Chapter 7

Chapter 7
【If I’m not mistaken, is she talking to a bird?】

【More than that, it looks like the communication went smoothly—they even reached an understanding.】

【Hahaha, she’s acting so seriously. If anyone dares say Lin Qianyu’s acting is bad again, I’ll be the first to disagree. Just look at this conversation, she’s acting like it’s real.】

Back when Lin Qianyu had just entered the infinite flow game level, she discovered that she could understand animals. Later on, through exploration and learning during the game, she developed the ability to communicate with small animals without any obstacles.

Coming down from the tree, Lin Qianyu brushed off the leaves clinging to her clothes.

Insects were only one part of the red-tailed crested hawk’s diet.

The red-tailed crested hawk is a carnivore, and in the vast rainforest, finding meat was actually much easier than finding bugs.

Lin Qianyu didn’t go far and caught a rabbit nearby.

She wasn’t sure if it was one released by the production team—there was no tag, and she couldn’t tell.

Weighing the rabbit in her hand, Lin Qianyu said, “This rabbit seems a little fat.”

The baby bird didn’t have a big appetite, and with only one hatched chick in the nest, it would probably be full after two pieces of meat.

“I’ll cut some meat for the little bird, and the rest will be my lunch.” Since she had already caught food, Lin Qianyu didn’t feel like hunting again just to make chicken and mushroom stew.

Fresh catch, freshly eaten—that’s better.

Tsk.

If only she had a fridge.

“I’m back,” Lin Qianyu said, using a tree leaf to hold the sliced rabbit meat. It hadn’t been washed, and the blood was still obvious on it.

Compared to thoroughly cleaned meat, red-tailed crested hawks preferred it raw and natural like this.

“Here, ah—” Lin Qianyu picked up a piece and fed it to the chick.

The round little bird quivered its fluff, opened its beak wide, and made a clear chirp. With the meat in its mouth, it pecked and swallowed slowly, tilting its head back.

【Wuwuwu… As expected, all animals are cute and fluffy when they’re babies.】

【No one’s going to speak up for the rabbit? They’re both animals—why feed the red-tailed crested hawk but catch the rabbit to eat? That’s not fair!】

Lin Qianyu focused on feeding the chick. When she noticed its eating pace slow down significantly and it seemed reluctant to swallow the meat still in its mouth, she knew it was probably full.

She placed the remaining meat on a nearby tree branch, thinking the mother bird could eat it when she returned.

She didn’t put it directly into the nest, worried that if her scent lingered in the nest from holding the leaf, the mother bird might abandon it.Lin Qianyu had been very careful not to touch the bird while feeding it.

Only after finishing everything did she notice the comments flying rapidly across the screen.

After reading for just a bit, Lin Qianyu quickly figured out what was going on. Helplessly, she pointed at the red-tailed crested hawk and said, “Look how tiny the bird is—you could hold it in one hand. If you tried to eat it, the bones wouldn’t even be enough to bother with. Of course we eat the rabbit instead.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the little bird, which had been playing with the meat, suddenly raised its crest feathers in alert. “Chirp!”

Lin Qianyu, still pointing at it, froze with a rare flash of guilt. “Uh…”

“Chirp chirp!” The bird chirped fiercely.

【Red-tailed crested hawk: cursing in bird language.】

【So what now? You’re talking smack without even bothering to keep it from the bird?!】

【Tsk tsk tsk, the red-tailed hawk’s cursing is too harsh—it’s got my parrot at home shouting back.】

【I know the whole ‘talking to the bird’ thing isn’t real, but I’m having such a blast watching it, hahaha.】

…

Lin Qianyu cleared her throat. “Just kidding, of course. I’d never eat you.”

The little bird pecked the meat, turned around with a flick, and left her with its round, fluffy backside.

Lin Qianyu grew serious and explained, “The red-tailed crested hawk is listed as an endangered species by the Global Wildlife Protection Association. There are fewer than 8,000 officially recorded in the country. I’m live-streaming here—if I even so much as reached toward it, someone would already have a sniper trained on my forehead, okay?”

She shrugged, clearly a bit helpless, but still remembered to add, “If you ever see one out in the wild, don’t approach it, and definitely don’t think about eating it. An adult red-tailed crested hawk is a raptor—it could kill you.”

