Chapter 21: Vegetable Garden and the Rooster

Riding on the back of a wasp, Ji Chang cautiously ventured out of the entrance of his house, avoiding flying too high to prevent any potential danger. Utilizing the wasp's swift flight speed, Ji Chang quickly arrived at the location of the water tap. Compared to his previous rides on ants, this wasp ride was many times faster.

After confirming that the water tap was still dripping, Ji Chang adjusted his direction and flew towards the depths of the small courtyard. The wasp's speed was impressive, and Ji Chang felt that as long as he didn't act too boldly, he shouldn't attract the attention of birds. Now riding on the wasp, he wasn't as worried about insects, but rather about the presence of birds. So, Ji Chang kept the wasp flying close to the ground.

Guided by his memories of the rural courtyard, Ji Chang rode the wasp until he reached a small vegetable garden with a few scattered small cabbage plants. It seemed that because Zhou Jun's grandfather hadn't lived here for a long time, the garden had fallen into neglect. However, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that even a small corner of a cabbage leaf could provide them with several meals.

A few minutes later, Ji Chang landed the wasp on a raised mound within the garden. Dismounting from the wasp, standing on the elevated ground, Ji Chang felt like he was standing on a mountaintop. However, this wasn't a moment for a sweeping view of the surroundings; it was more like a view of the grandeur of mountains...

Gazing at the nearby small cabbages, they seemed like towering trees to him. While he had found the vegetables, a new problem arose. Ji Chang pondered how he should pick the vegetables and how to transport them back.

Plucking a single small cabbage leaf was beyond his capabilities. Even if he managed to pluck it, the wasp couldn't carry such a load back. Dragging them back like he did with the water on ants was impractical. After all, he was on the outermost edge of the courtyard, and getting back to the house's entrance from this position would require a distance of at least ten meters.

Although wasps were fast flyers, the distance wasn't the problem; it was the weight. Carrying a load would likely slow them down, and dragging it back was not only too far but also risky.

As Ji Chang contemplated, he suddenly felt a strong vibration in his ears. Immediately after, he witnessed an enormously large figure rushing into the garden.

Once Ji Chang could clearly see the massive figure, his heart trembled. It was a rooster! Observing the fiery red comb atop its head and the colorful feathers shimmering in the sunlight, Ji Chang knew it was a male rooster.

In the past, Ji Chang would have undoubtedly admired the rooster's fierce appearance and its remarkable beauty. However, now... from Ji Chang's perspective, the entire rooster seemed to be covered by a flickering illusion.

If the sparrows he had seen before could be likened to primordial giants, then this rooster suddenly appearing in the vegetable garden left Ji Chang at a loss for words.

It wasn't something that could be described in a single word. The appearance of the flickering illusion was evidence enough.

Upon its entrance, the rooster immediately aimed for a small cabbage. Ji Chang saw the enormous, illusory beak of the rooster pecking incessantly at the cabbage. Soon, amidst the flying debris of cabbage, the rooster had devoured the small cabbage down to the last shred.

Seeing the cabbage stripped clean, a smile appeared on Ji Chang's face. It was stripped clean for the rooster, that is. For Ji Chang, there were still many fragments of that towering cabbage left, fragments that seemed much larger than his own body from his perspective.

Just as Ji Chang stood on the soil, waiting for the rooster to move away so he could take advantage of the situation, he suddenly noticed the rooster's gaze shift towards his direction. More accurately, it was looking at the wasp next to him!

In the next moment, the rooster flapped its enormous wings, causing its fiery comb and wattles to tremble intensely. Then, with cautious steps, it began approaching.

Seeing this, Ji Chang's heart tightened. Swift as lightning, he swiftly mounted the wasp, and with a thought, the wasp took off. Anticipating the wasp's escape, the rooster attacked like a sharp sword.

Just as the wasp, carrying Ji Chang, was about to leave the mound, the rooster's illusion-laden beak struck violently at the wasp's original position. In an instant, dirt flew in all directions like a sandstorm.

Although Ji Chang managed to evade the rooster's attack by riding the wasp, the rooster's charging speed was unbelievably fast. The flapping of its wings created gusts of wind so strong that the wasp and Ji Chang were shaken violently. The wind cut across Ji Chang's face like knives, and his expression grew extremely grim.

In his heart, Ji Chang cursed the sudden aggression of the rooster. Instead of just feasting on the cabbages, it decided to target his wasp.

"Fly higher! Quickly!"

Despite cursing the rooster in his mind, Ji Chang didn't dare to be careless. After evading the rooster's attack, he once again shouted out instructions to the wasp beneath him. He knew that the wasp's current flying height was still within the rooster's attack range. The rooster could practically engulf them by raising its head.

Even though chickens couldn't fly, a quick flutter of their wings could elevate them two or three meters high with ease. Thus, Ji Chang ordered the wasp without hesitation to fly as high as possible. At this moment, he didn't have the luxury to be concerned about whether the creatures in the sky were birds or something else. The primary concern was whether they could evade the rooster's attacks.

...

As Ji Chang had speculated, right after its "misjudgment," the rooster adjusted its posture with a wing beat and aimed its head upward. Then, like an immense entity, its beak, accompanied by a gust of wind, struck down with a thunderous impact.

Feeling the wind behind him, Ji Chang's back chilled. He didn't have time to look back; instead, he swiftly steered the wasp to the side. In the next instant, the rooster's colossal beak, with an illusion in tow, suddenly appeared beside Ji Chang's body. It came perilously close to the wasp's rapidly fluttering wings.

Although Ji Chang was quick to react and evaded the beak's strike, the explosive sound that came when the beak closed shut almost threw Ji Chang off the wasp's back. Not only that, but Ji Chang felt like his eardrums were about to be punctured.

Frustrated by its frequent misses, the rooster seemed increasingly agitated. As the wasp soared into the air, avoiding the rooster's pursuit, Ji Chang's mental energy seemed to drain halfway in an instant. The wasp's flight speed surged dramatically as it ascended into the high sky.