Starting With Contract Pets

Chapter 168: An Ice Phoenix with Persecution Paranoia

“It should’ve hatched and escaped, but you can still sense its position with the contract,” Chen Ruoxue said dazedly.

“It’s okay; I’ll find it. Take care of the Ice Dragon; it should be hatching soon, too. I saw its egg move.” Su Bai nodded.

What he could not understand was that, after hatching, the phoenix had not touched any of the food prepared for it and had simply escaped. What was wrong?

Fortunately, there was his contract book. He opened it and turned to page five. A light blue Ice Phoenix pattern was engraved on it. Yes, this phoenix had indeed hatched, but he did not know where it went.

He focused his thoughts and sensed its location through the contract book.

He walked away but still could not see any traces of it on the road. He quickly walked to a side close to the backyard. He stayed there and followed his sensing to a corner near the backyard.

Everything was intact when he examined it. Could the phoenix have run into the backyard? Could it even run when it had just hatched? It was worth being a pet that was past the juvenile stage at birth, and he had not spent money on it in vain.

Su Bai was about to turn around and leave when he retraced his steps. Something was wrong here.

He knelt and took a look at the golden Chinese cedar floor. Although the floor was intact, it seemed like this particular piece could be removed freely.

He tapped it thrice lightly, and it let out a solid sound. He covered it with his hands and tried to open it but to no avail. It seemed like there was no problem with it.

A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. No matter how well it was hidden, he could still sense its presence with the contract book.

However, he was curious about why this newborn was so alert? Its action was too unpredictable; was it due to fear of meeting people?

Thinking about it, he pretended to leave but called the cub to uncover the floor with its spiritual power.

As soon as the floor was uncovered, cones of ice shot out from inside.

“Come out; I’m your Pet Tamer. I’m your partner, not your enemy.” Su Bai snapped and reached out to grab it. Because of the contract book’s rules, these ice cones fell upon touching him and were unable to inflict damage on him.

Although the space under the wooden plank was quite big, it was small enough for him to grab the big bird fast and pull it out without it escaping.

“Quack, quack!” Lemme go, lemme go! I’m just a stupid hen.”

The big bird cawed and spat ice cones to attack him, but it was to no avail.

“Where is our Ice Phoenix? Why is it an old yellow-haired hen?”

Su Bai stared at the yellow-haired old hen in his hand, stunned. Could it be that he had been played by the inheritance inside the Rainbow Gate? Was there actually no Ice Phoenix but a special old hen’s egg, instead?

However, the map of the contract book had indicated that this was the Ice Phoenix.

It was impossible that he had caught the old pet with such an accurate sensing.

“Howl?” Ah Bai, why did you catch an old hen? Do you want to eat it? inexplicably asked Purple Jade.

He shook his head. This Ice Phoenix was not simple, so he would look at its data first.

[Name|Race]: Ice Phoenix|Phoenix

[Sex]: Female

[Level]: High-level servant

[Attribute]: Ice

[Features|Passive]: Frostmourne (After the Ice Phoenix is frozen or its ice attribute hits an enemy, the damage of subsequent attacks will be tripled.)

Nirvana of Ice (The Ice Phoenix can perform Nirvana of Ice after its death. If the potential for success is higher, failure will disappear.)

[Skills]: Camouflage, Frost Bolt, Freeze

[Restrained]: Water and fire

[Weakness]: ...

[Evolution direction]: Embryo Phoenix — Young Phoenix — Mysterious Ice Phoenix — Crystal Ice Phoenix — Nirvana Ice Phoenix — Doomsday Ice Phoenix

Embryo Phoenix — Young Phoenix — Mysterious Dark Phoenix — Nine-Headed Mysterious Dark Phoenix — Nine-Headed Nirvana Phoenix

[Introduction]: This is a very cautious Ice Phoenix. When its mother died, it left cautious warnings and camouflage skills to it, which made the hatchling understand how dangerous and terrifying the world is. Hence, it decided to live forever as a prudent Ice Phoenix.

This Ice Phoenix inherited its mother’s prudent nature and it acted cautiously, disguising itself as an old hen but was still killed because it was caught before the exits of the cave could be opened...

*****

Su Bai: “...”

What the hell was this? This fellow was too talented. Not only had it passed the juvenile stage as soon as it was born, it had also quietly evolved once and broken through to a high-level servant.

