Chapter 1171

In the night, the Mangjiao Island lay like a huge monster silently sprawled on the sea surface, the flashing lights above like the monster's scales, two Snow Eagles soaring in the high sky, Xia Zhangming pointing downward to introduce the terrain of Mangjiao Island to Hu Xiaotian.

Their landing site was on the west side of Mangjiao Island, the prison built atop the high cliff, using local materials, hewn from the cliff; since it was already deep night, the lights on Mangjiao Island began to gradually extinguish, leaving only the ever‑burning light of the watchtower.

The Snow Eagle had already flown above the prison area, Xia Zhangming said: 'My lord, below is where the captives are held; are you ready?'

Hu Xiaotian nodded and gave him a thumbs‑up, indicating he was fully prepared and could land at any moment. They were now at an altitude of two hundred zhang; according to the plan, they needed to descend to about twenty zhang before Hu Xiaotian would jump.

Xia Zhangming maneuvered the Snow Eagle to descend slowly; the two Snow Eagles were quite spirited, their descent speed very slow, circling as they went down. Hu Xiaotian reached out to stroke the feathers on the Snow Eagle's neck and whispered: 'Little Fly, little Fly, we are old acquaintances after all; you must obey me, and when I see you return victorious, I will surely reward you with a feast of fish and meat.'

The Snow Eagle seemed to understand his words, letting out an eagle cry that shone unusually bright in the dark night.

Hu Xiaotian hurriedly said: 'Don't cry, don't cry, or we'll wake the enemy and that would be bad!'

Xia Zhangming, who was flying side‑by‑side with Hu Xiaotian, felt a hint of abnormality; he heard an inexplicable terror in the eagle's cry, turned his head, and saw a black huge shadow swiftly approaching them from behind, its wingspan about five zhang. Xia Zhangming exclaimed: 'My lord, be careful!'

At this moment both Snow Eagles reacted simultaneously, abandoning further descent and suddenly flapping upward to climb; Hu Xiaotian, thanks to Xia Zhangming's warning, had already gripped the saddle firmly. The Snow Eagle instantly surged to maximum speed, wind howling in his ears, cold wind blowing in his face, Hu Xiaotian almost unable to keep his eyes open. Although Xia Zhangming was a top Beast Tamer, the animals' instinct to flee danger made the two Snow Eagles' first thought escape, and the situation was now completely out of control.

The two Snow Eagles fled in different directions. As the saying goes, when disaster strikes each flies his own way—even a married couple would do so, let alone this feathered creature. Hu Xiaotian clung desperately to the saddle; he was still at least one hundred fifty zhang above the ground. Though his inner strength was abundant and he had mastered the Art of Soaring, jumping from such a height meant certain death, and his backup parachute would be useless at this altitude.

Hu Xiaotian could only hope the Snow Eagle would escape successfully and fling that black monster bird far behind; the monster bird behind let out a shrill cry, harsh and grating. Like a child's wail, the Snow Eagle hearing it trembled with fear, and Hu Xiaotian kept looking back. He saw the black monster bird drawing nearer, now less than ten zhang away. The bird's head was larger than a human's, its beak glinting coldly in the moonlight, its feathers should not be pure black but deep Lan. Its two sharp green eyes glowed with an oily ferocity. Hu Xiaotian had thought the big bird's back also bore a Beast Tamer, but up close he saw no one on it.

The Snow Eagle sensed the approaching danger from behind, suddenly dove downward; Hu Xiaotian was thrown from its back by the abrupt change of direction, yet his hands still clung tightly to the saddle. After the Snow Eagle's dive, it then made an arcing turn, trying to fling Hu Xiaotian out from behind, evidently it believed his presence was what slowed its escape. Hu Xiaotian gripped the saddle with all his might, but at that moment the monster bird had already swooped in, opening a beak strong enough to oppose divine weapons, and pecked at Hu Xiaotian in midair.

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed his misfortune—after all this trouble, the vicious bird's target was actually him? It seemed to think his flesh would be tastier than the Snow Eagle's. On the ground he believed he could surely cleave the beast to death, but this was in midair. He lifted his leg to kick the bird's lower jaw, a life‑or‑death strike; gathering all his strength, the kick looked set to land, yet the Snow Eagle suddenly surged upward, causing his kick to miss and the bird to peck at nothing.

When it rains, it pours—just then the strap of the saddle on the Snow Eagle's back snapped in the middle; Hu Xiaotian felt a jolt in his hands, silently cried 'oh no', looked up, and saw the saddle reduced to a single strap still tied to the Snow Eagle. He knew the saddle could not hold much longer, and looking down he saw the monster bird right beneath him, intending to change direction and attack again. Although the bird's speed was astonishing, its huge size made its turning agility inferior to the Snow Eagle's.

