readbooksol Chapter 578 seems to have found out something.
Chapter 578 seems to have found out something.
Sasha's dad.
When Su Tianqing first heard this combination of words, a strange image came to mind:
The muscular, winged man had a few feathers growing symbolically on his arms, which were thicker than the fox's tail, making him look like a small mountain.
Or perhaps a refined and polite traveling merchant, or simply dressed in ordinary clothes—in short, definitely not the image before us:
Petite and adorable, dressed in flamboyant attire, she wore a shawl coat unique to winged people. However, unlike Sasha's simple color scheme, her shawl was covered with all sorts of sparkling ornaments, mostly cheap colored plastic rhinestones or thin fabric ribbons, but the combination was colorful and eye-catching.
At first glance, you might even mistake him for a human child wrapped in a pretty cloak. He is completely different from Sasha's youthful and healthy sporty girl style and is more of a cute type.
[Sasha's dad], [cute]
These two words can actually be used to describe the same person? Su Tianqing couldn't quite understand it.
Even as they walked through the temple gates and passed the four guardian Buddha statues, the cat and fox were still reeling from the shock they had just experienced.
"I never thought there would be a temple like this in a big city. It's completely different from any temple I've ever seen before."
"Dad, have you seen any other temples before?"
"Chirp chirp~ Of course, when I go to other places to sell goods, I often wander around, and it's normal to burn incense at temples." The petite winged person said with a smile, flapping her wings and hopping around Sasha a few times.
Su Tianqing silently watched the two winged people admiring the Buddha statues at the temple gate. Nan Jiayu also turned her gaze to them, completely unable to suppress her astonishment and surprise.
Hua Ling walked to the two of them, glanced at the winged father and daughter not far away, and gave a helpless bitter smile, saying:
"Um... Sister Tianqing..."
"I know this might sound strange, but... that's exactly what Sasha's father looks like."
"According to Sasha, like most birds, women in the Winged People's culture dress very simply, while men pay more attention to their bright and beautiful appearance, similar to the attire of women in humans and other beastman groups."
"I was surprised at first, but upon closer inspection, it seems quite reasonable."
Su Tianqing was stunned for a long time before she finally understood everything from Hua Ling's description and reluctantly accepted this explanation.
It just goes to show that the world is full of wonders. I never expected that winged people would have such a unique culture of appearance. It really caught me off guard.
Before Su Tianqing could say anything more, Sparrow Dad suddenly hopped over to the three of them, looked up at Hua Ling, then lowered his gaze to look at Cat Fox, who was still half a head taller than him, and revealed a happy and content smile.
"Chirp chirp~ Why are you all just sitting here? How about we go buy some incense and candles?"
"Dad! Why do you always burn incense at the temple? Don't you always say you don't believe in these things?"
Sasha immediately ran back, stretched out her wings, and wrapped her overly familiar father under her thick wings. The latter hopped around several times but couldn't break free from the wings, and in his anxiety, he chirped like a sparrow under the layers of feathers.
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
"Of course I don't believe it! But we're all out having fun, so it would be a waste of our trip if we didn't burn some incense at the temple!"
"You little rascal, let your old man out right now! *kissing sounds*"
Watching the contrasting interaction between the father and daughter, the three of them looked at each other in silence for a long time before finally accepting it all.
The temple is quite large.
Almost the entire mountain is within the temple scenic area, with several ancient halls standing among the lush forests.
After playing around at the entrance, the group entered the scenic area through the mountain gate. In front of the first hall, there were two candlesticks and an incense burner. Smoke swirled around the crowd, and most of them were holding a small paper box containing six sticks of incense.
"I didn't expect this temple to offer free incense, that's great!" Little Sparrow's dad said, hopping around every now and then, looking quite happy.
Sasha also met Su Tianqing and Nan Jiayu through Hualing's introduction. She was initially reserved, but after Hualing said, "Sister Tianqing is the fox sister I mentioned to you," she immediately relaxed and even took the initiative to bring up the topic.
"Sorry, my dad is always like this. He can chat happily with people he's just met," Sasha said softly, a little embarrassed.
"Hey! You kid, the point of going out to play is to have fun, right? We're all friends, right?" Sparrow Dad suddenly heard Sasha's words, hopped back to Sasha's side, and said with a smile to Su Tianqing and the other two.
"How about we go over there to offer incense first? It's quite popular here!"
As he spoke, Sparrow Dad pushed Sasha toward the incense burner not far away. However, his petite body was simply too small to push Sasha, who was like an owl. The winged girl could only turn around with a wry smile and apologize to Hualing and the others, then moved forward with the help of her father.
"...Little Fish, what do you think?" Su Tianqing whispered in the cat girl's ear.
Nan Jiayu smiled and nodded.
"That's very interesting."
"Hmm—~, I see, Little Fish, you and I are completely on the same page!" The fox girl wagged her tail and laughed, not caring what her opinion actually was.
I actually found it quite interesting: the sparrow father and the eagle owl adopted daughter, the huge contrast in size and personality brought a rather interesting sense of déjà vu, and such a petite, cute and very lively sparrow-winged person can indeed liven up the atmosphere.
After all, the point of going out to have fun is to relax and unwind. If everyone is doing it like they're on official business, with a professional smile and small talk, then the whole point of going out to have fun is lost.
"I've made up my mind! Let's go offer incense together!"
After saying that, Su Tianqing took out three incense sticks from the box next to her and followed the winged father and daughter to the candlestick to borrow fire to light them. She carefully hid her tail behind her back to avoid being burned by the candle flame.
