2 A New Companion!

"Hoooo. Hoooo." A tiny voice sounded out.

Jing could be seen turning over in her sleep from the noise, sleeping so peacefully it was as if she was sleeping on yellow fluffy clouds in the sky. But the noise didn't go away and she actually felt something on top of her forehead! She quickly smacked her face as hard as she could, causing a painful sting and a fluttery sound. She looked at her hands to see any blood or something of the creature she just crushed but it turns out she didn't crush anything. She blinked her eye crust away and looked at the baby animal staring into her eyes.

"A baby owl?" Jing questioned as the owl hopped over to her rock pillow and sunk into it with a look of bliss on its face.

The owlet had the potential to look quite regal and majestic in the future despite its current state of being a dumb-looking baby. It had sharp yellow eyes and a black beak along with sharp black curved talons. Its pure white feathers and wings were pretty thick even though it was just born and made it look larger than it was. It was pretty large for a baby bird Jing thought. It was around the size of her head and if it opened its wings it would for sure be bigger.

She looked around in her now sunlight lit cave and everything was exactly the same inside it. Except the rainbow-colored pieces of egg shattered near her pillow. The owl was now sleeping sunken inside the pillow rock and Jing slowly got up and stretched her well rested bones.

"So you're the animal that was inside that mysterious egg.. I hope you like berries because I don't have anything else I can feed you." Jing said as she placed the red berries near the pillow rock and grabbed her refined whip from last night.

Jing exited from her cave with her whip in hand as she headed towards that pond from yesterday. She spotted a few small critters and avoided a very active beehive as she made her way to the pond without any trouble. Jing chose not to immediately strip naked once she made it to the pond and instead search around the pond in case there was anything dangerous nearby. Thankfully she found nothing but more small animals and insects around the pond.

Jing then slowly undressed herself while keeping an eye out around the pond and then placed her clothing underneath a tree. She hid her whip underneath the water's surface just to be extra careful. And now finally engulfed herself into the warm relaxing pond. The water moving along with her figure underneath the surface of the water. It was almost as if it was directing her while at the same time following her. She was the leader and the follower simultaneously. Using her dainty mousy hands to wash any grime, dust, and filth off her body. Her hands moved up and down her figure, leaving no part uncovered and not explored. Jing had a satisfied look on her face as she started on washing her pitch-black hair.

But as she was washing her hair, she heard the sound of rustling grass behind one of the trees. She quickly dumped herself underneath the water and grabbed her whip. The source of the noise hasn't revealed themselves yet and Jing continued to hold her breath underwater. She looked out from below the pond. The pond's clear water easily allowed her to see from beneath the water's surface.

'If this isn't some dangerous wild animal and not some innocent loud critter, I'm going to be angry..' Jing swore as her air reserves were getting increasingly low.

The creature still haven't revealed themselves and Jing couldn't hold her breath anymore. She tightly gripped her whip as she burst upward for air. She whipped her hair backwards and out of her face as she opened her eyes and whipped her weapon towards the source of the sound.

"EEEEEE!" A high-pitched scream sounded out as Jing's whip wrapped around the mysterious creature.

It continued shrieking as Jing increasingly squeezed the creature with her whip as she got herself out of the pond and stared at her helpless captive screaming its head off.

"A stupid monkey? You scared the crap out of me you dumb animal!" She said with her chest breathing somewhat heavily.

She freed the monkey and kicked it away. It desperately ran away from Jing while hooting and hollering in a panic. Jing placed her hands on her hips before looking up at the tree as she was dripping wet and naked. She grabbed a piece of wood and some leaves and inserted them into her left hand. The two items were refined together and Jing combined them into forming a leaf fan that can slightly control the wind and alter the temperature of said wind. The temperature couldn't raise or fall to any crazy levels of temperature since this fan was only created dry Jing off. The leaf fan reappeared out of her right hand and Jing grabbed it before fanning the air once and watching as the wind surrounded her and dried her body off.

Jing could manually control the wind with her mind once she used the fan but the wind she could control couldn't really be used for anything dangerous or harmful. Even if she shaped the wind into tiny needles or blades, the controlled winds weren't able to reach speeds dangerous enough to harm a leaf. So, Jing used the wind to completely dry herself off and then used it to bring her clothes. She put on her clothes, shut her leaf fan close and put it into her pocket, grabbed her whip and started heading back to the cave.

She still had to get her pillow and baby owl before escaping this forest. There was no way in hell that she was leaving her heavenly pillow behind. She doubted she'll ever be able to sleep on anything else for the rest of her lifetime, that's how good the refined rock was. Jing had a smooth journey back to the cave and noticed the owlet screeching bloody murder on the ground. She went over to investigate and saw that the owl somehow injured its leg.