At the moment of life and death, Hu Xiaotian's mind was unusually calm; if he kept holding onto the Snow Eagle, the saddle would surely break, and even if it miraculously held, they could not avoid mutual destruction. The whole situation stemmed from that monster bird; to survive he had to subdue it, and if he could stall for a moment perhaps Xia Zhangming would return in time to rescue him. With that resolve, Hu Xiaotian steeled himself, suddenly released the saddle, and leapt downward into the air.

The Snow Eagle suddenly freed from restraint, let out an excited cry, and flapped its wings toward the high sky.

The monster bird clearly had not expected prey to dive straight into its net; before it could even grasp the situation, it felt someone heavily pounce onto its back. The bird gave a shrill cry, its wings held at a forty‑five‑degree angle as it side‑slid, trying to fling off the fellow on its back.

Hu Xiaotian lunged onto the bird's back, his left arm encircling the monster's neck, his right hand clenched into a fist and slammed into the bird's head; he dared not strike too hard, for if he knocked the bird unconscious he would drag himself down with it—mutual doom, shattered bones.

The monster bird took his punch and cried out ever more shrilly, shaking its wings as it alternately climbed, dove, and circled, trying to shake Hu Xiaotian off; yet Hu Xiaotian bound his life tightly to the bird's body, sticking to it like glutinous rice syrup no matter how it moved. After hammering the bird's head with two linked blows and seeing little effect, he immediately changed tactics, swapping punches for grabs—his Profound Dark Yin Wind Claw was not practiced in vain. One clutch did not tear the bird's tough skin, but still ripped out a large handful of feathers; the bird screamed in pain, and Hu Xiaotian discovered the lethal power of plucking feathers, immediately launching a relentless barrage. Feathers flew everywhere, the bird suffered agonizingly, its cries growing ever more shrill.

The monster bird also had spirit; it soon realized that whenever it flew higher or went elsewhere, the person on its back would immediately start plucking feathers, but only when it descended would the person cease.

While plucking feathers, Hu Xiaotian gazed upward, seeing no trace of Xia Zhangming or the two Snow Eagles; apparently this monster bird was the Snow Eagle's natural enemy, the two Snow Eagles having been scared witless, refusing even to listen to Xia Zhangming's words, now fled who knows where—animals simply cannot be relied upon.

Hu Xiaotian also understood that further complaining was useless; he had to rely on himself, using feather‑plucking to control the monster bird—if it would agree to descend to within thirty zhang of the ground, he should be able to jump down safely. But the bird was not honest, it kept sparring with Hu Xiaotian until he had nearly plucked clean the ring of feathers around its neck, making it look like a giant vulture; only then did it become somewhat compliant. Hu Xiaotian drew a dagger from his waist and pressed it to the bird's neck; although he did not know whether the bird could comprehend such a threat, at least he could now hold its life and death in his hand at any moment.

Hu Xiaotian looked ahead; after all that turmoil, the monster bird had carried him far from Mangjiao Island. Even if it were now willing to lower to within thirty zhang of the sea surface, he could not jump down. He extended his right hand, waved it in front of the bird's eyes, then pointed toward the direction of Mangjiao Island.

The monster bird continued its descent, seemingly unmoved by his gesture; Hu Xiaotian raised his hand again and tore off a large patch of feathers, whereupon the bird let out a miserable cry. He once more pointed toward Mangjiao Island and muttered lowly: 'If you won't obey, I'll pluck out all your feathers and chop them up to feed the dogs.'

Whether it was the feather‑plucking taking effect or the monster bird truly understood his words, it flew toward Mangjiao Island, once again soaring above the island. Hu Xiaotian still saw no sign of Xia Zhangming or the Snow Eagles; in the darkness he made out the prison's location and pointed that way, but the bird this time did not heed him, flying straight to the northwest corner instead of toward the prison. Hu Xiaotian saw the bird flying lower and lower, as if preparing to land; if it dropped below the watchtower's height it might be spotted by the guards. He saw the altitude was already about right, and thought, 'If not now, when?' Not knowing what might still happen, he drew a crossbow bolt, stepped up onto the bird's back, when unexpectedly the bird tilted its body sideways, Hu Xiaotian lost his footing and fell head‑first downward. Annoyed that the bird would still try to ruin him, he raised his crossbow and fired two bolts in succession, but the bird batted them away with its wings. The bird did not attack Hu Xiaotian further, apparently recognizing he was not to be trifled with; it shrank its bald neck, bearing pain and resentment as it flew back into the sky.

Hu Xiaotian plunged from a height of nearly thirty zhang, hastily casting aside distracting thoughts, his vast inner breath filling the Dantian Qi Sea; as he gathered and released, his body dove through the night sky, after several buffers he landed lightly in a dark corner; though he could see clearly from aloft, once on the island it was hard to discern the exact direction. (To be continued~^~)