The fox spirit, who had never offered incense at a temple before, tried several times but failed to light it, which made Nan Jiayu's face show an even more delightful smile.
"How can you offer incense like that on a sunny day? Look, this is how you should light incense..."
Nan Jiayu moved closer to Su Tianqing, holding the golden fox's hand that was tightly gripping the three incense sticks with one hand, guiding it to a relatively stable spot with the candle flame. She paused and flickered the flame at the tip, extinguishing the burning flame and leaving only three wisps of smoke rising.
"Whoa!" "See, it's lit now."
Hua Ling watched the cat and fox silently from the side, a strange sense of satisfaction rising in her heart. Holding the incense and candles in her hands, she looked at the temple hall in front of her and bowed deeply with gratitude.
As the saying goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Since we're already at the temple, we can't skip the ritual of offering incense.
After offering incense in front of the temple, the group climbed the steps, and the mountain scenery along the way made them involuntarily show relaxed and contented expressions.
Even the fatigue I'd been feeling lately from dealing with Garuda was soothed by this scenery. "Improving myself in nature is definitely the best way to relieve mental exhaustion," Su Tianqing thought.
The steps were quite long, and there were many temples and halls along the way. Every time Sparrow's father passed by, he would go in and offer a prayer, as if he thought, "Since I've come all this way, it would be a waste not to offer a prayer."
Su Tianqing also took Nan Jiayu and Hualing to visit the temple with great interest. Although she did not believe in Buddhism, it was free to offer a little prayer for psychological comfort.
When you get tired from walking, take a short rest halfway up the mountain, pour yourself a cup of tea at a roadside tea stall, and listen to the crisp and melodious chirping of birds in the forest—as well as the rhythmic chirping of the sparrow father.
"Chirp chirp chirp! Chirp chirp—, chirp!"
The old sparrow pouts and makes a sound that only winged people can make. It sounds a little lower than the chirping of the birds in the forest, but the volume is still much louder than that of the birds.
Every time he finished chirping, the birds flying in the forest would chirp back. Su Tianqing thought it was just a coincidence, but when he made three completely different sounds in a row and they all responded to the birds, Su Tianqing felt that there was something fishy about it.
The fox girl quickly moved closer to the winged girl and said to her:
"…Sasha, what is your dad doing?"
"Hmm?...Oh, he's greeting the birds in the woods, but the birds here don't seem to understand what Dad is saying. They're chirping and chattering, and I can't quite understand them either," Sasha said casually, as if she was used to everything that was happening before her eyes.
This completely overturned Su Tianqing's understanding—you winged people can really communicate with birds using bird language? Then can I, this fox, also communicate with other foxes? Can cats also communicate with other cats using meow language?
"Don't look at me like that. I really can't understand what the cats are saying. I mainly communicate with them through eye contact and body language." Nan Jiayu quickly waved her hand in response when Su Tianqing stared at her.
"Hey... So Xiaoyu, you can't understand what those cats downstairs are saying? I thought you were pretty familiar with them," Su Tianqing said, slightly surprised.
"Because beastmen and small animals are essentially completely different species. Think about it carefully, Tianqing. You can't understand what the fox is saying either."
When Nan Jiayu asked him a question, the golden fox's wagging tail slowly stopped, its ears perked up, and it looked up at the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees, falling into a brief moment of contemplation.
That seems to make sense. This fox doesn't even know how foxes sound, let alone understand fox language. But speaking of foxes, how do they sound? "The Great Chu will rise, Chen Sheng will be king?"
just kidding.
"This is so relaxing... I feel like all the stress has been swept away..." Leaning back in her chair at the tea stall, Su Tianqing let out a long sigh and muttered to herself.
"Sister Tianqing, are you under a lot of pressure lately?" Hualing asked curiously from the side.
"Yeah, I've been busy with... something very important lately."
Su Tianqing exchanged a glance with Hua Ling, grinned, and the two understood each other without saying anything more, silently enjoying this rare moment of peace.
As if remembering something, while leisurely passing the time, Su Tianqing turned to look at the winged person Sasha, who was holding a cup of tea and gazing blankly into the woods, and struck up a conversation with her:
"Little Sasha."
"I've heard Hua Ling mention you before. She said you two are good friends, and that she lives downstairs from you?"
"Ah... um, that's right, I live upstairs in the Flower Bell Building." When the golden-haired fox suddenly called her name, the winged Sasha subconsciously turned her head ninety degrees to look at her and nodded.
They admitted it so easily, which means it's pretty much what I knew. Their relationship is starting to deepen, and I'm very satisfied.
The conversation moved a little deeper from everyday matters. Su Tianqing didn't mention the matter of Hua Ling asking her for help, but instead subtly inquired about the daily interactions between Hua Ling and Sasha.
The first thing is hobbies and interests.
"Lately, I've become quite interested in magical girls," Sasha honestly admitted, revealing her recent focus.
"After all, magical girls are a very popular topic," Su Tianqing said with a smile. "So, Sasha, which magical girl do you like the most? Can you tell me secretly~?"
"Well... I'm just a beginner myself. I usually just browse videos and forums..." Sasha said shyly, scratching the back of her head with her wings.
"I originally planned to get to know the magical girls in Chengdu first, but last night I suddenly saw an interesting post on the forum, so I clicked on it and read for a while. That's when I realized that there are so many amazing magical girls in other cities as well."
"Oh? For example?" Su Tianqing asked curiously.
Sasha recalled briefly and said softly:
"For example... Bai Lili from Shanghai."