23 Chicken! (3)

"Ack! Egg barrage!" Yang Zhang quickly shielded his face with his arms, but it was to no avail as the hens were attacking from all directions.

"Vii!"

"Squeak, squeak!" Little Ivy curled inside Yang Zhang's sleeve while Chestnut jumped inside the jacket to protect itself.

"Ack! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"

Of course, the egg barrage wasn't too painful, just stung a bit on his skin, but it didn't give any particular damage to him.

However, that didn't mean he was perfectly safe. It seemed the rooster commander was only using the egg barrage for one thing.

After it stopped, Yang Zhang's body was all sticky wet, covered with egg yolk, and smelled so bad.

But that wasn't the worst of it…

Yang Zhang clenched his fist again, trying to activate his newly-obtained ability, Dynamic Fire.

But no matter how many times and how strong he clenched his fist, the fire only sparked for a second before it died down.

"Oh shit! My body is too wet to generate fire!" Yang Zhang tried to wipe his sticky wet fist with his undershirt. Sensing the gaze of the jungle fowls ready to attack at any time filled him with a sense of dread.

But since it was egg yolk, it stuck to Yang Zhang no matter how many times he tried to wipe it off.

"W—Wait, wait, wait! This isn't fair! I'm not prepared to fight this!" Yang Zhang panicked as he desperately tried to clean himself first so that he could generate fire again.

The rooster commander showed a smug expression towards Yang Zhang and was ready to command. This time, it would absolutely decimate Yang Zhang.

"Arghhh, damn it!" Yang Zhang roared as he looked around. The jungle fowls were all ready to lunge at him again.

Yang Zhang frantically searched for an idea to save his damn life. Since there was no way out except facing the rooster commander, it might be his end.

Unless…

Yang Zhang observed how the rooster commander puffed up his chest again, ready to give another order. He watched how the jungle fowls wouldn't move unless that rooster commander ordered.

"Ah! I got it!" Yang Zhang suddenly found a great idea and something that he should've done in the first place. "Little Ivy, give me your vine!"

"Vii!"

Little Ivy stretched one vine for Yang Zhang to hold on tightly. He carefully watched how the rooster commander opened his beak.

"COCK-A-DOODLE—"

"Now, Ivy! Aim for the neck!" Yang Zhang threw the vine towards the rooster commander. Little Ivy quickly coiled around the rooster commander's neck, choking him.

"COCK-A-DOODLE—OCK"

Yang Zhang quickly tightened his grip on the vine and made a circular movement upward, imitating a cowboy lasso.

"I GOT YOUR LEADER. STAY BACK!" Yang Zhang warned, and the jungle fowls distanced themselves obediently, afraid that something might happen to their commander.

"LEAVE NOW, OR I WILL KILL YOUR LEADER!" Yang Zhang yelled out loud, hoping that it was enough to intimidate the jungle fowls.

They didn't leave their spot, however. They kept a safe distance but stayed ready to attack if given an opening.

Yang Zhang realized then that it would be impossible to kill the rooster commander because he was afraid the commander's death would make them go absolutely crazy and kill Yang Zhang as an act of revenge.

'Alright, since I can't intimidate them. It's best to get rid of the source first, far, far away from me,' Yang Zhang thought.

Yang Zhang swung the rooster commander round and round and yelled, "CATCH THIS THEN! HYAAAT!"

Yang Zhang exerted all of his strength to give one last swing and yelled, "Ivy, release!"

"Vii!"

Little Ivy released the vine coiling on the rooster commander's neck right when Yang Zhang flung the rooster away from him. The throw was so powerful that the rooster commander was nowhere to be seen after being pitched away.

Yang Zhang looked around at the confused roosters and hens, "What? You guys are going to stand around here while your commander is somewhere else? Go search for your leader!"

The jungle fowls looked at each other and then instantly abandoned their mission, strutting away in search of their boss. "Cluck, cluck, cluck…."

Yang Zhang stood his ground for a good while until all the jungle fowls were gone. Then he allowed himself to collapse on the ground, exhausted after using too much of his strength.

"Huff… huff… huff…." Yang Zhang looked up at the branches and leaves that covered the sky. He patted Little Ivy and Chestnut inside his jacket, "Okay, guys, you can get out now, it'll be alright—urk!"

Yang Zhang suddenly felt so nauseous. He could feel the Mana Bead inside his gut rise up to his chest and then his throat. The Mana Bead stuck in his throat, causing him to gag.

"Urck—Ack—ACK!" Yang Zhang got up and tried to puke his gut out because he was choking on the Mana Bead.

"Squeak! Squeak!"

"Vii!"

Little Ivy gave out a hand by slapping Yang Zhang's back until he could vomit up the Mana Bead. All of his strength drained out of him instantly, and Yang Zhang slumped limply to the ground.

"Urgh, it tastes horrible…."

He stared at the Mana Bead on the ground. It still had the same shape with no defect, but it was covered with his gross saliva, another disgusting thing from his vomit.

"I got to wash this off and find an animal to use it on," Yang Zhang mused.

But before he could pick the Mana Bead up, a tiny chick from the horde of jungle fowl suddenly approached him.

"Chirp, chirp!"

"Eh?! Why are you here?!" Yang Zhang looked around to check whether the jungle fowls had returned to attack him again, but it seemed this little chick was all alone.

The chick walked towards the Mana Bead, stared up at Yang Zhang for a second, and pecked it!