himself, the only living thing was the creature in front of him.
“Hey, do you know where this is?”
Number One shuffled closer to the human-bodied, bird-winged creature and asked.
Huo Ling'er was diligently digging the soil when she was suddenly asked this question.
She instinctively started to reply.
The words were on the tip of her tongue when she suddenly felt a jolt.
The fire feathers on her ears and wings instantly flared up, and her massive wings spread out in the air, assuming an offensive and defensive posture.
Chirp—!
A clear and rapid bird cry pierced through the forest.
Who?!
In an instant, a tense standoff ensued before the dirt pit in the open space.
Huo Ling'er flew in the air, her fiery red wings like burning flames under the sunlight.
The wind in the forest also grew stronger, rustling loudly.
It made even the strands of Number One’s hair fly up.
He looked at the bird-person in front of him, his eyes filled with surprise:
“Your wings are so beautiful!”
At this moment, Huo Ling'er also clearly saw the source of the sudden voice.
It was small, dirty, and covered in mud.
“Human slave?”
She caught sight of the dirt pit out of the corner of her eye, then looked at the human slave in front of her.
“You’re not dead?”
Hearing her voice, Number One’s eyes revealed confusion.
Then, he suddenly understood.
“We don’t speak the same language…”
“I wanted to ask if you’d seen Number Two…”
He clearly remembered being thrown down together with Number Two.
Why was he the only one left here?
However, the most pressing matter now was how to communicate with the locals.
As Number One was thinking, a gust of wind suddenly appeared before him.
The fire sparrow swooped down, its feet transforming into two bird claws.
It directly gripped the clothes on Number One’s shoulders and flapped its wings.
It flew directly in one direction.
Number One was slightly surprised, then became calm.
He tilted his head up and asked:
“Where are you taking me? Or are you going to hide me and eat me?”
Huo Ling'er looked down at the chattering little human slave, “It seems he’s still foolish, hasn’t even learned to speak yet.”
“If only you had died, and I could have buried you…”
Now, it was troublesome, forcing her to make an extra trip.
Whoosh—
As Huo Ling'er's speed increased, the sound of the wind in her ears grew louder.
Number One silently noted her tone and pronunciation.
With a bit more conversation and observation, he would be able to understand the language here.
…
Jiang Lin was experiencing a very strange sensation.
He could see what Number One saw and feel what Number One felt.
It was as if he were Number One.
However, he could also clearly observe this world from a third-person perspective, seeing everything.
It was like being in a dream.
Familiar yet strange, clear yet hazy.
Every time Number One's gaze fell on the fire sparrow,
Jiang Lin could see streams of fiery red airflow within the fire sparrow's body, changing with her movements.
Sometimes intense, sometimes slow.
Sometimes extending, sometimes contracting.
As he observed, Jiang Lin gradually discovered that he seemed to be able to predict the fire sparrow's next move through these fiery red airflows.
What is this?
Why can I see such a sight?
Is it Number One's ability?
And who is this Number One?
The more he was shocked by the incredible nature of this ability, the more curious Jiang Lin became about Number One's identity.
With such ability and intelligence,
What future development would Number One lack?
“Is ‘Number One’ a codename?”
Does Number Two possess the same ability as him?
…
While Jiang Lin was contemplating,
The fire sparrow flew, crossing forests and mountains.
What appeared before Number One’s eyes were houses built from giant stones.
Calling them houses was a bit of a stretch; they were barely shelters.
In some places, the gaps between the stones were too large, and when the weather changed, they were bound to leak rain and wind.
These giant stone houses were not built without any pattern.
From Number One’s perspective, all the stone houses were arranged in rows, from small to large, from low to high.
The higher and larger the stone house, the more exquisite its craftsmanship.
Some even had a string of huge teeth hanging above the house, exuding a fierce aura.
Any demon that passed by would detour.
Outside these stone houses, there was a stone wall enclosing all of them.
On the stone wall, demons stood guard with weapons.
At first glance, it looked like a demon village made of giant stones.
However, the reality seemed to be different.
Between the giant stone houses,
Demons could be seen moving about from time to time.
Some were patrolling, some were chatting.
Others were supervising humans working, pulling cartloads of crystal blue stones into a certain place for processing.
Those humans were dirty and black, their clothes tattered—only leaves were used to barely cover their lower bodies.
Each person bore scars of varying sizes, and their faces showed deep exhaustion.
Some were no older than fifteen or sixteen, but they looked like people in their late twenties.
“Faster! Don’t dawdle!”
“Keep up, you behind!”
A demon holding an iron whip urged them on.
Seeing anyone moving slowly, he would whip them.
Crack!
The whip had protruding spikes, and with one strike, the skin and flesh would split open.
Blood and flesh rolled out.
“Don’t think about slacking off!”
The person who was hit grunted and quickly got up, pushing the cart in front of him with all his might.
Seeing this, no one in front or behind dared to make a sound.
All of them tensed up, trying their best to push the cart forward, lest the whip fall upon them.
…
Chirp—
A bird cry sounded.
Huo Ling'er arrived outside the stone wall and slowed down.
She circled three times in the air, seemingly searching for something.
Below, a hawk-beaked demon standing on the stone wall asked:
“You finished patrolling so quickly today? Where did you get that little human slave?”
Huo Ling'er casually replied, “Found him.”
Then she flew towards the stone houses inside, to the front of the lowest and worst row of stone houses.
Her claws loosened.
She dropped the little human slave at the entrance of a stone house.
Seeing where she dropped him, the hawk-beaked demon on the stone wall said:
“That little human slave looks old enough, he can start working after a bit more nurturing. Why did you throw him there?”
Huo Ling'er glanced at him, “Didn’t you also say he needs more nurturing?”
The hawk-beaked demon: “You could let him follow the adult human slaves to get used to it!”
Huo Ling'er raised her fiery red wings and flapped them.
She flew straight into the sky.
“Since I’ve already dropped him, I still have to go on patrol.”
…