CHAPTER 355: CHAPTER 355: CLOUD WORLD (QUE ZELIAN) 3

"Alright." Jinsheng watched the little orange-red bird walk away, her gaze almost boring a hole in its back.

The little orange-red bird naturally felt her gaze.

But it still managed to calm its inexplicably flustered heart.

The Floating Island in the shadow was still cool inside the cave, even with the glow of the setting sun.

And in the cave, the only furnishing was a stone bed covered with dry grass, which Jinsheng could sit on.

As soon as Jinsheng sat on the grassy stone bed, she noticed it emitted a warm feeling.

And the texture of the dry grass was exactly the same as the bed Que Zelian had conjured for her using Cloud Sky.

Jinsheng’s eyes shifted as she turned her head to look outside the cave.

The little orange-red bird was only about the size of a palm.

And it couldn’t fly.

Walking through the piled Red Maple leaves, it was easy for someone to accidentally step on it.

Jinsheng got up and chased after it from the cave, looking around for the little orange-red bird.

Then she heard the sound of flapping wings behind her.

Jinsheng turned around to see the little orange-red bird perched on a branch, with a string of fruits in its beak.

Since it didn’t have hands, it broke off a branch carrying the fruits and swung its wings to get Jinsheng’s attention.

The little orange-red bird held the branch of fruits in its beak and bowed its head to signal Jinsheng to catch it.

But Jinsheng just stood there looking up at it, grinning foolishly, without any reaction.

After hinting several times, the little orange-red bird wondered if it was a language barrier.

It had to temporarily hang the fruits on the tree and said to Jinsheng, "Don’t make me read your mind."

"But you can read my mind."

"Didn’t you say that mind reading is a personal privacy issue?" Jinsheng asked, "If you read it, I’ll know all your secrets."

"I have no secrets," the little orange-red bird quickly replied.

Before grabbing the fruits again, it reminded Jinsheng, "This is for you."

This time, when the little orange-red bird lowered its head to offer the fruits, Jinsheng reached out and took them.

But after receiving the fruits, she continued to stand under the tree, grinning up at the little orange-red bird.

The little orange-red bird tilted its head quizzically, "Why don’t you go back to the cave?"

"I’m pondering something," Jinsheng laughed, "Aren’t you currently unable to fly?"

"Then how did you climb up the tree?"

Upon hearing this, the little orange-red bird’s expression froze.

Jinsheng smiled and continued to ask, "Little bird, little bird, how do you plan on getting down later?"

"I’ll find a way," the little orange-red bird replied, trying to keep a serious expression.

Then it saw that Jinsheng was prepared to stand under the tree and wait for it, not planning to leave.

At that moment, the two stared at each other, deadlocked.

In the end, the little orange-red bird couldn’t resist and fluttered its wings to jump directly from the trunk.

But as it fell freely to the ground, it hardly looked like a bird.

Just as it was about to plummet into the pile of Red Maple leaves, a wisp of mist gently lifted it up.

The little orange-red bird stood atop the mist, initially feeling quite comfortable.

But as Jinsheng raised the mist, it became thinner and thinner under it.

The feeling of being suspended came directly from beneath its feet.

"Sorry about that," Jinsheng laughed as she saw the little orange-red bird struggling to maintain its balance on the mist, she thickened it again, apologizing, "I thought you’d prefer it a bit thinner."

"Why do I feel like you were getting some sort of revenge just now?" The little orange-red bird locked its gaze on her playful smile.

"No, absolutely not," Jinsheng shook her head in denial.

She raised two fingers in a solemn vow, her face full of sincerity, "I’m just a stone, stones don’t have bad intentions."

"I want to get down now," the little orange-red bird reminded her, hoping Jinsheng would lower the mist.

Jinsheng mimicked his earlier reaction, tilting her head slightly, "Beg me."

"Hm?" The little orange-red bird was startled, staring at Jinsheng in amazement.

In those sunset-colored eyes filled with pure curiosity, Jinsheng quickly backtracked, "I mean, do you need me to teach you how to fly?"

"I can fly too," Jinsheng’s voice elongated.

To prove she could control the wind, she immediately floated in the air, sitting cross-legged.

"The flight I envision isn’t what you think," the little orange-red bird shook its head.

"Isn’t it just flying?" Jinsheng was puzzled.

The little orange-red bird, however, didn’t respond, encouraging Jinsheng to hurry back to the cave to rest.

And it itself turned to walk even further away.

Jinsheng didn’t read its mind.

But she quietly followed behind.

Just when she was hiding in the bushes, she encountered Qing Sangbiao, who was using its claws to rummage through the fallen leaves.

"Stone..." Upon seeing Jinsheng, Qing Sangbiao was about to ask loudly.

Jinsheng reached out, pinching its beak gently with two fingers.

"Shh." Jinsheng hushed it, pointing to the little orange-red bird who was searching for something, signaling Qing Sangbiao to stay quiet.

Qing Sangbiao obediently nodded in compliance.

After Jinsheng released it, it sneakily followed behind Jinsheng, peeking at the little orange-red bird.

It even looked more like a thief compared to Jinsheng.

The little orange-red bird searched for more than three hours among the pile of fallen leaves before it finally found a small red stone the size of a soybean.

"Tch." Qing Sangbiao snorted immediately, "Thought it found some treasure, but it’s just another stone."

"I’m not watching anymore, it’s not fun at all." Qing Sangbiao shook its head, about to leave.

Jinsheng, on the other hand, was looking at the stone the little orange-red bird had found.

There was a faint trace of Star Stone Energy.

Thinking of Que Zelian’s forgotten memories, his lost superpowers.

She had a theory.

Que Zelian, having reverted back to a little bird, wants to fly again.

Could it be that he wants to restore his superpowers and memories?

Seeing Qing Sangbiao about to leave, Jinsheng quickly caught up to Qing Sangbiao.

Que Zelian’s issue could wait; she could read Que Zelian’s mind later.

On Qing Sangbiao, she might be able to ask some other questions.

"Stone, are you asking when Que Zelian came to the Cloud World?" Qing Sangbiao tilted its head in confusion.

"Yes." Jinsheng nodded, "I want to know how long he’s been living in the Cloud World."

"Let me count," Qing Sangbiao spread its wings, fanning out its feathers, and began counting them.

"One, three, six, two, seven, five, nine, four..."

"Wait! Wait!" Jinsheng hurriedly stopped it, her eyes widening in astonishment, "Is that how you count?"

"Don’t you count like this?" Qing Sangbiao was quite puzzled as to why Jinsheng had such a big reaction.

Jinsheng even gave it a demonstration, "Shouldn’t it be one, two, three, four, five, six, seven?"

"Illiterate," Qing Sangbiao pointed at her, declaring confidently.

That one word left Jinsheng petrified in place.

Qing Sangbiao shook its head in disdain, "Stop interrupting; if you can’t count, just admit it, no bird will make fun of you."

Saying that, it ignored Jinsheng’s interference and seriously continued counting.

It took almost five minutes for it to figure out twenty-something numbers.

"Nineteen, twelve, twenty-four, ten, eleven, twenty-five." Qing Sangbiao nodded in satisfaction, "I’ve worked it out: Que Zelian has been in the Cloud World for twenty-five years now."

"Twenty-five?" Jinsheng’s numb gaze swept over the feathers it had just counted.

At first glance, it didn’t seem significant.

But upon further inspection, she realized that the feathers Qing Sangbiao had just counted added up to exactly twenty-five.

"Pretty impressive," Caicai clicked his tongue, "Even though the process was wrong, the result was right."