“Alright then, it’s getting late. I’ve got to head back and hand in my task. See you next time—if your mom doesn’t move the nest before then,” Lin Qianyu said with a smile.

Bang!

A dark shadow swooped down from the sky, skimming through the thick branches of the tree. The floating livestream drone was struck hard—its plastic shell shattered midair, pieces spinning and getting lodged in a nearby branch.

Lin Qianyu was stunned and looked in that direction—only to see an adult red-tailed crested hawk landing steadily not far from the nest, staring at her with sharp, intense eyes.

With its raptor status, the red-tailed crested hawk’s combat strength was no joke. In the rainforest, it reigned as an aerial predator. Its talons could tear flesh from a person, and now that it had shed the soft beak of its youth, even a single peck could rip off meat. A dive attack could snap bones in an instant.

And now, such a predator was glaring at Lin Qianyu from less than three meters away.

The drone that had been knocked down was in shambles, but still valiantly streaming the scene live.

【Oh my god ahhh??? Why is that thing so huge?!】

【I didn’t think much when I read that its wingspan was a few meters, but seeing it now—it looks almost half the size of Lin Qianyu!】【Run! Are you too scared to move?! Don’t go weak in the knees now—an adult red-tailed crested hawk isn’t here to play silly talking games with you! @Wilderness Show Director, hurry up and save her!】

【Ugh, idiot, what are you doing? Don’t die here and ruin the show.】

The red-tailed crested hawk didn’t show any intention of attacking. In fact, after knocking down the livestream device, it didn’t move again.

Lin Qianyu sensed that too. She thought for a moment, then under the hawk’s intense gaze, hesitantly raised her hand and gave a small wave. “Hi?”

Her voice was hesitant, not trembling with fear, but more like someone unsure how to greet an unfamiliar animal, fumbling for the right words.

The comments were once again filled with question marks, mocking Lin Qianyu for being scared stiff.

Staff members monitoring the livestream rooms immediately reported Lin Qianyu’s situation to the director.

But the director’s team would need time to get there.

Lin Qianyu didn’t need rescuing. She smiled and spoke to the red-tailed crested hawk, “I was feeding your kid, see? The rabbit I caught is still warm.”

She pointed at the partially butchered rabbit on the ground, then at the meat-laden leaves. “That’s for you.”

She thought: You’ve already benefited—your baby ate my food, and now you want to attack me? No way.

“I didn’t hurt your child,” Lin Qianyu said confidently. “Even if you’re a critically endangered species and a globally protected animal, you still need to be reasonable.”

Livestream comments: 【……】

Question: Does Lin Qianyu even know what she’s saying right now?

【She’s lost it. She’s totally lost it.】

However, the red-tailed crested hawk didn’t behave as the viewers had predicted. It didn’t attack upon hearing her voice.

Instead, it tilted its head and slowly swayed it side to side, as if trying to make sense of something.

Even those who couldn’t understand bird behavior could tell from its movements—it was showing confusion.

Lin Qianyu’s eyes curved into a smile. “Am I right?”

The red-tailed crested hawk didn’t give a direct response, but it did lift its chin slightly, and the wings it had spread open slowly folded back.

When its wings were spread, it looked aggressive—like if you made one wrong move, it would lunge for your throat. Now that its wings were folded, it looked much smaller and less threatening.

Whether or not this counted as showing goodwill was uncertain, but at least it clearly wasn’t being aggressive.

Lin Qianyu nodded with satisfaction. “That’s better. If that meat’s not enough, you can have the rest of the rabbit too.”

She hadn’t seen the red-tailed crested hawk bring back any food earlier—maybe it failed to catch anything, or maybe it dropped its prey in a panic when it saw her and rushed over.The former wouldn’t be too bad, but if it were the latter, then she would bear some responsibility.

The red-tailed crested hawk looked at Lin Qianyu, then at the rabbit on the ground. When it took flight, it stepped on the back of the baby bird’s head with its talons. The baby bird, holding meat in its beak, was so dizzy from the step that it blankly swallowed the chunk of meat.

An adult red-tailed crested hawk ate far more easily than a chick—its talons tore open the skin, and it could debone meat effortlessly.

That rabbit, which could have fed Lin Qianyu for two meals, still had plenty left even after a leg was cut for the baby bird. The red-tailed crested hawk brought it up to the nest and began eating leisurely.