Furthermore, it had disguised both of these points well. Without looking at its detailed data, no one would be able to determine all that from its aura.

“Quack, quack! (▼皿▼#)”

The Ice Phoenix kept attacking him with a furious and agitated expression, but it thought in its heart, Since I can’t hurt him despite attacking numerous times, he must be my real Pet Tamer.

D*mn it! Why did he establish a contract with me before I was even born? Sure enough, this world is sinister.

There’s even a big cat on the opposite side. I’ll have to think of a way to fool it into believing that I’m not tasty.

The baby bird contemplated this in its heart. With a snap, it shot out a pile of ice crystals poop.

It originally did not have that because it never ate garbage, drank morning dew, or ate aura, but to confuse the cat, it had no choice but to give its best. Unfortunately, it was not yet familiar with the disguise skill and had no way of disguising the poop as a smelly thing.

“Howl!” Disgusting!

The cub took a step back in disgust, wondering what was going on. Not only was the new partner ugly, it was also disgusting.

Speechless, Su Bai picked the bird up and glanced at it. “Can you look more like an Ice Phoenix? Can you show off your beautiful features and lovely voice?

“I already know what your true body looks like, and I also know that you’ve evolved once and are now a high-level servant. You can’t hide anything from my eyes; it’s useless to disguise your skills in front of me.”

“Quack, quack!” My dearest master, please stop talking about it. Exposing myself will probably lead to my death. I don’t want to die; I want to live forever.

The bird flopped over and held his mouth, hurriedly saying telepathically, My dear master, as long as you promise to help me hide, I’ll do my best to protect you for the rest of your life and to follow your orders. If you die, I’ll guard the grave for you.

Su Bai: “...”

I’m not dead yet, but you’ve already arranged the funeral for me.

I beg you, dear master. This world is too dangerous! “Quack!” the Ice Phoenix’s spirit transmitted.

“Okay, okay. I promise you. I really don’t know what warnings your mother has transmitted to you.”

Su Bai felt exasperated. The Ice Phoenix, which was originally so majestic, had become an old hen.

The phoenix’s mother was all to blame; he really wondered what kind of memory it had left behind for its offspring to become like this.

Oh, my poor Ice Phoenix.

Thinking of the possibility of flying an old hen in the sky in the future, his heart ran cold.

He originally thought that he could fly the phoenix since the dragon could not be publicly exposed, but who knew that the phoenix would turn into an old hen?

“Okay, let me go and introduce you to the other pets. This is Purple Jade, my first pet and your eldest sister. You two must get along with each other.”

He threw the hen-like Ice Phoenix on the ground, feeling very depressed.

“Howl! (?o?╰╯o??)” Hello, hello! I am Purple Jade, a cutie with both wood and poison attributes.

The cub smiled and waved its paw.

“Quack!”

With two bangs, the bird opened its mouth and hit the other with two hockey pucks.

It was said that many monsters were good at transforming and hiding themselves, so it had to guard against all monsters and pets.

“Howl! (▼ヘ▼#)” Go and die, stupid chicken! I’ll teach you the rules here.

The cub rushed forward and ruffled the hen’s feathers before walking back in satisfaction.

The Ice Phoenix stood up and limped a bit. It thought silently, Yes, it’s real. She hasn’t transformed, but she’s so strong. I must become stronger quickly. As expected, this world is too dangerous.

Su Bai hugged the bird, feeling bad for it. “Why bother? Isn’t it good to be an ordinary Ice Phoenix?”

“Quack, quack.” I’m a hen now, my beloved master.

The Ice Phoenix’s spirit transmission responded.

Su Bai was too lazy to bother with it. This Ice Phoenix had been so affected by its mother’s warning that it was now paranoid.

He picked it up and walked into the incubator room only to see a small white dragon circling around Chen Ruoxue’s arm. It was about thirty centimeters in length and had just left the juvenile stage. However, it was subpar compared to the disguised Ice Phoenix.

Thinking about it this way, he felt a little more balanced.

“Boyfie, come look at my newly hatched Ice Dragon. It’s such a well-behaved cutie!

“By the way, did you not find the Ice Phoenix? Why bring back a hen?”

Chen Ruoxue saw him come in and asked with a smile, looking skeptically at the old hen in his arms.

“You would never imagine that this is the Ice Phoenix. She has disguised herself as an old hen for some reason and is unwilling to change back.”

He shrugged.