"You're definitely not walking anymore with your leg bent like this… Uh.. Let's see if I can fix this.." Jing said unconfidently.

She slowly and carefully raised her palm towards the baby bird and it phased through her palm and entered inside her.

"Okay… So it does work.."

Jing felt the baby owlet inside her and chose to refine it on very fine. The little guy seems like it likes her enough to be her pet. And she was curious how exactly would this owlet turn out on very fine. She had trouble deciding on whether to manually refine the bird or leave it up to her subconscious but ultimately decided on manually doing it.

'Let's see… We can't have you hurting yourself anymore… So, let's give you a strong body.. better eyes, ears, organs and stuff, a much smarter brain, and….'

*SOMETIME LATER*

Li Li, the new name for the owlet, materialized from Jing's chest and landed on her lap looking no different from when it was phased into her. However there was a small gleam in its eyes. Previously they looked empty and hollow but now they seem to gain wisdom and light behind them. It wobbled unsteadily and looked very disoriented once it exited from Jing's body. It shook its head as it looked up at Jing while slowly turning its head completely upside down.

"You okay Li Li?" She asked.

The bird nodded its head upside down and Jing let out a giggle.

"You can understand me?" She asked a little bit excited.

The bird nodded again and started flapping its wings and taking flight. Making no sound whatsoever despite being right in front of Jing's face. If Jing wasn't looking at the owlet, she wouldn't even have known it took off. And if she couldn't hear the owl flying when she was right next to it, its future prey would stand even less of a chance of surviving if it relied on hearing.

'I don't think baby birds are supposed to fly this soon either.' Jing guessed.

Li Li flew onto Jing's left shoulder and perched there as she refined her pillow into being able to change its size when kneaded a specific way. She placed the pillow into her pocket and walked to the entrance of the cave.

"Time to get out of this forest and find some people. And now that you can fly Li Li, you can fly up and show us the way. I'll wait here. Come back when you spot a place with humans like me and then show me the way towards there." Jing told Li Li.

Li Li cried out a response and took off into the sky without a sound. The little avian infant was gone within moments and it wasn't long till it returned back with a live squirrel in its talon and back on Jing's shoulder.

"You didn't just go out to get food and ignore me did you?" Jing asked slightly upset.

Li Li squawked as it pointed its talon northeast and started swallowing the squirrel whole.

"Go that way?" Jing asked a little bit grossed out by the live feeding taking place so close to her face.

Li Li finished swallowing the mammal whole and nodded its head. So, Jing took off in that direction and her journey to civilization with Li Li finally started. The sun was still shining bright and hanging high in the sky when they left the cave. The two passed through the dense forest without any issues. The only problem the two encountered for the most part was Li Li constantly flying off and bringing back a new prey to feed on Jing's shoulder. The animals that Li LI was bringing back was slowly but consistently increasing in size every time he went off and eventually it hit the point where Jing had enough.

"Li Li. You can not eat a loud screeching monkey on my shoulder!!!" Jing yelled.

Li Li used one of its talons and easily pierced through the skull of the monkey and into its brain, silencing it and ending its poor life. Jing's eyes got somewhat softer after realizing that Li Li thought that she just didn't like the noise the animals were making and tried to fix that.

"Okay! But just because its not screaming anymore doesn't mean you can eat it so close to my face! I'm not saying you can't go out on your own and hunt for food but I am saying you can not eat anymore animals on my shoulder. If you need to eat just eat and I'll wait till you're finished. You know the way out of here after all." Jing explained.

Li Li flew over to one of the tree branches and started ripping open the skull of the deceased monkey like a chef carefully preparing his ingredients before digging into its brain matter with its beak and swallowing pieces torn apart with its beak. Jing was leaning on the opposite tree still slightly grossed out with all the dead animal guts, organs, and such she's been seeing for the past couple of hours but has been getting used to it. Not to say she still didn't like it but she understood that this was just how nature works.

Li Li finally finished his brain meal and moved on to the second course. He ripped open the chest cavity of the monkey and stuck his leg in and grabbed the monkey's heart.

'Such a picky eater… Couldn't just eat an arm or something and get it over with…' Jing complained while being slightly happy of her pet for having some taste.

'If you're gonna eat something it should be something as important and great as a heart or brain.'

Li Li soon finished up and the two continued their journey towards other humans. The two trekked for hours and Jing guessed it was a couple hours after noon. They finally managed to reach a dirt road with the forest on the opposite sides of it. Jing smiled widely as her goal was getting closer and closer before suddenly hearing Li Li hissing. She looked at him and saw his head was turned 180 degrees behind. He slowly turned around as he opened up his wings and turned it downward to look bigger and more threatening.

