He Zhiran could see that the rice ball had completely conquered whatever was inside the cage, be it a pigeon or something else.
Not only that, the mysterious white creature kept nodding at the rice ball.
The rice ball was no longer so stiff now. It trotted over to its owner like it was showing off.
After He Zhiran calmed down the rice ball, she looked at the mysterious creature.
It looked no different than when she first saw it - still a well-behaved little white pigeon.
If not for the rice ball bringing out its other side, He Zhiran might not have noticed anything unusual about it at all.
Now that the rice ball had revealed its true nature, He Zhiran was naturally more wary.
She made sure to keep some distance from the cage as she observed it.
But to her surprise, the little thing in the cage started acting cute towards her.
Its little head bobbed up and down nonstop, and its wings flapped open and closed - clearly trying to curry favor.
He Zhiran was a little stunned.
She brought the rice ball over and asked it, "Baby, did you tame it?"
The rice ball nodded its round head vigorously and made murmuring sounds.
Now He Zhiran could confirm that this mysterious creature had accepted her or the rice ball as its master.
And from her observations, it seemed more likely that it had chosen her as the master.
Because even though the rice ball had been by her side for so long, the little thing hadn't so much as glanced at it.
Sure enough, as He Zhiran continued observing, the little thing started fluttering its wings at her again.
Compared to how it acted with the rice ball, it was who knows how many times more gentle.
He Zhiran tentatively reached her hand towards the cage. The little thing became even more obedient.
Its snowy white body rubbed against the edge of the cage, as if inviting He Zhiran to pet it.
He Zhiran opened the cage according to the little thing's wishes.
The little thing immediately fluttered out and circled He Zhiran, chirping happily.
He Zhiran could now fully confirm it meant no harm to her, so she reached out her palm tentatively to pet it.
Seeing this, the little thing even leaned in towards her voluntarily.
He Zhiran stroked its head first, then slowly stroked its body.
The little thing seemed to love the feeling. It leaned towards her even more.
Taking the chance, He Zhiran slowly spread its wings open, wanting to take a look at the golden feathers inside.
The little thing cooperated fully, spreading its wings open for He Zhiran to see the single golden feather clearly.
In her past life, she had accidentally read a book mentioning a very rare snow sculpture. Its whole body was snowy white, but under its wings on both sides was one golden feather each.
People called this kind of snow sculpture the Golden Winged Roc.
But the Golden Winged Roc was massive in size. Even in its youth it couldn't be as small as the creature before her eyes.
To identify what the little thing was, He Zhiran decided to ask the little collector for help. She hoped he could search online in the modern world for her.
So she took out her phone and took photos of the little thing from every angle using Taobao's photo uploading function.
The photo function came with a valuation - and the valuation for the little thing shocked He Zhiran.
Taobao valued the little thing at over seven figures, which showed how precious it was.
He Zhiran didn't dwell too much on the creature's monetary value. What she lacked least right now was money. She would never sell the little thing for profit.
She opened up the chat with the little collector and sent the photos she just took.
[Hello, could you please help me identify what species this little thing is?]
Perhaps the little collector was busy. He Zhiran had to wait around ten minutes before she saw his avatar blink.
[I asked animal experts just now to help appraise the photos. This is a very rare type of eagle called the Golden-winged Sculpture.
These eagles look no different from pigeons normally. When faced with danger, they transform into giant rocs, with a golden feather under each wing.
The most unique part is their beak, which has two layers. The outer layer extends into an eagle's beak shape when carrying things or encountering danger.
According to experts, Golden-winged Sculptures are basically extinct in modern times. They only know about them from documents.]
Right after, the little collector said: [Don't tell me this Golden-winged Sculpture is in your hands?]
He Zhiran: [Yes, I do have one.]
Little collector: [I can buy it from you at a high price.]
He Zhiran: [I'm sorry, this Golden-winged Sculpture is very important to me, I can't sell it to you.]
Little collector: [Since that's the case, I won't insist.]
What He Zhiran cared about more right now were the Golden-winged Sculpture's special traits.
[Did you find out anything special about these Golden-winged Sculptures?]
Little collector: [The experts said Golden-winged Sculptures recognize masters. Don't let their small size fool you, their combat power is extremely strong. But without their master's orders, they won't act on their own.]
After the little collector's introduction, He Zhiran couldn't wait to test the Golden-winged Sculpture's ability to recognize masters.
As thanks, she listed a large diamond she bought from a foreigner.
The little collector's previously somewhat dejected mood was instantly replaced with joy at obtaining this large diamond.
Seeing that he was satisfied, He Zhiran closed the chat.
She turned around, held out her palm towards the Golden-winged Sculpture and beckoned.
Seeing her hand, the Golden-winged Sculpture fluttered its wings and jumped right on, chirping happily twice.
He Zhiran continued testing.
She pointed at the dried chili peppers hanging outside the warehouse and said, "Little one, help me bring that over."
The Golden-winged Sculpture let out another cry, then quickly flew to the designated spot, picked up a dried chili pepper in its beak, and flew back.
As He Zhiran took the chili pepper, she also noticed the Golden-winged Sculpture's beak had turned into an eagle's.
But very quickly, the Golden-winged Sculpture's eagle beak retracted back.
He Zhiran could now confirm this little thing had accepted her as its master.
Although this little thing used to belong to Mr. Si Meng, now that it was hers, He Zhiran wouldn't fuss too much about a spiritual creature changing owners.
What worried her most now was whether the Golden-winged Sculpture, after being tamed by the rice ball as her pet, could still find its original master - that was uncertain.
To verify this, she tried communicating with the Golden-winged Sculpture.
"Little one, can you still find your previous master?"
The Golden-winged Sculpture just stood there blankly staring at her, clearly having no idea what she was expressing.
Now He Zhiran was completely stumped. She had hoped the little thing could lead her to find Mr. Si Meng, but now it seemed that if she let it out, it would only fly back to its new master, which was her.
