Chapter 16: Did You Lose the Rooster?

"Did someone kick you in the face?" came the puzzled question.

Zhang Yong’s face flushed crimson at once, wishing he could crawl into a crack in the ground. Despite the seething indignation inside him, he was well aware of the young woman’s temperament before him, so he could only nod slowly.

At that moment, the shoeprint on his face burned as if it were on fire—an excruciating pain.

"Hahaha, serves you right! That’s what you get for messing with my senior brother," Zhou Yan gloated, making no effort to hide her schadenfreude.

Just then, Xiao Yang squeezed through the crowd. He had heard his junior sister’s voice from afar and arrived just in time to witness Zhang Yong, head bowed, being mocked. A strange expression flickered across his face. He truly hadn’t expected his usually harmless-looking junior sister to be so fierce.

"Senior brother!" Zhou Yan soon spotted Xiao Yang among the crowd and happily ran over to him, paying Zhang Yong no further attention.

"Yan’er," Xiao Yang greeted, reaching out to gently pat her head.

Immediately, waves of murderous intent locked onto Xiao Yang. "It seems the title of 'First Beauty of the Jueling Sect' is well earned," he mused. A simple gesture had drawn dozens of hostile, jealous glares—all from Zhou Yan’s admirers. Each one was at least a third-rank martial artist, all considered geniuses in their own right.

While all eyes were on Xiao Yang, Zhang Yong quietly slipped away. Yet, after only a few steps, he stopped, glaring back at Xiao Yang among the crowd, rage threatening to burst his lungs. His original plan had been to humiliate or even kill Xiao Yang, but instead, he had been played for a fool.

"Just wait until my brother breaks through to Martial Marquis! I’ll make you two pay a hundred, a thousand times over!" he swore under his breath before hastily leaving. Not a moment longer could he endure—the shoeprint stood out too clearly. He would have to hide out for a while.

At that same moment, Xiao Yang suddenly looked up, catching sight of the departing trio, a cold glint in his eyes. "So they think I’m made of clay?" he thought resentfully. He’d wanted to beat Zhang Yong up himself, but noticed two men from the Disciplinary Hall lurking in the shadows. The Disciplinary Hall was under the control of the Grand Elder. Xiao Yang knew that if he struck, there would be only one outcome: released in the morning, arrested by afternoon.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, he had borrowed someone else’s fist to do the beating. Even if he were accused, he could insist it was Zhang Yong’s people fighting among themselves. He doubted that old Gongsun Miao would dare arrest him. If he did, not only Xiao Yang but even Zhou Jingpeng wouldn’t show any courtesy.

Within the crowd, a black-robed youth said coolly, "Let’s go." Embroidered on his chest was a large character for "Discipline," clearly marking him as a member of the Disciplinary Hall. The other youth beside him hesitated, confused. "Vice Hall Master, this is Miss Gongsun’s order, are we just leaving?"

He glanced at Xiao Yang, but was met with a cold snort. "That guy’s gotten smarter. There’s no point in staying here," the black-robed youth replied, turning to leave. The other followed reluctantly.

"Good thing I was cautious," Xiao Yang thought with relief as he watched the two leave. Had he actually attacked Zhang Yong himself, he’d surely have been hauled off today. He recognized the black-robed youth: Vice Hall Master of the Disciplinary Hall, a Great Martial Master whose talent was second only to Zhang Long within the Jueling Sect. If it had come to blows, Xiao Yang wasn’t confident of victory.

He also grew more wary of Zhang Long—a ruthless character, willing to use his own brother as bait just to trap him. Such methods were not common.

Yet, what Xiao Yang didn’t know was that Zhang Long had no idea about this matter; he was simply overthinking.

"Senior brother, are you alright?" Zhou Yan noticed Xiao Yang’s distraction and asked with concern, reaching out to touch his face.

At once, it was as if the air around them filled with the sound of hearts shattering.

