Chapter 127 – Allies
“Biscuit, they provide protein,” Tu Ran said.
“What is protein?” Pangpang curiously stared at the biscuit in her hand.
Tu Ran thought for a moment. “The worms you’re eating now are protein.”
Pangpang licked its lips. Although both were protein, it wanted to eat the two-legged beast’s protein biscuit.
Its desire was written all over its face.
Tu Ran couldn’t ignore it.
“Do you want to eat?” Tu Ran shook the biscuit in her hand.
Pangpang nodded quickly, eyes eager, “Yes, I want to eat.”
“Finish eating those worms first,” Tu Ran gestured with her eyes.
A worm was crawling out from the edge of its wing.
She didn’t want to see any soft worms in this cave.
“Okay,” Pangpang said.
This request was too easy for it.
It lowered its head and started pecking, quickly swallowing all the worms.
Tu Ran made sure it hadn’t missed a single one before tossing it a piece of biscuit.
Pangpang caught it with both wings and eagerly fed it into its mouth.
“It’s very hard, be careful not to—”
Before Tu Ran could finish her warning, Pangpang had already swallowed a small piece of the biscuit.
Tu Ran: “…”
Even Zhu Bajie didn’t eat the ginseng fruit that fast.
“Boss, why is there no taste?” Pangpang puzzledly savored the remaining flavor in its mouth.
Tu Ran thought to herself: It would be strange if there was any taste, eating so fast!
Out loud she said, “These biscuits naturally have no taste.”
“Ah? Then worms are better,” Pangpang said.
“Yes, indeed, worms are much tastier than biscuits,” Tu Ran followed its words, “Next time, don’t ask me for biscuits.”
“Tasteless biscuits, I won’t eat them,” Pangpang leaned back comfortably against the wall.
After eating and drinking, it felt sleepy.
It wanted to sleep.
Tu Ran glanced at the bright sky outside, packed up her gear, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and went over to kick Pangpang’s claws.
“Don’t sleep, we still have to go find your Dang Hu tribe leader.”
Pangpang opened its eyes in a daze, “Huh? We have to go now?”
It didn’t want to go, it wanted to sleep.
“Yes, we have to go now,” Tu Ran said, not giving it a chance to sleep, grabbing it by the scruff of its neck and yanking it up. “Haven’t you already slept all night? Why are you still trying to sleep?”
Pangpang was forced to stand up, grumbling in protest.
Tu Ran ignored it and walked out of the cave with her gear.
“Three seconds, if you’re not following, I’ll leave you in this cave forever.”
The fur on Pangpang’s head stood up.
It wanted to act tough but didn’t dare to.
Hearing Tu Ran start counting down, it immediately ran out of the cave.
“Let’s go, lead the way to your leader,” Tu Ran said calmly.
Pangpang snorted and unwillingly walked ahead.
Tu Ran followed behind it.
From her perspective, Pangpang looked even more like a ball.
A round body with a round head, and two small, round eyes.
Its tail was long; when it was happy, it would stick up like a peacock’s display. When it was unhappy, it would droop down, like now, looking like a broom sweeping the ground.
It was still fluffy, with most of its fur being pure white. Only a small tuft on its head, the tip of its tail, and a ring around its neck were light yellow.
With its silly and cute personality, such a creature would undoubtedly be a favorite pet for children in her peaceful previous world.
Tu Ran used to like fluffy animals, too, but since coming to this other world, she had developed an aversion to animals.
In the other world, after extreme technological advancement, most animals had gone extinct.
The ones that remained were mostly museum specimens. Only occasionally did wealthy families use genetic technology to breed a few animals as pets, like the two Tibetan Mastiffs on that farm in Reigaken State.
Since coming to the other world, the animals she encountered were mostly ferocious aliens.
They ate people, possessed them, infected them…
None had left a good impression on her.
The little ball in front of her was an exception.
Although it was a bit disgusting when eating worms, it was acceptable in other aspects.
For instance, at this moment, because it had found a nearly foot-long worm inside a dead tree trunk, its tail fanned out like a peacock.
It had completely forgotten that it was angry with her just a moment ago.
“Boss, boss, look, we call this worm a sweet worm. Why? Because it’s sweet when you eat it, very, very sweet.”
Saying this, it bit into the worm, with the remaining half still dangling its innards, and offered it to Tu Ran, “Two-legged beast, do you want to try? It’s really sweet.”
Tu Ran took a step back, putting distance between herself and the half-eaten worm.
She maintained a polite smile, “No need, I’m already full. Pangpang, you eat it.”
Pangpang had been waiting for her to say that. As soon as she finished, it eagerly tossed the worm into its mouth.
“Ah~ so delicious.”
Tu Ran: I don’t understand, but I respect each species’ diet.
“How much longer until we arrive?” Tu Ran surveyed the surroundings. The trees here were sparser and shorter compared to what she had seen before.
“Almost there, almost there. Our Dang Hu tribe likes sunlight, so we usually stay in sunny forests. See how the trees are getting sparser? That means we’re close,” Pangpang explained.
“Do you remember the story I taught you?” Tu Ran asked, staring at its head.
“Yes, yes,” Pangpang nodded, “I’ll say that when we were catching Henggong fish, we encountered a Pao Xiao. The Pao Xiao ate the other companions, leaving only me. In a moment of crisis, a passing two-legged beast saved me.”
“The two-legged beast injured her thigh while saving me and can’t move, but she said she has a superpower and needs another creature with superpowers to help her so her leg can recover. So I came to see the leader, hoping the leader could help me save her.”
Tu Ran nodded in satisfaction.
In this story, she had superpowers, and her leg was injured and immobile.
Combining the two, wasn’t it just a perfect opportunity to deliver a core right to her door?
The pheasant leader would very likely follow Pangpang to the agreed-upon location.
After that, it would be up to her to play her part freely.
“Up ahead is our Dang Hu’s nest. You wait here,” Pangpang said.
“Alright, go ahead,” Tu Ran stopped.
Pangpang wriggled its plump body and continued forward.
Watching its back, Tu Ran uneasily reminded, “Remember the story I taught you. Once it’s done, I’ll reward you with ten red-skinned melons.”
Pangpang cheerfully shook its wings in response.
Tu Ran never expected that one day she would ally with a pheasant monster and place all her hopes on it.
What an unpredictable world.
Tu Ran shook her head in amazement.
Surveying the surroundings, Tu Ran found an excellent tree branch and climbed up, hiding herself completely within the foliage.
Then, she quietly waited for Pangpang to bring their tribe’s leader over.
**TN
In “Journey to the West,” Zhu Bajie (Pigsy) ate the ginseng fruits out of his gluttonous nature and curiosity. The ginseng fruits, also known as ginseng immortal fruits, were said to grant immense longevity and were extremely rare.