Maybe its talons and beak worked together too well—each large bite didn’t cause any blood to ooze out, and it didn’t gulp the food down messily. It almost looked... elegant?

“Setting everything else aside, the red-tailed crested hawk is really beautiful.” Lin Qianyu was close enough to see the feather patterns clearly. It was precisely because of these exquisite, noble feathers that they were once hunted in large numbers. Coupled with their difficulty in breeding and the inability to raise them in captivity, they ultimately became an endangered species.

Meanwhile, viewership in the livestream room skyrocketed without Lin Qianyu even noticing.

Many people had come specifically to see the red-tailed crested hawk.

Photos and documentaries about these birds were rare. Even if someone was lucky enough to encounter one in the wild, getting a clear shot was nearly impossible.

Though the livestream equipment had been damaged, the redirected feed was still clearer than most of the circulated photos online.

From start to finish, the red-tailed crested hawk hadn’t made a sound—not even while swallowing pieces of rabbit.

Lin Qianyu seemed to be entertaining herself, talking to herself the whole time. “Okay, it’s really getting late. I have to go now. Bye-bye.”

Small animals had simple minds, and their suspicious reactions when they first understood human speech were all the more adorable.

Lin Qianyu preferred talking to them over people.

She greeted the red-tailed crested hawk, then prepared to jump down from the tree.

“Cheep!” The baby bird began rolling around in the nest, clumsily climbed over the edge, and fell onto the thick branch with a little thump. It squeaked and, like a round ball of fluff, waddled steadily along the branch toward her.

Lin Qianyu froze for a moment and held her hand up just beside the branch, afraid it would fall.

She looked up at the red-tailed crested hawk but saw no sign it intended to bring the chick back. Instead, it was cleaning up the leftover rabbit fur and skin in the nest.

While she was still dazed, the chick had already made its way over and plopped itself right onto her arm with a soft flop.

The soft, not-yet-shed down was faintly warm.

Lin Qianyu opened her hand, eyes still on the red-tailed crested hawk, and gently placed the chick in her palm.

The hawk didn’t attack, seemingly allowing it.

The round, fluffy little creature lying in her palm was unbearably adorable.

It even shifted around on its own, rubbed against her palm, then rested its head against her fingers.Lin Qianyu had dealt with many wild beasts in the infinite survival realms, but rarely with such tiny creatures. She opened her mouth slightly, a smile appearing on her face, and her voice unconsciously softened, “Too cute.”

The viewers in the livestream were stunned.

【Wait, what the—why?!】

【Aaaaahhh it’s so adorable, I want to keep one.】

【The chick is in a human’s hand and the red-tailed crested hawk isn’t attacking? This isn’t right! I watched a documentary where even humans approaching the tree where the hawk nested were driven off by red-tailed crested hawks circling in the air. Everyone at the outpost got injured to some degree. But now…】

A fierce bird of prey—just one glance and you might get your eyes pecked out.

Yet now, with its most precious baby in human hands, not only was the red-tailed crested hawk not attacking, it was leisurely tidying up its nest not far away.

This makes no sense?!

【Newcomers, don’t be confused—we old viewers aren’t really sure what’s going on either.】

…

Lin Qianyu poked the little bird’s head, her fingertip brushing the trembling fluff on its crown. “I wanted to poke it earlier—feels just as good as I thought.”

“Cheep!” The poked chick rolled over, its beak brushing Lin Qianyu’s fingertip affectionately. Its tiny wings fluttered a bit, creating a small breeze, though it didn’t manage to fly.

The smile on Lin Qianyu’s face deepened. Just looking at this cute little thing brightened her mood.

She was having a great time playing when, not far away, the damaged livestream equipment flickered.

Perhaps its lifespan had been dramatically shortened by the impact, and now it was starting to glitch unpredictably.

Seeing the barrage of comments still scrolling, Lin Qianyu realized the livestream was still ongoing. Cradling the chick in her hands, she straightened her posture and said seriously, “Everyone, if you encounter any wild animal outdoors, please don’t reach out and touch it. Your unfamiliar scent might get them abandoned by their parents.”

After a brief pause, Lin Qianyu gently rubbed the baby bird’s soft down with her thumb and added, “I’m different. I got the parent’s permission.”

The chick, not understanding anything, lifted its head and chirped with surprising boldness, “Cheep!”