"Ahem, let’s go back first," Xiao Yang said quickly, feeling the hostile stares of the crowd closing in. If they stayed any longer, he’d become the sect’s public enemy. Those eyes looked at him as if he were a bitter rival who had stolen their beloved.

"Alright!" Zhou Yan nodded, letting Xiao Yang lead her away by the hand. They walked a fair distance before stopping again.

Suddenly, Xiao Yang remembered something: he hadn’t seen the Cockerel King. By rights, the bird should have come as soon as he was released. Puzzled, he asked, "By the way, Yan’er, where’s my battle beast, the Big Rooster?"

At his question, Zhou Yan’s expression shifted slightly, a hint of embarrassment on her face.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Xiao Yang immediately sensed something was wrong. Anxiously, he asked, "Yan’er, what happened to my rooster?" He prayed inwardly that it hadn’t died; it had taken countless years to breed a King of the Speckled Chickens like that one. Few people could compare to that bird.

Seeing Xiao Yang’s worried look, Zhou Yan fidgeted and said, "Senior brother, there was a little accident..." Her head drooped, looking like a child who’d done something wrong.

In that moment, Xiao Yang felt his heart sink. A deep wail echoed inside him, "Cockerel King, your master has let you down!" Sorrow welled up, and he couldn’t help but look mournfully to the heavens. It took him a while to recover. He hadn’t spent much time with the bird, but its departure was so sudden, so unexpected.

"Ah, never mind. Such is fate," he sighed. He couldn’t bring himself to blame Zhou Yan, so the Cockerel King would just have to accept its misfortune.

"How did it die?" Xiao Yang finally asked, desperate to know how his rooster had met its end.

He heaved a long sigh, grief written on his face. "Go on, I can handle it."

But Zhou Yan only stared in confusion. "Who told you the Big Rooster died?"

"Eh?" Xiao Yang was stunned. From her timid demeanor, it hadn’t sounded like a minor mishap, and perhaps he’d overthought things.

He coughed awkwardly and asked, "Then what do you mean by ‘a little accident’?"

Only then did he learn what had really happened.

After that day when Zhou Yan had chased the rooster with a sword, she felt guilty and wanted to make amends by cooking a nice meal for it. But when she entered the room, she found one of its kin dead. That wasn’t unusual, but she noticed there wasn’t enough firewood, so she went to chop some. As she stepped out of the kitchen with the hatchet, she ran into the Cockerel King. At the sight of the gleaming blade in Zhou Yan’s hand, the bird didn’t hesitate—it bolted.

Zhou Yan, seeing the battle beast dash away, panicked and gave chase with the hatchet. Terrified, the rooster ran for its life. This continued until Zhou Yan lost track of it. When she told Zhou Jingpeng, she was scolded. She’d spent the past few days searching the nearby hills but hadn’t found the bird.

"It’s lost?" Xiao Yang finally understood: his rooster was missing! He was at a loss for words. The first thing she did upon seeing it was threaten to eat it, then chased it around with her sword. Though she’d tried to apologize and cook for it, she emerged from the kitchen swinging a hatchet. No wonder the Cockerel King was scared out of its wits.

"It’s probably traumatized now," he thought. From then on, for a long time, the Cockerel King would give Zhou Yan a wide berth.

"I’m sorry, senior brother. I promise I’ll find the Big Rooster," Zhou Yan said remorsefully.

Xiao Yang’s heart ached at her guilt. He patted her hair with a smile. "Silly girl, it’s no big deal. It’s just a rooster."

Though his words were light, he had already resolved to search for the Cockerel King as soon as they got back. After all, that bird outshone many people.

"Senior brother, you’re the best!" Zhou Yan immediately brightened, trying to throw her arms around Xiao Yang.

Suddenly, a loud shout startled them both. "How dare you!"

The two spun around like guilty children, startled and flustered. They saw a boy of thirteen or fourteen glaring at them, his eyes blazing with fury.

"And who might you be?" Xiao Yang asked, annoyed at the interruption just as his junior sister was about to embrace him. Most importantly, he didn’t even know this boy.