*ROOOOARRRR*

Jing's body shook in fright from the terrifying creature behind her. Her body started shaking as Li Li's hissing got louder. Her heart was running rampant as her mind was going in circles.

'I have to turn around… What's the point of me making this whip if I can't even use it when I need it! Come on body.. Get it together!' She yelled at herself.

[Mission available for host!]

[Kill, Tame, Defeat, or Flee from this starving spirit beast!]

[Rewards: Will vary depending on choice of action.]

The spirit beast's eyes were hazed over and drool was dripping from its mouth before it suddenly took off towards Jing and Li Li. Jing heard sounds of movement behind her and screamed as she fell to the ground and turned around to see Li Li flying towards the white furred beast. The furry predator ran on all fours towards her and she gripped her whip tighter despite how badly her palms were shaking. Even if Jing knew that she could easily tear this creature into pieces with her refined whip, that meant nothing to her natural human instincts of fleeing when encounter large creatures intent on eating you.

Jing was about to close her eyes in fright of seeing what might happen to Li Li but before she could the little owlet avoided the swipes of the white predator and with its refined body dug its talons into the forehead of the large creature the size of a tiger. The creature cried out in pain and tried resist against the impossible strength of the baby bird but the grip of Li Li stayed strong as he tossed the much larger animal into a nearby tree. The impact from the creature's body against the tree bark caused the tree to crack and break in half before falling and collapsing on top of the creature.

Jing was shocked out of her mind after seeing little Li Li manhandling the furry animal. Although she did refine him on very fine, the effects of it were far stronger than she thought. She continued to watch as Li Li flew over to the trapped predator and landed on top of its head with 8 holes present on its forehead. Blood steadily flowed from the puncture wounds made by Li Li's talons and the creature howled and shouted in pain from the tree crushing it. Li Li then started picking at the animal's head with its beak and easily tore through the fur, skin, muscle, and skull of the animal. The animal howled and yelped in anger and pain before suddenly gaining a new source of strength.

Refusing to be defeated by a creature so small and pathetic. Refusing to be treated as prey and food by a creature not even 1/10 of its size. The furry creature roared with new strength as it overturned the tree that was on it. Jing finally realized that maybe Li Li can't handle this on its own. For some reason that thing looked like it got stronger somehow! Her hands stopped shaking as she tightly gripped her whip and headed over to Li Li. Jing snapped her whip towards the animal and her sleek and smooth whip easily tore through the muscles of the animal, causing it to roar even louder from pain. A deep gash that penetrated all the way to the bone could be seen along the arm of the creature but this didn't stop Jing. Jing continued to clumsily whip the creature, giving it deep gashes and cuts all over its body while Li Li used its talons to claw and swipe at delicate areas on the animal's body at the same time.

As the duo continued to fight the animal, a sick smile could be seen slowly forming on Jing's face as her whip strikes were slowly getting sharper and more precise.

'The scared look in its eyes… It's so different from those haughty and hungry look they had earlier…'

She grinned.

'I like it….'

"Keep squealing… Keep screaming…!"

The creature eventually ran out of stamina and couldn't hope to contest against the two with the many severe injuries present on its body. It was missing an arm and a leg, its left eyeball was tore out, its spine could be seen from the large bloody gash in its back, and some of its intestines were spilling out from its gut. Jing was covered all over in sweat but besides that a disturbing smile was present on her face. Li Li was perched on her shoulder cleaning its feathers of blood with an indifferent look in his eyes before they suddenly widened after spotting something shining inside the beast.

*DING*

[Mission Completed!]

[Rewards: 10 normal tickets, 10,000 yuan, and 1 spirit stone.]

Jing was brought out of her trance by the sound and Li Li flew over to the carcass of the animal. Jing went into her inventory and pulled out the spirit stone.

"What is this thing?" She asked the system.

…

…

'No response huh… Guess I'm on my own.' She thought as she investigated it more by touching it, feeling it, and even licking it.

But no matter what method she tried; she got no reaction out of the glowing diamond-shaped blue gem. She chucked it back inside her inventory and looked over at Li Li to see him swallowing a strange glowing red bead.

"Ah! Li Li! You can't just eat shining things! What if that was something dangerous?!" She reprimanded him.

A purple aura glowed around Li Li's body briefly and the owlet slightly grew in size before chirping happily and flying onto Jing's shoulder. Jing looked at Li Li conflicted. She didn't understand what that red bead was, what that purple thing that glowed around Li Li's body was, and why it made him grow a little bit bigger. But after seeing Li Li looking satisfied, she guessed that it wasn't anything bad and the two continued on their merry way.