“This... I only heard of hens wanting to become a phoenix, not vise-versa. Your Ice Phoenix is fascinating.”

She was also shocked.

“Quack, quack.” The bird cawed twice cooperatively.

Su Bai: “...”

“Forget it. They’ve just hatched. Let’s feed them some food first. I specially prepared their medicinal cakes and potions.”

Shaking his head, he placed the Ice Phoenix on the table and turned to get the potions.

Soon, he took out the medicinal cakes and placed them in two bowls. “Go on; these aren’t poisonous.”

“Quack.” Thank you, Ah Bai.

The Ice Phoenix’s eyes immediately lit up upon smelling the food, but it did not start eating right away. Instead, it grabbed a worm from a bamboo shoot outside the window with its spiritual power to test if there was poison.

After confirming that it was not poisonous, it nodded and released a dazzling blue light from its mouth. A snow ball froze the worm and then it shattered into flying dust.

My mother said that we can’t leave any future troubles. We must completely kill those we have offended, turning them to dust.

After doing all this, it took the two bowls and found a safe corner to start eating.

Su Bai: “...”

Chen Ruoxue: “...Are you sure that’s an Ice Phoenix? Is she okay?”

“Yes, it probably does not have any problem. Maybe it’s just a little paranoid,” Su Bai thought for a while and said.

“Hey, I have finished eating. Master, I will go back to the nest first.”

While Su Bai was talking, the Ice Phoenix quickly finished eating. It felt most vulnerable when eating, so it ate with the fastest speed.

In contrast, the little Ice Dragon on the other side only ate a bit of food.

Su Bai: “...Do you want to return to the contract book? It’s safe there.”

No. If you die, I can’t come out immediately. It’s not safe inside. The Ice Phoenix shook his head and left cautiously with its chicken tail.

Sighing helplessly, he decided to leave it alone for now. He hoped that it would get rid of this problem after being in contact with the world for a while. After all, he wanted a gorgeous Ice Phoenix.

“You are leaving tomorrow, aren’t you?” Su Bai exhaled.

Today was December 31, and tomorrow was New Year’s Day, which was also the day when Wei Ya would take Chen Ruoxue out to practice.

Having become accustomed to sleeping with his girlfriend beside him, he felt very reluctant to see her leave.

“Yes, but we will see each other again soon, and you can call me anytime with the phone, too,” Chen Ruoxue nodded and said.

“Alright. Tomorrow, I also plan to return to Baiyue Manor and store some things. Do you want me to bring any message for your parents?” he asked.

“No need. I already told them that I won’t be back for a long time. If I bring any message to them now, they may think that something wrong has happened to me and I am unable to return home.

“It’ll be even more troublesome if that happens. I’ll go back to see them when necessary.” She shook her head in response.

“You’re right.” He nodded in agreement.

She stepped forward to hold his hand and smiled at him. “Let’s go to dinner, future hubby. I’m hungry.”

“Let’s go then.” Su Bai nodded, preparing to find a good restaurant for them to have a nice dinner.

After a good meal, the two walked for a while and chatted a lot before returning to the room and falling asleep while they hugged each other.

Once Su Bai and the pets fell asleep, the old hen dug a hole under a tree in the backyard and ran out. It looked at the blood moon in the night sky and thought that this world was more dangerous than it thought. Even the Dragon Breath was filled with the smell of death.

It found a hidden place and sat down to breathe in aura, working hard to train itself. It must become stronger quickly to survive this dangerous time.

Sigh... What a pity. I can’t practice my skill here despite the abundance of powerful aura and can only breathe the aura painstakingly to improve my realm.

However, the potion its master had given it was indeed very good.

In the blink of an eye, it was dawn. The couple got up and dressed while sharing a deep kiss. They packed their bags and exhorted each other repeatedly.

At 8 a.m., the three of them landed on a mountain peak outside the Bloodthirsty Vine Bazaar.

“Protect yourself; don’t get hurt.” Su Bai looked at his girlfriend solemnly.

“You must remember to eat well and stop going to that kind of particularly dangerous place. Think about me; call me when you miss me, and I will do the same.” Chen Ruoxue nodded and exhorted.

“Don’t worry; I will take care of myself.” He smiled softly and waved his hand.

“Let’s go.” Wei Ya took Chen Ruoxue away.

Su Bai stood on the mountaintop and watched the two ladies drift farther and farther.