On the way back.
Under the Little Demon Girl's repeated questioning, the Pheasant had no choice but to truthfully recount the whole incident.
"If you ask me, you deserve it!" The Little Demon Girl said angrily, "If I hadn't run into you today by sheer luck, I reckon you would have been served on a platter!"
"But Banana-senpai, what's up with you?" The Little Demon Girl then looked at Banana-kun in confusion, "Why do you seem so scared? What did they do to you?"
"I refuse to answer that question!" Banana-kun immediately bristled.
"Good heavens, seems like there's a story there?!" The Little Demon Girl's interest was piqued, and she stared intently at Banana-kun.
"Women are all devils!" Banana-kun spat out resentfully, pulled out a book from under his wing, and began to read.
"Where did the book come from?" The Little Demon Girl blinked in bewilderment, "I remember you didn't bring any books with you before you left?"
She knew about the Pheasant's wing having some kind of spatial storage function, but the Pheasant was definitely not the type to be interested in books.
"It was from a book stall when we were shopping earlier," the Pheasant chimed in before Banana-kun could reply.
"Borrowing, it's borrowing!" Banana-kun retorted, "Can reading the words of scholars be called stealing?!"
"I'm sure of it now," the Little Demon Girl nodded with certainty, "Neither of you is normal!"
"Right, Big Sister," the Pheasant suddenly thought of something, "Why are you hanging out with that woman again today? I always feel something is off about her."
"She is indeed quite off," the Little Demon Girl nodded, "I sensed a slight fluctuation of demonic energy from her."
"Big Sister means, she's like you too?" The Pheasant was immediately shocked.
"She's approaching me with some kind of purpose," the Little Demon Girl explained, "So I'll play along and see what she's up to. It's just to pass the time."
When they returned, Ye Fan was lying on a lounge chair reading a book.
"What's going on with you all?" Ye Fan was taken aback by their appearance.
The Little Demon Girl was relatively normal.
The Pheasant had lost more than half of its feathers.
Banana-kun was holding a book in a strange posture, reading with great interest...
"The little chick touched a female cultivator's backside and got beaten up," the Little Demon Girl replied briefly, then casually took out several large boxes from her ring, "Banana-senpai likes reading, so I bought him some on the way back."
"Big Brother, I actually lost my feathers while protecting Banana-kun!" the Pheasant said, stretching its neck, "Otherwise, those scumbags wouldn't have been any match for me!"
"Big Brother, women are devils!" Banana-kun replied solemnly and continued reading.
Ye Fan's mouth twitched.
Indeed.
The art style was irrepressibly heading in a bizarre direction...
He felt that since this transmigration, not a single person or event he encountered had been normal...
Night fell.
In the west wing.
The Pheasant lay on the bed, meditating, trying to use its demonic power to recover its lost feathers.
After eating the pill dregs Ye Fan had discarded last time, a lot of medicinal power remained within its body.
Now, this medicinal power was not only rapidly restoring its feathers but also continuously nourishing its body.
Its skin was also changing through various colors, just that the glow was no longer as intense.
As it cultivated, the feathers near its head showed signs of loosening again...
Banana-kun sat beside it, engrossed in reading a book.
It read very quickly, finishing a page or two with just a glance.
The room was filled with the sound of its constant page-turning.
Soon, one book was finished.
Casually setting it aside, it picked up the next one.
Furthermore, it was completely indiscriminate in its reading, picking up and reading any book.
At this moment, it was like a dry sponge, continuously absorbing various nutrients from the books.
After about two hours, it had already read more than half of the books the Little Demon Girl had bought.
"Phew—!" The Pheasant opened its eyes, feeling refreshed, "Awesome!"
It stretched its body and shook its wings, and a few feathers slowly drifted down.
The Pheasant picked up a feather, its expression complex.
After each cultivation session, it could clearly feel itself becoming stronger.
If it continued like this, it would reach the Nascent Soul realm before long.
But the feather loss was becoming more and more severe...
And the area on its head, no matter how much demonic power it gathered, stubbornly refused to grow any feathers.
The Pheasant felt that if this continued, it would soon become a featherless chicken...
On one side was appearance, on the other was strength.
The Pheasant struggled for a long time and decisively chose the latter.
Appearance was important, of course.
But without strength, it was all in vain.
Survival.
That's what mattered!
Today was a prime example.
If Big Sister hadn't appeared in time, it would probably have been on someone's plate by now.
Suddenly, the Pheasant had an inspiration.
How about...
Asking Big Brother tomorrow if he had any cultivation methods suitable for it?
Without systematic learning, its own random attempts seemed inefficient...
"Swish swish..."
The sound of page-turning continued.
The Pheasant turned its head and observed for a few seconds, "Bro Banana, you read so fast, can you remember it all?"
"My memory is quite good," Banana-kun casually closed the book and picked up another, "The human world is indeed more wonderful than I imagined!"
The Pheasant didn't dwell on it but turned its attention to a few books nearby.
"Bro Banana, why are these books placed separately?" The Pheasant picked one up curiously, "Is there something special about them?"
"These books are all dregs!" Banana-kun seemed to be provoked, "I plan to destroy them later!"
Thinking of the contents of those books just now, Banana-kun felt completely unwell!
Actually, it didn't have any particular opinion about those things at first, as humans were not the same species as it.
But the problem was that those things stirred up some unbearable shadows from today...
"Is that so..." The Pheasant mumbled and casually opened one to read.
"This... this is...?"
After reading a few pages, the Pheasant's eyes widened!
Simply put, these were erotic novels.
In terms of nature, they were roughly similar to something like "Plum Blossom Chamber."
However, because this was the cultivation world, the content and playful aspects were a bit more exciting than "Plum Blossom."
In any case, the Pheasant couldn't pull itself away after just a few glances!
"Holy cow, it can be done like this!"
"My goodness, they really know how to play!"
"Slurp—!"
...
At this moment.
The Pheasant deeply experienced the joy of reading.
Experienced the exhilaration of soaring in the ocean of knowledge.
I love learning!
Learning makes me happy!
From today onwards, I, the Pheasant, am also a reading demon!
By the time Banana-kun finished the last book, dawn was breaking.
It placed the book in its hand aside, shifted a bit, and nestled under the Pheasant's wing.
The Pheasant instinctively cooperated, its eyes still shining as it read.
After a while.
"Bro Banana, you can sleep, but why are you rubbing against my leg?" the Pheasant grumbled unhappily.
"My apologies," Banana-kun's voice came from under its wing, "I was startled today and had a nightmare just now."
The Pheasant felt a pang of self-reproach and covered Banana-kun tightly with its wing.
It was its fault that Bro Banana was startled today.
It was truly sorry to its brother!
Moreover, Bro Banana seemed to be quite frightened, as the nightmares didn't stop.
The Pheasant felt its claws getting a bit itchy and wanted to scratch, but it was afraid of disturbing its friend's rest.
Suppressing this thought, the Pheasant was once again lost in the ocean of knowledge.